4-1 The Falling Man

The Falling Man was an awakening essay about one man capturing a moment it time visibly upsetting to everyone involved. There were many details about his essay that stood out to me. First being the obvious details shown in the actual image. The image beautiful with is composition of lines, but also devastating with the reality of the action taken by the man in the photo. Another part in the essay that stood out to me was that of the statistics of how many people had jumped from the World Trade Center that September morning. The numbers were drastically different from one another. The New York Times stating that they could account for fifty jumpers that day. Where as the USA Today counts totaled over two hundred people. 

A common pattern in the essay was that of the feeling of people on the photo itself. There we countless amount of people objecting to the image be shown to the public and also being taken in the first place. Another pattern along the same lines of the first is the people trying to confirm or deny who the man was in the photo. Most of the people were trying to identify if the man was their loved one, however they were not looking to prove it was him, but rather that their loved one was not one of the jumpers. An item that had been repeated was the orange shirt as well as the white jacket. Both of these items were off great importance of to who this man could have been. Mostly the white jacket was an indicator that this could have been someone working in the restaurant or someone working for a catering company. Another part within the essay that had similar characteristics was the artwork by Eric Fischl and the photography by Richard Drew. They were both trying to capture the emotions of everyone. But yet they were both hated by most who thought their art was prying into peoples personal feelings about the tragic day.

Some things that seemed strange to me was the one woman who had called trying to see if the man in the photo was one of her sons. She seemed to be the only one who wanted to look at the photo and help put a name to it. Something else that seemed out of place was the way the photographer’s day had started. He began his day in a rather calm situation, at a maternity shoot. This shoot filled with love and happiness and most of all soon to be new life. Then transitioning to a time of horror and tragedy, in taking photos of a man soon to be death, the last ten seconds of this mans life.

2-1 Back to the Land

In back to the land there were many parts that stood out to me. For starters the very first thing the style of the font as well as all of the pictures. In the very beginning the essay was talking about the ever changing fast world. The first image that is shown was people walking down the street. The image was blurred which helped show that it was moving, moving fast. The next few images after this one also help support a fast life, like the next image of a hot dog vendor. This also simulates a fast pased lifestyle. Following these images of fast things are some images and texts that suggest a more relaxed way of life. It begins with pictures of nature and transitions into a chef in a kitchen that seems very happy. Most people go to a restaurant to relax so i believe that is what Kalman is trying to show. Along with the restaurant are pictures of a man standing in his garden with a hand full of vegetables as well as another image that shows the plate of all the things he had collected. It reads on this picture "it is simple and beautiful". This is the perfect was to describe it. One of the last ideas that stood out to me was the children. The images of the children are of hem working together, learning, and having fun.

There were many different patterns shown. The images although not all the same seem to repeat the same meaning. As stated earlier the images of a fast lifestyle shown to prove that today we are living in a very fast world. The repetition of all of these fast lifestyle choices are shown though out they first portion of the the essay. One image that almost is exact that repeats is the image of the brown shoe. The brown shoe shows up twice within the essay. The only change is the direction in which it is facing. I think this change in direction is to simulate that we are always moving. Contrasting to these images of a fast lifestyle are images of heath, and peace. This is shown though images of the man on the farm. These images repeat in the sense again with the same meaning. All of the images represent a healthier lifestyle.

Somethings that do not seem to fit is the women looking to stop and look at the trees. Kalman seems to relate this to her possibly drinking soda for breakfast. However Kalman also is trying to get the point across that we need to slow down and enjoy ourselves and that is exactly what this women seems to be doing. She is walking around and enjoying nature. This is very confusing to me since it seems that Kalman is contradicting herself.

3-4 Part One

After reviewing my essay I think there are alot of details that need to be expanded on as well as some things that can probably be condensed. I also need to work on my MLA format. I am stuck at some parts of my paper in which I seem to ramble a bit. An example is, at the end of my paper when I begin to talk about the mom and child. I don't really relate it to my thesis and it seems to be just put at the end of my paper and then it ends. I also seem to be lacking a conclusion paragraph to summarizes everything I was just talking about.

