4SA5, as I call it (category 4, statement analysis 5), states the following:
Analyze and respond to the following statement, “I know that all of the good vibes he sent out will return to carry him off to a better place.” Comment made after to death of Bob Hope.Who made the comment? I had wondered for six years, ever since the topics were released in 2004 and I was a first-year speaker in high school.
Now, we knew there are random sources, but there is no such thing as a generic source. Take that female voice on the telephone, for example. If we knew who said the "good vibes" quote, could we understand better what it means? Yes, for several reasons.
1. We might be able to find the actual quote, and compare it with the official version published by NCFCA.
2. We might be able to contact the source and ask what he or she meant.
3. We might be able to gather context from the words surrounding the original comment, and combine it with other things the source has said or written.
Who said it? The same young lady that baffled this blindfolded TV audience in 1956.
And now, thanks to modern news databases, we have the actual quote in context. From a CNN newscast of the press conference:
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We've got to take our viewers now -- Linda Hope speaking about her father.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
LINDA HOPE, BOB HOPE'S DAUGHTER: ... to have you all here is really wonderful. And I just wanted to express our appreciation. I speak on behalf of my family, for all of the outpouring of love and affection that not only the media has shown but, also, all of his many fans and friends. And it is, you know, so heart warming to all of us at this stage.
And I just wanted to let you all know that Dad had an amazing send-off. All of the family was together with him and he died very peacefully last night, just about 9:30. And I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. And I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up.
Here's how other news agencies reported the quote in print:
Agence France Presse -- English------------------------
July 28, 2003 Monday
Bob Hope to be buried privately, public mass to follow
"I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
-----------------------
Northern Territory News (Australia)
July 30, 2003 Wednesday
Hope's last smile was for family
BYLINE: By STEVE GORMAN
Linda Hope said: "Dad had an amazing send-off ... I think all the good vibes he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
The Northern Echo----------------
July 29, 2003
TRIBUTES PAID AS LEGENDARY COMEDIAN BOB HOPE DIES
BYLINE: Tom Kelly
She said: "Dad had an amazing send-off. All the family were together with him. I don't think he could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. "I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back."
----------------
Agence France Presse -- English
July 28, 2003 Monday
US entertainment legend Bob Hope dead at 100
BYLINE: MARC LAVINE
"Dad had an amazing send-off," daughter Linda Hope said. "I can't tell you how beautiful and serene and peaceful it was." A priest and medical staff were also with the showman when he passed away, she said. "I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. I think all the good vibes that he put out
during his lifetime came back to take him up."
-------------------------
The Toronto Sun
July 29, 2003 Tuesday Final Edition
END OF THE ROAD;
BOB HOPE EXITS WITH A SMILE BUT NO LAST WORDS
BYLINE: BY SUN WIRE SERVICES
Linda Hope said, "Dad had an amazing send-off ... I think all the good vibes he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
-------------------
Agence France Presse -- English
July 29, 2003 Tuesday
US entertainment legend Bob Hope dies at 100
BYLINE: MARC LAVINE
"Dad had an amazing send-off," daughter Linda Hope said. "I can't tell you how beautiful and serene and peaceful it was." A priest and medical staff were also with Hope -- who is the most honoured entertainer in history -- when he died, she said. "I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
CNN
July 28, 2003 Monday
SHOW: LIVE FROM... 13:00
Remembering Bob Hope
BYLINE: Frank Buckley, Kyra Phillips
This morning, at the Television Academy, Linda Hope, who is Bob Hope's daughter, described her dad as a man who was -- quote -- "full of fun," as she put it. She also set the scene last night, as he passed away here at his home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)-------------------
LINDA HOPE, BOB HOPE'S DAUGHTER: ... Dad had an amazing send- off. All of the family was together with him and he died very peacefully last night, just about 9:30. And I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. And I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
--------------------
Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia)
July 30, 2003 Wednesday
No last line, just a kiss and a smile
Describing her father's final hours as he lay dying of pneumonia on Monday night at his home -- two months after he turned 100 -- Linda Hope said: "Dad had an amazing send-off . . . I think all the good vibes he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up".
--------------------
Press Association
July 28, 2003, Monday
JOKING TO THE END, BOB HOPE DIES AT 100
BYLINE: Tom Kelly, Anita Singh and Simon Baker, PA News
She added: "Dad had an amazing send off. All the family were together with him. I don't think he could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. "I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back." A priest said a mass for the comic and several nurses who had treated him were also at his death bed. "The fact that there was a little bit of an audience around warmed dad's heart."
