We discussed David Sedaris's writing in his pieces "Me Talk Pretty One Day" (from your book Readings for Writers) and "Jesus Shaves" (a video clip we watched in class). We discussed how each narrative focused a specific moment in the author's life that was significant to him (a moment where he overcame an obstacle, a moment where he experienced a moment of solidarity with people from different cultures). We also talked about Sedaris's brand of humor and how he makes fun of himself and Americans in a very self-deprecating way and how he uses cultural stereotypes and sarcasm to connect with other people. He makes fun of things that most people can relate to. Sedaris's humor gives his pieces a distinctive narrative voice that separates his writing from other writers. Our goal as we explore the personal narrative is to find ways to infuse our own narrative voice into our writing.
It's All in the Details
After discussing Sedaris's writing, we looked at two different poems with two very different speakers. In "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid we explored how the nature of the advice that the speaker of the poem gives to the audience reveals a lot about that speaker's character. We could tell she was female, poor,Caribbean, had struggled a lot in life, had been taught and was oppressed by traditional gender roles, and deeply cared for the recipient of her advice. Even though the main topic of the piece isn't actually the speaker, we are still able to learn a lot about her.
Then we looked at "The Day Lady Died" by Frank O'Hara. We surmised that the speaker in this piece was white, male, middle-aged, wealthy, well-educated, interested in the arts, and on a tight schedule. We are not explicitly told any of this. We gain this knowledge based on the places he went (the tobacconist, The Golden Griffin), the things he buys (a shoeshine, the Verlaine, the bottle of Strega), and his reaction to other people and things around him (the fact that he doesn't care if the bank teller looks at his bank balance or not when withdrawing money, the sudden rush of emotion when he discovers Billie Holiday's death). Our goal is to try and find a way to reveal ourselves in our own piece by showing and not telling.
Welcome to the World of Blogging
The second half of class we focused on blogs. We looked at a variety of different blogs and found that no two blogs are alike, much like people. Each blog is a reflection of the blogs' creators and its audience. We did all seem to agree that the simpler the blog, the better. People should be able to easily identify a blog's purpose, and it should be easy for readers to find information on a blog. You will be keeping a blog for this class. For more information check the Blog Assignment Sheet posted on the right under Class Documents.
Homework
- Complete your first blog post for Monday, September 15.
- Write a 750 word essay that reveals important details about yourself using one of the following prompts.
- Provide advice to a someone about something you feel you are an expert in. We should learn who you are and what is it about you that makes your advice worth following. How did you gain this knowledge? How do you know it will work? Why do you care?
- OR Tell us the story of where you were and what you were doing on a day of national tragedy. Obviously September 11 may quickly come to mind but there could be other days of tragedy (like the death of a famous celebrity) that might lend themselves to this piece. Be specific. What did you do? What did you buy? What did you eat that day?
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