Evaluation of New York Times Stories

I examined both the business and the politics sections of the New York Times. There were a lot of interesting headlines from both pages; however, two stories that stood out to me were “Saudi Arabia Keeps Pumping Oil, Despite Financial and Political Risks” from the business sections and “Bernie Sanders at a Crossroads: Attack Hilary Clinton or Stay Positive?”

Haxorjoe. "The New York Times headquarters 620 Eighth Avenue" 12/23/07 via wikipedia. Creative Commons License

Analysis of “Saudi Arabia Keep Pumping Oil, Despite Financial and Political Risks”:

1.   Does there seem to be a "main character" or "protagonist" to the story? If so, who is it and how are they are the "center" of the story? If not, are there any important or central characters in the story at all? What role do they play?

Reporter Stanley Reed centers this article around Saudi Arabia and their questionable decision to continuously pump oil despite the risks associated with this decision.  Reed discusses Saudi Arabia’s decision and asserts that although this decision is potentially hazardous oil continues to be their major export and a central part to the success of Saudi economy. 

2.   Where do the specific events in the story take place? Is there a specific setting? Describe the settings for the stories and how they influence the plot and characters.

The specific setting would be Saudi Arabia.  Oil is Saudi Arabia’s major export and their economy depends on the pumping and selling of it.  Because oil problems are occurring in a setting that is dependent on oil, this article becomes more interesting to viewers.  These potential oils problems influence all Saudi citizens, the Saudi government, and countries that rely heavily on the exportation of oil from this country.

3.   Is there any kind of disagreement or debate happening in the story? If so, who is participating, why are people debating and what seems to be at stake for the different characters in the story?

Somewhat.  The debate between whether or not Saudi Arabia is making the right decision.  Reed informs the reader about why the Saudi government is making the decision to pumping oil and how to good help or hurt them in the future.

Analysis of “Bernie Sanders at a Crossroads: Attack Hilary Clinton or Stay Positive?”

1.   Does there seem to be a "main character" or "protagonist" to the story? If so, who is it and how are they are the "center" of the story? If not, are there any important or central characters in the story at all? What role do they play?

Bernie Sanders is the main character in this story.  Sanders has established running a clean campaign so far by steering clear of negative campaigning against Hilary Clinton.  The story centers around whether Bernie will stick with a clean campaign or stray from this and use Hilary’s attachment to Wall Street to hurt her campaign.

2.   Where do the specific events in the story take place? Is there a specific setting? Describe the settings for the stories and how they influence the plot and characters.

In this article, the setting would be Iowa.  Sanders is contemplating changing his campaign strategy in order to win Iowa. Clinton is currently ahead in polling for the Iowa caucuses so Sanders and his team are debating changing their strategies in order to win over Iowa.

3.   Is there any kind of disagreement or debate happening in the story? If so, who is participating, why are people debating and what seems to be at stake for the different characters in the story?

Yes.  Sanders and his team are debating whether or not to switch their strategies from a clean campaign to a campaign that attacks Sander’s opposition.  Switching to a more negative campaign could help Sander’s win the Iowa caucus, but by doing this, Sanders will abandon his more moral campaign.  However, if Sanders sticks with the clean campaign he has been running, he could possibly lose.