Week 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/opinion/mccain-a-return-to-us-realism.html?ref=opinion In my opinion, this article has an excellent hook. You just cannot stay indifferent upon reading the headline and a couple of opening sentences. The title itself is almost perfect. You just have to react to it regardless of being a democrat or a republican. Its also kind of funny because the headline Obama has made America look weak sounds a bit like something coming out of the mouth of an elementary school student. But, as Ive said, it does make an impact. If you are a democrat and an Obama supporter you would, full of anger and protesting silently, want to read all about it strongly opposing it in the process and maybe even leave a comment afterwards. If you are, on the other hand, a republican I could imagine a large grin forming on your face upon reading the headline and Im sure that I have a greater chance of being struck by lightning on a hot summers day in the town centre than you passing up reading this article. The heading should not surprise anyone because it was written by none other than Arizona senator and arch nemesis since the 2008 elections John Mccain. Even though this article is very subjective and maybe has some sort of hidden agenda, its truthfulness in some respects cannot be denied. Mccain is on the money when he states that pulling back American soldiers from the world has fed a perception that US is weak and that Crimea has exposed a lack of realism that characterized Obamas foreign policy. He goes on listing all Obamas mistakes and causes that led to this situation the US is in. However, more personal elements surface as the article progresses. The author starts scrutinizing Putin and presents him as some kind of a brutish, untamed beast who has a craving for aggression. He continues on stating that Putin actions have emboldened Chinese nationalist and, of course, Al Qaeda. After that, the author slowly loses grip on article (and reality, in my opinion) and starts proposing unrealistic and undiplomatic measures like sanctioning Russian officials, isolating Russia internationally, increasing NATOs military presence and exercises on its eastern frontier, boycotting the Group 8 summit meeting in Sochi and convening the Group 7 elsewhere and supporting and resupplying Ukrainian soldiers in order to intimidate Russia and all its allies. There are two amusing fact about this article. The first one is that the author not only slanders Russia and exaggerates everything that its president does, but also calls Russia an imperial kleptocracy forgetting that they have funded and supported Albanian terrorists and their ethnic cleansing of Serbian Orthodox, Kosovos illegal proclamation of independence and that the largest and most expensive foreign US military base Bondsteel is located near Uosevac in Kosovo. The second one concerns the bright EU future of ex-Soviet countries around Russia and how Russians will follow their example overthrowing Putin and getting rid of his corrupt, autocratic regime. One important thing that he fails to mention is that USA does not care about

the progress and prosperity of those ex-Soviet countries but just wants to use them in order to weaken destabilize Russia.

Week 2
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/world/europe/dazed-ukrainians-take-first-look-at-theopulence-their-leader-left-behind.html?src=xps The article deals with the political crisis in Ukraine and sheds light on the mysterious residential compound of (now) former president Yanukovych. After the presidents resignation and escape to Russia, a small group of antigovernment militants called 31st Lviv Hundred took control of the compound and witnessed an astonishing opulence and display of wealth hidden behind closed doors of the compound first hand. Over the course of the day, more and more people gathered there to see one of the biggest skeletons in Yanukovychs closet. They were astound and flabbergasted not only by the sheer size of the compound, which consists of halfdozen residencies of various styles, but also by its surreality and eccentricity (a private zoo with rare species, a golf course, a garage filled with classic cars and a boat-shaped restaurant being the part of the residential compound). The antigovernment militants decided not to touch anything before the arrival of experts whose task would be to determine the value of the whole compound. I consider this article interesting because it easily grabs your attention with a hook and that motivates you to continue on reading it. The topic is very relevant because it deals with the crisis which has been making the headlines all over the world for days. It also has some interesting details that you might pass around among your friends. The article itself is pretty alluring with some story-like sentence structures and some dazzling vocabulary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/sports/basketball/even-with-top-nba-draft-picks-saviorsprove-rare.html I think this article has a lead and not a hook because even from the heading one can easily conclude that article deals with top NBA draft picks and how rarely any of them become saviors and manage to pull their team out of the gutter. The author reminds everyone that the next draft is projected to be one of the greatest and also provides a couple of names who are, in his opinion and the majority of scouts, going to leave a mark in the game of hoops. Then he analyses the 2013 generation of draft picks and observes that they have failed to meet event the humble expectations everyone had about them. Everything starts going downhill even from the beginning because this years first pick is battling injuries, weight problems and painfully slow accommodation to the unrealistically high game standards. Many of his fellow colleagues from that night are also having problems with injuries because most of them played not more than two

years in college before coming to the big boys league and are physically unable to keep up with leagues expectations and its pace. However, he points out some of them who have been able to make the transition and accommodate and are even over-performing I you have in mind the position from which they were picked. The author then discusses the Development league and whether losses affect the players who are slowly developing. At the end he gives some examples of cheap rookies that are becoming more and more popular with teams whose players have bulging contracts and how every rookie needs to never give up, train hard and pounce when they get the opportunity.

Week 3