Assignment 3-2

Thesis: Under stressful situations people will turn to unfamiliar faces and unfamiliar attitudes within themselves to survive.

Purpose: My purpose it to get the understanding from the readers that people change under stressful situations. Whether it is a change in behavior to survive or a change in role like the thugs in Nuefield's essay. In writing this essay I hope for everyone to see the changes that people go though. Also I would like my readers to understand how people can change in stressful situations for better and also for worse.

A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge

A.D New Orleans After the Duluge was a very strong comic. The detail that was done and the thought process of how it was created was really amazing. There were multiple parts that stood out to me but there were three that stood out greater than the rest. First the picture that really stood out to me was on page 225, this picture was of a man holding his child up trying to get someone to notice that he needs help. This picture is the same color as all the rest and the same style of drawing. However this drawing was the first not in the standard comic box. It felt as if the picture was jumping out at me as the reader. I think this picture was to represent that those stranded were crying out to help to whomever could hear them. The image trying to scream though the page. A second portion that really stood out to me was the thugs, pulling together and trying to do the greater good for the group. They were the ones who declared that the elderly get on the bus first followed by the women and children. They were scarifying themselves to do what was best for the group. The raided a store but not to benefit themselves but to pass out the goods to the group. Lastly, an image that really caught my eye was on the last page, it was the image of the Ms. Williams who had died in her chair and left behind. You can still see her in her chair in the background which I think was to let the reader know that there really was no place for safety, no place for the dead, no place for an escape from the nightmare they were going though.

As for patterns there were a few with the comic. The constant replay of images where the people are sweating. It shows that there was no escape from the elements. They were just left to hope for survival. There is a picture of a women with short hair and glasses that is constantly coming up in the comic. She look mad and very understandably upset in every picture. This sets the tone for how the article is to be perceived. There is also an image on page 229 of a mother with her child in her lap. The first image the mother looks tired and is unable to comfort her daughter. The daughter look exhausted, sweaty and seems to maybe be crying. Directly below this picture there is another one with the same to character with the same emotions. This show me that this wasn't an emotion in an hour of discomfort, but rather that the emotions continued like a broken record. All of the images are in black in white or sepia to be more specific. The color tone of the images show that it wasn't a happy time and the people were filled with sorrow. The overall tone of the comic is dark and very masculine. The women in the pictures do not seem to be sitting back and are also speaking their voice. The pictures where to women are yelling, smoking, drinking beer seem to put off a hard exterior, possibly a survival front to help them get though.

An image that did not stand out to me in great deal but is worth mentioning is an image of the police driving by. They seemed to be clean and comfortable in their car. From what i gather from the text, they are just driving by repeating the same message and not contributing to the overall well being of the people who are struggling. I feel maybe there wasn't must they could do with such a large crowd is no buses were really coming. But they instead of trying to help, act more as a crowd control like it was an event.

Essay Review

Reading another essay gave me some ideas for my improving my own essay. The description that was given about some of the images in their essay helped me as a reader to understand what they were talking about as well as help me as the writer to add more detail so my readers will understand. By including more detail my readers will be able to understand Kalman's original essay and ideas.

After seeing notes from another student about providing more detail about the images that I briefly mentioned makes me really understand that it wasn't written in great detail. As a writer you know what you are talking about but it is all about how your message conveys to your reader, so the added details will be a great improvement.

In addition to my notes from another students review, my conference also helped a great deal to clear some parts in my paper that may have been a little cloudy. For example, there are parts in my paper that need more specific details. After my conference and rereading my essay i did make note that at some parts of my paper I repeat myself with different sentences, but the same meaning.

Reviewing my essay is going to include three major parts, correcting repetitive sentences, including detail about images that correspond with the topic of the paragraph, and also correcting my cited page. I am going to accomplish all these by taking into consideration all the notes and advice I have gotten form my conference and my peer review. I will go back and reread Kalman's essay to see what pictures would do great to helping my enhance my essay.