The Old Solider Who Didn't Fade Away: A great profile piece on a dedicated man. What do you think of the style of the piece? The format? Is this a successful profile?
Birth of a Salesman: Do you remember life before Amazon? Probably not because it was started when you were wee little lads and lasses. This is a solid profile piece on the CEO: Jeff Bezos. What do you think of the style of this piece? The format? Is this a successful profile?
Mazda5: Yes, I am secretly in love with this writer. He writes car reviews, but my how amazing they are! Really. Truly. Then again, maybe you don't agree. Is this a successful car review? What makes it a good/bad review?
Coming out to the World on the Web: A great piece on the newest (and maybe riskiest) way to come out: youtube! Is there an MA story in here? What do you think of this practice?
9 comments:
Mazda5:
I thought this article was captivating and super funny. Halfway through the article I realized that I was actually loling at a car review and couldn't believe I wanted to keep reading. I thought it was definitely a successful car review; it was interesting and informative at the same time. The only thing I would missing was something about how the car drove because he seemed to only comment on the features in the car. Otherwise I liked this article a lot. (Especially his one word sentences like 'nice' or 'groovy'.)
The Birth of A Businessman:
To put it simply, I found this article a great profile piece on the foundation of Amazon. Though what I found way more intriguing was the actual foundation of the company. The way the journalist wrote it, it was almost like a story. He portrayed Mr. Bezos like a character in a story and went into such depth in his research about Mr. Bezos that he could add some small but hilarious moments in the start of Amazon, unknown to the average Amazon user. Richard L. Brandt made me, though probably the majority of his readers, think highly of Mr. Bezos by describing him and having specific proof of Mr. Bezos as a funny, smart, intuitive American.
I thought this was a very well written article and have learned from this.
Birth of a Salesman:
I liked this profile a lot. I thought it was super interesting to learn how Amazon grew into such a big company and also about Bezos' influence on the company. One thing I would change, however, is the beginning. It seemed like the article was supposed to be about Amazon and how Bezos developed it and I saw no correlation between his days on a ranch in Texas to the rest of the article. The end was strong though; it was probably my favorite part of the article because it informed the reader what was coming up next for the company. (one nod purchases and returns before receiving the gift). Overall a good profile.
Coming Out to the World on the Web
I thought that this article was well-written and very informative, however I think that if an MA student wrote the story the spin would be very different. I think the first part of the story describing the videos and their sequences would be the same, but the second part of the story would be from the a more liberal and younger perspective.
First, I think that MA students have a hard time relating to the coming-out process. In my 3.5 years, I can't clearly remember anyone coming out. What I do remember, however, is Jessica Fields' senior speech about how nothing that we know about her would be different if she did come out. I think MA is so liberal and accustomed to LGBT issues that sometimes coming out isn't even the norm- from my education I've learned that not assuming that someone is straight is more politically correct. In relation to the article, I think the criticism in the second part of the article about the whole web being able to view your coming out would be toned down. MA students would see coming out as a big deal, but not as big or as dangerous as someone without an education in LGBT issues might think it is.
Second, when I read this article I was surprised by the negative tone that it had toward the younger generation's use of technology and how it shares information. I think the lack of quotes in support of mass-sharing in the second part makes it unbalanced in favor of the idea that sharing personal information is bad. I think MA students would focus more on the positive effects of coming out on youtube- how it could create a positive ripple effect and inspire others to come out. I also don't know if the younger generation would see the value in a "grocery list". A "grocery list" might be important if being gay was not accepted, but at MA it wouldn't be as important.
Jeff Bezos: Birth of a Salesman
I agree that this is a very successful profile. It started out very broad with the story of his grandparents' farm, then narrowed down by jumping to the beginning of his company. It went from his choice of building, the way he handled his employees to his newest patents. His choice in building says something about him, but his management style says even more about him and his patents and pure ideas say the most; with every new part of the story the audience learns more about specifically Bezos. The story of the business' growth and the growing emphasis on Bezos go hand in hand as the story flows.
I also found the choice in stories and details very effective. All of the stories were incredibly specific; he described what happened instead of telling us what happened. Furthermore, all of the small stories are not only interesting and funny, but they also move the story forward without extraneous information. I think the author made good choices in what information to include and skillfully weaved together Amazon's growth and Bezos' ideas.
Old Soldier: Though the life of Sgt. Nicholas is really interesting and the wars he has lived through made the piece interesting, I didn't think the style did a good job of profiling him. The piece left me with more knowledge about the wars than about the Sgt. There weren't enough quotes from him, and there wasn't enough about his personality or his life outside the wars. The format of the piece is more like a history of Sgt. Nicholas than a profile of him.
Mazda5: I also really like the way this guy reviews cars. He makes the car's profile a story, instead of just a list of facts (which is what it is). The way he tied in the Greek aspect, and the way he tied his life into it made the review really interesting. It's fun to read, but I am skeptical, because if I were to be looking to buy a car, I think I'd rather have a straight-forward review than one like this. I think that this style is interesting but less informative
in response to the soldier article. The article really depicted the truth about the lives of soldiers not only during the war but also the after math and the consequences. The 60 year old man only knows war and returning home would be devastating for him. His "home" is in the war so he would actually be coming back to a strange place he no longer knows. This was an incredibly intense and sad piece.
Mazda5:
I enjoyed the article; it was really interesting.The writer managed to express humor and seriousness at the same time. I thought it it was really successful that he did not bore you with so many facts in a row. He related it to life and family life which is important because this is the type of car families are looking for. Buyers will appreciate the humor and the facts of this article.
Mazda 5:
Before I even began to read this article I had already catagorized it as a long very wordy, un-colloquial article with very high tech concepts that had to be already evident to the reader for the piece to make the slightest sense. Though the first sentence alone throws my entire stereotype for car articles out the window. Dan Neil begins a 2011 car description with a comparison to the Greeks. What?!
As I read further, its seemed as if Neil is writing the article less as a commercial but more as a personal experience. Through the piece he adds satire to almost make him sound as a comedian doing a stand up about Mazda's. He compares himself to a ninja, gives his personal description of sliding doors as a, "gateway to heaven" and finally tops off his article by praising a rival car manufacturing company. Though throughout the article he was able to explain in depth about the Mazda 5 incredible capabilities in comparison to rival cars.
I believe that Neil is an extremely successful writer because he was able to capture my interest and was able to make me enjoy reading about something i could dream about for my future.
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