Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M2453

The Wall Street Journal Formula

The Wall Street Journal Formula
BusinessHigh supportEconomics
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Also known as the 'Kabob Structure'. The structure is: 1. Anecdote (starting with a story of a small person); 2. Nut graph (introducing the macro trend); 3. Body (argument and details); 4. Ending (returning to the small person's story to form a closed loop).

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Softening hard topics. When you have to write about boring economic or policy topics, you must use this structure. Use the micro fate of individuals to carry macro statistics.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

The Wall Street Journal Formula is a feature story structure: start with a specific person/scene, then expand to a macro theme, and finally return to the individual, achieving the effect of seeing the big from the small.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_storyZH · Explicit
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