Profiles

The Attraction that Continues to Support a Billion

Dollar Industry
 SO,WHAT is a

Profile??
Genre that involves the interviewing and observations of the
subject matter in order to create a static perspective of that
subject.
Profiles are able to pull in the readers by introducing
information that is not common knowledge such as
information about people and places.
 How are Profiles Used in an
Industry Worth Billions?
The Use of Profiles in Journalism

Human Interest

Individual vs group

Advantages of Using this Genre

Quick Poll:
Who has heard of the team,
the New England
Patriots?

Who has heard of the team,

but does not watch football?

Did you watch the

Superbowl?
Lets Look at a Profile from the
First Slide
Even though not everyone is a football fan,
most people are able to relate to the story as
the media leading up to Superbowl was
relentless and it has not stopped.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2017/01/17/tom-brady-
receivers-brotherhood-patriots-michigan
How to write a profile: start
with
Person: a subject

Place:

Event: Cultural Phonomena

Make the Subject Work For You:

Establish a Perspective
-Its all about YOU, the author

-Why are you writing this piece?

-How do you want your subject to look?

-intelligent or idiotic?
-funny/charismatic?

-relatable?
Use an Intro to establish
perspective
-Set the scene

-Tell an anecdote

-Use a quotation

-Describe your subject

-Describe a procedure

-State your controlling theme

Use the right approach
-Make the subject say what YOU want to say

-Q and A approach:

-meetings:

-let the subject tell your story:

Create meaning with the material
-selecting important material

-clusters of information create a web of meaning

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/26/donald-trumps-
brazen-first-interview-as-president-annotated/?utm_term=.f389b6192694
Use Rhetorical Appeals
Pathos - people want to hear about things they can relate to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kPw2JQAP10
 What do you want from the
genre?
In the profile genre, as an author, were writing to you about getting the
main impression and description of a person
Kind of like a dossier, except its up to us, the writers, to determine how formal or informal
wed like it!

Is this what you want?

Yes! Youre looking for this, but it needs to be based on facts and its not a
biography

Youre looking for the impression of someone, not their life story

This doesnt have to be of a specific person!

It can be of a place, such as New York City!

The trust is insured in the author like ourselves to determine a specific impression. It can be
How do we, as authors, give it
to
Youre probably going to write you?
about it!
Generally speaking, its not going to be super vocabulary heavy with big words that we
should know, but really dont

But its not simple. You want your audience to read it, but be engaged intellectually

Youre not writing Game of Thrones here!

Keep it relaxed.

A little humor in a non-super formal essay never hurt anybody

If your audience laughs, they will most likely stay engaged

Think of your college admissions essay

If your admissions officer laughed (positively, instead of critically) at

 What multimodel (non text)
elements might we use?
Being students in English class, would you prefer solely text, some form of
media completely, or a mix of the two?
Just because youre an author, doesn't mean you have to only use text to write it

Think of an article youre reading somewhere on the internet

Did it have pictures? Maybe a video linked? Tweets that may have been put into
the article?

Effective Profiles writing doesnt only include text, it includes a mix of

everything
Though its recommended to include some form of media in your profiles essay, youre the
author!
 Photos
Relationship between paragraphs and text is dynamic and reciprocal

- Double page spread and use of captions join words and pictures

- Photographs do not illustrate, and writing does not explain the photo

Photo essays:

https://www.gapyear.com/articles/256259/photo-essay-beneath-the-red-wave
s
What is the Usual Persona and
Tone?
Analytical

Open Minded
Profile Subgenres
The New Feature

The Spot Feature

The Trend Story

The Live In
What Sources do Profiles
Primarily
Primary Sources Use?

Secondary Sources
Works cited
"How to Write a Profile Feature Article." N.p., n.d. Web. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/writing/voices.html

"What Are the Different Kinds of Feature Stories You Can Write?" About.com News & Issues. N.p., 22 Apr. 2016. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
http://journalism.about.com/od/writing/a/kindsoffeatures.htm

"How To Write A Profile Story." Journalism Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
http://journalism-education.cubreporters.org/2010/08/how-to-write-profile-story.html

"Profiles Handout." Profiles Overview. NDSU Center for Writers, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
ttp://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/cfwriters/Handouts/Profile_Papers.doc.
Jessee, Amy. "Strategic Stories: An Analysis of the Profile Genre." TigerPrints. Clemson University, May 2009. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1550&context=all_theses.
Mitchell, Bill. "Hearts and Guts: Writing the Personal Profile." Poynter. Poynter, 22 Aug. 2002. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
http://www.poynter.org/2002/hearts-and-guts-writing-the-personal-profile/2022/.
T, Caroline. "Character Profiles." Editing ~ Writing ~ Proofreading. Editing-writing.com, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. http://www.editing-
writing.com/writing-character-profiles-2/.
"How to Write a Profile Feature Article." Student Times. The New York Times, 1999. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/writing/voices.html.