This is the place for you to paste your one-paragraph analysis of the two China features. Which story do you consider the better feature? What are some of the specific qualities and story elements that make it better? Which lead is more effective? Which story is more entertaining? More authoritative? More significant? More poignant? Which has more vivid descriptive detail? Which has the best quotes? I don't expect you to address all these points in one paragraph, but they are the kind of questions we will be asking as we analyze examples of feature writing this semester. (Be sure to sign your paragraph before saving it.)
-Warren Vieth
The “Lives of Poverty, Untouched by China’s Boom” is a very heartfelt story. It is easy to understand, and the addition of photos really conveys the point of the story. People tend to sympathize when children are photographed and live in ill conditions. The fact that the children can barely afford school is a saddening thought. This story not only tells of how life is for the people under the poverty line, but it also makes a point about how Americans live. When the poverty line in China is $94 a year, which is what people in the U.S. make in the span of one day’s work. This story makes a point that the poverty situation in China is bad, and people can barely afford to feed themselves. The article pointed out how Li Enlan does not worry about when she will have a cell phone because can barely find enough food to eat and has no money. This article had much more of an impact because it was relatable and had people who live in terrible conditions. This story stood out because of those elements and the pictures added an additional impact to the words on the page.
- Kendal Tate
Personally I enjoyed the cricket story over the poverty story. The cricket story entailed more of a what a feature should be, to me at least. A feature is a unique and in-depth look at something or someone that is interesting and people wouldn't normally get a chance to find out about. While the poverty story was well written and made good points, I feel as if it could be summed up in a paragraph or two for a news story. To me, the cricket story was a look into something I haven't even heard of and therefore was able to educate and entertain me at the same time. Most people don't know there are cricket singing and fighting competitions, which is what gives this story such a unique angle. While the poverty story was informative and still important, it did not carry as much of a unique glimpse and angle into something as a feature story should.
-Polly DeBron
After reading the two China features, I think the article over Chinese poverty was a better article. I came to this conclusion because this article covered a more serious topic well with powerful quotes such as, “We eat somehow, but it’s never enough.” The other article about the cricket hobby was more entertaining and a lighter read. I think both articles read with authority because they use sources who are either a poor Chinese individual or a cricket hobbyist. And I really like the cricket story’s lead because it instantly caught my attention; I never would have thought drugs were given to crickets. The article about Chinese poverty clearly showed how little the Chinese poor have and gained the reader’s sympathy, which I think a touching feature story should.
-Katherine Parker
I think the poverty story was better. The story was more poignant, and put a face on destitution. As Polly noted, it could be "summed up" in a shorter news story, but delving deeper into the lives of the poor treats the issue as more than just sad facts or statistics. This elicits an emotional response from readers. As for the cricket story, it was interesting, but I didn't relate to the subjects at all. The quotes from the poverty piece seemed more rounded and complete, and more conducive to moving the story along. I also prefer the writing style in the poverty story. The cricket story keeps the reader at a distance. It says, "Hey, here's this random thing you didn't know about." The poverty story says, "Hey, here's something you didn't know about, and it affects you. It matters. These people are a lot like you."
- Amanda Bittle
I have to say the poverty story would have been the best if I had not already watched a PBS documentary about China’s poverty problems and corrupt in elections. I think the poverty story would have been the best if the writer talked more about the corruption problems in China’s elections and then showed how it hurts the Chinese.
Overall the cricket story was the best because it kept me hooked with new information and interesting quotes throughout the article. Even though the cricket article was less important, in the end it came out the winner. Since the cricket story had unique and interesting information about a Chinese pastime not known to many readers, it made it the best in my opinion. The quote “There is a little Machismo in this. After a while, you come to identify with your cricket” stayed in my head like a quote from a feature story should.
--Cara Bailey
These two stories examine extremely different content which makes it quite difficult to compare them, but my opinion is the "Cricket" story was better written and far more entertaining the "China's Poor" story. The cricket story had a much more upbeat subject matter but also had captivating sentence fragments that kept the reader both entertained and informed. As for the poor story, it was chalk full of facts and credible data, but lacked a connection with its reader and human element. It had a few interjections from people living in poverty but did not relate to the reader. It was very credible, though. The cricket story had the best lead and I loved the opening line, "The performers are lined up in glass bottles that look like big salt shakers." It was more entertaining because it gave the cricket a personality. The author used strong verbs combined with personifying nouns to describe the contest; examples include "loser slinks," "winner chirps" and "butt heads and deliver sucker punches." The crickets are called fighters and performers, not simply bugs or animals. It had more descriptive detail, better quotes and narration and told a better story. I will give it to the poor story, for the subject matter covered, it was well-written and authoritative but lacked life and emotion.
(I uploaded my paragraph into the "add files" section. I could not find anywhere on here to add it!)
-Lesley Patterson
Both stories had attention-grabbing points, and it could be hard to decide which is better (it really depends on the reader’s mood, comedy or tragedy?). I felt the cricket story was the more interesting of the two. When I think of a feature story, I think of an article where the author gets the opportunity to be craftier with language and place a severe sense of tone on the page. The cricket story was light-hearted and amusing, it was easy to see that the writer had fun with the story. Stories that deal with corruption, like the poverty story, do not always require great writing. The concepts that are involved and the facts could tell the story itself. The reader will already be engaged because the subject is something that effects public life. A story like the cricket one requires interesting writing in order to keep the reader hooked until the end.
-Lauren Lagor
I felt like the poverty was much better. While it might not be as entertaining as the cricket story, it was definitely more significant and poignant. It brings forth an important topic and one worth reading. The whole hobby aspect of the cricket story was overdone and seemed like it would only appeal to someone who shared an odd hobby with a group of people. The poverty article grabs your attention with quotes by the people about how poor they really are and how they struggle just to eat. To me, a feature story should be something that makes you want to continue reading and learning about the subject. It seems like someone would want to hear more about these struggles than they would about how loud crickets can sing.
- Nick Jones
I thought the cricket story was better. It incorporated more elements into the story - vivid details, unique topic, human interest/psychology, background history, and lots of information. It may seem like the more shallow or entertaining story, but it is actually very informative and gives some cultural context to the hobby as well as entertaining the reader. Some of the quotes were great, reactive and expressive as well.
People may feel guilty about not preferring the poverty story - but there is a good reason. The reporter doesn't SHOW you why to care about this issue, he just continues to tell you why you should care. It is an important issue, but it is also an issue that you have to make people care about. In the lead, he does this very well, but I would have like to see more of that throughout the story. It was well researched and full of compelling information, but unless you can rise emotion in them, people won't get far enough to read it.
- Lauren Hopkins
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