Homework

Historians:

The purpose of this assignment is to "deconstruct" several articles from The New York World. It is a graded essay, one of two required for the course this semester. Your essay should be no more than three pages long, double-spaced. Please include the date of publication of each story at the bottom of the essay.

Here's what your essay should include:

1.  Log on to NewspaperArchive.com at:https://newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/new-york/new-york-world/ (Links to an external site.). You'll find a collection of clippings from The World, which will be significantly easier to read than what we've been using. 

Pick two articles. Each should be longer than three paragraphs. Your analysis should include your responses to the following questions for each story:

What is the article about?  

What is the purpose of putting it into the newspaper?   (entertain, inform, persuade, sales, etc?) 

Whom would it interest?   (target audience or audiences) 

Where did the information come from?   (attribution)

Was it local or someplace else?  (location)

What, if anything, was added to attract viewers to this story?  (Graphics? Headlines? Placement on front page?)

Did you find it interesting?

2.  Read a transcript of the first part of one of The World's most celebrated stories, Behind Asylum Bars by Nellie Bly.  

This link will take you to the story as it originally appeared in the newspaper: http://www.nellieblyonline.com/images/uploads/1887-10-09_BEHIND_ASYLUM_BARS_copy.pdf (Links to an external site.)

This link will take you to a modern-day transcript of the article, which will be easier for you to read. https://thegrandarchive.wordpress.com/behind-asylum-bars/ (Links to an external site.)

Your analysis should be driven by the questions above, plus the following:

How did Nellie Bly prepare for this story?

What research, if any, did she do?

How would you describe her style of writing?

What role did other reporters have in her story?

Did she have any obvious slant in her reporting?

Was what Nellie did entirely ethical?

Use your Iron Rules of Media Writing to assist you in preparing your essay. 

Bring a hard copy to class on Tuesday for collaborative editing.

Any questions?  Please write to me.