Link to a New York Times feature: In Market, Hopes for Health and Urban Renewal
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/us/25market.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
This is a nice explanatory narrative piece. It starts with a bit of news, the opening of a new supermarket in a Philadelphia’s neighborhood. The writer has a thematic approach on the different implications that the opening of the supermarket entail. The journalist shows throughout the piece how a supermarket can change a neighborhood and the life of the people. The supermarket does not only bring food closer to people but it really changes the way of life of its inhabitants.
Good issues are dealt with in the piece. First, health issues: people won’t buy takeout as much as before but will instead buy healthy food. Then, local people won’t need to drive far to make their grocery shopping. The journalist also deals with the broader issue of the “food deserts of poor areas”. In poor areas, there are no facilities and it has an impact on eating habits.
The author shows that the opening of this supermarket belongs to a larger public policy which is aimed at renovating the plaza. He also emphasizes the implications on employment for local inhabitants and on the safety of the “plaza”.
The journalist uses good quotes and raises the different issues through characters Keller and Smith. There is a good description of the neighborhood at the beginning; we can picture the place. We also have some historical insights. However, I would have liked to have a scene or a description of the Progress Plaza to really see the poverty and the insecurity that the author refers to.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Closer to farmers
The CSA concept is quite new in agriculture but it is a revolution. Elizabeth Manwell started buying food in the Kalamazoo farming market through this formula and she is very satisfied with that: “you simply become more self-conscious about what you eat”.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Forty-nine CSA farms now exist in Michigan. Jan Vander Tuin imported the idea from Europe in 1984. The concept is new but has a lot of success. For the owner of Blue Dog Greens farm, “CSA farming establishes a real connection between the farmers and the consumers; the consumers get a chance to realize where their food comes from”. Bridgette Leach who owns the Avalon Farms Premium Homegrown with her husband in Climax Michigan explains how it works: “Folks who want to become members of our CSA farm have to subscribe for one season. They have to pay 400$ to subscribe for one share; one share is enough for one or two adults. Then, we deliver to them vegetables and fruits for twenty weeks beginning June”. In Blue Dog greens a member gets fresh vegetables for twenty two weeks and pays 300$ for a single share and 575$ for a family share.
The advantage of this system is obvious on the side of the farmers. The Blue Dog Greens farm adopted it because it “works well with our business plan; it brings us money when we need it in early spring.” According to the CSA Bear-Foot-Farm share-holder Janet Solberg, “we share the risk of the harvest with the farmer; this farming is based on solidarity, it brings a sense of community to agriculture”. Elizabeth Manwell points out the same idea: “you are more in touch with your local community”.
According to Bridgette Leach, this system also “helps promoting Michigan agriculture and gives us a chance to make the consumers aware of the variety of products that exist”. Michigan State is the second state after California with the most important diversity of commodities raised; 125 different products can be grown”. And the CSA system gives value to small farmers’ crops.
Eric Barth “bought a share” for one year with Bear-Foot-Farms. “I felt good about helping this couple of farmers to make a business out of organic farming”. However he did not go on with this experience. According to him, “the problem is that we often got those strange vegetables that you don’t know what to do with”. On the contrary, Elizabeth Manwell enjoys the variety that the two CSA farms she is a member of offer to her: “we got vegetables that we had never eaten before like the Jerusalem artichokes or the tatsoe sprouts; we did have to do some research to know how to cook them but at the end you get to eat more vegetables.” As she really loved the CSA model, she now purchases milk, butter, cheese and meat in local farms. Farmers find ways to get the consumers familiar with those “strange and unknown” vegetables. For Janet Solberg, the CSA formula “educates the people who have a limited idea of what a vegetable is; Bear-Foot Farms gives you recipes to reassure some consumers about what they eat.”
CSA farms provide the subscribers seasonal vegetables and fruits. Share-holders do not choose what they get. They receive a weekly basket of products that depends on the harvest. Bridgette Leach explains that “the members will typically get a pound of tomatoes, a quarter pound of salad and whatever is of season”. However, she points out that her farm is a “hybrid CSA”: “we deliver products that we raise and other products that come from other farms of the state”. Other CSA farms on the contrary only deliver the products they grow.
