Friday, November 2, 2012

Statement Analysis: Hurricane Cry for Help

Did this man tell the truth that he did not hear this woman's cry for help for herself and her two little boys?

Everyone of us has an internal, subjective personal dictionary.  There are two linguistic exemptions to this rule:  Pronouns and Articles.  Pronouns and Articles are instinctive.  When you see "errors" in use, deception is present.

If I say, "I saw a man walking.  The man said,..." it would be an appropriate use of the articles, "a" and "the" in my sentence.

When someone tries to scam money with a friend, they often get the articles confused.

"The guy said to give me my money.  A guy held a gun to me so I had to."  This is an indication of deception present, via the use of the Article as well as the sensitivity showing the need as to why something happened ("so I had to...")

Did this man not hear the cries for help?

Listen carefully to his words and follow the Articles he uses.

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12 comments:

John Mc Gowan said...

Peter, the link you posted is to long,ive broken it down for you.

LINK:

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&contentId=weather/2012/11/01/ac-tuchman-sandy-staten-island-brothers-tragedy.cnn

sidewalk super said...

I saw this story on the news and thought at the time that it was beyond strange but there were no statements.

John Mc Gowan said...

He uses a lot of qualifiers,theres no reliable denial.

He identifies the man with the definite article. "THE MAN"

When identifying someone or something for the first time we use the word A. eg..
I saw a car.

We only use the word the when we have previous knowledge of said person or article eg...
I saw the car.

Deception indicated.

Anonymous said...

MaryK: How rude. This woman has lost her children and probably feels a lot of guilt. You don't need to add with your judgemental and nasty comments.

Anonymous said...

There were other houses there? I'm not blaming the mom as the guy in that house is not telling the truth, but why didn't she go to one of the neighbors houses? My thought never would've been to break in, but seek help else where. Either way, I think the guy is a prick for not letting them in.

Anonymous said...

I can not get either link to work.
It is interesting to learn about the use of "the" vs. "a".
If I'm following the story correctly it sounds like a horrible tradgedy on all sides. Whether the man heard and was afraid to open up or if he didn't hear. I'm sure the mother believed she was heading to safety and not danger.
Anna

Statement Analysis Blog said...

I have updated the analysis, please check.

Anonymous 11:30, what link is not working?

thanks, Peter

Anonymous said...

He had to make a judgment call. Was it safe to let this woman in his house or was it a ruse for something nefarious? Did he have his own family to protect? I wonder what I would have done.

MaryK may have stated the truth in harsh terms. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear. Does it make it any less the truth?

Anonymous said...

None of the links as posted work.

All you have to do is Google: "Staten Island Brothers Tragedy" or use any such similar words to perform your search.

You can google just about anything by merely giving a description of what you're looking for. You don't need a link that 50% of the time doesn't work anyway.

Anonymous said...

I think's it's just as rude to tear MaryK to shreds as were some of her words about the mother. However, she was only stating how she felt whether anyone else agrees or not. She has that right.

I think what it comes down too is this mother wasn't too smart by putting herself and her children in this situation in the first place; not when she had plenty of warnings to evacuate earlier on; NOT that I'm placing blame on her. I don't know how I would react in the same set of circumstances, maybe just as she did. I learned in a previous hurricane, that you don't leave where you are when the storm is already hitting. It's too late by then. Maybe she didn't realize this.

However, there is more than one story about what hqappened. One says she sat the little boys on top of the car and that's how they got swept away. Another says they were snatched out of her arms by the force of the water. Another story is that she made it some distance by holding onto the little boys by their arms while holding onto bushes, then they got swept away. Who knows? I feel really sorry for this mother, this is a great tragedy she'll have to live with.

Whatever happened, she really was foolhardy to expect anyone to come out into the raging storm with waters rising to help look for the boys, where they too could have drowned, and likely would have.

The homeowner in one of the stories says that it was a man who threw a flower pot thru his back door? Not buying that, not unless this woman looks and sounds like a man.

No MaryK, I would NOT have refused to open my door just because it was a black woman standing there. I would have at least attempted to get help for her if possible.

drdebo said...

when i saw she was black it all made sense- poor women out all night looking begging for help- can't believe it could happen in this country....

rob said...

I don't see race being the issue here. In the middle of the SuperStorm, do I open my door when someone throws a pot thru it.
Even if I am able to get the story, do I go out in the middle of what is said to be the worst storm this area had. It is totally sad for these poor children. Why did she decide to leave during the storm? Had their home been overcome?