- As you know, the Annotated Bibliography is due on Wednesday.
- For Journal #8, read "The Falling Man" by Tom Junod, the article you received today in class. Extra copies are in my mailbox. It's available as a PDF on Oasis as well.
- Answer the following questions and post them here, on the blog:
- With what line of inquiry (or question) does Junod begin his research? How do you know?
- As a reader (not a writer), how do you respond to the article's conclusion?
- As a writer (not a reader), how do you respond to the article's conclusion?
- In a fourth section of your blog posting, write up a response to Danny Smith's visit. What did you find interesting? What surprised you? How does meeting and listening to the author speak impact how you read the text?
As always, contact me with questions.
9 comments:
Does the world need to know who the Falling Man is? He chronicles what happened on 9/11 and who this man could be. However, I feel he focuses more on how footage of the jumpers is taboo than who this specific man is. He goes into detail about who the man could be to show the more human side of the story.
As a reader I’m left with questions. I want to see the picture and know who the man is. The article is concluded, but it leaves me curious and thoughtful. I find it interesting that he gives reasons the man might’ve jumped.
As a writer I believe this is the perfect conclusion. It parallels the intro and completes the article nicely. Junod does a great job of evoking thought in the reader with this conclusion. He doesn’t clearly lay out a question and a clear cut answer.
I thought it was really interesting to hear more about his inspiration to write the book. How he got the idea from a sophomore English class. Also his line of inquiry starting with his father’s discovery of the missing boy was really interesting. I think I will be able to connect more with the writing now that I know more about Smith’s background and motivations. It was really interesting to meet the author and be able to compare his personality to what comes through in his writing.
He begins wondering why people tried to reject the Falling Man photograph. The essay begins with a description of the photo and similar photos and art works. As the essay progresses, he focuses more on the Falling Man and his identity. By the end, he focuses on the idea of the Falling Man controversy.
As a reader, I was satisfied with the conclusion. I liked that it didn't end with "yes, the falling man was in fact ________ and he was a great person". The ending, especially how the author adds "we" in the last paragraph, is appealing because it takes something that we have just learned about and allows us to become a part of it, in a way, and to contemplate it for ourselves.
As a writer, I thought that the ending was a little obviously stated. It was a good ending, but if I was writing it, that is what I would say at the end because I was tired and wanted to finish this essay. That doesn't make it a bad ending. I just felt like the writer could have been more creative especially in the last sentence.
I found it interesting to hear Danny Smith talk about his book. It was a good connection to be able to hear him speak informally with students and connect that persona to the voice he uses throughout OTJ. After hearing him speak, I feel like I would read the book more carefully, knowing now the impetus for the book and knowing more about Smith.
Journal 8- Daryl Meador
1. The article is first described in the small section of writing on the left of the cover page as “Junod’s search for the subject of an iconic image” and this is was gave me the first idea of what the article would be about. I think this is a good inference of the question that Junod wishes to answer; he doesn’t directly say that he is searching for the identity of the man in the photo, but wants to find it’s deeper meaning. He investigates the affect it has had on America, the way people responded to it and all other coverage of the attacks, the controversy over the privacy of the deceased, and what information was and wasn’t appropriate in the press.
2. I think a lot of the methods used in investigating the photo that Junod describes, such as Peter Cheney bringing the photo to Norberto Hernandez’s funeral, were discourteous to say the least. I don’t know why it was such an important issue to find out the man’s identity, because it seems like it would obviously just hurt those who were close to the man. So as a reader, I think that Junod’s ending was a respectful way to bring the article to an end. He states that yes, this man may be Jonathan Briley, but we can never be certain, and for those reasons we should just keep the man in mind simply as a monument to him, whoever he is.
3. As a writer I think the ending was a little stunted but successful. It seemed odd to me to discuss the Hernandez family for so long throughout the article, then mention this man Jonathan Briley in the very end. He alludes to the fact that he talked to his family, but includes no personal statements and doesn’t elaborate very far on their responses. But maybe this is because he wanted to end the article without any real proof of who the man is, so did not dig too far into Briley’s past life.
