February represents heart awareness month. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba is in full swing with their door to door fundraising campaign that started on February 1, 2012.
Bryce J. McEwen, communications coordinator for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba said the campaign is one of the original fundraising initiatives the foundation started with and said the campaign is evaluated each year.
“The Foundation’s Door-to-Door campaign is the most successful grassroots fundraiser for the foundation, providing an excellent return on investment and raising nearly $700,000 each year in the province. “
McEwen also said the campaign raises more than just funds.
“The campaign raises life-saving awareness in the fight against heart disease and stroke. Thanks to our valued volunteers we are able to reach over 200,000 homes in both urban and rural areas across the province.”
McEwan also said volunteer participation is down slightly from last year but they are very close to their targets.
Barb Gemmell, a nonprofit expert, said several health organizations in Manitoba recruit for door to door volunteers.
“It is more difficult to get people to go door to door these days and the results of a door to door campaign are definitely impacted by the motivation and commitment of the volunteer canvassers.”
Amaro Silva, executive director for the Better Business Bureau of Manitoba can understand why charities use the door to door fundraising strategy but is does have some concern.
“In today’s world said Silva, with the number of schemes and scams on the go on a regular basis, people are probably wary and rightly so.”
Silva also said the Better Business Bureau advises people to be very careful of door to door solicitations. He said to ensure residents look for proper uniforms and to carefully check the canvassers identification. He recommends the legitimate charities ensure their volunteer canvassers are armed with uniforms, name tags charity id etc.
Silva said most scams take the form of a scatter gun approach where criminals will target anyone they think they can scam. For door to door scams though, criminals will target upper income neighbourhoods.
VISUALISATION POSSIBILITIES
When I think of visualizing this story, I think there are many options.
A chart outlining the different dates of when the various different non profits hold their door to door canvassing campaigns would be useful to the reader and also assist the organizations in raising awareness.
A map of upper income areas in the province would be useful so readers can see what areas are most likely to be targeted by criminals.
A graph depicting volunteer involvement with different charities over the years could also be used to demonstrate volunteer trends.
A graph outlining the results of door to door fundraising totals over the years from various different chairities in the city to demonstrate if this type of fundraiser is still successful could also be helpful in portraying this story visually.
Mapping out the number of victims of door to door scams could also be another useful visual component. If of course, these stats are available and current.
For the third part of the assignment, I didn't get very far with it unfortunately but I will try again. I did take a look at the tools that we learned in class though and found this very useful.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Diabetes Unscripted, The Caregiver Diaries
This past week I handed in my IPP or my Independent Professional Project. This is a huge accomplishment as I have been working on my IPP for a year and a half. My IPP is a book called Diabetes Unscripted, The Caregiver Diaries.
Diabetes Unscripted is about real life caregivers who share their stories about being a caregiver for someone living with diabetes. I became interested in pursuing the idea of researching and sharing caregiver stories because my own family has been impacted by type II diabetes. My mom is the primary caregiver for my dad and has looked after him for many years. I was inspired by my mother’s compassion and ability to care for my dad but it hasn’t always been easy.
My parents’ situation provided me with the foundation to understand what it is like for someone caring for someone living with the disease. As a caregiver, you are giving to someone on a daily basis. I kept on thinking to myself, who cares for the caregiver though? I wanted to create a caregivers’ companion if you will, a book for the caregivers to turn to when they need support. I wanted to provide them with the opportunity to relate to people in their situation where they can receive a source of inspiration, motivation and or comfort from sharing similar stories without having to leave the comfort of their own home. Caregivers can see themselves in this book and know they are not alone.
When I started to recruit caregivers for the project, My goal was to gather caregivers who were very different from each other so I could represent as many different situations as possible. In total, I was able to recruit nine caregivers who were willing to share their stories with me. Seven of them are diabetes related stories while two are not. These two caregiving stories however, are just as powerful and relevant.
