I originally devised this assignment when using the 2000 edition of the textbook, which of course predated arguably one of the most memorable moments in American history, the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was very surprising for me to discover that many of my students disagreed with Brian Gnatt’s observation that, prior to 9/11, “[his] generation [had] no single event of the same caliber.� The nature of their disagreements reflects, I suppose, the “diverse and idiosyncratic personal experience� that the McQuades speak of in their new chapter intro. For example, my college is sandwiched between two military bases; consequently, students are much more likely to site wars – from Korea to Viet Nam to the first and current Iraq wars – as their most memorable moments because they themselves served in those conflicts, or they have family who served or were lost or injured. Other students described a certain level of trauma and emotional proximity to the Columbine school shootings, as they experienced reactionary discipline codes and lockdowns at their own schools as administrators grappled with the tragedy.

For this assignment, I call students’ attention to the fact that styles of news presentation evolve. In the past, the Los Angeles Times was considerably more lurid than it is now. Of the old days at this paper, Iris Schneider (in Images of Our Times: Sixty Years of Photography from the Los Angeles Times) says that:

"In the early 30s and 40s, photojournalism was pretty cut and dried. Photographers covered society balls, and celebrity benefits, and now and then shot human interest, or 'feature' art—such as the little old lady who had sewn 10,000 buttons on her dress. But the bread and butter work was at crime scenes, accidents, and in the courts. They shot divorcées (if they were pretty), car crashes and train wrecks (if they were big), and court proceedings or trials (if they were scandalous). And they often were. Sensationalism ruled the front page."

I ask my students to select a photograph or series of related photographs that they find personally significant. These can be photographs of people they don’t know or of people they know quite well. The photograph(s) may even be of the student. In an essay (I have them attach a photocopy of the photo to the paper), they address the following topics: