Dead+Man+Walking

=Dead Man Walking = By: Jake Z.

media type="file" key="JakeZ2013 Audio 1.mp3"



Introduction: In Genesis it does not seem like the redactors tell every single part of the stories, there may have been more conversations that were never talked out. The purpose of this project was to create a conversation between two characters that was never actually talked about in Genesis. The conversation must contain two relatable yet different traits that the characters had. These traits were found by analyzing actual Genesis text and a picture of the characters. We then created the dialogue of what these characters would have said if their interaction was in Genesis. What we had to keep in mind while writing the dialogue was need to convey the two traits taken from the text and pictures. We then wrote another paragraph analyzing how the traits were conveyed through the dialogue. Finally we wrote a reflection paragraph discussing this whole project, problems we ran into, and the process we constructed the project with.

This conversation that never happened between Abraham and Isaac talks about the incident of Abraham nearly sacrificing Isaac. God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and Abraham seems to be fine with it…

Dialogue: The conversation between Abraham and Isaac Isaac: So Dad what do you mean that God is going to provide the lamb for this sacrifice, that makes no sense. Can God just make something appear out of nothing? Abraham: This is hard to explain Isaac, but in reality God is not providing the lamb. You my son will but what is sacrificed. Isaac: No, I don't want to do this, I'm running away..... No, No I can't you're my father and you know what is best. I'll do it. (still in a scared tone) Abraham: I'm I'm I'm sorry Isaac, but I have to do this. Son if God did not want me to do this, I would not be. Please rest in peace. Isaac: I'm not going to fight you, but why do you have to do this. (In kid like tone) Isaac: Oh no I cant watch! Isaac: Good Bye world :( (In a passive voice) Isaac: I know you are always right Dad, but PHEEWW! What were u thinking Dad?! . . Hey look a cute little ram, I want to go pet it, that will cheer me up *slicing noise* Isaac: Awwwwww DAD! Abraham: Lets go back now son (serious tone) Isaac: What, now im just supposed to act like nothing ever happened? Abraham: God was just testing me Son and now you are not dead. Isaac: Well, what if that angel didn't come and save me! THEN WHAT. Abraham: Well, you would have died. It would have pained me as much as it pained you. Isaac: I'm pretty sure it would have pained me "a little" more Abraham: Well God told me to son Isaac: IF GOD TOLD YOU TO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE! Abraham: Im sorry Isaac but god is always right Isaac: First circumcision and now this! Im starting to really doubt this "god fellow" now. Your redikilious im going to Sodom.... *BAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*(hears sodom's destruction in the distance) Ok well now that Sodom is gone I guess ill just stay here. No hard feeling right? Abraham: You better behave boy or im gonna... I'm gonna.. gonna umm, what's worse then tying you to a rock and almost killing you?
 * Abraham lifts the knife up to kill isaac*
 * angel stops Abraham*

Dialogue Analysis: Throughout the Dialogue entitled “Dead Man Walking” by: Jake Z. Abraham the protagonist oozes a sense of fear, but also as sense of passiveness. These traits are obtained by looking at his interactions with Isaac. After Isaac questions Abraham’s motivation Abraham had this to say, “’I’m I’m I’m sorry Isaac, but I have to do this”’ (Zelek 1). The nervous stutter and apology clearly show that Abraham is scared of killing Isaac. He does not want to kill Isaac and he is so scared he can barely talk. It does seem like Abraham is acting passive on the outside however. As Abraham is just about to kill Isaac, he trys to rationalize it to his son, “’I have to do this, if God did not want to to do this, I would not. Please rest in peace’” (Zelek 1). Abraham is not fighting God’s will; he is just doing what God wants. It would be easy for Abraham to go against God’s word and not kill Isaac, but he acts passively and goes ahead with it.

Character Analysis (Picture and Text) Even though Abraham on the inside is fearful and skeptical of killing his son, on the outside he appears serious in his interactions with Isaac. The painter, Cigoli, depicts in his picture of Abraham killing Isaac the fear Abraham is feeling. He does this through Abraham's head positioning. Abraham is looking away from his son while he kills him as though he does not want to recognize what he is doing. It is as though he is day dreaming of being somewhere else. Abraham knows that if he looks at his son sadness will overcome him and potentially he will not go through with killing Isaac. Although Isaac appears scared of his father, he is actually quite passive. The painter, Laurent de La Hyre, in his picture, //Abraham Sacrificing Isaac,// he depicts Isaac looking down in fear, with his head slung to the side. Isaac's head is slumped down to the side because he does not to fight with his father. He knows that his father is most always right so he lets his father do what needs to be done. Isaac does not look Abraham into the eyes because he knows that may unnerve his father, and by just slinging his head the side he is showing his father that his is passive to what is being done. Although on the inside Abraham is fearful of killing his son, on the outside he is so trusting of god that he acts passive, hiding his fear. When Isaac asks Abraham where the animal they are sacrificing is, Abraham replies, “’God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering”’ (Genesis 22.3). Abraham has full belief in God and does not question him one bit. Abraham tells Isaac that God is providing the lamb because God did chose the lamb, Isaac. He does not make up excuses as to why they do not have a lamb, merely acts passive towards Isaac because he trusts that god is right. Abraham immediately takes Isaac to be sacrificed, without so much as asking a question. Although whilst being sacrificed Isaac is passive, Isaac is nervous and scared when he first starts to suspect something is not right. As they are walking up Moriah Isaac questions Abraham, “’Father!’”…Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?’” (Genesis 22.3). The fact that Isaac yells at Abraham, “Father!” is indicative of the fact that he is scared. He does not know what is going to happen so he becomes skeptically scared. Isaac is fearful of the fact that he may be killed and wants to rationalize his fear by indirectly asking Abraham if he is going to kill him.

Webspiration Chart

Reflection: When I was first given this assignment I racked my brain thinking of all the characters that I could chose. I ultimately came up with Abraham and Isaac for two reasons, it was easy to make funny and it was well known, thus easy to find pictures. Though this project took months to complete it was actually relatively easy to construct. After creating the dialogue the rest of the wiki just flowed onto the paper (or wiki document in this instance). The only real major difficulties of this project were the technical aspects. Wiki Spaces is very difficult to use and not having a Macintosh computer made the audio portion quite difficult. But all of these problems were over come and now, for later in my school computer, I know how to use Wiki Spaces and how to record Audio.

Artist Information:

Artist Information: Lodovico Cardi (also known as Cigoli) was an Italian artist best known for his biblical paintings, like Cain’s slaying of Able and Abraham sacrificing Isaac. Cigoli was actually very good friends with Galileo whom asked him to paint a famous church in Italy.



Laurent de La Hyre was a French painter from the Baroque period. Some of his paintings are in the famous Louvre, a museum in England.

Picture References: http://www.dl.ket.org/webmuseum/wm/paint/auth/la-hire/abraham.jpg http://www.wga.hu/art/c/cigoli/isaac.jpg