Vegetables and fruits are fresh and tasty. All the subscribers agree on that point. The Avalon Farms Premium Homegrown delivers the members’ baskets at their home. The owner Bridgette Leach specifies that “the products are picked up the day before or the day of the deliveries.” The subscribers of Bear-Foot-Farms have to go to the farming market of Kalamazoo every Saturday morning to pick up their share. Elizabeth Manwell likes the atmosphere of the market; this is not a problem for her to go there.
Some CSA farms require the members to work a certain amount of time each week in the farm. Janet Solberg really enjoys it: “You learn a lot, and it’s very pleasant.” And the members who are not willing to work can pay not to have to do it. Bridgette Leach explains why they do not require it anymore in her farm: “we do not encourage folks to come to the farm to work because it disrupts the work day; everybody likes to chat; and even if they are unpaid worker we are subject to liability for work injuries, this is still something else to worry about”.
The CSA farms in Michigan Organization emphasizes that CSA farmers are concerned with “environment, sustainability, the local community, and organic production techniques.” Janet Solberg also points out that CSA farming addresses environmental concerns: “CSA farms grow organic food, they do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers; also, vegetables do not need to be transported, and it reduces pollution”. Bridgette Leach points out that the CSA system enables them to sell more products: “we are able to produce more because we get a good amount of money from the members ahead of time that secure our activity. Thus, CSA farming is not only used as a marketing tool but also as a way to sustain and develop the local economy.
The CSA concept is quite new in agriculture but it is a revolution. Elizabeth Manwell started buying food in the Kalamazoo farming market through this formula and she is very satisfied with that: “you simply become more self-conscious about what you eat”.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Forty-nine CSA farms now exist in Michigan. Jan Vander Tuin imported the idea from Europe in 1984. The concept is new but has a lot of success. For the owner of Blue Dog Greens farm, “CSA farming establishes a real connection between the farmers and the consumers; the consumers get a chance to realize where their food comes from”. Bridgette Leach who owns the Avalon Farms Premium Homegrown with her husband in Climax Michigan explains how it works: “Folks who want to become members of our CSA farm have to subscribe for one season. They have to pay 400$ to subscribe for one share; one share is enough for one or two adults. Then, we deliver to them vegetables and fruits for twenty weeks beginning June”. In Blue Dog greens a member gets fresh vegetables for twenty two weeks and pays 300$ for a single share and 575$ for a family share.
The advantage of this system is obvious on the side of the farmers. The Blue Dog Greens farm adopted it because it “works well with our business plan; it brings us money when we need it in early spring.” According to the CSA Bear-Foot-Farm share-holder Janet Solberg, “we share the risk of the harvest with the farmer; this farming is based on solidarity, it brings a sense of community to agriculture”. Elizabeth Manwell points out the same idea: “you are more in touch with your local community”.
According to Bridgette Leach, this system also “helps promoting Michigan agriculture and gives us a chance to make the consumers aware of the variety of products that exist”. Michigan State is the second state after California with the most important diversity of commodities raised; 125 different products can be grown”. And the CSA system gives value to small farmers’ crops.
Eric Barth “bought a share” for one year with Bear-Foot-Farms. “I felt good about helping this couple of farmers to make a business out of organic farming”. However he did not go on with this experience. According to him, “the problem is that we often got those strange vegetables that you don’t know what to do with”. On the contrary, Elizabeth Manwell enjoys the variety that the two CSA farms she is a member of offer to her: “we got vegetables that we had never eaten before like the Jerusalem artichokes or the tatsoe sprouts; we did have to do some research to know how to cook them but at the end you get to eat more vegetables.” As she really loved the CSA model, she now purchases milk, butter, cheese and meat in local farms. Farmers find ways to get the consumers familiar with those “strange and unknown” vegetables. For Janet Solberg, the CSA formula “educates the people who have a limited idea of what a vegetable is; Bear-Foot Farms gives you recipes to reassure some consumers about what they eat.”
