Movie Review Exploration

Hunger Games: Catching Fire review: The making of a revolutionary

Name of Publication: The Denver Post

Name of Writer: Lisa Kennedy 

Score for the Movie Review: 3.5/4

High Points of the Movie: Delivers on the grim promises of the original. Lawrence and Hutcherson remain compelling and have strong performances. Writers deepen the themes at the heart of Collins' novels. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, and Amanda Plummer are all worthy newcomers.

Low Points of the Movie: Stanley Tucci's character is "beginning to feel like too much of a parody in a franchise of impressive nuance."

Quote: "Catching Fire" delivers on the grim, roiling promises of the original. Lawrence and Hutcherson remain compelling as the District 12 denizens who continue to do a romantic minuet dictated by necessity but also authentic fondness."

Editorial Exploration

Don't forget to cast your vote for affordable housing

On Tuesday, the polls open across Texas for the Nov. 5 ballot election, which boasts nine propositions for state constitutional amendments and, in Austin, one for the creation of an affordable housing bond. Students looking to vote in between classes can go to the Flawn Academic Center, where they can cast their ballots anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Yes, we know — we’ve been harping on this election for quite some time, but if you feel the temptation to slip through the day without visiting the ballot box, consider the possible implications of the failure of the affordable housing bond proposition. 

The affordable housing bond, if passed, would allow Austin to borrow $65 million to invest in the creation and maintenance of affordable housing projects across the city. Austin has the highest median housing prices of any major Texas city, and helping those who currently cannot afford decent housing has more benefits than just the satisfaction of being charitable. For one, as we mentioned in our endorsements yesterday, a community in which people aren’t struggling to stay in housing is a safer, more stable, more prosperous community. And the bond is expected to pay for itself, without raising taxes at all — despite the shrill claims of the Travis County Taxpayers’ Union, who succeeded in being as abhorrent as possible by comparing the bond to rape during a protest in October.

A similar initiative failed last year, and we worry that history could repeat itself this time around. That was in large part because of the fact that, according to a poll conducted later by Austin Housing Works and Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, about one-fifth of those polled said they voted no because they hadn’t been informed about the bond beforehand and didn’t understand the vague language of the ballot description. There’s no good reason for that to happen again, so if you vote for nothing else tomorrow, it’s important that you at least support this highly beneficial project. 

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This editorial was made to persuade the reader to vote for the affordable housing bond. 

Statement of Evidence: "Yes, we know - we've been harping on this election for quite some time, but if you feel the temptation to skip through the day without visiting the ballot box, consider the possible implications of the failure of the affordable housing bond proposition." 

I agree with the writers of this editorial because with more and more people moving to Austin, the demand for housing will increase as well as the prices. If this bond passed, more affordable housing projects would pop up and it'd make it easier for college students and people new to the city to find a nice house at a decent price. Also, if I end up attending college somewhere in Austin, this bond could benefit me as I could find a good place to live without breaking the bank.

Ethics Notes

Journalism Do's

Accuracy 

• Make sure the facts are right and the right facts are there.

Fairness

• Make sure to present all sides, arguments, and opinions.

Context

• Tell the whole story.

Truth

• Let the facts fall where they may, and you'll give readers and viewers a chance to begin to find the truth.

Journalism Don'ts

Plagiarism

• Never use the words and ideas of another without giving credit to the source.

Sloppy Reporting

• Don't fail to check the facts.

Bias

• Don't allow your news reports to be influenced by your own opinions.

Conflicts of Interest

• Don't report a story if you are not completely independent from that story.

Deception

• Never, ever invent character, quotations or any part of a story.

Journalism Dilemmas

Anonymous Sources

• These are people who supply or "lead" information to you on the condition that you will not mention their names or identities as the sources of information.

Misrepresentation

• This occurs when you pretend to be someone other than a journalist or use deceptive tactics to get a story.

Lack of Regard For Privacy

• This occurs when you reveal facts of a person nature about someone and many readers and views think you have invaded that person's privacy.

