How do we get the truth?
Carl Bernstein says that time can help us get to the truth. He says we often rush through to get a story out and it would be more truthful if we took more time on our stories.
He also says not to just write for "shock" because sometimes when we do that, our facts become a form of misinformation.
I agree with Bernstein 100%. I also think there are a couple more ways to find the truth. One is when you are interviewing someone on a subject, perhaps talk to more than one person. You can compare stories and sometimes you will find one wasn't being 100% truthful. Also, it is smart to research the topic as much as you can before you talk to people. That way, if something doesn't sound complete, you can ask more questions then instead of going back to write your story and find that something just doesn't fit.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
3rd Analysis
Analyzing Articles with Murray’s Help
For people today, Hurricane Katrina is still fresh in their minds. It left little behind when it ripped through the states that line the Gulf of Mexico. The Times-Picayune won the Pulitzer Prize for its articles on this devastation.
In "Looters Leave Nothing Behind in Storm's Wake," writers, Mike Perlstein and Brian Thevenot, tell of all the looting that took place in the stores. They set the scene by describing people taking advantage of the situation by saying, "Inside the store, the scene alternated between celebration and frightening bedlam. A shirtless man straddled a broken jewelry case, yelling, "Free samples, free samples over here."" They could have just said that there was a man on a jewelry case yelling, but their adjectives and the quotations really add to the story and help us imagine it more clearly.
They end their story with the external dialogue, ""It must be legal," she said. "The police are here taking stuff, too."" This, I'm sure, is what everyone there was thinking. Perhaps, while you read the story, you thought the same way, so it was an excellent way to end it.
Like Murray says, third-person works best in narrative. Perlstein and Thevenot used third-person well when they said, "Officers claimed there was nothing they could do to contain the anarchy, saying their radio communications had broken down and they had no direction from commanders." In a sense, they had to use third-person because they were telling other people's stories.
The above quotation could also be seen as exposition in the story. They explain what the officers were going through at the time of the looting. This helps us understand why they did nothing to stop it.
Another article that helped The Times-Picayune win the Pulitzer Prize was "Swollen Feet Impede Diabetic's Evacuation" by Keith Spera. This story dealt with people’s struggle to find help after Hurricane Katrina.
When we are first introduced to 65 year-old Faye Taplin, we are given external dialogue when she tells Spera, "I'm tired," she said. "My feet have swollen up on me. I can't walk that far."We are given exposition when Spera says that “she clutched two plastic bags containing bedding, a little food and water and insulin to treat her diabetes.”
Your heart goes out to a stroke victim that was in a wheel chair when their sister, Clara Wallace says, "Nobody has a bathroom he can use." Again, Spera is using external dialogue to make you feel the story more. When you get words straight from the source it makes the story more real and helps you connect with the characters.
Speaking of character, this story has many. The story starts with the 93-year-old woman in the beginning whose husband died and was taken by a truck to Convention Center Boulevard and left there. Of course there is Faye Taplin and Clara Wallace and her brother.
At the end of the story, Spera goes back to the old woman who was left with her deceased husband. By telling us about them in the beginning of the story and then going back to them at the end and saying, “Eventually, guardsmen loaded her into a truck and hauled her off with other elderly evacuees,” Spera demonstrates the element of chronological order.
With dramatic action like, “Seated next to her husband's body on the neutral ground beneath the St. Joseph Street sign, Allie Harris munched on crackers, seemingly unaware of the tragedy unfolding around her,” we feel for this old woman who just lost her husband.
This story also had internal dialogue when he says, “As the afternoon wore on, hope faded, replaced by anger.” We are able to tell what the characters were feeling which really adds to the effect of the story.
He ends the story in an excellent way. "This is 2005," John Murray shouted, standing in the street near Mr. Harris' body. "It should not be like this for no catastrophe. This is pathetic." If this isn’t an example of great external dialogue, then I don’t know what is.
Both of these stories used Murray’s elements of narratives very effectively. By using internal dialogue, external dialogue, scene, character, exposition, and others, a writer can really make a reader connect to their story.
For people today, Hurricane Katrina is still fresh in their minds. It left little behind when it ripped through the states that line the Gulf of Mexico. The Times-Picayune won the Pulitzer Prize for its articles on this devastation.
