Please take a look online at some of your favorite news sites to find an example of a strong feature opening and nut graph. Look for examples of one of these:
- anecdotal leads
- scene setters
- compare / contrast leads
Then link to the story in a comment below this post, describing what type of lead it is, why you think it works well, and at what point in the story the nut graph drops in.
This will be due at the start of class on Friday.
This will be due at the start of class on Friday.
15 comments:
The feature story I found and fell in love with comes from Cosmopolitan Magazine and is about a high school dropout, http://www.cosmopolitan.com/college/a43152/i-dropped-out-of-school/. The lead is a little bit of a scene setter and an anecdotal. The lead of the story works well to me because it immediately draws you in and compels you to read on. The nut graf, comes in at the middle of the story around the seventh short paragraph.
Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek by John Branch - http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek
"The snow burst through the trees with no warning but a last-second whoosh of sound, a two-story wall of white and Chris Rudolph’s piercing cry: 'Avalanche! Elyse!'"
This is a scene setter lead. The story starts in the middle of action just as the avalanche hits. Branch appeals to the sights and sounds of the environment, mentioning the, "two-story wall of white," and a, "piercing cry." These descriptions drop the reader into the world of the story and hooks them in and making them question what happens next. The nut graph appears in the fourth paragraph of the article.
"The avalanche, in Washington’s Cascades in February, slid past some trees and rocks, like ocean swells around a ship’s prow. Others it captured and added to its violent load."
This describes where and when the avalanche occurred. It also shows the significance of the article when Branch writes, "Others it captured." This hints that people were affected by the disaster.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/nyregion/salvaging-a-long-lasting-wood-and-new-york-citys-past.html?ref=nyregion
This lede is a scene setter. It gives an incredibly descriptive view of what is going on, and it makes the reader feel as if they are actually there. The writing makes an object, like wood, come alive. The nut graph starts in the 2nd paragraph but it seems like it is extended as the story progresses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/sports/baseball/an-up-and-down-season-at-yankee-stadium-at-least-for-the-flag-crew.html?ref=sports&_r=0
This lede is a scene setter. I think it works well because it helps me visualize where this story takes place, while capturing my attention with the danger described. The nut graph of this article appears in the fourth paragraph
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011801434.html
We read this story during the school year and I really enjoyed it. The lede is anecdotal, and is interesting to me because it starts off with this man called the Great Zucchini, which alone is enough to capture the reader. It also sets the scene for the next part. The nut graf comes a few paragraphs later as he describes how he is so successful.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2015/07/18/the-way-forward-2/
I read this story a few days ago on the front cover of the Washington Post, and couldn't put it down. Not only is it heart wrenching but its informative, and written beautifully. The lead in this article is a scene setter, where the author takes the reader to a day in the main characters life. Especially in a story like this a scene setter lead would work best because your article is focusing on an event in a characters life, so without a backdrop it wouldn't make so much sense. The nut graph in this article is placed just after the lead when describing the character's life.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150706-the-woman-who-barely-sleeps
By giving a short description on Abby Ross's sleep pattern, the feature story becomes more engaging and interesting. This short, but captivating lede allows the readers to find interest in the article. The lede in the feature story "The People Who Need Very Little Sleep" is anecdotal, because Ross's sleep pattern is being used to further explain why people are "short-sleepers" in terms of genome mutations. The lede works well because it is giving the readers a head start to the rest of the article and giving them a sense of what to expect. The nut graph drops into the third paragraph, where it explains that there are short and long sleepers.
For a Better Party: Rent Puppies by Hilary Potkewitz http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-a-better-party-rent-puppies-1437495377
This has a strong anecdotal lead, starting with a story about a young girl named Becca Jones who wanted a puppy to come to her birthday party. It then gives another quick anecdote about a woman's bachelorette party where the bridesmaids also ordered puppies for the bride. I think an anecdotal lead works very well because especially with something as random as having puppies delivered for a party, it needs some explaining and an example, which an anecdotal lead accomplishes perfectly. Readers need to understand what happens when you 'rent' a puppy to actually comprehend the rest of the article. The nut graph drops in around the 5th paragraph after the two examples. This is where the article explains the actual business side and facts of renting puppies.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/20/us/sex-trafficking/index.html
This article has a very strong lead that pulls the reader in to read more. It summarizes the story but also leaves enough to make the reader curious and want to continue. It's a scene setter with such descriptive words that makes the reader really visualize the situation. The nut graph begins in the second paragraph, where we're introduced to who the story is about before she continues on explaining the story. The words chosen to explain the story is what pulls it all together and what makes the main point of the article really impact you.
