Note: Each response should be about a page long
1. Title and Author of the work:
2. What are the ambitions and intentions of this work? What are the themes? What did you take away from the piece?
3. Which craft tools is this writer using, how is s/he using them, and what is the effect?
4. What part of this work had the most impact?
5. What part of this work had the least impact?
6. Any grammar or continuity questions?
7. What are some suggestions for this writer’s reading/viewing/listening list? (Optional)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Week 10 Assignments
Workshop Preparation
Respond to the fiction from your workshop group by completing a Peer Response Form (handed out in class and posted to the blog) for each piece. Forms should be typed. Bring two copies of each response to class November 5th, one for the writer, and one for me.
Writing Assignment
Bring in a piece of poetry for workshop the following week. You will need to bring 6 copies of your work, one for each person in your workshop group and one for me.
Read for Next Week
from Composition in Retrospect, John Cage
Present Tense, Harryette Mullen from Sleeping with the Dictionary
Sonnet 2 and Sonnet 18, Ted Berrigan
New Years Resolution, Lydia Davis
Sonnet 14, John Berryman
Blog
1. Post an entry about any one of the readings this week. This may be a critical or creative piece of about 200-300 words. It MUST respond to your chosen reading in some way, either by identifying and discussing craft elements, themes, or techniques or by using those elements in a creative response.
2. Post comments on at least three other entries. Remember, this is not a place for critiquing each other’s work. Instead, identify something from the piece that strikes or interests you, ask a neutral question about the work, or suggest ways the author could deepen or expand it.
Respond to the fiction from your workshop group by completing a Peer Response Form (handed out in class and posted to the blog) for each piece. Forms should be typed. Bring two copies of each response to class November 5th, one for the writer, and one for me.
Writing Assignment
Bring in a piece of poetry for workshop the following week. You will need to bring 6 copies of your work, one for each person in your workshop group and one for me.
Read for Next Week
from Composition in Retrospect, John Cage
Present Tense, Harryette Mullen from Sleeping with the Dictionary
Sonnet 2 and Sonnet 18, Ted Berrigan
New Years Resolution, Lydia Davis
Sonnet 14, John Berryman
Blog
1. Post an entry about any one of the readings this week. This may be a critical or creative piece of about 200-300 words. It MUST respond to your chosen reading in some way, either by identifying and discussing craft elements, themes, or techniques or by using those elements in a creative response.
2. Post comments on at least three other entries. Remember, this is not a place for critiquing each other’s work. Instead, identify something from the piece that strikes or interests you, ask a neutral question about the work, or suggest ways the author could deepen or expand it.
pUSH hANDS
I found Jeffrey Skinners essay, "Push Hands: Balancing Resistance and Revision" extremely encouraging for a writer who suffers from a lot of the dilemmas that Skinner talks about. I found myself often saying, "I'm that guy" when he talked about students who ask, "What gives you the right to say what's poetry and what's not?" After reading this piece I felt compelled to revisit some of my own work and revise it, poetry mainly. Out of everything he had to say in this essay, one thing really stuck with me because I have the tendency not just as a writer, but as a person, to get ahead of myself when he said, "Slow down. Wait."
I think this is really the best advice any writer or teacher can give to a student/writer because when you try and force yourself to be creative nothing good will come of it and you'll just be as much or more frustrated as when you began.
I think this is really the best advice any writer or teacher can give to a student/writer because when you try and force yourself to be creative nothing good will come of it and you'll just be as much or more frustrated as when you began.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Response to Axolotl
Julio Cortazar creates a very interesting contrast between humans and animals in this short story. The comparison the narrator makes between himself as a human and the "larval stage (provided with gills)" of the Mexican salamanders in the story is not one to be taken lightly- Cortazar has a very real purpose for this seemingly inane comparison.
As stated in the line on page 6, "They were not animals," the narrator comes to the realization that his fascination for these strange aquatic creatures was not purely scientific, but mostly a matter of fitting in at a time of one's youth when one feels immense displacement. The setting, Paris, is in stark contrast to the cultural identification which the narrator makes, and having more in common with this strange and alien-like creature is somehow reassuring to the narrator in this piece than his own identification with the other humans around him- such as the security guard, who watches his trans-fixation with curiosity and amusement.