I asked participants to journal their emotions for a three month period and to be as open and honest about their feelings as possible. I wanted them to treat their journal entries as their actual diary. That is why the title is also called The Caregiver Diaries. For those caregivers that were unable to journal, I interviewed them and compiled their information together. During the editing process, I worked very hard at not losing the authentic voice of the caregivers and kept their tones and words as authentic as possible.
Due to the sensitive and personal nature of the subject, some participants asked to remain anonymous. In this situation, alias names were used while others were open to sharing this story and even provided their photographs. At the start of each chapter, a visual aid is used that the subject provided to represent them. As well, a piece of music reflecting the theme of each situation is inserted underneath the photograph.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to Lori Berard, Head Nurse Manager at the Diabetes Research Group in Winnipeg located at the Health Science Centre. She is also Chair-Elect for the Canadian Diabetes Association. I cold called Lori back in October, 2011 and told her about my plans for Diabetes Unscripted. She felt the project was very important. I asked her to write the foreword in the book and she agreed. Thanks to Lori, I was also able to receive funding for printing costs that is much appreciated.
I will be holding a book launch for Diabetes Unscripted, The Caregiver Diaries on March 8, 2012 at 7:30pm at McNally Robinson in Grant Park Shopping Centre. I am thrilled with the feedback I have been receiving about this project and I am hopeful that Diabetes Unscripted, The Caregiver Diaries will help many people.
Diabetes Unscripted is about real life caregivers who share their stories about being a caregiver for someone living with diabetes. I became interested in pursuing the idea of researching and sharing caregiver stories because my own family has been impacted by type II diabetes. My mom is the primary caregiver for my dad and has looked after him for many years. I was inspired by my mother’s compassion and ability to care for my dad but it hasn’t always been easy.
My parents’ situation provided me with the foundation to understand what it is like for someone caring for someone living with the disease. As a caregiver, you are giving to someone on a daily basis. I kept on thinking to myself, who cares for the caregiver though? I wanted to create a caregivers’ companion if you will, a book for the caregivers to turn to when they need support. I wanted to provide them with the opportunity to relate to people in their situation where they can receive a source of inspiration, motivation and or comfort from sharing similar stories without having to leave the comfort of their own home. Caregivers can see themselves in this book and know they are not alone.
When I started to recruit caregivers for the project, My goal was to gather caregivers who were very different from each other so I could represent as many different situations as possible. In total, I was able to recruit nine caregivers who were willing to share their stories with me. Seven of them are diabetes related stories while two are not. These two caregiving stories however, are just as powerful and relevant.
I asked participants to journal their emotions for a three month period and to be as open and honest about their feelings as possible. I wanted them to treat their journal entries as their actual diary. That is why the title is also called The Caregiver Diaries. For those caregivers that were unable to journal, I interviewed them and compiled their information together. During the editing process, I worked very hard at not losing the authentic voice of the caregivers and kept their tones and words as authentic as possible.
Due to the sensitive and personal nature of the subject, some participants asked to remain anonymous. In this situation, alias names were used while others were open to sharing this story and even provided their photographs. At the start of each chapter, a visual aid is used that the subject provided to represent them. As well, a piece of music reflecting the theme of each situation is inserted underneath the photograph.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to Lori Berard, Head Nurse Manager at the Diabetes Research Group in Winnipeg located at the Health Science Centre. She is also Chair-Elect for the Canadian Diabetes Association. I cold called Lori back in October, 2011 and told her about my plans for Diabetes Unscripted. She felt the project was very important. I asked her to write the foreword in the book and she agreed. Thanks to Lori, I was also able to receive funding for printing costs that is much appreciated.
I will be holding a book launch for Diabetes Unscripted, The Caregiver Diaries on March 8, 2012 at 7:30pm at McNally Robinson in Grant Park Shopping Centre. I am thrilled with the feedback I have been receiving about this project and I am hopeful that Diabetes Unscripted, The Caregiver Diaries will help many people.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Valentine’s Day Perspectives
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I wanted investigate how people of different ages react to Valentine's Day. I also wanted to see how how people celebrate the day. Finally, I wanted to learn how people respond to the media coverage that surrounds Valentine's Day and how this affects them.