CSA farms provide the subscribers seasonal vegetables and fruits. Share-holders do not choose what they get. They receive a weekly basket of products that depends on the harvest. Bridgette Leach explains that “the members will typically get a pound of tomatoes, a quarter pound of salad and whatever is of season”. However, she points out that her farm is a “hybrid CSA”: “we deliver products that we raise and other products that come from other farms of the state”. Other CSA farms on the contrary only deliver the products they grow.
Vegetables and fruits are fresh and tasty. All the subscribers agree on that point. The Avalon Farms Premium Homegrown delivers the members’ baskets at their home. The owner Bridgette Leach specifies that “the products are picked up the day before or the day of the deliveries.” The subscribers of Bear-Foot-Farms have to go to the farming market of Kalamazoo every Saturday morning to pick up their share. Elizabeth Manwell likes the atmosphere of the market; this is not a problem for her to go there.
Some CSA farms require the members to work a certain amount of time each week in the farm. Janet Solberg really enjoys it: “You learn a lot, and it’s very pleasant.” And the members who are not willing to work can pay not to have to do it. Bridgette Leach explains why they do not require it anymore in her farm: “we do not encourage folks to come to the farm to work because it disrupts the work day; everybody likes to chat; and even if they are unpaid worker we are subject to liability for work injuries, this is still something else to worry about”.
The CSA farms in Michigan Organization emphasizes that CSA farmers are concerned with “environment, sustainability, the local community, and organic production techniques.” Janet Solberg also points out that CSA farming addresses environmental concerns: “CSA farms grow organic food, they do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers; also, vegetables do not need to be transported, and it reduces pollution”. Bridgette Leach points out that the CSA system enables them to sell more products: “we are able to produce more because we get a good amount of money from the members ahead of time that secure our activity. Thus, CSA farming is not only used as a marketing tool but also as a way to sustain and develop the local economy.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Structure in Underworld (feature posted by Charlie)
This is a really interesting, engaging and well-structured piece. I recognized several elements and devices in this piece that are dealt with in Telling true stories and Writing for story.
The piece draws scene. The reader feels grabbed in the piece thanks to the first scene that shows the everyday life of this coal miner and his environment. This “zoom in” is a clever technique to get the reader involved. This focus on one particular worker makes us feel engaged; we can identify with him. Moreover, through the piece the writer uses dialogs to show that the coal miners belong to a low social class and to give the reader insights of the workers’ personalities (“I asked Pap’s wife, Nancy, the woman he called “the old bag I live with”).
The lede is clear (“We still have coal mines? I got that question a lot when I told people that I was hanging out in a coal mine.”). The article answers the following questions: What is it like to work in a coal mine? What are the working conditions like? How can someone still be willing to work there?
Then, the complication seems to be the following one: coal miners have harsh working conditions and one can wonder how they manage to accept such a life.
Throughout the piece, the author brings the resolution showing which kind of life workers really have and dealing with the reasons that motivates them to work in the mine (wages, family tradition…).
The piece is divided into several small stories which all have their own complication-resolution structure. For example, one part deals with the reasons why the workers the journalist has met are working in the mine. The writer underlines the complication in each of them’s lives that made them decide to work in the mine.
I think that this piece has a strong structure. However, on the overall the writer is too intrusive. We are given too much of the author’s inner thoughts. For me, the piece is between the profile style and the personal journalism one.
This is a really interesting, engaging and well-structured piece. I recognized several elements and devices in this piece that are dealt with in Telling true stories and Writing for story.
The piece draws scene. The reader feels grabbed in the piece thanks to the first scene that shows the everyday life of this coal miner and his environment. This “zoom in” is a clever technique to get the reader involved. This focus on one particular worker makes us feel engaged; we can identify with him. Moreover, through the piece the writer uses dialogs to show that the coal miners belong to a low social class and to give the reader insights of the workers’ personalities (“I asked Pap’s wife, Nancy, the woman he called “the old bag I live with”).
