A view from a bridge

P 127
Gregory DeLoach
1. How does McDonald organize his essay?
a. What period of time would you estimate is covered in this essay?
i. A view from a bridge is organized through dialogue between the
jogger and the blind boy and descriptive details of what the
blind boy is wearing/carrying and descriptive details about the
large silver fish they catch.
ii. The period of time would be about fifteen to twenty minutes.
2. What clues lead up to the revelation that the boy is blind?
a. Why does it take McDonald so long to realize
i. The main clue that the boy is blind is when he asks the jogger to
help him find his lost shrimp which is right by his foot.
ii. The jogger takes a long time to notice the boy is blind because
he is busy exercising.
3. Notice the way McDonald chooses and adjust some of the word he uses to
describe the fish to the boy in paragraphs 33-36.
a. Why does he do this?
i. When McDonald describes the fish he knows the boy is blind and
needs descriptive details about size and color to see the fish.
b. How does he organize he description of the fish so that the boy can
visualize it better.
i. McDonald starts with the size of the fish, as long as your arm.
Then the weight, fifteen to twenty pounds. Then describes the
color of silver and that the scales sparkle. Finally states that the
scales sparkle like all the colors.
4. By the end of the essay, we know much more about the boy beyond that he
is blind, but after the initial description, McDonald characterizes him only
indirectly.
a. As the essay unfolds, what do we learn about the boy, and how does
the author convey this knowledge.
i. As the essay unfolds, readers realize the boy is adventurous and
optimistic.
ii. We learn this through how he was able to subdue the fish and at
the end of the essay how the blind boy wants to catch big sport
fish and blue marlin.
5. McDonald tells much of his experience through dialogue.
a. What does this dialogue add to the narration?
i. As the story begins and as it ends, McDonald uses dialogue to
describe a blind boy and his attempt to catch a fish. The story
unfolds slowly and readers are not told everything and gradually
learn through the dialogue.

b. What would have been lost had McDonald not used dialogue?
i. The main thing that would have been lost if dialogue was not
used was the pace and emotion of the story. From first meeting
the boy to when the boy gets a bite, and finally when he decides
to let the fish go.
6. What is the connotation of the world view in the title?
a. Of the word bridge
i. He was able to see things from a different perspective.
ii. In the story McDonald connects with the blind boy as he catches
the fish and feels a connection between himself and the blind
boy by helping him enjoy his catch.