This week I’m shifting the emphasis to the Feature Story, to encourage you to look more closely at how feature articles work. So, your job is to:
- identify at least one feature story
- discuss how the “lede” paragraph(s) develops major motifs and attracts the reader’s attention
- identify and summarize the “nutshell” paragraph(s) (what the article is about)
- point out the ways in which the “meat” of the article develops and builds on the motifs established in the lede and the subject explicated in the “nutgraf”
- if the article is illustrated with photographs, drawings, or video, how do the images work with the text to illuminate, describe and/or evoke?
You may not comment on a feature article that a classmate has already discussed. First come, first served!
The article “Making the iBio for Apple’s Genius” is a feature story of the biography of Steve Jobs that Walter Isaacson was appointed to write. The “lede” paragraph is the third paragraph and it attracts the reader’s attention by discussing the specific types of the things that Steve Jobs wanted Isaacson to include in his biography such as wanting it to be “clear, elegant and concise enough to qualify as an iBio.” This would catch the attention of users of Apple products since the apps are similar to this by also being helpful and compact. The “nutshell” paragraphs were paragraphs four and five. They talk about other biographies that Isaacson has written and some of his experiences while writing Steve Jobs’ biography. Isaacson discusses his journey writing the biography and his feelings about it after Steve Jobs died recently. The “meat” of the article develops the motifs in the lede and the nutgraf by talking more about the content of the biography itself as well as including some of Isaacson’s own opinions on how the biography came out. He describes what type of man he thought Steve Jobs was and how he described him in his biography that may be surprising to readers. He goes from talking about the book and how he wrote it to some parts of Steve Jobs’ biography itself. There are four photos in the article: a photo of Steve Jobs leaving a stage after introducing the iPad, a photo of Walter Isaacson, the cover of the biography, and a photo of Steve Jobs when he first introduced the new Macintosh personal computer in 1984. I feel that the picture of the cover of the biography evoked a desire to read the book because it shows Steve Jobs in a thinking pose, which would seem to evoke people to want to read the book and learn more about the great man.
One interesting feature story in this week’s art section is that titled “His Life After ‘Riverdance’ Is a Braid of Traditions”. The feature story begins with a description of a video of dancer Colin Dunne as a ten year old boy. This lede, presented in the first paragraph, is very effective in drawing the reader in, describing how he awkwardly “answered stock questions” or how he danced “expertly, stiff and orthodox”. The reader is then left with the question as well as aspiration of what made him act in this manner and one might “worry about what will happen to that boy”. We are not given much information regarding what the article will discuss in specific however we are given a clue that it will be regarding Colin Dunne and perhaps about his dancing style or personality. I think this lede was successful in grasping my attention as I was left curious and very interested to find out what this description was referring to. The sixth paragraph of this feature story could be considered the nutgraf. This paragraph is successful in describing various aspects of Mr.Dunne’s performance, ranging from the tone of voice to the sounds used. The nutgraf sums up the main ideas of this article, explaining not just the literal dance but also discussing what this dance means to the then ten year old previously discussed in the lede. The nutgraf illustrates the idea that Mr. Dunne “has made something new of himself” by approaching this dance with a nontraditional way of irish dance. The author alludes back to the lede throughout the article in a variety of ways. He refers to the “emotional and intellectual complexity” of this dance, perhaps referring back to the ten year old boy who “awkwardly answered questions about the stocks”. The author then addresses another topic that was introduced in the lede, pointing out that “though nothing else in it is as directly autobiographical as the boyhood clip, Mr. Dunne’s career and artistic development are very much at issue”. The author continues to refer back to ideas mentioned in the lede and the nutgraf as he emphasizes Dunne’s attempt at “escaping rigidity”, that which seemed to charachterize his dancing as a ten year old. The article continues to support that which was discussed in the nutgraf by going into the specific techniques behind sound choice and other various details of the performance. The author wraps up the article by suggesting that perhaps “Mr. Dunne wanted to get back to the simple joy of the dancers in the footage, few of whom danced for a living”, once again, referring back to the type of dancing described in the lede. The image of Dunne dancing at the Baryshnikov Arts Center that accompanies this feature story successfully illustrates the great intensity and deep emotion I would assume is felt during Dunne’s dance performances. The combination of darkness and images of the video clips playing in the background successfully set the tone for what seems to be a fantastic performance.
