Our group has finished reading the book Fast Food Nation, and we've begun working on the final presentation of it since last meeting. Now we have an outline, we are going to focus on the thesis that fast food is a part of the nation's culture and reflects other parts of it. In the presentaion, we will firstly introduce the industry's origin and history as we learned from the beginning chapters. And next we will talks about the employment, including the hiring of unskilled workers like teenagers and immigrants, as well as the low wages and unsafe work conditions. In the next meetings, our group will work together to figure out the content for the following parts: the farm manufacturing meet and potatoes (fries), and other industries behind fast food.
We have found some proffesional book views from the Internet, and these views, as well as our opinions, will be added to the presentation. As an outstanding work of journalistic writing, the book is very inspiring for new journalistic writers, and that's what worth discussing too.
2012年4月13日星期五
2012年3月31日星期六
Ethics of Jornalistic Writers
I read three articles about the ethics that jornalistic writers should follow, and they are quite useful and inspiring.
The jornalistic writers should be responsible. Unlike other professions, they have three clients at the same time: the employer, the reader, and the interview subject. Among them I think the reader should be considerer the most important. And that's why we need to report the truth.
As Roy Peter Clark said, the line between fact and fiction is blurring. However, nonfiction writers still need to stick to the principle that do not add or deceive. And Clark raised many tips for that like "be unobtrusive" and "never put anything in your story that hasn't check out". I agree his opinion about the use of interior monologue. In journalistic essays, interior monologue is sometimes acceptable, as long as it's based on real interview, and can indicate the real thoughts and opinions of the figure.
Another part of the ethics is the writers relationship with their interview subjects. In all circumstances, we need to consider our subject's feelings. A writer need to ask if he can include the off-the-record materials, and if he doesn't do so, he might get into trouble with the law, and probably hurt the interview subject. Sometimes it's reasonable to cover some fact to protect people by changing the focus of the report, but not by changing the truth, of course.
The jornalistic writers should be responsible. Unlike other professions, they have three clients at the same time: the employer, the reader, and the interview subject. Among them I think the reader should be considerer the most important. And that's why we need to report the truth.
As Roy Peter Clark said, the line between fact and fiction is blurring. However, nonfiction writers still need to stick to the principle that do not add or deceive. And Clark raised many tips for that like "be unobtrusive" and "never put anything in your story that hasn't check out". I agree his opinion about the use of interior monologue. In journalistic essays, interior monologue is sometimes acceptable, as long as it's based on real interview, and can indicate the real thoughts and opinions of the figure.
Another part of the ethics is the writers relationship with their interview subjects. In all circumstances, we need to consider our subject's feelings. A writer need to ask if he can include the off-the-record materials, and if he doesn't do so, he might get into trouble with the law, and probably hurt the interview subject. Sometimes it's reasonable to cover some fact to protect people by changing the focus of the report, but not by changing the truth, of course.
Book Club
I've been reading Fast Food Nation for months, and I found that the book is actually about not only fast food culture and history but also explaining how these industries works, which is very interesting.
Chapter 3 & 4 talks about the management of their employees and finance. The fast food companies like to hire students or teenagers, and the reason is obvious: to save cost, which is the core of the management of fast food industry.
The next chapters are about the other industries related to fast food. We can know how fast food are made from the original ingredients. I found the chapter "Why the Fries Taste Good" the most interesting. I always wonder how french fries are made, and in that chapter, the author introduce how they invented this find of food and the modern potato industry behind it.
In the following chapters, flavor industry and modern ranch are also introduced. And the author wrote much about what is happening in the slaughterhouses. The ones who work there are doing "the most dangerous job", as the author defines. They might cut their fingers off!
The next chapters are about the other industries related to fast food. We can know how fast food are made from the original ingredients. I found the chapter "Why the Fries Taste Good" the most interesting. I always wonder how french fries are made, and in that chapter, the author introduce how they invented this find of food and the modern potato industry behind it.
In the following chapters, flavor industry and modern ranch are also introduced. And the author wrote much about what is happening in the slaughterhouses. The ones who work there are doing "the most dangerous job", as the author defines. They might cut their fingers off!
2012年2月26日星期日
To Begin the Beginning
I've read To Begin the Beginning by Deneen L. Brown in Telling True Stories, and I found it quite interseting and useful.
