One of the most interesting turns in Till Tomorrow is that David Mugisha, after losing his athletic career, is hired by a prominent newspaper to cover a nationwide competition. That plot point makes it natural to assign journalism-style writing alongside traditional literary essays. Students can write a news article about a scene, an editorial about the corruption scandal, or an interview-style profile of a character. These tasks build different skills than analytical essays and often engage students who find literary analysis intimidating.

Grading a news article requires a different rubric from grading an essay. Instead of a thesis, the article needs a lede that delivers the most important information in the first sentence or two. Instead of interpretation, it needs accuracy, attribution, and a clear structure that moves from the most important facts to supporting details. Teachers who apply a literary essay rubric to a news article will end up penalizing the wrong things.

It is helpful to set a clear scenario so that students know what they are covering. A prompt might ask them to write a report on the investigation into the corruption scandal using only information established in the novel. This keeps the focus on comprehension and on adopting the conventions of the genre. It also gives the teacher a clear basis for checking factual accuracy.

Criteria that fit news writing

A useful journalism rubric includes several distinct rows. The lede should be concise and informative, the body should present facts in order of importance, and the tone should be objective rather than opinionated. Sources should be identified clearly, and the article should avoid inventing quotations or details not found in the story. Each of these criteria can be described at multiple performance levels so that scoring stays consistent.

• A lede that answers who, what, when, where, and why in a concise opening
• Facts arranged from most important to least important
• A neutral tone that separates reporting from opinion
• Accurate use of details that appear in the novel
• A headline that is specific and fits the article's content

Balancing creativity with accuracy

Students are often tempted to embellish when writing in a new genre. A student might invent a dramatic quote from one of the three wealthy men implicated in the scandal, which makes the article more exciting but undermines its accuracy. Teachers should decide in advance how strictly to enforce fidelity to the text and communicate that expectation clearly. Many choose to treat invented facts as a significant deduction while allowing reasonable inferences.

This is also an opportunity to discuss ethics in reporting. David's attempt to expose corruption raises questions about evidence, responsibility, and what happens when an investigation fails to bring anyone to justice. A reflective paragraph attached to the article can ask students to consider how a real reporter should handle those challenges. The reflection can be graded separately and often reveals sophisticated thinking.

Giving feedback on genre conventions

Feedback on a news article should address genre conventions directly. If a student buries the key information in the third paragraph, the comment should explain that readers of news expect the most important facts first. If the writing slips into opinion, the teacher can show how to rephrase a judgment as an attributed statement. Students learn the conventions faster when feedback explains why they exist.

AI-assisted review can speed up this work by checking for lede strength, headline fit, and unattributed claims against criteria the teacher has set. The teacher can then focus on the more subjective question of how effectively the article tells the story. This division of labor keeps feedback consistent across many papers without making it impersonal. It also frees time for comments about voice and clarity that students value most.

Connecting journalism to literary analysis

The best use of a news writing assignment is to connect it back to the novel's larger themes. After writing the article, students can compare how a news report presents the corruption story with how the novel presents it through David's personal struggle. That comparison highlights how genre shapes meaning and how the same events can feel different depending on who tells them. It also strengthens the analytical writing that follows.

Teachers who pair the two assignments often notice improved precision in later essays. Students who have practiced writing concisely and attributing information tend to be more careful about supporting claims with specific evidence. The journalism task becomes a bridge to stronger analysis rather than a separate side project. That payoff makes the extra planning well worth the effort.