The lede is clear (“We still have coal mines? I got that question a lot when I told people that I was hanging out in a coal mine.”). The article answers the following questions: What is it like to work in a coal mine? What are the working conditions like? How can someone still be willing to work there?
Then, the complication seems to be the following one: coal miners have harsh working conditions and one can wonder how they manage to accept such a life.
Throughout the piece, the author brings the resolution showing which kind of life workers really have and dealing with the reasons that motivates them to work in the mine (wages, family tradition…).
The piece is divided into several small stories which all have their own complication-resolution structure. For example, one part deals with the reasons why the workers the journalist has met are working in the mine. The writer underlines the complication in each of them’s lives that made them decide to work in the mine.
I think that this piece has a strong structure. However, on the overall the writer is too intrusive. We are given too much of the author’s inner thoughts. For me, the piece is between the profile style and the personal journalism one.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The responsibility of journalists
Having a look at Thembi’s blog I realized how important stories can be. Thembi's AIDS Diary has the goal to make her fellow citizens aware of the disease, the way it is transmitted and the implications it has on your life. Stories can really have humanitarian implications. Telling her own story is a way to give a face to AIDS. AIDS is Thembi. AIDS is a real; it is a person that exists in her body. And that’s what she says: “In the morning I say hello HIV, you are in my body, you have to respect me.” In this perspective, journalists who are telling stories such as Thembi’s one are not only profiling someone but working for humanitarian causes. They can make people aware and educate them the same way humanitarian organizations or missions try to educate and inform people on this issue. Thembi’s words on her blog really convey this responsibility she feels to talk about herself to help others. And we see how it was easy for her to give herself and her identity to a cause even if she was reluctant at first: “At first I wanted to keep my identity anonymous. At the same time people around me were dying on AIDS so I felt I had to disclose.”
I really felt the Iraqi I was profiling expected the same from me. He was really enthusiastic by the fact that I wanted to talk about him and about the non-profit organization he created. He was really thankful because he was convinced I was helping him. That was great to feel that journalists can be seen a source of hope and belief and not only as intrusive.
Having a look at Thembi’s blog I realized how important stories can be. Thembi's AIDS Diary has the goal to make her fellow citizens aware of the disease, the way it is transmitted and the implications it has on your life. Stories can really have humanitarian implications. Telling her own story is a way to give a face to AIDS. AIDS is Thembi. AIDS is a real; it is a person that exists in her body. And that’s what she says: “In the morning I say hello HIV, you are in my body, you have to respect me.” In this perspective, journalists who are telling stories such as Thembi’s one are not only profiling someone but working for humanitarian causes. They can make people aware and educate them the same way humanitarian organizations or missions try to educate and inform people on this issue. Thembi’s words on her blog really convey this responsibility she feels to talk about herself to help others. And we see how it was easy for her to give herself and her identity to a cause even if she was reluctant at first: “At first I wanted to keep my identity anonymous. At the same time people around me were dying on AIDS so I felt I had to disclose.”
I really felt the Iraqi I was profiling expected the same from me. He was really enthusiastic by the fact that I wanted to talk about him and about the non-profit organization he created. He was really thankful because he was convinced I was helping him. That was great to feel that journalists can be seen a source of hope and belief and not only as intrusive.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Haider, an Iraqi at war
It is at noon on Sunday and as usual Haider is there on the sidewalk at the intersection of West Michigan Avenue and Park Street. He stands for peace downtown Kalamazoo with twenty other human rights activists. He is talking to a Palestinian woman; her name is Shadia Kanaan, she is a member of the peace group Women in Black. On his left side men and women in their seventies are holding signs calling for peace. They are members of the anti-war group KNOW (Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents of War). Haider is there too, full of hopes: “I join them almost every Sunday to protest against the war in Iraq. This is my country, I have to be here standing with them. It gives them strength and motivation.”
