May 15 - 19

Activity 20

Analyzing Stylistic Choices

Respond to the following questions.

1. What details in the first two paragraphs convey a sense of the ordinary, behind-the-scenes routines of film critics? What words or phrases suggest the longevity of Ebert’s career as a movie reviewer?

2. How does Chris Jones distinguish Ebert from his fellow reviewers? Why is this contrast important?

3. How does Jones’s description of Ebert’s reaction to Broken Embraces help us understand Ebert’s character? What words or phrases reveal Ebert’s attitude toward the experience of watching this film?

4. What are the connotations of “kid joy”?

5. Jones writes that, at the end of the film, “it looks as though [Ebert’s] sitting on top of a cloud of paper.” Jones then describes how Ebert “kicks his notes into a small pile with his feet.” Why are these images important? What side of Ebert’s personality do they reveal?

6. Why does Jones use the word “savoring” to describe Ebert’s quiet pause after the film ends?

7. What does Jones mean when he says that the moment Ebert said his last words before losing the ability to talk to cancer “wasn’t cinematic”? Why is this significant?

8. What details are important in Jones’s description of Ebert’s second-floor library? What do the objects in this room suggest about Ebert’s current life?

9. Why does Jones say reading Ebert’s post-cancer online journal is like “watching an Aztec pyramid being built”?

10. What words and phrases suggest the post-cancer, post-voice surge of productivity Ebert experienced in his writing?

Activity 19 - see subpage

First Highlighting: As you did with the Shakespeare text, you will mark Jones’s interview with Roger Ebert. This time, use an orangecolored highlighter or colored pencil (or devise some other method of marking the text differently than you marked the soliloquy). Highlight the sentences, phrases, or words Ebert uses to describe what he thinks it means to be alive. Remember that most of Ebert’s direct quotations will be in italics.

Characterizing the Text Once you have highlighted Ebert’s words, compare what you have selected to highlight with the choices a classmate has made. Then, working with your partner, mark some of the commonly highlighted parts with a “+” or “–” sign to indicate whether each quote shows a generally positive or negative outlook on life. Discussing the results with your partner, decide how you would answer this question about Ebert’s outlook on life: Was he an optimist or a pessimist?

Second Highlighting: Go through the text once more, this time with a yellow highlighter. Imagine that you are reading Ebert’s statements from Hamlet’s perspective. Highlight any passages that Hamlet would find particularly interesting or compelling. Some of these may be the same words you have already highlighted while others will be new.

Activity 18

Mapping the Organizational Structure Map the organization of the text by taking the following steps:

1. Draw a line across the page where the introduction, or first “chunk,” seems to end. Is it after the first paragraph, or are there several introductory paragraphs? Is it in the middle of a paragraph? How do you know that the text has moved on from its opening section?

2. Draw a line across the page where the conclusion begins. Is it the last paragraph, or are there several concluding paragraphs? How do you know that the text has reached the conclusion?

3. Discuss in groups or as a class why you drew the lines where you did.

4. What is the purpose of the opening section of the article?

5. What is the purpose of the middle section of the article?

6. What is the purpose of the concluding section of the article?