The feature story that caught my attention was “Masked Protector of Gotham Has His Eye on Wall Street Protesters”, which was about the location of the filming of the “Dark Knight Rises” film near the Occupy Wall Street movement. The lede paragraph juxtaposes the idea of our dear justice-thirsty Batman in the setting of the protest, and the unusual incongruity of media character and real-life happening instantly catches our attention. The second and third paragraph, the nutgraf, inform us that the film producers are planning to start motion production next week on Wall Street, which may bring about a variety of interactions with the people in the vicinity. The rest of the article goes on to describe how the Batman film staff are completely set on using the area despite of the protests, since it has long been planned with huge investments. While they haven’t chosen the location because of the protests, the article mentions that the need for movie extras will mean many temporary jobs available for any unemployed of the Occupy crowd. The writer also mentions how the neighborhood, already affected by the protester movement, will now have to deal with the traffic problems and changes that movie filming inevitably causes. Everything in the meat connects the the new Batman movie and the Occupy Wall Street movement, which would be two almost completely unrelated topics if not for the upcoming production period in the city. The fact that Batman is a character who lives in a city of corruption and social unrest flavours the feature story with an amusing taste with a hint of irony. The sole image is a still from the last Batman movie, which was also shot in New York, of course. The fact that the Batman movies have recognizable settings from Manhattan and the title of the article make me imagine Bruce Wayne storming through Zucotti Park, shocking the hordes of people there, and the daydream doesn’t actually feel that surreal.
One of the feature stories that caught my attention was Michael Kimmelman’s “Rescue By Design.” The author captures the readers with his “lede” paragraph in the beginning by painting an image of him with his iPhone. He mentions “what a design guru Steve Jobs had been,” a statement bound to draw a lot of attention, seeing that Jobs had just recently passed away. Kimmelman’s motif presented in his lede is the idea of designing. He points out that designing usually implies the beautiful things that affluent societies design for themselves for luxury purposes. However, the designs displayed in the show, “Design With the Other 90 Percent: Cities” are very simple and rugged objects. The “nutshell” is the third paragraph in which the author points out that the objects showcased in the show, although simple, helped address the problems of the poorest people around the world. The meat of the article then builds on the motifs of design as a means to improving the lives of people struggling with poverty. The “meat” of the article elaborates and brings up examples of these designs. For instance, new libraries, parks, and public schools were built in the city of Medellin, Columbia, one of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in the world. In Dakar, Senegal, designers designed an irrigation system to recycle wastewater in the crowded slums. In La Vega, a team of architects designed new stairs and plazas so that neighborhoods can be linked and no one would be forced to move out of their homes. In the conclusion, Kiemmelman refers back to the motif established in the lede paragraph and says “that’s design guru stuff too,” implying that these designs made to improve the lives of people in poverty or every bit as innovative as the iPads or iPhones that Steve Jobs had designed. The article is illustrated by a before and after “stair upgrade” in La Vega, Caracas, and Venezuela. The photographs captured a downtrodden road in black and white. In the after photograph, the photo displayed a vast improvement because of the new stairs. It also showed kids playing around, showing that these designs are really helping the lives of these people, effectively driving home the main idea of the article.
In “Warhol – Headlines” the journalist tells about two exhibitions of Warhol’s called “Warhol: Headlines” and “Andy Warhol: Shadows,” and gives a historic background on his works bounded with news headlines.
The author plays on the widespread twitter and facebook themes saying that Warhol would be graet user of these, but wasn’t around for it. And then he goes to the main topic – “what he was around for” – news titles. Such move totally captures a reader – the image of Warhol’s would-be profile immediately pops up before the eyes. So the discussion of how he managed resources he had becomes one of the interest.
The what-is-it-all-about? paragraph is actually two paragraphs – the 3rd and 4th ones, which point out what his work was about and that’s said to be summoned up by the shows: he was a culture because his works ere all about culture and at the same time he stood apart from it being different from a “common American”.
The meat of the article goes in a timely order. The author makes couple of examples of Andy Warhol’s works and so explains how his work had been changing over time and where he had the startings (shoe adds). From there on it goes to explain the simularity in Andy’s view between art and business. In the end the author changes his approach to prise and anylize the effect of Warhol’s work. And ends up on the same “cyberspace” note.
The images shown are photos of the exhibitions and couple of his works, which makes it easier to understand in what way he “recycled” the headlines and gives a reader an idea of what to expect from the show. But there aren’t many of them, which is not enough at the first glance. However, if there were more – I doubt someone would go there, but just go through the photos and stay home.
Warhol is one of the pop idols, who has been used as don’t-need-to-make-a-new-design-for-a-product lately. So, that’s great that such show is ongoing now as a reminder, that Warhol wasn’t notebooks and bags designer, but the artist.
