Assignment 4:
Elissa Schappell's "Novice Bitch"
I assume that the title refers to the role of the narrator herself. Her mother is a Mature Bitch, and this story is all about how the mother "trains" the daughter (like a puppy) to be like her. The writing in this story is a bit too vivid in places--i.e. p. 38 when the narrator describes frown lines as "two wrinkles in her forehead [that] cross like swords on a family crest." It makes sense, and I can see it, but it's kind of blunt and awkward. Sometimes it bothers me when a similie or metaphor is a bit TOO good. Like the Novice Bitch one. The important thing that I learned was that I need to be aware of overripe metaphors and similes in my own work, even if most of it works, I need to think more about what a reader would see. And readers are different. Some want writing to be transparent and others don't mind a little self-conscious ego. SO I don't know.
However, I was pulled back into the mind of the narrator when she finished, on the same page, with "a ruby in the center, caught between my tits. Could you die?" It's as if there are two levels at work here. One, the narrator wants us to be pulled in to HER story, to ignore her MOTHER's. Yet, she is pretty much only describing her mother to us! There we see how the REAL narrator wants us to see both of these women at the same time, and to see how we can "hold two opposing viewpoints" (a la Fitzgerald) in our head at the same time--we are meant to feel sorry for the girl, and yet we see how much she is like her mother.
Here I had written a whole section about how Williams connects to Novice Bitch because of the language. In addition I wanted to mention that I liked the Williams book in general because, even though he puts his opinion in a lot (showing it off as "balanced"), it makes you feel better about yourself (not in a cheesy way either) to know that just because you can't understand some writing doesn't mean you're dumb. I'm just terrified that I have nothing to say and when I sit down to write I get ADD or something and bounce around. Just writing this was extremely hard, and so when the blog didn't save correctly and I lost the first draft I went insane. That's why it's so short. I'm sorry.
David Sedaris' "Monie Changes Everything"
Sedaris starts out with an image of hand-tooled leather shoes--and continues the image of leather and meat throughout the essay as a metaphor for pretension and "reality". Monie eats a diet of lamb chops, which is seen initially by the narrator as a marker of wealth but later on seems to be pathetic and gross, like the "luxurious" bear rug that is quite impractical in the average dorm room! Monie is married to a big-game hunter and this makes her seem like a huntress of sorts--when she gets old, she can no longer finish her lamb chops and she loses weight. This also makes one think of social evolutionary type theories. If Monie is rich but unable to truly survive in the hunter vs. prey sense, then Sedaris is also like this because he identifies with her and with his mother's gay brother. We get the sense that Sedaris is also gay but does not know it yet (well, I have read everything he's written, but in the story it's not clear).
There are two mothers in the story: Sharon is literal, and Monie is figurative. The latter occurs because Sedaris has pretensions to aristocracy of his own, and Monie serves as a catalyst to potentially provide that. But she disappoints him repeatedly, just as his own mother disappoints him with her down-to-earth toughness.
The essay is a constant switch back and forth from pretensions and "realness"--outside vs. inside, rich vs. poor, fake vs. real, high-class vs. low-class, etc. We are tested as to who we believe is the true hero of this sketch. Is it Sharon? Is it the narrator? Is it Aunt Monie??? In the end, I think it is Monie, because even though her pretensions kept her from interacting (in Sedaris' POV) from her family, she showed how she cared in other ways, and because she is the object of the narrator's fascination. When he attempts to write to Monie, to make an elaborate letter, we see how like a little servant he is in his pretensions. He doesn't want her money as much as he wants to have that elusive something that makes one "higher" up.
This interestingly connects to STYLE (a section I lost) because Williams also talks about a kind of pretension in writing that can lead to obscurity of meaning! In Sedaris' case, meaning is the person herself.
I wish I'd gotten a book like this sooner. I wish I'd gotten a basic grammar book as well, because I still am not quite sure about prepositions and dangling modifiers. Luckily, Williams explains things fairly well (and the excercises are helpful but I'm never sure if I've done them right).
Elissa Schappell's "Novice Bitch"
I assume that the title refers to the role of the narrator herself. Her mother is a Mature Bitch, and this story is all about how the mother "trains" the daughter (like a puppy) to be like her. The writing in this story is a bit too vivid in places--i.e. p. 38 when the narrator describes frown lines as "two wrinkles in her forehead [that] cross like swords on a family crest." It makes sense, and I can see it, but it's kind of blunt and awkward. Sometimes it bothers me when a similie or metaphor is a bit TOO good. Like the Novice Bitch one. The important thing that I learned was that I need to be aware of overripe metaphors and similes in my own work, even if most of it works, I need to think more about what a reader would see. And readers are different. Some want writing to be transparent and others don't mind a little self-conscious ego. SO I don't know.
However, I was pulled back into the mind of the narrator when she finished, on the same page, with "a ruby in the center, caught between my tits. Could you die?" It's as if there are two levels at work here. One, the narrator wants us to be pulled in to HER story, to ignore her MOTHER's. Yet, she is pretty much only describing her mother to us! There we see how the REAL narrator wants us to see both of these women at the same time, and to see how we can "hold two opposing viewpoints" (a la Fitzgerald) in our head at the same time--we are meant to feel sorry for the girl, and yet we see how much she is like her mother.
Here I had written a whole section about how Williams connects to Novice Bitch because of the language. In addition I wanted to mention that I liked the Williams book in general because, even though he puts his opinion in a lot (showing it off as "balanced"), it makes you feel better about yourself (not in a cheesy way either) to know that just because you can't understand some writing doesn't mean you're dumb. I'm just terrified that I have nothing to say and when I sit down to write I get ADD or something and bounce around. Just writing this was extremely hard, and so when the blog didn't save correctly and I lost the first draft I went insane. That's why it's so short. I'm sorry.
