Writing Analytically, 6th Edition - Rosenwasser, David & Stephen, Jill [142]
The zoom—The camera moves in even closer on a selected piece of the scene, allowing us to notice more of its details. For example, a zoom might focus in on the woman’s hand as she crumples the photograph she’s about to throw away or on her face as she slams the lid on the trash can. A writer zooms in by giving us more detail on a particular part of the evidence and making the details say more. The zoom is the shot that enables you to do 10 on 1.
In a short paper (three to five pages), you might devote as much as 90 percent of your writing to exploring what one example (the “1”—your zoom) reveals about the larger subject. Even in a paper that uses several examples, however, as much as 50 percent might still be devoted to analysis of and generalization from a single case. The remaining portion of the paper would make connections with other examples, testing and applying the ideas you arrived at from your single case. In-depth analysis of your best example thus creates a center from which you can move in two directions: (1) toward generalizations about the larger subject and (2) toward other examples, using your primary example as a tool of exploration.
Doing 10 on 1: A Brief Example (Tiananmen Square)
Note how the writer of the following discussion of the people’s revolt in China in 1989 sets up his analysis. He first explains how his chosen example—a classic photograph (shown in Figure 10.3) from the media coverage of the event—illuminates his larger subject. The image is of a Chinese man in a white shirt who temporarily halted a line of tanks on their way to quell a demonstration in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
The tank image provided a miniature, simplified version of a larger, more complex revolution. The conflict between man and tank embodied the same tension found in the conflict between student demonstrators and the Peoples’ Army. The man in the white shirt, like the students, displayed courage, defiance, and rebellious individuality in the face of power. Initially, the peaceful revolution succeeded: the state allowed the students to protest; likewise, the tank spared the man’s life. Empowered, the students’ demands for democracy grew louder. Likewise, the man boldly jumped onto the tank and addressed the soldiers. The state’s formerly unshakable dominance appeared weak next to the strength of the individual. However, the state asserted its power: the Peoples’ Army marched into the square, and the tanks roared past the man into Beijing.
FIGURE 10.3
Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 1989.
©Jeff Widener/AP
The image appeals to American ideology. The man in the white shirt personifies the strength of the American individual. His rugged courage draws on contemporary heroes such as Rambo. His defiant gestures resemble the demonstrations of Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers. American history predisposes us to identify strongly with the Chinese demonstrators: we have rebelled against the establishment, we have fought for freedom and democracy, and we have defended the rights of the individual. For example, the New York Times reported that President George [H. W.] Bush watched the tank incident on television and said, “I’m convinced that the forces of democracy are going to overcome these unfortunate events in Tiananmen Square.” Bush represents the popular American perspective of the Chinese rebellion; we support the student demonstrators.
This analysis is a striking example of doing 10 on 1. In the first paragraph, the writer constructs a detailed analogy between the particular image and the larger subject of which it was a part. The analogy allows the writer not just to describe but also to interpret the event. In the second paragraph, he develops his focus on the image as an image, a photographic representation tailor-made to appeal to American viewing audiences. Rather than generalizing about why Americans might find the image appealing, he establishes a number of explicit connections (does