Scene-Act
Published on Nov 27, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
between a rock
and a hard place
For my independent autobiography, I chose the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston.
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Aron Ralston
Aron is a mountaineer and outdoorsman who likes to explore remote places.
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background
- Aron is a mountaineer
- he gets stuck in the canyons
- book about his surivival
In this book, he is hiking in the canyons of Utah when he gets his arm caught between a boulder and the canyon wall. This book talks about his experience out in the wild with limited resources and his attempt to survive.
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Scene act
In this presentation, I will analyze the scene-act from the pentad. Specifically, I am answering the question, “How does one’s sense of place affect his/her thoughts and actions”.
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If you recall, I said how he was trapped between a boulder and a canyon wall during one of his exhibitions into the canyons. This is the place where he spends the majority of his time in this novel.
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Being in such a predicament, his thoughts and decisions are definitely affected. His physical location has an effect on many of his action choices.
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The three moments I am going to share with you all reveal human motivation in that it emphasizes that humans will try and are motivated to survive at all costs.
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Moment 1
- “HELLLP! The desperation of my quivering shout disturbs me. Again I hold my breath. After the dying fall of my shout, there is no returning sound besides the thumping of my excited heart. A critical moment passes, my hopes evaporate, and I know there are no people in this canyon.”
The first moment I am going to talk about is when he is already stuck in between the boulder and canyon wall and he thinks he hears some canyoneers, who could possibly rescue him. “HELLLP! The desperation of my quivering shout disturbs me. Again I hold my breath. After the dying fall of my shout, there is no returning sound besides the thumping of my excited heart. A critical moment passes, my hopes evaporate, and I know there are no people in this canyon.”
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- Being trapped causes him to think this way
In this moment, we see that he uses scenic narration, which describes specific events in detail. He uses a lot of detail to convey a more clear image of his situation and desperateness. This desperation shows that he is thinking that he needs to survive and it is because of his ensnarement between the rocks that he thinks this way. Obviously, if you’re trapped and you can’t get out, the only thought going in your mind is how can I get out?
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Before I talk about moment 2, I will share some background info before this moment. Aron contemplates cutting off his arm to escape pretty early on in the book. He tries to cut through his skin but the knife doesn’t go through so he gives up on that idea and hopes for rescue.
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However, this next moment, which is a couple days later, is his “a-ha” moment when he realizes that it is possible to cut through his arm. He accidentally stabs his arm and the blade goes through piercing his flesh.
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Moment 2
- “..I can see the folded handle of the multi-tool thrust perpendicular into my arm. Yesterday it didn’t seem possible that my knife could ever get through my skin, but it did. When I grasp the tool more firmly and wiggle it slightly, the blade connects with something hard, my upper forearm bone”
“..I can see the folded handle of the multi-tool thrust perpendicular into my arm. Yesterday it didn’t seem possible that my knife could ever get through my skin, but it did. When I grasp the tool more firmly and wiggle it slightly, the blade connects with something hard, my upper forearm bone”
Photo by Leo Reynolds
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- being trapped causes him to consider extraordianary measures
This is a pivotal point in that he discovers this new information, which gives him newfound hope of getting out. Here, there is a shift from pessimistic “I’m going to die out here” to “maybe I can actually saw off my arm”. Being trapped causes him to consider extraordinary measures like cutting off his arm. His desire to get out once again shows his human motivation to survive. He is even willing to cut off his arm if it means that he can escape and live.
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The last moment is similar to the moment I just talked about. Actually, after he realizes he can cut through his arm, he also quickly finds out there’s no way for him to cut through his bones. Before this moment, he states how his arm is rotting and how it’s a “piece of garbage” and he doesn’t want it anymore. Then he begins thrashing around, in that moment he starts feeling his arm bend unnaturally and comes to his epiphany.
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Moment 3
- “If I torque my arm far enough, I can break my forearm bones. Like bending a two-by-four held in a table vise, I can bow my entire goddamn arm until it snaps in two!”
“If I torque my arm far enough, I can break my forearm bones. Like bending a two-by-four held in a table vise, I can bow my entire goddamn arm until it snaps in two!”
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This new thought is caused by location once again. It is because he is in such a desperate situation that he thinks of breaking his bone to escape. I also observed that the diction here is a lot more positive than in the previous pages. I can hear the emotion in his voice and his excitement.
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ANalysis
- HUmans will try to survive at all costs
- Same motivation throughout book
This final moment ties it all together. When he thinks about breaking his bone, he is showing that he is willing to sacrifice his arm to save his life. This again ties in with human motivation in that he reveals that humans will try to survive at all costs. All three of these moments show that he has had this same motivation throughout the book. In the beginning, middle, and end his thoughts stay the same: he is trying to get out.
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Conclusion
- Effective at conveying message
So now that I’ve talked about some moments that reveal a message about human motivation, I will finish by offering my critique on his book. So like I’ve said before, I believe it is human nature to survive at all costs. I think this autobiography was pretty effective at conveying that message.
freedom
Being able to read the thought processes of a man trapped in the wilderness really helps reveal the message. I also believe humans naturally want freedom, and this is also shown in this book as he just wanted to be freed.
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