Donald M. Murray's The Stranger In The Photo Is Me

Joe Rosenthal is a photographer whose photo, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, has become one of the most recognizable photos in American history. It became so famous that it won a Pulitzer Prize the same year it was taken, used to create the Marine Corps War Memorial, and used as the photo for a war-bond poster in 1945 which raised $26 billion (Pulitizer). As such, I argue that this photo illustrates the brutality of the fighting that occurred on not only Iwo Jima, but throughout World War II, and also makes a strong argument for the theory of liberalism. However, first it is important to identify what exactly makes this photo so revered and why it was selected.

Many people have optimistic views in their life, however there is a fine line between being optimistic and being ignorant of consequences people face for their actions (or inactions).The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a novel about an American family and their journey on a mission trip into the Congo, in contrast, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy is a novel about John Grady and his journey into adulthood as he runs away to Mexico. Despite the superficially differences of the two novels the authors show that people’s expectations are often romanticized and due to this can have grave consequences. The Reader can observe this through the expectations of Nathan Peirce and John Grady, the change in setting and the characters’

Polizer Prize-winning journalist, Donald M. Murray, in his essay for The Boston Globe, “The Stranger in the Photo Is Me”, argues that innocence changes overtime through photos. He supports this claim by first alluding to an artist’s painting. Then he speaks on himself in third-person, and finally reflect on the loss of innocence. Murray’s purpose is to describe his experiences in order to inform people. He adopts a nostalgic tone for people over the age of sixty.

Professor, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Donald M. Murray, in his article, “The Stranger in the Photo Is Me”, suggests that innocence cannot be regained once it is lost, and he supports this claim by first reflecting on who he was before the photograph. Then, he detaches himself from the photograph because of his personal development throughout the war he fought in, and finally concluding that one cannot regain innocence after something as traumatic as war. Murray’s purpose is to argue in order to prove that war changes a person, adopting a nostalgic tone for the elder, over sixty, generation that is his audience. Murray admits that he used to never care to look at photographs, an example of his past self, but now, he gives them “a second glance” even “a third” (8).

Today, they all have the photograph displayed in their homes…. Except Robert. “I have several copies of the photo but don’t display it in the house” Stirm said. “I was very pleased to see my children—I loved them all and still do, and I know they had a difficult time—but there was a lot to deal with.” Stirm’s main issue with the photograph is not “the situation in which it was created” - the return of a POW who endured pain and suffering for more than five years- but of the woman pictured in it.

As a photographer myself, the theory of punctum is not unknown to me; however, the application of the concept of punctum towards the perfomativity of a photograph is unchartered territory. The photograph I chose to analyze is Dorothea Lange’s renowned portrait Migrant Mother, which is a Great Depression-era photograph featuring a migrant farmer, and is among the most famous photographs from this turbulent chapter of American history. The raw emotion in the mother’s face, paired with her body language and grimy appearance, captivates viewers; however, it is not the mother that makes this image so powerful to me, but rather, the turned away children framing their mother. This detail adds a new dimension to the portrait for me.

In war, there is no clarity, no sense of definite, everything swirls and mixes together. In Tim O’Brien’s novel named “The Things They Carried”, the author blurs the lines between the concepts like ugliness and beauty to show how the war has the potential to blend even the most contrary concepts into one another. “How to Tell a True War Story” is a chapter where the reader encounters one of the most horrible images and the beautiful descriptions of the nature at the same time. This juxtaposition helps to heighten the blurry lines between concepts during war. War photography has the power to imprint a strong image in the reader’s mind as it captures images from an unimaginable world full of violence, fear and sometimes beauty.

Regret is an incurable disease caused by lies, distortion, and falsehood. People often try to find a cure for this disease or try to believe that regret is something that is easy to cure, however, it is not. Once an individual make themselves believe in a lie they tell themselves, the pain and suffering that comes with regret will continue to linger for a lifetime. Sinclair Ross’s short story, “The Painted Door” highlights the idea that individuals who deceive themselves in the chase for happiness often create a lifetime of regret.

A photograph can mean so much to different people, but it’s ultimate purpose is to capture an important moment in someone’s life and be able to hold onto a physical copy of a memory. Photographs enact a certain nostalgia for the past, the good times or perhaps an important person or location; it’s a memory you want to last indefinitely. It’s a subject many people don’t touch on when they examine a film like Blade Runner (1982), but director Ridley Scott’s film does place an emphasis on the importance of photographs and what they can mean to people. The film depicts photos as a gateway to nostalgia, the immortalization of important figures and how photographs can deceive their owners. When you hold onto a photography they are generally a preserved version of a past memory that is important or a time of happiness.

There are many lessons throughout the novel that could be taught and learned in our world, this society, today. They may be true; however, the reasons the lessons are taught in the first place is because of the society being presented in this literary work, The Road. This gives the sociological approach a more appropriate understanding approach to the road. The society and the characters can be analyzed thoroughly and effectively this way. “When your dreams are of some world that never was or of some world that will never be and you are happy again then you have given up.

During a poetry unit, many high school students have read the words, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” These are the opening lines to “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, a famous poem included in his collection Mountain Interval. The poem starts with the narrator walking in the woods and seeing two roads split from each other. He has to decide which road to take since this decision will forever shape him as a person. The speaker must recognize what can be gained and lost by each individual road and the choice to follow it.

Matthew Ferguson English 102 Professor June 7, 2015 The Road Not Taken Thesis Statement: We come to countless decisions in life, and there are issues we have to let chance take command. I. Introduction a. Thesis Statement i. Robert Frost ii. Lyric poem iii. Choosing the road II.

In the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost uses beautifully crafted metaphors, imagery, and tone to convey a theme that all people are presented with choices in life, some of which are life-altering, so one should heavily way the options in order to make the best choices possible. Frost uses metaphors to develop the theme that life 's journey sometimes presents difficult choices, and the future is many times determined by these choices. Throughout the poem, Frost uses these metaphors to illustrate life 's path and the fork in the road to represent an opportunity to make a choice. One of the most salient metaphors in the poem is the fork in the road. Frost describes the split as, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both (“The Road Not Taken,” lines 1-2).

There will come a time in every person’s life where he has to make a decision that could alter his life forever. In fact, this exact situation may occur multiple times in his existence. In trying to make the right choices, a person might weigh both options and take into account all the possible effects and arguments for each. For example, when he was growing up, Robert Frost would take strolls with his friend, Edward Thomas, who would constantly face the struggle of choosing the right path and would always worry about whether he made the right decision. In his poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Frost portrays this relatable clash of choices.

The poem, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost states that in life we come upon many decisions, and there are points where we have to let fate take the lead. “The Road Not Taken” uses two paths as a symbol of a life decision. To understand this poem you have to have understanding of life’s meaning. The author helps us better understand the message by his use of tone and literary devices such as metaphors and symbolism. In this poem we come to realize that life is a combination of decisions and fate.