As of right now I am torn as to how I should approach my essay. The first essay that I am going to construct is going to be "The Accident", which I feel can be told in both parallelism and also accumulation. Writing a CNf piece of the accident can do in many different directions and can also be told in many different ways.
For example if I take the Parallelism approach, the piece could either work from me speaking as though I am back in the past and just reflecting on things that I see now, or I could tell it from my perspective now and flashback to the accident. Or I can tell it is a serious of episode, which would also work. The events of that night were all over the place, and the foreshadowing of the accident, that at the time I did not notice, but do now. I am quite confused as to which route I take, but I am sure this is alright, considering that when you write about your self there is an infinite amount of ways to do so.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Blog # 5
Edwidge Danticat's, Westbury Court, uses parallelism in his writing. He/She is taking an event that happened to him/her and looking back at it from an older age. There are moments in which the writer is there in the moment, and others where he/she is reflecting back on the incident. It is all the same story and all the same feelings, just told from two very different points in the authors life. Alive, by Drummond is what I believe to be using accumulation. Her series are not as predominant as other we have read, but her segments go from one thought to another
Both authors writing make you think. Could this happen to me?, Are we all that vulnerable?, Should I be paying more attention? There are always things that happen, and sadly it is the negative that make you realize this, that make you think had I not been doing so and so, could I have changed this. Alive really made you look at the questions that I have previously mentioned. Here is a woman who has training in dealing with serial killers, who is trained in fighting and knows how to protect herself, but in the end she realizes she is just as in danger as any other female. It makes me think about how prepared am I really if something we to happen to me, like a man following me. Also, when I am home napping or watching soap net, would i notice a condo next to me on fire. I feel that you can prepare and prepare but until you are put in a specific situation, you will have no idea how you are going to react.
Both authors writing make you think. Could this happen to me?, Are we all that vulnerable?, Should I be paying more attention? There are always things that happen, and sadly it is the negative that make you realize this, that make you think had I not been doing so and so, could I have changed this. Alive really made you look at the questions that I have previously mentioned. Here is a woman who has training in dealing with serial killers, who is trained in fighting and knows how to protect herself, but in the end she realizes she is just as in danger as any other female. It makes me think about how prepared am I really if something we to happen to me, like a man following me. Also, when I am home napping or watching soap net, would i notice a condo next to me on fire. I feel that you can prepare and prepare but until you are put in a specific situation, you will have no idea how you are going to react.
Monday, September 21, 2009
blog # 4 Schwartz
Schwartz is telling us of her family history from mainly her account but also from the words of her father. The sections in this CNF writing go from her as a child listening to her father rant and rave about how things used to be, to her trip with him to Rindeim, gaining more of an understanding, to her atleast being a woman who now had full knowledge of what was going on, and what her father meant.
The focus I believe of this piece was to show her readers that WWII had an impact on individuals differently. What we read in books or online is not the only way it can be told. She takes it to the next level, and tells it through the eyes of two people three different ways. We see how her father was changed and felt about it, and how it effect her as a child and as a grown woman.
I personally liked how she broke up the story and went back and forth between her younger and older self. Don't all of us do the same thing when we are looking back at something that had molded us into who we are today. First we think about it when it happened to us, take your oldest memory for instance. I would be looking at it from a 3 year old perspective, but as I write about it, I would also be looking at it as a 22 year old woman.
Schwartz's gaps add to her writing, she goes one step further than Kincaid. Where Kincaid just adds her two cents in with apprentices, Schwartz's really explains the changes that she endures.
The focus I believe of this piece was to show her readers that WWII had an impact on individuals differently. What we read in books or online is not the only way it can be told. She takes it to the next level, and tells it through the eyes of two people three different ways. We see how her father was changed and felt about it, and how it effect her as a child and as a grown woman.
I personally liked how she broke up the story and went back and forth between her younger and older self. Don't all of us do the same thing when we are looking back at something that had molded us into who we are today. First we think about it when it happened to us, take your oldest memory for instance. I would be looking at it from a 3 year old perspective, but as I write about it, I would also be looking at it as a 22 year old woman.
Schwartz's gaps add to her writing, she goes one step further than Kincaid. Where Kincaid just adds her two cents in with apprentices, Schwartz's really explains the changes that she endures.
Blog # 3
Orwell and Montaigne are both taking an approach that we have not read in detail in this class yet. They are putting an emphasis on the events that are taking place during the time in which they are writing. Montaigne's piece centers around many names that in his time were spoken about all the time, yet now as we read his piece we can not quite relate as other may have been able to. He also speaks less about his emotions then some of the other authors we have read, he describes others more then himself. Orwell on the other hand, while he certainly puts a focus on the current events in the world during his time, is similar to other authors; meaning he tells us his account from Solly his point of view. His words allow us into his body and we can almost feel exactly what he is feeling.