1. I believe that Tom Junod original plan was to discover who the “falling man” was but I think as he progressed in his research he found that the identity of man was unimportant in the end because it is almost a monument for all the people who jumped that. To come to this conclusion he writes a majority of his piece on the controversy surrounding the idea of jumpers and how a great many people feel that showing these images is disrespectful for those who jumped.
2. I responded at the beginning of the article with a kind of curiosity but once I finished the paper I felt the same as the author, that the actual identity is unimportant. I read a book about a year a go called Flags of Our Fathers and it dealt with the same issue of finding the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The reason why I remember this book is because I was and I am still horrified with the fact that people want to know who people are in photographs, instead of being content with the image alone. It seems that in this world people connect with photos and in turn latch onto what is being photographed. In this instance it was a man, why do people want to know who this man is? I think for some it is curiosity but I feel for the majority of the people its almost like they want to be able to know the man to fully appreciate the man. Meaning that they want to feel connected with the man, so they can cheer for him
3. This article is well written and I was not bored throughout the entire piece. I felt that he captured emotions and expressed people’s thoughts very well. On the other hand I feel that the conclusion was kind of weak because it did not really tie all the stories together it simply ended. I mean by this that as I read the article I thought that all the stories he told were good but he did not really attempt to bring them all together to create a great piece.
4. What I found interesting was the fact that he wants people not to judge police officers because the general public does not know them well enough but is willing to judge his father who he said he never really knew. I was surprised that he was actually an interesting guy and that he talked a lot. From his picture I figured he would have been a timid man and it was nice surprise because it woke me up and made me pay attention. Though in general he is an interesting guy I find my self becoming less interested in his book as I read, though after hearing him speak I look forward to reading the last section.
1. I think the question he was probably concentrating on was “What does this picture mean?” There was still a healthy portion of the article that was dedicated to the search of who the falling man was, among other things, but it never really lost the tone of telling what the Falling Man stood for, and meant to different people.
2. As a reader, it leaves me with something, a message of sorts. In a way, it tells me that it doesn’t matter who the falling man was really, but what he stood for. His character, his meaning is something we all know, and that’s what this article depicts as the point.
3. Weak excuse for an article that doesn’t really have an end. I get that there isn’t a real way to end this since he could never be for surely identified, but it just seems there had to be a better way to end it than some cliché line like “We knew who he was all along.” It fits, it sounds nice, but I just felt there could have been more done with it to give the reader a little bit more closure rather than a cliffhanger that doesn’t go anywhere.
1. Junod wonders who the falling man is and what his story was, why we search for his identity, what does the photo, the search and the reaction to it, say about us and that day. He works his way up from a simple explanation of the circumstances surrounding the photo before delving into these questions.
2. I responded as a reader with many questions that I knew couldn't be answered. The way Junod pulled back at the very end to reveal a greater significance to the photo left me reflecting on just that, and exactly what the final statement meant.
3. As a writer, I understand the point of the conclusion. There was no Junod could have wrapped things up with a little bow, or something overly sentimental and final. He needed to leave us with questions and thoughts. I think it's the sign of a good writer if you can do such a thing. (He's in the same boat as us, he himself is left with questions and refuses to pretend that he isn't just to make the audience feel better.)
4. I think what I found most interesting about hearing Danny Smith's thoughts was the story about his father. It was a story that seemed somewhat darker and more powerful than some of the stories told in the book and I do think it would've been a good idea to include it. I was surprised at how talkative he was. I was also surprised that he said many cops don't bother to read the book, and that he wrote it mainly for people who aren't connected to the police. I liked being able to hear the motivations and the reasoning behind the book and it's always helpful to hear a writer's actual voice. The voice of a writer tends to come through in their writing – no matter what they're writing – and it's interesting to hear how his came through in On the Job.
