Assignment Due by 11:59pm on Sunday, July 21st
Article: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/05/how-obama-harms-the-press.html
Kindly read the article and post a comment below--not on your blog--on the effectiveness of the author's introduction, transition from introduction to the body, transition from the body to the conclusion, and conclusion. For this assignment, comments should be 100 words or more. The purpose of this assignment is to think about how expert writers style their introductions and conclusions. Hopefully, you will be able to come out with a better sense of how you might style your own essays.
Kindly read the article and post a comment below--not on your blog--on the effectiveness of the author's introduction, transition from introduction to the body, transition from the body to the conclusion, and conclusion. For this assignment, comments should be 100 words or more. The purpose of this assignment is to think about how expert writers style their introductions and conclusions. Hopefully, you will be able to come out with a better sense of how you might style your own essays.
On the structure, the author begins with a personal anecdote in which he describes one of his journalism instructors, Bill Farr. He uses this as a hook and introduction. Although it seems unrelated to the topic at hand, he transitions into his second paragraph with, “I found myself thinking about Bill this week…” and begins speaking about President Obama, showing that the two topics are related. I thought the brief narrative near the beginning was interesting because it captures the reader’s attention before easing into the actual topic at hand. Near the end of the article, in the concluding paragraph, the author also connects back to Bill Farr, giving the reader a sense of completion.
ReplyDeleteAuthor first begins the article with the example of Bill Farr, a former L.A. Times reporter who went to jail because he did not reveal the sources of a certain court case. Then he states his point of view by saying, "...they wouldn’t tell us important things that the public had a right to know." His second paragraph gives a specific detail of how government hid some secrets to the public. The third paragraph introduces a law that can possibly target journalist and their sources. The structure of the main part of this article is as following: a large paragraph explaining a point followed by a small transition paragraph. The conclusion goes back to Bill Farr and makes a stronger point.
ReplyDeleteThe author of this article has a more laid back tone and begins with the case of Bill Farr. This personal statement was used in the introduction as a hook. Although this is not what the entire article is about, he ties it back into the main point in his transition from the introduction to the body paragraphs. He uses dates such as “On Thursday” and “In the fall of 2009” to transition into new paragraphs. The words as well as words like “Still” and “Maybe” suggest that there is more commentary in those paragraphs. His paragraphs consist of more evidence, commentary and analyzation that straighten his argument. In the conclusion he narrows down his topic and ties it back to Bill Farr.
ReplyDeleteThe author begins her article by referring to her high school journalism instructor, Bill Far. She then tells how he was arrested for a certain period of time for refusing to reveal his sources in a story about the Manson trial. She describes him and mentions in the beginning of her second paragraph that she had thought about him that week. The author then ties Bill Far to her point in writing about the Justice Department’s secret investigation of A.P. reporters’ phone records and the I.R.S.’s targeting of conservative groups that can damage both the Obama legacy and the public trust in the federal government. She continues he article writing about this situation. In the author’s last paragraph, she ties everything together by referring to her journalism instructor again.
ReplyDeleteThe author uses personal anecdote in the introduction as a hook to attract readers. As it transition to the body paragraph, he states the fact that governments are hiding important things to the public. Which explains what the next paragraphs is going to talk about and the main thesis of the whole article. In his body paragraphs, he uses specific evidence like the I.R.S.’s targeting of conservative groups and analyzing all the difference sources together to strength body paragraphs. Also in the conclusion, the revising of the introduction makes reader to figure out once again, what the article was about. Furthermore, providing a connection back to Bill Farr, the article completes the conclusion with an effective and persuasive argument.
ReplyDeleteThe author begins the article with a personal anecdote referring to her journalism instructor, Bill Farr, who was arrested for refusing to reveal his sources in a story about the Manson trial. The author transitions from the introduction to the second paragraph by relating Farr's experience to current events such as the Justice Department's secret investigation of A.P. reporters and the I.R.S.'s targeting of conservative groups, which can damage both Obama's legacy and the public trust in the federal government. The author goes into more depth about the situation involving the government and the press from the third paragraph to the seventh. The author transitions between these paragraphs using dates and adverbs such as "still" and "indeed." She concludes the article by referring back to Bill Farr and making her argument regarding the situation.
