Blog #5

Alive by Laurie Lynn Drummond is a very short but very impactful essay. The author, a former police officer, tells of her constant state of awareness due to past experience. Having been a cop she is ever cautious and suspicious of those around her, more so after several murders and attempted abductions in Baton Rouge during her visit to the city. The main focus of her story is that we are all potential victims. She uses repetitive statements, “hyper alert”, as well as strong, descriptive words, “naked, with her throat cut”, to get her point across.

“Westbury Court” by Edwidge Danticat is much longer and the author seems to use a more emotional technique to get her point across. I believe the main focus of this essay is that no matter what walk of life you come from tragedy and joy are inevitable. She compares real life to the lives of those in the soap operas she enjoyed so much as a teenager. Her writing style is effective because she has the ability to connect emotionally with the reader.

Blog #4

“My Father Always Said” is a connection of past and present.  It is the awakening of a young girl to a world outside of her comfort zone. Many of us take for granted the comforts of our everyday lives as did Mimi Schwartz. Her father, however, opened her eyes to the beauty and cruelty of another life.

The first section of this essay deals with the author’s life as an adolescent growing up in Queens, New York. She tells us of the everyday things that kids do, watching sports, going to school, even hanging out in front of the local store. What separated her from the rest of the children in her neighborhood was a past her father cold not let go of and one she did not understand.

After getting to know the author and the kind of life she lives we are introduced to her father’s childhood home. A place that he loves and reveres, yet at the same time haunts him still. It is a small farm town in Germany where everyone knows everyone else, where the community is a family. At least that’s how he chooses to remember it. When they get there they find all traces of the once predominantly Jewish town have been wiped away. Even the old synagogue has been replaced with a Protestant church.

The only remnants of this town’s Jewish heritage is in the local Jewish cemetery, which is the focus of the third section. It is here that the author finally begins to grasp the emotion this place holds for her father. She sees the family and friends he lost even if she herself never knew them. She even participates in the old Jewish ritual of placing stones on the graves of loved ones. This is the moment in which she and her father seem to come to an unspoken understanding. He will stop living in the past and she will remember it.

The last section of this essay pertains to what happens after their trip. Her father begins to live his life, not according to how it would have happened in “Rindheim”, but how he should have been living all of those years in America. The author, on the other hand, returns to her father’s hometown years later and learns the whole truth of what took place during that terrible time in history.

I believe Schwartz uses the pauses between sections to give the reader a sense of finalization. With each pause a new part of the story begins and in a way the author herself moves forward. 

Blog #3

Montaignes essay, in comparison to the other CNF’s is dissimilar. He talks almost from a third person’s point of view, and at the same time from his point of view, in when he uses “I”. He discusses the last moment of other people as if he were there from what I understand. He further goes on to say that you cant judge a person until you see him/her in their dying moments, which i disagree with. Only because we have some sadistic people who have no remorse for their wrong doings, and die with a evil smirk across their face. On the other hand, you have people who live a great life, that they fear just the thought of death. In addition to that, the writing style used was that of old English, which I am not accustomed to reading, therefore making this story relevantly hard to comprehend.

George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a prime example of creative nonfiction. When I first started this class it seemed to me, a contradictory statement. How can nonfiction be creative? After reading this piece I understand. Orwell clearly illustrates a story in his life, which normally would be mundane and uninteresting. By sharing his innermost thoughts with the reader he easily turns the essay into something we can connect with, which in turn, compels us to read on.

Although it is a work of nonfiction, symbolism is ever present in this piece. Orwell himself is a symbol of the British rulers of Burma. He states how strongly he loathes his job and how no matter what he does or how he acts he will never truly be accepted. Yet his need to be liked, to be noticed, to be appreciated surpasses his need to do the right thing  “They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching. And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all.”  He is well aware that taking the life of the elephant was wrong, but, as he so aptly put it “he shall spend his life in trying to impress the ‘natives’ and so in every crisis he has got to do what the ‘natives’ expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” In order to keep peace and save face in a land which you rule yet you so clearly do not belong and are highly outnumbered the only way to maintain power is to acclimate into their society slowly. This alone is why, although he truly detests the idea of killing such a magnificent animal, he must. He, like most of us, needs to feel a part of the bigger picture.

This essay was clear and concise yet full of emotion. I found it easy to read and comprehend as opposed to Montaigne’s That Men Should Not Judge. It flowed much more smoothly and, although not in today’s standard “relaxed” speech, much more enjoyable. The total picture was easy to understand and Orwell seemed to be appealing to regular people whereas Montaigne’s essay was more suited for intellects. “Shooting an Elephant” is a story anyone in any walk of life can relate to.

Toward a definition of creative nonfiction

Lotts discussion did little to my understanding of what i know to be creative non fiction. It was only clarified. Similar to Kincaids idea, Lott says that writing a non fiction should not be limited to just facts, because then its in close comparison to a police report. He further goes on to say that writing should be flowing, and one should not be afraid to use "I" in an essay, or short story for it helps in the creative aspect of the writting. Besudes that, reading the short story was confusing, and i found a hard time grasping the elaborated meaning.

Biography of a dress-Kincaid

Kincaid's way of writing this short story is unusual, but interesting. She talks in what would be, my present- with past and present tenses. Compared to the other readings where the writer's take us on emotional journeys with things like fear, excitement, sorrow, Kincaid talks to us from the point of view of a 2 year old girl, being the past, and from a 43 year old woman, being the present. She mentions often in little descriptions, keeping us in the moment that she did not understand then, and does not understand now. Kincaid also added to my idea of CNF by displaying mother-daughter relationships, the social constraints felt by a young girl coming of age, a sense of dissatisfaction despite surroundings of great beauty, questions of identity, and the merging of real and imaginary worlds. Her way of writing has unquestionably opened my thoughts (what I thought to be) vs what I know to be of CNF.

CNF-(creative non fiction writing)

To me, creative nonfiction writing is a genre of writing truth using literary styles to create factually accurate narratives. For a text to be considered creative nonfiction, it must be factually accurate, and written with attention to style and technique. Ultimately, the primary goal of the creative nonfiction writer is to get across information in the manner of a reporter, but to shape it like a fiction.

1st blog

1st day of class was pretty interesting. Creating this blog was not my cup of tea