Haider Alsaedy is a 30-year-old Iraqi who has been living in the United States for sixteen years. He has wide dark brown eyes. He has a light of hope in his look that becomes a flame of passion when he deals with the suffering and pain that so many people have to go through. “My friends back home call me Abu Krar; it means “when you go forward you never go behind”, I am that person who wants to make projects to help people.”
In high school at age seventeen, Haider liked to help. The teacher spoke so fast. The students couldn’t understand his explanations. “In our country it is hard to tell the teacher to slow down; if you offend the teacher he can beat you.” Haider and his friends had to find a solution. “I will do it, I will tell the teacher.” Haider remembers the scene. His tone changes. He now speaks with the fearful voice of a student: “Sir.” The teacher answered with an overbearing voice: “What do you want.” “Can you slow down?” The teacher was mad: “Who told you I have to slow down?” The whole class remained silent. “Just me.” People do not support you when you need them. “But me I knew I would do something in my life, something for people who need you.”
Haider dedicates his life to others. I met him on Monday at night in the Union downtown. As I arrive he stands up and welcomes me warmly with great enthusiasm. Documents are spread on the table next to his drink. He hands them to me with excitement: “This project is the project of my life. This is what I’m going to achieve.” On a piece of paper, he had drawn the layout of a house. This is the private school he will build in his home city, Basra. Haider, his eyes wide opened, talks with delight about his project: “Back in my country in the spring of 2006, I saw a woman holding a child who was about to die. I wanted to help her. But she told me it was her pain: “There are one thousand children dying, why would you help my child?” I thought about that all the time.” This memory obsessed him. He had to do something. All he owned was a land in Basra. After few days he found the idea…his relief. He would raise orphans on his acre of land. Hider can already see the children running around and helping him in the land. The children need this refuge. “My dream of having my children, my house with a small bridge on the river that goes through my land is gone. My life is gone.” He won’t have his own family but will instead adopt fifty to one hundred children. Haider still works hard on this project. It makes one month he puts his ideas together and he now tries to see who can help him to achieve it.
Iraqi Health Now is Haider’s pride, his achievement. He created this non-profit organization in 2006. “I wish you’re gonna help. Look around at the people who are having fancy food.” Haider remains silent and a flame of rage burns in his eyes: “There are people dying!” Haider has a deep and serious look. “When I went back for the first time to Iraq in 2006, I visited my nephew Dhergam who is a doctor.” He went to see the hospital where Dhergam works. He couldn’t stand seeing people suffering and dying. Haider remembers. He is looking down, his head bent. There was obviously not enough equipment. He had in front of him the unbearable vision of a hospital that cannot cure sick persons appropriately. In the United States, Haider works in Stryker, a company that build beds. In the hospital, Haider felt overwhelmed and powerless. He threw some words that could probably release his sudden distress: “I will send you hospital beds for free, it will help.” But it wouldn’t help: “Haider, we do not need them. We are out of medicines, we use the same syringe for several patients, we have no blood bags, no antibiotics.” Like his mother, Haider feels deeply in his soul the suffering of other people: “My mum always wore black outfits because everyday people are in pain. I feel this pain too.” That’s why Haider takes action.
In Haider’s apartment you can not walk. “My small place is full of medicines, of heroes and Thai Kwando trophies.” His heroes support him and push Abu Krar forward. “Mascowih inspired me a lot. He became a famous and talented writer in spite of his handicap. His tongue twisted. In class, he couldn’t say a sentence without twisting; the other students laughed at him. But he did not give up. He tried, tried again, again and again.” Haider wants to help Iraqi; he is convinced he will achieve it. Thai Kwando taught him to persevere. All the medicines stocked in his living-room are Haider’s greatest achievement at that time. Haider’s life is dedicated to others. “I fully believe what the prophet said: “Human kind is like one body. If one of the organs gets injured, the all body feels pain.” Iraqi Health Now is not Haider’s last achievement: “I have too many plans in mind, and I do them step by step.”