Patrick Healy’s interesting piece, “At London Theater, a Celebration of Biblical Proportions,” tells the story of a peculiar government subsidized theatre putting on a performance of all sixty-six books of the King Jame’s Bible. The play, titularly titled “Sixty-Six Books,” will be performed at the Bush Theatre located in West London, draws a an eclectic committee of tens of writers, directors, actors, and artists to orchestrate a rather ambitious feat. The play will will revolve around the stories contained in the books of bible as portrayed in the King James edition. The article is recounted through the view of Josie Rourke; artistic director of the Bush. Ms. Rourke began staging the monumental production three years ago with the help of friends and colleagues throught the theatre world. At first, worry struck Rourke as she could not believe that writers would want to work with often banal and dull books heavily frequented in the bible. Though, she quickly found that the writing style and final product often reflected personal religious experiences felt by writers, and perceived internal strife suffered by rather obscure characters of the bible. The article developed “lede” type paragraph in the beginning of the piece, drawing comparisons of truncated messages on twitter to the possibility of a abridged production of the King James bible. The author suggested it would be met favorably in the twitter addicted world of today. The “nutshell” takes shape throughout the article, introducing Josie Rourke, the Bush Theatre, and the concept for “Sixty-Six Books.” More “lede” is interspersed throughout the lengthier “nutshell” section, exploring the personal experience of Josie Rourke during the project.
In the article “Oops, There Goes the Twain Award” Will Ferrel tells the audience that he will not accept the Twain award. As a result, he drops it and the bust shatters. The lede of the article is the second paragraph in which the author describes how Will Ferrell announces that he will reject the award and quotes Ferrel saying that he was “begged by the Kennedy Center to accept this award,” and that he refused. The lede captures the reader’s attention because he/she wants to know why Ferrel, a well-known comedian would refuse such a prestigious honor. The motif is Ferrell’s modesty and humbleness. The reader is tricked into believing that Ferrell actually did not accept the award. The author does not emphasize that the event is for comedians, rather it is assumed that this event is very serious.
The nutgraf of the feature article are the third, fourth and fifth paragraphs of the article. In order to emphasize that he will not accept the awards, Ferrell shatters the bust of Mark Twain on the stage floor. The audience is flabbergasted and appalled at Ferrel’s actions. However, this is an award for comedian’s and the “joke was on the audience” because Ferrel’s award was safe and solid. Ferrel continues by thanking the John F. Kennedy Center for the performing arts for emphasizing that comedy “is an art form.”
The author attempts to carry along the comedic theme throughout the article. For example, he begins with the title “Oops there goes the Twain Award” which makes the reader apprehensive and question what happened. Moreover, the author includes a picture at the very top of the article before the actual article begins which creates a glamorous effect. The picture makes the reader think that this event is very serious and prestigious because the people pictured are dressed in professional attire and look very calm and respectable. It creates an ironic effect, because I did not know that the Mark Twain award was for comedians, so I assumed from the picture that it is a scholarly event to honor people who made a huge impact on society.
The nutgraf and the lede develop the the latter part of the article because it explains Will Ferrel’s larger talents and how he has transformed over the past decade in his professional career as a comedian.
One feature article in this week’s NY Times arts section is “Trekking Beyond Limits in Antarctica”, which is a profile of Alan Locke and his upcoming quest to travel the continent by foot. The “lede” paragraphs of the article are the first two paragraphs where the writer sets the tone for his readers, describing the barren continent as the “last great frontier” of “harsh, unexplored wilderness” that is usually only seen from “the portholes of cruise ships”. The reader’s attention is immediately captured at the prospects of such a dangerous escapade. The “nutshell” paragraph is the paragraph directly following the “lede” paragraphs, which introduces us to Locke and his plan to trek the forbidden continent. The “meat” of the article soon follows ,where the writer talks about the article’s subject, Alan Locke, who is actually visually impaired, and his plan to traverse the entire continent on foot. We are given insight into Locke’s history, and we find out the he was an officer in the Royal Navy but was discharged when his vision began worsening and he went into finance. The article also talks about Antarctica has been getting a lot of attention lately and has become somewhat of a “playground” for the rich and sponsored. Towards the end of the article, the author goes back to his earlier points about the dangers of Antarctica and it’s harsh climates, tying the article together, while keeping along with the theme of the dangerous nature of the continent. The article is illustrated with a picture of Alan Locke in ski gear training for his adventure in Colarado and another picture of a Alan with group of people and an instructor also seemingly training. The illustrations not only drive home the writers points about how dangerous the mission is by showing that it requires a lot of practice, but also highlights Adam’s unparalleled dedication and he braves the challenge despite his vision impairment.