In "Looters Leave Nothing Behind in Storm's Wake," writers, Mike Perlstein and Brian Thevenot, tell of all the looting that took place in the stores. They set the scene by describing people taking advantage of the situation by saying, "Inside the store, the scene alternated between celebration and frightening bedlam. A shirtless man straddled a broken jewelry case, yelling, "Free samples, free samples over here."" They could have just said that there was a man on a jewelry case yelling, but their adjectives and the quotations really add to the story and help us imagine it more clearly.
They end their story with the external dialogue, ""It must be legal," she said. "The police are here taking stuff, too."" This, I'm sure, is what everyone there was thinking. Perhaps, while you read the story, you thought the same way, so it was an excellent way to end it.
Like Murray says, third-person works best in narrative. Perlstein and Thevenot used third-person well when they said, "Officers claimed there was nothing they could do to contain the anarchy, saying their radio communications had broken down and they had no direction from commanders." In a sense, they had to use third-person because they were telling other people's stories.
The above quotation could also be seen as exposition in the story. They explain what the officers were going through at the time of the looting. This helps us understand why they did nothing to stop it.
Another article that helped The Times-Picayune win the Pulitzer Prize was "Swollen Feet Impede Diabetic's Evacuation" by Keith Spera. This story dealt with people’s struggle to find help after Hurricane Katrina.
When we are first introduced to 65 year-old Faye Taplin, we are given external dialogue when she tells Spera, "I'm tired," she said. "My feet have swollen up on me. I can't walk that far."We are given exposition when Spera says that “she clutched two plastic bags containing bedding, a little food and water and insulin to treat her diabetes.”
Your heart goes out to a stroke victim that was in a wheel chair when their sister, Clara Wallace says, "Nobody has a bathroom he can use." Again, Spera is using external dialogue to make you feel the story more. When you get words straight from the source it makes the story more real and helps you connect with the characters.
Speaking of character, this story has many. The story starts with the 93-year-old woman in the beginning whose husband died and was taken by a truck to Convention Center Boulevard and left there. Of course there is Faye Taplin and Clara Wallace and her brother.
At the end of the story, Spera goes back to the old woman who was left with her deceased husband. By telling us about them in the beginning of the story and then going back to them at the end and saying, “Eventually, guardsmen loaded her into a truck and hauled her off with other elderly evacuees,” Spera demonstrates the element of chronological order.
With dramatic action like, “Seated next to her husband's body on the neutral ground beneath the St. Joseph Street sign, Allie Harris munched on crackers, seemingly unaware of the tragedy unfolding around her,” we feel for this old woman who just lost her husband.
This story also had internal dialogue when he says, “As the afternoon wore on, hope faded, replaced by anger.” We are able to tell what the characters were feeling which really adds to the effect of the story.
He ends the story in an excellent way. "This is 2005," John Murray shouted, standing in the street near Mr. Harris' body. "It should not be like this for no catastrophe. This is pathetic." If this isn’t an example of great external dialogue, then I don’t know what is.
Both of these stories used Murray’s elements of narratives very effectively. By using internal dialogue, external dialogue, scene, character, exposition, and others, a writer can really make a reader connect to their story.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Pulitzer Analysis
The article i looked at was "I Saw It. Then I Saw Nothing." by Daniel Henninger.
When I first started reading the article i was some what put off by the writing style of Henninger. I was not a big fan at all of him using "I saw" five times in the opening paragraph. It reminded me of Jr. High writing.
"I saw the airliner at the instant it hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. A little later I saw the flames burst out of the south tower when the second airliner hit it. I saw people fall from the top of the World Trade Center. I saw the south tower fall down. A little later, I saw the north tower fall down."
He did do a much better job at describing the scene of the city. He told us of the World Financial Center buildings and said that they sat in the shadow of the WTC towers. I also enjoyed reading how he liked to come in on the bridge everyday and see the buildings and the Statue of Liberty.
Henninger used internal dialogue when he writes, "Quicker than these words can convey, my mind said: I think I just saw the wing of an airliner below the top of the Trade Center." It is obvious it was internal dialogue for the simple fact that he said his mind said it. When it comes to 9/11, it is interesting to know what people were thinking when they saw the planes crash into the WTC.
