Literary Journalism

Still Stumped for Topics?

If you are, there are a couple of things I can suggest: 

First, you can share all the ideas you've had but aren't actually going to do.  As we discussed in class yesterday, there's nothing wrong with creating a virtual simulation of an editor's office.

Second, you can take a look at articles written by Literary Journalism students.  Not all of them were written by students in LJ20, but they give you an idea of the range of possible subjects you can work with.

Barry's "Crash of the B-29"

Whoops.  I accidentally posted this to the Ethics and Evolution of Literary Journalism courseblog.  (And, in so doing, realized where the Orlean articles "disappeared to.)  Won't happen again.  You can download Barry's article here.  The rest of the quarter's syllabus will be up sometime on Monday, after I've had a chance to look over the scene analyses.

Barry's Piece - Nicole Wurzell

I just finished reading Barry's article and i honestly feel that my heart is has dropped to my stomach. i think that the article captures the emotions of various people on so many levels. a sense of devastation pervades the article and i think that it was very powerful how the people who were brought together for this case could all relate on some level of tragedy. for instance, the judge himself seems to carry such a deep burden after his own father's suicide and the attorney Adkins has this same guilt due to his own son's death. i feel like it just bring a human connection to everyone that is involved, it take away the reliance of religion and law (which are both mentioned) and bases the issue of Gage's death on a more personal issue - something totally outside of any standardized judgement. in other articles we have read there have been details brought into the story from the outside, such as the history of Street Fighter in the piece about Colin; however, i feel like the details and history that barry produced were so important that the story would have been so different without them. the emotions of wayment were captured so effectively - we see his immediate devastation as he plowed through the lake and then the state of complete hopelessness wherein he writes that poem for his son and visits the site where he died. we also see how the case haunts hidler to the core and becomes a part of his daily life , whether hearing about it on his alarm news or thinking about it as he jogs. i feel like i could write/comment on this piece forever because it is so touching, overall i feel that i got such a deep sense of everyone involved and the blame and responsibility that was felt by different parties....very powerful!

Barry's piece- Amber Cleave

OK, I need to take a big long deep breath after reading Barry's piece. I think I might not have breathed more than a few times while reading the article. It is very heavy. Some things I noticed 1. The reader doesn't really know what is going on until the third paragraph, so we are anxious to read and figure out what is being discussed. As well, the reader never really knows what is going on, because the question and focus of the piece doesn't have an answer. 2. The main question is Justice, or what is justice, or how does one figure out what is just. 3. There are some intimate details which obviously can only be known by strange questions such as "What did he look like when you saw him"- the answer being "Concern, he saw, strained his face". This is helpful for myself in knowing what are good questions to ask a subject. 4. The focus of the piece is not on the father, like I originally thought, but rather the focus is on the judge. This was an interesting twist because at first I did not expect the article to head in this direction. 5. The paragraph which describes finding Gage is brilliant. There are four long sentences followed by two short sentences. The paragraph is short, detailed, and ultimately simple and honest. The very last line, "In his eyes were frozen tears" brought tears to my own eyes. My heart stopped and I grasped for air. The paragraph made me feel like I found the body. It froze me to my core. I really like this piece and think it might be the most effective piece we have read this quarter.

Newspaper article voice excersize- Amber Cleave

Pop Music Review- A revision in Elliot Smith's TRUE Essence

The late Elliot Smith was a man who truly had a way with attractive and sweet melodies. His music is also Beatlesque and has a strong singing guitar. Sans his voice, it is a difficult task to portray the full effect of his music. Turning this form of music into a Broadway type musical is not an easy task, although it was almost successfully attempted by Christopher O'Riley at the Getty Center's Harold M. Williams Auditorium this past Friday. He took the pop-rock flair and exchanged it for a more classical style - barely maintaining the essence of Smith. What is left in between the truth of Smith and the adaptation of O'Riley is a truly creative adaptation. The opening piece, "Home to Oblivion" sounds like a dream. Smith's rock tunes end up with a hint of romance and intense emotion- an audience listener noted that "This was what he (Smith) wanted to feel like". Ultimately then, O'Rielly landed on the mark of excellence! O'Riely, who is based in LA, now has a repertoire of classical to rock to (as of recently) emo. This tribute to Smith is really a collaboration of tradition and imagination- a new way to enjoy the old...tributes like O'Riley's allow good music to live forever.

