Preview

The Boston Photographs

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
798 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Boston Photographs
The Boston Photographs
In “The Boston Photographs” by Nora Ephron, Ephron used most of the time writing about the reactions of the many readers all over the nation and world whom were shocked by the pictures that were published in their local newspapers. She should have used most of the time writing about the day when the incident happened. By doing this, it would have affected people a lot more than seeing the bad of it. In telling the facts, Ephron only provides factual information such as whom took the picture, what the picture is about, what type of camera he used, and what a variety of newspapers all over the nation did with the pictures.
Ephron dedicates a large amount of writing telling the reactions to the photographs by first expressing her own reaction to the pictures and then in detail the reactions of readers and publishers whom published the set of pictures in their newspapers. Ephron gives a small amount of writing to editors and their defense of the photographs. Ephron only explains how several editors wrote columns defending the pictures. For Ephron’s own analysis she dedicates a very large part to explaining her analysis of the pictures and the people reactions of the publishing of the pictures and her views on the treatment of publishing such pictures for the general public. Ephron explains how the phone calls, letters, and Seib’s own reaction, were occasioned by one factor, which was the death of a woman. She explains how everyone’s reaction to the picture would have been different if the caption said that the women didn’t die or the child was killed instead because the picture would always be the same, but everyone’s reaction would be different. In the end Ephron explains how newspaper editors are afraid to publish such pictures such as the Boston pictures because they fear the reaction of the people and so they continue censoring such pictures.
In my opinion, Ephron stabilities these numerous perceptions in not such a good style of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The pictures were in more than 400 newspapers across the United States. Reader reaction across the country was almost all negative. The newspapers received many negative letters from its readers. They all repeated the same thing. "Invading the privacy of death." "Cheap sensationalism." "I thought I was reading the National Enquirer." Many editors wrote and defended the pictures. One newspaper responded by saying they printed the article to show the dangers of fire escapes and about the slumlords.…

    • 548 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Paul Revere’s engraving shows British troops on one side holding their rifles up and firing in a line against the helpless colonists. In reality, the fighting broke out on both sides who were antagonizing each other. Another inaccuracy in Paul’s engraving was that the dead man lying closest to the British soldiers was a black man named Crispus Attucks, but in-group preference was high for white people at this point so Paul Revere made him look white in the engraving so that it would get a more sympathetic reaction from the other colonists.…

    • 93 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the essay, The Boston Photographs, Nora Ephron argues that it is “irresponsible” and more “inaccurate” that newspapers show pictures of death unless they come from the Associated Press Wire (Ephron 172). The Boston Photographs is one of the reasons why Ephron feels that way. The Boston Photographs are a series of photographs of a fireman trying to rescue a lady and a child from a burning building. As the fireman reaches for the rescue ladder the fire escape they were standing on collapse, which causes the lady and child to fall from the top of a five-story building. Stanley Forman, the photographer who took the pictures, captures just about everything from the fire escape breaking to nearly the lady and child hitting the ground. Unfortunately, the 19 year old Diana Bryant did not survive the horrible fall, but the child did by landing on Diana’s body. This whole incident caused quite a stir with the press.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    While reading this story, not only does the author go into good detail but she adds onto the affect of the the story by adding in photos. She puts captions on them like she did for the photo of Louie at his plane that he barely survived in with 954 bullet holes; she captioned “Louie at the Super Man on the day after Nauru” (Hillenbrand 115). She evens goes far enough to include pictures of not only Louie but of his friends, Japanese camp officials (who treated POW’s poorly), and even some of Louie and his friends after the war, when they were safely home, with their families, living a better…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Document 3: How does the engraving tell a different story from the above description of the Boston Massacre?…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    How does the engraving tell a different story from the above description of the Boston Massacre?…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this film there are shown two sides of the American Revolution. The Americans and the Britishers had equally contributed to the American Revolution. My understanding of the American Revolution was limited to the disturbance created by the British troops, but after viewing this film my understanding has extended to believe that colonists had triggered these reactions from British Parliament. The Stamp Act, a decision made by British Parliament, was to impose taxes on the colonies in order to gain more money, because England was in need for it. The Americans viewed this as British Parliament obtaining their power over American’s liberty (“Boston, Bloody Boston: The Revolution”). My understanding of American revolution was limited to the Boston…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Just like the reading states where it became a way for black people to come out and be noticed and respected; to be represented. Photographs show the truth in the lives of people, in our country, in the world, past, present, and sometimes even the future. The images that are portrayed always have a much deeper truth then what can just be seen with a quick glance. The author talks about how her parents took photos of her family and their lives constantly. The reason for this being that there is a deeper truth behind it. They weren’t able to express themselves in the past and so much of their lives had been lost. Therefore, they were taking every opportunity to capture and cherish…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Boston, Bloody, Boston is a documentary that depicts actual events that happened in the year 1765. The history of when and whom the key players leading up to the Revolutionary War in Boston is the focus on this mini-series. As historians can focus on the true story of what happen in Boston, there is often times some misconceptions of what we can perceive as truth. Many documents and photographs were all truth telling to make this documentary as true as possible. Interviewing historians of both past and present, make this series a more accurate historical find. Growing up with a family that lived in Boston, I was able to understand history of my ancestors in the period. Boston, Bloody, Boston is a documentary that will depict the time, historian findings and present the history in the way to be understood more easily.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” The possibilities are endless, and in this case, timeless. This picture can portray the heart of a nation’s culture, the exuberance of a historic moment, or even the embodiment of a people. The year: 1945, sailors and nurses litter the streets of New York City. There is a sense of anticipation. Japan’s pending surrender (ending the world’s second ravaging period at war) and bringing America’s boys home is imminent. On August 14, 1945, Alfred Eisenstaedt unknowingly captures one of the most influential photographs in American history as New York City is captivated by news of America’s victory over Japan. Eisenstaedt’s snapshot of the kissing couple in “V-J Day in Times Square” (also known as “The Kiss”), depicts the face of the United States in the mid-1940’s: the national mood of elation, the spirit of American culture, and the beacon of hope for better days to come.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cited: Sherfield, R. M., & Moody, P. G. (2013). Student success and career development: A custom edition for Houston Community College. Boston: Pearson.…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Family portraits are rare in early 18th century British colonial America, perhaps because they were expensive & usually so large, that they required a sizable public parlor for display. Most 18th-century colonial American houses were not spacious. Family portraits are also much more complicated for the artist, and there were few artists available in colonial America early in the century. But the incidence of family portraits grew, as the number of painters & spaces in homes also grew.…

    • 93 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    We all know the story of the Boston Massacre; British troops fired into a group of colonists and killed five people, deeming it the start of the American Revolution. However, the story most people are not aware of are the reason behind the shooting and the events that led up to what is now known as the “massacre”. This topic is one of the most controversial moments in the American Revolution. Why were shots fired? Better yet, why were there weapons drawn on the colonists in the first place? And who was truly at fault for this “massacre”? Was it truly the British troops? Or was it in fact the colonists? The fate of one man’s life, Captain Thomas Preston, and his soldiers depended on the truth from the former questions. Through this essay, evidence will be looked at by the prosecution’s and defendant’s witnesses in the trial of Captain Preston and his soldiers in hopes to understand what truly happened on the night of March 5th, 1770.…

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within three weeks of the event in March 1770, an engraving by Paul Revere began circulating throughout the colony. His depiction of the shooting contained not a clash of brawlers, but instead innocent citizens, whom the British had no foreseeable reason to shoot at. Revere's intention was to convince viewers of the indisputable justice of the colonial cause. The public, enraged over the killings, began joining the Separatist cause, and revolts became very frequent. Revere's engraving, however, was mere propaganda used to oppose the British, for his depiction did not correctly display the unfolding of events. The British shot, not at innocent civilians posing no threat, but at rebellious colonists, many of whom were taunting the soldiers and throwing snowballs and rocks in their vicinity. Although the outrageous behavior of the Bostonians bore no reason for the Redcoats to open fire, it certainly changes the complexity of the situation. Both sides were in some degree to blame for the mass shooting.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robert Frank, a Jewish photographer, was born in Switzerland. He plays an important role in the photography field because of his most famous work The Americans, which was published in 1958. His unique and fresh outsider’s view of American society received criticism in the U.S when the book first came out. The reason is that the Frank’s photographs are unlike other photographic essays, which portray Americans in a positive way instead it demonstrates the idea of Americans by taking the violent and desolated photos. Criticism aside, in order to make a fair judgment, we will analyze specifically the photos from the Frank exhibit, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition features all 83 photos picked by Frank from the 28,000 shots, which he took during a road trip between 1955 and 1956. The work is divided into four sections. The first section shows different comparisons such as politicians to civilians, White to blacl,and rich to poor. The first photo in the first section titled “Parade—Hoboken, New Jersey” shows two windows: above them is an American flag and two women look out from the window. It is definitely not showing a parade, but rather Frank ironically portrays the idea of sadness and isolation. In the second section, Frank is more focused on the social and economical inequality. For example, the photograph in the second section titled “Trolley— New Orleans” shows the passengers in the…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays