Journal #3 Chelsey

Reading Holding On is going really great. I'm really interested in all the different profiles and different perspectives of peoples lives. Also reading about peoples life stories is so interesting to me.

The strengths of Holding On  in my opinion would be David Isay's different point of views he uses in each profile. For example in some profiles he includes himself a lot throughout the writing, which I think makes the profile even more interesting, because you get to see his personal view of the experience with that person in the story. A weakness I think Holding On has is how short some of the profiles are, in my opinion. In some of the profiles I really get into, are sometimes too short for my liking. Some of the profiles I would like to see a bit longer than they are. However, in this case I understand why they are shorter than the actually interview with these people were.

I chose the profile on Father Louis H. Greving. And I liked this profile because it not only shared the story of Greving but also the life story of father Dobberstein. I liked how Greving talks about him even though the profile is suppose to be about himself.
The research question I had for this profile was, if the grotto's were still there and if Greving was still the one working on them, if not who is?
I found that the grotto is still there and is open 24/7. It was also put on the national registrar of historical places list in 2001. I could not find who if anyone is still working on the grotto's.

The theme of this profile is faith and keeping faith. It's important because that is what the whole profile was about. The 9 grotto's are a religious place. They show the life of Christ. It's also important because it shows how strong Dobberstein and Greving's faith is.
The photo shows a grotto and some of the detail that it entails. It also shows a man that looks very pleased with life. I think this helps the story because it shows one how beautiful the grotto's are and also how much detail and work they have required.
The language stands out in the beginning of the profile when Isay is speaking about what he is seeing and he is using descriptive language and sensory detail, that helps the audience imagine what they look like in his eyes.
I noticed that Isay in the beginning when he was describing the grotto's, he was also describing Greving as an "intense man" and how his voice "rises and falls quivering with emotion". I really liked that he did that in this profile. His use of sensory details and figurative language made me able to imagine the grotto's and Greving himself.