current events essay writing

Tips for writing an Excellent Current Events Essay or Research Paper

Let's face it, writing a current events essay can be challenging if you are not adequately prepared. It is a laborious process, especially if you are to select a current event issue, formulate a topic, plan, write, and polish your essay within a tight deadline.

The bitter truth is that no professor will teach you how to write one. Well, at least not as deep as our detailed guide here will do in the next less than a quarter an hour of your time. Yet it is an assignment assigned at grades 6-8, high school, college, university, and sometimes even at Ph.D. levels.

In most cases, your role is to present points or concrete arguments about the event in question. In essence, you need to plan, research, and engage your best writing, critical thinking, and creativity skills. Good analysis, organization, and presentation are necessary more like when writing a synthesis essay or expository essay .

With all that in mind, let's find the way out. You can read this article and scoop some ideas on the elements that make a good current events paper, even if you are writing it for the first time.

What is a current events essay?

A current events essay describes a recent issue, situation, phenomenon, or happening that is interesting, drawing the attention of many people, shocking, or fascinating. In some cases, current event essays describe an event that is yet to happen. It helps relate what you have learned in class to the real-world situations that occur around you. Most current event essays are five-paragraph essays.

In a current events essay, you are to address the historical context, current state, and the potential short- and long-term effects of a given aspect of a current issue or phenomenon that has a global impact. In most cases, the topics will relate to concepts from the law, politics, international relations, technology, science, sociology, medicine and health, and other controversial societal issues. You will take a current event or issue and present it in its context.

It is a common assignment for students taking English writing classes, which is meant to assess writing, editing, and research skills. It also informs students about important occurrences across the world.

When writing one, you are to reflect on and form opinions about social justice and also learn how to spot publication bias. And as you write it, you get to hone your reading comprehension, summary, creativity, and critical thinking skills.

As well, writing an essay on current events helps you to develop your argumentative and persuasive skills.

Now that we know what a current events essay or the paper is let's explore the various steps you should take to write one successfully.

Steps to Write a Current Events Essay

Before everything else, let us show you the steps you need to follow when writing a current events essay. Although there is no one single proven way to approach such an essay better, these steps can help you avoid writer's block and write a current events essay that becomes your teacher's favorite. To write a current events essay, follow these steps:

1. Select a topic you find interesting

Although some professors or educators provide specific instructions about what topic to choose or write about, others leave it up to you (the student) to choose one. When allowed the flexibility of selecting a current events essay topic, you need to be very careful.

Check whether the instructions have specific time constraints on the topic you are to select. For instance, the instructions could stress that you focus on current events within the last year, one month, or five years.

You must also check whether your topic relates to a specific area, field, or industry. For example, understand whether it relates to education, banking, investments, technology, sports, business, religion, discrimination, gender, or politics.

Finally, check whether you need to choose a topic with some analytical aspects. This step should help you choose a topic that will not end up with a descriptive tone.

To choose a fit essay topic , you can focus on your notes, ask for insights from classmates and peers, or consult with your teacher. And as you select a topic, remember to choose one that is interesting, easy to find information about, and one you can write a complete 5-10 page essay on.

Suppose you are unsure and cannot get enough help from your teacher. In that case, you can engage an essay writing service for topic selection and further guidance.

Related Reading:

• Informative Speech topics to consider.
• Writing a descriptive essay the right way.
• Good topics and ideas for persuasive essays.
• Current and interesting argumentative essay topics.
• Tips for writing an informative essay.

2. Choose a reputable news source and select an article

Some of the good places to find topics and articles for a current events essay include New ELA, NY Times , National News, Local news websites, Sports News, The Atlantic , BBC News , Daily Mail, The Economist, The Guardian, Investopedia, Forbes, TIME Magazine, The Harvard Business Review, National Public Radio (NPR), CNN News , USA Today, The Wall Street Journal , The Washington Post , and other credible news outlets.

The source you select should be reliable, reputable, and credible. It should write well-researched, verified, and trustworthy news. After finding the source, research a fresh article as you write about a current event. Besides, choose an article on the correct topic and ensure it has the right information for your current events paper.

If you are writing a current events paper for a politics class, use the section of the major newspapers that deals with political matters. In the same way, if you are writing on science topics, target the science and technology section of the newspaper for appropriate articles.

Consider choosing from scholarly sources such as empirical journal articles, scholarly books, government documents, or peer-reviewed articles.

3. Read the selected article and take notes

After you have selected the article, read through it severally. In the first few instances, skim through the article to have a rough idea of its contents, then subsequently read as you take notes.

When reading, highlight the critical points within the article. If you are unsure of some vocabulary in the article, use a dictionary and note the contextual meaning of the words.

 You should then use the highlighted notes to identify the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Answer briefly the questions below:

• What happened?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

Determining these aspects helps you develop an angle of analysis, develop lead sentences, craft a strong thesis statement , and develop claims and arguments necessary for your current events paper. You can also document your thoughts about the article and its content.

4. Develop a thesis statement and hook for your essay

With the notes, you can develop a thesis statement and choose a good hook for your essay . A current events essay needs to be captivating, which means supporting the main arguments with credible evidence. Therefore, develop a strong thesis that each body paragraph will support using evidence.

If you are writing a current events essay on human trafficking during COVID-19, you can use the hook and thesis below:

Hook: In a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) , it emerged that the COVID-19 pandemic had had a devastating impact on the victims and survivors of human trafficking, with an increased targeting and exploitation of children and women.

Thesis Statement: It is time for world leaders, investigative agencies, and law enforcement agencies to come together and develop a platform that would curb human trafficking, especially during challenging times such as pandemics and natural disasters.

5. Select the sources you are going to use to support the thesis

Research is the most critical yet intimidating part of writing any paper. However, to set yourself up in the right direction, consider doing this:

• Understand the number of sources you are to use to determine the scope of your research
• Choose credible sources. This primarily depends on the instructions. Some professors and teachers will allow you to use media and business articles. At the same time, some will only accept essays written with scholarly sources.
• Know the scope of your research or paper before commencing research. Try to write down the main points that you will use to support the thesis then research.

These are blueprints for your research as you seek to expound on the 5Ws and H of your current events essay paper.

The sources should help you fortify your position. Find and quote from experts, public figures, and scholars in the field.

When researching, look for relevant passages. Then, skim and read the documents with the 5Ws and H in your mind. If a section has ideas, consider them and highlight the significant points. You can also use the organizing tools to organize ideas from the sources.

6. Create an outline

A current events essay follows the five-paragraph essay format:

Introduction

• Body paragraphs

The body section is where the rubber meets the road as you provide evidence to support the thesis. For example, you can use subheadings in the body corresponding to the 5Ws and H.

Below is a breakdown of what should go where:

• What is the event?
• What happened or is yet to happen?
• What are the consequences?
• Which media has covered the event, and when did it do so?

The answers to these questions should be brief. Your current events essay introduction aims to give the reader insight into the event. Brevity helps you to sound reliable, knowledgeable, and engaging. The introduction should not exceed five to six sentences in most cases unless it is a very long essay.

Body Paragraph 1

• Give a history of the event
• What factors led to the event, and who was involved

Body Paragraph 2

• Explain the two sides people can take regarding the event (one side agrees, the other disagrees)- give adequate reasons.

Body Paragraph 3

• Explain the significance of the event
• As yourself, "who will the event impact?"
• What will happen?
• What roles do the people involve play?
• What can be done to change things, and by who?
• Summarize the crucial details of your essay
• Discuss the possibility of bias in the article
• Reflect on how bias informs you of the way the article was created
• Tell your readers why the event is significant enough to cover in an essay.

Works Cited Page

• List of the sources used in the essay

7. Write the first draft

It is now time to make the outline count with the outline completely. Then, you can start organizing your research and developing ideas in your essay. We advise that you begin by writing the body paragraphs, then the introduction, finally winds up with the conclusion. We are of the opinion that writing the introduction last ensures that it is excellent, composed, and consistent.

Regardless of the process, even if you begin writing chronologically (from introduction to conclusion), only focus on writing and not perfection when developing the first draft.

Select from the important passages you read evidence that support your thesis. Paraphrase, quote, and summarize from the sources, then provide an appropriate citation. Write the respective headings, subheadings, and paragraphs, and use transitions to maintain a good flow.

Your first draft should be rough, which means writing and not editing. Then, when writing the conclusion , it should be a recap of your essay. It should have a rephrased thesis and some important points of your research.

To avoid writer's block, ensure you systematically complete the paper when you have the will and zeal to write. Do not wait until later. Instead, plan your essay and complete it in phases before the deadline.

8. Proofread and edit the essay

With everything completed, it is time to refine the first draft and turn it into a final draft. First, edit your essay for the flow of ideas and sentence structure. Check whether there are ambiguous sentences, run-on sentences, or sentences that don�t make sense and are correct. If essay phrases have been misplaced, replace them with the best ones.

Proceed to proofread your essay for spelling and grammar errors. To conclude the polishing process, countercheck the sources cited in your essay. Check if the citations are done per the preferred format and that sources used in the in-text citations appear in your list of references in the correct format.

If possible, have another person read your essay. Trust our online proofreaders to read your essay, highlight mistakes, and make necessary corrections. You will get a smart paper that explains the significance of these changes. Your essay sells ideas to your professor or markers and anticipates the best Grade.

Tips when writing a current events paper

Use the following tips to perfect your current events essay.

