ORGANIZING THE STORY



UNIT 3

WRITING THE

FEATURE LEDE/STORY

NAME: __________________________________

In this unit, you will be writing and revising ledes and articles for feature stories, with the goal of writing a basic feature story at the end of the unit.

To “Bring Your ‘A’ Game” to this unit, you must complete each of the activities, you must meet deadlines, and you must work productively and efficiently individually and as part of a group in each class period. Review the Project Rubric (below) to see how you will be graded on this project.

|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |0 | |Quality |Excellent quality in assigned tasks |Very good quality in assigned tasks |Good quality in assigned tasks |Fair quality in assigned tasks |Poor quality in assigned tasks |Does not meet level 1 | |Activity 1-4 | | | | | | | |Activity 5-6 | | | | | | | |Summative | | | | | | | |Completion |Completes all assigned readings and tasks |Completes all assigned readings and tasks, but may be missing one or components |Completes most of the assigned readings and tasks |Completes some of the assigned readings and tasks |Completes at least one of the assigned readings and tasks |Does not meet level 1 | | | | | | | | | |Meeting Deadline |Uses all class time wisely and completes project on deadline |Uses all class time wisely and completes project close to the deadline |Uses all class time wisely and/or completes project on or close to deadline |Uses most class time wisely and/or completes project on or close to deadline |Uses some class time wisely and/or completes project on or close to deadline |Does not meet level 1 | | | | | | | | | |

DEADLINES

Activity #1-4 DUE on or before Tuesday, Dec. 20*

Activity #5-6 DUE on or before Wednesday, Dec. 21*

Activity #7 DUE on or before Friday, Dec. 23*

Homework DUE on or before Wednesday, Jan. 4

* Revisions will be due one day after you receive your assignment back

WRITING FEATURE LEDES

Feature stories are often called “soft news,” as opposed to the “hard news” that is reported on a daily basis. Feature stories, or features, are news stories that combine the rigors of factual reporting in news writing with the creative freedom of short-story writing. As a result, the inverted pyramid style is usually sacrificed so the story can have a distinctive beginning, middle

and end.

Unlike a hard news story, the reader won’t be able to scan a few paragraphs; they’ll have to – and should want to – read the entire story.

Feature stories, essentially, can be about ANYTHING. It’s all in the way it’s told. The best features are about things that are new, unusual or offbeat:

• A waitress takes an order not on a pad but on a handheld computer.

• A small public school is established at a large GE plant.

• Little kids are collecting baseball cards not for fun, but for an investment.

Feature stories can also be about interesting or offbeat people.

How to Start:

The lede is very important for a feature because it needs to hook the reader into reading the rest of the story. Look at the following examples:

Activity #1: News Story or Feature Story?

Read the following headlines. Remember that news stories report the facts about recent events. Feature stories explore the facts behind the news and appeal to the reader’s emotions. Write N beside each headline that fits a news story. Write F beside each headline that fits a feature story. Then, answer the question below.

EXAMPLES: __N___ Gas Explosion Kills Four Men in Florida

__F___ Boy Survives in a World of Disappointment, Fear

Which headline is the most interesting? Explain. ______________________________________

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Activity #2

Read the following ledes. Write N beside each news story lede. Write an F beside each feature story lede. Then, answer the question below.

Which lede is the most interesting? Explain. ______________________________________

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Activity #3

Evaluate each of the following feature story ledes in the space provided or on the back of this sheet. Which ones make you curious about the rest of the story? Which ones do not? Why?

1. It was Wednesday, Jan. 2, 1991.

2. Dolores Thompson’s mind was filled with sunny thoughts that April day. She was to be married soon, and life had taken on a rosy glow. Then her car missed a curve – and nothing has been the same since.

3. He’s a small man, about 4 feet 11 inches tall. He weighs maybe 95 pounds when he’s soaking wet. And he’s soaking wet most of the time.

4. As the room filled with her classmates, Sara Jane Black could feel her confidence crumbling.

5. Through the inky darkness, a shot rang out.

6. If you think it’s noisy in the city, try visiting a farm once.

7. The door opened and in walked Lute, all 6 feet 8 inches of him.

8. Have you seen the new painting in Mr. Slote’s office?

9. Lights! Camera! Action!

Which ledes above would you rate the top 3 ledes? Explain. ______________________________________

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Activity #4: Write a Feature Lede

Write a feature lede using the information below. (I encourage you to try writing more for a bonus.)

