Feature Writing: Mitch Albom on Writing

1) Mitch Albom discusses in his speech "On Writing" about his experiences with journalism.

He talks about how it is very important to write interesting in depth newspaper articles because with the Internet now being the main source of fast information people don't read newspapers as much anymore. Albom then explains how he breaks down the three elements of stylistic writing (for mostly feature writing) into leads, middles, and ends.

Leads
In journalism school a lead is to get all the basic information into the first or second paragraph. If you are trying to write a lead it may be hard to put style into the writing because the paragraph is about how old somebody is, where they live, what they did, what they're charged with, ect. You don't have to have a large amount of style though as long as you are able to hold the readers attention. When writing a lead it is also sometimes a good idea to give a bit of misdirection, something a writer can do to make you think one way while their actually doing something else.

Middles 
The most effective ways newspapers have dealt with stories is to look beyond what is apparent in front of you. Try to tell the story at a different angle because things like CNN, MSNBC, Fox, or the Internet have already given out the basic story before the newspapers can even catch up. You must tell a story through the eyes of someone who had relation to the topic you are writing about.

Endings 
One mistake that people make in ending their stories is that they have to have a huge declarative ending when really the ending can be much more subtle. You need to paint a picture at the end, just as you do in the beginning, and let it resonate. You know the ending is good when once you put down the story it stays on your mind for a long time. You can do this with humor, images or just leaving something unsaid. Leaving something unsaid will resonate with the reader more.

5) "Sometimes it's what's left unsaid that resonates with the reader" I chose this because I definitely agree with this statement in that I have read some endings that really make you ponder about the subject. "First of all, there's something thing I refer to as misdirection. Those of you that follow magic know they make you look over here, and meanwhile they're doing something over there." I agree with this because when you use misdirection it can lead to a sort of twist to the story making it more interesting. "See if you can tell the story through side angles." I liked this because it is something I feel the need to remember because if you want to make the story interesting think of it a different way than other people.

Current Events Activity 4.1

1) Glenn Hager is an American Attorney who serves as Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts. State Sen. Royce West asked him "Is the sky falling in Texas?" he asked this due to the falling oil prices that might affect the state budget. Hager answered by saying "No, sir. Is it something we need to continue to pay attention to and watch? Absolutely. In October Hagar lowered his projection for state revenue in the current budget by $2.6 billion because of falling fossil fuel prices and the state budget is not in jeopardy of being dragged down by the energy market. Severance taxes on oil and gas producers takes 7.5 percent of the market value for natural gas and 4.6 percent or oil.

2) Donald Trump will be sitting out tomorrow's Republican debate because he is going to apparently host an event in the state to raise money for wounded warriors and other veterans groups just before Monday's Iowa caucuses. I don't think it will help his campaign and his chances on Monday (because honestly there is no helping him) On the Democratic side Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are at odds over whether to participate in a newly proposed debate to be held Feb. 4. Five days later New Hampshire's Feb. 9 primary will take place. I don't think the Feb. 4th event will take place because some of the candidates will not be attending due to the event not being approved by the party.

3) They are fighting mosquitos that are spreading a virus that is causing birth defects by trying to distribute mosquito repellent to some 400,000 pregnant women who receive cash-transfer benefits. Zika, dengue and microcephaly are what viruses the mosquitos are infected with.  The health minister's remarks are controversial because they basically said to women "don't get pregnant".. The huge event next month is the Rio de Janeiro.

4) Steven Weinberg recently announced that he plans to ban guns from his classrooms. Bill McRaven saids to focus on safety and provide an environment that supports studying and research with minimal distractions. The campus carry law will go into effect on August 1st. The open carry law went into effect on January 1st. Justin Wood said that people who were concealed carrying are still concealed carrying and that people on the street were not openly carrying.

5) Ken Paxton is a Texas Attorney General who objected to the Obama administration's recent move to resettle Syrian refugees without giving state officials one week notice. On Friday lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice told Godbey that it had moved seven Syrians to Houston that day. Paxton asked a federal judge on December 2nd to block resettlement efforts. Godbey rejected Paxton's initial request.

6) If the Lady Longhorns beat Kansas it will mark 1,000 wins for them. The Lady Longhorns are doing pretty good this season and are ranked sixth in the country. The teams greatest weakness is all the turnovers.

7) I liked the New York Times obituary a bit better because it talked more about his achievements 

Last Respects And Learning About Obituaries 

Alan Rickman: Alan Rickman, a well accomplished British actor died at the age of 69 on January 14 2016 due to cancer. He should be remembered, missed and celebrated because he was an amazing person that so many love. His character in Harry Potter, Die Hard and many others will always be remembered and missed for his impressive acting skills.

I read the obituaries of Alan Rickman, David Bowie and Monte Irvin. Both the Alan Rickman and David Bowie obituaries had videos of them unlike Monte Irvin. Both Rickman and Bowie died at the age of 69 due to cancer, while Irvin died at 96. The Monte Irvin obituary was much shorter than the other two maybe because he was more well known and needed less of a explanation of his life. 

Searching for Stories with the pros: Sheltering Sky

1) The significance is that the writer is telling a story about an autistic child and through the story they explain the struggle of being a family member having to deal with their child being dangerous. The writer does focus on one subject in particular (Sky Walker) because he murdered his mother making his story more interesting to the public I assume, but they also discus other people in very similar situations.

2) The writer doesn't seem to include themselves into the story often which I think helps the story from losing it's objective.

