Reading Journal No. 5

For the past few weeks we have been focusing on profiles so for this week's reading I wanted to do the same. Originally I wanted to take apart The New Yorker's profile on James Franco that was published over the summer (since I think it was brilliant--engaging, funny, and all out crazy) but unfortunately I know it doesn't fall under the reading journal requirements.

Anyways, I looked through The NY Times and it was pretty difficult to find a profile story that is available every day. Luckily I did find one in the "Movies" section that was published last week. Titled, "Betty Ann Waters, Real-Life Heroine of 'Conviction'" journalist Robin Pogrebin writes about Waters present life. Turns out the film 'Conviction' which premiered in London the same week that the story was released is based on her life.

The lede gives us a background and up-to-date information on Waters:

Betty Anne Waters still greets her lunch customers here as they tuck into pints of Guinness and Reuben sandwiches at Aidan’s, a pub hard by the harbor in this small, boat-building town.

Ms. Waters had only a job as a waitress, her high school equivalency, two kids and a stack of bills when she set out to rescue her brother Kenneth Waters, who served 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Now she has a college degree, a law degree and the stunning achievement of having succeeded, after nearly two decades, in overturning her brother’s conviction.

But after he was released in 2001 — and the flurry of news attention faded — Ms. Waters, 56, returned to Aidan’s, to the simple life of tending to her family and the pub where she is now general manager. No law firm. No fat salary. No fame.

“As I got to know her, I understood it,” said Barry Scheck, a lawyer who assisted her on the case. “She did not become a lawyer to be a lawyer. She became a lawyer to get her brother out of jail.”

I liked how in a few simple sentences, Pogrebin was able to write out the most important aspects of Ms. Waters' life, past and present. The following paragraph we learn about Ms. Waters' life being depicted in film:

Come Friday, though, when the movie "Conviction" opens in select cities, considerably more people will get to know Betty Anne Waters. The movie, starring Hilary Swank as Ms. Waters, tells her story; how she doggedly searched for DNA evidence that had supposedly been destroyed; how she enlisted Mr. Scheck and his Innoncence Project to join in her quest; and how she, Mr. Scheck (played by Peter Gallagher in the film) and her friend Abra Rice (played by Minnie Driver) went house to house, getting witnesses to admit they had lied under police pressure.

As a reader, I was not aware of this film before stumbling upon this story and the way Pogrebin points out the dramatic details about her life and film hooked me into reading about Ms. Waters and the film. Its a really interesting and quite eye opening story. We learn about how Ms. Waters went from a waitress to a lawyer is hopes to rescue her brother from spending his entire life in jail due to false murder accusations he did not commit.

I also noticed that Pogrebin chose Ms. Waters' son, Richard Corrente Jr. and Aidan Graham her boss when she was a waitress as primary sources. In my opinion by quoting two people who have been with Ms. Waters since the beginning of her quest was a good one.

And we can't forget about the film. Pogredin includes actors Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell in the story and I found it a great use by having two people who barely know the Waters family to understand the emotions and hardships the siblings had to go through by just reading the script (and probably learning about their lives and trials). It tells me (and probably the readers) that I can get the same sense as the actors did by watching the film.

Malcolm Gladwell's "Six Degrees of Lois Wesberg" was an interesting read. In the first few pages we don't really see much of Lois, aside from incidents she is involved in. By doing so, Gladwell portrays Lois' character: assertive yet likable. He then gets down to real nitty-gritty stuff by using the introduction as a way to lead into her work. I also noticed that Gladwell has a tendency to ask the readers question (in a retorical manner) that he later answers, for example, he asks, "Why is it, for example, that these few, select peole seem to know everyone and the read of us don't?" (65). By doing so it kept me hooked and to continue the reading in hopes to have that questioned answer. Also, how he kind of made "chapters" in the story as a way to show a break was really good. It let me know that there's a new topic . One very small, minor thing I did not like was his constant use of commas. I left that it made some sentences really choppy and kind of irritated me. But all in all, I really enjoyed it.