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.This angle, far more interesting than a story about leftover Christmas trees, demonstrates what is meant by a fresh angle on an annual season or holiday assignment.In another highly creative Christmas holiday feature, Denver­area feature writer Robin Chotzinoff (1991) decided to turn an ordinary holiday story about store Santas into something more.She used her storytelling and research skills to produce a witty, fun­to­read seasonal feature.She consumer­tested Santa Clauses.A writer for the weekly alternative publication Westword for nearly a decade, Chotzinoff wrote a feature highlighting the holiday season by "testing" Santa Clauses at Denver­area shopping areas such as malls.Conducting the test in early December, the story ran during the following week—in plenty of time for shoppers to take advantage of her discoveries.She used her 7­year­old nephew as the "official tester" and proceeded to rate Santas at 10 different locations over a 3­day period on several levels (e.g., setting, handout "loot," additional fun nearby, and the appearance and general quality, or realism, of the Santa).Page 219Working with her nephew, she recounted the conversations Santa had with the boy and other important details that contributed to a holiday atmosphere.When the article was published, it included ratings of the Santas and concluded that the best Santa of that season was one who told the boy about the meaning of Christmas, about loving and caring for people, and that he was the most sincere and honest Santa of all those visited.She explained: Both Nick and I were surprised at how exhausting such a light­hearted story turned out to be—we drove almost three hundred miles, were accosted by countless mall­survey takers and ate way too much junk.Also, I realized that the breathless Christmas feeling I experienced as a child—an entirely non­religious feeling, I might add—was entirely foreign to Nick and others of his generation.This made me sad.On the other hand, watching a seven­year­old begin to understand the breathless feeling of writing made me very happy.All in all, the Santa survey made no lasting impression on mankind, or did I expect it to.It did impress upon me, however, the importance of presenting a child's point of view as no more or less valid than that of any other source.(Chotzinoff, 1991, n.p.)HOLIDAY AND SEASONAL ARTICLES CALENDARJanuaryNew Year's Day (1st)Martin Luther King's birthday (15th, officially, it varies)FebruaryNational Freedom Day (1st)Groundhog Day (2nd)Constitution Day (Mexico, 5th)Abraham Lincoln's birthday (12th)St.Valentine's Day (14th)Susan B.Anthony birthday, also Women's Liberation Day (15th)George Washington's birthday (3rd Monday)Ash Wednesday (varies)Mardi Gras (varies)MarchBaseball training season opens (varies)St.Patrick's Day (17th)First day of spring (21st)Mardi Gras (varies)Palm Sunday (varies)Good Friday (varies)Easter (varies)Page 220AprilApril Fool's Day (1st)Palm Sunday (varies)Good Friday (varies)First day of Passover (varies)Pan American Day (14th)National Secretary Week (3rd week)Easter Sunday (varies)Easter Monday (Canada, varies)Arbor Day, Bird Day (last Friday)Daylight Savings Time begins (varies)MayMay Day, also Labor Day (Mexico, 1st)Loyalty Day (1st)Mother's Day (2nd Sunday)Victoria Day (Canada, varies)End of school yearCollege, high school graduation (varies)Armed Forces Day (3rd Saturday)National Maritime Day (22nd)Memorial Day (last Monday)Traditional Memorial Day (30th)JuneEnd of school year (varies)Summer vacation season beginsCollege, high school graduation (varies)National Smile Week (varies)Flag Day (14th)Father's Day (3rd Sunday)First day of Summer (21st)JulyCanada Day (1st)U.S.Independence Day (4th)AugustCivic holiday (Canada, varies)Ecology Day (varies)National Aviation Day (19th)SeptemberLabor Day (U.S., Canada, 1st Monday)Summer vacation season endsStart of school year (varies)Football season opens (varies)Grandparents Day (11th)Independence days (Mexico, 15th­16th)Citizenship Day (17th)Rosh Hashanah (varies)Yom Kippur (varies)Page 221First day of Autumn (22nd or 23rd)American Indian Day (4th Friday)OctoberChild Health Day (1st Monday)Columbus Day, Discoverer's Day, Pioneer's Day (2nd Monday)Columbus Day (Mexico, 12th)World Poetry Day (15th)Thanksgiving Day (Canada, varies)United Nations Day (24th)Daylight Saving Time ends (varies)Halloween (31st)NovemberElection Day (1st Tuesday after 1st Monday)Veterans' Day (11th)Remembrance Day (Canada, 11th)Sadie Hawkins Day (1st Saturday after 11th)Elizabeth Cady Stanton birthday (women's rights, 12th)Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday)DecemberFirst Day of Chanukah (varies)Basketball season begins (varies)Bill of Rights Day (15th)Forefather's Day (21st)First Day of Winter (21st)Christmas (25th)Boxing Day (Canada, 26th)Kwanzaa (26th­Jan.1st)Holiday and seasonal features are a lot of work.To find out what is new for the summer vacation season or what is different for Easter this spring, you have to be willing to do some digging.It takes time to find the right travel agents, hotels, or tourist commissions to get that vacation story that comes out in late May or early June, the start of vacation time for many families, in the middle of winter.It might seem early, but this is when the decisions are, or already have been, made.The same goes for the religious holidays such as Easter [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]