Sensationalism

• This occurs when you offer news coverage designed to excite or entertain more than to inform.

Using Quotes Notes

Rules For Using Quotes:

• If a source expresses opinion, use a quotation.
• A major or complex story needs more than one quoted source.
• Information that contains facts (who,what, when, where, how or why) should normally be used as unquoted material.

Attribution:

• Make sure the speaker of all quotations is properly identified.
• Use "said" as the verb to attribute the quote.

Direct Quotes:

• The exact, word-for-word account of what a source said, enclosed in quotation marks and attributed to source.

Indirect Quotes (Paraphrases)

• A summary of what the speaker said reworded by the reporter.

Partial Quotes:

• A combination of a direct quotation and a paraphrase, attributed to the source.

Fragmentary Quotes:

• A single word or short phrase used by a source that is included in a paraphrase, enclosed in quotation marks and attributed to the source.   

When to use different quotes:

• Use direct quotations to express a speaker's unique point of view, personality or manner of speaking.
• Use indirect quotes when you need to rephrase what the speaker said to make it more clear to the reader.
• Use partial quotes to make colorful or memorable words stand out. But overuse can make writing seem jumpy and too cute.

Tyler Hamilton Interview

1. Describe the style of the interview: Casual? Formal? Interrogation? Interrogation
2. Why is Tyler Hamilton answering the interviewers questions? He was served a subpoena so he was forced to testify.
3. Are the questions accusatory? No.
4. Does the interviewer make Hamilton feel bad about what he did? No, he discusses the issues in a neutral attitude.
5. How does the interviewer let Hamilton tell his story? The interviewer asks what happened at certain times, Hamilton tells a good amount of info, then the interviewer asks follow-up questions.
6. Record one quote from Tyler Hamilton that really stands out. This quote should be transcribed from the interview with word-for-word accuracy. "I was transfusing blood, my teammate was, I guarantee you every other team had probably two or three riders that were doing the same thing. I bet... I bet my life on it."

Practice Interview Questions

1. Barack Obama - What is the most stressful part of being the president?

2. Daniel Girard - How do you deal with criticism from students, parents, and others?

3. Adolph Hitler - Why do you feel the way you do towards Jewish people?

4. Tyler Hamilton - Why did you take performance enhancing drugs?

5. Lance Armstrong - What would you say to the people who used to look up to you?

Arnold Schwarzenegger Interview Evaluation

Open-Ended Question: What is it with you?

Closed-Ended Question: So you have this relationship and she keeps working in the house, do you keep having the relationship?

Follow-up Question: How did that go? (Arnold telling his children what happened)

The Open-Ended Question got the best answer from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

What is your relationship with your children like now?

Schwarzenegger appeared surprisingly comfortable despite talking about a highly controversial topic. I could tell because he didn't hesitate in answering the questions and his body language was fairly comfortable.

Eagle's Eye Leads

Lead: Students looking to earn college credit during daytime hours without having to leave campus now have the chance to do so as they take Joseph Kirksey's English IV course.

Who: Students at Akins and Joseph Kirksey
What: Students can now take a college credit class on campus
Why: Joseph Kirksey is teaching an English IV college class
When: This entire school year
Where: Akins High School
How: Take Mr. Kirksey's English IV class

5. The lead is one sentence.

6. Yes, the lead is interesting.

7. Yes, it does make me want to read more of the story because I'm interested in taking some college courses now that they're offered on campus which is more convenient.

8. The news of this story is that Akins students can now take a class for college credit on campus rather than at ACC.

9. NO OPINION
   The opinions included in the article are Joseph Kirksey's who seems excited to teach and is happy for the students, Sarah Simmons who is also excited or the students, and student Tylena Hacker who is happy that a college credit class is finally on campus and she hopes more people take advantage of the opportunity.

Types of Questions

Closed-Ended Question: A question that allows the interviewee to answer with a yes-no or one-word answer.

