Obituary Assignment

Grace Schmidhauser

Grace Schmidhauser, an influential performer, producer, songwriter, and activist, among other things, died in her New York home on December 4th, 2085 of old age. She was 86 years old, and was former widow to the deceased musician known as Alex G. They had two children, Harvey and Mary. Schmidhauser lived a full and influential life, and left an important mark on the music industry. She was known for encouraging female artists to prosper, and made that the focus of her career in her later years, writing her book, “Come on Gals!” at age 65 and giving many speeches on the subject.

Schmidhauser was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She started playing music at 3 years old when she discovered The Wizard of Oz and couldn’t stop singing it, and a few years later picked up the guitar and began to play a combination of classical music and covers of songs that she was fond of at the time. She then discovered a love for writing songs and performing and worked on and grew that career as she grew older. Schmidhauser released 3 solo albums while in high school. She moved to New York City after graduating from McCallum High School, a fine arts academy, to pursue a songwriting and production focused music major at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. Schmidhauser attended at NYU for 4 years and graduated with a major in songwriting and a minor in psychology. After attending university, she stayed in New York City and eventually got a publishing deal with Warner Brothers Records, which she used to gain connections in the songwriting world and ended up writing songs for Beyonce, a famed pop star at the time. Though she wrote songs for other artists in order to make money, she always continued to pursue her own art and continued releasing albums and playing in different bands of many different genres, ranging from folk to shoegaze to punk. She gained a bit of commercial success in her own projects, but had a loyal cult following which she cherished. At the age of 45, she became a professor at New York University teaching Women’s History in Music, and many thought of her as a feminist leader in the music industry. Her and the many emerging female artists born in the millennial age led a new group of female artists into the world, women who were self-sufficient, multi-talented, and unapologetically assertive and well-educated. Schmidhauser consistently encouraged this attitude throughout her life, and inspired many to embrace the arts and be unafraid to put themselves out in the world of art and music.

Current Events Activity

1. Royce West asked Glenn Hegar, a state Comptroller, if the “sky was falling” in Texas, referencing the falling oil prices in Texas and how it might affect our state budget. He responded that while we should be cautious, it’s apparently just or bad or worse in the rest of America. He also said that the state budget won’t drop because of the energy markets, and said that the long-term trends proved that “we’ve have a lot of tailwinds behind us as well”. He also stated that Texas will be fine because we don’t depend on the oil industry as much as we used to. Severance taxes are taxes on oil and gas producers, and take 7.5% of the market value for natural gas and 4.6% on oil. They’re going to bring less into the state than expected because of falling oil prices.
   
2. Trump says he’s not going to participate in the next Republican debate because it’s run by Fox, and he seems to greatly resent one of their anchors for questioning his views on women. He also claims that Fox toys with everyone, whatever that means. He’s going to run a fundraiser for wounded soldiers on the same night instead. I think this might harm him, as his only attention seems to come from him being very opinionated and repeating himself and his obnoxious ideals over and over again on large platforms, so this might lose him some publicity. On the other hand, the Democratic nominees are debating on whether or not to participate in a proposed debate on February 4th that is not sanctioned by the official Democratic party, which is prohibited and punishable by the Democratic party. It seems as though they probably won’t participate, as Hillary said that she would only do it if the other candidates do, and since Bernie is essentially her only competition and has already said he’s not going to participate, I highly doubt Hillary will.
   