The Mountains of Pi-Jessica Beard

Perhaps one of the longest pieces we've had to read thus far, I actually somewhat (and I emphasize somewhat) enjoyed reading The Mountains of Pi. Maybe 'enjoyed' isn't the appropriate word; however, I did find it interesting. Interesting in the sense that two men would devote so much time and energy into achieving the impossible...finding a pattern in Pi. The piece actually kind of solidified my belief that some things just aren't meant to be understood by the human species and should just be left alone.
However, I admired the determination they put into their work and although I questioned why they were doing what they were doing, I found myself defending their work when it was attacked by their fellow mathematicians. As far as the writing of the piece is concerned, I felt that Preston could have given a little bit more attention to the intimate people surrounding the two brothers, such as their respective wives and mother. He didn't seem to dig too deep into the thoughts of these people. I for one was curious about how the wives felt about their husbands devoting so much time and their money into cracking Pi and also wondered if it caused a significant strain on their marriages. The piece did get too scientific-y at times, which kind of slowed the reading, but at the same time I learned so much about something that before really didn't interest me. So I think Preston did a good job of sparking interest in his readers while at the same time keeping a scientific theme to his piece. I think the equation and formulas kind of disrupted the flow of the piece (the same goes for the diagrams of Strawberries Under Ice) and the length of the essay seemed to resemble Pi itself in that it went on forever. But other than that, The Mountains of Pi was alright.

Random Thought - Lindsey Hess

I was thinking about the point of doing all this reading and how Scott is showing us how different writers use different methods of getting their points across. It makes sense that if you like a writers style you should mimic it but when does you writing become their's and no longer your own. To me it seems that everyone has a natural writing voice and it seems if you start to use all these other writer's techniques you will start to lose yourself. I'm glad we are getting the chance to look at all these writers, I guess my question is just how do we incoorporate these techniques and still sound like the writers we are? Just a thought I've been having....

Lindsey Hess-The Man of Tomorrow Goes to the Prom

I found The Future of Men to be pretty boring as well. It was interesting though because even though it was boring, I think there are a lot of young people out there exactly like this. What I did take from this piece was that even if a subject seems boring or dull there can still be meaning taken from their story. For example, from Jesse's story we can deduct a lot about his parents, his lifestyle and society in general. The thing I liked best about this style of writing was how Sager used Jesse's voice, I think it really helped develop a sense of who Jesse is and helped relate him to the reader.

Amber Cleave- remarks on The Future of Men

I found the future of men to be slightly boring. I am thinking I might be uninterested because I am not a man, but I am not quite sure. From a literary journalism aspect there were many points which I thought were very good. First of all, the pictures are a nice touch because you can actually see a real visual of the subjects- although this is not quite necessary because they are all described very well in writing. The use of italicization for word emphasis is used very nicely because the important words jump off the page. I also liked the alternation of long and short sentences, although some sentences were too long and I felt as though I got lost in them. The sentences do resemble the way that a teenager speaks, though, so their use is justified. On page 145, the author mentions very serious things such as suicide and drugs and alcohol in a very matter of fact manner that seems to be similar to the behavior and style of speech of Jesse- laid back and low key. I though this was very effective because it sounds like Jesse is talking, even though the author is simply narrating a scene and things which Jesse has said. There are so many intimate details about this family that the reader feels like they are in the house and going through the same motions/experiences as the subjects in the article. The quirky aspects of people and family relationships are brought to life in this piece.

Analytical paper #1?

When is it due?????