In class today we talked about different story forms. I got to discuss the circle lead, one of the best tricks in a writer’s quiver. I’d use them all the time if I could, but if you don’t get it just right that arrow in your quiver becomes a whacky splinter, spinning out of control.
They have to be done well. There is an art to them. You see these often — the ending in some way refers back to the beginning, with a phrase or a callback so that your news story comes full circle — and some are definitely better than others.
(Watch, I’ll do a bad one below.)
There was a story in the Crimson about another awareness month — October is just full of them for some reason. Only in this particular one, nothing seems to be happening. But you are aware! There is a feature on Yik Yak. Our features editor interviewed the CEO. Turns out they know some of the same people. There was also a column comparing cats and engagement rings.
You can find them all, and more, on the site, which is due a relaunch here in the next few weeks. Looking forward to that.
Things to read … because I always look forward to reading.
We saw this in recruitment two years ago, but now it is “official.” Not sure if that’s because an investment firm did some research or that the research got written about in a paper, Teens are officially over Facebook
Somehow, I doubt this particular gentleman’s unfortunate story is far from over, Ebola patient in Dallas hospital dies
Meanwhile, Conn. Health Commissioner Granted Quarantine Power
And locally, CDC Sets Up Mock Ebola Ward Set Up In Alabama:
Time to put on the protective suits. The students use a buddy system to check each other as they pull on each piece of gear – boots, a jumpsuit, surgical gloves, head covering, facemask, apron. Heather Bedlion is a registered nurse and has worked in a disaster zone, but she’s never put on this amount of protection.
It sounds like protocol will mean everything.
Predictable, perhaps unavoidable, and sad, Turkey Refusing to Fight ISIS Right on Its Border
Don’t forget about these folks, South, North Korea ships fire shots at disputed sea border
And, here at home, Jimmy Carter unhappy with Obama’s policies in Middle East:
Carter said it was hard to figure out exactly what President Obama’s policy is in the Middle East.
“It changes from time to time,” Carter said. “I noticed that two of his secretaries of defense, after they got out of office, were very critical of the lack of positive action on the part of the president.”
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was the most recent to criticize Obama, in remarks he made to USA Today while promoting his new book, “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace.”
Carter acknowledged that the ISIS situation is complicated and he thinks the United States waited too long to respond.
“First of all, we waited too long. We let the Islamic state build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” he said. “Then when [ISIS] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.”
Carter is just stating facts, and the facts as he sees them. He’s always just a moment or two away from returning to that most annoying of political institutions, the critical ex-president.
Long has there been a tradition of great men — and even the lesser men that have held the office — of retiring and holding their tongues. Some people just can’t help themselves, though. Jimmy Carter can be one of those guys. Harry Truman was the same. And that’s, perhaps, the most Trumanesque thing he can muster. We’d perhaps all be better off if he simply returned to the great post-presidency work he’s done. That’s the strongest arrow in his quiver.
(See?)
