Details of Structure: Topic and Theme

In class, we discussed how good feature stories between with a topic,(what the story is about) but branch out to contain a theme (what the story is really about). In "When Animals Attack," Bruce Grierson tells the tale of a family's fight against a beaver population that causes them turmoil while threatening to flood their home. That's the story's topic, but it seems to me that the theme of this story is much broader. What do you see as its theme? What examples can you find of points in the story where Grierson uses the technique we called grounding to reinforce the story's topic and theme?

Building the Beast: Approaches to Structure

When approaching a feature story, says Paul Benedetti in his chapter on structure, the key is to "strike a balance between narrative and exposition." He goes on to say that "too much narrative and you won't fully explain the issues; too much exposition and your article will read like a government report." In the "Sixty-Storey Crisis," a narrative on engineers trying to repair a hole in the Bennett Dam, do you believe the writer, Anne Mullens, achieved that balance? If so, what pointers can you gain from her story that might help you achieve a similar balance in your own writing? If not, in what specific ways do you believe she could have improved her story's structure to achieve a better balance between the two?

Telling the Story of a Culture

In "Living on Lobster Time," Philip Preville explores the subject of lobster fishing on a small island in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He immerses himself in the culture of the people who live there, not an easy thing, given that so many of them are suspicious of outsiders. We've talked about gaining access as one of the major challenges to immersion storytelling. In this specific instance, the writer really had to penetrate the local community in order to get at the "truth" of what drives them to "call this place home."

Do you think he was successful? If so, what specific elements of the story suggest that he focussed his efforts on answering why these people stay in a place with few ameneties and a steadily decreasing population? Was immersion the best way to get this story or the only way?