1. Always read, understand, and analyze the essay question or the essay prompt

Check the limiting terms that define the scope of the topic, the content terms specific to the task, and the directive terms that define what your essay will be about. Directive terms include discussing, evaluating, comparing, illustrating, or exploring.

2. Define your arguments as you plan to write the essay

Ensure you have claim statements , thesis statements, and good hooks related to the main topic. Make an informed opinion, position, or point of view on the topic.

3. Use evidence, reasoning, and scholarship.

Evidence should offer data and facts to support your claim. It could be statistics, examples, quotations, and facts. Reasoning helps connect the evidence to your main argument. You will have to use reason when evaluating the evidence to show how it fits in the context of your paper. The scholarship aspect helps show how your arguments relate to what you have cited.

4. Ensure that your essay has an excellent organization

Use good essay hooks and thesis statements, and write befitting background information in your introduction. Next, organize the body paragraphs using different paragraphing techniques for a good flow. Finally, let your conclusion leave the readers yearning for more from you. It should show how the topic fits a broader context of your discipline, the significance of your findings, and factors you have covered that might interest your readers.

5. Have an essay plan

An essay plan will help you avoid writer's block. It will also help break down the writing process's parts, making it easier to concentrate, focus, and achieve more.

6. Have an essay checklist to help you refine and polish the paper

Develop the checklist from the rubric or marking scheme if one is provided. If not provided, consider some factors for a successful essay and mark your paper against the checklist.

7. Cite sources and evidence in your essay

Check whether each of the in-text citations is done as per the requirements. Equally, ensure that your list of references is up-to-date and formatted correctly in MLA, APA , Chicago, or Harvard formats.

8. Do not plagiarize

Ensure that every piece of information you use is well-cited. Acknowledge others for their credible information as you use their evidence, findings, and data to write your essay. This also means referring to verified sources such as authoritative newspapers, government journals, company data, images, and scholarly articles.

9. Be impartial

When writing, describe an event objectively without taking a subjective position. Look at the causes, factors, and other background details of the event that are not accessible. Choose not to guess or misrepresent ideas. Instead, analyze the chosen issue or event critically. And if you are writing about an event yet to occur, write what is expected based on evidence. Make good predictions and offer rationale or justifications to support your arguments. Your current event essay must be objective, convincing, informative, and educative.

These current essay tips can be the only determinant for getting the best Grade off your current events essay. Perfect and polish your writing, reading and comprehension, analytical, and organization skills because that is what is being tested. Avoid using complicated vocabulary. Instead, focus on the simplicity required in scholarly writing.

Current Event Topics

We have brainstormed, researched, and developed various current event essay topics you can choose and write about. Alternatively, these topics can be a great starting point for brainstorming and developing an appropriate topic.

• How Twitter is a significant political tool
• The USA uses drone strikes to attack terrorists; how accurate is the move?
• Causes of the high cost of healthcare in the USA
• Shortage of nurses and healthcare workers in the USA
• Wildfires in Australia
• Is the WHO trustworthy?
• Is Big Pharma taking us around with COVID-19 vaccines?
• Controversies about green energy
• Ballooning student loans in the USA
• Is social media to blame for rising teenage suicides?
• Is TikTok better than Google?
• Trump's presidency and international relations
• Afghan women's rights under Taliban 2.0
• The Black Lives Matter Movement in America
• How COVID-19 changed the global politics
• Are mandatory vaccination laws legal?
• Should the USA reduce its strictness to illegal immigrants considering its built on the same workforce?
• Should children above 15 years be allowed to vote?
• Should the government be representative?
• Should developed nations stop funding corrupt developing countries?
• Should rich people be exposed?
• Do rich people control the world
• Are wars a tool to thwart developing nations?
• The war in Syria is a creation of selfish leaders
• Why America and Russia are not on good terms
• Should North Korea stop nuclear weapons manufacturing?
• Relationship between North Korea and the USA
• The impacts of COVID-19 on the Tokyo Olympic
• Eliud Kipchoge's 1:59 marathon Record
• Should NFTs be banned?
• Is Blockchain the next big thing for the world?
• Nations should negotiate with North Korea
• Causes of global hunger and poverty
• Is NATO an effective organization
• Did COVID-19 change the global healthcare system?
• Is it possible that we are headed for a third world war?
• Is China an observer of human rights?
• Is China the new world's superpower?
• China is the world's kitchen, a chief polluter
• Is the Indian Judicial system better?
• Foreign aid has hurt Africa for ages
• African leaders are mainly corrupt, and dictators
• Should Africa be recolonized
• Is China using loans and foreign aid to recolonize Africa?
• Is cycling better than football?
• Covid-19 and the Olympic games
• How covid-19 has affected sports
• Should euthanasia be legalized
• The endless destruction of Amazon and what governments are doing
• Sex work should be legalized
• Women's rights in Afghanistan
• Mental healthcare for the LGBTQ people
• How COVID-19 Exposed the Flaws of America's Private Health Insurance System
• Why should Korea not forgive Japan for its past war crimes?
• Did History Repeat Itself in Afghanistan?
• The Afghanistan-Taliban scandal
• Is Dubai a hub for international organized financial crimes?
• Social isolation of prisoners during covid-19?
• Was the media skewed in telling lies during the pandemic?
• The no-mask mandate in England
• Why is it time to lift COVID-19 restrictions?
• Mandatory vaccinations and global travel
• Was the alarm around COVID-19 necessary?
• Housing shortage in China
• Gender reveal parties are a waste of time
• Is democracy doing any good?
• Social distancing distanced people all over the world
• Vaccine equality
• Science and lies during the covid-19
• Politics behind climate change
• Fascism in the contemporary society
• Can Trump make it back in 2024?
• Covid-19 and property pricing in New York
• Media censorship and oppression
• The media only sings the tunes of the rich
• Effects of covid-19 on financial stabilities of families
• Being a Muslim in China
• Are electronics the ultimate weapons?
• Are the media houses making us more divisive through the news?
• The third hand in Myanmar chaos
• Africa and its ballooning foreign debts
• Why do African countries store their money abroad?
• Immigration and covid-19
• Access to food and water during the pandemic
• Should TikTok be banned?
• Is TikTok a tool that has enabled LGBTQ people to come out?
• Is universal basic income attainable?
• Are trade unions any better in contemporary society?
• Who runs the world?
• Role of the New Silk Road from China to Pakistan
• Justice in a divided country
• Is Kim Jong-Un displaying his insecurity by flexing his nuclear muscles?
• Is Trump among the best Presidents the USA has ever had?
• Is Medical marijuana a promise for terminally ill patients?
• Can medical marijuana be used to manage COVID-19 symptoms?
• Deepwater Horizon Explosion and the environment
• Walmart and gun ordinances
• Consumer behavior in the age of social media
• Nissan's CEO a wanted man
• The latest breakthroughs in Fusion power
• Elizabeth Holmes and her Theranos ideas
• Is Next-Gen Graphics the next big thing?
• Using CRISPR to reverse blindness
• Silicon valley's greatest disaster
• Thorium as the future of energy
• Apple's M1 Chip as a game-changer
• Rise of bank fraud
• Ponzi schemes in the 21 st Century
• The rise and fall of HTC
• Humanoid robots and the future

List of Current Events to Write About

We have listed elsewhere social issues that you can also look into as possible topics and titles for your current event essay. Apart from those, here are suggestions of recent events that you can check and pick an appropriate topic. First, focus on what is in the news pertaining to these areas, then choose your angle of analysis.

• Airline travel
• Artificial intelligence
• Assisted suicide
• Bilingual education
• Black lives matter
• Blockchain technology
• Border Security
• Capital punishment
• Charter schools
• Childhood obesity
• Citizen scientists
• Civil rights
• The civil war in Ethiopia
• Climate change
• Concussions and injuries in football
• Cyberbullying
• Cyber security
• Cybersecurity
• Digital divide
• Drug trafficking
• Early childhood development
• Early voting
• Electric vehicles
• Electronic voting
• Environmental laws
• Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam
• Executive order
• Factory farming
• Food security
• Fast food advertisements
• Flint water issues
• Foreign aid
• Freedom of speech
• Genetic engineering
• Gerrymandering
• Green energy
• Green New Deal
• Global Recession
• Hate crimes
• Hate speech
• Health insurance
• Healthcare access
• Heart diseases among footballers
• Human trafficking
• Immigration
• Investigative journalism
• Israel-Palestinian relations
• Land ownership
• Land use and management
• Lead and copper rule
• Lead toxicity
• Machine learning
• Me Too movement
• Minimum wage
• Misinformation
• Money laundering
• National elections
• Natural disasters (Tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, snowing, storms, etc.)
• Net neutrality
• Nuclear energy
• Offshore drilling
• Online anonymity
• Organic food
• Organized crimes
• Outsourcing
• Police reforms
• Police shootings
• Poor governance
• Racial profiling by law enforcement
• Russian hacking
• Scientific Research
• Self-driving cars
• Sex education
• Shale gas exploration
• Slacktivism
• Smart devices
• Social security
• Space exploration
• Stimulus packages
• Supreme Court
• Taliban and Afghanistan
• Trade tariffs
• Transgender rights
• Transnational crimes
• Ukraine and Russia
• Voter fraud
• Voting laws
• Water resources
• Water rights
• Water supply regulation
• White nationalism
• White privilege
• Women's rights
• World cycling tours
• Zero tolerance policies

Final Remarks

Now you understand how to write and what to include in a current events paper. We hope you are inspired to write one on your own following the steps, structure, and examples outlined above.

