Evaluation of New York Times Stories

The two stories I chose are from the Business section and the Health section of The New York Times. Both of my stories occur in other countries besides the United States. I am interested in current events that are outside of our country because I am not familiar with them, and it is fascinating to see what is happening in the world around us. 

Haxor, Joe. "The New York Times Headquarters 620 Eighth Avenue." 12/23/2007 via wikipedia. Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0  Unported.

 Business 

TaxiDrivers and Air Traffic Controllers Go on Strike in France

By: AURELIEN BREEDEN

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?

·      The main characters of the story are the taxi drivers and the air traffic controllers. They are the ones who are going on a strike and blocking traffic. Other main characters include the police who are trying to stop the violence. Specific individuals include Manuel Valls who is the Prime Minister and Ahmed Senbel who is the president of the National Federation of Independent Taxis. Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Ahmed Senbel have a meeting to discuss the issues of ride-booking companies, such as Uber, taking the business away from Taxi companies.

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 strikes took place in Paris during the day. The majority of the traffic being blocked was by Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, and the intersection Porte Maillot. Some taxi drivers even tried to block the highways surrounding the French capital by burning the tires on their cars. The plot and characters were influenced by the setting because many people do not own cars in Paris so public transportation is an important factor.

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?

·      The taxi drivers and air traffic controllers are on a strike because of low pay and staff reduction. There is a debate whether or not taxi drivers should be given financial compensation for the loss of business they have been having due to Uber and other ride-booking companies. While the government recognizes the problem, they are not going to compensate the taxi drivers. However, UberPop is now illegal in France because they were picking up paying customers without a professional license.

Health

ElSalvador’s Advice on Zika Virus: Don’t Have Babies

By: AZAM AHMED

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?

·      The protagonist of the story is the citizens of El Salvador. The story is based around the virus going around in El Salvador and how the government and citizens are reacting to it. The government is telling the country to not have any kids for the next two years and the citizens are not happy about that.

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 event takes place in El Salvador. This is influential because the nation has standing water and loads of trash in the city streets which are big carriers for diseases. There are also immense amounts of violence and gangs which causes fear and is the number one reason why women do not want to get pregnant.

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?

·      The debate is whether or not women in El Salvador should get pregnant for the next two years. Because of the Zika Virus causing birth defects, the government told women to not get pregnant for two years. They also said it would help the overpopulation that is occurring. However, since more than 50% of the country is Roman Catholic, there were many disagreements. The Roman Catholics do not believe in using contraception because they think pregnancy should be up to God. They thought it was absurd that the government would tell its citizens to not have any children.