3. Brazil is fighting an extremely dangerous mosquito epidemic going around there right now that’s causing birth defects for thousands of newborns. Mosquitoes have been transmitting life-threatening viruses such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever since the 1950’s but it didn’t become a crisis till last year. Marcelo Castro’s, the health minister's, remarks were controversial because they were seen as quite fatalistic and like they were accepting defeat. Rio de Janeiro will host the Aug. 5-21 Summer Olympics.
4. Weinberg, a UT professor, in light of the recent laws allowing students attending UT to openly carry guns on campus, has said that he will not allow guns in his classroom. Chancellor Bill McRaven basically said that all professors are required to follow the law no matter what and just accept it. The campus carry bill is set to go into effect in August, which allows students over 21 to carry concealed firearms into buildings on campus and also allows presidents to create gun-free zones on campus. There is also an open carry law that was effective starting on January 1st, but law enforcement officer Justin Wood has said that people who are used to concealed carrying have continued to conceal their weapons in spite of the new laws. 
5. Ken Paxton is a Texas Attorney General who objects to the U.S Department of Justice's decision to allow Syrian refugees into the country for fear of terrorist attacks by Syrians. He filed for a lawsuit on December 2nd because the Justice Department notified the state the day that 7 refugees came into Houston, instead of notifying them one week before, as the law requires. Godbey, the judge dealing with the case, rejected his request that all refugees immediately stop entering Texas and accused him of making broad and prejudiced generalizations about Syrian people.
   
6. Texas can win its 1,000th game in school history if they beat Kansas on Wednesday night. The team is doing very well this season, ranking 6th in the country and being 18-1. But the team's biggest issue is that they are tied for last place in the Big 12 when it comes to turnovers, averaging 17 a game. They need to clean up their turnovers and fix their sometimes "sloppy offensive possessions". 
   

   
   
7. Though the lead's were quite similar, I preferred the New York Time's obituary for Abe Vigoda compared to the Statesman's. I felt like the Time's was more well-written and had a better flow overall. I thought that the Statesman's obituary was choppy and all over the place, while the Time's was a bit more focused and took us through his life more clearly. It was much more detailed and contained more quotes from Vigoda himself, giving the reader a better idea of what he was like. 
   
   
   
   

“On Writing” Analysis Questions

Grace Schmidhauser

1/25/16

The main idea that Albom discusses always comes back to getting the reader’s attention. He acknowledges the increasingly daunting challenges the newspaper industry is facing, but expresses a confidence in the art of journalism and its ability to remain relevant and prominent in this digital age. He describes exactly how one should write an attention grabbing article, breaking his advice up into 3 of the most important aspects of news-writing: the Lead, the Middle, and the End.

Leads: Albom talks about how the lead has to not only contain the most important contextual information in the piece, but also be entertaining enough that the reader will be compelled to keep reading the article. He acknowledges the “movie culture” that we live in, and suggests that a good way to utilize this is to lead with a scene, to drop the reader directly into a situation so that they become invested in the story. Albom also talks about using gimmicks to one’s advantage, and that the writer should do whatever is necessary to keep the reader interested. The lead is the set up for what’s to come, so the reporter has to make sure it’s interesting.

Middles: Albom discusses the importance of making stories human. He talks about how important it is to find a new and different angle to a story as there are so many identically written articles that lack effectiveness. The best way to steer clear of a generic article is to find a back-story that obscurely relates to the topic, but makes the connection that expresses the greater theme of the piece. Usually this can be achieved by interviewing people who most wouldn’t immediately think to.

Endings: In this section, Albom talks about the power of a subtle ending. He discusses how writers often feel as though they need to make these huge blanket statements about society in order to have an effective ending. He counters by saying that often the most subtle endings can be the most powerful, because it gives the reader something to hold on to and think about. The reporter doesn’t need to very obviously state every single point that they are seeking to make, and having to read between the lines resonates much more with the reader most of the time.