Joe Gould's Real Secret http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/27/joe-goulds-teeth
This article has a strong anecdotal lead that gives an air of mystery. Those who know nothing about Joe Gould will be confused as to why he is so important, and will want to read on to know more. The anecdote discusses his fear that he was going blind, and begins the full-life feature on Gould. The anecdote also becomes a bit of a scene setter throughout the first few paragraphs, as it also has a descriptive way of introducing Gould's obsession with writing, and how he had notebooks filled with ink from a blue fountain pen. The nut graph drops in at the fourth and fifth paragraphs, explaining that Joe Gould was a man who decided to write "The Oral History of Our Time" and was one person that famous writers such as E.E. Cummings and Ezra Pound, could not stop talking about. The article starts off with an interesting first few paragraphs and goes from there to create an artfully written full-life feature.
This article in particular is a strong feature story because it gives one family personal experience in a restaurant where they were disrespected. This is a straight scene setter from the start of the second paragraph. This is also the Carson family anecdote on their vacation to Maine. Throughout the story she gives her personal encounter on how her son was traumatized by the owners reaction in the restaurant. The words the mom who wrote the article used to explain the story makes the situation as a whole impact you in some kind of way.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/07/22/im-the-mom-whose-encounter-with-an-angry-maine-diner-owner-went-viral-heres-what-happened/?tid=pm_pop_b
The Baltimore riots, as seen through the eyes of school-aged musicians http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/what-middle-schoolers-can-teach-us-about-the-baltimore-riots/2015/07/22/87e6085c-2b39-11e5-a5ea-cf74396e59ec_story.html?hpid=z13
The lead of this article is a scene setter because it accurately describes how a child acts when he or she is both nervous and excited, just as Chelsea Gasque was before she recorded a song. The lead pulls the reader in and makes them want to continue reading based upon how cute and cheerful the story sounds. The lead plays on the emotions of the reader and sheds a little bit of light and hope on such a tragic event in Baltimore. The nut graph is placed in the third and fourth paragraphs of the story and is directly after the lead. It describes what the Believe in Music program is and provides information on who recorded the song, "Believe in Baltimore," along with information on what the song means.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/24/opinion/jennifer-weiner-hello-mother-hello-daughter-texts-of-misery-from-camp.html
This story starts out with an anecdotal lede talking about how after having children your emotions change. The author says that when her first child was born her mother told her that she would only be as happy as her unhappiest child. This lede works well because it transitions the reader right into the real story about the author's daughter and her experiences with summer camp. The nut graph is in the second paragraph where she warns against sending your unhappiest child to sleepaway camp with an unlimited texting plan.
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/07/23/425287726/an-artificial-limb-can-bring-hope-but-whos-going-to-make-it
The anecdotal lead in this article effectively personalizes the broad issue of the rising need for prosthetic specialists in Bangladesh. The lead focuses on the transformative first steps of young Sultan Mahmud on his new prosthetic leg as he walks for the first time without crutches since a 2013 motorcycle accident. The lead continues in the second paragraph to describe Mahmud’s hopeful mindset and future plans. The nut graph begins in the third paragraph and finally explains the larger issue of a lack of prosthetic specialists, and then eases into describing the new school that intends to rectify the situation. By starting the article with a specific and personalized story, the anecdotal lead tugs on heartstrings, and thus lures readers into finishing the story.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahatopol/a-week-in-the-mysterious-sleeping-villages-of-kazakhstan#.nry9mwXOqz the lead in this story begins as scene setter that places the reader into the village the strange occurrences have happened at. The lead describes to the reader a common town and then leads into ,kind of humorously, when the first person in the village went into a deep sleep. Then it switches to a more anecdotal tone with quotes from the person who had a deep slumber. The nutgraf is actually peculiarly placed before the story in a small paragraph under a picture. I suspect the writer did such so the article doesn't have to awkwardly break it's storytelling to explain to the reader what is happening.
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