This piece takes a strange and bizarre twist in the last two pages, where the narrator takes on a full embodiment of the creature in its transformation of growth. Yet if the reader retains an open mind and an understanding that this piece is meant to be metaphorical and even surrealistic, then the shocking realization that the narrator is identifying with a lizard becomes more bearable :)
As stated in the line on page 6, "They were not animals," the narrator comes to the realization that his fascination for these strange aquatic creatures was not purely scientific, but mostly a matter of fitting in at a time of one's youth when one feels immense displacement. The setting, Paris, is in stark contrast to the cultural identification which the narrator makes, and having more in common with this strange and alien-like creature is somehow reassuring to the narrator in this piece than his own identification with the other humans around him- such as the security guard, who watches his trans-fixation with curiosity and amusement.
This piece takes a strange and bizarre twist in the last two pages, where the narrator takes on a full embodiment of the creature in its transformation of growth. Yet if the reader retains an open mind and an understanding that this piece is meant to be metaphorical and even surrealistic, then the shocking realization that the narrator is identifying with a lizard becomes more bearable :)
Parody of Axolotl
There was a time when I thought a great deal about the woman that would come into my salon everyday. There were times when I would watch her when her eyes were closed while she was getting her perm or at the side when she was talking to one of the customers or stylists there, noticing her vibrant moments that would coincide with the jiggling of her fat. Now I am that fat woman.
She came in a month or two ago, when she needed to have her fixed up so that it would help make her cheeks less noticeable. I was working right next to the stylist helping her out, and I laughed a little thinking, "You'd need to fatten up your hair if you want it to look inconspicuous."
I had a difficult time concentrating on the woman I was helping out, trying to make sure I was doing her third dye job that month correctly so that she didn't leave here wanting to come back for another. Her facial features allowed for her to get away with it though, with her bone structure in her face practically chiseled by some high power to give her a soft tone with eyes that had a ragged quality, which didn't have her looking exhausted, but experienced. Despite these features I kept looking on the other side though, examining that fat woman: her hair was curly and short, almost like she was wearing a fake afro; she also had these lamb legs for arms, with the features of it and everything, except the skin looked fine with all that cellulose. Her face was a little pretty, almost like a really ornate globe with eyes that lifted up a little at the end, ready to start an argument at any moment.
She came in a month or two ago, when she needed to have her fixed up so that it would help make her cheeks less noticeable. I was working right next to the stylist helping her out, and I laughed a little thinking, "You'd need to fatten up your hair if you want it to look inconspicuous."
I had a difficult time concentrating on the woman I was helping out, trying to make sure I was doing her third dye job that month correctly so that she didn't leave here wanting to come back for another. Her facial features allowed for her to get away with it though, with her bone structure in her face practically chiseled by some high power to give her a soft tone with eyes that had a ragged quality, which didn't have her looking exhausted, but experienced. Despite these features I kept looking on the other side though, examining that fat woman: her hair was curly and short, almost like she was wearing a fake afro; she also had these lamb legs for arms, with the features of it and everything, except the skin looked fine with all that cellulose. Her face was a little pretty, almost like a really ornate globe with eyes that lifted up a little at the end, ready to start an argument at any moment.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Gentleman's Agreement
I enjoyed reading the story Gentleman's Agreement by Mark Richard. The way Richard shows his character through actions and unique description is what I enjoyed most. I found satisfaction in the following bits of the story:
..dripping seed-sized gravel from tiny hourglass of fist...
..near the gully where the good rocks grew..
..extended a middle finger toward the child and the child waved back..
..On a nail hung a drip of steel helmet melted by mad-dog fire..
The description of the child throwing the rocks on to the top of the shed. Comparing it to a war.
When the kid shouts "Adam Bomb"
The description of the "best white doctor" and how the doctor behaves.
The whole scene where his mother drives him to the doctor. "Something else fell...flapping against his neck."
The description of his father when he shows up after being burned. ..."shriveled roasts of people..."
The story his father told him about having to hide from a fire with a bear.
