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Midterm Examination: Essay Questions

Feature Writing

By W.S. KlassPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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A misleading title introduces a well-written story to prepare the public for possible war against Syria.

Evaluate the title’s effectiveness: Did it entice you to continue reading? Why or why not? How can it be improved?

• The title, “Trump on Syria’s Assad: ‘Something should happen’ is essentially a shortened quote of President Elect Donald J. Trump added as a subtitle. I personally did not like this tactic because the style makes it look as though it is a segment in an ongoing series. The title did grab me as a reader as it hinted at what would be covered in the content and left me wanting more details.

The reason I wanted to continue reading was more out of curiosity of the topic. The title itself had nothing to do with my interest. I feel improvements are in the ‘eye of the beholder.’ What would make the title better in my opinion would be to simplify it. Use either “Trump on Syria’s Assad” or “Something should happen,” as the title and it seems to have more appeal for me personally. A good title is always important to grab the attention of readers and a lot of creativity goes into generating a title.

Depending on your target audience a writer might take risks and be creative. This feels like the writers took what might be considered popular, being a quote of the President Elect Donald J. Trump and utilizing it to spawn the public’s interest. This was smart in many ways because when you want to gain and maintain readers you need to remain objective and neutral to appeal to both sides of the argument.

If one side or the other is established and objectivity and neutrality are lost, then you lose a large part of your audience. This title is misleading in my opinion because the article later quotes two senators on the matter. In quoting people besides Trump, we have a story entirely different from what the title implies. Our focus is now on multiple politicians weighing in on the matter.

Evaluate the lead: Identify under what type it might fall. Why would you continue to read a story with this lead?

• The lead paragraph begins with a short quote found in the title, “Something should happen.” To begin my evaluation of this lead paragraph I feel that too many repeated statements, ‘redundancies’ make for a bad read. It appears though the writers are looking for “fillers” to elongate their article which could have been done in a more creative and beneficial way by elaborating on the entire quote rather than taking part of what President Elect Donald J. Trump said and possibly uses it out of context.

The full quote of President Donald J. Trump is, “He’s there, and I guess he’s running things, so something should happen.” This is what is considered a quotation lead because it covers not one but two quotes within the paragraph. As a reader, I would consider continuing to read this kind of lead because I want to know what important people said. That being noted, I would hope that the news organization has the integrity to report accurately and not bend words or to present them out of context which is a tactic of tabloids or slanderous practices not practical or professional for trusted news organizations.

‘Best Practices’ should always be followed when writing a piece like this. The Associated Press holds strict guidelines that should be utilized by all news organizations as a standard practice. Though many claim to follow these practices, as readers we can discern the evidence and see who is bias and who is reporting objectively.

Examine the paragraph development in the feature story. Are the transitions smooth, succinct, and lend to an engaging story? Why or why not? Identify two techniques used by the writer to develop the paragraphs. Are these techniques effective in the overall story? Why or why not?

• The paragraph transitions are “smooth, succinct, and lend to an engaging story” only until suddenly the story changes to reference McCain and Graham regarding the topic in brief. I did become lost in the later paragraphs that felt like separate stories that attributed to the current topic. Older quotes of the President Elect regarding the subject matter contribute to the continuity of the story. When Senators McCain and Graham were quoted on the topic it felt like the story lost its flow. For me as a reader, unless the subject is the chemical attack of Syria that the focus should still be what the title implies, “Trump on Syria’s Assad.

Once others are being quoted, then the story becomes something else altogether. It would need a different title entirely or else it appears misleading. The build p of the article takes you backwards instead of forwards as older quotes on the topic are referenced from earlier this week. I prefer a linear approach to writing rather than having my references all over the place. Two techniques I saw used are Tone and Purpose. The writers used “Tone” to get the readers interested through the manipulation of quotes about possibly going to war. The tone was fearful.

Should we go to war against Syria? Should we do something? What if there is retaliation? This is what comes to mind when I read the article. The “Purpose” of the writers feels like a preparation for the public in case we do attack Syria, (which by the time I started writing this essay we had launched over 50 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian Airbase according to news broadcasts). I feel these techniques were used effectively in regards to preparing us for the inevitable assault that was to come because the article was well-written and built on the words of those we put into office. The media knows even when we disagree with issues that ‘we the people’ are responsible for putting them into office because we trust their wisdom to do what is right.

Consider the ending: Did it summarize the main point of the article and/or leave the reader something to think about? Why or why not? What type of ending might it be categorized as, and why?

• One might argue through interpretation whether or not the ending summarized the main point of the article. I feel that it did in a sneaky way. By referencing oder segments which are often used against Trump, they show how events can change the opinions of our leaders and therefore cause them to do things that they had said they would not. It left me wondering if our president going to do the right thing. After tonight’s broadcast I feel he did.

This article was the build up for the climactic reports that came through tonight. If not for the reports tonight, I am not sure how I would feel about this kind of build up. It could be perceived as a tension builder for the public which can spawn bad outcome and influence people to act out. The ending paragraph is a “Lead Replay Ending” from what I can see. They reflect back on the point that Trump has changed his opinion of Assad and quote him saying, “Crossed a lot of lines for me.” This half-quote implies Trump’s outrage of the chemical attack on innocent Syrian citizens.

This alternate quote is a sort of “icing on the cake” for the topic of the article. It brings a closure to the article by exploiting the anger of President Elect Donald J. Trump in regards to Assad. All references set the tone and purpose that our government is inevitably going to go to war against Syria. As citizens we need to prepare for this news through resources such as this article to prevent any surprises. This is why we need to be able to trust in our news sources to provide clear, concise, and objective facts to us without biases and influence.

References

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/06/politics/donald-trump-syria-options/index.html

Bash, D. (2017, April 06). Trump considering options for Syria retaliation, source says. Retrieved April 06, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/06/politics/donald-trump-syria-options/index.html

politics
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About the Creator

W.S. Klass

I have a passion for writing. As a published author for nearly two decades, it pleases me to have a platform such as Vocal to share my works for free.

"I never apologize for who I am!"-W.S. Klass.

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