3) The writer makes there story a story by taking you through the life of Sky and his family by including great sensory details that make it seem as if you were there experiencing it rather than just telling you how a man killed his mother without knowing detailed context.

4) The writer reported this story in chronological order. I'm pretty sure that the majority of the information came from interviews. They talked to the ex-husband, the school, the jail, Trudy's old friends, and some things from Sky. The reporter must have spent ages on this story because there was SO much information on every ones lives and experiences.

5) "I. Don't. Have. Words." The reporter would have asked about a story of Sky's early aggression. "It was the first time I got beat up by him." The reporter would have asked about Scotts first experiences with Sky's dangerous side. "Hurt Momma," he said. "Sad." The reporter would have asked about Sky's feelings after the murder.

Bobby Hawthorne Introduces Feature Writing 

1) Bobby Hawthorne says to remember that "We're not collecting data. We want to tell stories." He suggests that reporters should not just collect data because even though all the information is there, it isn't going to win many readers. Instead of trying to only transact data, a reporter should attempt to tell a story in human terms. When reading a story there should be humanity, joy, humor, facts, emotion and the image that should be retained after finishing the story. To succeed, a story must not just simply state what happened.

2) Hawthorne says that writing a story that isn't so good is the equivalent of microwave popcorn in that it is ready quick, and won't fill you up. Hawthorne then goes on to explain how to write a better story by stressing more about the human elements of the story. Consider the who, what , when, where, why and how but also the dramatic devices: character, setting, plot, conflict, dialogue, order, anticipation, climax, and resolution.

Photos I liked for 2015

Made by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

I picked this photo because it was not like any of the other pictures I saw for 2015 and it was also just really strange.

Found here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2015/12/29/year-pictures-part/3F6obe2vzWeddZ47FI4UCO/story.html?p1=BP_Headline

Made by Lintao Zhang
I picked this photo because it seemed like a relaxing image because of the simple color scheme.

Found here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/27/sunday-review/2015-year-in-pictures.html?_r=2

I lastly liked this image that NASA released of giant columns of cold gas in a small region of the Eagle Nebula because I absolutely love space and the picture is so clear that it does not even seem real.

Found here:CNN Photos -- 2015: The Year in Pictures

All The "Best"/ Most "Important" Things of 2015

1) It Makes The Babies Want to Cry by George Clanton

I picked this song because I really like the style of music and how catchy it is. I also have been listening to it a lot for months now but I wouldn't consider this to be my absolute favorite song, just because every other song I really love was not made in 2015.

                                                                                           

  2) Brooklyn (2015)

I recently watch this movie and really loved it because it's set in the 50's (one of my favorite eras) and it's about a Irish immigrant that moves to Brooklyn New York. The set through out the whole movie is amazing and the actors did a great job. Though like my answer for music, most of my favorite movies were not made in 2015.

3) Same-sex Marriage Debate

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5)

Holiday Answers 

1) For christmas me and my family went to Dallas to see my aunt and uncle, we also celebrated my birthday at a bit early at their house because my actual birthday is on the 29th of December and I wouldn't get to see them for it.

2) I usually don't make resolutions, but I would like to try and procrastinate much less and make sure my work isn't late. I also would like to try and do yoga, just because it seems like the only form of exercise I could do without wanting to die.

3) Me and some of my friends are going to a concert in March!

Written by Ada Moore

Do You Believe In Alien Life?

Do you believe there are life forms beyond our Earth? Are they close, or far? Do you think they are very similar to humans? Are we alone?

On November 7th, 2015 there was a "UFO" sighting in LA that re-sparked the question "Do aliens exist?" With new technology being developed at a much more rapid pace, more and more people are able to catch a sighting on their phone, camera, ect. Which leads to more people believing in extraterrestrial life. 

The first people to claim to have been abducted by aliens where Betty and Barney Hill. During September 1961 they were driving just past the Twin Mountain when they saw a "odd-shaped" craft flashing multi-colored lights flying through the sky. Once they drove back home they realized they had 'lost' more than an hour of time and their car had strange marks on it. They soon after reported their sightings and it had been tracked as an unknown object. Later Betty had started having nightmares involving aliens.

With evidence going way back to the 15th century to current times, there has always been a fascination having to do with life beyond Earth. With the hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe I believe that aliens exist, and Earth being only a VERY small planet in just one galaxy there has to be more life out there. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson brings up a great point "If a super species walked by us, maybe they're uninterested in us because we're too stupid for them to even imagine having a conversation." I 100% believe this because it's true that if there were extraterrestrials out there they might not think much of humans at all, as if we were just as dumb as a small bug. 

NASA has come very close to finding life beyond Earth. For example Europa, the sixth closest moon of Jupiter. Europa has been found to hold water underneath it's surface of ice. "and we know that on earth everywhere there is water we find life" says Project Scientist Robert Pappalardo. Though not only have we discovered Europa, but also Earth's closest cousin, Kepler-452b. This Earth-like alien planet is about 60 percent wider than Earth and has a rocky surface that also has plenty of water, it also has a similar sun to our own. Many planets are yet to even be discovered that could potentially be home to any alien life forms. 

Though I think it's best to have an open mind, for some people aliens/extraterrestrials seems to be unrealistic or made up because they have not met an alien nor have seen solid prof, or that the technology should have proven it by now. Though this is true, I'm sure most people have not encountered an alien, believing in aliens is no different than believing in a religion, just like how not everyone is religious and it's okay to think different ways and believe in different things. I'm sure one day we will know the truth, but for now I want to believe.