1

Walker Yates
Assignment Two
Introduction
Humanity is destroyed. Everywhere you look, you see what was once your hometown,
but it is now a complete ruin. It's been taken over by massive herds of flesh desiring zombies and
now you are left to take on the world. But, what is one thing you would like to have in a time like
this? Would it be safety? A little bit of happiness in this time of utter dismay? Or, just

Dillon Foreman 11/5/2015 9:32 PM

Comment [1]: Awesome introduction, I
really think Ashlyn would enjoy this. The
first sentenced automatically hooked me
and made me ask how something as big
as humanity could be destroyed. You also
ask good questions for the audience and
could possibly cause them to wonder what
they would actually do in this scenario.

companionship from a human? What if there was something that could give you all three of
those things in one? Family. Your family is what can supply you with safety when there isnt
anyone else to take you in, give you just a little bit of happiness when you're down about not
ever being able to live carefree of being eaten alive, and be someone to talk to. All of this would
be very nice to have in a time so savage. But, how far would you go to make sure all of these
things are available to you? Well, Rick Grimes would do just about anything to get these family
attributes and the same or even more to keep them.
Over 5 seasons of the walking dead, rick grimes changes dynamically in kind of a roller
coaster format. Although its unclear what personality he truly possesses in AMCs the Walking
Dead, its blatantly obvious that he genuinely has compassionate love for most beings and his
family. He would do anything to prevent something bad happening to them. Every choice he
makes has some position to put his family in safer means. He will even put someone else in
harms way so that they can attain refugee. Rick Grimes is a dynamic character in many ways but
one thing is definite and it's his love for not just his family but people that are close to him and
have meaning to him in his new post apocalyptic life. Throughout this paper, I will show you
what it means to have a family in such a desperate time. I also want to touch on the topic of what
someone might do to keep his or her beloved ones close to themselves. This show is all about

Adam Bennett 11/5/2015 10:36 PM

Comment [2]: I really like this
introduction. You ask a lot of great
questions and begin to outline what you
may begin to talk about. It hits home to the
reader that they must think about what if
that happened to their hometown.
Zachary Funderbu, 11/5/2015 10:38 PM
Comment [3]: Great way to end the
introduction. I like the way you try and
challenge the audience with asking "how
far would you go?" Also, the last sentence
hooks the audience as well as the first
sentence.
Zachary Funderbu, 11/5/2015 10:42 PM
Comment [4]: Nice job describing rick to
the audience. You said he changes
throughout the seasons but you gave a
description that does not change. Also try
to refrain from using 'its' and replace it with
'it is'.

how a group of survivors want to stay together and keep each other safe and if you ask me, that
sounds pretty damn close to what a family does in day to day life.
When I was six years old, my family and I went on our annual vacation to Snowshoe,
West Virginia. Its a ski resort. My mother and I were skiing down the mountain when I took a
wrong turn and ended up somewhere that wasnt marked and isolated. Again, being six years old,

Adam Bennett 11/5/2015 10:40 PM

Comment [5]: I haven't even read your
paper yet and I'm excited to see what you
talk about. I wouldn't have expected
anyone doing a show like this to do a topic
like family. I think that that is really
interesting and cool.

I was very scared as I didnt have a very good sense of direction yet and was unfamiliar with my
surroundings. I remember not knowing what to do so I started walking down a path that seemed
to lead to nowhere. I had no other choice. After walking about a mile in my ski boots, my feet
were blistering, and I was getting very dehydrated from sweating in my snow jacket. I then came
upon a sign that read, restaurant, 2 miles I knew that there was only one restaurant on the
bottom of the mountain and I had to get there. So I trudged through the snow, carrying my skis
over one shoulder, and my determination over the other. After what seemed like the hardest walk
in my life, I finally came to an opening where I could see the restaurant. I then laid eyes on my
mother and father who were just as exuberant to see me, as I was to see them. What Im trying to
get across, is that I could have just laid there and let someone else come and find me and hope
they would take me back to my parents. But, I was determined to get back to them and would
have done just about anything to see them again. The same goes for Rick grimes and his family
in the walking dead. He goes to painstaking lengths to get to his family, keep his family, and
defend his family. Who could blame him?

Literature Review
Most of my sources are very common. They all portray the fact that there is a sense of family in
the survival group. Rick Grimes being the father figure as I like to call it, because he takes
charge and assumes a leadership role from the very moment he get involved with this group. All

Dillon Foreman 11/5/2015 9:36 PM

Comment [6]: Great job getting personal
with your topic. Even at a young age you
made the decision to act in order to make
the best of your situation. Rick has to do
the same in a apocalyptic world. This
section made me think of a time I had to
act rationally in a fearful situation,
hopefully it will cause other readers to do
the same.

