Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Nov. 28 — Emergency landings

Mayday! Jour494 is circling for a landing. And the pilot is losing consciousness. And the wing is on fire. No, wait, both wings are on fire! Which is to say that some people are still trying to find a story to write for their final assignment. The only good news is that there are no motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane.

I can’t look. Tell me what happens. All I know is: WE ARE CRASHING.

What else happened in Wednesday’s class? We talked about three of my own scene-like narrative Style stories of yore — each of them less than perfect, but all of them finished under one set of trying circumstances or another. There are links to them in the Nov. 26 recap. It probably wasn’t the most exciting conversation we’ve ever had, but at least I got some interesting feedback and maybe some of my reporting tips sunk in.

What’s happening on Monday, Dec. 3? It’s the penultimate class. We’ll be doing a group feedback/critique on the reviews that students wrote this semester. Neil, Dustin and Cody will critique the work of our three TV recappers. Heather, Levi and Caitlyn will critique three of their classmates’ movie reviews of “Lincoln” (plus one “Red Dawn”); Erik, Candace, Allison and Donelle have more movie reviews to critique; Ashley, Patrick, Tom and Carli are critiquing the album reviews; and Brooks, Eben and Billie have the “miscellaneous” category, including reviews of a video game, two books, an art exhibit and the Pearl Jam concert.

What makes a brilliant review? What should it have? Journey back to the Sept. 12 class recap and revisit Chris Klimek’s handy guidelines.

And everybody just hold on and breathe normally into the masks.

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