Open-Ended Question: A question that forces the interviewee to answer with more than a yes-no or one-word answer.

Follow-up Question: A question that originates from listening to something the interviewee says.                                                                                                                              

60 Minutes Interviews Preview

What is the name of the interview subject?

Chris Corbin and Mike Ritland

What is this person known for?

Corbin had a dog with him while he was in the military and Ritland trains the military dogs.

What is a memorable quote from the interview?

"We don't train them to fail."

What question prompted the memorable quote?

"You've said that these dogs feel like they're invincible, what makes you say that?"

What did you learn?

I learned that the dogs in the military have a very big role and are incredibly intelligent.

My Top Story of the Century

This event was the spaceflight known as Apollo 11 that landed the first two men on the moon. The two men, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, planted an American flag. They spent a total of around two hours on the moon and collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material for return to Earth.

I think this was the most interesting event of the 1900s because of the fact that it was the first time ever that a man had stepped on something other than Earth. That was truly something remarkable that a hundred years prior, people would have thought was impossible. Also, it effectively ended the Space Race with the U.S. on top of space exploration.

Current Events Beat Favorites

1. Professional Sports
2. College Sports
3. Technology

Lead Writing Practice

A 13 year-old boy speeding down the wrong lane collided head-on with a vehicle driven by an elderly couple at the intersection of First Street and Slaughter Lane, today at 4:45 PM.

Headlines, Links and Photos

Top Stories - Obama to address nation on Syria amid diplomatic push

Greater Austin - Trail of Lights to be longer, improved in 2013

World - India Convicts Four of Murder in Delhi Gang-Rape Case

U.S. - Obama administration’s message on Syria is muddled

Business - Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard and Bank of America to Be Dropped from Dow Industrials

Technology - Live coverage: Apple to unveil its next iPhone

Entertainment - 'Breaking Bad' recap: Scales falling from Walter's eyes

Sports - Watch Brian Cushing's key pick six from Houston Texans' comeback win

Science - Global warming? No, actually we're cooling, claim scientists

Health - Study suggests women in their 40s benefit from mammograms, but doubts linger

Spotlight - FBI: Navy Yard shooter 'delusional,' said 'low frequency attacks' drove him to kill

Important People in Journalism

Person's name:
What:
Why:

Diane Sawyer

Worked for former President Nixon in 1970, co-anchor of CBS news, and she interviewed the President of Iran in 2007, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

She was the second woman ever to host the ABC World News.

Noah Webster

Created the American Dictionary.

His book "American Spelling Book" outsold every book in the 19th century except the bible.

John Peter Zenger

Zenger used his newspaper to print negative things about the governor of New York.

Zenger wanted freedom to write whatever he wanted on the newspaper. John Zenger's trial established truth as a defense against libel.

Richard F. Outcault

Creator of The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown.

The success of Yellow Kid led the entrance to many other similar comics.

Oprah Winfrey

She got her own network, has a magazine, and wrote books.

She's been an innovator.                                                                

William Randolph Hearst

He made newspapers exciting for California and built a media empire.

He was important because of the power he held.

Katharine Graham

Published her memoirs in 1997, was named as one of the International Press Institute's 50 World Press Freedom Heroes in 2002, and was presented with Presidential Medal of Freedom as well in 2002.

Nation's legendary leader in journalism and helped transform not only a newspaper, but the business of news in the U.S. Also was the only woman to be in such a high position at a publishing company.

ABSENT

Lead Writing

Who: Three Little Pigs, Big Bad Wolf
What: Wolf ate two pigs and was boiled alive by the third pig
When: Tuesday
Where: Baconville
Why: The Wolf wanted to eat the pig.
How: Third pig put a boiling pot in the fireplace, Wolf fell down the chimney.

On Tuesday in Baconville, the Big Bad Wolf was boiled alive after falling into the chimney of Little Pig III in an attempted break in, but not before taking the lives of two pigs.

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