• James and Jane Dunlap have lost their dog, a German shorthaired pointer.

• The dog, Dutch, has been seen in several places in the Schenectady area over the last three weeks, but only at night.

• The Dunlaps, who are from Utica, had been showing the dog in a show on Sept. 7.

• After the show Dutch chewed and clawed her way out of her cage.

• Dutch is a pet to the Dunlaps’ five children, who range from kindergarten to high school age.

• The Dunlaps have enlisted many sources to aid in their search.

• They’ve also made several trips to Schenectady to search themselves.

• They contacted the Heart of America Kennel Club, the Schenectady police, veterinarians, and business people in the area.

• Dutch had nearly enough points to win her the championship title at the show.

• A food trap was set for Dutch, but it was stolen.

• Five days after Dutch escaped, some evening strollers saw the dog staring at them in the darkness and called to her, but she ran away.

• This weekend the Dunlaps sent “wanted” posters to be posted in the area where Dutch was seen.

• The Dunlaps assume Dutch is frightened and confused after three weeks in the hubbub of a strange city.

• Mrs. Dunlap has said, “Dutch has been a part of our family for the last six years. My youngest child never knew a day without his 'doggie' around. We are all worried sick about Dutch."

• A Kansas City dog breeder has offered to bring a rare tracking dog out to hunt for Dutch.

• A veterinarian promises to subdue her with a tranquilizer gun if the dog is found but then bolts.

• The Dunlaps continue to wait for word back in Omaha.

SLUG: _________________________________________________________________

NAME: _________________________________________________________________

DATE: _________________________________________________________________

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Activity #5: Write a Feature Lede

Write a feature lede using the information below. (I encourage you to try writing more for a bonus.)

• SHS Junior Billy Donahue hates to get up in the morning.

• Billy claims he has the record for being late to his first-period class.

• “I am never on time,” he said, “and you can’t get any better than that.”

• His mother has to call him about 20 times before he gets up from bed.

• He says he has no trouble with his other classes.

• He also hates to go to bed at night.

• He usually stays up until 1 a.m., he said.

• He says he is getting all A’s this semester except in his first-period class, which is Journalism.

• “I want to be a journalist when I graduate from college,” he said.

• “I’ll just have to get a job on a morning paper so I can work nights.”

• Because he doesn’t like the way his mother wakes him up in the morning, he devised a plan to wake himself up.

• He recorded his own voice on tape, saying, “Wake up, Billy. You’re the smartest, best-looking boy in school. The school needs you. Get up and conquer the world.”

• He just has his mother play the tape in the morning.

• “Now,” he said, “I just pop up right away.”

• “There goes my record in the journalism class,” he said.

SLUG: _________________________________________________________________

NAME: _________________________________________________________________

DATE: _________________________________________________________________

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Tracking Down the Feature Story

Feature stories are news that entertains or informs

with an emphasis on human interest and novelty

and less immediacy than hard news. They can also

focus on people, places or issues that affect readers’

lives.

EXAMPLES:

A profile about a man who designs model airplanes

A story about the effectiveness of diets

A story about the growing number of babies suffering from AIDS

Feature stories can also be based on a news event. Instead of being just a factual account of the event, it features or focuses on a particular angle, such as human interest reactions.

The list of possible ideas for feature stories is only limited by your imagination. For a people profile, you could look at:

• A faculty member married to another faculty member

• A person born on Feb. 29

• A student with the same name as a famous (or infamous) person

• A member of the state championship basketball team from years ago

• The clerk at the card counter on Valentine’s Day

• A student who has never missed a day of school

How about feature topics? You could look at:

• How the school mascot and colors were chosen

• The 10 most unusual sites on the Internet

• Unusual pets owned by students at your school

• Careers in the outdoors

• What people’s color preferences tell about them

• What’s the best way to ask someone to the prom

Activity #6: Brainstorming

Let’s come up with our own list. You won’t be held to writing on any of these topics, but these lists can make for good stories for someone. Write down at least 5 things (the more the merrier) that you’d like to know more about or read more about, things you observe about teen life, etc.

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Activity #7: Mini-Unit Summative

Using the information from Activity #4 (the Dunlaps and their dog) or Activity #5 (Billy Donahue), write a feature story of at least 5-7 journalistic paragraphs.

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"You’ve got to understand a lot to write even a little bit.”

-- John McPhee

“Don’t write about man, write about a man.”

