Friday, November 30, 2018
Feature self-edit
1. Who were the sources (you should have 3)?
Venus Dever, Jane Khor (Chuah), Ken Chuah
2. Summarize in 1-3 sentences the story (make sure you have covered what you want your readers {me} to know about your subject/topic):
Ken Chuah left his job at Motorola to pursue his passion in business. Financial crisis and having a baby acted as basic obstacles during his life, yet he and Jane manages to create a business without falling into any family issues.
3. How many paragraphs is the story (I would expect you to have around 20-30 at least)?
23 paragraphs
4. How many words is the story (you should be between 800-1500)?
1349 words.
5. How many direct quotes are there in the story (remember LTQT style, every other paragraph should be a direct quote, so between 10-20)?
10 direct quotes.
6. How many different people are quoted in the story (you should have 3)?
3 people quoted : Venus, Jane, Ken
7. Which quote is the most impactful of all the ones included (where is this quote located? It should be near the top or at the end)?
The quote at the end. It expresses Ken's passion in business as you see him talk deeply about patenting and all the processes but quickly returning to the idea that business is his interest.
I think it expresses his passion both directly and indirectly.
8. Where is that quote located in the story (beginning, middle, end) (see above)?
It's in the end.
9. Does the lede effectively capture the readers attention (think about if you were reading this story, would you want to keep going after you read the first few paragraphs? If not, try to do more story telling in the lead, go back and look at this link: LEADS )?
Yes, I believe so.
10. If their could have been one additional person interviewed for the story, who would it be (you have time, maybe you could get ahold of that person and add it in before tomorrow afternoon)?
I would like to interview Mrs. Erie. She was a low-cost babysitter, but I was advised not to because her indian accent was very strong.
11. Is the story objective, which means are all non-direct quotes statements of fact and NOT the opinion of the writer (and are you in third person? NO use of the words I, me, we, us, and make sure if your source referenced anything like your aunt - that should be changed to her sister)?
Yes.
12. Are there any unanswered questions that you have after reading the article (if you have questions, someone else will too, ANSWER THEM)?
Q.Was Ken's business successful?
A. I don't want to tell off what his business was, because it might reveal too much personal info, but yes. It is small but it makes a lot of income.
13. Write a headline to go with this story:
Passion Over Fortune: A man risks leaving a famous company in exchange for his desire to start a business.
14. Sum up your opinion of the story:
The story is a basic example of going for passion. I think the story differs from other stories about jobs because Ken was a foreigner going to U.S, has a disadvantage in getting a U.S job because he immigrated to U.S, then gets himself into a big, famous company in his time, and completely turns it around because he didn't like it. It shows that doing something that doesn't interest you won't make your life how you wanted it.
15. Give yourself a self grade from 0-100
I think an 87. Due to the limited amount time, I wasn't able to make it how I wanted it: perfect
Thursday, November 15, 2018
(Ethan's view on) The man who played the violin
In a commonplace environment at an unexpected hour:
Do we perceive beauty?
Mostly not. Notice how in the story, the woman perceiving the beauty of Bell's performance has already seen him playing in a sophisticated place. Notice how the interviewed people, who said Bell's performance slightly interested them, had experience in violinistic music, like the man who focus on becoming a violinist but gave up. The 3 year old kid who was interested in the music playing hasn't become numb to experiencing street musician performances. I would say we perceive beauty that we have knowledge on, or perceive beauty because the perceived entity is unique to us.
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Yes, we do. We barely appreciate it, but out of the many people circulating the area there is always at least someone who will stop to appreciate talent. People are unpredictable, and because there are so many of us, humans are bound to notice talent of any sort.
Not all of us. Some
Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
Not really. You can see that there are some people who recognize talent in ordinary places, but most of us largely recognize talent based on context. It makes sense that we wouldn't usually see beauty in a unknown violinist playing inside a plaza, because the plaza and subway stations are places where we go to head to work, purchase goods and services, or have somewhere else to go. This is why concerts are planned in grand places, why musicians wear fancy attire, and why first impressions are important. We don't recognize talent in unexpected places because our instincts tell us to focus on our task and view the new person as ordinary because they look normal, they look like they're doing the typical street musician , and is playing violin in a public, normal place where one goes to work.
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
I don't know. Sometimes we miss something grand because we don't see it as grand. We could be missing amazing things, but we could also be missing typical music played by street musicians who actually need profit. That's what's hard about recognition: you don't know what is grand and what isn't until you closely observe or someone tells you the person is amazing.
Do we perceive beauty?
