Current Events Critiques
1.
The Boston Globe article “Woods Hole cell biologist wins Nobel Prize” by Andrew Ryan describes Dr. Osamu Shimomura’s development of a green glowing protein that
The lede is informative and clear, emphasizing the cell biologist as the focus of the article by structuring the sentence in subject-predicate form.
The lede mentions that the protein helps to track cancer and Alzheimers disease in the body. Since the Prize was given on behalf of this development’s impact on medicine, this latter part of the lede is important. The author mentions the current medical impacts of this protein only in the beginning of the article. Although information is supposed to be organized from most to least important in an article, it would have been effective to list or even to readdress the medical implications towards the end of the article, to leave the reader hopeful and cogniscent of the protein’s real-world context. Instead, the author merely ends the article with a story (this story makes up most of the article) of the scientists’ development of this glowing jellyfish protein.
The first three graphs following the lede skip around chronologically, which makes the information confusing and hard to follow. The author, in contrast, helps the reader refocus on the new direction of the article by introducing the Shimomura’s development’s history with “Here is how the academy described Shimomura’s work:”
All in all, this article was not written in a captivating way. By ending in the present in stead of in the past, Ryan could have left the reader feeling in touch with the present.
2.
The Boston Globe article “Gloucester OK’s contraceptives” by Jeannie M. Nuss describes what its title suggests: the parents and teachers of Gloucester public high school, home of the illicit “pregnancy pact” last year, planning to take preventative steps for the future.
By making the School Committee the subject of the sentence, the lede de-emphasizes the actual “plan” to allow contraceptives-the lede would be more fitting if it focused on the plan. Other than this, the lede sentence is concise and informative.
The next graph elaborates upon the lede by outlining the “plan”. The first half of the article provides context for and summarizes the plan. Towards the end of the article, Nuss incorporates different opinions-the issue of contraceptives is, after all, a controversy.
Nuss could have organized the information by emphasizing the details of the plan more and the background of the Gloucester pregnancy pact less. This is a stylistic but not necessary choice.
Each graph consists of only one sentence, and some feature only one quotation, left hanging. This style is acceptable in informative journalism, and organizes info legibly. It is effective. The article’s strength comes mostly from compiled input and perceptions from many different and diverse sources.
The article ends in a quotation: “We are not going to please everybody.” This technique of using concluding quotations is a stylistic trend, and in this case it is effective in that it summarizes the general consensus and also refutes any unfavorable opinions on the decision of the Gloucester schools to OK contraceptives.
The Boston Globe article “Woods Hole cell biologist wins Nobel Prize” by Andrew Ryan describes Dr. Osamu Shimomura’s development of a green glowing protein that
The lede is informative and clear, emphasizing the cell biologist as the focus of the article by structuring the sentence in subject-predicate form.
The lede mentions that the protein helps to track cancer and Alzheimers disease in the body. Since the Prize was given on behalf of this development’s impact on medicine, this latter part of the lede is important. The author mentions the current medical impacts of this protein only in the beginning of the article. Although information is supposed to be organized from most to least important in an article, it would have been effective to list or even to readdress the medical implications towards the end of the article, to leave the reader hopeful and cogniscent of the protein’s real-world context. Instead, the author merely ends the article with a story (this story makes up most of the article) of the scientists’ development of this glowing jellyfish protein.
The first three graphs following the lede skip around chronologically, which makes the information confusing and hard to follow. The author, in contrast, helps the reader refocus on the new direction of the article by introducing the Shimomura’s development’s history with “Here is how the academy described Shimomura’s work:”
All in all, this article was not written in a captivating way. By ending in the present in stead of in the past, Ryan could have left the reader feeling in touch with the present.
2.
The Boston Globe article “Gloucester OK’s contraceptives” by Jeannie M. Nuss describes what its title suggests: the parents and teachers of Gloucester public high school, home of the illicit “pregnancy pact” last year, planning to take preventative steps for the future.
By making the School Committee the subject of the sentence, the lede de-emphasizes the actual “plan” to allow contraceptives-the lede would be more fitting if it focused on the plan. Other than this, the lede sentence is concise and informative.
The next graph elaborates upon the lede by outlining the “plan”. The first half of the article provides context for and summarizes the plan. Towards the end of the article, Nuss incorporates different opinions-the issue of contraceptives is, after all, a controversy.
Nuss could have organized the information by emphasizing the details of the plan more and the background of the Gloucester pregnancy pact less. This is a stylistic but not necessary choice.
Each graph consists of only one sentence, and some feature only one quotation, left hanging. This style is acceptable in informative journalism, and organizes info legibly. It is effective. The article’s strength comes mostly from compiled input and perceptions from many different and diverse sources.
The article ends in a quotation: “We are not going to please everybody.” This technique of using concluding quotations is a stylistic trend, and in this case it is effective in that it summarizes the general consensus and also refutes any unfavorable opinions on the decision of the Gloucester schools to OK contraceptives.