Literary Journalism

Tatiana Gordon - Gladwell

When I read the Gladwell piece I thought that overall the scenes were relevant and I was able to get a clear picture of Cesar and his training methods. However, one part of the article seemed unnecessary to me at first. The parallel Gladwell used between the movement therapists that work with autistic children and Cesar made me feel a bit distracted because I initially felt that a lot of time or space was used to develop the imagery (the therapy sessions) for that parallel. I understand its overall relevance but when I read the article for the first time I was thrown off and became unsure of how the article would progress. I do understand that including Tortora's and Eric's therapy sessions provided imagery that could help audiences understand what was being said about Cesar, but, I wasn't certain and still am not sure if it was totally necessary. I felt that the commentary the movement therapist provided was enough to sustain the point that Gladwell was making. On another note, I really enjoyed the way Gladwell ended the piece, tying in Cesar's "epiphany" to an actual case that he had. I felt that it demonstrated the entire point that owners have to be willing to change their behaviors as well in order to have healthy and happy pets.

Readings for Tuesday - Nicole Wurzell

I found all three of these pieces very interesting, especially because i was not familiar with any of these people. the obvious main thread between all three is the comedy and the way that each writer portrays this. we do not just read that they do stand up routines and get a list of their funniest jokes; instead, we are actually given a broader account of them. there are many quotes from people close to the subjects and i think that these quotes really add to the comdey of both the pieces and the subject in general. for instance, the quotes often put the subject down or expose a side that we would not have otherwise known - for instance, the ill response silverman got for her asian joke, or the immature aspect of david wherein he would leave the stage if he didn't have anyone's full attention.
the simpsons article because it showed what the appeal of the show is and the genius that goes into it, but overall i think the most effective article was the david piece. we learn a little about his personal life, his background and struggle to get to where he is today (from valet to millionaire). so, when we watched the clip of curb your enthusiasm i felt like i could enjoy it more with a fuller knowledge of what and who actually goes into the show. i do not feel like i really know silverman for some reason. i can see how she is a very controversial and in that token bold comedian, because she obviously does not shy away from any topic. also i liked the description of her apartment because it illustrated how truly zany she is- this is obviously not just her comic routine, but her personality that pervades even into her house. i definitely enjoyed the article, but of the three i feel like i got to know silverman the least...

Jessica Beard on Bilger

I found that this piece seemed to be more of a profile of a concept than on a person. Charles Zuker did seem to be somewhat of a focal point as far as people are concerned, but the piece focused more on sugar, its alternatives, and the quest to find effective ones. As readers, we get very few humanitistic or personal details: Zucker attending college at 15, his house overlooks a cliff, he drives a really fast car, and his wife looks like Charo. Even more interesting is how these intimate details are thrown in at the most random of times. Everything else is focused upon sugar. It's definitely a different style of doing a profile than what we're used to reading and I can't really say if I like it or not. I love the fact that its extremely informative and detailed and I actually learned something I previously didn't know before reading it, but other than that I think I'm kind of ambivalent towards it.

Yao Xu-The Search for Sweets

I just finished reading the Search for Sweets article and I find it interesting. Though at first when I read about DDT, the different molecules, and chemical names, I expected another scientific article with a bunch of long chemical names I would not be able to pronounce. However, after discovering that the article is about finding a substitute for sugar (and recognizing the word "Splenda"), I wanted to know more about this process. I noticed that the article did not contain a lot of long quotes but whenever there were quotes, it was mostly for a humorous effect. I'm not quite sure if it is due to my prior knowledge about the chemical compounds, like sucrose, that made this article less confusing, but I understood the experiments and could visualize it too. I think Bilger's analogies and similar examples really helped me comprehend the article. I also liked how Bilger gave a sense of who Zuker (besides being known for the guy who did sensory experiments) by listing at the end of the article that Zuker collects wines, takes racing lessons, etc. tied all of these qualities together by ending the article with Zuker speeding away.

Readings for Tuesday-Jessica Beard

Well besides the obvious comedic theme to all three profiles, there are many similarities I noticed between them all. The one that I thought was most notable is that they all commence with the meager beginnings of all three profilees. I wouldn't go so far as to say that each one's story started with failure, but none of their success was attained early on in their careers, therefore their stories are that of ascension. We get a lot of their background and personal details, which really gives us a sense of who each one really is. Yes, they are all comedians in their own right; however, their stories drastically differ from one another. Another comparison that I found was that although we are afforded details about almost every aspect of each subject's lives, there seems to be one event or occurrence that really "makes" each person. Larry David: Seinfeld (and in part Curb Your Enthusiasm), Sarah Silverman: The Chink joke, and George Meyer: The Simpsons. Each respective event tends to be the central point of each profile and its what you'll remember them for after finishing reading about them. I loved the fact that I really got a good sense of who each person was and I believe this was because of the details, however minute, that were given about them. Out of all of them, I think I liked the Sarah Silverman piece the best. Not only because of the content (she's crazy, lol) but I think because I actually knew who she was. Once it was said she was Jimmy Kimmel's girlfriend, I was like, "Ohhhh...that's who she is," and then all the Jewish stuff made sense, lol.