ReplyDeleteThe author starts the article with a personal anecdote about his past journalism instructor and former L.A. Times reporter Bill Farr, which is used as a hook. The anecdote transitions to the his second paragraph that provides an example of the government's concealment of secrets to the public. Then, the third paragraph to the second to last paragraph begin the author's whole point and explain his commentary about the topic and a law that pertains to journalists. In the concluding paragraph, the author ties the whole commentary by bringing back Bill Farr and a quote that the author opinionated and tied the whole article up.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Talbot starts off his article with a personal anecdote about Bill Farr, her journalism instructor from her childhood. In the first paragraph, she gives a little introduction about Bill, seemingly going off topic from the article's title. In the second paragraph, however, she starts off with a transition mentioning that a current event got her thinking about Bill. Each new paragraph starts with a sentence relating to what was mentioned in the paragraph before it. Talbot reconnects to Bill in the last paragraph, connecting her main idea back to the personal anecdote. She then ends her article with a mini call-to-action, giving her direct stance on the issue she presented in previous paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I notice that Ms. Margaret Talbot begins it all with a personal anecdote on her previous journalism instructor, Bill Far. This is the Talbot’s hook and also is connected to the current issue mentioned later on in the body paragraphs about President Obama. “I thought of Bill this week...” is the transition from the personal anecdote to the current matter and is quite simple and abrupt in my opinion. Nevertheless, it is effective enough. The body paragraphs just elaborate on the conflict between the press and President Obama. This leads to the concluding paragraph which then summarizes the article and refers back to Bill Far, giving closure and meaning to the entirety of the piece.
ReplyDeleteThe author of this article begins with a personal anecdote, which seemed irrelevant at first. However, the anecdote really brought the whole article together, and helped the reader to make more sense of the actual story. The broad anecdote transitioned into the main topic of similar secret investigations of A.P. reporters and potential damage to the Obama legacy. The rest of the article continues on as a regular news article, filled with different facts and statements. However, the author really ties it back in her conclusion when she re-connects the reader to the anecdote she told in the beginning. She leaves it to the reader to form their own opinion.
ReplyDeleteUsing a personal story as a hook to the article truly catches a reader's eye, and it sets off a general reference to the point of the article. By incorporating this anecdote of Bill, her teacher, the author strengthens her point of view throughout the article, and the references to government policies and Obama weave in both the commentary and her anecdote. It is interesting to see how finely woven the anecdote and the article together, as well as how much it influences the tone, attitude, and issue. The anecdote makes the issue much easier to reflect upon as a reader and connect to, yet it doesn't take the effect away from the central issue regarding Congress. In addition, by referencing Bill once again in the conclusion, the author ties up all loose ends as a writer. With an anecdote to tie the article together, the article influences readers to be even more persuaded by the author. The incorporation of the anecdote in the article gives a firm point of view to the article and the readers.
ReplyDeleteThe author used a personal example as a hook. It seemed irrelevant at first, but once I started to read further on, I saw how her example tied into the rest of her article. It was interesting to see how everything started to fit together in the body paragraphs. She starts talking about Bill in the first paragraph, which I felt was straying off topic. However, in the second paragraph the author smoothly transitions explains how these current event got the author to think about Bill. Each new paragraph starts off with some relevance with the previous paragraph and how they are related. The author finally brings the article to an end and mentions her stance on this issue.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the article, author Margaret Talbot explained about an earlier event in her life that introduces (and relates to) the main topic of the entire essay. She then connected that reminiscence to a more recent event by giving a brief description of it and somewhat ending it with a sentence pertaining to the next (third) paragraph. In the following paragraph, Talbot summarized about some possible precedents and each of its account on how it could have led to the issue. The next two paragraphs included explaining the irony of the president’s actions of wanting Congress to bring a federal shield law, which led the author into explaining her opinion on his choice. The next two paragraphs contained a similar event and its results. In the conclusion, Talbot inserted her commentary and then gave her standpoint on the whole issue.
ReplyDeleteThe article begins with the author Margaret Talbot's personal anecdote. The following paragraph refers to the relevance her personal experiences of Talbot has with the incident. Then Talbot introduces the main point with a short, overall summarization: damage on Obama's legacy as a result of secret investigations of AP reporters. The last paragraph takes a role as a wrapping up paragraph where Talbot ties her personal experience and the incident together, stating her final opinion. The contents of the article could’ve been rather confusing, hard to understand for the young readers since it contains a political issue. However, connection between the personal anecdote and the article helps readers to clearly identify the main point of the article.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction begins with Margaret Talbot's experience with Bill Farr, the "professional" instructor. In the first paragraph, I don't see much of a foreshadowing to the rest of the article. It does, however, transition well to the second paragraph. The second transitions well to the third paragraph but, there is a little road bump. The second and third paragraphs do not transition smoothly but it seems like Talbot is just bringing up another idea for more support. From the third to the second to last paragraph, there are very smooth transitions. I think the conclusion sums up the overall article but, it does not really reflect the introduction.
