Alan Bells six stages of an article analysis

1. ABSTRACT - summarizes the central action + the main point; - answers: > What is this about? > Why is this story being told? - headlines = abstracts of the abstract.

Analyzed article : 5 dead in California shooting

KEY POINTS: > What is the story about? Answer: Police : 5 dead in California shooting, including gunman; > Why is this story being told? Answer: to keep the audience informed about the incidents.

2. ORIENTATION KEY POINTS: - sets the scene : who, when, where + the initial situation > Who? Answer: a gunman; or activity of the story; > When? - datelines and deixis; Answer: 7th June, 2013; - familiarization of unfamiliar places/time frames. > Where? Answer: Santa Monica, California > Initial situation: Six people were killed in a shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California. 3. COMPLICATING ACTION KEY POINTS: - often not in chronological order; > What happened then? - answers: Answer: > What happened then? - the police and firefighters searched the sprawling campus of - completely at odds with linear narration. Santa Monica College for other possible victims or shooters; - by early evening, authorities declared campus clear; - the gunman has not been identified by authorities; - Seabrooks did not identify the person in custody; NEWS ORDER: - six people were killed; - the gunman was also killed; - a person of interest in custody; - the police is not convinced that the suspect acted independently; - police and firefighters searched the college for possible victims or shooters; - authorities declared the campus clear;

4. EVALUATION - significance/so what?; - to focus the events; - to justify claiming the audiences attention; - lead paragraph = nucleus of evaluation; it summarizes the action. KEY POINTS: 5. RESOLUTION - answers: - the gunman was eventually shot;

- the gunman was not identified; - they described the gunman; - the authorities did not reveal the name of the person in custody; - president Barack Obama was there for a fundraiser, but his schedule was not affected by the shootings or police followup. NARRATIVE ORDER: - at least three people were wounded in a residential neighborhood near the college; - a witness saw the gunman firing at a neighboring house; - she saw the gunman carjack a vehicle; - the gunman wounded the female motorist in the shoulder; - inside the house, firefighters found 2 bodies; - possible connections between the gunman and the 2 people; - the others killed = targeted randomly; - the gunman targeted a bus in Santa Monica : 2 passengers = injured; - then, he opened fire on cars; - the gunman tried to evade; - he ran on to the campus; - he exchanged gunfire with police; - he shot towards a student on the parking lot; - a bizarre description of the gunman; - at the campus library, he shot a woman; - students hid in the study room; - the police surrounded the gunman. The action ended Friday with the gunman clad in tactical gear dead in a college library and a person of interest in custody.

> What finally happened? - a person of interest was taken into custody by the police. - no clear-cut results (usually). - does not appear in the article. 6. CODA - summary, return to the floor (optional); - and that was that - wraps up the action; - returns the conversation from the time of the narrative to the present. CONCLUSION: - the article that I have chosen for analysis appeared in the CNN International, on 8th June, 2013 and was written by Chelsea J. Carter, Miguel Marquez and Phil Gast; - it underlines once more the fact that people nowadays are beginning to be more and more out of control and, because of this madness, a lot of innocents suffer; - after analyzing the article, I managed to identify five from the six elements that Alan Bell uses when he analyses newspaper articles: > ABSTRACT > ORIENTATION > COMPLICATING ACTION > EVALUATION > RESOLUTION - in my opinion, the present article it is a well-done one, taking into account the fact that it develops on a structure easy to follow by the audience and the information gathered attracts the readers attention.

Assignment 2 : Find an article in a British or American newspaper that is related to a conflict (war, strike, etc). Decide which of Bells six stages are covered by the article (abstract, orientation, complicating action, evaluation, resolution and coda) and illustrate your assertions with parts of the article. Raluca Batori, CDSAM, anul I