In “Humanitarian Design Project Aims to Build a Sense of Community,” a new sort of education is proposed; a high quality, high involvement design academy. Project H is a high school course based on real world design and application. The theme of students doing or creating is exposed in the lede, which is established right in the first paragraph. Emily Pilloton, creator of Project H explains her experience when she asked a class of 11th graders to recall the last thing they made. “Some of the students couldn’t remember making anything. Half of them didn’t even know how to use a ruler.” This idea of “doing” and being an active participant not only in ones community but in ones own education is developed and expanded upon throughout the piece.
The bulk of the article details community projects and obstacles that have arisen through Project H. It also walks the reader through a short biography of the non-profit started by Pilloton with just $1000 in savings. Project H is based in based in Bertie county, North Carolina. Pilloton and her architect partner Mathew Miller decided on Bertie country with the belief that the project would be of greatest value in a “depressed rural area, scarred by racial tension with severely limited employment opportunities.”
The author highlights the challenges presented by the students and not necessarily the projects. By the end of the semester, in a class of only thirteen “Three students had left. Two had failing grades and another was expelled from Studio H for aggressive behavior.” The student body included “a 17-year-old who was struggling to raise a 4-year-old child.”
The rest of the article deals comments on the effectiveness of design as education and the solutions Project H has rendered as proof. Students have designed chicken coops, a pavilion for a farmers market and even a wooden physical set to a local game. The idea of creation is reiterated constantly. The effectiveness is touted not only in practice of the final products but also in the words of the students themselves. “It changed the way I see the world, and made me expect more of myself” said one student.
There was no media provided in the article but I feel as if pictures of the projects would have definitely aided to the article. Saying something is effective, but visualizing that creation amongst the students would have helped.
Mark Russell’s feature story entitled “Korea Rediscovers Its Rock ‘N’ Roll Soul”, gives the reader an intimate glimpse of the resurgence of of Rock ‘N’ Roll music in South Korea. Automatically, I was drawn in by the “lede” paragraph, which in this case was the very first one. I must admit that I know very little about Korean music, and was reluctant to commit myself to this article for the very reason of it being a bit far from my interests, but as soon as I read the lede, I was hooked. Russell starts off by describing Shin Joong-hyun, a 73-year-old rocker (and a bit of a legend among his following…”the godfather of South Korean rock…likened to Phil Spector for his ability to discover talent and create sounds”) reflecting on his beginnings as a musical artist. One line struck me in particular, and that was Joong-hyun’s quote: “I was too young to be scared.” After reading this, I knew that this article would focus on more than just the rocker’s past, and would segway into his impact on future generations, and as the title suggested, a nation’s rediscovery of a past genre. The lede paragraph was brief, descriptive, and easy to follow, without any unnecessary analogies, anachronisms, or journalistic devices; I continued to read with interest. After a few paragraphs, I got to the “nutgraf”, which was a surprisingly concise…sentence? Even as I look at it now, the seventh paragraph of the article is certainly the one that encompasses the main idea. In fact, it’s so short that I might as well copy and paste it onto my entry. The “nugraf” is: “But now, after decades of being mostly forgotten, the music from South Korea’s rock ’n’ roll heyday is more popular here than ever, reimagined and re-interpreted by a new generation of fans.” From the title, I knew that the central focus would be on the resurgence of an old music movement in South Korea, and I knew that the group most likely affiliated with the “old/new” genre would be the “new generation”. The rest of the article was a more detailed account of several young DJs’ quests and aspirations to elevate the status of Rock ‘N’ Roll in a culture dominated by pop music. Individuals such as Park Min-joon (also known as DJ Soulscape), Sato Yukie (a Japanese musician with a passion for vintage South Korean music), and Chang Kiha are briefly discussed, and their references to Rock ‘N’ Roll, as well as their own contributions to indie music are stressed throughout, just as the nutgraf foreshadowed. There is only one photo accompanying this article, and it is of DJ Soulscape sorting through what is presumed to be old records of Korean rock music from the 1970s and ’80s. The caption states that he is a fan of the almost forgotten genre. It was a smart choice to include this photo, as it stays true to the subject matter at hand, and perhaps evokes a sense of nostalgia to those familiar with the genre that is now making a comeback. I personally was not at all familiar with either the old or new generations of Korean Rock ‘N’ Roll, but I can safely say that there is something interesting and engaging about the sudden comeback of this genre. It makes me want to explore unconventional music, and not be limited by the “syrupy ballads” of today, be they Korean or American.