All these details gave a sense of reality to the story and I really appreciated it. When the story winds down with "The rock throwing hand had finally costed the father more than he had earned." and the father then apologizing to his got to me. It was an image that stayed with me throughout the week.
..dripping seed-sized gravel from tiny hourglass of fist...
..near the gully where the good rocks grew..
..extended a middle finger toward the child and the child waved back..
..On a nail hung a drip of steel helmet melted by mad-dog fire..
The description of the child throwing the rocks on to the top of the shed. Comparing it to a war.
When the kid shouts "Adam Bomb"
The description of the "best white doctor" and how the doctor behaves.
The whole scene where his mother drives him to the doctor. "Something else fell...flapping against his neck."
The description of his father when he shows up after being burned. ..."shriveled roasts of people..."
The story his father told him about having to hide from a fire with a bear.
All these details gave a sense of reality to the story and I really appreciated it. When the story winds down with "The rock throwing hand had finally costed the father more than he had earned." and the father then apologizing to his got to me. It was an image that stayed with me throughout the week.
Defamiliarization = Apathy = The Human Race
Charles Baxter nails the essence of humanities main problem in this piece. Like all civilizations have that disaster which destroys them, apathy definitely ranks up there- high- with the black plague and small pox. Humanities casual carelessness is what Whitman was trying to get at in novels like Walden. The first page of that book talks about how you're probably reading it between buss stops and credit calls.
Anyway, all I have to say is defamiliarization and apathy are one in the same. People need to give a shit, and it's really REALLY too bad that, that state of mind is never going to reemerge in society.
Anyway, all I have to say is defamiliarization and apathy are one in the same. People need to give a shit, and it's really REALLY too bad that, that state of mind is never going to reemerge in society.
Response to Push Hands
This area, between resistance and revision, has been a great deal of trouble for me along my journey as a student in the craft of writing. I have experienced the forms of resistance Skinner discusses, from the young writer against the authority of teacher, the existential "what's the use?" and especially the "do I have what it takes." I battle with resistance that arises in the process of feeling both exceptional and worthless, success and defeat, with many pieces. Writing has a strange force and demand considering that it is like any other craft, one which is penetrable by taste and critique, yet it can not de denied when something is an amateur affair. There is a price to be paid and it is called time. Revision is more time battling with something you had fought so hard to supply against all the forces attempting to pull you away from it; insecurity, common distractions, emotive intensity, the inability to get past something, etc. Revision can be like asking someone to revisit a very complex state of affairs that can be difficult but necessary if one wants to move on to a newer form of freedom in their life, and in their craft. I have come up with some possibly useful exercises for revision:
Whenever you think a piece is done put it down for a few minutes, return to it and reread it while taking notes of possible revisions. After a few days or a week do the same until you have collected a good amount of notes and when you finally revise you won't feel as hopeless tackling such a process.
Start a blog and put any unrevised pieces up. Check the blog daily, just looking at a piece in a different surrounding can give it new light. If you let friends and others have access you might find insight you previously unaware of.
Take a piece you have finished and take each line in handwriting and create a story out of each line. See if you can find something new about the words you were using and how they are telling the story. It may help you discover the story to begin with.
Charles Baxter’s “On Defamiliarization”
Charles Baxter’s “On Defamiliarization”
In his essay “On Defamiliarization,” I found Charles Baxter’s approach on informing about characterization very helpful. The technique of presenting the familiar in an unfamiliar way keeps the story and the characters interesting and relatable. Otherwise, really, what is the point of writing down a story if the characters and the central theme are “true”, but familiar and cliché to the point they don’t mean anything anymore to the reader? It reminds me of the generic Hollywood romances that do well with the same formula (Popular boy + ugly duckling girl + some tension= movie hit) but are soulless. I’ve seen countless of those types of movies advertised over years. Sometimes even fangs added to the mix, but essentially, they’re still the same as the other movies. The characters are cutouts which people can project themselves onto, nothing more. A quote from the reading that I found especially helpful was, “…Characters who are entirely likable or admirable—who are remembered in the way that funeral elegies remember people---have a tendency to become either allegorical or bland. Narrated this way, they don’t stay in the memory…” (23). So, in other words, writers need to show our truths in new ways to avoid unintentionally building the reader’s contempt for the characters we meant them to understand, if not like.