-------------------
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
ROUNDUP: Legendary entertainer Bob Hope dies at age 100
July 28, 2003, Monday
"Dad had an amazing send off. All the family were together with him," Linda said. "I don't think he could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back."
-------------------
Belfast News Letter (Northern Ireland)
July 29, 2003, Tuesday
COMEDIAN BOB BOWS OUT WITH A LAST LAUGH
His daughter Linda said that when asked shortly before his death where he wanted to be buried, he said: "Surprise me." She added: "Dad had an amazing send off. All the family were together with him. I don't think he could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. "I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back."
----------------------------
City News Service
July 28, 2003 Monday
Bob Hope-Family
BYLINE: By CHE TABISOLA, City News Service
DATELINE: NORTH HOLLYWOOD
One of Bob Hope's four children said today that her father's death at age 100 at the family's longtime Toluca Lake home was "beautiful and serene and peaceful." "I just wanted to let you all know that Dad had an amazing sendoff," Linda Hope said. "All the family was together with him, and he died very peacefully last night, just about 9:30. "And I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death," she said. "I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
--------------------
BPI Entertainment News Wire
July 28, 2003, Monday
Showbiz colleagues thank Hope for the memories;
The Hollywood Reporter
"I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. I think all the good vibes he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up." -- Daughter Linda Hope
-----------------
The Mercury (Australia)
July 30, 2003 Wednesday
Family creates final audience
BYLINE: MICHAEL McKENNA
Linda said her father, who turned 100 in May, had had an "amazing send-off ".
"I think all the good vibes he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up," she said.
------------------
The Irish Times
July 29, 2003
Hope leaves them laughing to the very end
BYLINE: By CONOR O'CLERY, North America Editor
"I think all the good vibes he gave off during his lifetime came back to take him up. "Dad had an amazing send-off. It's been an amazing life. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful, peaceful time."
------------------------------
Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia)
July 30, 2003 Wednesday
World wakes to life without Hope
BYLINE: MICHAEL McKENNA in Los Angeles
His daughter Linda said her father, who turned 100 in May, had an "amazing send-off". "I think all the good vibes he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up," she said.
----------------------------
Agence France Presse -- English
July 30, 2003 Wednesday
America's court jester Bob Hope buried privately
"Dad had an amazing send-off," daughter Linda Hope said as she announced his death Monday. "I can't tell you how beautiful and serene and peaceful it was." "I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
----------------------
hollywoodreporter.com
July 29, 2003 Tuesday
Showbiz colleagues thank Hope for the memories
SOURCE: Online
BYLINE: Staff report
"I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. I think all the good vibes he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
-- Daughter Linda Hope
-------------------
City News Service
July 28, 2003 Monday
Thanks for the Memories, Bob
"I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death," Linda Hope told reporters outside the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. "And I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up."
MSNBC
July 28, 2003 Monday
SHOW: SHOW: COUNTDOWN 20:00
COUNTDOWN for July 28, 2003
BYLINE: Keith Olbermann; Monica Novotny; Tom Brokaw; Pete Williams
GUESTS: Darryll Dawkins; E.J. Dionne; John Dean
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LINDA HOPE, DAUGHTER OF BOB HOPE: I don't think you could have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful death. And I think all the good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Now that you have reviewed all the different reported versions of the quote, what kind of variation do you see? A word left out here and there; the sort of thing that happens when a reporter is on the scene with a notebook. Or a few sentences clipped and added out of order; the sort of thing that happens when a reporter takes raw soundbites and makes them a coherent story.
And then you have NCFCA's official version. Look at them side by side:
NCFCA: “I
CNN: "
Exactly 8 out of the 21 words were in the original. Some of the other words are paraphrases, and some were added to interpret the underlying meaning.
Where did the NCFCA version come from? We'd have to ask them. I would surmise, though, that someone on staff there heard it on the radio or TV, or read it in one of these stories, and wrote it down later from memory when he or she was compiling the list of apologetics quotes.
At any rate, with an inaccurate quote, you have to choose your keywords carefully when you search for the original.
When the human brain is motivated by a goal like compiling a list of quotes around a topic, it will remember things that it filed earlier under that topic. The brain has subconsciously filled in details to make sense of the utterance in the context of that person's beliefs and experience. A famous example of this is Sir Frederic Bartlett's experiment with the American Indian story "The War of the Ghosts". (I first heard of this example in Greg Thomson's class on Second Language Acquisition at SIL.)
