Last Monday in class, in addition to studying the first pages of “Back Story,” the opening chapter of Michael Lewis’s book The Blind Side, we examined the beginning of Tom Junod‘s essay “The Falling Man, published in Esquire magazine two years after 9-11. After we read the first paragraph, I asked you to consider these questions:
- The long first paragraph of Junod’s essay could be two or more paragraphs. If you were Junod, where might you have divided the paragraph?
- Why do think he chose not to divide it?
Junod might have started a second paragraph with the words “[i]n all the other pictures,” because there he shifts the focus from the Falling Man to the photographs of other people who jumped from the Twin Towers. An opportunity for a third paragraph comes with the words “[t]he man in the picture, by contrast” where Junod turns his attention back to the Falling Man. And he might have begun a fourth paragraph with “[s]ome people who look at the picture,” because there he shifts to viewers’ perceptions of the Falling Man.
The first paragraph is over four-hundred words long, a length I advise you to avoid in your own writing paragraphs. Generally, one-hundred to one-hundred-and-fifty words is a suitable length. As a rule, you should begin a new paragraph when you present a new idea or point. If you have an extended idea that spans multiple paragraphs, each new point within that idea should have its own paragraph. But the first paragraph of “The Falling Man” is an exception. For Junod, choosing not to divide the first paragraph creates an unbroken movement that parallels the unbroken downward flight of his subject, the Falling Man. Outside of the photograph, “he drops and keeps dropping until he disappears.” With “disappears,” the last word of the paragraph,” the Falling Man disappears from the page, and Tom Junod turns to the photographer, whom we learn later in the essay is Richard Drew.
Unless you subscribe to Esquire, the magazine’s paywall will deny you access to the full text of “The Falling Man”; but if you’re interested in reading it in full, you can access it through the HPU Library site by following these steps:
- Go to the HPU Library site.
- Under the heading “Search HPU Libraries . . . ,” click on the “Articles” tab.
- Under the “Articles” tab, type Tom Junod “Falling Man” Esquire in the search box and click “search.”
- On the next screen, you will see a brief summary of the article. Click “Access Online” to view the full article.
Donald Barthelme’s “The School”
Today in class, we will read Donald Barthelme’s short story “The School,” and you and two or three of your classmates will collaboratively compose an assignment that addresses the story’s narrator, its conflicts, its narrative shift, and other elements you would examine if you chose–and some of you may–to write your analysis on the story. Tomorrow’s blog post will be devoted “The School.”
Next Up
At the beginning of class on Wednesday, I will collect your worksheets for the fourth lesson in the Check, Please! starter course. If you were absent the day that I distributed the worksheet or you misplaced your copy, you can download a copy from Blackboard and print it. After I collect your worksheets, I will return your analysis drafts with my comments, and you will have the remainder of the class period to begin revising on your laptops. Because spring break is next week, you will have an additional two weeks to work on your analysis before you post your revision to Blackboard and to your WordPress blog. The due date is Wednesday, March 6 (before class). The hard deadline is Friday, March 8 (before class).
Jane Lucas 