American Soldier

A. The most powerful image from the pictures is the one called "Doing What He Can" because it shows just how grueling being in the army is, and how Fisher's perseverance has kept him going.

B. The images work together to tell a story because they show how Fisher first got started in the army and what hardships he had to go through in order to get to the end of his training.

C. The captions enhance the photos because I am able to tell what emotions or events the people in the picture are going through, or have been through. I am not able to tell those things from just looking at it, so it helps.

D. Ian Fisher decided to join the army to serve his country and God. Upon the first few days of basic training, he reawakened an old injury that he had, which brought him some trouble. He recovered from those injuries and continued with his training. Through the next few weeks, he dealt with the hard physical training, disobedient squad mates, relentless drill sergeants, and sleep deprivation. After his 14 weeks of basic training were over, he graduated and was deployed to Iraq for a 1 year mission. There, he dealt with more emotional hardships and behavior. However, he got baptized on his mother's wishes because she wanted him to have "a little extra in his pocket." After his work in Iraq was finished, he came home and his family was happy he was there for good.

E. When Fisher is the subject in the picture, the verbs are usually in present tense.

F.

1. On average, the captions are about 2 sentences.
2. The first sentence of the captions usually explains what's going on in the picture.
3. The second sentence usually gives information that I can't tell just by looking at the picture.
4. The third sentence provides a quote from someone relevant to the picture.
5. Yes, the quote is usually in the third sentence.
6. Yes, and it seems to just provide more background information.

G. It's possible to tell a whole story with just pictures and captions because the pictures provide a visual for the reader to analyze, then there's the written part that provides more information about what's going on.

H. You need a story to go with the pictures and captions because those are just additions to the actual story you wanted to tell. The pictures and captions can help with the story, but you go into more detail and provide more insight if you actually write out the whole thing.