Assignment 3

From The New Yorker
Up and then Down-the lives of Elevators- April 21, 2008 by Nick Paumgarten.
The longest smoke break of Nicholas White’s life began at around eleven o’clock on a Friday night in October, 1999. White, a thirty-four-year-old production manager at Business Week, working late on a special supplement, had just watched the Braves beat the Mets on a television in the office pantry. Now he wanted a cigarette. He told a colleague he’d be right back and, leaving behind his jacket, headed downstairs.
The magazine’s offices were on the forty-third floor of the McGraw-Hill Building, an unadorned tower added to Rockefeller Center in 1972. When White finished his cigarette, he returned to the lobby and, waved along by a janitor buffing the terrazzo floors, got into Car No. 30 and pressed the button marked 43. The car accelerated. It was an express elevator, with no stops below the thirty-ninth floor, and the building was deserted. But after a moment White felt a jolt. The lights went out and immediately flashed on again. And then the elevator stopped.


The article continues to describe White's experience being trapped in an elevator while the elevator went into free fall. I found the lede to be interesting because it is very personable; many people can relate to going on a smoke break and watching the Braves game. The author also gives sufficient background and information-who, where, when, etc. Also, the first line draws readers in. "The longest smoke break of his life;" this causes the reader to immediately ask questions: Why? What happened?

Iconoclasm is theme of this year's 4-20 event – APRIL 1, 2008

ARCATA – Organizers of this year’s 4-20 marijuana festival have a message for the non-toking world: join us and be different. The annual day of cannabis consumption traditionally draws thousands to Arcata’s Redwood Park for the ritual hitting of bongs, bonking of bongos, petty thefts and open-air urination and defecation.
This lede is eye catching simply because of the theme. Since this headline comes from Humboldt County, the discussion topic is not completely shocking or surprising. However, I found it humorous that the journalist chose to lead the article with the discussion of many illegal activities. I was lead to continue reading because I was curious about the marijuana festival and what impact it had on the community.


Abandoned kittens find way to loving care -- April 5, 2008

The minute Brian Gerrard of Visalia got home from work last Tuesday, his wife Tina asked him to listen to some disturbing crying sounds coming from the neighbor's backyard.

He listened. "I kept hearing little cries," Gerrard said.

Tina insisted that her husband investigate further, so he hopped the fence -- the neighbor had been gone for a few days and had not been back -- and soon traced the sound to some boxes against the fence.

This lede is similar to the first one I found because it begins with the description of very common human activities. Every reader can relate to coming home after work; readers can relate. I can also imagine what it would be like to hear, "disturbing crying sounds coming from the neighbor's backyard."-It's kinda suspenseful, just kinda. The story continues to tell the story about some abandoned kittens- the topic is not very interesting but I liked how the writer tried to make the beginning sound interesting.