Tammy Robinson, 32, program manager for Manitoba at the Co-op Housing Federation of Canada said she is a romantic at heart and loves Valentine’s Day.
“I like Valentine’s Day, I am a romantic at heart. I am going to spend it with the people that I adore. I have no specific plans yet though,” she said.
Robinson also feels that the holiday is commercialized.
“I think it is commercialized and the media tries to sell us this impossible dream of what it should be like. I do not have any Valentine’s Day traditions. I just try to be good to myself and the people around me - but I do that every day,” she said.
Rich McKinley, 40, and new dad, has a confession to make about what he’ll be doing this Valentine’s Day.
“Actually.... I'm embarrassed to say, I'm going to the Jets game with a buddy. But, I’ll definitely get my partner flowers…I love her tons. Love the Jest too!”, he said.
I interviewed a cousin of mine who lives in Los Angeles who is 60 years old. I wanted to get his perspective on the day. He asked that I keep his identity concealed.
“I am not doing anything for Valentine’s Day. I only acknowledge this day when I'm dating someone. I make a point of staying away from restaurants on this day because they are overpriced and jammed. How's that for a male point of view?”
Rafid Shahriyar, 20, lives in Bangladesh and is super excited about Valentine’s Day.
“It is a tradition in my country to buy gifts for your special one. Our media here doesn’t really make me feel pressured in any way to have to do something for the day,” he said.
From these responses, there is certainly a variety of different viewpoints about the day itself, what it represents and how the media plays a part as well. I think the important thing is to remember that the foundation of the holiday is to appreciate the one you love. So, to all of you out there, take a moment and appreciate your loved one this Valentine’s Day!
Tammy Robinson, 32, program manager for Manitoba at the Co-op Housing Federation of Canada said she is a romantic at heart and loves Valentine’s Day.
“I like Valentine’s Day, I am a romantic at heart. I am going to spend it with the people that I adore. I have no specific plans yet though,” she said.
Robinson also feels that the holiday is commercialized.
“I think it is commercialized and the media tries to sell us this impossible dream of what it should be like. I do not have any Valentine’s Day traditions. I just try to be good to myself and the people around me - but I do that every day,” she said.
Rich McKinley, 40, and new dad, has a confession to make about what he’ll be doing this Valentine’s Day.
“Actually.... I'm embarrassed to say, I'm going to the Jets game with a buddy. But, I’ll definitely get my partner flowers…I love her tons. Love the Jest too!”, he said.
I interviewed a cousin of mine who lives in Los Angeles who is 60 years old. I wanted to get his perspective on the day. He asked that I keep his identity concealed.
“I am not doing anything for Valentine’s Day. I only acknowledge this day when I'm dating someone. I make a point of staying away from restaurants on this day because they are overpriced and jammed. How's that for a male point of view?”
Rafid Shahriyar, 20, lives in Bangladesh and is super excited about Valentine’s Day.
“It is a tradition in my country to buy gifts for your special one. Our media here doesn’t really make me feel pressured in any way to have to do something for the day,” he said.
From these responses, there is certainly a variety of different viewpoints about the day itself, what it represents and how the media plays a part as well. I think the important thing is to remember that the foundation of the holiday is to appreciate the one you love. So, to all of you out there, take a moment and appreciate your loved one this Valentine’s Day!
Monday, January 30, 2012
February 21 is International Mother Language Day
Today was news story day in journalism class. I chose to investigate International Mother Language Day. Read ahead and check out how some individuals feel about this day and what it stands for.
International Mother Language Day Celebrates Multilingualism
Mark your calendars; February 21 is International Mother Language Day promoting linguistic cultural diversity and multilingualism. This day was first recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on November 17, 1999.
The day has been observed since February 2000 to remember the student demonstrators that perished in 1952. Students were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, Bangladesh because they were protesting to have Bengali recognized as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan.
The United Nations’ website, http://www.un.org/en provides an excellent summary of the day’s significance.
Red River College students also believe their mother language is worth protecting.