ReplyDeleteThe author’s introduction includes an anecdote about him and his instructor, Bill. The introduction appeared as a hook that was meant to captivate a reader’s interest before discussing such a serious, political matter. The author’s introduction was quite effective since it was able to illustrate her topic, confidentiality (if I am correct), and enthrall the reader. She transitions into the body paragraphs well; the first paragraph contained only the anecdote, the second paragraph alluded to both her personal experience as well her topic, and the third paragraph began discussing the content of her article. In the conclusion, Talbot, again, alludes to her personal experience with Bill while also stating her final opinion on the matter. The anecdote, in general, helps the article feel more personal with the reader. The subject does not concern the average person; therefore, the anecdote creates the bridge between article and reader.
ReplyDeleteThe Artie begins with an example of how the authors pld writing teacher was sent to jail for not revealing enough a out her sources. She uses that as an example to show how even back then some writers did whatever they had to do to get a good story. The example is supposed to lead the reader into a more revelent situation similar to that of her teacher's. The first body paragraph continues with the example from the introduction and the second body paragraph goes straight into a second example. The article continues the example throughout. From the very beggining of the article with a personal example the topic is clear. It was a well written article
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, Margaret Talbot starts with a personal story about her instructor in high school. I understand that she is trying to connect the story about how her mentor tries to keep his sources confidential with how information is leaking from the government, but I feel that the transition is abrupt. It does exactly flow smoothly, and it feels sudden. She then goes into a story of how she was in a situation similar to that of her teacher. After, she talks about the actual content of the article. When I reached the final paragraph, it goes back to talking about the retrieval of information. I personally believe that the two topics were not well connected, but of course, others may have a different opinion.
ReplyDeleteBy Neil Patel
ReplyDeleteThe author, Margaret Talbot, starts off the article with a personal anecdote that refers to her former journalism instructor, Bill Far. At first the anecdote doesn’t seem relevant but it creates a better understanding of the entire story at the end. The anecdote provides a nice transition from the introduction to the first body paragraph. The second paragraph is about her remembering Bill Far when she hears how the government is hiding secrets from the public. Talbot then explains her commentary on the topic and what she thinks about the entire situation. In the final paragraph Talbot reconnects to Bill Far with the anecdote she gave at the beginning. With this it gives a strong view on her point of view in regards to the article.
By Philip Cho
ReplyDeleteThe author first begins with a personal anecdote, involving an instructor from her teenage years. She uses this to engage the reader. Though this is seemingly unrelated to the article, she ties it back on topic by telling us why she began to think about her old instructor. She transitions from one paragraph to the next by mentioning an idea in the previous paragraph and relating it to the next. Then, in the conclusion she mentions Bill, her old instructor from her high school days. She uses the anecdote to connect it to her main idea making for a strong and effective argument.
The article begins with an introduction that ties into the author's past about a former journalism instructor. Although this example has little relevance to the actual topic at hand and what is going to be discussed, it is an interesting way to grab the reader's attention and allude to the real topic. The author's introduction is almost solely about Bill Farr, the former journalism instructor. However, at the end of the introduction, the author ties one of Farr's quotes to the real topic at hand as a transition to the body paragraphs. I understand that this is one of the many methods to start an introduction for the SAT Essay, as this has been preached by my own instructors. The author then goes on to talk about the main point of her article regarding the conflicts between President Obama and the press. The author then exemplifies another lesson that has been preached: to tie the introduction's hook in the conclusion. The author finishes up her argument about the conflicts between Obama and the press, but she does not have a general, very open conclusion. Instead, the author opts to also use Bill Farr to conclude her essay. Just as the author had tied the introduction to the body paragraph with one of Bill Farr's quotes, she again ties her argument to her conclusion with another one of Farr's quotes. She then broadens that topic and continues to talk about the matter at end and what she hopes will become of it. This article structure is similar to the essay structure that has been taught to us, as we must have an interesting hook to grab the reader's attention, whether it be a quote or an interesting fact. However, the technique does not end at the end of the introduction. It continues in the conclusion, where the same quote or interesting fact must be used to transition and bring forth the same idea that was proposed at the beginning of the article.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction of this article begins with a personal experience that refers to when she was a teenager. Her story of Bill Farr did grasp my attention, however, I found it difficult to relate to the topic of the rest of her article. This article was more of finding out a source rather than protecting one. My perception of the article was that she did not agree with the concealment of the sources. Margaret Talbot's story of Bill Farr respected keeping the confidentiality of the source if that was what the source desired. Overall, however, her introduction definitely lured me into the article itself and grasped my attention. I also realized that she tied the entire idea together by referring to Bill Farr in her conclusion as well. I feel that she is a good example of a exemplary introduction and a good model to learn from.
ReplyDelete