The first time Tom Junod references himself is in the sentence where Mister Rogers is talking about the monkey putting on his shoes and he says the author's name. Then again when says "The first time I met Mr. Rogers." But even before this, he establishes his own voice when he is describing Mr. Roger's appearance and apparel. The adjectives he uses are from his own mind and belong to his own writing style, "slightly wattles at the neck", "slightly stooped at the shoulder", "slightly sunken in the chest", "slightly curvy at the hips." Junod establishes Mr. Roger's voice firstly and most evidently by quoting him. My personal favorite is "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you.' One hundred and forty-three. 'I love you.' Isn't that wonderful?" Tom also establishes Rogers' voice by adding quotes to the end of the stories he tells about events of Mr. Rogers life, like the time he and Mr. Rogers and Maya Lin went to New York and met a bunch of people who recognized Mr. Rogers, "Oh, Tom, if you could only hear the stories I hear!" This makes it sound like Mr. Rogers is alive in the profile instead of just sounding like an outsiders perspective. Another way that Junod establishes Rogers' voice is by using his voice, imitating him in a sense. This is clear when the author writes as if he is explaining things to a child, which Mr. Rogers does on his TV show. " Architects are people who build big things from little things", "what is grace? He can't define it." Junod establishes his voice especially by making it clear that he is the peripheral narrator. Even if it is Mr. Rogers' profiles, Junod is still the one who is the "eyes and ears of the story" ( Burroway ch.3). Every story he tells is from his experience with my Rogers, his viewing of Roger's appearance "He was wearing beige pants, a blue dress shirt, a tie, dark socks, a pair of dark-blue boating sneakers, and a purple, zippered cardigan." The profile is based on how he interprets Rogers'', "Mr. Rogers lives in a state of astonishment."
Furthermore, he establishes his own voice by using the word "I", because he did actually meet Mr. Rogers and not only was he there to hear his stories, but he experienced some of them with him.
I love that you spoke of the "143 means 'I love you'" quote! I love this as an example of voice because this one quote, along with its explanation, can really say a lot about various aspects of his person. This really gives a sense of who he is, how he thinks about things. It shows how his mind has a really meticulous side, while also showing a gentle aspect as well.
ReplyDeleteFrom The Zombie of the class:
ReplyDeleteI,too,read the profile of mister Rogers. And while I did not enjoy it, your summary of the piece did enlighten me to some of the things I did not notice.
I never thought of him explaining words as him imitating Misters Rogers. I can see it now because of your summary.
From The Zombie of the class:
ReplyDeleteI,too,read the profile of mister Rogers. And while I did not enjoy it, your summary of the piece did enlighten me to some of the things I did not notice.
I never thought of him explaining words as him imitating Misters Rogers. I can see it now because of your summary.
I agree with what Rachel said. The Mr. Rogers writing does have a lot of voice and gives a clear idea of him. When reading the story it did give a large sense of who Mr. Rogers is.
ReplyDelete