The artist Leonardo da Vinci, perhaps best known for painting the Mona Lisa, produced a drawing called the Vitruvian Man. In it, da Vinci depicted his idea of the perfectly sized and proportioned male body. But is this really what a perfect body looks like? And if it’s perfect, does that make every other type of body flawed? Or maybe those are the wrong questions and the idea of a “perfect” body is actually what’s flawed.
Consider Michael Phelps. The winningest swimmer of all time, Phelps earned 28 Olympic medals. His body does not look like the Vitruvian Man. In fact, Phelps’ body is quite unusual. The best swimmers tend to have long torsos and short legs. Phelps is 6 feet 4 inches, but his torso is as long as what you would expect to see in a man who is 6 feet 8 inches tall. His legs are the length typical of a man who is 5 feet 10 inches. Phelps has long arms too. Like the Vitruvian Man, most people have a wingspan roughly the same as their height. Phelps’ wingspan is 6 feet 7 inches, three inches longer than his height.
Portfolio: Analyzing Informational Text
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Consider Michael Phelps. The winningest swimmer of all time, Phelps earned 28 Olympic medals. His body does not look like the Vitruvian Man. In fact, Phelps’ body is quite unusual. The best swimmers tend to have long torsos and short legs. Phelps is 6 feet 4 inches, but his torso is as long as what you would expect to see in a man who is 6 feet 8 inches tall. His legs are the length typical of a man who is 5 feet 10 inches. Phelps has long arms too. Like the Vitruvian Man, most people have a wingspan roughly the same as their height. Phelps’ wingspan is 6 feet 7 inches, three inches longer than his height.
Recall what you have learned about analyzing informational texts to write an analysis of Perfectly Imperfect by Donna Bozzone. Use the following prompts to guide your response:
Write a paragraph in which you analyze the text structure of the informational text. Identify the text structure. Explain how you identified it. Tell how the author’s choice of structure helped you as a reader.
Write a paragraph in which you analyze the author’s purpose and point of view. Explain how you determined the author’s point of view. Tell how thinking about the author’s purpose and point of view helped you understand the topic.
Write a paragraph in which you analyze how the author distinguished their position from other positions. Explain what you learned from thinking about the different positions. Give examples from the texts.
Perfectly Imperfect
Prior to submitting your work, review the rubric guidelines for how this assignment will be assessed.
Analyzing Informational Text Portfolio Rubric
Portfolio Reflect
You have analyzed the informational text Perfectly Imperfect. Your study has included determining an author’s purpose and point of view, and distinguishing how authors set their positions apart from other points of view. Now, reflect on your own responses to the issues raised in the text. Did your own point of view on that issue change over the course of your analysis?
In analyzing the text structure of "Perfectly Imperfect" by Donna Bozzone, it can be identified as a compare and contrast structure. This is evident from the author's discussion of Leonardo da Vinci's depiction of the perfectly sized and proportioned male body and their subsequent comparison with Michael Phelps' body. The author presents the two contrasting ideas of what a perfect body looks like - one based on traditional standards depicted by da Vinci and the other based on the exceptional physique of Phelps. The use of the compare and contrast structure helps the reader understand different perspectives on the concept of a perfect body and highlights the idea that there is no one-size-fits-all definition.
In terms of the author's purpose and point of view, it is clear that the author is challenging the notion of a "perfect" body. By presenting the contrasting examples of da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and Phelps, the author seeks to question the idea of a singular ideal body. The author's point of view can be determined by their choice of examples and the way they highlight Phelps' atypical physique as successful in the context of swimming. Thinking about the author's purpose and point of view helped me understand that the concept of a perfect body is subjective and dependent on the context and individual's goals.
In distinguishing their position from other positions, the author emphasizes the uniqueness of Phelps' body compared to the traditional portrayal of a perfect body in da Vinci's drawing. By discussing Phelps' long torso, short legs, and long arms, the author highlights how his unusual body proportions have not hindered his success in swimming. This distinction challenges the idea of a flawless or ideal body by showcasing a different kind of body that excels in a specific domain. This made me realize that there are various ways to categorize and appreciate different body types and that the idea of a perfect body is not universal or absolute.