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Lesson 3

In what ways do documentary photographs tell the truth or lie? We will finish responding to and discussing the Esquire magazine article, “The Falling Man: An Unforgettable Story” in order to finish gaining context regarding the events of 9/11 and Richard Drew’s iconic photograph.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension?

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate my understanding of a complex text?

  • Can I recognize points of connection among texts and perspectives to make logical, objective comparisons?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “The Falling Man: An Unforgettable Story,” Tom Junod, Esquire, 2016

Materials

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

As a class, we will discuss our responses to the questions about Junod’s characterization of Richard Drew in the first paragraphs of the esquire article about Falling Man.

Share, discuss, and defend your responses to the text-specific questions from the preceding lesson:

  1. What two word phrase does the author use to characterize photographers, “people like [Richard Drew]”?

  2. What additional information do you learn about Richard Drew and his photographing of Falling Man?

  3. How does the other major historical event Drew has photographed—the assassination of Bobby Kennedy—connect with his photographing of Falling Man?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will form reading teams to closely examine the remaining five sections of “The Falling Man: An Unforgettable Story.”

Step 1

Form a reading team of five students to examine closely a section of “The Falling Man: An Unforgettable Story.” Your teacher will assign you one of the sections, all of which begin with a bolded sentence from the article:

  • There is something almost rebellious in the man's posture, as though once faced with the inevitability of death, he decided to get on with it.

  • They began jumping not long after the first plane hit the North Tower, not long after the fire started. They kept jumping until the tower fell.

  • From the beginning, the spectacle of doomed people jumping from the upper floors of the World Trade Center resisted redemption.

  • Photographs lie. Even great photographs. Especially great photographs.

  • "I made the only choice I could have made. I could never have made the choice not to know."

Step 2

Individually, reread your section of the article, then discuss it with your group, using the following questions to guide your discussion:

  1. How is the heading for your section related to what Junod discusses in that section? To the article as a whole?

  2. What new information do you learn about “The Falling Man” and its controversial history?

  3. What descriptive details or images stand out to you as you read?

  4. How does what you read relate to a final sentence from the article:

    One of the most famous photographs in human history became an unmarked grave, and the man buried inside its frame—the Falling Man—became the Unknown Soldier in a war whose end we have not yet seen.

Step 3

As a group, form a claim about the central idea of the section you have examined that you can share with other students in the class.

Activity 3: Discuss

We will form new jigsaw discussion groups and share what we have learned by closely reading a section of the article.

Regroup so that there are five students in your new group, one for each of the five sections that you examined closely.

With your new group, take turns leading a jigsaw discussion, in the order of the sections of the article. Use the questions from the previous activity to guide what you report about your section:

  1. How is the heading for your section related to what Junod discusses in that section? To the article as a whole?

  2. What new information do you learn about Falling Man and its controversial history?

  3. What descriptive details or images stand out to you as you read?

  4. How does what you read relate to a final sentence from the article:

    One of the most famous photographs in human history became an unmarked grave, and the man buried inside its frame—the Falling Man—became the Unknown Soldier in a war whose end we have not yet seen.

Share the summary claim about a central idea with your jigsaw group. Then respond to and discuss questions from the group.

Rotate through this process until all five sections have been discussed.

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

As a class, we will finish discussing “The Falling Man: An Unforgettable Story.”

Step 1

As a class, reread the final sentences of the essay, beginning with the one you considered in the jigsaw activity.

Participate in a final discussion, considering what you think Junod is saying at the end of his article about Falling Man. Note evidence from the text that supports your observations about his overall message.

Return to the quotation from John Morris that you have considered several times in the unit:

Truth is the objective of good journalism; beauty is secondary to the truth. But the great photographers usually manage to get pictures which are not only truthful but beautiful.

Discuss how this quotation relates to Junod’s ideas and final words about the Falling Man photograph. Consider how the photograph may reveal “truth” that some people would rather not see. Consider also how it is visually beautiful, even as it is also emotionally disturbing.

Step 2

Individually write a short paragraph in response to the following questions as an exit ticket.

  1. What might the author mean when he says, "photographs lie"?

  2. How does this statement relate to the controversy over Richard Drew’s Falling Man?

  3. In what ways is (or is not) the photograph “not only truthful but beautiful”?