1. “The only thing that we have to offer is our ability to write”
   This quote describes the main redeeming quality of newspaper writers, and what sets them apart from the rest of the media that is presenting the same news. News can be extremely powerful when reported and delivered right, and that’s what newspapers have the ability to do, which is extremely important. Good writing also establishes a sense of trust between the writer and the reader; a certain credibility.
2. “Because people will give you about two to three seconds now, on anything… That’s the kind of attention span they’re fighting with, and that’s what we are fighting with, too, whether we want to admit it or not”
   This is a statement on modern society and how fast-paced everything is. Because of internet culture, people are used to a lot of visuals and fast moving pictures, so it’s often difficult for people to focus on one thing for a solid amount of time. This is why is so important to make stories attention grabbing. They have to compete with this endless stream of media, which is very difficult to do.
3. “He went and found a person, and through the eyes of that one particular person, told a story for everyone.”
   This quote represents the importance of the human element of writing. People like to relate to stories, and once the writer can get a reader to relate, he has them hooked. Humans don’t connect with facts and statistics, they connect with other human beings, therefore it is essential that the story be told through a lense that the reader can resonate with.
4. “Trust your readers, they’re pretty smart. They know how to read, they’re already ahead of most of the rest of the country. And they’ll get it, they’ll get what you’re trying to say.”
   I resonated with this quote because it shows respect for the readers. Albom recognizes that the readers are who the journalists are ultimately trying to reach out to. It’s really important for the reporter to trust the reader, and to trust that they will understand the hidden messages and themes within the piece.
5. “Always look for something in the room, or something that somebody says or something, that does your work for you. Instead of you saying, “this is terrible, this is sad, this is awful,” look for a picture that tells it better than you and just describe the picture.   That’s what we can do as journalists and writers that nobody else can.”
   This statement is really important for all writers to hear, because it’s motivation to think outside of the box and really think. That’s the only thing that can lead to great writing. It describes the power that good journalists have to make any story moving, and the way that they can use the world around them to create something important.

Obituary Assignment

David Bowie was a legend in every sense of the word. He pushed all sorts of boundaries, not just through his music, but through his many personas and his public image. He challenged gender, sexuality, and art in a way that nobody had done before, at least nobody that was in the public eye as much as he was. Bowie was seen as beyond human, as an alien dropped on Earth to amuse and befuddle the humans, to make us question creativity, art, and social norms, and even make us uncomfortable at times. But the world needed David Bowie. He showed people that there is always the potential to transcend any persona, to become whoever you want to be, all while being entirely yourself. He was Ziggy Stardust, the mystical alien creature, the moon-man, who taught us that people can embrace the glitter and magic in their lives, and that humanity is not is dull as it seems to be. He was also David Jones, the young British boy entranced by Rock n Roll culture, who crooned and grooved with immeasurable passion. He inspired so many, and pushed artists and people everywhere to take risks and push beyond the limits that are presented to them, and to see beyond the boundaries that society imposes on us. We now have a very special star in the sky because of his death, and he will certainly never be forgotten. He couldn't possibly be forgotten if he tried.

I read the obituaries of David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and Amiri Baraka. All of the obituaries took the reader through the life of the deceased, usually going chronologically through their lives in order of their accomplishments and projects throughout the years. They commented on how the world saw the people, and what their impact was on society and culture in general. The main difference I saw in the ones I read was that in Amiri Baraka, there was a lot more criticism than just praise. This was because he was generally seen as a very polarizing figure throughout his life, and it was important to acknowledge what people thought of him, because that was a huge part of his image. The main thing I saw throughout the obituaries was that they didn't focus at all on their actual death, they mostly celebrated their life and talked about their accomplishments and high points rather than their final dying moments. This was important because it shows respect for the artist.

“The American Male at Age Ten” by Susan Orlean- Discussion Questions

1. What is the significance of the story? How does the writer show that the subject’s story is bigger and more important than the experience of one person (or place)? The story, at surface level, seems to be just observations about a young suburban boy and his daily routine and general thoughts on life.

Though seemingly a very simple and rather bland subject, the article delves deeper into the psyche of boys this age and how it affects them for the rest of their lives. She goes very in depth in trying to understand just exactly what goes through this boys’ mind, and what societal standards and pop culture may be doing to influence him and other kids his age. It’s a psychological study more than anything, and seeks to understand the deeper meaning of how and why boys of this age are influenced by American culture, and what this means on a deeper level, and how it affects their lives and other’s lives.

2. To what extent does the writer insert him / herself into the narrative? How does that affect the article’s objectivity? How does it affect the article's transparency?

She inserts herself quite a bit into the story, being quite transparent about how and why she went about her process of finding information and evidence for her article, and often dipping into first person to express her opinion on something. She inserts herself into the story and discusses the way that Colin, the main character of the story, interacts with her as an older woman. This is an important part of the story, and if she was an omniscient narrator, it wouldn’t have given the reader that extra perspective that she is trying to convey. Her being a part of the story was really important in helping the reader understand the greater message of the piece, because with only omniscient observations it might have seemed almost pointless, but she really drives home her points by giving outside evidence and opinions.

