Spirited Away in Kyoto

ARTICLE

I thought this article was great especially because of its brevity.  I feel as if it provided a beautiful snapshot of Kyoto that was descriptive in what it wanted to show but did not go into too much detail, leaving the reader wanting to know more about the place.  I liked the beginning where she said the confusing city made her feel like weeping, which I think signals to her stress and confusion as well as foreshadowing the intense connection she then starts to feel with the place.

I liked her snapshot descriptions of Kyoto that she said felt like a dream in her jet-lagged state.  It definitely gave me that feeling as I read it.

I do think that I would have appreciated  more about why Japan was her secret home because that idea was very quickly introduced and then the piece was over. More about Japan would be interesting, too, but that would change the piece a lot and I did so enjoy how short and precise it was.

Veracruz Variety

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Cuisine seems to be a reoccurring theme in some of the pieces we workshop in this class, so I tried to find some examples of them on National Geographic, and this is what I came up with.

First off, let’s talk about diction, because this author’s word choice is particularly spot on, visible even from the opening. Word pairs like “sultry climate” and the inclusion of Spanish phrases help tie the piece together. This piece also does a good job of marrying history and culture/cuisine. This sentence: “Since its founding by the conquistador, Hernán Cortés, in 1519, Veracruz has been Mexico’s main eastern port and a major gastronomic crossroads” is a perfect example of how to get slightly-obvious history across without being redundant or irrelevant. Some “foodie facts” add to this food-tinged history: “The local Totonac people were the first to cure vanilla beans for culinary use.”

The simple way in which the author describes lists of food is also effective, rather than going into detail on the thickness of the salsa, etc, the author is more interested in translating Mexican/Spanish dishes to English equivalents: “Sample tamales wrapped in banana leaves, fried tortitas made from plantain dough filled with black beans, or thick corn tortillas, called picaditas” or “toro — a milkshake laced with the local aguardiente, a potent sugarcane liquor.

Upon first reading, I found the textual voice a bit disturbed by the introduction of bullet points, but I see the use. Describing these fruits in windy paragraphs would make them less interesting and less direct. Even the descriptions of these “exotic” fruits resonates well with my tastebuds: “pink or orange flesh of the mamey has a sweet pumpkin-like flavor. Try it fresh, with a little lime juice squeezed over it.”

The last two paragraphs register as irrelevant to me...I get the impression that they had to be included, regardless of relevance to the article.

Who’s the Owner of the Döner Kebab?

Who’s the Owner of the Döner Kebab?

I started my search for a travel article by looking for one about Mannheim, Germany. Mannheim is the city I've spent the most travel time at, naturally, visiting, but I haven't really sat down and written a travel piece about it. After scoring the interwebs, it became obvious that I should write a travel piece about it because there isn't anything good out there. Anyways, by the end of the search, I was hungry. For this. And this article came up. 

First off, if you haven't tried a Döner and have an inclination to eat meat (or even not, Lisa gets one with seasoned cheese and tofu) you must. 

Anyways, this article. Yeah. 

At first, I was thinking this was going to be a travel article about Berlin, but it quickly transforms into an article about the Turkish population. This is an interesting topic, especially since she was traveling from Instanbul, Turkey. The German Turks are a significant minority group and including the conversation with Stephen where he says he wants to learn to "communicate with them." 

Whereas this is an interesting premise and she has a lot to say about  German-Turkish history, it's lacking certain aspects:

• She talked about the train rides and how awful they were, which I felt like she could've left out and skipped to meeting people on the trains. It distracted from the story. 
• I also feel like she could've put more location into the piece. Expanding more about Berlin or at least her travels in Instanbul could've added the imagery needed. 
• She needed to blend the history and the food a bit more (the imagery could help). 
• The paragraphs throughout the piece come off as a little disconnected.

Eat it up, guys. 

In Market Heaven in Mexico

In Market Heaven in Mexico

I really liked how the author of this article brought you into the scene with her descriptions. She opens with an array of descriptions that introduces the area and the sights around her before letting the reader in on the location, so they have a full sense of the market without predetermined judgements. She uses excellent verbs to describe the feeling one gets during sensory overload in a foreign place - "The aroma of charring meat besieged our noses," for instance - and these help the piece move along at a good pace without getting bogged down in overly lengthy strings of adjectives.

She also had a very snappy way of arranging sentences. A really fun piece of humor (and a linguistically interesting sentence) was the part where she was describing the nonsensical layout of the market - "Need a new tap fitting? Head past the cellphones, turn left at the dusters, right at the kid’s toys and they’re beside the cosmetics." This added a nice lightness to the piece, and made the reader feel as if they were meandering around the market, getting lost with the author. The phrases the author uses are quick and punchy, and make the piece seem young and fresh. She includes a barrage of images, but in this context, they work to add to her point about the apparent randomness of the market.

I think the author missed an opportunity to expand upon the history of the market. As it stands, it is a piece about the impression it made upon her that day, but it would seem that it is a long-standing tradition in Mexico. Whether it be in the beginning after she introduces the market, or during the parts about traditional crafts or food, she had a lot of chances to delve deeper into the past to place one of the markets or their wares into a historical context. I also thought the ending seemed a bit rushed and random.