When I was reading this article, the paragraph that stood out the most was this one,
"For awhile, aside from the flames and smoke, it was oddly uneventful. Sometimes windows would fall off the building and float down; sometimes a piece of smoking debris would arc downward. Then people started jumping off."
I always thought that after the first plane hit, it was caos everywhere. But to hear that it was "uneventful" surprised me. But as soon as he said "Then people started jumping off," you know the real truama of it all was beginning. I could really picture this paragraph when i read it. It set the scene with description of what was falling of the building at first, and then talking about the people jumping really added to it. This paragraph could also go under the "Dramatic Action" category in Notes on Narratives b/c it caused me to think and feel.
In this paragraph, "Now we were all running away, hard, because the smoke, about 40 stories high, was racing outward, toward us and all of lower Manhattan. My editorial-page colleague Jason Riley told me later that he got caught in the first collapse's fallout. He couldn't run faster than the smoke and crawled under a van to avoid the debris. But he started choking and his eyes were burning and the air had turned black. He said he thought the van would move and kill him. He banged on the van's window and they let him in. Then they opened the door to let two other guys in, and the van started filling with floating debris and smoke. He got out and cops were telling people to "make for the water." Jason headed toward the Brooklyn Bridge, and made it across."
I really liked the way he wrote Chronologically. It was as if i was watching a movie playing in my mind when i read it. It all moved a long very smoothly.This paragraph was also the only sign of external dialogue, but it worked for this article that there wasn't much external dialogue.
Over all, I'm glad i continued reading this article, even though i did not like how it was started.
When I first started reading the article i was some what put off by the writing style of Henninger. I was not a big fan at all of him using "I saw" five times in the opening paragraph. It reminded me of Jr. High writing.
"I saw the airliner at the instant it hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. A little later I saw the flames burst out of the south tower when the second airliner hit it. I saw people fall from the top of the World Trade Center. I saw the south tower fall down. A little later, I saw the north tower fall down."
He did do a much better job at describing the scene of the city. He told us of the World Financial Center buildings and said that they sat in the shadow of the WTC towers. I also enjoyed reading how he liked to come in on the bridge everyday and see the buildings and the Statue of Liberty.
Henninger used internal dialogue when he writes, "Quicker than these words can convey, my mind said: I think I just saw the wing of an airliner below the top of the Trade Center." It is obvious it was internal dialogue for the simple fact that he said his mind said it. When it comes to 9/11, it is interesting to know what people were thinking when they saw the planes crash into the WTC.
When I was reading this article, the paragraph that stood out the most was this one,
"For awhile, aside from the flames and smoke, it was oddly uneventful. Sometimes windows would fall off the building and float down; sometimes a piece of smoking debris would arc downward. Then people started jumping off."
I always thought that after the first plane hit, it was caos everywhere. But to hear that it was "uneventful" surprised me. But as soon as he said "Then people started jumping off," you know the real truama of it all was beginning. I could really picture this paragraph when i read it. It set the scene with description of what was falling of the building at first, and then talking about the people jumping really added to it. This paragraph could also go under the "Dramatic Action" category in Notes on Narratives b/c it caused me to think and feel.
In this paragraph, "Now we were all running away, hard, because the smoke, about 40 stories high, was racing outward, toward us and all of lower Manhattan. My editorial-page colleague Jason Riley told me later that he got caught in the first collapse's fallout. He couldn't run faster than the smoke and crawled under a van to avoid the debris. But he started choking and his eyes were burning and the air had turned black. He said he thought the van would move and kill him. He banged on the van's window and they let him in. Then they opened the door to let two other guys in, and the van started filling with floating debris and smoke. He got out and cops were telling people to "make for the water." Jason headed toward the Brooklyn Bridge, and made it across."
I really liked the way he wrote Chronologically. It was as if i was watching a movie playing in my mind when i read it. It all moved a long very smoothly.This paragraph was also the only sign of external dialogue, but it worked for this article that there wasn't much external dialogue.
Over all, I'm glad i continued reading this article, even though i did not like how it was started.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Reporter's Way Of Thinking
The first passage I picked deals with writing not for the general people, but for the people you are writing about...
