Week 3

Word of the Week

I found the word "catechism" when I was reading an article from the Seattle Times about the Sundance Film Festival.  The comedy "The Catechism Cataclysm" was featured at the festival.  Yourdictionary.com defines catechism as a handbook of questions and answers for teaching the principles of a religion, any similar handbook for teaching the fundamentals of a subject or a formal series of questions.


Catch of the Week

It's a little ironic that I found an error in a story about Weimer Hall.  In "Weimer Hall to get $4.4 million newsroom addition,"  the last word in the nut graph is supposed to be construction, but it's spelled "contruction."  By the way, can I please express how disappointed I am that I won't be able to use this fancy new newsroom?


Headline Challenge

I have a problem with the headline "Obama will go down in history as the president who lost Egypt."  I don't like how American society has developed a habit of giving our presidents sole credit or blame for events that occur during their term.  For example, Clinton's presidency is  associated with a thriving economy even though he didn't necessarily directly cause them, and George W. Bush is blamed for the recession of 2008, even though it wasn't directly caused by him or his policies.  As Americans, we have a bad habit of pointing fingers, and this headline is evidence.  President Obama called for less animosity between political parties after the Arizona shooting, and placing blame isn't helping to the cause.  I would rename the headline "America's alliances in the Middle East crumble after revolts in Tunisia and Egypt."


Favorite Passage of the Week

This week, I was inspired by a single line in a Cosmopolitan article titled "Can a DNA Test Help You Find Your Soul Mate?"  It's about how research has shown that two genetic makeups that are the least alike are the most compatible because the resulting offspring will have the strongest possible immune system due to a complex genetic makeup.

"GenePartner.com is a straight-from-sci-fi site that analyzes couples' DNA compatibility.  Simply swab your suitor's cheek, send it to a lab in Switzerland (along with $99), and wait to hear if you're a match made in genetic heaven.  Why waste months wining and dining if your double helices just don't align?"

I love the last line so much because it reminded me about how important it is for writers to be well-versed in a variety of fields.  It's necessary in order to draw analogies and make useful comparisons.  This article was written for a women's interest magazine that seems to have a sex and fashion-driven tone, and it's full of scientific jargon.  Terminology is easy, all you have to do is look it up.  However, it's impossible to come up with a clever phrase on a dime unless you're already somewhat familiar with the subject matter.  I have a strong feeling that the writer already knew what a double helix is before she was assigned the story.