What if we apply our findings to other apologetics topics, for instance the accuracy of the gospels? We should expect variation among reporters, especially when the wrote 30 years after they heard Jesus' words, not just a day or a year. We shouldn't be surprised when details are rearranged to tell a coherent story. Above all, we should be thankful for the sovereign influence of the Holy Ghost on the apostles, that helped them remember and write down a true account of Jesus' life and teachings, in a form that would be useful to the church.
Is there anything else that will help us interpret what Linda Hope mean by "good vibes"? See the following interview from just two months before her father died:
CTV Television, Inc.
08:12:50 - 08:17:45 Eastern Time
SHOW: CANADA AM
May 29, 2003, Thursday
Bob Hope Celebrates 100th Birthday
ANCHOR: Lisa LaFlamme
GUEST: Linda Hope, Daughter of Comedian Bob Hope
LaFLAMME: One hundred years ago today the legendary Bob
Hope was born. And show business has never been the same. His
career has spanned more than seven decades, and although he is best
known for his outrageous comedy routines, the former vaudeville
performer perhaps made his greatest mark entertaining US troops
abroad. "My Life in Jokes" is a new book co-written by Bob Hope
and his daughter Linda. And Linda joins us this morning from New
York.
Good morning, Ms. Hope.
HOPE: Good morning. How are you?
LaFLAMME: I'm well. And what an absolute pleasure it was to read
this book. How much fun was it for you writing it with your
father?
HOPE: Oh, it was great fun. I went through all of his
autobiographies that he had written. And he had done several of
them at different phases of his life. And I went through
interviews and all of that stuff. So I really compiled it. He did
all the work early on and then I just kind of put it in some kind
of order for this particular book.
LaFLAMME: But such a massive volume of work to have to go through
to pare down to such an adorable-size book, actually. Was that a
tough part, to wheedle it down?
HOPE: It was an enormous task. And actually we had a very short
period of time to get the job done so that it would be on the
stands in time for his birthday. So it was a challenge, to say the least.
LaFLAMME: How is he doing? I mean 100 years. Any insight into
the secret of his longevity?
HOPE: Well, actually -- thank you for asking -- he's doing pretty
good. And I think probably if you were to ask him the secret of
his longevity it's a couple of things. One is laughter, which I
think he certainly believes that laughter is the best medicine.
And I have seen him where he has travelled and been tired and had
to perform at a certain moment in time. And he gets up for it and
then would come back after doing a 45-minute to an hour show and be
absolutely energized by all the good vibes from the laughter.
And two other things. One is that he was a great walker. He
walked every night. No matter where he was he would take a walk
just before he went to bed -- and enlist anybody who was around to
walk with him. And the last thing is massage. He is sort of the
poster boy for massage because I think since he was, you know,
probably in his 40s he has had a massage almost every day of his
life.
LaFLAMME: What do you think the best moment of his life has been?
HOPE: Gosh, it would be hard to say. But I think certainly when
he got married to my mother it was a high point, because they just
celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary. Which is an amazing
record.
And then I think on another level a couple of years ago the
Congress declared him an honorary veteran of the United States.
And that meant that he was then numbered among those men and women
that he loved to entertaining. So that was a very touching moment
for him.
LaFLAMME: Did he also sort of entertain you and his four kids?
Did he entertain you guys at home, or no?
HOPE: Absolutely. We just had the greatest time with him. I
mean, he was born to have a good time and to share that laughter.
And he shared it very generously with us and with his public. But
life was never dull with him.
LaFLAMME: What about premieres? You know, would he gather up the
kids and take you to the movies as they opened? Or how did that
work as far as running a normal family and having such a massive
career?
HOPE: Well, we actually did get to go to an awful lot of those
things. I remember one evening, it was kind of funny. I was a
teenager and very excited because we got to go to the Oscars. And
my mother and dad were all done up, Dad in his tuxedo and Mother in a lovely gown.
And it happened to be raining that year. And when we got home we
discovered there was a leak in the dining room. So, my dad rolled
up the cuffs of his pants and my mother put on an apron and I was
there holding the bucket. And we mopped up our dining room. So,
it was sort of a great equalizer. You had the glamorous moments
and then came home to a leaky roof, like a lot of people have.
LaFLAMME: That is a great story. And you know what, Linda Hope,
this is a great book and a tribute to your father. And we thank
you so much for joining us today.
HOPE: Well, thank you. It's nice to be with you.
LaFLAMME: And happy birthday to your father.
HOPE: Thank you.
I'll let you do the rest of the research on your own. Start with the full versions of the articles quoted above.
- Transcript of Linda Hope's press conference
- The rest of the articles
- Bob Hope with Linda Hope, My Life in Jokes
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