Related Read: Titling an article in an essay.

Although this guide is the surest way to write a quality paper, you can always look at samples of current event papers written in the past. You can also consult with peers and professors for the best ideas. Finally, you can choose from our list of topics and develop further ideas from our list of current events.

If you are not satisfied or confident with your research and writing skills, you are welcome to seek the help of our essay writing experts . We offer 24/7 professional support that can help you when stuck. Do not hesitate to contact us and ask us to write your current events paper.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

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Practical guide on how to format a current event essay 2024, rachel r.n..

• February 22, 2024
• How to Guides

Writing a current events essay can be tough if you’re not well-prepared.

It involves a lot of work, especially when choosing a current event, coming up with a topic, planning, writing, and polishing your essay within a tight deadline.

No professor will teach you how to write one as thoroughly as our detailed guide will in less than twenty minutes.

You usually present clear points or solid arguments about the event. You need to use your planning, research, writing, critical thinking, and creativity skills.

For example, good analysis, organization, and presentation are crucial when writing a synthesis or expository essay.

Now, let’s figure out how to do it. Read this article to get ideas on the elements that make a good current events paper, even if you’re doing it for the first time.

What You'll Learn

How to Format a Current Event Essay

What is a current events essay.

A current events essay is a type of writing that discusses and analyzes recent or ongoing events, issues, or developments worldwide. These essays are typically written in response to current news or topics that are of public interest.

A current events essay aims to provide readers with information, analysis, and insights into the chosen topic, offering an informed and up-to-date perspective.

The content of a current events essay can cover a wide range of subjects, including politics, economics, social issues, technology, science, culture, and more. Writers often include facts, statistics, and quotes from relevant sources to support their arguments and provide a well-rounded view.

Additionally, these essays may express the author’s opinions and interpretations, making them a blend of factual reporting and personal analysis.

Current events essays are valuable for staying informed about the world, fostering critical thinking, and encouraging discussions about contemporary issues. They can be assigned in academic settings or written for publication in newspapers, magazines, or online platforms.

Now that we have understood what a current events essay or the paper is let’s explore the various steps you should take to write one successfully.

Are you working on a Current Event Essay?

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Steps to Writing an Excellent Current Events Essay with Examples

Writing a current events essay involves analyzing and discussing recent news or issues in a clear and organized manner. When writing a current events essay, the best approach is to follow your teacher’s instructions to the latter. However, there is no proven record of anyone who has handled this essay topic better.

Here are steps to guide you through the process:

1. Choose a Relevant Topic

If your professor or educator has not provided specific instructions about what topic to choose or write about, start by considering your interests and the context of your assignment or class. Look for recent, pertinent topics, and societal or global significance. Use reputable news sources, academic journals, or government reports to identify potential subjects.

Example: Let’s say you’re interested in writing about the recent electric vehicle (EV) adoption surge. This topic is relevant because it addresses current trends in technology and sustainability.

2. Conduct a Thorough Research

After you select the topic you want to focus on, dive into primary and secondary sources to comprehensively understand the chosen topic. Utilize databases , official reports, expert analyses, and news articles. Take notes on key facts, statistics, and expert opinions.

Some of the best and trusted sites to get the most recent and legitimate articles for your current events essay include BBC News, Investopedia, Forbes, CNN News, TIME Magazine, Sports News, and other ranking news outlets.

From these research articles, you will gather information on the growth of EV sales, advancements in EV technology, government policies promoting EV adoption, and challenges the EV industry faces.

3. Make sure you understand the Context

Explore the historical background of the event or issue. Identify the key players, historical developments, and relevant contexts that contribute to the current situation. Understanding the context will help you present a well-informed analysis in your essay.

For example, in the above case, understand the historical context by researching the evolution of EVs, including milestones in battery technology and government initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. Identify key players such as Tesla, Nissan and government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Some of the things you need to ask yourself while exploring an event include:

• What happened?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

4. Create an Outline

Develop a detailed outline with clear sections for the introduction, body, and conclusion. Each body paragraph should have a specific focus or argument related to the current event. This structure helps maintain a logical flow and ensures that you cover all essential aspects of your chosen topic.

5. Write a Strong Introduction

Craft an introduction that captivates your reader. Start with a compelling hook, providing context for the current event. Clearly state the main thesis or purpose of your essay. Your introduction should highlight the following points:

• What is the event?
• What happened or is yet to happen?
• What are the consequences?
• Which media has covered the event, and when did it do so?

Example: Your hook can be: In recent years, electric vehicles have emerged as a promising solution to combat climate change and reduce reliance on fossil fuels . Provide an overview of the topic and your thesis statement: This essay will explore the factors driving the surge in electric vehicle adoption, including technological advancements, government incentives, and environmental concerns.

Read more on how to write a strong introduction for your paper

6. Develop Clear Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence introducing the main idea. Provide evidence, examples, or quotes from your research to support your arguments . Ensure smooth transitions between paragraphs to maintain a coherent flow of ideas.

7. Consider Multiple Perspectives

Acknowledge various viewpoints surrounding the current event. Discuss contrasting opinions and analyze the reasons behind them. This demonstrates your ability to think critically and present a well-rounded understanding of the issue.

Example: Acknowledge different viewpoints on EV adoption, such as concerns about the environmental impact of manufacturing EV batteries and the need for infrastructure development to support widespread EV usage

8. Write a Coherent Conclusion

Summarize the main points discussed in your essay. Emphasize the significance of the current event and its potential implications. Offer insights into possible future developments or actions. Craft a conclusion that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

Example: Summarize the main points discussed in the essay, highlighting the key factors contributing to the surge in EV adoption. Discuss the potential impact of EVs on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the need for continued innovation and government support in the EV industry.

9. Cite Your Sources:

Follow the citation style specified by your instructor (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). Ensure proper citation for all information, quotes, and ideas borrowed from other sources. This enhances the credibility of your essay and avoids issues of plagiarism.

Tips when writing a current events paper

Use the following tips to write the best-scoring current events essay paper:

1. Develop a Strategic Essay Plan

Begin your essay journey by creating a well-thought-out plan. This not only aids in preventing writer’s block but also helps break down the writing process into manageable components. By concentrating on each part, you can achieve greater focus and success.

Get more insights

2. Understanding the Essay Question

Before diving into the writing process, always read, understand, and analyze the essay question or prompt. Identify limiting terms, content terms, and directive terms that shape the scope and focus of your essay. This initial step is crucial for setting the foundation of your essay.

3. Define Your Arguments Early

Define your arguments as part of your planning process. Ensure your essay incorporates strong claim statements, compelling thesis statements, and engaging hooks relevant to the main topic. Develop an informed opinion, position, or point of view to guide your writing.

4. Utilize Evidence, Reasoning, and Scholarship

Incorporate evidence, reasoning, and scholarship effectively in your essay. Use data, statistics, examples, and quotations to support your claims. Employ reasoning to connect evidence to your central argument, showcasing its relevance. Highlight scholarly insights to emphasize alignment with cited sources.

5. Maintain Excellent Organization

Organize your essay meticulously to enhance its overall quality. Create captivating hooks and thesis statements in the introduction, strategically structure body paragraphs for a seamless flow, and conclude in a way that leaves readers eager for more. Address the broader context of your discipline and emphasize the significance of your findings.

6. Employ an Essay Checklist

Utilize an essay checklist to refine and polish your paper. If a rubric or marking scheme is provided, incorporate it into your checklist. Otherwise, create a checklist based on critical factors for a successful essay. This ensures a thorough evaluation of your work against predefined criteria.

7. Cite Sources and Evidence

Pay careful attention to citing sources and evidence. Ensure in-text citations adhere to formatting requirements such as MLA, APA, Chicago, or Harvard. Verify the accuracy of your references list to maintain academic integrity.

8. Avoid Plagiarism

Emphasize the importance of avoiding plagiarism. Acknowledge and cite every piece of information used, attributing credible sources. Rely on authoritative newspapers, government journals, company data, images, and scholarly articles.

9. Maintain Impartiality

Strive for impartiality in your writing. Objectively describe events without taking a subjective stance. Analyze causes, factors, and background details critically, avoiding guesswork or misrepresentation. For future events, base your predictions on evidence, offering rationale or justifications.

10. Refine Essential Skills

Focus on refining essential skills, including writing, reading, comprehension, analytical, and organizational skills. Embrace simplicity in scholarly writing by avoiding complicated vocabulary. Collectively, these tips form the foundation for achieving excellence in your current events essay and securing the best possible grade.