In the article, “In a Gloomy Economy, TV Sitcoms are Making a Comeback” by Bill Carter, the lede paragraph starts off with a catchy line, “In television, funny is money again”, which is followed by a conflicting statistic that attracts the readers’ attention to the current situation of TV sitcoms. This introduction brings forth the topic of discussion, which is the fact that comedy series on television is on an incline. The writer, Bill Carter, provides a couple examples in his nutgraf paragraphs to support his feature story. The nutgraf paragraphs are right after the lede where he brings up new comedies that the reader can relate to, simply to start off slowly and introduce shows that are popular and connected with the featured story.
The reader can see Carter’s main focus with the “meat” articles which all contain either a fact about sitcoms such as “New Girl” and “How I Met Your Mother” or quotations from important figures of television stations that provide these sitcoms like Jennifer Salke, the president of NBC Entertainment. The author expands on his lede and nutgraf paragraphs by giving the reader hard facts.
Furthermore, Bill Carter includes several pictures of scenes from the sitcoms he mentions in order to show the reader exactly what he is talking about and also so that the reader can identify quickly and gravitate towards the article. The images work with the text to reveal the increase in percentage of comedy on television. Altogether, the article is very well described and features sitcoms perfectly.
The article that I found really interesting was “Korean Pop Machine, Running on Innocence and Hair Gel” by Jon Caramanica.
The lede of the article talks about how its hard enough for a single pop star like Justin Bieber to succeed, so think about how much time and effort goes into making a group of South Korean pop singers into a hit.
The nutgraf talks about the band SHINee and how K-Pop is much more “productive” than American pop has ever been. The article says that most K-Pop singers are still young and even those that have been around for some time have an air of newness to their music.
The meat of the article discusses how K-Pop singers are rarely concerned with boundaries and thusly synthesize a wide range of styles; the author says K-Pop singers utilize hip-hop, trance, dance music, rock and even “straightforward balladry.” SHINee is about the same size as your typical American boy band (like ‘N Sync and the Backstreet boys before them) but South Korean has many large groups as well, like Super Junior, which has at most 13 members. The writer goes on further to describe the discrepencies between American music performances and South Korean ones. For example, in the K-Pop performances, rarely would there be people of the opposite sex on stage together. There wouldn’t be “innuendo” like some performances int he U.S., Caraminica says.
Lastly, the author describes how K-Pop is becoming more and more popular around the globe. Which probably explains why I knew about SHINee before reading this article.
An article that I found interesting was “Iraqis Enjoy a Show With a Familiar Ring, but a Few Differences” by Michael S. Schmidt.
The lede of the article establishes circus promoters giving out fliers that show various circus acts, such as tigers balancing on pedestals and a woman dancing with a snake. The lede attracts the readers attention because it evokes images of grandiose circus acts.
The nutgraf is the sixth paragraph. It states that even though the show isn’t what it was supposed to be, it is another small step in the city’s efforts at building a more normal life and to move beyond the war.
The meat of the article builds on what is established in the nutgraf. It explains certain acts of the circus such as a man plunging swords down his throat. It also shows how even though the city the city has been through a lot, the people still enjoy the performances, especially the children. The photo in the article shows the dogs that are being trained for the performance.
Finally, the author ends the article by painting a picture in the reader’s mind. He describes how a man could eat swords and blow fireballs into the air. As the crowd’s cheers grew louder, the man began to run around the circus with the Iraqi flag flowed off of his back. The cheers grew even louder. The performance was over.
The article I chose to elaborate on was “Twitter and TV Get Close to Help Each Other Grow”.
The lede of this article is the third paragraph, which quotes Simon Cowell saying how social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook can benefit TV. The paragraph, if withdrawn from the article, could act as a preview or trailer.
The nutgraf is two next paragraph. The nutgraf explains exactly how social media is now, for the first time, playing a part in a major TV show. X-Factor viewers can now send messages via twitter to vote, instead of the usual way of texting. The nutgraf also details how the partnership between Twitter and Cowell is beneficial for both parties.
The following paragraphs show how Twitter can is trying to integrate into TV, which hopefully, will increase the amount of ‘tweeters’, and make them money. As of now, it is unclear if Twitter is profitable, but there is no doubt the people in control of the social networking site will push for it to become revenue generating. Even so, the few paragraphs show just how powerful Twitter and Facebook have become, and how necessary they are for celebrities, and now shows, to embrace.
As much as Facebook and Twitter compete, Cowell is utilizing both sites because he finds it necessary. I found it very interesting to hear that Cowell personally reads many reviews of the X-Factor, and intern changes the show accordingly. Through Facebook and Twitter, we can alter the contents of what we view on the TV.