Mostly not. Notice how in the story, the woman perceiving the beauty of Bell's performance has already seen him playing in a sophisticated place. Notice how the interviewed people, who said Bell's performance slightly interested them, had experience in violinistic music, like the man who focus on becoming a violinist but gave up. The 3 year old kid who was interested in the music playing hasn't become numb to experiencing street musician performances. I would say we perceive beauty that we have knowledge on, or perceive beauty because the perceived entity is unique to us.
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Yes, we do. We barely appreciate it, but out of the many people circulating the area there is always at least someone who will stop to appreciate talent. People are unpredictable, and because there are so many of us, humans are bound to notice talent of any sort.
Not all of us. Some
Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
Not really. You can see that there are some people who recognize talent in ordinary places, but most of us largely recognize talent based on context. It makes sense that we wouldn't usually see beauty in a unknown violinist playing inside a plaza, because the plaza and subway stations are places where we go to head to work, purchase goods and services, or have somewhere else to go. This is why concerts are planned in grand places, why musicians wear fancy attire, and why first impressions are important. We don't recognize talent in unexpected places because our instincts tell us to focus on our task and view the new person as ordinary because they look normal, they look like they're doing the typical street musician , and is playing violin in a public, normal place where one goes to work.
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
I don't know. Sometimes we miss something grand because we don't see it as grand. We could be missing amazing things, but we could also be missing typical music played by street musicians who actually need profit. That's what's hard about recognition: you don't know what is grand and what isn't until you closely observe or someone tells you the person is amazing.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Feature Writing Brainstorm
1. Who is your main subject?
Father
2. Supporting interviews (who else do you need to talk to, minimum 2 other people)?
mother, mother's friend with same experience
3. What is the topic or potential topic?
Dealing with baby while being at poor economic times.
4. Which angle from above will you write the story?
First-hand experience — a story based on the first hand account of a unique experience.
5. Then to help you get going faster, come up with 20 questions that you can ask your main subject. Type these in your blog.
1. How old were you when you had your first baby?
2. When were you at your poorest times?
3. Why were you at your poorest time?
4. How did taking care of a baby/ toddler complicate things?
5. Who helped you babysit the baby/ take care of the baby?
6. How much could you afford at the time?
7. What factors really saved/ helped you during this time?
8. What got you back to middle-class economy?
9. What did you do in order to prevent having low economy situation?
10. How did it feel to be in this situation? Were you worried?
11. What are some other situations that sprouted from this issue?
12. What was the lifestyle you had during that time compared to now?
13. How did it feel dealing with a baby for the first time?
14. What are some situations where the baby ended up in trouble that were unexpected?
15. What were some difficult issues involving parenting? ( finding cheap daycare, buying crib)
16. What have you learned during this experience?
17. How does this experience compare with the current experience of dealing with the second baby?
18. What could you change about your first experience dealing with a baby during poor times?
19. How did being a father change your life?
20. Any other info.?
6. Once you complete that portion, you need to come up with 5-10 questions you need to ask your supporting interviews. Type these into your blog. You may need different questions for each supporting subject.
Mother
1. How did dealing with a baby complicate things or would've complicated things?
2. What did you do to counteract the economy situation?
3. How did it feel to be in this situation? Were you worried?
4. How did this situation arise? What was going on during your business/occupation?
5. What were some situations that arose from the big issue being the baby dealing while being broke?
6. Any other info.?
Mother's friend:
1. How old were you when you first experienced being a parent?
2. How did having children change your previous life (life before having children)?
3. How did it feel being a parent and taking care of your children? Was it easy taking care of a child?
4. What are/were the difficulties of taking care of a child?
5. What were some factors that made parenting easier/ harder?
6. Any other information you would like to add?
7. You will need to do a little research on the topic you expect to interview your main subject about. Take a little time and do some google searching - find at least 5 new things about the intended topic you should know before you interview your main subject. List those on your blog.
8. Write when you plan to conduct the interview(s)?
During this week to Thanksgiving break.
9. Where you will interview them (some interviews are better to do in the persons environment, while others should be done in public places, ALL interviews should be done in person)?
I will do them in the person's environment. Because grandmother is in Malaysia, I can try to skype call her. If not, I will have to resort to emailing or switching to a different supporting source.
10. How will you record the information? (taking notes is ideal, and if you want to record the conversation you MUST get permission. You can do both if they will allow you to record, this is a really strong technique that you could use.)
Using a phone to record, or a camera. I know that my parents are always home during 5:00-6:00pm, so I can record them.
