By Noah Jacobson, Amiya Zissler & Jenna Spencer
Focus
Midland HS
1st Place Division 2, News Writing
Alternative Story Form
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Should be a story told in a unique, alternative way
- This is not a traditional story as in inverted pyramid, news, anecdotal, analysis or feature narrative
- Story is told with quick facts—it’s a quick read that provides readers with a unique approach to a story
- While the read is quick, ASF should provide reader with complete information. Readers should not be left asking questions
- Organization is such that story is easy to follow and logical, even though it’s in an alternative way
- ASF is visually engrossing, bringing readers in through strong use of typography and other types of visuals
- Should not be packaged with another story or part of another story.
- Stands totally alone as a storytelling device
- Submission only considered if submitted with entire page on which it was featured
Toy Story 3 came out in theaters. It followed Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the toys as they said farewell to Andy. The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, even though we all knew it never topped the first. “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele was first released. The song is from her second album titled 2, which she wrote the song after breaking up with her boyfriend. It’s a great song to jam to after a heartbreak. The first episode of Game of Thrones aired. The show, which is based off a book series written by George R. R. Martin, ran its final season this year. Despite the show’s good start and long run, the last season didn’t live up to expectations. Steve Jobs the cofounder of Apple, died age 56 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The world will never forget his amazing contributions to technology and design. The first Hunger Games movie was released in theaters. The popular movie based off a book details a girl’s life in an arena where she has to fight for survival. The film generated $214.3 million worldwide for its opening. The trend of side braids has thankfully died down after the series’ ending, but the trend of dystopian teen fiction is still going strong. Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the Caribbean, Northeast US, and Canada, overall, resulting in at least 147 deaths. Hurricane Sandy was devastating to everyone who was affected by it. The app Vine was launched, allowing users to share 6-second, looping video clips. It shut down five years later and renamed Vine Camera. Many countless hours were wasted watching videos. Two bombs went off within 12 seconds of each other at the 117th Boston Marathon, killing three people, and injuring at least 264. The bombs were placed close to the finish line on Boylston Street. This is one of the first events our generation was old enough to fully comprehend, and it was disheartening to hear about. Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while flying from Kuala. There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. This created a new sense of fear around flying in the weeks to follow. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist won the Grammy for Best Rap Album beating Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Kanye West, and Jay Z, even the the others went on to have a longer-lasting career. A picture of a dress that was posted on Tumblr broke the internet. It sparked an enormous debate about whether the dress was blue and black or white and gold. The image surfaced on multiple social media platforms, and was later revealed that the actual colors of the dress were blue and black. We all know it was white and gold, though. The musical Hamilton opened on Broadway. The musical won 11 Tony awards. The show was revolutionary for Broadway because of its rap style soundtrack and multiethnic portrayal of the Founding Fathers. Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States as the Republican candidate, and won 306 of the 538 electoral votes. Now with one year left in his presidency and impeachment trials going on, we hope that it’s only a one term presidency. The Paris Agreement covering climate change was signed in New York, binding 195 nations to increase the global average temperature to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. This step was vital in investing in the future of our planet. At the 89th Oscars, La La Land was announced as the winner of Best Picture. As they were making their acceptance speech, it was announced that Moonlight had actually won the award. While we’re empathaward was taken out of La La Land’s hand, we agree that Moonlight is a better film. A shooter opened fire from a window at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shots were fired into a crowd at The Route 91 Harvest music festival, killing 58 people and wounding at least 850. Even after this deadly shooting, government still refuses to enact gun control laws. “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille was released. The song got its own music video as well as many remixes and covers. While we won’t admit it out loud, we did cry during the music video. California becomes largest US state to legalize cannabis for recreational use after Colorado and Washington State first legalized it in 2012. What once seemed improbable now is becoming the norm. “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille was released. The song got its own music video as well as many remixes and covers. While we won’t admit it out loud, we did cry during the music video. Amazon becomes the world’s most valuable listed company for the first time after overtaking Microsoft, which was worth $797 billion. CEO Jeff Bezos has more money than any human should be allowed to have. Joaquin Phoenix plays his lead role in The Joker, an American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Todd Phillips. The story of a mental awakening made the comic book movie more than just another good guy-bad guy film.