Assignment 4.2: Working with Direct Quotes and Paraphrases
from “The Falling Man” by Tom
Junod
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PART 1:
DIRECT QUOTE
1- My direct
quote came from Junod’s highlighted section: “The resistance to the image…”
2 - In this
quote Junod chillingly expresses, “The resistance to the image” - - to the
increasingly numbering falling bodies to the sidewalk. In a futile attempt to spare her youngster
the horror of this sight, a mother tells her daughter that these bodies could
merely be just birds falling to their deaths (72).
3 – “The
resistance to the image - - to the images - - started early, started
immediately, stated on the ground. A
mother whispering to her distraught child a consoling lie: “Maybe they’re just
birds, honey” (Junod 72).
4 – My
interpretation of this quote is the vividly poignant and unforgettable
emotionally evoking sight that must have been experienced in witnessing mass
suicide of numbers of people knowingly jumping to their deaths, and the
desperate attempt of a mother to shield her child from this horrible reality actually
taking place.
PART 2:
PARAPHRASES
“The
graphic reality of this horrific sight caused a mother to shield her young
daughter from what she was actually seeing by attempting to provide a deceptive
explanation to comfort her” (Junod 72).
Junod, Tom. “The Falling
Man.” First Year Composition Reader. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. 69-80
I also agree with your interpretation that the mother is only trying to protect her daughter from the terrible events that are occurring around them.
ReplyDeleteyeah I also agree with your interpretation for the same reason Carly said. The mothers job is trying hardly help and protect their children
ReplyDeleteHello Mohammad -- Once again, I see compelling, evocative writing.
ReplyDeleteAs your classmates have said, you seem to be highlighting this idea of protection. The word "shielding" is a great choice for your paraphrase. Remember, though, that paraphrases don't go in quotes. Only use quotes when you are using the exact words of another person, precisely how that person said or wrote the words.
In the first part of your assignment, you say the quote reveals "the desperate attempt of a mother to shield her child from this horrible reality actually taking place." Do you believe Junod is arguing that the reality is horrible? Does he sanction this "shielding" of others from the reality? What is Junod's argument or stance towards the "resistance to the image" that he observes in the American censorship of the jumper photographs? The comments you make about the quote are all poignant and accurate, but in your interpretive paper, don't forget to keep tying your analysis back to Junod's argument and purpose. Keep placing examples within a rhetorical situation in order to ask why Junod chose to include the specific examples that he selected, and why Junod chose to use certain words -- like "resistance" -- in his writing. Resistance is not a matter of ignorance. Resistance implies knowledge, some sort of fear, and a willful decisive turning away.
So, generally speaking, In your interpretive essay try to focus on the specific details in quoted passages (just as you did with Kalman's and Neufeld's images) in order to unearth implications buried within the author's language.