-- E.B White

FEATURE LEDE

After almost 20 years away from the position, William Casey is making a return to the Board of Education for the Shenendehowa Central School District.

The board on Tuesday unanimously appointed Casey to fill a position on the seven-member board that has been vacant since September.

Both sides call it politics as usual.

Brooklyn’s top two Democrats say they pushed judicial candidates to hire favored consultants as part of normal efforts to run winning campaigns.

“The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” told her story on Broadway very quickly.

The one-woman show starring Ellen Burstyn closed Monday after its opening-night performance at Longacre Theatre.

This one was for Dad.

Barry Bonds won a record sixth National League MVP award Tuesday.

His thoughts immediately turned to Bobby Bonds, his three-time All-Star father who died in August.

Keyshawn Johnson will get his wish to leave Tampa Bay once the season is over.

Meantime, he won’t even get to play.

SUMMARY LEDE

The Shenendehowa Board of Education unanimously appointed former board member William Casey to a vacant post Tuesday.

Two top Brooklyn Democrats were arraigned Tuesday on charges that they allegedly pushed judicial candidates to hire favored consultants.

“The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” closed Monday after only one Broadway performance at the Longacre Theatre.

Giants slugger Barry Bonds won a record sixth National League MVP award Tuesday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers benched disgruntled star Keyshawn Johnson for the rest of the year Tuesday.

_____ 1. Firefighters rescue man from Blazing House

_____ 2. Townspeople in tears over loss of 150-year-old tree

_____ 3. Old diaries hold clues to Civil War mysteries

_____ 4. Thunderstorm causes brief blackout in Jefferson

County

_____ 5. Results in election surprise experts

_____ 6. Life for lottery winner not all smiles

_____ 7. State awards contracts for area road jobs

_____ 8. Wrong glasses can cause headaches

_____ 9. Now is the time to start spring gardening

_____ 10. Train derails in Ohio; 16 injured

_____ 1. On Thursday federal investigators uncovered a plot

to cheat a Spring Hill woman of $2 million by a man posing as the woman’s long-lost brother.

_____ 2. Charles Grissom studied family history, underwent

plastic surgery, changed his accent, and learned how to play the violin. And he fooled everybody but the FBI.

_____ 3. Tony Adams knows what it means to go to bed

hungry and alone. The loneliness in his dark brown eyes tells you that he also knows the emptiness of jail life.

_____ 4. This morning police arrested Tony Adams, 36, of

1913 W. Pearson, on a charge of shoplifting at Red Circle Food Mart.

_____ 5. Emma L. Einhart, 53, of Oak Crest, mother of four,

was named National Mother of the Year in ceremonies Sunday in Indianapolis.

_____ 6. She’s not the best cook in the world. She’s not a

model housekeeper. She doesn’t sew or have a wealth of wisdom to share. But silver-haired Emma Einhart of Oak Crest has so much love she was an easy winner as National Mother of the Year.

_____ 7. A pet squirrel set off an explosion Saturday night

that rocked an east side neighborhood and caused a six-hour power shortage.

_____ 8. Herman the squirrel finally lit up the sky in a big

way, but don’t look for a repeat performance right away. At least not from Herman.

_____ 9. A year ago Rona Alexander was politically in the

valley of death. Tuesday she climbed to the top of the mountain.

_____ 10. Voters elected 38-year-old Rona Alexander mayor

of Bridgeport by a surprising 5-2 margin over Wilbur Owens in the heaviest balloting in the city.

FEATURES – PEOPLE PROFILE

As we’ve already discussed, feature stories can come from anywhere. One of the most used features is the people profile. This is just as it sounds – a profile of a person, what they like/dislike, what makes them interesting.

Celebrities have a built-in appeal to the general public but ordinary, run-of-the-mill people can be just as interesting or even more interesting. Some of these interesting people are right here in our school, or even in this classroom. Some examples of good profile material are the backup quarterback, the benchwarmer, the president of a club, members of a little known sport, someone whose father or mother is shipping out to the Middle East, someone whose gotten their writings or art published, someone with an unusual job or hobby, or the student who comes first or last in the alphabet.

“With no daily deadlines there’s more time to give more thought to your stories… It’s more fun. You can have more freedom with your writing style.”

Feature writer Nancy Stohs

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

*** HOMEWORK: Interview a person and write a people profile using information from your interview. This can be a friend, a family member, or, if you’re more enterprising, someone you don’t know who you think would be interesting. ***

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