3. How does the writer veer away from traditional newswriting? In other words, how does the reporter put into practice the advice that Hawthorne offered in our reading from last class. Find examples of literary devices (metaphors, similes, imagery, symbolism).

The main strategy she employed in her article was using a central character to base her story on, instead of just presenting studies and evidence, which made the story far more captivating and really drew the reader in more, as if they were reading a short story. In doing this, she also paints quite vivid pictures and uses imagery to her advantage, allowing the reader to feel like we’re the ones talking to and hanging out with the humorous Colin and his friends in suburban New Jersey. The use of humour and irony in the piece made it extremely entertaining, and allowed the reader to become compelled and amused.

4. How did the writer report this story? How many sources were used? How much time seems to have spent in the reporting process? How much of the article do you think was based on interviews? How much on the reporters direct observation?

In putting together this article, Orlean used many different strategies for obtaining information, using a combination of observational evidence, interviews, and a few outside sources and studies. She mainly focused on the interview, adding in tid-bits of observation which gave context and helped explain her points. She seemed to go very in depth into really understanding Colin by spending a lot of time with him, his family, and his friends and acquaintances. She seemed to really be attempting to understand exactly what it’s like to live in his world, in order to analyze his frame of mind more accurately.

5. Find three particularly powerful quotes. Infer: What questions do you think the reporter would have asked in order to get these responses?
- “Girls are different. Girls are stupid and weird.”
- “The most beautiful woman in the world is not Madonna! Only Wayne and Garth think that! She looks like maybe a… a ... slut or something. Cindy Crawford looks like she would look good, but if you see her on an awards program on TV she doesn't look that good. I think the most beautiful woman in the world probably is my mom."
- “'The best thing is that grown-ups can go wherever they want… If you're grownup, you’d have a car, and whenever you felt like it, you could get into your car and drive somewhere and get candy."

 Orlean actually uses a very interesting strategy, by often stating exactly what question she asked Colin and what his response was. I think she did this to help the reader understand exactly what goes through a boy of this age’s head when asked about certain subjects, and what his thought process may have been. Also, most of her questions were pretty direct and simple, given that her interviewee was 10 years old, but she goes more in depth in her analysis to drive her points home. Her questions, though simple on the surface, often times were searching for a deeper meaning. Her asking what he thought of girls, for example, was her trying to find evidence of potential engrained sexism or issues with women that may be beginning to blossom in boys of this age.

Bobby Hawthorne Writing Guide Questions

1. Hawthorne suggests that a journalist must capture the human elements of a story in order to excel beyond the typically average news article. He states that merely collecting data is a lazy and dry way of writing an article and it fails to capture the reader's long-lasting attention and interest. The writer shouldn't be writing about a subject, they should be writing a story. The main differentiation between the two is that a story really focuses on human interaction and emotion instead of just facts and meaningless quotes. Using humor and writing devices, like re-enactment of a scene or interpretation also contributes to a better story. One of the tips in the chapter suggests that the writer should approach the article like a novelist might approach writing a book, suggesting that the writer should "look for potential elements of comedy, tragedy, iron, or conflict that can be stressed in the reporting and writing". It then goes on to suggest that the writer should approach certain people they're focusing on as protagonists and antagonists, going more deeply into the characters and giving the reader something to hold on to and become invested in.

2. Hawthorne presents many strategies to produce an full, interesting, and captivating article. He gives examples of many types of literary devices that can help the writer in producing a good piece of work. Some of the devices that he cites are "Drama", "Character", "Conflict", "Anticipation", and "Climax", to name a few. One might notice that these devices are ones very commonly used in writing a novel or short fiction story, which reiterates the fact that the reporter should be approaching their work similarly to how a novelist might approach their book. He suggests that the reporter should utilize these devices and perhaps make the reader forget that they're reading non-fiction, and really become invested in the story and the "characters". He also focuses on organization, especially making sure that there's a good lead, and then building up the rest of the paragraphs based on that.