Monday, October 10, 2011
Week 8: The Closer
Not just a show on the USA network, the closer in an essay is key to an essay's success ... or its failure. So, look for awesome closing (or near the end) lines. How does the author tie everything together? share an a-ha moment? conclude? make a call to action? Does the author come back to something mentioned at the start? Or maybe the author ends with a completely new idea? Share what works and what does not.
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"And Sarah Palin did hear him, and Sarah Palin was wise. And a heavenly light shone on the naked and the clothed alike, and the people were at peace once more."
These are the two closing sentences to an article by Kathleen Parker about Sarah Palin's decision not to run for president in the 2012 election, a choice Palin accredited to God's intentions for her. While a bit snarky, Parker's closing lines do a good job of tying up the political content of the article as well as bringing back the religious ideas, by mimicking the phrasing of the beginning of the Bible.
"A monarch tagged in Virginia turned up in Austin, Texas, so quickly that when they did the math they realized the butterfly had averaged 61 miles a day. That’s bookin’ it." -Joel Achenbach
These are the closing sentences of a relatively short article that Achenbach wrote about monarch butterflies he observed while camping. Because the article was so short, there was no real need for Achenbach to conclude with an over-aching idea so instead he concluded with an interesting but related fact and some humor. I think his closer is successful because it interests the reader and emphasizes the relaxed tone of the article.
"I hope that Lloyd’s important and compelling book will be a reminder that homegrown American girls are also trafficked, and they deserve sympathy and social services — not handcuffs and juvenile detention."
Kristof ends the article with a strong opinion. I like this because it gives a solid close to the piece of writing. It sums up the main point of Lloyd's book in easy, and clear language. Also ending on what should not be happening is a powerful way to remember what is going on right now and to keep the reader engaged.
"Sure, Pakistan is still double-dealing; on the other hand, you have a nice garden spider in your yard."
This article was about how there is an overwhelming amount of awful things happening in the world. Carroll talks about how it is hard to stay positive with all the negative news. I like how he ends with an antidote about how we can still find joy in the little things in our lives. This closer maintains the integrity of what the article was about, while also ending with an uplifting thought, which is nice.
"Whatever it is that makes us go to the gym and save for college is fueled by simple sugar--much like our hound's agreement to sit and stay." - Wray Herbert
I really like this closing line. It is simple and nicely echoes the points Herbert mentioned in his article. I've noticed that this repetition is very common in Herbert's writing. I think it emphasizes his creativity as a writer, as the metaphors and stories he uses are unexpected yet methodical. This repetition also ties things well together and leaves the reader with a more memorable and complete picture of what he/she has read.
"If Europe — and, for that matter, the United States — cannot adjust to this new landscape, it might escape this storm only to enter another."
Zakaria ends his article about the economic problems in Europe with a strong warning. Out of context this sentence appears to do a good job of summing up the article, but combined with the last paragraph, it is rather repetitive. He already warns the reader of the consequences of not taking sufficient initiative in the economy, and that this problem will likely only lead to a worse one. Zakaria does bring up the US for the first time during this closing sentence, but I would have preferred that he either elaborate on America's role or simply not mention it. Overall, this was one of Zakaria's weaker closers.
Yes, Al Davis "bled silver and black" (CBS San Francisco).
Accent on the black.
Rick Reilly uses these lines to close his article on the death of Al Davis. After Davis's death late last week, an outpouring of love for Davis and his innovation of football ensued. But Reilly uses this article to discuss how Davis had been the worst owner in the NFL the past two decades, was a conniver, and was overall just not a great person. After deaths, many solely focus on a person's positives, but Reilly justly describes how Davis bled "black", and recently was a heartless and perplexing Raiders owner.
"You can’t really blame him. But you can pretty much kiss him goodbye."
The "him" in this line is referring to Jon Huntsman. The article essentially details the failure of Huntsman's campaign and then widens out to how the general Republican primary and political climate is. Because Bruni broadens the picture towards the end of the article, I think this line is effective because it relates directly back to the title and the article's beginning specificity about Huntsman. It also concludes what Bruni has been thinking in a short and effective way, leaving no room for anyone to misinterpret him. It also adds to Bruni's personality and voice.