50 Current Event Essay Topics to write about

Our team of professional writers and educators have brainstormed, researched, and developed various current event essay topics you can choose and write about. Moreover, these topics can be a great starting point for brainstorming and developing an appropriate topic

• Global response to COVID-19
• Climate change and environmental policies
• Political developments in various countries
• Economic impact of the pandemic
• Vaccine distribution and accessibility
• Cybersecurity threats
• Technology and artificial intelligence advancements
• Social justice movements and protests
• International relations and conflicts
• Space exploration and developments
• Healthcare reforms
• Brexit and its implications
• Trade tensions between major economies
• Immigration policies and border control
• Rise of populism around the world
• Gun control debates
• Education reforms and challenges
• Impact of social media on society
• Global economic recovery post-pandemic
• Advances in renewable energy
• Natural disasters and their aftermath
• Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East
• Nuclear proliferation concerns
• Rise of nationalist movements
• Challenges in the pharmaceutical industry
• Developments in 5G technology
• Ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises
• Rise of digital currencies and blockchain
• Gender equality and women’s rights
• Impact of remote work on the workforce
• Aging population and healthcare challenges
• Global efforts to combat terrorism
• Political instability in specific regions
• Space tourism industry developments
• Artificial intelligence ethics and regulations
• Autonomous vehicles and their implications
• Sports events and controversies
• Global efforts to address poverty
• Developments in quantum computing
• Mental health awareness and policies
• Corporate social responsibility initiatives
• Challenges in the global supply chain
• Cultural heritage preservation efforts
• International response to humanitarian crises
• Nuclear energy policies and developments
• Food security and agriculture challenges
• Advances in medical research and treatments
• LGBTQ+ rights and legislation
• Impact of the gig economy on employment
• Global efforts to address plastic pollution

Now that you have an understanding of how to write and what to include in a current events paper. We hope that you now have the courage and inspiration to craft your own paper and get the best grades.

Here are examples of some of the essays on current events that have been written in the past.

Comprehensive Current Essay Paper on the Green Revolution 2.0

Current Event Essay Example on the Rise of Digital Currencies and the Future of Finance

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How to write a current events essay.

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Current events essays are common assignments given by English professors which means learning to write them is a key to passing and succeeding in English class. Writing an essay may seem like a simple assignment, but when it is due tomorrow, a blank word document and piles of books can seem paralyzing.

This post will cover everything you need to know about how to write a well-organized current events essay including where to find trustworthy help from an online resource like an essay writing service.

Because successful writing depends on how you research and organize an outline to guide your writing, this post will spend a lot of time talking about how to set yourself up for success using research and outlining tools.

We will cover:

• What a current events essay is

How to choose your topic

How to research efficiently.

• How to organize your research
• How to create an outline
• The writing process

Keys to successful proofreading

• Where to find assistance when you need it and how resources such as an essay writing service can help

What is a current events essay?

A current events essay is a written description of a recent situation, issue, or happening. Current events essays area often assigned by English professors as a way to teach students about the research, writing, and editing process.

Current events essays generally:

• Are written in standard essay format
• Include in-text citations and follow a specific citation format
• Summarize a recent or upcoming event known to the public

Sometimes a current events essay assignment will provide specific instructions about what topic to write about. Other times, students will have more flexibility with choosing a topic. Be sure to carefully review your assignment’s rubric and instructions. If you will be choosing your own topic, make note of the following before you narrow down topic choices:

• 1. Do the instructions place any time constraints on your topic? In other words, does your current event have to be something that happened within the last year or can it be something that happened five years ago?
• 2. Does your topic need to relate to a specific industry or genre such as politics, sports, or business?
• 3. Are there any analytical components that are supposed to be addressed by your essay or is it purely descriptive?

After you are clear on these three things, choose a topic you think will be most interesting to write about and easy to research. If you are not sure, try using Google Scholar to do some exploratory searches.

Choose a topic that is easy to find information about. If you are still not sure where to start, consider reaching out to an essay writing service for thought-joggers and topic inspiration. An essay writing service will generally be able to provide an example paper that can be helpful in generating topic ideas.

Tackling the research process can, no doubt, feel a bit intimidating. Here are some basic steps for getting started:

• 1. Know how many sources you will need so that you can allow enough time to research.
• 2. Choose credible sources. This will depend on the instructions you are given. some professors allow business or media articles while others will only want scholarly sources.
• 3. Know exactly what you are looking for before you start your research . Jot down three or four main bullet points of what you will be looking for while you are researching.

Think of these points like a road map. They will guide your reading so you know what passages will be relevant to your paper. Usually, you will be looking for information that relates to the What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How aspects of your topic.

Here is an example:

Election of Donald Trump as President of the United States

• What happened?
• U.S. presidential election
• Where did it happen?
• The United States, specifically Washington D.C.
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, their respective running mates, and electors
• Why did it happen?
• This section may include subjective elements or a discussion with multiple perspectives, unlike the others that are mostly objective facts.
• How did it happen?
• A majority of electoral votes were cast in favor of Donald Trump

The research process can be one of the most challenging and time-consuming parts of essay writing. Some high-quality essay writing services are able to provide assistance identifying and recommending credible sources. Generally, an essay writing service will do this by providing an annotated bibliography .

How to choose sources

Again, be sure to review your assignment’s instructions about what types of sources your professor is letting you use. Wikipedia is almost always not allowed. If you are allowed to use business and media sources, some relevant sites may include:

• The Harvard Business Review
• Investopedia
• TIME magazine

However, if you are asked to only use scholarly, peer-reviewed sources, you will want to use search engines such as Google Scholar, the Cochrane Database, JSTOR, or your school’s library database. Make sure that the sources you choose:

• Are empirical journal articles or
• Are scholarly books or government documents and
• Are peer reviewed

If you are having difficulty determining whether or not a source is scholarly, try reaching out to a professional researcher and editor who works with high quality essay writing service such as Ultius. Ensure the essay writing service you choose only hires professional writers .

Use the above criteria as a filter when choosing sources to read. Next, choose the sources you will read based on how relevant they are to your topic. Use the title or meta-description to inform you, skim the first couple paragraphs, or read the abstract if one is available.

Look for the most relevant passages

Follow these simple steps to stay organized while you are reading your research:

• 1. Pause and refresh. Remember that handy bullet point list you created in step #3? (You can also use a What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How list instead of bullets). That list is going to be your reading road map. Take a moment to review it. What information will you want to be looking for while you read?
• 2. Read with clear intention. Begin skimming and reading your documents with these bullet points in mind. When you get to a section that tells you something you will need to know, read it more thoroughly.
• 3. Use organizing tools. Use a highlighter tool or copy-paste excerpts to a separate document for later reference. Do not forget to include a citation if you copy-paste, so that you know where each excerpt came from. If highlighting, consider using a different color highlighter for each of the What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How subtopics.

Organize your research

Here are three basic methods of organizing your research:

• 1. If you are a visual learner , use a different color highlighter or text for research that relates to each of your What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How subtopics. Then you will know exactly what passages to use for each part of the outline you will create next.
• 2. If you like to compartmentalize, open a different Word document for each What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How subtopic. Copy-paste the most relevant research excerpts onto each document. Include citations.
• 3. Combine methods 1 and 2 above for compartmentalized color-coded research. That way, if you move research around in your outline, you will still know what aspect or subtopic each item relates to most.

Create your outline

A current events essay outline will follow this general format:

• Introduction

The body section will include additional subheadings. An easy way to start outlining these subheadings is to make them correspond to the What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How subtopics. For example, if writing a current events essay on the recent election of Trump, an outline might look like this:

• 1. Introduction. (1 page)
• a. A brief description of Donald Trump and Presidential elections. ( What )(0.5 pages)
• b. The political context leading up to and surround the 2016 election. ( Where and When )(0.5 pages)
• i. Candidates. (0.5 pages)
• ii. Senate. (0.5 pages)
• iii. House. (0.5 pages)
• iv. Campaign initiatives. (0.5 pages)
• v. State electors and public voters. (0.5 pages)
• d. Polarized political views and primary political issues surrounding the election. ( Why )(0.5 pages)
• i. Why Trump one the election over Hillary. (0.5 pages)
• ii. Conspiracy speculations and opposing opinions (0.5 pages)
• 3. Conclusion. Re-summarize the introduction and make note of any key takeaways. (1 page)

Notice the page count notes next to each subheading. Making note of page length per subtopic will also help you to write more efficiently and be sure to hit your assignment’s requirements.

Plug your research into your outline

Once you organize your research and create your outline, fitting the two together is like putting together a simple puzzle. Simply select the most important passages of research based on your organized subtopic documents or color-coded notes and place them under the outline heading each passage relates to. Also:

• Be sure to include the citations after each. Do not worry if your citations are not perfectly formatted; you can go back and correct them later. (An essay writing service can also help you correctly format your citations ).
• Do not try to paraphrase information yet. You will write everything in your own words later. Right now, the idea is simply to create a writing map for yourself so that you do not feel lost or stuck once you begin writing. Also, make notes to yourself on your outline. Jot down writing prompt ideas using keywords or simple phrases.

Remember, this process can be challenging the first couple times you try it. That is completely ok. It takes practice. Creating an outline or understanding what research passages relate to what subtopics are things a high-quality essay writing service can help with. But, be sure to find an essay writing service that can create customized research outlines rather than just providing example papers.

Once you are ready to write, begin by following these steps. Remember, your outline is your road map.

• 1. Copy-paste your outline to a new document. Save an original version of your outline in case you need to reference it. You will do your writing in the new version.
• 2. Start writing. As you write, follow your prompts, research, and subheadings. Erase the outline’s subheadings and prompt information as you write about it. Analyze and implement your research as you go, using the notes you wrote to yourself.
• 3. Keep your writing rough. Avoid the temptation to edit as you write. Just keep writing!
• 4. Start by writing a summary introduction about the entire current event. Keep your summary brief, about one paragraph. This will be the introduction. Do not worry about getting it perfect; you can revise it later. The goal is simply to write an overview.
• 5. Write the body of your essay following your outline. Use connecting phrases between paragraphs that explain how thoughts and ideas are related.
• Finally, write your conclusion. Your conclusion will be a re-cap of the entire essay. It will be similar to the introduction, but will re-state important points the research demonstrated.