David Sedaris' "Monie Changes Everything"
Sedaris starts out with an image of hand-tooled leather shoes--and continues the image of leather and meat throughout the essay as a metaphor for pretension and "reality". Monie eats a diet of lamb chops, which is seen initially by the narrator as a marker of wealth but later on seems to be pathetic and gross, like the "luxurious" bear rug that is quite impractical in the average dorm room! Monie is married to a big-game hunter and this makes her seem like a huntress of sorts--when she gets old, she can no longer finish her lamb chops and she loses weight. This also makes one think of social evolutionary type theories. If Monie is rich but unable to truly survive in the hunter vs. prey sense, then Sedaris is also like this because he identifies with her and with his mother's gay brother. We get the sense that Sedaris is also gay but does not know it yet (well, I have read everything he's written, but in the story it's not clear).
There are two mothers in the story: Sharon is literal, and Monie is figurative. The latter occurs because Sedaris has pretensions to aristocracy of his own, and Monie serves as a catalyst to potentially provide that. But she disappoints him repeatedly, just as his own mother disappoints him with her down-to-earth toughness.
The essay is a constant switch back and forth from pretensions and "realness"--outside vs. inside, rich vs. poor, fake vs. real, high-class vs. low-class, etc. We are tested as to who we believe is the true hero of this sketch. Is it Sharon? Is it the narrator? Is it Aunt Monie??? In the end, I think it is Monie, because even though her pretensions kept her from interacting (in Sedaris' POV) from her family, she showed how she cared in other ways, and because she is the object of the narrator's fascination. When he attempts to write to Monie, to make an elaborate letter, we see how like a little servant he is in his pretensions. He doesn't want her money as much as he wants to have that elusive something that makes one "higher" up.
This interestingly connects to STYLE (a section I lost) because Williams also talks about a kind of pretension in writing that can lead to obscurity of meaning! In Sedaris' case, meaning is the person herself.
I wish I'd gotten a book like this sooner. I wish I'd gotten a basic grammar book as well, because I still am not quite sure about prepositions and dangling modifiers. Luckily, Williams explains things fairly well (and the excercises are helpful but I'm never sure if I've done them right).
posted by jameskandy at 6:15 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Yasmin,
Of course the title relates back to the narrator -- and does that make you wonder, "Is this a personal narrative, or a character sketch?" Well, it's both, of course, and you know by now that all writing is never just one thing. A personal narrative can blend into a character sketch, and a character sketch into a piece of literary journalism, (as you are about to see), and so forth.
What I like about the Novice Bitch piece is that the metaphors and symbolism match the tone that Schappell is trying to take on. For instance, you mention that the crossed swords metaphor is a "bit too vivid" -- by this, do you mean, too obvious, or just too stark? If it's the latter, I think you might consider what kind of tone the author is trying to take. Why, for instance, would she describe her mother trying to help her throw up in such vivid detail? Is it too much, or is she trying to cast a certain mood onto the reader?
With the Monie Changes Everything work, I think you noticed the same thing I did: Depending on the person on whom the author was focusing, the symbolism or metaphor seemed to change. For instance, we learn much about Monie when she is "off stage" -- for instance, we learn how the parents act when Monie is NOT around, and how they act differently when they do. How does this help portray Monie? It's up to the interpretation -- not only how Monie portays herself, but also how other people see and act around her. It can help round a character sketch out.
In the book Writing Life (which I did not make you buy), the author defines a character sketch, or portrati , as "putting the other person in the center -- alone or with others -- and the author might be a supporting cast member" or not." It's up to you to decide how much you want to be involved in the character sketch -- how much of a role do you want to play? You have to remember that the central focus is on the character , not you -- do you want to write a "straight" journalistic piece, where you play an impartial journalistic role, or do you want to include yourself in the work to help flesh out the character?
I'll be e-mailing you a piece, "Ali in Havana," which crosses the line between character sketch and literary journalism. It's written by Gay Talese, who is well known for being one of the forefathers of literary journalism. Consider: how might it be considered a character sketch, and how might it be literary journalism?
In your book, I'd like you to read ages 85 to 93. From this I'd like you to give me your defintion of literary journalism, as well as read the well-known piece "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", telling me what the differences and similarities are between the Ali and Fear and Loathing pieces, in your opinion.
Also, read the chapter on Cohesion and Coherence in your Style book, telling me how they relate to the pieces by Talese and Hunter Thompson.
Also, your character sketch is due on Friday. If you are struggling with this, I'd suggest answering these questions on a piece of paper before tackling the piece:
1. What do I want to SHOW about my character? (For instance, in the Novice Bitch piece, Schappel certainly wants to portray the mother character in a certain light -- self-centered, worried about looks, etc. How do you want to portray YOUR (real) character? What details might you use to convey this character, and how will the details help to convey the tone?
2. How can you use dialogue to help the piece? (What does the character say, and how do people speak/not speak around her?) If we were in class, I'd ask you to follow your character and write down actual bits of conversation the person has that helps to depict who she is and how she talks.
3. How might setting help convey the character? For instance, in what settings are the character comfortable? What makes her uncomfortable? You can use place to help show the character.
4. Finally, I'd ask the question: How might your character depict themselves differently than you do? For instance, I think my mom is a saint; other people might find fault with her. It helps to consider these different points of view, if only to decide if we wnat to show our character as well-rounded, or if we want to give our work a "slant" (which is far more subjective than objective, but up to you).
Hope your travels are fun -- feel free to bounce ideas off of me via e-mail before you assignment is due Friday!
Danita
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