I alway feel that the hardest part of writing a passage is the beginning, and it indeed requires skills to compose a good beginning. Brown offers several useful tips, which base on his own experience.
The importance of a attractive beginning is obvious: you are establishing a relationship with your reader with it. Even the peofessional journalists may worry about the beginning of a story. The auhthor's way is to ask himself many questions like "What is the story about" or "How can I tempt the reader".
Among all the elements, the theme is the most important. Every story should have a theme, and we need to focus on the theme. For example, Brown was preparing a report about a woman who sued the state for she couldn't get abortion, and he was inspired by his editor that the story wasn't about a woman but about choice, which is the theme of the story. The theme serves as the core of a story.
Another good suggestion of the passage is the function of beginning. The beginning determines the content, to some degree. Brown specially mentions "go deep". In journalistic essays, we need to "go deep into the darkness and find the story". The story is not about what the interviewee said, and the writer should pay attention to the interpretation why the interviewee said so.
I alway feel that the hardest part of writing a passage is the beginning, and it indeed requires skills to compose a good beginning. Brown offers several useful tips, which base on his own experience.
The importance of a attractive beginning is obvious: you are establishing a relationship with your reader with it. Even the peofessional journalists may worry about the beginning of a story. The auhthor's way is to ask himself many questions like "What is the story about" or "How can I tempt the reader".
Among all the elements, the theme is the most important. Every story should have a theme, and we need to focus on the theme. For example, Brown was preparing a report about a woman who sued the state for she couldn't get abortion, and he was inspired by his editor that the story wasn't about a woman but about choice, which is the theme of the story. The theme serves as the core of a story.
Another good suggestion of the passage is the function of beginning. The beginning determines the content, to some degree. Brown specially mentions "go deep". In journalistic essays, we need to "go deep into the darkness and find the story". The story is not about what the interviewee said, and the writer should pay attention to the interpretation why the interviewee said so.
2012年2月17日星期五
Book Club: Fast Food Nation
The book Fast Food Nation is about the the history and management of the American fast food industry, which is a symbol of the country. I've read the introduction and the first chapters.
The first chapter The Founding Fathers talks about the founding of the primary fast food brands. The author focuses on the story of Carl Karcher, the originator of Hardee's. He also briefly introduced McDonald brothers, the founder of McDonald's, as well as how the other fast food companies were created. And from the book we know the the birth of fast food industry was closely related to the car culture of USA, for these companies all originated in southern Califonia, where the car culture was booming.
In the next chapter Your Trusted Friends, the early management of McDonald's is detailedly discussed. There're many similarities and relationship between McDonald's and Disneyland, which both are outstanding representatives of American consumer culture. They both valued the significance of brand, and thought highly of the importance of science, and, the most important, comsidering children as their main marketing target. Disneyland created wonderful theme parks, while McDonald's, and its followers, give bonus toys along with meals to the children. Besides, the advertisements of McDonald's also mainly aims at children. These are quite controversial topics.
The first chapter The Founding Fathers talks about the founding of the primary fast food brands. The author focuses on the story of Carl Karcher, the originator of Hardee's. He also briefly introduced McDonald brothers, the founder of McDonald's, as well as how the other fast food companies were created. And from the book we know the the birth of fast food industry was closely related to the car culture of USA, for these companies all originated in southern Califonia, where the car culture was booming.
In the next chapter Your Trusted Friends, the early management of McDonald's is detailedly discussed. There're many similarities and relationship between McDonald's and Disneyland, which both are outstanding representatives of American consumer culture. They both valued the significance of brand, and thought highly of the importance of science, and, the most important, comsidering children as their main marketing target. Disneyland created wonderful theme parks, while McDonald's, and its followers, give bonus toys along with meals to the children. Besides, the advertisements of McDonald's also mainly aims at children. These are quite controversial topics.
2012年1月31日星期二
Idea about the profile work
I am thinking about writing about my aunt. She is a member of Chinese Communist Party, and, at the same time, a faithful Christian. I know we should probably not write about families, so I'm trying to come up with some better ideas, but I am curious about how can she handle her two beliefs that are so different from each other, and my peer think thinks that it would be an interesting topic too.
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