Simon is an authenticity freak. He said, “I’m the kind of person who, when I’m writing, cares above all about whether the people I’m writing about will recognize themselves. I’m not thinking about the general reader. My greatest fear is that the people in the world I’m writing about will read it and say, ‘Nah, there’s nothing there.’ ”
I never thought about it before like this. It does seem important to write for who you are writing about. If you write incorrectly about a person, or do not portray them correctly, you can make them look like something they are not. Yes, you can write a follow up story and set it straight, but not everyone will read it that read the first story. It may also not change their mind even if they do read it.
FINISH
Simon is an authenticity freak. He said, “I’m the kind of person who, when I’m writing, cares above all about whether the people I’m writing about will recognize themselves. I’m not thinking about the general reader. My greatest fear is that the people in the world I’m writing about will read it and say, ‘Nah, there’s nothing there.’ ”
I never thought about it before like this. It does seem important to write for who you are writing about. If you write incorrectly about a person, or do not portray them correctly, you can make them look like something they are not. Yes, you can write a follow up story and set it straight, but not everyone will read it that read the first story. It may also not change their mind even if they do read it.
FINISH
Friday, October 26, 2007
Steve Lopez and Murray's Narrative Techniques
I really enjoyed reading Steve Lopez's Strangers' paths cross, and a boy's life hangs in the balance. While he was telling the story, I felt like i was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen to the boy and if he would make it out alive.
Right away, Lopez starts to set the scene by saying...
"Ten-year-old Danny White, red-haired and freckled, was riding his skateboard while his mother walked a friend's dog.Ron Dobson was on the corner after a day of revisions on a screenplay, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun on his face, eyes closed and head tilted back.
Myra Crowe was on her way to a ballet class for one of her three kids, all of whom were in her Honda Pilot as she headed out of her town house driveway and onto Palisades Circle at the very moment Danny approached.Crowe never saw him."
I liked how he wrote it. It wasn't just told, he really painted a picture for us, and the last sentence in a way gives you chills because you know something bad is about to happen.
There isn't too much dialogue, but what is there is good.
"Lady, you were dragging a kid under your car," Dobson told her, and Crowe slumped to the ground in shock.
This part of the story is good b/c it doesn't just leave the quote by itself. You also get the woman's reaction to being told she was dragging the child.
Another technique that really works in this story is the 3rd person approach. Lopez had to use it b/c he wasn't there. It works well b/c there are many people in the story and we are able to read what they all heard/saw/felt.
Crowe heard faint screams while driving the car. A chill came over her, but she still had no idea a 10-year-old was clinging to life under the floorboards.
Right away, Lopez starts to set the scene by saying...
"Ten-year-old Danny White, red-haired and freckled, was riding his skateboard while his mother walked a friend's dog.Ron Dobson was on the corner after a day of revisions on a screenplay, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun on his face, eyes closed and head tilted back.
Myra Crowe was on her way to a ballet class for one of her three kids, all of whom were in her Honda Pilot as she headed out of her town house driveway and onto Palisades Circle at the very moment Danny approached.Crowe never saw him."
I liked how he wrote it. It wasn't just told, he really painted a picture for us, and the last sentence in a way gives you chills because you know something bad is about to happen.
There isn't too much dialogue, but what is there is good.
"Lady, you were dragging a kid under your car," Dobson told her, and Crowe slumped to the ground in shock.
This part of the story is good b/c it doesn't just leave the quote by itself. You also get the woman's reaction to being told she was dragging the child.
Another technique that really works in this story is the 3rd person approach. Lopez had to use it b/c he wasn't there. It works well b/c there are many people in the story and we are able to read what they all heard/saw/felt.
Crowe heard faint screams while driving the car. A chill came over her, but she still had no idea a 10-year-old was clinging to life under the floorboards.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Read this, you @#$%!