- K De Melo
In his essay “On Defamiliarization,” I found Charles Baxter’s approach on informing about characterization very helpful. The technique of presenting the familiar in an unfamiliar way keeps the story and the characters interesting and relatable. Otherwise, really, what is the point of writing down a story if the characters and the central theme are “true”, but familiar and cliché to the point they don’t mean anything anymore to the reader? It reminds me of the generic Hollywood romances that do well with the same formula (Popular boy + ugly duckling girl + some tension= movie hit) but are soulless. I’ve seen countless of those types of movies advertised over years. Sometimes even fangs added to the mix, but essentially, they’re still the same as the other movies. The characters are cutouts which people can project themselves onto, nothing more. A quote from the reading that I found especially helpful was, “…Characters who are entirely likable or admirable—who are remembered in the way that funeral elegies remember people---have a tendency to become either allegorical or bland. Narrated this way, they don’t stay in the memory…” (23). So, in other words, writers need to show our truths in new ways to avoid unintentionally building the reader’s contempt for the characters we meant them to understand, if not like.
- K De Melo
Inspiration Response to "On Defamiliarization"
There must’ve been seven hundred people there
Mostly teenagers, mostly female, mostly weeping
I halfway listened to the sermon
Punctuated by sobs from the believers
The clouds painted on the ceiling spoke of wings
Did he wear them now?
The front pew was littered with used Kleenex
It stuck in small snotty clumps on my dress
My hand numb from being clutched by
Family members I hadn’t seen in years
I moved through them like fog
Could he see us now?
Grief etched indelibly on their contorted faces
My own thinly contained
The six boys wore white gloves
We rose to follow them out
And I noticed a tear in my tights
Mostly teenagers, mostly female, mostly weeping
I halfway listened to the sermon
Punctuated by sobs from the believers
The clouds painted on the ceiling spoke of wings
Did he wear them now?
The front pew was littered with used Kleenex
It stuck in small snotty clumps on my dress
My hand numb from being clutched by
Family members I hadn’t seen in years
I moved through them like fog
Could he see us now?
Grief etched indelibly on their contorted faces
My own thinly contained
The six boys wore white gloves
We rose to follow them out
And I noticed a tear in my tights
This Week's Readings...
were my favorites so far. The idea of defamiliarization hits on one of the key points that I had tried and failed to describe in the first writing assignment of the semester: where we were told to describe what "good writing" meant to us. I had tried to probe (among other things) why Chuck Palahniuk's writing worked so well for me. What was it about his style and themes that captured my attention so relentlessly and that always seemed capable of helping me understand the world in new ways? I couldn't name it.
Well, Baxter seems to put forth myriad ideas in this essay, but the one definition that stood out to me, the one representing an idea I want to include in my writing, describes the way clever use of language makes the familiar strange and the strange familiar. At the core, a book like Choke is about existentialism. It's the familiar story of Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the hill and learning to love the process, reinterpreted with a masturbation-addicted main character. The decidedly strange subject matter Palahniuk produces makes the story entertaining, and as a result the message is accesible to people who would not have otherwise been exposed to it (me).
Considering not everyone has read Choke, I'm not sure I'm doing the best job explaining myself, but the short stories we were assigned for this week did a great job illustrating the same point; that was the reason I enjoyed them so thoroughly: to slightly misuse political jargon, they were really on message this week.
Anyway.
The use of language in a Gentleman's Agreement had that character of being totally new but absolutely true. The author chose such uncommon words to describe the almost banal activities in the story. A child throwing rocks is receiving lessons in trajectory. A rock through a windshield is a broken-glass eye poke to the friendly family van. A kid's response to his father's chastising abuse is a covenant in his heart. The list goes on. The effect is that the banality vanishes. The use of unfamiliar adjectives and metaphors casts connotative, new light on everything described and the reader benefits by being entertained and experiencing the mundane world in new ways.
All in all, the effect was that I was inspired to try writing like this more. But I often find it hard to do things intentionally with my writing, so those experiments will be lucky to see light.
