Romeo and Juliet Newspaper Assignment

Macbeth  Newspaper  Assignment    

Wild  pig  causes  two-­hour  traffic   delay  on  I-­94  

By  Joe  Student  

January  24  

St.  Paul-­‐-­‐  A  15-­‐minute  operation   involving  a  forklift,  20  firefighters,   seven  police  officers  and  one  scared   pig  ended  a  two-­‐hour  traffic  delay  on   Interstate  94  Sunday  morning.  

The  wild  pig,  whom  the  fireman   affectionately  nicknamed  "Tailgate,"   apparently  wandered  onto  1-­‐94   around  8  a.m.  and  fell  asleep  in  the   middle  of  the  two-­‐lane  freeway.  

St.  Paul  resident  Geoffrey  Saint  was   the  first  to  come  upon  the  200-­‐pound   animal.  

"He  practically  took  up  the  whole   road,"  Saint  said.  "I  barely  slammed  on   my  brakes  in  time."  

Saint  said  the  cars  behind  him   followed  suit,  each  stopping  short   after  reaching  speeds  of  up  to  70  mph.  

Saint  stayed  in  his  car  and  phoned   area  police,  who  responded  at  8:20   a.m.  

Lieutenant  Terry  Frank  was  the  first   officer  on  the  scene.  

"I  couldn't  believe  my  eyes,"  Frank   said.  "Here  was  this  huge,  sloppy  pig,   just  napping  in  the  middle  of  the  road,   oblivious  to  what  was  going  on  around   him."  

Frank  said  she  attempted  to  rouse  the   pig  by  poking  him  with  a  stick.  

"He  just  kept  on  snoring,"  she  said.  

By  9  a.m.,  three  fire  trucks  and  four   patrol  cars  had  responded  to  the   "sleeping  pig"  call.  

"We  just  sat  there  and  wondered  what   in  the  world  we  could  do,"  Frank  said.  

Macbeth  Newspaper  Assignment    

Hard  news  articles  are  written  so  that  the  reader  can  stop  reading  at  any  time,  and   still  come  away  with  the  whole  story.  This  is  very  different  from  an  essay,  which   presumes  that  the  audience  will  stick  around  to  the  end,  and  can  therefore  build  to  a   finish.  There  is  no  need  to  put  a  "conclusion"  on  a  news  story.  Each  individual  reader   will  "end"  the  story  whenever  he  or  she  gets  bored.  A  particularly  interested  reader   (and  your  teacher)  will  keep  reading  to  the  end.  

The  Headline:  Convey  the  general  message  in  as  many  words  as  will  fit  (usually   quite  a  small  space).  A  headline  should  be  informational,  and  can  be  clever,  as  long   as  the  cleverness  does  not  interfere  with  the  information  or  earn  groans  from   readers.  

The  Lead:  The  lead,  or  the  first  sentence  of  the  story,  is  arguably  the  most   important  part  of  the  article.  Based  on  the  content  of  that  first  sentence,  a  reader   will  either  look  deeper  into  the  story,  or  move  on  to  the  next  one.  

• The  who,  what,  when,  where,  how,  why  lead.   • Experimental  leads.  If  you  answer  the  "5  w's  and  one  h"  on  the  second  or  

third  sentences,  you  can  be  more  creative  with  the  first.  The  results  can   flounder  and  die,  or  have  a  great  impact.  Some  examples  for  the  pig  story:  

o Tailgate  the  pig  lay  snoring  in  the  middle  of  Interstate  94,  oblivious  to   the  fire  trucks  and  squad  cars  that  had  gathered  around  him.    

o Geoffrey  Saint  never  could  have  imagined  what  he'd  meet  in  the  middle   of  Interstate  94  during  his  drive  to  church  Sunday  morning.  

Direct  Quotes:  Quotes  breathe  life  into  a  story,  but  can  be  abused.  Don't  quote   material  that  isn't  quote  worthy.  For  instance,  if  Frank  had  said,  "Officers  arrived  on   the  scene  at  about  9:00  a.m.,"  you  wouldn't  quote  that.  If  she  had  said,  "That  huge   pig  just  sat  there  with  tears  running  down  his  face  and  I  thought  my  heart  would   burst,"  well,  that's  far  more  quote  worthy.  

Paraphrased  Quotes:  Here  is  where  you  could  use  what  Frank  had  said  and   rewrite  it:  Officers  arrived  on  the  scene  around  9:00  a.m.,  Frank  said.  No  quotes   needed,  but  the  information  still  needs  to  be  attributed  to  Frank-­‐-­‐  she's  the  one  who   said  it.  

Inverted  Pyramid:  In  a  straight  news  story,  it's  best  to  get  the  most  important   information  in  your  story  up  to  the  top.  Readers  will  often  stop  reading  after  the   first  few  paragraphs,  so  it’s  important  that  they  have  a  good  grasp  of  the  story.   Follow  with  the  older  or  less  important  information.  Omit  unnecessary  information.  

Length  of  Paragraphs:  This  is  different  from  a  term  paper  for  English  class.  Keep   your  paragraphs  short  (one  to  four  sentences)  and  make  each  of  your  points   concise.  Readers  grow  tired  of  big  blocks  of  text,  so  it's  best  to  break  it  up  a  bit.  

Objectivity  vs.  Opinion:  Your  readers  aren't  interested  your  opinion  on  the  latest   scandal,  so  keep  yourself  out  of  the  story.  Attribute  every  claim  or  opinion  you   report  to  someone.  

Macbeth  Newspaper  Assignment