Readings for tuesday- Amber Cleave

O.K. There are many similarities between the articles that we read for tomorrow. The things I have noticed are 1. They discuss family background and upbringing, often quoting from family members. 2. articles follow the profile through their careers, noting failed careers and past jobs. 3. The articles use quotes from other people who know the subjects well, and add to the sense of a person. 4. Jokes and skits are used to give a sense of a person and their outward personality. 5. There is often a controversy about the person or their career, and this is highlighted by given two sides or opinions of the subject. 6. The end of the article is a quote by the profile which sums up the person, their view on life, or their main personality. This quote leaves the reader with the essence of the profile. 7. The articles all use block paragraphs and the paragraphs aren't too long. The one sentence paragraphs really stick out, though, and convey something important or intimate about the person. 8. Also noted, these articles are all hilarious. I was laughing as I read them. The articles are funny because the subjects are funny, but the Simpson's article on Meyer is slightly more serious because the content of Meyer himself is more serious. This article I feel is the most effective because, although still funny, I think it conveys a more personal, out of the box view of Meyer. It describes his discontent and perfectionism which follows him throughout his life. This is the kind of thing that not everyone would know about him, or even expect. It is shocking and comforting at the same time. In a way, it reminded me of Lincoln's Melancholy.

Didion Piece - Nicole Wurzell

I know there were some differing opinions in class about this article, but i personally really enjoyed it. there is a lot of conflict in the peice because i think didion is trying to reconcile her job as a literary journalist (reporting the facts, keeping close detail, etc) and the trauma of being suddenly and unexpectedly widowed. i see how this book would be read for coping groups because didion strips the formalities away from act of grieving and shows the process in a more raw and real form. at first i was thrown off by how cold she seems to be, especially when she was talking about the autopsy - it seems to eerie to actually want to see your love one all hacked up, but by the end of the piece i thought her attitude was very refreshing. i also really liked how she dealt with the idea of time through the piece, all the little details like waiting in line at the hospital, pondering what time he would have died in LA, looking up the eleveator records to see when the paramendics arrived/left - i think this all goes along with the time that she keeps in the piece because she is constantly skipping from the present, to the past (when her husband died), to slipping in miscellaneous facts. i think the sporadic time records kept with the idea of the unexpected. overall, i really liked this piece, i thought it was powerful and very raw.

Jessica Beard on Sole Survivor

I think this piece, like The Mountains of Pi, is another example of how you can make the most random of subjects, and perhaps the most uninteresting, interesting. I would never have imagined that I would have read an article about shoes. My only critique of it is that I think Burkhard could have given a few more intimate/personal details about Petr. I know this sounds kind of weird because essentially the piece is about shoes, but I felt that it was a little bit too focused on the shoes and not the person researching them. I just didn't get the same sense or feel for this character the same way I did for example the judge in Barry's piece or the brothers in The Mountains of Pi.

Lindsey Hess Original Article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez15apr15,1,814008.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

Lindsey Hess

Original Article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez15apr15,1,814008.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

"Old People Are No Longer Allowed to Cross the Street"

I don't use a cane, which gave me a clear advantage.

The challenge? Trying to cross the street where 82 year old Mayvis Coyle got a $114 jaywalking ticket from an overeager LAPD crime-buster trying to make a few extra bucks for the city.

"This is the first ticket I ever got in my life," an angry and crusading Coyle told The Times. Surprisingly, she wants the "Walk" signal changed to allow enough time for people to actually walk across the street. "I think people can see I'm being sincere. I'm speaking for all those seniors who can't sprint across the street."

Foothill Boulevard is four lanes wide and roughly 75 feet across. The police claim that on Feb. 15, the dare devilish senior Coyle — whose case is now drawing international attention — entered the intersection after the "Don't Walk" sign started flashing. She disputes that and suggests the Los Angeles Police Department officer should have gotten off his motorcycle and helped her "when he saw me struggling". Instead, the generous and helpful officer handed her a ticket.

For my investigation of the Mayvis Coyle case I took up a position at the northeast point of the intersection for a while, watching the flow of traffic, and noticed the light barely allowed time for cars to get across Foothill on Woodward.

In fact, the light is green for precisely 10 seconds, and the pedestrian sign doesn't even give you a "Walk" sign unless you first press the crossing button.

So I pressed it. The electronic sign gave me the "Walk" signal — with a very helpful visual aid of a stick figure on the move. The stick figure, I noted, did not have a cane.

I stepped off the curb, moving at a normal gait, and before I could even make it to the double yellow line in the middle of the street, the "Don't Walk" sign started flashing.

Clearly at this point, pedestrians are encouraged to run for their lives in which ever direction they find more suitable.

Imagine poor Mayvis Coyle, weighted down with groceries and picking along with a cane. Why not put hurdles out there to make it even tougher on seniors?

I was able to make it across just as the flashing light switched to a solid "Don't Walk," but barely. In all, I had 27 seconds — a tough test for a senior citizen.

"Are you timing the light?" a driver asked, having read about Mayvis Coyle. "We've lived here for 10 years and you can never make it across this intersection in time."

The driver, Nell Canter, had a strong opinion about Mayvis Coyle's ticket.

"It's obscene. You never even see a cop in Sunland," she said, and now one shows up to write a jaywalking ticket.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to jack up the garbage removal fee by 155% to pay for more cops. Maybe if cops weren't wasting their time writing frivolous tickets, we wouldn't need more of them.

A big thanks goes out to the heroic efforts of the LAPD. It's nice to see that all the senior citizens are finally being kept in check. Keep up the good work, keep writing those tickets and maybe soon every officer can drive a $50,000 SUV.

Washington Post article I enjoyed...

It doesn't all have to be dark and dreary: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011801434.html

Found this, at (mostly) random, and thought I'd share.

~albert