Father
2. Supporting interviews (who else do you need to talk to, minimum 2 other people)?
mother, mother's friend with same experience
3. What is the topic or potential topic?
Dealing with baby while being at poor economic times.
4. Which angle from above will you write the story?
First-hand experience — a story based on the first hand account of a unique experience.
5. Then to help you get going faster, come up with 20 questions that you can ask your main subject. Type these in your blog.
1. How old were you when you had your first baby?
2. When were you at your poorest times?
3. Why were you at your poorest time?
4. How did taking care of a baby/ toddler complicate things?
5. Who helped you babysit the baby/ take care of the baby?
6. How much could you afford at the time?
7. What factors really saved/ helped you during this time?
8. What got you back to middle-class economy?
9. What did you do in order to prevent having low economy situation?
10. How did it feel to be in this situation? Were you worried?
11. What are some other situations that sprouted from this issue?
12. What was the lifestyle you had during that time compared to now?
13. How did it feel dealing with a baby for the first time?
14. What are some situations where the baby ended up in trouble that were unexpected?
15. What were some difficult issues involving parenting? ( finding cheap daycare, buying crib)
16. What have you learned during this experience?
17. How does this experience compare with the current experience of dealing with the second baby?
18. What could you change about your first experience dealing with a baby during poor times?
19. How did being a father change your life?
20. Any other info.?
6. Once you complete that portion, you need to come up with 5-10 questions you need to ask your supporting interviews. Type these into your blog. You may need different questions for each supporting subject.
Mother
1. How did dealing with a baby complicate things or would've complicated things?
2. What did you do to counteract the economy situation?
3. How did it feel to be in this situation? Were you worried?
4. How did this situation arise? What was going on during your business/occupation?
5. What were some situations that arose from the big issue being the baby dealing while being broke?
6. Any other info.?
Mother's friend:
1. How old were you when you first experienced being a parent?
2. How did having children change your previous life (life before having children)?
3. How did it feel being a parent and taking care of your children? Was it easy taking care of a child?
4. What are/were the difficulties of taking care of a child?
5. What were some factors that made parenting easier/ harder?
7. You will need to do a little research on the topic you expect to interview your main subject about. Take a little time and do some google searching - find at least 5 new things about the intended topic you should know before you interview your main subject. List those on your blog.
- toddlers and babies can get really fussy and problematic
- most of the time parents do not know yet how to take care of their of their baby, hence parenting tips and books
- parenthood really changes your life to where your previous life won't appear anymore
- Help is always wanted during first year of parenting
- Parenting stress is very common to first year parents
8. Write when you plan to conduct the interview(s)?
During this week to Thanksgiving break.
9. Where you will interview them (some interviews are better to do in the persons environment, while others should be done in public places, ALL interviews should be done in person)?
I will do them in the person's environment. Because grandmother is in Malaysia, I can try to skype call her. If not, I will have to resort to emailing or switching to a different supporting source.
10. How will you record the information? (taking notes is ideal, and if you want to record the conversation you MUST get permission. You can do both if they will allow you to record, this is a really strong technique that you could use.)
Using a phone to record, or a camera. I know that my parents are always home during 5:00-6:00pm, so I can record them.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Feature Writing
1. What is the difference between a hard news lead (lede) and the one you read above?
The lead in hard news brings the five "w's" all in one paragraph. This lead has a series of paragraphs, each containing certain pieces of the five "w's".
2. What paragraph(s) did you learn the following information?
a. Who
Paragraph 2
b. What
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 5
c. Where
Paragraph 2
d. When
Paragraph 8
e. Why
Paragraph 14
f. How
Paragraph 29
3. Are there quotes in this story?
Yes.
4. Are those quotes arranged in the "quote-transiton" style we used in news writing?
Yes.
5. Who is quoted in the story?
Ted Williams, Kevin McLoughlin, Doral Chenoweth III, Ken Andrews, Tony Florentino, Shane Cormier.
6. What quote is the most powerful in the story, in your opinion?
Ted Williams, of course. The main feature story is him, so all the other quoted people talk about tracking down Williams and explaining the money and benefits Williams could have if someone hires him for his voice.
7. How many paragraphs is the story?
32 paragraphs.
8. How many words is the story (hint: you can copy and paste into Word and get a word count)?
765 words.
9. What is significant about the lead (lede) and the final paragraph of the story?
The lead in the beginning explains of the good-sounding voice of a homeless Ted Williams, and the final paragraph says directly, "That voice could be his". This gives off the main idea that Ted Williams has an opportunity to actually get a high-paying job again.