of my sources argue that Rick loves his bloodline family members so much that he will go to
ever ending, painstaking lengths, to save their lives and keep them safe in this new world. What
my topic and some of my sources fail to consider is that being in a world like this, with zombies
left and right, its very easy to get side tracked and delusional because of the constant dismay of
others. Rick is constantly at the aid of other members of his group and they depend on him for a
lot of things. Having all of this pressure on you can really tear a person down emotionally, and
psychologically drain someones mind.
Early in my research in this assignment, I began to search for information about Rick Grimes and
his personal behavior. I was looking for how he reacted towards his loved ones, and ways he
showed affection and how far he would go to keep the love he has built with his loved ones. I
tried to find sources that talked either directly about my topic and some that talked indirectly
about it. In this section, I will explain some of my research and how it backs up my topic
proposal.
Rick Grimes can easily be described as a family man with ambitions to survive. Rick doesnt
lollygag around all day and wait for a walker to come up and bite him and put his family in
serious danger, he sets out each day on a mission to strive for better, to put his family in a safer
situation than they were yesterday. He will stop at nothing to make sure of this either. In my
observation notes, I depicted a scene where Rick and Carl are in the woods and Carl gets shot by
a stray bullet intended for a deer. Carl is severely injured and needs immediate attention to his
wound. In a panic, Rick takes immediate action and sprints Carls limp body to a farm he has
never been to, which supposedly has a farmer that can operate on him. He proceeds with
venturing towards this farm with every possibility that it could land them in danger, but its a risk

Dillon Foreman 11/5/2015 9:41 PM

Comment [7]: As a leader one must put
their group before themselves because it
isn't just about them anymore. Maybe here
you could list a few characters that seem
to need Rick's help the most and some of
the pressing matters that always haunts
the group under his leadership. These
could be things like gathering
food,ammo,or even a secure shelter.
Zachary Funderbu, 11/5/2015 10:47 PM
Comment [8]: Of the facts you stated in
the beginning of this paragraph, there are
no sources. there are sources towards the
bottom but make sure you do not leave
any out. Though I could be wrong and
these could be facts by you.
Dillon Foreman 11/5/2015 9:49 PM
Comment [9]: As Ashlyn told me with my
Assignment Two paper, you don't really
need to have a introduction paragraph
telling what you will do for the Literature
Review. You could take the paragraph
above where I highlighted and split it up
among this section of the paper. Also,
consider telling the audience what type of
sources you used whether they be scholar
articles, NPR transcripts, or book
themselves.

he has to take for his son. I dont think he ever even glimpses at the fact that he could have been
set up. But he does all of this out of love for his son.
There was a scene in the first season where Shane, Ricks best friend and partner, contested ricks
entitlement for his family. Shane wanted dearly to have what rick had, a family. He had been
having an affair with Lori, Ricks wife, before they found out that their predetermined theory of
ricks death was wrong. When Rick turned out to be alive, Lori realized that what she had done
was a mistake and that she was in love with Rick still. Shane didnt take this news too lightly.
Rick soon figured out by Shanes demeanor that he was no longer his friend that he once had
known. Rick knew he had to do something about this or else the problem would end up hurting
more than the two of them. When Rick decided to have a walk with Shane and talk about it,
Shane didnt take it with a grain of salt. Deggans explains, The threat forced Rick to kill Shane
in self defense, while pretending to hand over his weapon. (Deggans). Shane ended up figuring
out that Rick was going to take drastic measures in order to keep his family and Shane took
action to harm him. Rick ended up killing Shane to make sure his family stayed in his name.
Rick is a great example of how a father is supposed to act towards his loved ones. Rick is also
compassionate and loving. He is willing to go to great lengths to make his wife and son happy.
(Budtz-Jorgensen, Per, and Peter Bjelskou). Peter and Per explain in their writing that rick is
compassionate and loving. He is caring of not just his family, but all of the survivors as well.
He has taken on a leadership role and puts his entire group under his wing. Rick grimes will do
just about anything on gods green earth to protect.

Entering the Conversation

Living life without people around you who care endlessly about you would be very difficult. Just
imagine doing it when there is a sudden catastrophe. Being stranded to survive a hardship

Dillon Foreman 11/5/2015 10:13 PM

Comment [10]: This goes back to your
previous comment of Rick being a
dynamic character. Throughout the many
seasons we see Rick change and become
more cold towards his group, I wonder in
the future if he would have done the same
for someone else? Probably not, since by
then he has walked into traps and set ups.
Great way to show Rick's fearlessness
and ability as a leader.

without a single person to help you. Dont you think it would be easier and a lot less painful if
you had someone who would go to the moon and back for you right there by your side? If the
answer were yes, what would you do to keep this person? I hope the answer is anything. A
family is a group of people that will be there for you no matter what. It means that they are the
people you can get into endless fights with, but deep down know that your love can never be
withdrawn. You wouldnt want to loose any of that if you had it.
A lot of television series such as modern family depict the social views of a family as happy,
loving, and caring for one another. In The Walking Dead, there is a family just like the ones
shared in other television shows, but they are also a little different in some aspects. They arent
all bloodline relatives, but a familys functions are so much more than just being related to one
another. In The Walking Dead each one of the survivors in the group has several obligations if
they want to be considered a family member. They have each others back in times of danger and
help each other to gain stableness in their lives. They also have to contribute into the basic needs
of living like cleaning, gathering food, or something as simple as talking with one another about
life. Having this close-knit group of people you can count on can really uplift someone
emotionally. It would be very difficult to go through life without a family to depend on. Many
people go into depression, anxiety, or even physical sickness when they dont have a family,
although there are some people choose to not be apart of a family and do just fine.
A lot of times in this day age we take our family for advantage. A lot of it has to do with how
busy our day-to-day lives are dealing with everything from technology to our job and school.
Often times we become disconnected from our true roots are and what we can come back too if
we are going through a struggle. But what I want to know is what would the people of our world
do for their loved ones. I want to conduct a survey about peoples reactions if their families were

