Week 11: A Narrative of Suspicions

"My Grandma the Poisoner" begins with a provocative title. The title itself suggests two possibilities: this could be serious or this could be fun. Reed sweeps us up in his journey, inhabiting both of these realms—the serious and the humorous—to a complicated effect. By the end of the second paragraph he has raised the stakes: "Today, when I think back on it, I don't wonder whether Grandma got what she deserved as a mother; I wonder whether she got what she deserved as a murderer" (162). Proving this statement through "pieces of circumstantial evidence and hunches that have coalesced over the years" (165) seems to be the driving force of the essay (though I would argue the question of the piece extends beyond the proof). We are left in a gray territory of suspicion and doubt. I would love for that space to be the focus of our blog discussion.

The task: to assemble the evidence for and against John Reed's grandmother, as a poisoner/murderer.

-Please provide a piece of evidence and state its significance with respect to the case for/against Grandma.

-Also, connect this piece of evidence (or the veracity of Reed's piece as a whole) to the structure of the essay as discussed in Bascom's craft essay "Picturing the Perfect Essay: A Visual Guide."

I'm curious to see how Grandma fares.

Thank you.

Week 10: Confessions

In “Traumatized Time,” David McGlynn delves into some of the struggles writers encounter when writing creative nonfiction. Writing in present tense, he says, is one avenue writers can explore because it “allows for the author to inhabit the point of view of her younger self” (114-115). It also “exudes a timelessness” that allows for an embodiment of the traumatic experience. However, present tense is showy—it “calls even greater attention to itself as an artificial construction” (115).

McGlynn seems to point to the manipulation of time and space as a reason for the question of truth that surrounds personal narrative. He then brings up another major contention regarding memoir: confession. His brief discussion of confession is notable, I think, because it is an important element of personal writing. “Confessional” is a particular label that is applied to writing, a label that often brings with it a sense of disgust or disgrace. Yet McGlynn disagrees with one memoirist’s lack of confession, or, at least, lack of confession in the way he expects, which is not composite and generic.

Finally, McGlynn points to “experimenting with the puzzle pieces of storytelling” as a way to work through “the reservations and hang-ups that roadblock the telling of…stories” (119). This final idea ties in nicely to Sundberg’s essay, “It Will Look Like a Sunset.” Sundberg uses fragments and a braided narrative to disclose the abuse she experienced at the hands of her husband. The outcome is an essay that seems, to me at least, very much like a collection of puzzle pieces that work together to not only explore the relationship, but also to ask questions about the narrator’s role in the relationship.

There are a few questions I have regarding these readings. As usual, feel free to address any or none of them. 

1. McGlynn’s piece discusses memoir specifically. I’m interested in the way the name of the genre automatically affects our perception of writing. I read a bit about the difference between “memoir” and “personal essay”. Here, Lopate says that memoir requires people. Purdue OWL says, “While the personal essay can be about almost anything, the memoir tends to discuss past events.” Regardless of the technical difference, the names themselves seem to evoke different senses of value and respect, especially when confession gets thrown into the conversation.   

What are your feelings and ideas about confession in personal writing? How do you feel about the naming of the genres, especially “essay” or “creative nonfiction” versus “memoir”?

2. Do you think the structure of “It Will Look Like a Sunset” works well for this narrative? How might it have been different if it had used a linear, chronological structure?

3. McGlynn says, “One of the magical qualities of creative nonfiction…is its ability to travel through time, to leap without preamble or warning from the narration of particular past events to the immediate and universal present” (113). In addition, “[B]y inhabiting the lives of other people, memoir readers are able to discover new ways of understanding their own worlds, their own lives” (113). 

Does Sundberg’s essay leap to the immediate and universal present? Does it allow readers, even if they haven’t experienced the same trauma, a new way of understanding, a “new vocabulary” (McGlynn 113)?  

Week 9: Writing Personal Essays and Cats

In "Writing Personal Essays: On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character" Lopate highlights several common questions, themes, and ideas that we have found ourselves revisiting week after week in class: characterization, shame, author-reader relationships, and reconciling our experiences in writing and the infamous "I"--to name a few. 