10. Why do you think the writer did that with the lead (lede) and final paragraph?
The first paragraph of the lead and the last paragraph emphasizes and strengthens the main themes of the story, Williams going from rags to riches. Parallelism is known to show strength because it sounds powerful instead of the common sentence that summarizes the story.
11. Was the story interesting to read?
Yes.
12. When you finished the story, but BEFORE you watched the video, did you want to hear the voice?
Yes, I thought his voice was going to be lower because it said he had a baritone voice, but I overestimated the deepness of his voice. Still content though.
13. Multimedia approaches are powerful tools, what impact did the video have when watched directly after reading the story?
I realize at the end of the video, he sounded so unsure about how life would play out, and was desperate for a job. This wasn't shown in the writing, so multimedia really puts the emotions in words.
14. Would the story have lost its impact without the video?
Yes. William's story is all about his golden voice. Without the video, it would be hard to express his "golden voice", the main reason for why his story is being told. I imagine it's hard to perceive something never heard before, so the video really puts impact.
15. Did the writer try to come up with a way for you to hear the voice, i.e. did he try to describe the voice or give you a way to "hear" the voice without really hearing it?
Yes, he described it as the "golden voice", Williams' sign says he has a "God-given gift of voice". Paragraph 2 tells that Williams' voice is baritone. He also repeatedly writes "That voice..." followed by the transition content, making the voice sound mysterious, amazing, and/or interesting.
16. How did the writer do that?
Parallelism, description of physical objects, and description using imagery.
The lead in hard news brings the five "w's" all in one paragraph. This lead has a series of paragraphs, each containing certain pieces of the five "w's".
2. What paragraph(s) did you learn the following information?
a. Who
Paragraph 2
b. What
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 5
c. Where
Paragraph 2
d. When
Paragraph 8
e. Why
Paragraph 14
f. How
Paragraph 29
3. Are there quotes in this story?
Yes.
4. Are those quotes arranged in the "quote-transiton" style we used in news writing?
Yes.
5. Who is quoted in the story?
Ted Williams, Kevin McLoughlin, Doral Chenoweth III, Ken Andrews, Tony Florentino, Shane Cormier.
6. What quote is the most powerful in the story, in your opinion?
Ted Williams, of course. The main feature story is him, so all the other quoted people talk about tracking down Williams and explaining the money and benefits Williams could have if someone hires him for his voice.
7. How many paragraphs is the story?
32 paragraphs.
8. How many words is the story (hint: you can copy and paste into Word and get a word count)?
765 words.
9. What is significant about the lead (lede) and the final paragraph of the story?
The lead in the beginning explains of the good-sounding voice of a homeless Ted Williams, and the final paragraph says directly, "That voice could be his". This gives off the main idea that Ted Williams has an opportunity to actually get a high-paying job again.
10. Why do you think the writer did that with the lead (lede) and final paragraph?
The first paragraph of the lead and the last paragraph emphasizes and strengthens the main themes of the story, Williams going from rags to riches. Parallelism is known to show strength because it sounds powerful instead of the common sentence that summarizes the story.
11. Was the story interesting to read?
Yes.
12. When you finished the story, but BEFORE you watched the video, did you want to hear the voice?
Yes, I thought his voice was going to be lower because it said he had a baritone voice, but I overestimated the deepness of his voice. Still content though.
13. Multimedia approaches are powerful tools, what impact did the video have when watched directly after reading the story?
I realize at the end of the video, he sounded so unsure about how life would play out, and was desperate for a job. This wasn't shown in the writing, so multimedia really puts the emotions in words.
14. Would the story have lost its impact without the video?
Yes. William's story is all about his golden voice. Without the video, it would be hard to express his "golden voice", the main reason for why his story is being told. I imagine it's hard to perceive something never heard before, so the video really puts impact.
15. Did the writer try to come up with a way for you to hear the voice, i.e. did he try to describe the voice or give you a way to "hear" the voice without really hearing it?
Yes, he described it as the "golden voice", Williams' sign says he has a "God-given gift of voice". Paragraph 2 tells that Williams' voice is baritone. He also repeatedly writes "That voice..." followed by the transition content, making the voice sound mysterious, amazing, and/or interesting.
16. How did the writer do that?
Parallelism, description of physical objects, and description using imagery.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Editorials and Personal Columns
- Improving the bathroom cleanliness ( not all students clean up after themselves).
- Improving the amount of projects given at the end of the six weeks.
- Whether we should implement a class for upperclassmen on life skills- dealing with using credit cards, paying bills, etc
I read blogs on CNN because they provide interesting news that seems to be of relevance. This can be a variety of columnists that I read.
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