American Soldier

Craig Walker, a photojournalist from the Denver Post, tracked Ian Fisher's introduction to the Army from high school graduation through basic training and through a yearlong deployment in Iraq. The images Walker took capture Fisher's day-to-day experiences as a recruit, soldier, son and friend. Walker and his team were awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography for this photo series.

I would like for you to look at some of the award-winning images produced by this photographer and reflect upon how the images tell a story without even having to read the story. In addition, I want you to pay attention to the captions that were written for the images.

1. Go to the following Web site: 

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2010/0412/20100412_011334_Ian_Fisher_American_Soldier.pdf

A. What is the most powerful image from the pictures printed in the Denver Post over the three weeks they published images from the year of coverage? Why?

B. How do the images work together to tell a story?

C. How do the captions enhance the photographs?

D. Summarize the story of Ian Fisher, based just on the captions.

E. For the photos in which Ian is the main subject of the photos, in what tense are the verbs usually written?

F. Break down the captions:

1. How many sentences are they on average?
2. Read the first sentence of a couple of them, what information do they provide?
3. Read the second sentences of a couple of them, what information do they provide?
4. If there is a third sentence, what information does it provide?
5. Do any captions include a quote?
6. Are there any that have four sentences?

G. Why do you think it is possible to tell a complete story with just photos and captions?

H. If you can create a story with just photos and captions, why bother writing a story at all?


FOR EXTRA CREDIT - because this is such a long reading, if you complete this extra credit, I will add 5 FULL points to your overall grade at the end of the six weeks. This must be posted on your blog by Friday, Nov. 11 to receive credit (Warning, do not skip other assignments to do this one, its not worth it, this is only for those people striving for the highest possible grade in my class):

Please read the story across those three papers

1. Briefly summarize the story of Ian Fisher. Please break this down by publish date. This means I want three separate summaries of a paragraph for each of the three days the paper published the story.
2. What was his motivation for joining the military?
3. What kind of problems did he encounter during basic training?
4. What part of Ian's pre-military life caused him the most problems as he was being trained and while on deployment?
5. What happened when Ian had a mid-tour break and returned home?
6. How did Iraq change Ian?