COMM 337: Third analytical paper, due Nov. 9

For your next analytical paper, I want you to read the New Orleans Times-Picayune's prize-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina. I can't give you a direct link to the stories, but here's the path.

Go to Pulitzer Prize website at http://www.pulitzer.org/ and click on the "Archive" link. It will take you to a READ WINNERS and SEARCH page. Click on "SEARCH." In the timeline at the top of the page, click on "2006." You'll reach a page with a directory of winners in all categories. Click on "BREAKING NEWS REPORTING." It will take you to a splash page with the Pulitzer Prize committee's citation, their reason for giving the award:

For a distinguished example of local reporting of breaking news, presented in print or online or both, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to the Staff of The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, for its courageous and aggressive coverage of Hurricane Katrina, overcoming desperate conditions facing the city and the newspaper.

Click on the little gray tab that says "Works." It's second from the left. That will take you to a directory of the stories submitted in this catagory. The top one has a head in all-caps that says "CATASTROPIC." The rest are from the period August 30-September 3. Read them.

Choose one or two, and analyze them like you did the columns by Steve Lopez of The Los Angeles Times and the coverage of 9-11 by staff of The Wall Street Journal. Consulting Donald Murray's "Notes on Narrative" in our textbook (pages 152-55), and analyze the stor(ies) you choose for their mastery of the story-teller's art.

See how many of the narrative techniques Murray describes you can find. Quote them. Quote freely. Quote them. Quote freely. Post your analysis to your blog. Be sure to link to the Lopez column you analyze. Due in class Friday, Nov. 9.