Gagandeep Singh Gill, 21, speaks three languages, Punjabi, Hindi and English but Punjabi is his mother language. “Language is a big part of culture,” said Gill. “Now that I know about this important day, I will try to teach other people how to communicate in my language for the entire day on that day,” he said.
Gill also said that this day is important for immigrants whose language may not be a popular one in Canada. “Punjabi is very popular in Vancouver. For me, it isn’t so bad because of this but I can see how this day could be very important for someone whose language isn’t spoken as much,” he said.
Samuel Shaganya, 35, is also a Red River College student and comes from Congo. He speaks Swahili and agrees that acknowledging International Mother Language Day is important and it shows respect.
“This day makes sense to me, many immigrants come here and English overtakes their own language. A day like this can help immigrants remember their own language,” he said.
Shaganya also said, “I speak to my wife and children in Swahili and hope my children won’t forget their language as they get older. Days like this make sure this won’t happen.”
Dr. Terry Janzen, Associate Professor and Department Head of the Department of Linguistics for the University of Manitoba said acknowledging International Mother Language day is vital to raise awareness for people’s heritage and the language of their home.
Dr. Janzen also said, “There are quite a number of Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada, many of which are in serious danger of being lost. It is important that people not lose sight of their heritage in favour of a culture and language that is new for them.”
International Mother Language Day Celebrates Multilingualism
Mark your calendars; February 21 is International Mother Language Day promoting linguistic cultural diversity and multilingualism. This day was first recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on November 17, 1999.
The day has been observed since February 2000 to remember the student demonstrators that perished in 1952. Students were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, Bangladesh because they were protesting to have Bengali recognized as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan.
The United Nations’ website, http://www.un.org/en provides an excellent summary of the day’s significance.
Red River College students also believe their mother language is worth protecting.
Gagandeep Singh Gill, 21, speaks three languages, Punjabi, Hindi and English but Punjabi is his mother language. “Language is a big part of culture,” said Gill. “Now that I know about this important day, I will try to teach other people how to communicate in my language for the entire day on that day,” he said.
Gill also said that this day is important for immigrants whose language may not be a popular one in Canada. “Punjabi is very popular in Vancouver. For me, it isn’t so bad because of this but I can see how this day could be very important for someone whose language isn’t spoken as much,” he said.
Samuel Shaganya, 35, is also a Red River College student and comes from Congo. He speaks Swahili and agrees that acknowledging International Mother Language Day is important and it shows respect.
“This day makes sense to me, many immigrants come here and English overtakes their own language. A day like this can help immigrants remember their own language,” he said.
Shaganya also said, “I speak to my wife and children in Swahili and hope my children won’t forget their language as they get older. Days like this make sure this won’t happen.”
Dr. Terry Janzen, Associate Professor and Department Head of the Department of Linguistics for the University of Manitoba said acknowledging International Mother Language day is vital to raise awareness for people’s heritage and the language of their home.
Dr. Janzen also said, “There are quite a number of Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada, many of which are in serious danger of being lost. It is important that people not lose sight of their heritage in favour of a culture and language that is new for them.”
Monday, January 23, 2012
Journalism Skills Prove Valuable Even in Non Media Placement
Hello my wonderful followers, I hope you all have settled in to the New Year and have found your groove.
For the first three weeks of January, I completed a work placement component at the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. CYBF assists youth between the ages of 18-34 to start a business and can receive assistance from securing financing, business plan preparation to business mentoring. You can contact the CYBF at www.cybf.ca.
As a CYBF intern, I worked directly with the Director, Joelle Foster. Working alongside Joelle was an experience to say the least. Her energy level and abilities are incredible and she is extremely versatile. She runs the whole CYBF office in Manitoba. Joelle has made this position her own and really extends a helping hand to her young entrepreneurs to ensure they succeed.
What I found interesting about my experience at CYBF was how useful my journalism training is to an organization like this. I thought I would use more public relations skills than my journalism skills but that wasn’t the case. My first task was to interview and write profiles on as many of CYBF entrepreneurs as I could in the time I had. This task took up the majority of my time. I was more than happy to practice my interviewing skills with such inspiring and ambitious people.
