Reflection

In my own writing, I have noticed that deciding what lead to use is one of the hardest parts. It defines the story and can either limit or activate creativity. From there, I usually know how to expand my stories and I have a good feel for how I want them to flow. I also find that if my idea is still abstract in my head, it comes across that way on the page. My new goal is to make sure I know my point before I start writing. Sometime I start writing and hope one comes to me, but it makes for a weak story.

In Class Narrative.

The train sped down the track with the gunman on board and James Doyle not far behind. Doyle’s car was gaining on the gunman’s train, but the people inside were under an immediate threat. Within the walls of the train, the passengers were beginning to sense a problem after the train had ceased to stop at the last station. And then, without warning, a shot. The gunman had open fired on transit police officer Sunny Grosso. With people on the train now in panic, the gunman had to use Peter Howe, one of the train’s conductors as a hostage and stowed himself away in the conductors area in the front of the train. The train continued to speed along at a fast rate. The passengers in panic, and the gunman slowly realizing his chances of success.

Witness Accuracy: 90% Recall

Mock "I Have a Dream" article...

100 years after President Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation, Dr. Martin Luther King said that a world of racial equality still only exists in a dream. 

King, who spoke Tuesday to hundreds of thousands of black and white men and women on the National Mall, questioned the promise that had been given by our founding fathers that all men had the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

“It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds," King proclaimed.

He acknowledged that even 100 years after Lincoln freed black men and women from slavery, they still live in oppression. But this does not hinder his dream. Dr. King spoke to the energetic crowd asking for forgiveness rather than hatred, and for peace rather than violence.

“In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred,” said King

In a very Lincoln way, Dr. King acknowledged that in order for this nation to be great, we must stand as one, but the hatred will further divide. It was made clear, however, on Tuesday that the black community would not go quietly. While violence was not the answer in King’s message, it didn’t stop him from dropping a threat to the men in congress.

“Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual,” said King.........

Evoking Emotion: delayed lead

A lead in another metro article this week reads as follows, “Louis Bourgoin seems an unlikely symbol of the latest battle over health care spending. The 68-year-old retired shipyard worker is undergoing chemotherapy for liver cancer. He lives in a state once renowned for its efforts to insure the poor, and Mainers stood to benefit even more under President Obama’s health care plan.” This article is concerning the Governor of Maine’s decision to reject federal health care funding, and his cutting of 44,000 Medicare patients. The lead in this case, is a delayed lead. It’s goal is shock and awe. It tries to show readers how people are effected by the Government’s decision. It tries to evoke emotion from the reader so that he/she will read on. In my opinion, it is very effective in doing so by choosing someone who is going through a sickness that most people have a personal connection to at one point or another. This makes the article real for everyone.

Evidence comes in different forms.....

In the metro section this week, there was an intriguing article entitled “Odds favor cardinal in Ghana as the next pope”. This article predicts who will be elected the next Pope. In an interesting fashion, the article makes the statement of who has a chance to be the next Pope using betting odds: “For gamblers laying wagers on the election of the next pope, the smart money is on Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, a strong favorite at 11/4 odds at the Irish Internet gambling company PaddyPower.com.” The article continues to use the odds of the Red Sox wining the next World Series in comparison. This tactic, as a lead, grabs the readers attention, and acts as a delayed lead. Although we understand where the article is headed, it is unclear the specifics of the claim that Turkson will win. The article goes on to explain why he is the favorite, and the actions people may have to a african Pope.

Leads: The Two Styles

      The strengths of writing a summary lead are that it is short and too the point, and extremely effective when writing breaking news stories in which the reader must learn what happened within the first few lines of the story. The downside to this type of lead is that it lacks an artistic spin, or an ability to tell a story in a more creative way. A good example of a summary lead appeared in the Boston Globe this Saturday entitled "Report of a gunman inside MIT unfounded, authorities say". This article was overall pretty short and to the point, but one could get the gist of the article within the first two sentences. Within those first two, we already understand why it’s news. 

       The delayed lead allows for more creativity in the telling of the story, but can lose a reader when the point of the article does not come until later. In order to avoid this, the article must grab the attention of the reader not by telling the synopsis of the story, but rather using emotion and other tactics that evoke a response.

Boston Living Center: Summary Lead Example

Larry Kessler, age 70, recently took over as executive director for the Boston Living Center, the region’s largest refuge for people living with HIV and AIDS, which has seemed to have made its resurgence over the past year.