PS. I wanted to note the Axoltyl (sp?) story for its use of defamiliarization as well, but I'm well over the word count limit and I can't bring myself to cut anything. Maybe someone strapped to find something to comment on can flesh that out. Or not. You know, whatev.
Well, Baxter seems to put forth myriad ideas in this essay, but the one definition that stood out to me, the one representing an idea I want to include in my writing, describes the way clever use of language makes the familiar strange and the strange familiar. At the core, a book like Choke is about existentialism. It's the familiar story of Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the hill and learning to love the process, reinterpreted with a masturbation-addicted main character. The decidedly strange subject matter Palahniuk produces makes the story entertaining, and as a result the message is accesible to people who would not have otherwise been exposed to it (me).
Considering not everyone has read Choke, I'm not sure I'm doing the best job explaining myself, but the short stories we were assigned for this week did a great job illustrating the same point; that was the reason I enjoyed them so thoroughly: to slightly misuse political jargon, they were really on message this week.
Anyway.
The use of language in a Gentleman's Agreement had that character of being totally new but absolutely true. The author chose such uncommon words to describe the almost banal activities in the story. A child throwing rocks is receiving lessons in trajectory. A rock through a windshield is a broken-glass eye poke to the friendly family van. A kid's response to his father's chastising abuse is a covenant in his heart. The list goes on. The effect is that the banality vanishes. The use of unfamiliar adjectives and metaphors casts connotative, new light on everything described and the reader benefits by being entertained and experiencing the mundane world in new ways.
All in all, the effect was that I was inspired to try writing like this more. But I often find it hard to do things intentionally with my writing, so those experiments will be lucky to see light.
PS. I wanted to note the Axoltyl (sp?) story for its use of defamiliarization as well, but I'm well over the word count limit and I can't bring myself to cut anything. Maybe someone strapped to find something to comment on can flesh that out. Or not. You know, whatev.
Response to "Gentleman's Agreement"
He climbed the old oak tree
when no was home
and leapt onto the roof
of the sagging tool shed
He sat for hours
feet dangling off the edge
of the creaking structure
listening to the hardened
brown acorns
that came falling occasionally
like suicide jumpers
landing with a hollow
crack on the rippled
tin roof
He wanted so bad
to toss the acorns
in their tiny rugged caps
and send them sailing
off into the atmosphere
but he knew
there would never be
anyone to catch them
And so he sat instead
listening
as they fell to their deaths
through the gray morning air
landing with subtle clicks
on the roof
of the crippled shed
When he heard the thunder
of his fathers pickup truck
and saw the dust stirred up
from its roaring belly
he slid down from
the edge of the sloped
tin rooftop and
ran into the house
hoping he hadn't been noticed
and that the acorns
would forgive him
in the morning
when no was home
and leapt onto the roof
of the sagging tool shed
He sat for hours
feet dangling off the edge
of the creaking structure
listening to the hardened
brown acorns
that came falling occasionally
like suicide jumpers
landing with a hollow
crack on the rippled
tin roof
He wanted so bad
to toss the acorns
in their tiny rugged caps
and send them sailing
off into the atmosphere
but he knew
there would never be
anyone to catch them
And so he sat instead
listening
as they fell to their deaths
through the gray morning air
landing with subtle clicks
on the roof
of the crippled shed
When he heard the thunder
of his fathers pickup truck
and saw the dust stirred up
from its roaring belly
he slid down from
the edge of the sloped
tin rooftop and
ran into the house
hoping he hadn't been noticed
and that the acorns
would forgive him
in the morning
A Response to "Push Hands: Balancing Resistance and Revision"
This piece had a number of very pithy quotes that I found quite lucid. I think the most important of them all was the one that went: "...the aim of revision is to improve the poem, not to spare or enhance anyone's feelings." This is something I wish more writers would embrace. The poem is not you. A criticism of the poem is not a criticism of you. You and the Poem are quite separate. Moreover, criticism should be welcomed, and not taken with an air of tacit offense.