More recent CNF writings have the same approach that Orwell did, it is more about the "I", then the story. When we are writing in our journal it is for us and possibly the teachers eyes as well, the point being we at this time are not looking to publish our journals. Yet those authors who are in our time, not only have to stay true to themselves, they need to be able to interest the reader. The story should not be embellished just to sell books, it should stay true to how it occurred; but what it should do, and does, is use language properly and in a way that captures it's audience.
More recent CNF writings have the same approach that Orwell did, it is more about the "I", then the story. When we are writing in our journal it is for us and possibly the teachers eyes as well, the point being we at this time are not looking to publish our journals. Yet those authors who are in our time, not only have to stay true to themselves, they need to be able to interest the reader. The story should not be embellished just to sell books, it should stay true to how it occurred; but what it should do, and does, is use language properly and in a way that captures it's audience.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Reactions to Lott and Kincaid
Kincaid's, Biography of a Dress, I found to be not as interesting as the readings we encountered last week, yet it is still a very defining form of creative non-fiction. She is, similar to Out there, telling a story. A story about her life as a one and a half year old, and the events leading up to her wearing this yellow dress on her second birthday. She throughout the six pages is reflecting back onto the person she was when she was 1 1/2, which I must say I give her credit for, and comparing that person who who she is now. "( but I do now)" is repeated several times, it is as though she has to keep telling herself that she is now brighter, more aware, and better than her mother. She is the kind of woman who seems to have low self confidence and needs to continue to give herself self gratification. This is different from the previous stories I feel, because it is more personal. By adding her side comments, it becomes less like a story, and more about her accomplishments as she aged. It further shows that CNF takes on many forms, and that the readings and what we are writing are about, the reader and ME. I and me are the most important words in Kincaids writing, she just like us write for no one but ourselves, with hopes that others will enjoy and learn from our writing; but if they do not, it was meant for us and if no one shares our thoughts it is ok.
Lott:
" Rather, it is writing about ones self in relation to the subject at hand." Lott reminded me of this, it is not just about my life and my experiences; CNF is taking those things and relating them to such things as events in history. For example 911, it something that happened to our whole country, but doing a CNF piece on it would involve, a day in history and how I remember it. He also makes a strong point, to write CNF one must not be vain. It is about experiences and trying to discover who we are, and were, not to boast and brag. Creative non-fiction to me now, is like a short story book. It takes several different elements and events that occur, but no matter how long, short, interesting, not interesting, there is an underlying theme, YOU. There are moments in life that you are unable to forget or those you do not want to forget, so we write about them. It can be as simple as a dream that frightened us, or something as large as a war; but these memories and events define and make up who we are. Every individual will have their own definition of what CNF is, some ideas may merge and others may be extreme and no one can think of how it is related. Again though, there is no room for us to judge because when it comes down to it, there is no definite definition. It is your TRUTH and you thoughts, no one else's.
Lott:
" Rather, it is writing about ones self in relation to the subject at hand." Lott reminded me of this, it is not just about my life and my experiences; CNF is taking those things and relating them to such things as events in history. For example 911, it something that happened to our whole country, but doing a CNF piece on it would involve, a day in history and how I remember it. He also makes a strong point, to write CNF one must not be vain. It is about experiences and trying to discover who we are, and were, not to boast and brag. Creative non-fiction to me now, is like a short story book. It takes several different elements and events that occur, but no matter how long, short, interesting, not interesting, there is an underlying theme, YOU. There are moments in life that you are unable to forget or those you do not want to forget, so we write about them. It can be as simple as a dream that frightened us, or something as large as a war; but these memories and events define and make up who we are. Every individual will have their own definition of what CNF is, some ideas may merge and others may be extreme and no one can think of how it is related. Again though, there is no room for us to judge because when it comes down to it, there is no definite definition. It is your TRUTH and you thoughts, no one else's.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Creative Non-fiction
Any one person can sit down and tell you a story about something that happened, two years ago, while they were at a family picnic ,and their crazy uncle did something ridiculous; but to write Creative Non-fiction it takes more then that. You have to dig deep into your memories, even those that are still fresh in your mind. When you put words down on a paper, they have to be more then just a simple recollection. There needs to be intricate details, the way a room smelt or the specific colors that made up your mothers garden. Creative Non-fiction digs deep into your senses and forces you to transport yourself back to a place, and allow you to be in that moment, as if you were truly there again. It is like traveling in a time machine that takes you through your mind. There are no limits, and every road block you hit, you must dig deeper. There are no locks in Creative non-fiction, just fields of white paper that allow your pen and mind to run free. The focus is on you and or an event, and with out judgement you can be selfish. You take fact, that you experianced, and make it come alive; so that if another individual reads it, they to can feel, taste, smell, and imagine all that you did.
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