Writer’s block can be a stressful obstacle for many students. If you are finding it difficult to get the words to flow, consider reading an example essay—which a professional essay writing service can provide —to inspire your writing.

Now it is time to go back and edit. During the proofreading process, try these 3 steps:

• 1. Edit your essay for flow and sentence structure. Fix any awkward phrasing or elements that don’t make sense.
• 2. Next, proofread your essay again for spelling and grammar errors.
• 3. Finally, ensure all your sources are cited correctly. If you are not sure how to follow a specific citation format, ask your professor for help or reach out to an essay writing service for examples of how a particular citation style should look.

Ask for help when you need it

Asking for help is completely ok, and actually recommended . When we have help, we often learn more productively and retain information better.

Despite the many types of essay writing services available online today, high quality essay writing services can be an excellent source of help. Instead of choosing just any paper writing service, the key is to choose the best essay writing service to fit your needs.

Here are some tips for choosing a high quality essay writing service to help with your current events essay:

• Read reviews.
• Ask for examples of the essay writing service’s writing and editing to make sure the quality is up to par.
• Make sure the service provides outlining, researching, and editing services in addition to writing.
• Steer clear of free services (they sometimes plagiarize content)!
• Make sure the essay writing service allows you to message your writer directly.

Follow the steps we covered in this post and choose a reliable essay writing service , and you will be on the road to writing an A+ current events essay.

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How to Write a Current Event Essay: Tips, Structure, Topics, Example

Students are often tasked with the responsibility of how to write a current events essay paper. This paper assesses their research, writing, and editing skills. It also helps them keep tabs on the occurrences in the world and draw a relationship between them and their possible effects.

When writing this kind of paper, reflecting on a situation and exercising your critical thinking and creativity is essential. This writing also develops your argumentative and persuasive skills .

What Is a Current Events Essay?

Unlike most papers, a current events essay focuses on clearly and effectively outlining a particular phenomenon, situation, or happening. The event has to be interesting enough to draw most people’s attention and evoke different emotions from them. On rare occasions, this kind of writing could also describe an event that has yet to occur.

This kind of writing requires you to address the phenomenon’s historical context, current state, and potential effects. As a result, your topics will relate to concepts in fields such as technology, politics, medicine and health, sociology, science, international relations, law, and controversial societal issues and standards.

Current Event Paper Format

Having defined what this kind of paper is about, how about diving into details about its format? Before getting into intricate details about event paper writing, how about taking a detour to learn more about EssayAxe ? We are a cheap essay writing service you can confidently rely on. These are the reasons why you should hire us to work on your assignment:

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• Our rates are student-friendly , and hiring us could save time and help you earn good grades.

How Do You Write a Summary of an Event?

Back to the format of writing current events papers, these steps will help you better approach this kind of essay. They will also help you avoid writer’s block and develop a well-structured essay. Follow these steps on how to write a current events report:

1. Select an Exciting Topic

Your tutor may provide a specific topic or instructions for this essay. On other occasions, they might ask you to select a topic and write an essay about it. The latter might sound easy, even though most students fail at approaching it. Therefore, you must be very careful when choosing a topic for your writing.

Before settling on a topic, go through the tutor’s instructions to establish the constraints of your essay’s topic. Some tutors specify the timeframe of the events they want to write about. Others limit the subject or field they want the writing to be about. Some instructions will also dictate the tone of your paper. For instance, an analytical essay should not have a descriptive tone.

Current Events Essay Topics

How do I make my current event article engaging and interesting? The first step is to choose the right topic. Focus on your notes or news outlets for ideas on what to write about. Ask for insights from your mates or tutor. Alternatively, consult our team for information on what to write about.

Meanwhile, here are examples of current events to write about:

• How can we control inflation?
• Should college be free?
• Should all college debt be forgiven?
• Is the U.S. going to go into recession?
• Was the defunding of police departments a good idea?
• What should be the rules for the repayment of college loans?
• Is the U.S. economy becoming stronger or weaker?
• How important is it to reduce the Federal budget deficit?
• Should the death penalty be outlawed throughout the U.S.?
• Should the United States raise the minimum wage for workers?
• How is COVID-19 changing working in America? Around the world?
• Does it make sense to give U.S. citizenship to all babies born in the United States?
• What is causing the increasingly high cost of healthcare in the United States?
• Does better health care for everyone make a better and stronger economy in the U.S.?
• How should the U.S. respond to cyber hacking by Russia, China, and other countries?

2. Choose a Reputable News Source and Select an Article

What are some good sources for finding current events to write about? You could base your essay on sources like media publications. Some of them include:

• National News
• Sports News
• The Atlantic
• The Economist
• The Guardian
• Investopedia
• TIME Magazine
• The Harvard Business Review
• National Public Radio (NPR)
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Washington Post

Remember, your source should be credible, reliable, and reputable. It should have a history of writing trustworthy news. You could also base your essay on publications on empirical journal articles, government documents, scholarly books, and peer-reviewed articles.

3. Read the Selected Article Keenly and Take Notes

After specifying the article you want to write about, read through it carefully, jotting down important details. If you are unsure about the vocabulary used in the article, look it up and note the contextual meaning of words. Identify the five Ws in the article:

• What happened?
• Where did it happen?
• When did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

Answers to these questions will help develop an angle for your analysis. It will also help build key sections of your essay like the lead sentences, thesis statement, title, claims, and arguments.

Read Also: Can You Plagiarize Yourself and What Are the Consequences?

4. Develop a Thesis Statement and Hook for Your Essay

How do you start an event essay? Using your notes, develop a thesis statement for your essay. Ensure you are creative enough to come up with a unique statement. In the same breath, it should be strong enough to form the basis of your arguments.

For instance, if you are writing about human trafficking during the COVID-19 pandemic, here is an example of a thesis statement and hook statement.

Thesis Statement

It is time for world leaders, law enforcement agencies, and investigative agencies to team up and develop structures and measures to curb human trafficking, especially during natural disasters and pandemics.

A study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had dire effects on the victims and survivors of human trafficking; there was an increased targeting exploitation of women and children.

5. Choose the Sources You Wish to Use to Support the Thesis

How do I make sure my current event article is accurate and unbiased? Establish the sources you wish to use to determine the scope of your essay. They have to be credible. If your instructions specify the sources for your paper, bear that in mind. When researching, highlight the specific pages with information you will use to support your arguments.

How do I cite my sources in a current event article? The style depends on the instructions specified by your tutor.

READ ALSO: Best Conclusion Generator Top 5 Ones That Work

6. Create an Outline

Your current events essay should follow the five-paragraph essay format:

Introduction

• 3 body paragraphs

The three body paragraphs should include arguments backing up the thesis statement.

How do I write a strong introduction for my current event article? The introduction paragraph should brief the reader on the event’s details by answering the five Ws. Remember not to make it too long; five to six sentences should work.

Body Paragraphs

The details of the first body paragraphs should explain the factors that led to the event and how they influenced it. The second paragraph should highlight the two sides people can take regarding the event and provide adequate reasons for it. The third paragraph should explain the significance of the event and who it will impact.

How do I conclude my current event article effectively? The conclusion should summarize the crucial details of the writing. It should also discuss the possibility of bias in the article, reflect on how bias informs how the article was created and why it was essential to highlight the event’s significance.

What Are Some Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Current Event Article?

These are the most commonly highlighted mistakes students make with this kind of writing:

• Spelling errors
• Pronoun errors
• Using irrelevant images
• •Direct rewriting of original news
• Lack of clarity
• Too much or little details

If you were wondering how to write a current events essay, these details help you write your paper. If you need help, reach out to us.

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How to Write a Current Events Essay

• Jun 13, 2008
• Research paper

A current event essay will address the historical context and long term effects of a given aspect of current happenings in the world . Usually, such a topic will stem from the realm of politics, law, international relations, or some other controversial issue. For instance, The United States presidential election of 2008 . More often than not you will have to argue or present some sort of point about the given current event. This will require research and critical thinking skills. A current events essay provides the unique challenge of presenting a modern-day issue in the context of history . If, again, your topic is the U.S. Presidential election 08, you should be able to provide good analysis of possible outcomes of the election and its long-term effects over the social, political, and economical situation in the United States and the rest of the world.

Research information that is not yet printed in textbooks

Once again, research is the key to such an essay. What makes a current events essay different, however, is that relevant information is usually not yet printed in books . Therefore, journals, magazines, and websites will be of great use to the writer . News websites like BBC News , The New York Times , CNN.com would be of great help. However, websites like Digg or Yahoo! Buzz , or Google News are the best source for current events information since many, if not all, news corporations provide biased information that is approved by a political force that funds it. Social bookmarking services like Digg make it possible for any user to submit news which makes it impossible to neglect opinions. Moreover, they present all possible opinions and arguments which means you won't suffer long researching the issue. Research needs to be geared to providing a broad understanding of historical context and lasting impact of the current event. It can be assumed that there is some sort of progression of events that have allowed the given current event to have the impact that it is having on the world (region, community, anything). This needs to be carefully analyzed and incorporated into the writing. It is also important for the writer to develop a strong, multi-layered thesis that addresses the complexity of many current events.