I also assisted Joelle with brainstorming sessions about marketing and program development. When doing this, I fell back on using my journalism skills once again. Asking open ended questions such as who, what, where, when and why helped us breakdown our thought process into specific tangible tactics. These tools can be the foundation for many situations and it is a relief for me to know I am comfortable with this thought process.
I also realized how important writing as a skill is in every aspect. I had to do a large amount of editing and tightening up of sentences and reviewing word choices in some of the information I had to review for the profiles. Knowing the difference between decent and poor writing samples was very helpful for me to produce quality work for the organization as a whole.
I also realized that writing about entrepreneurship and the impacts of entrepreneurship in Manitoba is a topic that I find very inspiring to write about., I enjoy helping entrepreneurs with their writing needs and I do think there is a market for this in Winnipeg. Being an entrepreneur requires that you wear several different hats and it is very difficult to be good at all the different things that a required of you. I would like to be a freelance writer for entrepreneurs to help them articulate their story and any other marketing materials they may require.
I hope to do my second work placement with CYBF again in April. I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to Joelle Foster for making my three week internship with CYBF a valuable learning and networking experience.
For the first three weeks of January, I completed a work placement component at the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. CYBF assists youth between the ages of 18-34 to start a business and can receive assistance from securing financing, business plan preparation to business mentoring. You can contact the CYBF at www.cybf.ca.
As a CYBF intern, I worked directly with the Director, Joelle Foster. Working alongside Joelle was an experience to say the least. Her energy level and abilities are incredible and she is extremely versatile. She runs the whole CYBF office in Manitoba. Joelle has made this position her own and really extends a helping hand to her young entrepreneurs to ensure they succeed.
What I found interesting about my experience at CYBF was how useful my journalism training is to an organization like this. I thought I would use more public relations skills than my journalism skills but that wasn’t the case. My first task was to interview and write profiles on as many of CYBF entrepreneurs as I could in the time I had. This task took up the majority of my time. I was more than happy to practice my interviewing skills with such inspiring and ambitious people.
I also assisted Joelle with brainstorming sessions about marketing and program development. When doing this, I fell back on using my journalism skills once again. Asking open ended questions such as who, what, where, when and why helped us breakdown our thought process into specific tangible tactics. These tools can be the foundation for many situations and it is a relief for me to know I am comfortable with this thought process.
I also realized how important writing as a skill is in every aspect. I had to do a large amount of editing and tightening up of sentences and reviewing word choices in some of the information I had to review for the profiles. Knowing the difference between decent and poor writing samples was very helpful for me to produce quality work for the organization as a whole.
I also realized that writing about entrepreneurship and the impacts of entrepreneurship in Manitoba is a topic that I find very inspiring to write about., I enjoy helping entrepreneurs with their writing needs and I do think there is a market for this in Winnipeg. Being an entrepreneur requires that you wear several different hats and it is very difficult to be good at all the different things that a required of you. I would like to be a freelance writer for entrepreneurs to help them articulate their story and any other marketing materials they may require.
I hope to do my second work placement with CYBF again in April. I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to Joelle Foster for making my three week internship with CYBF a valuable learning and networking experience.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Winnipeg Transit Article
Hello all, I hope you had a lovely holiday season. I wanted to make sure you were aware of the transit article that I worked on with a classmate of mine during my last semester at school. It was published in the Winnipeg Free Press over the New Year's weekend. I wanted to share it with you. Please pass it along to your followers. That would be greatly appreciated.
Kindly,
Anrea
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/the-life-of-a-transit-bus-driver-is-no-ride-in-the-park-136470333.html
Kindly,
Anrea
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/the-life-of-a-transit-bus-driver-is-no-ride-in-the-park-136470333.html
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Hiroshima Assignment
Hiroshima Assignment:
What works in this book?
