Description in College: Florence Bagley, “Photograph of My Father”

The following description essay was written by a student for a course assignment.

Florence Bagley

CRITICAL
READING

  • Preview
  • Read
  • Pause
  • Review

(See “Critical Reading” in Chapter 1)

Photograph of My Father

GUIDING QUESTION

What does Bagley see in the photo of her father?

1

This old black-and-white photograph of my father fills me with conflicting emotions. He died young, and this photo is one of the few that my family has of him. The picture seems to show a strong, happy man, young and smiling, but to me it also reveals his weakness.

PAUSE: Underline the sensory details in this paragraph.

PAUSE: What mood has Bagley created so far?

2

Looking at this picture of my father, I feel how much I have lost. In it, my father is sitting upright in a worn plaid easy chair. It was “his” chair, and when he was at work, I’d curl up in it and smell his aftershave lotion and cigarette smoke. His pitch-black hair is so dark that it blends into the background of the photo. His eyes, though indistinct in this photo, were a deep, dark brown. Although the photo is faded around my father’s face, I still can make out his strong jaw and the cleft in his chin. In the photo, my father is wearing a clean white T-shirt that reveals his thick, muscular arms. Resting in the crook of his left arm is my younger brother, who was about one year old at the time. Both of them are smiling.

PAUSE: How has the mood changed and what transition signals the change?

3

However, when I study the photo, my eyes are drawn to the can of beer that sits on the table next to him. Against my will, I begin to feel resentful. I have so many wonderful memories of my father. Whether he was carrying me on his shoulders, picking me up from school, or teaching me to draw, he always made time for me. All of these memories fade when I see that beer. From what I remember, he always made time for that beer as well. The smell of beer was always on him, the cool, sweating can always within reach.

PAUSE: What conflicting feelings does the picture create?

4

In this photo, my father appears to be a strong man; however, looks are deceiving. My father died at the age of thirty-seven because he was an alcoholic. I was eleven when he died, and I really did not understand that his drinking was the reason for his death. I just knew that he left me without a father and the possibility of more memories. He should have been strong enough to stop drinking.

5

In spite of the resentment I may feel about his leaving me, this photo holds many loving memories as well. It is of my father — the strong, wonderful man and the alcoholic — and it is the most precious thing I own. Although I would much rather have him here, I stay connected to him when I look at it.

CRITICAL
THINKING

  • Summarize
  • Analyze
  • Synthesize
  • Evaluate

(See “Writing Critically About Readings” in Chapter 1)

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