Template of a Current Events Essay

Introduction.

• Should include a brief discussion of the historical context of the current event
• The thesis should include a relevant position or point taken about the current event topic

Body Paragraphs

• Present evidence in support of the thesis statement
• Be adequately supported by evidence from credible sources
• Address the complexities and historical intricacies of the given topic
• Re-examine the historical context of the current event
• Address potential lasting issues of the current event

If you struggle with college essay writing, Personal Writer is here to help. Our expert writers will produce custom-written, completely original and high-quality essays and research papers for an affordable price. Contact us with an inquiry. 

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How to Write a Current Events Summary

Last Updated: February 12, 2023 Fact Checked

Choosing a News Article

Preparing to write, summary section, reflection section, final touches.

This article was co-authored by Richard Perkins . Richard Perkins is a Writing Coach, Academic English Coordinator, and the Founder of PLC Learning Center. With over 24 years of education experience, he gives teachers tools to teach writing to students and works with elementary to university level students to become proficient, confident writers. Richard is a fellow at the National Writing Project. As a teacher leader and consultant at California State University Long Beach's Global Education Project, Mr. Perkins creates and presents teacher workshops that integrate the U.N.'s 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the K-12 curriculum. He holds a BA in Communications and TV from The University of Southern California and an MEd from California State University Dominguez Hills. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 262,909 times.

A current events summary is a short description of an event that has recently happened or is going to happen. Current events summaries are often assigned by junior and senior high school educators for the purpose of teaching research, writing, and editing skills. The following steps will help you create a current events summary that is accurate, informative, and readable.

• Some possible news sources might include your local newspaper or larger newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and others.
• Check with your teacher for suggestions. He may have specific news sources to use.

• Most major newspapers have sections on their websites dedicated to certain topics. For example, the Washington Post has a section dedicated to “Tech.”
• Search online for an article on one of these topics. For example, try searching “healthcare news” to find new information.

• An article that is one to two paragraphs long is probably not going to be lengthy enough.

• Look up any words you don’t know.
• Take notes on the article or highlight passages that you think are important.

• The headline typically indicates the article’s main idea, but the article will likely include more information that is relevant to your summary.
• Choose five main points from the article that you think are important.
• Find some keywords to get the main idea across to the people. [1] X Research source

• Who: This is the person or group involved in the story. For a story on a recent arson case, you might say, “The people involved are four teenage boys who were charged with arson, a police investigation team, and the community that lost its historic baseball stadium.”
• What: This is the event or the action discussed in the story. In an arson case, it might be: “The oldest wooden baseball stadium in the country burned to the ground.”
• When: This is the date and time when the event took place: “The stadium burned down at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 29.”
• Where: This is where the event took place: “The baseball stadium was in the middle of the city, surrounded by residences.”
• Why: This is the cause or reason for the event: “The summer has been unusually dry and hot. The stadium had been sitting empty for five years and was not patrolled by security.”
• How: This point explains the ways in which the events took place and the connections between them: “The teenagers walked into the stadium and began playing with lighters and loose debris. Once the fire was set, they ran off.”

• Think about the story’s connection to your community, the nation, or the world, for example.

• When you recounted the article to someone else, you highlighted the most important parts of the article. These things will go in your outline. Now your job is to put them in an order that makes sense.

• Depending on your assignment, this might be three or four sentences, or it might be seven to nine sentences. Check your assignment for your length requirement.

• Even though the reflection is short (usually just a paragraph), you should still aim to make an argument , at least to some degree. Determine the main point that you want to make and think about how you will support that main point.

• Some teachers don’t allow the use of “I” (first person) in these reflections. Check with your teacher to determine if you can write in first person or not.

• Don’t just string together random thoughts about why the news story is important.

• Take a look at your verbs. If you use boring or the same verbs, your audience will get bored. See if you can make efficient choices of great action verbs.
• If you are handwriting your summary, you may need to write it out again as a clean copy after you’ve corrected any errors. For this reason, it may be preferable to type out the summary. Some teachers may require a typed paper.

• If you have a grading rubric for the assignment, review this before turning in the assignment. Make sure you have met all the requirements to ensure a good grade.

• Lee, Morgan. “California Regulators Approve Higher Electricity Rates for Most Residents.” The Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2015. Web. 4 July 2015.

Community Q&A

• Every teacher’s assignment is going to be a little bit different. Make sure you follow your assignment exactly. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/how-to-write-summary-example
• ↑ https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/minilesson/asking-and-answering-5-ws-and-h-questions
• ↑ http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/5w1h.html
• ↑ www.acisd.org/getFile.cfm?serverFileName=3D7039FC7A-D973-59AD-3C95BCBCFDC1039D.pdf
• ↑ http://alt-resource.teams.leedsmet.ac.uk/how-to-write-a-reflection
• ↑ https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-a-Summary

About This Article

A current events summary is a short review of a recent news story. To write your own, start by finding an interesting story from a reputable source, like a popular newspaper or news website. Read the full article and look up any words or phrases you don’t understand. Then, read the article again and take note of the most important facts, like who was involved, where and when the story took place, why it happened, and how it happened. Use these notes to write your summary. In your first sentence or 2, give a brief summary of what happened. Then, write a few more sentences to give your readers the extra details they need to know. For more tips from our Education co-author, including how to write a reflection on your current events summary, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Current Event Essay

Kelly chester.

Current event essays are assigned to inform students about important occurrences around the world. Students will learn to reflect and form opinions about social justice while also learning how to look for publication bias. As an academic skill, current events essays enhance reading comprehension skills and allow students to strengthen their argument writing skills.

Explore this article

• Choose an Appropriate Newspaper or Periodical Article
• Determine Who, What, Where, When and How
• Develop a Supported Argument for Your Current Events Essay
• Make Current Events Connections and Address Biases

1 Choose an Appropriate Newspaper or Periodical Article

Choose an article from a reliable source, such as a major newspaper or periodical either in print or online, that best fits the current events assignment your teacher assigned you. For example, if your science teacher has assigned you a current events essay, use either the science and technology section of a major newspaper or an approved science publication or website to find an article suitable for your essay.

2 Determine Who, What, Where, When and How

After choosing an article, read through the article several times and highlight important points within the piece. Use a dictionary to define difficult words and read the article aloud to aid in reading comprehension. After reading, use your highlighted notes to jot down who, what, where, when and why. This will enable you to determine the angle of the article. Once you have an angle, develop a thesis statement that you can support using your article. For example, if you are writing about an article on global warming, you might use the following thesis: The UN states that world leaders must come together to stop global warming.

3 Develop a Supported Argument for Your Current Events Essay

In the first paragraph, introduce your article by sharing the title of the article, the author and publication. Then briefly summarize the article and state your thesis. Refer back to your highlighted article and use the body paragraphs to explain how the article proves your thesis statement. For example, if we were to use the global warming thesis statement, the body paragraphs would explain how the article proves that leaders and countries need to come together to strategize how to prevent further global warming.

4 Make Current Events Connections and Address Biases

After you have completed the body of your current events essay, move to complete the conclusion. Be sure to reaffirm your thesis once more and make any other final thoughts or observations in your conclusion. The conclusion is a suitable place to discuss the possibility of bias in your article. For example, many newspapers tend to write to a very specific type of audience. Use the final moments of your essay to reflect on how bias informs you of the way in which your article was created.

• 1 PBS: Current Events Awareness NOW Classroom
• 2 Education World: Twenty-Five Great Ideas for Teaching Current Events
• 3 Freakonomics: How Biased Is Your Media?
• 4 Huffington Post: World Running Out of Time to Stop Global Warming

About the Author

Kelly Chester is an educator and writer who has worked in both public and private schools for almost a decade. Her areas of expertise include literature, writing, history and art for adolescents. In addition to writing reports for NYSAIS, she has also written a biography on artist Frank Covino, which was published in the anthology “Teaching Lives.”

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Invitational a.

Seven states legalized marijuana in some form on Election Day while one proposal failed. “This is really day one of a decade-or-more-long process of bringing this industry into the light and getting rid of the illicit market,” Richard Miadich, one of the authors of California’s Proposition 64, told Business Insider. The landmark election brings a few victories for the budding legal market, which is on pace to hit $20 billion in revenue by 2020, according to the Marijuana Business Daily. Discuss the issues surrounding the legalization of marijuana, including the proposals on ballots this past fall, in Texas and nationally.

INVITATIONAL B

Donald Trump won the election, beating out Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. He is the 45th president of the United States. But the election process itself was not without problems. Discuss the problems surrounding the process in last fall’s presidential election.

In remarks at CIA Headquarters during his first week in office with about 40 invited supporters in the audience, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth.” NBC Broadcaster Chuck Todd said it may be the worst relationship between the president and the news media since Richard Nixon. This complicated relationship played out in the White House press corps, media coverage of the presidency and on social media. How?

“Protecting our borders from the illegal movement of weapons, drugs, contraband, and people, while promoting lawful entry and exit, is essential to homeland security, economic prosperity, and national sovereignty.” The mission of the Homeland Security Department of Customs and Border Protection seems clear. Yet over the last year, just how the borders of the United States should be secured and from whom has come into question. Elaborate.