I really enjoyed the wide range of characters in the book. The six people that John Hersey the author chose to focus on were very different and at different stages in their lives. In my opinion, this made the story more impactful. Each character went through their own experiences, reactions and perspectives including their invididual outcomes from experiencing the atomic bomb. All of the details used to describe these experiences were very clear and brought the characters to life.
Using the exact time to describe what each character was doing precisely when the bomb struck was a very impactful way to tie the story together and keep it consistent. This technique really made me feel like I was there with the characters every step of the way and made me invision how vulnerable Hiroshima was.
The intense descriptions of the injuries that the Hiroshema victims endured really impacted me. My first time reading it was hard as it was unimaginable that people could have even survived such a blast in the first place. The human triumph that Hersey wrote about that came from such horrifc circumstances was overwhelming as well as inspiring. The heroism Mr. Tanimoto displayed was unbelievable. How he was able to be so determined to help as many of his fellow men as he did under such stressful and unknown circumstances was incredible.
What didn’t work for me?
What didn't work for me in this book was the flip flopping back and forth of all the different characters because I found it very confusing. I had to read the names back a few times before I was able to follow the characters properly.
The pronunciations of their names also made me stumble before I became comfortable with them. I would have liked guidance on how to pronounce the names beside them the first time I read them.
The raw truth of it all I found difficult to absorb. On one hand, it made the story more real however, I found it very hard to read and digest at times because of how raw and gory the imagery was. It just disturbed me greatly to read that human beings could have done this to each other.
What can journalists learn from this book?
Journalists can learn about history from this book. They can use it as a reference guide for dates, as well as different organizational bodies that resulted from the tragedy.
From reading Hiroshima, journalists can learn how to write a human tragedy story without putting their own feelings or biases in it. I also think Hiroshima is an excellent resource for a journalist to refer to if he or she needs to learn how to organize factual information on a a large scale. Hiroshima is very thoughtful as far as how it is laid out and organized. Hersey is also very effective in his writing techniques to describe passages of time that move the story along.
How does it compare to another non-fiction work of your choice in any medium?
I can see similarities between John Hersey’s writing style and Mike McIntyre’s writing style especially in McIntyre’s book To The Grave that was the inside look of a spectacular RCMP sting operation. At first, I was not sure how to answer this question but when I started to give it some thought I remembered McIntyre’s writing style is similar to Hersey’s.
In both situations, both authors had enormous amounts of information to organize. They both used the same technique in so far as using specifics such as pertinent times of day or dates to not only create passages of time but to actually organize events and information.
I also found in both pieces of work, the authors kept their own biases out of their writing and kept to the facts and details of the story they were telling. This allowed the reader freedom to come to conclusions and theories about what was actually happening or going to happen in their own.
How was this Hiroshima received when it was published in the New Yorker in 1946?
From researching this question online, I came across an essay written by Steve Rothman back in 1997 when he was a student studying at Harvard University. In his essay, Rothman said that Hiroshima first started out as an article that ended up being 31,000 words in length and it took over the entire magazine.
The story was to be published in August 1946, on the one-year anniversary of the dropping of the bomb. Rothman said the New Yorker published the article in its August 31,1946 issue. The book Hiroshima was published the same year the article came out, 1946.
It was updated in 1985 to tell the stories of the six main characters 40-years later. Rothman said the article created a blast in the publishing world. Rothman also said that The New Yorker sold out immediately, and requests for reprints poured in from all over the world. Following publication, "Hiroshima" was read on the radio in the United States and abroad.
What effect did reading Hiroshima have on you?
It was hard reading Hiroshima to think such devastation would have been acceptable in our world. It really brought home how vulnerable we are to each other’s actions. It also reminded me that we are all human no matter what colour or race or language we speak. The terror of that day, the unknown and the baffling fear of what happened to those poor people is saddening and sobering and thank goodness Hiroshima is there to remind us all of the horror of nuclear weapons and war.
It makes me appreciate peace and my own safety as I wake up every day and fall asleep each night under a warm blanket in a safe place. It also made me proud to be a Canadian.
What works in this book?
