JOU Articles: week 3

Article 1: Rip Torn Heading to Rehab After Arrest. Written by Stephanie Reitz of the Associated Press on February 1, 2010.

I picked this article to read because Rip Torn plays one of my favorite characters in the movie "Dodgeball". I didn't really have previous knowledge of him clashing with the law, so this really caught my eye. After reading it, the first thing I noticed was that it seemed a bit biased in favor of Mr. Torn. How does that make sense when the entire article is centered around his drunken, illegal shenanigans? Well, aside from the main factual points of the article itself, there really wasn't even coverage in terms of attributions to his character. In one quote, from Torn's own attorney no less, Torn is described as "a very nice person" and "a very friendly individual". With the type of offense that Torn is responsible for, I think it would have been better to have someone talk about how serious his mistakes were. The man's blood-alcohol content was twice the legal limit, for chrissakes! I would've liked to see a quote from an arresting officer who knew how dangerous being plastered and carrying an illegal firearm is.

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Article 2: Doc Who Tied Vaccine to Autism Ruled Unethical. Written by Eben Harrell from Time Magazine on February 1, 2010.

The first thing that stood out about this article was the impressive amount of sources and helpful material. There were pictures, links to related videos, and a whole bunch of statistical evidence. Mr. Harrell could have been a lot more vague and generalized while writing his article, but he lit a fire of real interest in it by having so much information. It was also fair. Instead of having a story that simply attacked this doctor for all of his alleged faults, there was at least a whole paragraph listing the doctor-in-question's achievements and history working with autistic children. Once again I see I am attracted to more serious, controversial articles, but most of the time that's all there is to read. Also, I definitely tend to avoid sports articles. They simply do not interest me... like, EVER.

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Article 3: Nail Salon Tantrum Lands Birthday Girl in Jail. Written by Karen Voyles of the Gainesville Sun on February 1, 2010.

Okay, these first few sentences are being written PRIOR to reading the article. I just needed to mention that I ABSOLUTELY chose this story based on the totally awesome title. I laughed and immediately knew that this would be worth reading, no matter what. How could it not?

This article was concise, but it worked well being as short as it was. Strictly informational and without quotes, the entire story was covered in 5 short paragraphs. It included a picture of the woman arrested, which was really neat considering the story was only just written and she was only just taken into custody. Although, I'm actually not sure if the mugshot included is recent or perhaps from a previous arrest. Fun read, I was shaking my head in incredulity the whole time.

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Article 4: Dream Deferred, a poem by Langston Hughes. LeAndra Valentine's chosen piece of writing.

One of the girls I swapped with gave me this short poem by Langston Hughes. Since it isn't very long, I will re-type it here:

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

I'm not the biggest fan of poetry, but that's why I chose to read this. I wanted to expand my horizons a little bit, but I'm afraid the meaning of the poem itself kinda has me stumped. I mean, I get it, but I'm not sure what I'm interpreting is correct. Anyway, this poem was interesting because it wasn't full of grandiose metaphors and styles. Hughes keeps his comparisons simple, keeps them something almost every person can visualize and relate to. I couldn't tell what type of rhyming scheme he used, if any, and that was interesting, too. I liked the kinda mis-matched vibe, it kept the poem from becoming stagnant and repetitive.