I think the worst thing about the creative writing process as I have experienced at this school, and the thing this piece and this quote address is that nobody seems willing to really pick apart anyone else's work. There is very little emotion that goes into any critique; in fact, most critiques come off like a perfunctory hug: superficially compassionate, but ultimately driven by an unwillingness to appear rude. This bothers me a lot. I criticize my own work a great deal because I feel that it is the only way for it to improve. I am rarely satisfied with my work to the extent that I feel that it should be displayed in public. Be this a quirk of my personality as it may, every writer should be pleased to receive criticism, not because their work is "bad," but because something which inspires comment of any kind is the only thing which deserves to continue being worked on.
I think the worst thing about the creative writing process as I have experienced at this school, and the thing this piece and this quote address is that nobody seems willing to really pick apart anyone else's work. There is very little emotion that goes into any critique; in fact, most critiques come off like a perfunctory hug: superficially compassionate, but ultimately driven by an unwillingness to appear rude. This bothers me a lot. I criticize my own work a great deal because I feel that it is the only way for it to improve. I am rarely satisfied with my work to the extent that I feel that it should be displayed in public. Be this a quirk of my personality as it may, every writer should be pleased to receive criticism, not because their work is "bad," but because something which inspires comment of any kind is the only thing which deserves to continue being worked on.
"On Defamiliarization"
I found that "On Defamiliarization" was especially helpful with characterization. Often times I find myself wanting to write about a character who is someone that I myself would like. I'll write about the girl who is beautiful, who is quiet and smart and good, but just can't find her way. I'll write about the bad-boy guy who comes along and rescues her (yes, I enjoy love stories). But after reading Baxter, I realized that nobody really cares about these characters. Okay, so that's not entirely true, people do care, but these types of characters aren't memorable. They're like every other character in every other love story. In order to write something that is memorable, you need to give characters shocking qualities, along with likeable qualities. That way, the contradictory characteristics send you into a turmoil of confusion, making the story one you won't be likely to forget anytime soon. Baxter was not only helpful with characterization but with plot as well. You can do the whole "boy meets girl, boy likes girl" thing, but it's overdone and we all know how it's going to end. Now, throw in controversy that ends in a way we wouldn't want real life to end, and you got yourself a good story. Albeit, a sad story (maybe), but a good one.
Pushing My Hands
I write poetry and I write prose. I use a lot of details and it's hard for me to get straight to the point, without over indulging in adjectives. I love writing, more and more. It's becoming a part of what I want to do with my life, which scares me. My mom told me to try and choose a career that helped me earn a reasonable income. Well I tried, it doesn't seem to be the direction that I am headed in. "The qualities most necessary to a teacher, if she is to help a student overcome resistance, are passion and an open mind" I have passion and an open mind. Neither are a problem for me. Yet acting on them sometimes gets quite challenging for me. I love constructive criticism, I value it. Sometimes I don't know how to use it, I struggle. Recently I had peer reviewers point out a topic in my piece that they found questionable. They suggested that I leave it out, that I banish the topic from my piece. But it was one of my crucial points. So, what then? I can't get rid of it. It is now a part of my piece, an entire leg and without it my piece will not stand up straight. The entire significance that IS my piece will be gone and will no longer matter. I suppose this is my resistance. I want to fix it, just as they suggest, I mean they speak for my readers right? But how do I fix it for them, but keep it the same for me, for what I want to say?
Important - Class Canceled Tomorrow, October 22!!
Unfortunately I have to cancel class tomorrow, Thursday, October 22. I came down with a nasty flu in Chicago and currently have a very high temperature. I'm sorry for any inconvenience, and I look forward to seeing you next week.
For homework:
For next week, please remember to bring in a piece of fiction for workshop the following week. You will need to bring 6 copies of your work, one for each person in your workshop group and one for me. You are not required to post to the blog next week (but please post as usual this week).
As always, please feel free to email me if you have any questions, though I may be a bit slower to respond in the next couple of days.
For homework:
For next week, please remember to bring in a piece of fiction for workshop the following week. You will need to bring 6 copies of your work, one for each person in your workshop group and one for me. You are not required to post to the blog next week (but please post as usual this week).
As always, please feel free to email me if you have any questions, though I may be a bit slower to respond in the next couple of days.