I really enjoyed the wide range of characters in the book. The six people that John Hersey the author chose to focus on were very different and at different stages in their lives. In my opinion, this made the story more impactful. Each character went through their own experiences, reactions and perspectives including their invididual outcomes from experiencing the atomic bomb. All of the details used to describe these experiences were very clear and brought the characters to life.
Using the exact time to describe what each character was doing precisely when the bomb struck was a very impactful way to tie the story together and keep it consistent. This technique really made me feel like I was there with the characters every step of the way and made me invision how vulnerable Hiroshima was.
The intense descriptions of the injuries that the Hiroshema victims endured really impacted me. My first time reading it was hard as it was unimaginable that people could have even survived such a blast in the first place. The human triumph that Hersey wrote about that came from such horrifc circumstances was overwhelming as well as inspiring. The heroism Mr. Tanimoto displayed was unbelievable. How he was able to be so determined to help as many of his fellow men as he did under such stressful and unknown circumstances was incredible.
What didn’t work for me?
What didn't work for me in this book was the flip flopping back and forth of all the different characters because I found it very confusing. I had to read the names back a few times before I was able to follow the characters properly.
The pronunciations of their names also made me stumble before I became comfortable with them. I would have liked guidance on how to pronounce the names beside them the first time I read them.
The raw truth of it all I found difficult to absorb. On one hand, it made the story more real however, I found it very hard to read and digest at times because of how raw and gory the imagery was. It just disturbed me greatly to read that human beings could have done this to each other.
What can journalists learn from this book?
Journalists can learn about history from this book. They can use it as a reference guide for dates, as well as different organizational bodies that resulted from the tragedy.
From reading Hiroshima, journalists can learn how to write a human tragedy story without putting their own feelings or biases in it. I also think Hiroshima is an excellent resource for a journalist to refer to if he or she needs to learn how to organize factual information on a a large scale. Hiroshima is very thoughtful as far as how it is laid out and organized. Hersey is also very effective in his writing techniques to describe passages of time that move the story along.
How does it compare to another non-fiction work of your choice in any medium?
I can see similarities between John Hersey’s writing style and Mike McIntyre’s writing style especially in McIntyre’s book To The Grave that was the inside look of a spectacular RCMP sting operation. At first, I was not sure how to answer this question but when I started to give it some thought I remembered McIntyre’s writing style is similar to Hersey’s.
In both situations, both authors had enormous amounts of information to organize. They both used the same technique in so far as using specifics such as pertinent times of day or dates to not only create passages of time but to actually organize events and information.
I also found in both pieces of work, the authors kept their own biases out of their writing and kept to the facts and details of the story they were telling. This allowed the reader freedom to come to conclusions and theories about what was actually happening or going to happen in their own.
How was this Hiroshima received when it was published in the New Yorker in 1946?
From researching this question online, I came across an essay written by Steve Rothman back in 1997 when he was a student studying at Harvard University. In his essay, Rothman said that Hiroshima first started out as an article that ended up being 31,000 words in length and it took over the entire magazine.
The story was to be published in August 1946, on the one-year anniversary of the dropping of the bomb. Rothman said the New Yorker published the article in its August 31,1946 issue. The book Hiroshima was published the same year the article came out, 1946.
It was updated in 1985 to tell the stories of the six main characters 40-years later. Rothman said the article created a blast in the publishing world. Rothman also said that The New Yorker sold out immediately, and requests for reprints poured in from all over the world. Following publication, "Hiroshima" was read on the radio in the United States and abroad.
What effect did reading Hiroshima have on you?
It was hard reading Hiroshima to think such devastation would have been acceptable in our world. It really brought home how vulnerable we are to each other’s actions. It also reminded me that we are all human no matter what colour or race or language we speak. The terror of that day, the unknown and the baffling fear of what happened to those poor people is saddening and sobering and thank goodness Hiroshima is there to remind us all of the horror of nuclear weapons and war.
It makes me appreciate peace and my own safety as I wake up every day and fall asleep each night under a warm blanket in a safe place. It also made me proud to be a Canadian.
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