During this week and last Thursday we started discussing some short stories. These short stories ranged from funny, and life hearted ones to more serious ones. With each new short story, a new author with a new technique. Some were fabricated with more dialogue, one felt like it was a run on sentence broken up by semi colon.
Wallet was lighthearted, and fun. The story was about an older man who created a fake wallet, filled to the brim, because his kept getting stolen. He has his son be the getaway driver when conducting the "experiment" of taking the wallet to the mall and seeing if the fake wallet will get stolen. This backfires in the sense of the fake wallet being stolen and the guy runs for it. It mostly takes place as a mall, but in a car as well. The line "He is an old man trying to act feeble and childlike..." is a good line to add when discussing about the fact that he is trying to fool others into taking the fake wallet.
Letters from Home was more of a list in terms of writing. Though filled with the imagery of what she was doing possibly in the day of her life. Or maybe it was for her whole life. The ending is not that clear about what happens to her in the end for she is now sailing away with a guy. The question would be who is this guy and why is he just randomly appearing. During the middle section of the short story, it is broken up with a guy that is coming and asking about things. There may be more of religious connotations within it. Then the story gets really deep in the last part where it is talking about everything is connected with each other.
Another one that I particularly liked was The Colonel. Within this story, it is about a man visiting a fellow military man. I did not understand this story that much, I am not sure why, but I was trying to figure out what relationship the two men had. Like was the main visiting a friend or a lover???? This was not clear. What I did understand, however, was the fact that the colonel did not care much about anyone else. It was his way or the highway. The imagery is strong towards the end, when he is spilling the ears out of a sack. It is a disgusting image to think about.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
The Bones
This week we had to read the next third of Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Throughout these chapters, Goldberg builds upon what she had already stated. However, Goldberg goes into specifying in different sections about going into details. Details are important when writing, but crafting those details are crucial. One would not want to delve into one item and its details. The meaning of these is to be detailed on everything, but not too much. Through the imagery of these details we can continue to focus on other things.
Besides these, I really liked "The Action of a Sentence" chapter. In this chapter, Goldberg goes through an exercise that she does with the matching of the verbs. The main point of the chapter is to notice the power of the verbs, but not to dwell on a verb that would fit into a sentence for hours on end. You can continue to write, in fresh ways on the verbs that you are using. It is pointless to dwell on the verb (or action) of the sentence and continue to write. She also goes and states "You might decide ultimately that run, see, go, are for you." That is key here, if writing with bigger vocabulary is not your thing, do not dwell on that aspect but continue and go for it!
Another chapter I like was "Be an Animal". This short chapter really states that you should make a note of simpler things like animals do. They see the world differently, almost in a more simple context than usual. Thinking like an animal, since they do not have the same thoughts as us, would make writing simple, because you are going into what you already know based on seeing and smelling. Think of like when a dog lifts their nose into the air, I'm curious to know what they are smelling. But when I smell great food being cooked after they made the movement, I want to jot it down because I am unsure how it will come across, but it triggers something. It is making writing simple like an animal because depending on the animal, they are only relying on certain sense to get their way through life.
Besides these, I really liked "The Action of a Sentence" chapter. In this chapter, Goldberg goes through an exercise that she does with the matching of the verbs. The main point of the chapter is to notice the power of the verbs, but not to dwell on a verb that would fit into a sentence for hours on end. You can continue to write, in fresh ways on the verbs that you are using. It is pointless to dwell on the verb (or action) of the sentence and continue to write. She also goes and states "You might decide ultimately that run, see, go, are for you." That is key here, if writing with bigger vocabulary is not your thing, do not dwell on that aspect but continue and go for it!
Another chapter I like was "Be an Animal". This short chapter really states that you should make a note of simpler things like animals do. They see the world differently, almost in a more simple context than usual. Thinking like an animal, since they do not have the same thoughts as us, would make writing simple, because you are going into what you already know based on seeing and smelling. Think of like when a dog lifts their nose into the air, I'm curious to know what they are smelling. But when I smell great food being cooked after they made the movement, I want to jot it down because I am unsure how it will come across, but it triggers something. It is making writing simple like an animal because depending on the animal, they are only relying on certain sense to get their way through life.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Tocqueville Part 2
Today, I'm going to look into the long poem "Tocqueville" from Tocqueville. This poem is split up between different sections, all interacting to form the long poem. At first, I did not believe that it was interconnected, though with other parts it seemed like they were. In the end, I decided to go with the possibility that they were parts of a conversation. By this, I mean that the sections within it were parts of different conversations that one might here some place (if it was filled with politically involved people, who were in war). That makes it strong, but also confusing at the same time.
I will talk about two parts that I believed were connected as part of this conversation. The first time that we see this story, it starts on page 29 with the leading sentence of "They found me in the house with my baby child." Within this particular part of the story, we know that the mom is dead and that the men there want the narrator to murder their child. The second part appears on page 31, with the middle section. It continues this particular story of the narrator making their way into a refugee camp. The narrator was running from something in particular, war probably given the context of the overall book. With war rumbling through the country, people want out, and they will try to get away. The last time we see it is on page 40, with the line starting with "Since I killed my child...", and it is the ending of this particular part of the conversation.
In all, though, since these three sections provide a sense of interconnection within the larger poem as a whole, Mattawa (the author), does not stray away from the highly political book. It gives a different sense of what happens even if the media plays it up like nothing is really going on. One would have to think deeper than what is written on the page. Does it make sense to not see interconnections? Would I write something differently? These two questions can help fuel a way into understanding what the author is trying to say.
I will talk about two parts that I believed were connected as part of this conversation. The first time that we see this story, it starts on page 29 with the leading sentence of "They found me in the house with my baby child." Within this particular part of the story, we know that the mom is dead and that the men there want the narrator to murder their child. The second part appears on page 31, with the middle section. It continues this particular story of the narrator making their way into a refugee camp. The narrator was running from something in particular, war probably given the context of the overall book. With war rumbling through the country, people want out, and they will try to get away. The last time we see it is on page 40, with the line starting with "Since I killed my child...", and it is the ending of this particular part of the conversation.
In all, though, since these three sections provide a sense of interconnection within the larger poem as a whole, Mattawa (the author), does not stray away from the highly political book. It gives a different sense of what happens even if the media plays it up like nothing is really going on. One would have to think deeper than what is written on the page. Does it make sense to not see interconnections? Would I write something differently? These two questions can help fuel a way into understanding what the author is trying to say.
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