Forgettable fictional characters
(A response to "On Defamiliarization")
1. The content, single, thirty year old woman
2. The well-adjusted teenager
3. The friendly, non-embarrassing, happily married parents
4. The likable bachelor (seen occasionally in fiction as the one "she doesn't choose")
5. The college student who doesn't have sexual thoughts about older men
6. The quiet grandfather who is not descending into dementia (he's not a veteran either)
7. The grandmother without a deep dark family secret (she really does like just baking cookies!)
8. The young man with nothing to prove
9. The young woman who knows exactly why she is in love with her boyfriend (and she doesn't find handsome foreigners the least bit attractive)
10. The older sibling with no psychopathic tendencies whatsoever (or the unself-centered younger sibling)
1. The content, single, thirty year old woman
2. The well-adjusted teenager
3. The friendly, non-embarrassing, happily married parents
4. The likable bachelor (seen occasionally in fiction as the one "she doesn't choose")
5. The college student who doesn't have sexual thoughts about older men
6. The quiet grandfather who is not descending into dementia (he's not a veteran either)
7. The grandmother without a deep dark family secret (she really does like just baking cookies!)
8. The young man with nothing to prove
9. The young woman who knows exactly why she is in love with her boyfriend (and she doesn't find handsome foreigners the least bit attractive)
10. The older sibling with no psychopathic tendencies whatsoever (or the unself-centered younger sibling)
Response to Axolotl by Julio Cortazar
Even after all the evidence presented to me, I still don’t believe that the primate species is the closest related to humans. It is remarkable that we share thumbs, and signs and what not, but I just don’t feel that connection. At least not that connection I share with my dog. Maybe it’s just that I’ve never met a primate before. Regardless of that fact, I can’t deny that affection I feel for my dog. He is more than a pet, or a companion. He’s become my friend, or my older protective brother. I know I can always count on him, no matter what. Yes you may say that he has no other choice since he is force to live with me, but I beg to differ. I am certain that if he could talk he’d agree with what I am saying. Every time I look into his dark brown pool of eyes, I know that he is listening. When he offers comfort in the way he leans on me or licks my tears away I know he cares. He can be more human that actual human beings. His heart filled with emotion and feeling towards me restores my faith in love, hope, happiness, joy…life. Even when we’re miles away I can feel him longing for my presence as I do for his. When I call home and am into the conversation with my mom and hear his famous, special, one of a kind bark, I know he knows I’m on the other end almost in tears from missing him. I believe he is shouting “Hi, I miss you too.” Once I called my mother to ask her how to get rid of some pain I was having, being her motherly self she worried but stayed calm. That night as she was folding away clothes from the dryer (where my dog sleeps at night) she noticed him being restless. She then looked at him and asked him “What’s wrong, you’re usually asleep by this time” she continued by saying “Oh I know, it’s your owner, don’t worry I’m sure she’ll be alright. Go to sleep now, I am sure she’ll call in the morning to let us know she is perfectly fine now.” It was then that my mom told me that my dog, looked at her straight in the eye with a reassuring look, and went back to bed. I know this isn’t just a coincidence, I know he cared and was worried; too bad he doesn’t have thumbs to call or text me…
Response to On Defamiliarization
I found Baxter's advice in "On Defamiliarization" to be very interesting and helpful. I agree with a lot of what Baxter thinks about what good writing is, and I respect how he phrases a lot of his advice. He seems simultaneously matter of fact and sincere about what he says. I have lately been trying to figure out what makes a reader to want to follow a character throughout a story. Baxter reminds us that in society, people try to be morally good or likable, but that when it comes to fiction a character just has to be interesting. He also discussed some other important story telling techniques to keep in mind, such as not having all the details of a story support one central theme, that writers should try bringing in details that "don't belong, that don't fit" and to not over-control your art with the specific details, and that "instead of making our narrative events and our characters more colorful, we might make them thicker, more undecidable, more contradictory and unrecognizable." Baxter's advice really helped me, especially because in my fundamentals of creative writing class (as those of you who are in it know) we have to write an ongoing project. I have been having trouble lately with my characters and the overall feel of the piece - so when I revise it this week I will definitely look through Baxter's essay for advice to improve my characters and the details of the story I want to focus on.
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