It is at noon on Sunday and as usual Haider is there on the sidewalk at the intersection of West Michigan Avenue and Park Street. He stands for peace downtown Kalamazoo with twenty other human rights activists. He is talking to a Palestinian woman; her name is Shadia Kanaan, she is a member of the peace group Women in Black. On his left side men and women in their seventies are holding signs calling for peace. They are members of the anti-war group KNOW (Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents of War). Haider is there too, full of hopes: “I join them almost every Sunday to protest against the war in Iraq. This is my country, I have to be here standing with them. It gives them strength and motivation.”
Haider Alsaedy is a 30-year-old Iraqi who has been living in the United States for sixteen years. He has wide dark brown eyes. He has a light of hope in his look that becomes a flame of passion when he deals with the suffering and pain that so many people have to go through. “My friends back home call me Abu Krar; it means “when you go forward you never go behind”, I am that person who wants to make projects to help people.”
In high school at age seventeen, Haider liked to help. The teacher spoke so fast. The students couldn’t understand his explanations. “In our country it is hard to tell the teacher to slow down; if you offend the teacher he can beat you.” Haider and his friends had to find a solution. “I will do it, I will tell the teacher.” Haider remembers the scene. His tone changes. He now speaks with the fearful voice of a student: “Sir.” The teacher answered with an overbearing voice: “What do you want.” “Can you slow down?” The teacher was mad: “Who told you I have to slow down?” The whole class remained silent. “Just me.” People do not support you when you need them. “But me I knew I would do something in my life, something for people who need you.”
Haider dedicates his life to others. I met him on Monday at night in the Union downtown. As I arrive he stands up and welcomes me warmly with great enthusiasm. Documents are spread on the table next to his drink. He hands them to me with excitement: “This project is the project of my life. This is what I’m going to achieve.” On a piece of paper, he had drawn the layout of a house. This is the private school he will build in his home city, Basra. Haider, his eyes wide opened, talks with delight about his project: “Back in my country in the spring of 2006, I saw a woman holding a child who was about to die. I wanted to help her. But she told me it was her pain: “There are one thousand children dying, why would you help my child?” I thought about that all the time.” This memory obsessed him. He had to do something. All he owned was a land in Basra. After few days he found the idea…his relief. He would raise orphans on his acre of land. Hider can already see the children running around and helping him in the land. The children need this refuge. “My dream of having my children, my house with a small bridge on the river that goes through my land is gone. My life is gone.” He won’t have his own family but will instead adopt fifty to one hundred children. Haider still works hard on this project. It makes one month he puts his ideas together and he now tries to see who can help him to achieve it.
Iraqi Health Now is Haider’s pride, his achievement. He created this non-profit organization in 2006. “I wish you’re gonna help. Look around at the people who are having fancy food.” Haider remains silent and a flame of rage burns in his eyes: “There are people dying!” Haider has a deep and serious look. “When I went back for the first time to Iraq in 2006, I visited my nephew Dhergam who is a doctor.” He went to see the hospital where Dhergam works. He couldn’t stand seeing people suffering and dying. Haider remembers. He is looking down, his head bent. There was obviously not enough equipment. He had in front of him the unbearable vision of a hospital that cannot cure sick persons appropriately. In the United States, Haider works in Stryker, a company that build beds. In the hospital, Haider felt overwhelmed and powerless. He threw some words that could probably release his sudden distress: “I will send you hospital beds for free, it will help.” But it wouldn’t help: “Haider, we do not need them. We are out of medicines, we use the same syringe for several patients, we have no blood bags, no antibiotics.” Like his mother, Haider feels deeply in his soul the suffering of other people: “My mum always wore black outfits because everyday people are in pain. I feel this pain too.” That’s why Haider takes action.
In Haider’s apartment you can not walk. “My small place is full of medicines, of heroes and Thai Kwando trophies.” His heroes support him and push Abu Krar forward. “Mascowih inspired me a lot. He became a famous and talented writer in spite of his handicap. His tongue twisted. In class, he couldn’t say a sentence without twisting; the other students laughed at him. But he did not give up. He tried, tried again, again and again.” Haider wants to help Iraqi; he is convinced he will achieve it. Thai Kwando taught him to persevere. All the medicines stocked in his living-room are Haider’s greatest achievement at that time. Haider’s life is dedicated to others. “I fully believe what the prophet said: “Human kind is like one body. If one of the organs gets injured, the all body feels pain.” Iraqi Health Now is not Haider’s last achievement: “I have too many plans in mind, and I do them step by step.”