(1) Is he insulting his readers, or giving them a sly pat on the back? (2) What things about Morford's style of writing appeal to you, and what things turn you off? (3) How well suited would you guess his style is for readers in San Francisco? For online readers irrespective of location? (4) How would Morford's column fly in a conservative, Midwestern town like Springfield? With older readers? With people in your demographic? Could it be toned down without losing its appeal
Whe I first read the assiment, I expected to see all sorts of vulger language in Mark Morford's article, "Eat this, you fat, sad idiot." While I was reading it, I found it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
For me, I don't believe he is insulting his readers, unless you are a former frat guy. He is simply telling us how he feels about fast food in our country. It is very possible for people to take offense to his style of writing. Perhaps, readers in San Fransico or other parts of California will take it more lightly then if it was published here in Springfield. Honestly, I would be surprised to see this article in the SJR.
I like his way of writing. It was opinionated, but he was able to get his point across well. This is my opinion though. Others could sit down and read the article, and as soon as it got offensive, they would turn the page, never knowing what he really wanted to say.
He used a lot more sarcasm then he did bad language, which i think helps him not loose as many readers. An example of his sarcasm can be seen in the paragraph where he talks about how we don't have laws on fast food but we do on telemarketing,
"Hell, we did it with telemarketing. One little much-needed law and boom, a national Do-Not-Call registry, and it actually mostly works and now all those vile cretins who used to call you during dinner to sell you carpet cleaning services now simply spam your e-mail account until it staggers and collapses and shuts down your e-mail server. Yay!"
It's ashame there are a lot of people out there that won't read something if it goes against their way of thinking. I would read his work again, but then again, I'm not closed minded.
Whe I first read the assiment, I expected to see all sorts of vulger language in Mark Morford's article, "Eat this, you fat, sad idiot." While I was reading it, I found it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
For me, I don't believe he is insulting his readers, unless you are a former frat guy. He is simply telling us how he feels about fast food in our country. It is very possible for people to take offense to his style of writing. Perhaps, readers in San Fransico or other parts of California will take it more lightly then if it was published here in Springfield. Honestly, I would be surprised to see this article in the SJR.
I like his way of writing. It was opinionated, but he was able to get his point across well. This is my opinion though. Others could sit down and read the article, and as soon as it got offensive, they would turn the page, never knowing what he really wanted to say.
He used a lot more sarcasm then he did bad language, which i think helps him not loose as many readers. An example of his sarcasm can be seen in the paragraph where he talks about how we don't have laws on fast food but we do on telemarketing,
"Hell, we did it with telemarketing. One little much-needed law and boom, a national Do-Not-Call registry, and it actually mostly works and now all those vile cretins who used to call you during dinner to sell you carpet cleaning services now simply spam your e-mail account until it staggers and collapses and shuts down your e-mail server. Yay!"
It's ashame there are a lot of people out there that won't read something if it goes against their way of thinking. I would read his work again, but then again, I'm not closed minded.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Example of a Feature Story
The feature story i found was on the Chicago Tribune website. I found Something To Ask Yourself to be very informative and interesting.
For so long we have been told that a glass of wine a day is good for your health, but in this story you learn otherwise. They tell us how increased alcohol consumption leads to different forms of cancer.
This is a feature because this story isn't telling of a story that is happening right now, it took research and time to put together.
Right away the lead got my attention...
"You eat your veggies, you exercise at least a few times a week, you gave up cigarettes and hormone-replacement pills, and you have a glass of red wine every day, all because you care about your health.But one of these things is not like the others."
I liked that they gave us facts and numbers concerning the topic...
"According to comprehensive reviews of the scientific evidence, people who average just over one drink a day (100 grams of alcohol in a week's time) increase their chances of developing colon cancer by about 15 percent. For those who consume about four drinks daily, the risk is 40 percent higher."
It kept my attention and made me want to learn more so i kept reading.
One last thing i thought was interesting was the very end where they tell us about how during the month of October, Delta airlines are offering pink lemonades for $2 (the proceeds were going to fund breast cancer research), but...for $3 more you can add vodka.
I think it's kind of ironic. It just leaves you thinking and i like that when i read a story.
For so long we have been told that a glass of wine a day is good for your health, but in this story you learn otherwise. They tell us how increased alcohol consumption leads to different forms of cancer.
This is a feature because this story isn't telling of a story that is happening right now, it took research and time to put together.
Right away the lead got my attention...
"You eat your veggies, you exercise at least a few times a week, you gave up cigarettes and hormone-replacement pills, and you have a glass of red wine every day, all because you care about your health.But one of these things is not like the others."
