Article Critique 12/1

The following is a critique of the December 11^th “New York Times” article “Feminist Pitch for a Democrat Named Obama,” which is accessible via the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/us/politics/02women.html?hp

I find this article’s title to be unnecessarily long. The words “A Democrat Named” add nothing to the title’s meaning- they’re dead weight.

I find that the article’s lede adequately conveys the heart of the story- it provides the reader with the five “w’s” in a loose sentence structure that gets the information across without overwhelming the reader.

The paragraph structure loops in on itself and creates a sense of repetition. The piece alternates between a description of how Mr. Obama is an enticing candidate to feminist political circles and how some feminist political circles are epistemologically torn over the upcoming presidential election. Each paragraph provides more general information on the themes, but no sense of chronological progression or thematic focus. The piece presents facts, but it doesn’t give the reader incentive to read the entire article.

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