The Deadly Choices at Memorial pg 3
This article that was written for The New York Times Magazine, allowing Sheri Fink to write a long, detailed article. She uses many literary devices. Right from the beginning she describes a scene. Fink does this by using sights, smells, and creates emotion. One example that makes this different than a news story is the choice of words and grammar she uses. She writes, “There, a knee was flung akimbo.” The writer used akimbo versus another word. Let alone, she decided to put this information in to create a visual, even though the sentence isn’t necessary.
On page four, Fink uses the word “I” and describes how she got her information and quotes for the story. In a news story, the reporter does not use the word “I.” Throughout the story, Fink asks questions. She questions terms, justified means, doctors, etc. For example, on page 14, she questions what the term “greatest good” means. She asks, “Is it the number of lives saved? Years of life saved? Best ‘quality’ years of life saved? Or something else?”
Fink gives a history on the hospital and in a news story there isn’t much room for a lot of background information. She also gives specific times and what happened at that moment on August 29. Also, as we described in class, people are introduced in the story with descriptive terms, such as tiny, passionate, and funny.
In Defense of Tourism pg 251
Because this is a column article, I don’t exactly know if I will be pointing out the literary techniques but I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s a great article too! The writer starts out by setting the scene at Mike’s Pastry. Him and his friend are talking about cannoli’s and how the pastry shop is filled with tourists. He uses direct quotes from the dialogue between his friend and him. He also talks to the reader and says, “I admit, though, that I’m prone to thinking like Alex when I travel. Maybe you are too.” Another technique he uses is questions he poses, both to the reader and himself. He also throws an analogy in the reading to help show his point between politicians and tourists on page 252.
New York Times
I picked the story “Weighing Race and Hate in a Mississippi Killing” in The New York Times from August 23. This was a very interesting article that is about a black man who was beaten and ran over by white teenagers in a motel parking lot. The article covers the story, as well as the bigger picture involving racism in Jackson, Alabama. I thought the article was well written, but I think it could’ve been better. Some of the information was irrelevant to me and didn’t make the story any better. The reporter interviewed a random group of white teenagers and they said they weren’t racist. This means nothing to me and it doesn’t support the case. There weren’t a whole lot of literary devices used. One of them that I saw was the background information on both the victim and the teen who committed the crime. The writer says, “Mr. Dedmon like his high school classes, but not as much as he loved hanging out with friends at a drive-in restaurant in the largely white suburban county where he lived.” The reporter also put in an interesting piece of information, “He was the joker among a group for whom country music, Bible verses, Bud Light and pickup trucks serve as the cultural markers.” To describe the victim and who he was, the reporter says, “And if friend or relatives were not dressed well enough for an event, he would tease them into changing into something nicer.” There weren’t as many literary devices in this story compared to the ones we picked in class. Either that, or I'm looking hard enough.
I got some help from eHow on finding literary devices.
My future story
I’ve thought about what I’m going to do for my story and I’m struggling a bit. I’m so used to picking any story and being able to report it from Reporting and Writing. I don’t think I could be able to pick any story and make it into a literary piece. Since the stories are going to be 750 words, I’m thinking of maybe doing a story on a specific person or a couple people. After reading The Deadly Choices at Memorial, I keep thinking I have to pick a story on a specific event that has happened, like if Walmart blew up. I’m not sure! Of course I’m sure a talented reporter could pick any story and make a 20 page article on it, even if it was in Bemidji. Assuming we have to stick with Bemidji, I could pick an event that is happening on campus and report that. I do realize that it’s helping to type out my thoughts on my future story. It is giving me better ideas. For me, the most difficult part is actually interviewing who I need to get information from. Who do I talk to? What do I ask? I don’t struggle with it, but it is the part that I need to spend the most time on. I feel I’m really good at putting the information together, organizing it, and making a story.