This year, meeting as part of the Jan. 10 - May 29 biennial legislature, the Texas House is as Republican-dominated as the Texas Senate – both roughly two-thirds GOP majority – and Texas remains a conservative stronghold. In their 140 days, legislators will discuss legislation ranging from the trivial to the monumental. Most of the legislation will go unnoticed and will never make it out of committee. Some legislation, however, will gain national attention setting precedent for other states. Discuss some of the actions and pieces of legislation that have drawn national attention and where they have gotten their support.

5 Prompts on Current Events

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Looking for a way for your teens to think deeply about some of today’s issues?

This week’s prompts will give your teens a chance to look at current events, express their opinions, and practice persuading readers. Each one of these prompts has a link so your teens can read more about the issue.

Warning: You may want to check the sites out before your teens do. Though I am careful which links to include, inappropriate material may appear on the other sites after I’ve posted the links.

Ready? Let’s go . . .

1. Lethal Injections

When a jury convicts someone and the judge gives a sentence of death by lethal injection, there’s a new problem.

According to some reports, lethal injections are considered cruel and unusual punishments because they do not always work correctly or quickly. In fact, Pfizer has refused to let their drugs be used for lethal injections anymore: “Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment,” according to Fox News .

Lethal injections are not only used for capital punishment but also to kill babies before aborting them. Read this article on lifenews.com to find out what is in the lethal injection and how it is being used.

• What is your opinion of capital punishment? Use at least two solid reasons or facts to support your view.
• If legal drugs cannot be found to carry out death sentences, how should those violent offenders be executed? Give at least one method and explain it.
• In years past in England and Europe, those found guilty of a crime could be literally torn limb from limb by being tied to two horses, or they could be eviscerated (cut open while still alive). This is why the infant United States adopted a stance against “cruel and unusual punishment.” Do you believe it is cruel and unusual punishment for a violent offender to experience anxiety, a slow-working drug, or an ill-working drug while being executed with a lethal injection? Support your view with at least two solid reasons or facts.
• What is your view of using a lethal injection on second-trimester babies so their aborted body parts can be intact for selling? Write a paragraph or essay explaining your view. Use at least two solid reasons to defend your view.
• How is capital punishment different from abortion? How is it similar? Compare and contrast them in a paragraph or essay. Here’s a tutorial on compare-and-contrast writing, just in case.

2. Euthanasia

It is ironic that while Pfizer blocks the use of their drugs in legal executions of violent criminals, it seems to be acceptable to other companies to make drugs to euthanize ordinary people. Case in point: the number of victims of euthanasia in The Netherlands has skyrocketed. But The Netherlands is not alone in this trend.

Dementia, depression, and other reasons are given for these deaths. You can read about euthanasia in Canada here.

• What is your opinion of euthanasia? Support your view with at least two solid reasons or facts.
• Write about a time in history when euthanasia was misused.
• Can you envision euthanasia being abused by family members or by those in power? Make a list of the ways you think it could be abused.
• Euthanasia is employed in the novels The Giver and in The Children of Men to get rid of undesirable members of society, and by “undesirable” I mean twins, older people, sick, those who do not conform to society’s norms, and so on. Describe how euthanasia is used in a book you’ve read or in a movie you’ve seen. Was it viewed as positive or negative?
• Killing someone by euthanasia for physical or psychological reasons is viewed as compassionate: saving the person from suffering. What other way can euthanasia be viewed? Choose one word and write a paragraph to explain how that word can be used in a discussion on euthanasia.

3. Biological Men Competing in Women’s Sports

Some biological boys and men who identify as woman (transgender females) would like to compete in women’s sports. However, as males tend to be faster and stronger than females, this presents a problem for women’s sports. In fact, trans women have a twelve percent “competitive advantage” over biological women.

USA TODAY  reports that “in the Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation, signed on Inauguration Day, the Biden administration said that any school that receives federal funding must allow biological boys who self-identify as girls onto girls’ sports teams or face action from the federal government.”

• What is your opinion of biological males, who identify as female, participating in women’s sports? Support your view with at least two solid reasons or facts.
• If transgender females are skilled in sports, how can they participate without compromising women’s sports or being unfair to women competitors? Write a “how I propose to fix this problem” paragraph or essay.
• Why do you think a man would want to be a woman or a woman would want to be a man? Write your ideas.

4. Green Energy

Governments and consumers are trying to find greener, safer energy sources. Solar and wind power are popular alternatives to fossil fuels such as gas, coal, and oil.

Solar panels for home have a life span of, at the most, thirty years. And they contain harmful materials like lithium and cobalt. Batteries for electric cars contain lithium. How can they be recycled without harming the soil and water? When a wind turbine breaks, can the fiberglass blades be recycled?

Read this article to learn more about the problem.

In addition, this green energy is harming animals, even some threatened species. A solar farm is reportedly killing hundreds of desert tortoises and lighting thousands of birds on fire annually. Wind turbines on one California farm kill almost 5,000 birds a year, including golden eagles.

And here’s an article showing how one student makes solar panels from food waste.

• How can dangerous materials from solar panels and fiberglass blades from wind turbines be recycled or reused safely? Write a “how I propose to fix this problem” paragraph or essay.
• Which causes more environmental problems: using fossil fuels or using green energy such as solar and wind? Support your view in a paragraph or essay with at least two solid reasons or facts.
• If fossil fuels are less and less available, what will planes use for fuel or how will plastics and other products that rely on fossil fuels be manufactured? In a paragraph or essay, write your ideas for substitutes for fossil fuels.
• How can solar and wind farms become safer for animals? Do some research on what others propose and evaluate their ideas based on the feasibility. Or write your own ideas.

5. The Power of Connotations

The Colorado House of Representatives voted to remove the words “illegal alien” from their state laws and substitute them with “undocumented immigrant” or “foreign national.”

Stephen Lebsock, the Democratic Representative behind the bill, says that “aliens are from other planets. We should not be referring to human beings as aliens,” according to the Denver Post . And the radio station K99 in Colorado quotes him as saying that the term “illegal alien” is “outdated and hurtful language.”

Click or tap here to read more about connotations and how they affect us. Teens weigh in on the topic with their choice of four prompts .

Looking for more intriguing high school prompts? Follow this link >>

Would you like some fun middle school prompts? Follow this link >> 

And find more prompts and tutorials here. >>

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Opinion | NPR suspends an editor for his essay blasting … NPR

The firestorm caused by uri berliner’s critical essay in the free press continues to rage.

When a senior editor at NPR recently wrote a 3,500-word essay for another outlet, blasting where he works and saying that NPR had “lost America’s trust,” my first thought, quite frankly, was, “ … and he still works there?”

Well, it was learned on Tuesday that the editor in question, Uri Berliner, is currently serving a five-day suspension without pay. NPR media writer David Folkenflik reported the suspension began last week. Folkenflik wrote, “In presenting Berliner’s suspension Thursday afternoon, the organization told the editor he had failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists. It called the letter a ‘final warning,’ saying Berliner would be fired if he violated NPR’s policy again. Berliner is a dues-paying member of NPR’s newsroom union but says he is not appealing the punishment.”

Berliner, who has been at NPR for 25 years, wrote his scathing essay for the online news site The Free Press, a publication on Substack. Folkenflik described The Free Press as a “site that has become a haven for journalists who believe that mainstream media outlets have become too liberal.”

The suspension does not mean the firestorm created by Berliner’s essay has been suppressed. Folkenflik wrote, “Yet the public radio network is grappling in other ways with the fallout from Berliner’s essay for the online news site The Free Press. It angered many of his colleagues, led NPR leaders to announce monthly internal reviews of the network’s coverage, and gave fresh ammunition to conservative and partisan Republican critics of NPR, including former President Donald Trump.”

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote , “After Mr. Berliner’s essay was published, NPR’s new chief executive, Katherine Maher, came under renewed scrutiny as conservative activists resurfaced a series of years-old social media posts criticizing former President Donald J. Trump and embracing progressive causes. One of the activists, Christopher Rufo, has pressured media organizations into covering controversies involving influential figures, such as the plagiarism allegations against Claudine Gay, the former Harvard president.”

Maher was not at NPR at the time of her posts and, furthermore, the CEO has no involvement in editorial decisions at the network.

But Berliner told Folkenflik in an interview on Monday, “We’re looking for a leader right now who’s going to be unifying and bring more people into the tent and have a broader perspective on, sort of, what America is all about. And this seems to be the opposite of that.”

In a statement earlier this week, Maher said, “In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen. What matters is NPR’s work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests.”

As far as Berliner’s essay, many, particularly inside NPR, are pushing back against his various assertions, including that NPR has a liberal bias.

Mullin wrote for the Times, “Several NPR employees have urged the network’s leaders to more forcefully renounce Mr. Berliner’s claims in his essay. Edith Chapin, NPR’s top editor, said in a statement last week that managers ‘strongly disagree with Uri’s assessment of the quality of our journalism,’ adding that the network was ‘proud to stand behind’ its work.”

Tony Cavin, NPR’s managing editor for standards and practices, pushed back against specific claims made by Berliner and told the Times, “To somehow think that we were driven by politics is both wrong and unfair.”

NPR TV critic Eric Deggans tweeted , “Many things wrong w/terrible Berliner column on NPR, including not observing basic fairness. Didn’t seek comment from NPR before publishing. Didn’t mention many things which could detract from his conclusions. Set up staffers of color as scapegoats.”

So what happens now? Will Berliner be in further trouble for criticizing the CEO in an interview with Folkenflik, his NPR colleague?