Regarding the riots in England:
"We don’t know whether we have just witnessed a “new” phenomenon, or a more mobile and technically adept version of a very old one."
After discussing the recent rioting in England, she ends with a paragraph drawing connections through history, mentioning looting in London after the fire of 1666 and during the Blitz. This final sentence does a very good job of wrapping up this paragraph and the article as a whole by making an insightful suggestion for the reader to think about.
"You can remain in the closet and keep your business secret, but you won't have much of a life in there. And when you realize that, [Closeted Undergrad], you'll come out. First to a friend or two, then to your family, then to everyone. And once you're all the way out, you'll find that the guys you've been focusing on—the "too out" guys—aren't the only gay guys out there. Just some of the best.
I know it's hard. But you can do it. All it takes is opening your mouth and saying the words." - Dan Savage
I really like these closing sentences because of the prose Savage uses: his use of the metaphorical closet works doubly in the sense that if you live in a literal closet you won't get out much. This is one of Savage's more kindly responses, which is something I can appreciate because of the subject matter - Savage genuinely reassures the asker.
I think it's very interesting that Savage refers to the "too out" guys the asker mentioned as "the best" of the homosexual community on campus - I think this shows his bias, as he, as a notable gay celebrity of sorts, fits this categorization.
"America went through a similar values restoration in the 1820s. Then, too, people sensed that the country had grown soft and decadent. Then, too, Americans rebalanced. They did it quietly and away from the cameras."
This article closes with quiet optimism about the future of the American economy. Brooks writes about how the values people held in the recent decade or so are changing, and this change will help to get the country on the right track. This end is effective because Brooks talks about how it isn't the extreme activists, such as the occupy wall street people, that will cause change, but the quiet shifting of American values, which is a present theme throughout the article.
Alternatively, our ex-sportscaster hockey mom may have been unconsciously recalling another, non-pizza Herb Cain (1913-1982), a “professional ice hockey left winger” (says Wikipedia) who played thirteen seasons in the N.H.L. during the nineteen-thirties and forties.
And they say she hates left wingers!
This is the conclusion to Hendrick's article about how Sarah Palin misidentified Republican canidate Herman Cain. Henrick points this out in his conclusion with a very clever play on words that ties in Sarah Palins past job as a sportscaster, while poking fun at her self described public persona as an ultra conservative right wing Republican. Hendricks use of humor to report very series matters has made this journalist works particularly appealing to me.
"In one holdup he used a cane." - Henry K. Lee, SF Chronicle
This closing line is so sudden and odd that I enjoyed the humor of it. Technically speaking, this isn't a great way to wrap up even an objective article, but somehow it manages to make Lee's writing stand out again from the more finely polished, vocal writing of other chronicle workers. Just ending on this fact makes the article about a senior citizen robber even more intriguing (at least for me) to read.
"The corpus has vanished from the most corporeal of our rituals — and we are left standing with our hands outstretched and taut but with no counterweight to bear, like the man on the riverbank holding air." -Siddhartha Mukherjee
This last line is poignant, drawing upon the hauntingly vibrant image of a single man mourning during a mass cremation in Varanasi, India, written about at length earlier in the essay. The meat of Mukherjee's essay juxtaposes the deeply connected Indian rituals with a "clinical, almost forensic, ethereality." The closing reconnects the two very different approaches with a common sentiment, and manages to find the beauty in what seems to be a very unbeautiful ceremony.
"I watched her kick over cymbals and writhe around all while her hands sizzled and smoked in the rain like the talons of a burning phoenix. I knew it then for certain: Taylor Swift was the one. Taylor Swift would save rock and roll." - Soren Bowie
This is an excellent conclusion to an article mocking Taylor Swift's musical talent. Like the rest of the article, these line makes good use of hyperboles and dramatic statements that are not meant to be taken seriously. Overall, this is ending is very successful, as it ties everything together and never loses steam.
"This story, too, is likely to get more unpleasent as time goes on. The year 2012 promises to be very ugly indeed."
I really appreciate this closing sentence because Carrol reminds the reader that the horrible story he has just told is not unique. Of course what happened to the girl and her family is horrible but he steps back to show that America is dealing with the problem of sexual harassment and not only certain people. He focused on a detailed story and then stepped back to show its importance in the world, well done Carrol.
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