Readings for Thursday

Read these features that stem from Tuesday's inauguration. I've tried to pick stories that were unique, which is hard when there are 8,000 media outlets (a made-up number, I'm sure it was higher).

As you read them, think about the ideas behind the stories. Think about how they fit into the types of features discussed in the textbook.

Hank Stuever in the Washington Post: "Everyone says they came to "witness history." They came to photograph history and text history and make video of history. They came to witness people who are witnessing people who are witnessing history who are in turn witnessing you witnessing history. Constant status updates on the witnessing of history."

Dan Barry in the New York Times: Shortly before lunchtime on Tuesday, a strange quiet settled over Junction City Middle School. Strange because quiet does not come naturally to a collection of 875 students in the full throes of adolescence. But this clearly was a moment, a time to set aside childish things.

Richard Lake in the Las Vegas Review Journal: Looking for Barack Obama keepsakes so you can celebrate today's (historic, we hear) inauguration as any good American will, with kitsch?

Go get yourself an Obama Pedicure. Or a Barack Thong. Heck, get a T-shirt or a baby bib with his mug shot pasted onto it.

But do not go looking for a first edition of The Amazing Spider-Man #583, released Jan. 14 -- especially the one with Obama on the cover. Your quest will fail.