I liked that they gave us facts and numbers concerning the topic...
"According to comprehensive reviews of the scientific evidence, people who average just over one drink a day (100 grams of alcohol in a week's time) increase their chances of developing colon cancer by about 15 percent. For those who consume about four drinks daily, the risk is 40 percent higher."
It kept my attention and made me want to learn more so i kept reading.
One last thing i thought was interesting was the very end where they tell us about how during the month of October, Delta airlines are offering pink lemonades for $2 (the proceeds were going to fund breast cancer research), but...for $3 more you can add vodka.
I think it's kind of ironic. It just leaves you thinking and i like that when i read a story.
Friday, September 28, 2007
The Line
They built the story from the bottom and built it up from there using personal information. I thought that it was really good that they didn't use experts or historians. The people that lived through it are the real experts. They talked to people in 4 towns which could have resulted in better info since they didn't have to spend time looking all over. They used video, photos, and interviews from people that lived in those towns and the people that went to war or had family in the war in those towns.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Getting Ready to Write a Story
The topic I'm going to go with is the one about every store having their own credit cards and if it's better to maybe just have one Visa card that can do it all.
I would start off by going to a handful of stores (ex: Meijer, Best Buy, Rodgers and Hollands, Maurices, and Victoria's Secret) and getting information on opening credit cards there. All of these stores are different in their own way and it is possible that they have different rates. I would also try going to Rodgers and Hollands and ask the staff questions about their card (ex: on average how many people open a card to buy merchandise? is it usually on expensive jewlery?). It would also be interesting to be able to find people that do have mulitple cards and talk to them about why they chose to have many cards instead of one, and how do they decide what stores they own cards to.
A problem i could have with this story is that it could be too long to publish in a newspaper, but it could be good for a financial magazine.
I would start off by going to a handful of stores (ex: Meijer, Best Buy, Rodgers and Hollands, Maurices, and Victoria's Secret) and getting information on opening credit cards there. All of these stores are different in their own way and it is possible that they have different rates. I would also try going to Rodgers and Hollands and ask the staff questions about their card (ex: on average how many people open a card to buy merchandise? is it usually on expensive jewlery?). It would also be interesting to be able to find people that do have mulitple cards and talk to them about why they chose to have many cards instead of one, and how do they decide what stores they own cards to.
A problem i could have with this story is that it could be too long to publish in a newspaper, but it could be good for a financial magazine.
Article Ideas
-People's fascination with yard ornaments
-Christmas lights all year long. Why do it?
-Young people, buying expensive jewlery. Could the money go to something important like school?
-Every store has their own credit card. Is it better to just have one Visa card with only one bill a month?
-Subdivisions taking over. Someday will all the fields be gone?
-Christmas decorations out before Halloween is even here.
-Christmas lights all year long. Why do it?
-Young people, buying expensive jewlery. Could the money go to something important like school?
-Every store has their own credit card. Is it better to just have one Visa card with only one bill a month?
-Subdivisions taking over. Someday will all the fields be gone?
-Christmas decorations out before Halloween is even here.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
"Surprise" according to Murray
How does Donald Murray define "surprise?"
-"In exploring the world, a writer should also look for what isn't there as much as what is, hear the unsaid as well as the said, imagine what might be."
-"The writer makes use of every sense-and even develops a few new ones."
(need to finish)
-"In exploring the world, a writer should also look for what isn't there as much as what is, hear the unsaid as well as the said, imagine what might be."
-"The writer makes use of every sense-and even develops a few new ones."
(need to finish)
Friday, August 24, 2007
Donald Murray
Assuming I was a "professional writer," and I never had the privledge to meet Mr. Donald Murray, after reading his last few published articles and his obituary I would have to assume that I would gain a major respect for "real-life" writing. Mr. Murray published many articles about his late wife, that came down with a major illness. He wrote about his strugles with the illness and how it afftected his life and lives over others, without actually pronouncing to the world that it was all happening in his life. I learned that I would rather write about the "real-life" scenarios that actually affect me as well as the many other people in this world. Murray's words helped me realize that life is about the trials and tribulations of other peoples lives in the world and he sent out a sense of warming to the world through the Boston Globe unprenounced to everyone else.
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