Beginning immediately with a discussion of "I" and the ways that people and authors worry or hesitate to use the word and include themselves in any writing, Lopate turns to the ways authors of the personal essay must embrace "I" for themselves and their audiences. He highlights, "The problem with 'I' is not that it is in bad taste, but that fledgling personal essayists may think they've said or conveyed more than they actually have with that one syllable. In their minds, that 'I' is swarming with background and a lush, sticky past, and an almost too fatal specificity, whereas the reader, encountering it for the first time in a new piece, sees only a slender telephone pole standing in the sentence, trying to catch a few signals to send on" (Lopate 38). This is his launch into the ways that authors can create a character from the "I" in ways that the author is aware of (thus aiming to eliminate the angst and shame that comes with placing oneself in the open on a page by choosing certain aspects of self to highlight or downplay) as well as the audience (by writing about oneself in a way that readers are interested in and amused by enough to continue reading).

The main argument of Lopate's piece is, as indicative by the title, turning oneself into a character. While reading I took notes of the suggestions for thinking and writing (I chose to separate pondering and what seemed like more action-based suggestions as I read, but both lists are similar) a character.

Thinking about characterizing oneself:

• distance from yourself
• see yourself from the ceiling
• take inventory of yourself
• dramatize yourself
• choose a personal conflict
• "mining our quirks" (41)
• explaining identity and background
• finding self-amusement and self-curiosity
• expressing your opinions and thoughts
• showing actions and choices (along with thoughts)

Writing about oneself:

• start with quirks
• properly position oneself
• remove inessentials
• emotional preparedness
• recognize the charm of ordinary and life's mysteries
• create an author-reader relationship
• eliminate self-hatred
• give "I" something to do

For this week's prompts I have several questions about Lopate and Kreider's pieces. Feel free to answer whichever seem most immediate or interesting to you. Even though the readings were short there is a great deal of information, suggestion, opinion, and content to sort through. Because of the density if these questions don't do it for you (or if there was something extremely important to you that isn't touched upon by the below questions) please respond to a self-generated question or quote.

1. Lopate places shame as an enemy of successful personal essay writing, "I," and suggests "outgrowing shame" (44). Shame has come up in class several times, and this essay gives us an opportunity to write about it. Do you agree or disagree with Lopate? Do you feel as though shame holds no place in essay writing, or is shame a somewhat necessary aspect of writing about oneself? How does shame (or lack thereof) play a role for you as both a reader and writer of cnf?

2. "But first must come the urge to entertain the reader. From that impulse everything else follows" (Lopate 43). Surrounded by suggestions about being self-amused and curious, driven by life's mysteries, we find this quote. Do you feel as though reader entertainment fits with Lopate's message or contradicts it? If you were to look at your own writing and purposes of writing and rank purpose and goals, where does reader entertainment fit? How do you reconcile your own experiences, the way your feel and write, and audience when writing? And/or how does reader entertainment function within yourself and your "I"?

3. Do you by into Lopate's suggestions, ideas, and piece as a whole? Why or why not? What makes sense to you? What feels uncomfortable or excessive to you? Complete the sentence and elaborate: As a personal essayist, turning yourself into a character is _________.

4. Choose one or more of the bulleted suggestions. Write about it in terms of cnf, your experiences (writing, reading... living), and your opinions. Why did you choose what you did and what role does it play in your understanding of personal essay writing and cnf? Do you feel that the suggestion holds validity? Why or why not?

5. Kreider launches into his essay immediately with an "I" (as A Man, from the title, assumably) and links this sense of self to His Cat (also from the title and many people's working knowledge of "Cat Ladies," pet enthusiasts, and so on). Does this work for you as a reader either familiar or unfamiliar with him/his work? After finishing the essay does this starting place and framing work?

6. How does Krieder turn himself into a character? What methods does he use? What would his character be, if you had to explain it in a sentence or two? Do you think the character he employs is effective or not?

7. Apply one of the bulleted suggestions from Lopate's piece to Kreider's piece. Analyze his ability or inability to implement the chosen suggestion.