I think that Tom Junod began with a question asking, “Who was this unidentified falling man?” I think that like many other people who have seen that photograph on September 12 Tom wondered about the identity of this man. I think that even though the photo was not present on given article we all still had some kind of image in our heads while reading due to all the jumpings that happened that day. However, I googled this image after I read the first few lines because I could not have read about a photograph that caught so much attention without seeing it; this one unparticular had such a great affect on people everywhere, so I had to see it. After I seen it I felt al little more connected because I was able to see the image in my mind as I read the article. I do understand why this specific photograph made such an impact. We did not just see a silhouette of a person jumping that day, this man has distinct features and is a recognizable human being who no one seems to be able to recognize and I feel that it is for the best.
As a reader I think that the conclusion is effective. He ties everything in very well and brings a strong ending that does not keep me questioning who this man is. As a reader I settled with the comparison he made between that man and the soldiers and respect the falling man enough to leave it at that. As a writer I still think the conclusion was effective, but I did look at it differently than as a reader. I think that he went through too many suspects to identify this man. I think that there were too many names thrown out and everyone turned out negative. It was not disappointing, but with every name I had hope that maybe they found out and his family received some kind of closure. The statement that he made about the soldiers and the “unmarked graves” brought me to a sense of conclusion where I did not need to know who this falling man was because he represented a great number of other people who died that day that remain unidentified.
I thought that Danny Smith was an interesting guy. He had a lot to say about every topic we covered without having got ponder it for a long time. He gave really useful insight that I can use toward my essay. When I first began reading the book I thought that he sounded really amateur at writing, almost immature, but listening to him talk about it cleared his name in my mind. Now that he shared his experience with us, I understand why this may have come out that way. He was young and inexperienced when writing the book and I think that he deserves credit for that accomplishment. He was also a down to earth guy; I did not feel intimidated at all to have a conversation with him. I wished I could have asked him to sign my book, it completely did not cross my mind until after class.
1) The question that Junod is trying to answer would be who is the falling man and what is his story? He is also looking for the best way to find out. He starts his article by talking about the falling man’s photo and his curiosity towards it. He then continues to search for ways to find this man and who is.
2) As a reader, I really like the way that he finished the story. After a long search that was open ended and difficult given the circumstances, he ended it very nicely. He left it nearly as open as he began. However, there was definitely closure at the end of this story and he was ok with not having an answer. This made me feel ok with it as well and leave it alone. I am still curious, but I think that it is the point of the story.
3) As a writer, I still like the way it was written. The way he worded the article was very narrative, which is a form that I prefer. At the same time, it was very factual and informative like an article should be. The conclusion was very sound and left the article in a good way that left closure and still questions. He knew that it would always be unanswered and that’s exactly how he wrote it.
Tom Junod begins his research wit the question of “Who exactly is the Falling Man?” He actually states his intent a couple of times throughout the paper. But I do think that the purpose of the paper or his research did seem to change. He went into great detail on why people may oppose knowing such information. Why people refuse to allow photos such as that of the Falling Man to be published over and over again. Why people were so appalled when people were documenting that day, etc.
I was very intrigued by this article and am very glad that I had the opportunity to read it. I remember this photo and still have the newspaper that it was printed in. It has always intrigued me. I feel that I responded to this image the same as a reader as I would as a writer. Perhaps because this subject hits extremely close to home for me, there is only one way to respond. As strange as it may sound, I think he ended the article peacefully. It ended with kind of an exhale which is just about all you can end with when addressing a topic like this. I also feel that it is better not to know who man is. In not knowing, there is the opportunity for ever person who lost a loved one to say,“ No that is not them.” This would be more comforting to me, not having the last photo ever taken of my loved one, one that was circulated world wide, known to every one out there. Im sure it already reopens wounds just thinking about that day, or the street or the building, when they left for work that day, what they were planning on doing with that person the next day, month or year. It wasn’t this day, but like I said, this subject hits very close to home for me. And I am very glad that they did not identify him.
I feel that I understand the tone of the book a little bit more after meeting Danny Smith. I feel that he is smarter than how he is portrayed in writing this book, which is definitely a good thing. I hope that others saw that too. I was glad to know that not all of the cops that he interviewed were any where near humble.
Post a Comment