Adam Bennett 11/5/2015 10:47 PM

Comment [11]: Your introductions to the
different sections are really good in this
paper. All of them hook the audience and
make them want to continue reading.
Great job with that.
Zachary Funderbu, 11/5/2015 10:49 PM
Comment [12]: I like how you point out
the fact that this is a different kind of family
themed show. Other shows portray
families as basic, but the walking dead
takes it to a new level.

taken away from them. I want to know to what ends would someone go to, in order to keep his or
her family.
I would go to the mall on the weekend when its most busy to get a wide variety of interviewees.
In order to make a survey reputable, you must have a non- biased selection of people to ask. I
will ask 100 women and 100 men the same questions to try and get a respectable outcome. They
will be yes or no answer questions so that it will be a little easier to analyze the data. Some of the
questions may be rather unsettling, but they will have to be in order to find out such a broad
question.
In order to get a better perspective on the worlds point of view of how important family is to the
average individual, I would ask them the following questions; Would you kill another individual
for a loved one? Would die for a loved one? Would you give yourself up to a zombie for a loved
one? Would you kill your best friend to save your family? Would you travel across the continent
to find out if they were still alive? These questions are meant to give me analytical data on how
much a person would do for his or her loved ones.
Conclusion

Adam Bennett 11/5/2015 10:50 PM

Comment [13]: Maybe for the study to
make it even less biased, break the
women and men into more categories.
You could break them up into smaller subgroup based on age. Then you will also
find out if there is a difference in the age of
the person or if they have kids or not.
Dillon Foreman 11/5/2015 10:39 PM
Comment [14]: This study seems like a
great idea. Seeing how others would react
in a situation where their family was taken
away from them can mean life and death
in a figured world like "The Walking Dead".
I think though it would make the ones that
went through this survey really consider
the "what if" scenario.

Zachary Funderbu, 11/5/2015 10:53 PM

Comment [15]: Great questions to ask in
the survey. They're deep questions, but
acceptable for this figured world. Great
paper overall, I don't have many
complaints.

Rick Grimes portrays infinite love for his family and will do anything to keep it. He goes
through desperate measures just to be able to stay by their side. He wont let anyone, or anything
get in the way of their safety. Family is a lot more than just people who are related to you by
blood. Family is a group of persons who genuinely care about your wellbeing. The survivors in
the walking dead that follow rick and are strong contributors to the group, are just as much
family as Lori, Rick, and Carl are to each other. They would go to pain staking lengths to keep
each other safe. Imagine being out in the new apocalyptic world. Would you want a tight knit
group like Ricks? Or would you rather be by yourself? Some people might want to be alone but I

Adam Bennett 11/5/2015 10:53 PM

Comment [16]: Maybe add some
reasons why to have a group or to go on
your own. You could add pros and cons of
both so you can expand on your idea even
more why family is so important. Then
afterwards you could pose your questions
to the audience to conclude.

think the majority would want a caring group that would be there for them in a time of need.
What kind of father figure should one try to assume in a world filled with zombies though?
Should you have more of an authoritarian approach or authoritative?

Works Cited

1. Deggans, Erric. "AMC's 'The Walking Dead' Is A Hit Show With Two Meanings." Npr.org.
October 11, 2014. Accessed October 2, 2015.
2. Baker, Sarah. "The Walking Dead and Gothic Excess: The Decaying Social Structures of
Contagion." Mediaculture.com. November 4, 2014. Accessed October 2, 2015.
3. Renner, Karren J. "The Appeal of the Apocalypse." Tandfonline. August 28, 2012. Accessed
October 2, 2015.
4. Travis, Mitchell. "Were All Infected: Legal Personhood, Bare Life and The Walking Dead."
Link.springer. October 28, 2014. Accessed October 2, 2015.
5. Budtz-Jorgensen, Per, and Peter Bjelskou. "The Walking Dead." Rudar.ruc.dk. February 19,
2015. Accessed October 2, 2015.
6. Yates, Walker 2015. Assignment one Observation notes
7. Loza, Bibiana. "The Waking Dead Character Analysis." Uscupstate.edu. April 18, 2015.
Accessed October 2, 2015.
8. The Walking Dead: S5 - Family. Directed by Tom Claydon. Youtube.com. A&E Television
Networks, 2014. Film.

Dillon Foreman 11/5/2015 10:09 PM

Comment [17]: This is a valid point but I
think you could elaborate on it. Could you
think of any other reasons why staying in a
group would be beneficial? Also in the
sentence right before you start asking your
questions, can you list out examples of
other members of the group sticking their
neck out for one another? Other ones not
being Ricks family.