Yissel's Nutgraf Story in New York Times

"Is It weird Enough Yet?" from the New York Times

I liked the following story by Thomas L. Friedman title "Is It Weird Enough Yet?" because Friedman does an excellent job of capturing my attention with a powerful first line:

Nutgraf -
Every time I listen to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota talk about how climate change is some fraud perpetrated by scientists trying to gin up money for research, I'm always reminded of one of my favorite movie lines that Jack Nicholson delivers to his needy neighbor who knocks on his door in the film "As Good As It Gets." "Where do they teach you to talk like this? asks Nicholson. "Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here."

Thanks Mr. Perry and Mrs. Bachmann, but we really are all stocked up on crazy right now. I mean, here is the Texas governor rejecting the science of climate change while his own state is on fire - after the worst droughts on record have propelled wildfires to devour an area the size of Connecticut. As a statement by the Texas Forest Service said last weed: "No one on the face of the this earth has ever fought fires in these extreme conditions."

In a humorous and somewhat offense manner he is able to clearly state where he stands regarding Perry and Bachmann’s recent response to climate changes. Friedman uses a few lines from the popular 1997 movie “As Good As It Gets,” to emphasize how outrageous and weird he thinks Perry and Bachmann’s comments are regarding “the science of climate change.” Then he clarifies and states exactly what he is about to tell you in the second paragraph.

Since this is an OP-ED, I would most likely have not have been interested in reading someone else’s opinion about climate changes and green job creation but Fieldman made me curious enough to read the story to the end.

Natalie's Nutgraf from the GLOBE

From The Boston Globe (online):

A 13-year-old girl sought criminal charges v. Hewitt in '81

Nutgraf:

"The 13-year-old girl received a love letter that ended with an urgent instruction: 'Destroy this and the last [letter] NOW. I love you, BOB.’

The recipient was Twiggy Tolken, a seventh-grade tennis prodigy in suburban Johannesburg, South Africa. The author, Tolken said, was her 40-year-old coach, Bob Hewitt, one of the greatest doubles players in tennis history.

Tolken, who has given the Globe copies of the letters, is one of six women from the United States and South Africa this month to publicly accuse Hewitt, a 1992 inductee in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, of sexually abusing or harassing them as their coach when they were underage. Tolken said Hewitt became sexually involved with her when she was 12 and wrote the letters in 1981, soon after she turned 13."

Why does this nutgraf work?

The lede is sensationalist and immediately grabs your attention. It capitalizes on the age of the girl and the self-conscious perversity of the love letter with the quote.

The second paragraph gives us all the information we need to know about Who is involved: Twiggy and Bob--highlighting the age difference between the two. We also learn how the 13-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man knew each other and the story starts to unfold. In addition, Bob Hewitt is a tennis star, which is another big attention grabber.

This paragraph really seals the deal--I'm going to keep reading! We find out that Hewitt is not only facing accusations from Twiggy but also from five other women in the U.S. and South Africa. So, he has a history. Now, the Lolita(s) story is in full swing...