Ed Zepp in Madeleine Blais' Pulitzer Prize winning article, "Zepp's Last Stand" is a create person to write an article about. He is quirky, distinct and determined to fix the problem he boarded a train for. Blais wrote with a profluence that gave the article a feel of fiction instead of an informative piece. I liked the lines of dialogue she chose to include because it really gave me a sense for what kind of person Zepp was. And since this is a profile or a portrait, well that is the whole point.
The subject matter did not interest me, but I can see why we read this for class. It gave me more of a perception on how to write a profile, using dialogue, character traits and information to fill in the blanks and create a lasting article. I think it would be very interesting to follow someone on a journey, taking notes on their comments, thoughts and actions and then combining it all together like this.
I agree with everything you are saying. I thought that it was boring and uninteresting but I too understand why this piece was chosen for class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I also thought Zepp was a little dry and boring as a character but I see how the writing style pertains to us as writers in this course. The overall concept was to see the profile style and see Zepp as a person. I do believe this reading and writing style gave a good description of who Zepp was and what he looked like, even though he as a person was boring.
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