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Reading response: How to make a profile?
What Mark Kramer says in Telling True Stories about setting the scene in pieces was really relevant and helpful for me: “Scenes can convey and authenticate irrational, emotional, and nuanced information more efficiently than can explanation.” Conveying is the key. Recreating scenes, feelings, emotions, giving meaningful details are all elements that guide the reader and pull him in the piece with the character. Being able to show instead of telling seems to be a determining element of a good piece. That’s why details are so important. Paying attention to details also guides the journalist who is doing the piece, and helps him to know better the character he is talking about. Sometimes they reveal the truth of the character and have meaning as Harrington shows it: “Everything in the house related to deeds they had done for others”. “Such details make the subject’s interior world clearer to us.”
In this regards, the piece about Cohen is a great example. The journalist, Strauss, makes a great job recreating Cohen s’ world, showing how he is physically and in his mind. He also makes him talk through dialogs. In the end, the effect is that we get a chance to meet the character and not only read about him.
Clark and Scanlan emphasize the importance of details too: “Good writers use telling details to help us see, hear and understand”. Gorney’s work on Seuss’ life is an example of this extensive use of details. For example, Gorney knows that “on occasion San Diego children will pack up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and set out for the summit” of the hill where Dr Seuss lives. She makes a great description of Seuss and the environment in which he lives.
Details are an important tool for good pieces.
What Mark Kramer says in Telling True Stories about setting the scene in pieces was really relevant and helpful for me: “Scenes can convey and authenticate irrational, emotional, and nuanced information more efficiently than can explanation.” Conveying is the key. Recreating scenes, feelings, emotions, giving meaningful details are all elements that guide the reader and pull him in the piece with the character. Being able to show instead of telling seems to be a determining element of a good piece. That’s why details are so important. Paying attention to details also guides the journalist who is doing the piece, and helps him to know better the character he is talking about. Sometimes they reveal the truth of the character and have meaning as Harrington shows it: “Everything in the house related to deeds they had done for others”. “Such details make the subject’s interior world clearer to us.”
In this regards, the piece about Cohen is a great example. The journalist, Strauss, makes a great job recreating Cohen s’ world, showing how he is physically and in his mind. He also makes him talk through dialogs. In the end, the effect is that we get a chance to meet the character and not only read about him.
Clark and Scanlan emphasize the importance of details too: “Good writers use telling details to help us see, hear and understand”. Gorney’s work on Seuss’ life is an example of this extensive use of details. For example, Gorney knows that “on occasion San Diego children will pack up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and set out for the summit” of the hill where Dr Seuss lives. She makes a great description of Seuss and the environment in which he lives.
Details are an important tool for good pieces.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Susan Orlean: The American Man at age ten
The writer makes an impressive job recreating the world of this little boy. She is like a fly observing him. We discover his family, his neighborhood, his school, his friends, his games and we rediscover our own childhood through the piece. She does not only observe, she has empathy toward this boy and has this maternal tone that makes the reader sympathize with her. I had a good time reading this story because lots of memories were coming back to me (the fact of having to take care of a fish or a bird in the classroom for example). It was also interesting on a cultural aspect; I could see the similarities and differences with French children.
The writer makes an impressive job recreating the world of this little boy. She is like a fly observing him. We discover his family, his neighborhood, his school, his friends, his games and we rediscover our own childhood through the piece. She does not only observe, she has empathy toward this boy and has this maternal tone that makes the reader sympathize with her. I had a good time reading this story because lots of memories were coming back to me (the fact of having to take care of a fish or a bird in the classroom for example). It was also interesting on a cultural aspect; I could see the similarities and differences with French children.
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