I read through the piece “Obama after Dark: His Precious Hours Alone” by Michael D. Shear, published in July of this year in the NY Times. The story was a really detailed and intriguing look into the behavioral patterns, practices, and habits of President Obama. This was done in a variety of ways, and used heavy amounts of anecdotes to walk us through the president’s work ethic and dedication from his first term until now. The structure is really smart in starting present day and with a simple quote lede that hooks you from the very beginning, given the context that you’ve already read the title.
“Are you up?”
Throughout the rest of the piece, in a rather winding non linear fashion and demonstrates well the idea of seizing narrative opportunities wherever it can. Through the constant stream of anecdotes and mundane details about a high profile figure, the story really puts us in Obama’s inner circle for a moment in order to illustrate the breadth of this man’s work and character. By using small narratives, even the simple, silly ones like Obama texting his former personal aide whenever Duke loses, his family’s movie nights where they have first run films delivered by Motion Picture Association of America, and even the small inside jokes he has with staff. Shear sharply contrasts those tiny anecdotes with larger, more serious ones, like how late he stayed up the night before delivering a speech in Charleston after the fatal shooting of nine African Americans at a Episcopal bible study. By writing these personal vignettes of such a powerful leader, the writer turns Obama into a character in a story rather than just a subject, a perspective we don’t often use when reading about the president.