Berliner told Folkenflik, “Talking to an NPR journalist and being fired for that would be extraordinary, I think.”

I urge you to check out Folkenflik’s piece for all the details. And, by the way, kudos to Folkenflik for his strong reporting on his own newsroom.

CNN’s response

In Tuesday’s newsletter , I wrote how “King Charles” — the limited series featuring Gayle King and Charles Barkley — has ended after 14 shows. I wrote that the network had “pulled the plug” on the show.

CNN said that description was inaccurate and that I was wrong in framing it the way I did.

While I did say that CNN announced from the beginning that the show was a limited series, I also wrote that the show reached its ending “a little ahead of time.” The network, however, said it was clear all along that the show was scheduled to end in the spring, that it is spring right now, and the show was not canceled early.

A CNN spokesperson told me, “‘King Charles’ has come to the end of its limited run, as we announced when it launched last fall that it would run through spring. The show was a great addition to CNN’s lineup, with the youngest, most affluent, and most diverse P2+ audience in its cable news time period and brought new audiences to CNN. It’s inaccurate to report that the show was canceled as it went through its full run and duration of the limited series. We hope to work with both of these incredible talents in the future as they balance their very busy schedules.”

With the NBA playoffs about to begin, Barkley is about to head into extra duty at his main job as studio analyst for TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”

The show’s average viewership was under a half million and lagged behind competitors Fox News and MSNBC, but CNN said it was pleased that the King-Barkley broadcast brought new audiences to CNN. It pointed to this statistic from Nielsen via Npower that said 43% of the “King Charles” audience was nonwhite, compared to 7% for Fox News and 27% for MSNBC during that Wednesday at 10 p.m. Eastern hour.

Smartmatic and OAN settle suit

Smartmatic, the voting technology company, and One America News, the far-right TV network, have settled their lawsuit. Smartmatic was suing OAN, claiming the network lied that the company rigged the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden and against Donald Trump.

Neither side disclosed the terms of the settlement.

Smartmatic still has pending lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax. And OAN is still facing a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. That’s the company that Fox News settled with out of court a year ago by agreeing to pay Dominion a whopping $787.5 million.

Missing at the Masters

According to Sports TV Ratings , Sunday’s final round of The Masters golf tournament on CBS averaged 9.58 million viewers, which was down 20% from last year’s final round, which averaged 12.05 million. This shouldn’t be a surprise. This year’s final round lacked drama, with winner Scottie Scheffler pretty much in control throughout the day.

Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis noted that in the past three decades, only COVID-era Masters in 2020 (5.64 million) and 2021 (9.54 million) had fewer viewers. Those were the least-viewed Masters since 1993.

But Lewis also points out, “As one would expect, the final round of the Masters still ranks as the most-watched golf telecast and one of the most-watched sporting events of the past year — placing ahead of four of five World Series games and every Daytona 500 since 2017. It also goes without saying that the Masters dominated all other weekend sporting events.”

Just for fun, however, I will mention that the 9.58 million was nowhere near the number of viewers (18.7 million) that watched the NCAA women’s college basketball final between South Carolina and Iowa (and star Caitlin Clark) one week earlier on a Sunday afternoon.

Other media notes, tidbits and interesting links …

• Speaking of Clark, Tom Kludt writes for Vanity Fair: “Behind the Scenes With Caitlin Clark on WNBA Draft Day: ‘I Definitely Know There’s Eyeballs on Me.’”
• Axios’ Sara Fischer with “Dozens of Alden newspapers run coordinated editorials slamming Google.”
• For the Los Angeles Times, Greg Braxton and Carolyn Cole with “What ‘Civil War’ gets right and wrong about photojournalism, according to a Pulitzer Prize winner.”
• For The Washington Post, Dave Barry, Angela Garbes, Melissa Fay Greene, John Grogan and Charles Yu with “How does the election feel around the country? 5 writers capture the vibe.” Barry, as always looking at things a bit differently, writes, “Greetings from the Sunshine State! The mood down here, as we anticipate the 2024 presidential election, is one of hopefulness. Specifically, we’re hoping that a large, previously undetected meteor will strike the planet before November.”
• For NPR and “Morning Edition,” Elizabeth Blair with “50 years ago, ‘Come and Get Your Love’ put Native culture on the bandstand.”

More resources for journalists

• Thursday webinar : Covering transgender issues with authority and accuracy.
• Applications for Poynter Producer Project close on Friday!
• Reporter’s Toolkit gives you the tools to succeed early in your career. Apply by April 28.
• Delve more deeply into your editing skills with Poynter ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing .

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] .

The Poynter Report is our daily media newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday, sign up here .

Press Foward’s first open call for funding focuses on historic inequalities

It includes $100,000 each in general operating support for more than 100 newsrooms

Opinion | Remembering Terry Anderson, AP reporter once held captive for 6 years

He had a long career, but he was most known for his horrific ordeal of being taken by Islamic militants while working in war-torn Lebanon in 1985

Trump says business records case about hush money is a ‘Biden trial.’ It’s a Manhattan trial

The Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into Trump’s business records began before Joe Biden was president

Topography of a news ecosystem: A first-of-its-kind study diagnoses the local news crisis in a single state

Media scholars at the University of Maryland documented the spread of local news dead spots — and unexpected vibrant areas — in that state.

$12 million Global Fact Check Fund opens applications for second year of grants

A partnership between Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network and Google and YouTube continues to support fact-checking initiatives worldwide

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Iran’s Attacks Bring Long Shadow War With Israel Into the Open

The volley of drones and missiles was the first time that Tehran directly attacked Israel from its own territory, one expert said.

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By Cassandra Vinograd

• Published April 14, 2024 Updated April 18, 2024

Follow live updates on Israeli military strikes in Iran.

For decades, Israel and Iran have fought a shadow war across the Middle East , trading attacks by land, sea, air and in cyberspace. The barrage of drones and missiles Iran launched at Israel on Saturday — though nearly all were shot down or intercepted — represented a watershed in the conflict.

It was the first time that Iran directly attacked Israel from its own territory, according to Ahron Bregman, a political scientist and expert in Middle East security issues at King’s College in London, who called it a “historic event.”

Iran has largely used foreign proxies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia to strike Israeli interests, while targeted assassinations of Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists have been a key part of Israel’s strategy. Here is a recent history of the conflict:

August 2019: An Israeli airstrike killed two Iranian-trained militants in Syria, a drone set off a blast near a Hezbollah office in Lebanon and an airstrike in Qaim, Iraq, killed a commander of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia. Israel accused Iran at the time of trying to establish an overland arms-supply line through Iraq and northern Syria to Lebanon, and analysts said the strikes were aimed at stopping Iran and signaling to its proxies that Israel would not tolerate a fleet of smart missiles on its borders.

January 2020: Israel greeted with satisfaction the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani , the commander of the foreign-facing arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in an American drone strike in Baghdad.

Iran hit back by attacking two bases in Iraq that housed American troops with a barrage of missiles, wounding about 100 U.S. military personnel .

2021-22: In July 2021, an oil tanker managed by an Israeli-owned shipping company was attacked off the coast of Oman, killing two crew members, according to the company and three Israeli officials. Two of the officials said that the attack appeared to have been carried out by Iranian drones.

Iran did not explicitly claim or deny responsibility, but a state-owned television channel described the episode as a response to an Israeli strike in Syria.

In November 2021, Israel killed Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh , and followed up with the assassination of a Revolutionary Guards commander, Col. Sayad Khodayee , in May 2022.

December 2023: After Israel’s bombardment of Gaza began in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led assault, Iranian-backed militias stepped up their own attacks . And late last year, Iran accused Israel of killing a high-level military figure, Brig. Gen. Sayyed Razi Mousavi , in a missile strike in Syria.

A senior adviser to the Revolutionary Guards, General Mousavi was described as having been a close associate of General Suleimani and was said to have helped oversee the shipment of arms to Hezbollah. Israel, adopting its customary stance, declined to comment directly on whether it was behind General Mousavi’s death.

January 2024: An explosion in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, killed Saleh al-Arouri , a Hamas leader, along with two commanders from that group’s armed wing, the first assassination of a top Hamas official outside the West Bank and Gaza in recent years. Officials from Hamas, Lebanon and the United States ascribed the blast to Israel , which did not publicly confirm involvement.

Hezbollah, which receives major support from Iran, stepped up its assaults on Israel after Mr. al-Arouri’s death. Israel’s military hit back at Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing several of the group’s commanders .

March and April: An Israeli drone strike hit a car in southern Lebanon, killing at least one person. Israel’s military said it had killed the deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit. Hezbollah acknowledged the death of a man, Ali Abdulhassan Naim, but did not provide further details.

The same day, airstrikes killed soldiers near Aleppo, northern Syria, in what appeared to be one of the heaviest Israeli attacks in the country in years. The strikes killed 36 Syrian soldiers, seven Hezbollah fighters and a Syrian from a pro-Iran militia, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that tracks Syria’s civil war.

Israel’s military did not claim responsibility. But the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, wrote on social media, “We will pursue Hezbollah every place it operates and we will expand the pressure and the pace of the attacks.”

Three days later, strikes on an Iranian Embassy building in Damascus killed three top Iranian commanders and four officers, an attack Iran blamed on Israel.

Matthew Mpoke Bigg contributed reporting.