My stratgey for covering the Benny Perkin’s story would be the same strategy taught in class.
First I would organize the notes that I had taken from the interview. I would categorize them into sections such as: themes, anecdotes and quotations. Once I figured out those three sections I would see how they incorporated with one another.
The themes that we chose from the story were:
-mind games
-competition
-insanity
After establishing the themes I would see which anectdotes match up and support each theme.
For competition I would use the story about he is a great competitor and that the only person who would have a chance at beating him would have to be a US Marine. He explained that he had been training for this competition and that no one would stand in his way.
For mindgames I would use the story where he spoke about a contestant next to him who claimed he felt no pain. In response Benny explained the contestant must have been on cocaine to have those numb feelings. Another option would be the story about Benny knowing exactly what he wanted for his next meal.
Finally for insanity I would use either the baseball or the piano bar story. Both exemplify the height of his hallucinations during this experience.
Next I would look for quotes that support the themes and anectdotes
For mind games I would use the quote : “Your’e standing right next to the devil and you’re riding a road to hell.”
For competition I would use the quote: “You wanna cry but at the same time you’re pumped up.” or “I’ll stand here til the day I die.”
For insanity I would use the quote: ““Ok I’m in a piano bar and somebody’s playing the piano. Where’s my drink, ya know? Somebody forgot to bring me a drink.”
My lead quote would most likely be: “Your mind is looking for input, anything, something.”
My end quote would be: “I’ll stand here til the day I die” or a quote on from the deer story.
Getting Benny’s voice apart would be challenging, but I would try to incorporate as many quotes as possible in order for the reader to visualize Benny. Through the anectdotes readers will be able to picture Benny in the competition.
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