Stories:
New York Times, Science: Climate Deal's First Big Hurdle: The Draw of Cheap Oil
New York Times, Tech: Apple Says Sales of iPhones Have Slowed
1. Does there seem to be a "main character" or "protagonist" to the story? If so, who is it and how are they are the "center" of the story? If not, are there any important or central characters in the story at all? What role do they play?
Climate Deal: It does not seem as if there are any main characters or protagonists in this story. However, some important names did come up. Fatih Birol, the executive of the International Energy Agency, is worried that countries will forgot about the promises they made at climate talks in Paris back in 2015. Also, Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director for energy and sustainability at the University of California, Davis, believes that while lower oil prices contribute to a slow down in drilling for oil wells, it also makes driving more attractive for consumers. Overall, most of the "characters" quoted in this story play the role of pessimists. They see the low price of oil as harmful to slowing down climate change.
Sales of iPhones: The main character in this story is Timothy D. Cook, executive officer of Apple. He is the center of this story because the stock price of Apple has fallen over the past six months. Also, as the title of the story indicates, sales of Apple brand name iPhones have slowed so far in 2016. These events are placing pressure on Cook to stop the losses quickly and bring Apples' stock prices back up.
2. Where do the specific events in the story take place? Is there a specific setting? Describe the settings for the stories and how they influence the plot and characters.
Climate Deal: There does not seem to be a specific setting for this story. Opinions and information was retrieved from around the world for this story. For example, opinions from members of national/international commissions and agencies were quoted in the story. As well, information about new gas prices in Saudi Arabia and new regulations in China were also reported upon. The variety of setting in the story indicates that countries and people all over the world are feeling the effects of low oil prices.
Sales of iPhones: The story states that the setting is San Francisco, California. This setting makes sense as it is very close to San Jose, California, AKA: Silicon Valley. Apples' corporate headquarters is located within Silicon Valley. Considered that most of the quotes in the story come from Apple CEO Tim Cook or other Apple executives, it makes sense that the setting would be so close to home.
3. Is there any kind of disagreement or debate happening in the story? If so, who is participating, why are people debating and what seems to be at stake for the different characters in the story?
Climate Deal: For the most part, the contributing opinions seem to all be in agreement in some way. Climate commissions and agencies all appear to be worried about how the low price of oil will encourage people and governments to ignore taking action on climate change. Therefore, the characters, executives and experts working at these commissions or agencies, have an incredible amount to lose. They want to ensure that their voices and opinions are heard. If not, the organizations that they work for could become little more than footnotes in the realm of public opinion.
Sales of iPhones: There seems to be a debate between the data in the story and the executives at Apple. The story explains that Apple stock and sales have gotten off to a bad start in 2016. The story conjunctures that this news should worry those at Apple; especially CEO Tim Cook. However, Apple executives claim that they are not worried and that sales will pick up when Apple releases the iPhone 7 later on in the year. If the worrying voice of the Times is correct about Apple, however, Tim Cook and Apple stand to lose a huge amount of money by not doing something to bring sales back up.
Rain, Mark. Apple iPhone. August 2nd, 2007 via Flickr. Attribution License.
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