A story published June 9, 2009 in The New York Times, titled "Tiananmen Square Scars Soldier Turned Artist," is a story that follows the Wall Street Journal formula that we discussed in class. The beginning of the story offers an attention-grabbing acount of Chen Guang, a 17-year-old Chinese soldier who was given orders by his commanders to, at any means necassary, contain the angry student protesters at Tiananmen Square, including opening fire. A quote from Guang is included in the opening paragraphs.
The nut graph comes in the fourth paragraph, where it is learned that, for the first time in twenty-five years, Guang is speaking out about what really happened on that day. The "why we should care" moment in the story is that Guang's story is part of a broader picture of the Chinese Government's attempt to supress any discussion of this event in public, and its attempt to control certain artwork, such as Guang's, that tries to express the true feelings on this subject.
The story does a superb job in providing quote from Guang about his artwork and his reflections on the time the event took place. The article offers an in-depth and sincere view of what really happened that day and how the soldiers felt about it.
The story also supplies supporting details on ways the Chinese government is trying to suppress free speech by artists and any others who dare to speak out against it. A reference is made to Zhang Shijun, a former soldier who was arrested for speaking to The Associated Press that he had regrets about detroying pro-democracy protests. Furthermore, the article says that local art galleries refuse to show his work, and that when he posted images of his work online, only to have them removed in a matter of hours.
Still following The Wall Street Journal formula, the article circles around to the opening paragraphs, returning the attention to Chen Guang. The final paragraphs discuss what he is currently working on, such as a series of self-portraits and his paintings that have now become a depiction of history, which is rarely seen in China, according to this article. The article ends on a last thought from him that explains how China can stop an event like the one he went through from happening again.
Link to "Tiananment Square Scars Soldier Turned Artist" :
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/world/asia/04soldier.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=Tiananmen&st=cse&scp=4
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