Feature Articles

“The Marrying Kind”
Lisa Belkin
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/magazine/28FOB-WWLN-t.html

Lisa Belkin is leaving Oscar Wilde with the question of who is an Ideal Husband and taking on her own inquiry about what makes a good wife. She begins her feature article by describing a personal narrative relating to her mother. Her mother, a several year widow, is moving in with her boyfriend, but refuses to marry him. She relates this antidote to the fact that there is a fast growing rate of cohabiting couples and many of these couples are the ones who previously ridiculed the idea during their youth.

Belkin continues her article by presenting justifications as why many senior citizens decide to move in with their boyfriend or girlfriend without marrying him or her: Social Security may be in jeopardy, life savings may go to medical bills, or bad memories of the previous marriage.

There is a new definition of what marriage is to these couples and the word “wife” may never have the same connotation as it did when women stayed at home baking apple pies and vacuuming while wearing pearls. I enjoyed that Belkin added a survey of British customers in a grocery chain. This survey proved that only a small percentage of contemporary women can do stereotypical housewife activities such as make their own bread or gravy from scratch. It gave a quantitative proof about her assertion wives are not the same as they used to be.

Belkin also did some research. The terms “bride” and “groom” are being replaced by “spouse” on marriage licenses since there has been legalization of same sex marriages in some states.

My favorite part of her article was the conclusion. She retouched on the story about her mother, and completed by saying that her mother’s boyfriend does all the cooking. It was a nice touch of humor that stayed within the tone of the piece—which was very personable.


“A Nope for Pope”
Maureen Dowd
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28dowd.html

Mareen Dowd begins her article by a rhymed couplet: “Yup, we need a Nope. A nun who is pope.” This humorous assertion is then followed by unnerving details that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been ignoring warnings that Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy has molested over 200 deaf boys.

She interviews The Times’s Laurie Goodstein who tells her that all victims gave similar stories of the priest pulling down their pants and touching them. One victim, Arthur Budzinski, was first molested twenty years ago, but even though there were complaints the priest was never defrocked.

I think it is important Dowd includes the interview in her article, or it may seem she is just another extremist against the church not allowing priest to marry. Her article could seem cliché, but the interview made it more distressing because the reader sees another point of view who gives details about the allegations.

Dowd keeps her article interesting and witty but incorporating religious diction such as “stained glass windows” and “flock.” However, she uses them in a mocking manner which is in conjunction with her opinion that the Catholic Church is hypocritical and looks the other way when concerning allegations of these sorts.

In her conclusion, Dowd mentions that nuns have “cleaned up messes from priests” but her proof is nonexistent. Since she makes the claim that the pope should be a nope, I would have liked to hear her make a claim for why a nun should be pope. Instead, she just informs the reader about what priests and cardinals have done wrong.


This May Burn a Little
Eric Hansen
http://outside.away.com/outside/culture/200804/mexico-tequila-trail-1.html

Eric Hansen started his article by formulating an adventure-like scenario where me, the reader, could come along with him and his friend Tim on the Tequila Trail around Central Mexico. This four day trip was consisted of tasting all sorts of tequila and meeting interesting locals, visitors, and tour guides.

Including the dialogue between him and other people he met along the trail was a lot of fun to read because I could get a portrayal of all the quirks the people had. For example, he met several local girls who let him try what they considered to be the best tequila. However, they said it was a secret tequila, and no one knew who made it. Yet, the girls kept changing their story and at one moment no one made, the next drug runners made it, and finally they pointed across the hills, saying it was made over there. Hansen was intrigued by their story as well as the taste of the tequila and went on a mission to see who made this “crazy good” tequila.

Hasen was very detailed in explaining the ingredients of what goes into the tequila. He also added the legend about how primitive tequila was made and how tequila is more accessible today and can range from $30 to $300.

Hasen has this very charming and friendly voice throughout the article. Even though he was talking about tequila and how some days he had a hangover, he never came across as a frat boy or obnoxious which was refreshing. Instead, he focused on describing the beautiful scenery of Mexico and the exotic flavors in the different types of tequila.