Critical Analysis

Toni Morrison raises many interesting points in her book Playing in the Dark. I found the reading to be somewhat monotonous but overall I learned some good things. Most interesting, however, was her idea that the book Sapphira and the Slave Girl is a failure because of the literary Discourse of the author, and that Willa Cather, as a white author, could not possibly write a successful novel on the life of a slave. Although this issue is an example of her books theme of Blackness in literature it can raise interesting comparisons to my choice novel The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. And although Crane can be Compared to Cather in this way through this novel he comes as close as someone possibly could to producing a successful book without the background acquired through experience.

It is widely discussed in the literary world of Civil War novels, the issue of Crane's novel. The fact that Crane wrote this novel without any actual battle experience baffles the mind. He is able to create such a realistic and powerful image of the carnage and bloodshed experienced in the war that you would have no idea that he had not actually participated. This being one of the first wars in mankind to be widely written about in the newspapers, most of what Crane knew about the war was gleaned from these texts. This seems to completely contradict what Toni Morrison states in Playing in the Dark. Despite his disadvantages in the realm of Discourse, Crane is able to create a highly realistic and believable look into the life of soldiers during the Civil War. This leads one to believe that maybe the only area where her statement is relevant is in the field of Blackness or even only in relation to Sapphira and the Slave Girl.

While I do not personally believe that it discredits her idea entirely, Stephen Crane's ability to contradict this major theme in the first chapter of Morrison's book presents me with an interesting feeling of doubt. Also the fact that Cather wrote her novel almost fifty years after Crane raises some interesting arguments. However the simple style and descriptions Crane incorporates into his novel really allow him to challenge this judgement passed by Morrison. He is able to rise above the criticism to create a truly great novel.

The Death of the Critic

In Katie Roiphe's essay "With Clarity and Beauty, the Weight of Authority" some great points are brought to the table on the subject of the death of the formal critic. She points out that in our modern day, we are captivated by our shiny new Andriod phones, iPhones, iPads, and other such media delivery devices. This, she points out, is a major contribution to the dying breed. She also points out that the professional critic is being slowly beaten to death by the innumerous ammounts of amateur Amazon reviewers, who spew thier minds into the depths of the internet. This, however, gives professional critics a clear and precise job. Roiphe points out that it is now, more than ever, the job of the critic "to write on a different level, to pay attention to the elements of style." She then urges critics to accept this responsibility and use it to take thier "art" to the next level. To "be ambitious and brash...connect books to larger currents in the culture...identify movements and waves in fiction...carry books back into the middle of conversations at dinner parties." She urges critics to pay close attention to the craft of thier writing, for that is the only thing that sets them apart from all of the "Amazon reviewers and bloggers clamoring for attention."

I very much agree with the points made in Roiphe's "With Clarity and Beauty, the Weight of Authority." I feel that the critic is very much being overshadowed by these unfortunate amateur reviewers (hopefully I do not belong in this group, but I have little hope that I have acheived a level higher than that of Journeyman Critic).  I love how she gives critics a very specific goal, to trancend the level of the amatuer and reach for something higher, to strive to create an art. One of my favorite parts of this essay, however, is her allusions to modern authors, including Susan Sontag, Jonathan Franzen, and Gary Shteyngart; A few of whom created novels which would later appear under my Christmas Tree. I loved this essay, Roiphe presents her points very articulately and caters to emotions that many in the literary world can harbor sentiments to.

The Great Gatsby

I really enjoy this book, if not for the content, for the style of writing that Fitzgerald posseses. He is able to create a wholly beleivable dialect for his characters and also eloquently describe the situations and surroundings. This lets me enjoy the experience of reading The Great Gatsby. I do not really feel a connection to the characters or story as of yet; however, I feel a connection to Fitzgerald himself. I am urged to continue to strive for beauty in my writing, as he did. Though his prose seems effortless it is the result of many revisions and perseverence.

This perseverence shines throughout the entire novel: in the way he pens character interactions, in the way he casts shadow upon seemingly flawless featrures. He is able to create a beautiful style of writing. However I still find myself lacking the urge to continue reading, other than for his glorious prose. I feel that the adventures of aristocracy are lacking something. I can't quite point it out, hopefuly I will be able to by the end of the novel.

Blog Activity of the Week 1:

While reading The Things They Carried, I did have a feeling that it was a much different war book than any other I had previously read. Considering the fact that I haven't read a book on war in quite a while, I do not know if it is my place to criticize. However it did in fact make me look deeper into the Vietnam War. I remember being in a class, in middleschool, where I researched the War intensively and even interviewed a War veteran. Alas, I do not remember much of what I had then learned and I am left with only a rudimentary view of the Vietnam War. This being said I found the book entirely enjoyable to read and am glad that I was made to read it.

I found that by reading of O'Brian's experiences, factual or fictional, I gained a portal of insight into what the war really was to the soldiers. I was living what he lived and was feeling what he felt. And I think this is really what made The Things They Carried a more different book than any other war book I have read.

Fears

I have many fears: fire, drowning, public speaking, death. But none are so terrifying as heights. Im not scared of heights in the classical sense, that is, whenever I am standing on a platform higher than I should be, I freak out. No, that is not the case with me. I can handle standing on the edge of the cliffs at Devils Lake, that is not the problem for me. My problem is in the getting down part. I sometimes find myself in a predicament much the same as a curious feline would. Im apt enough to make my way up a structure only to find myself terrified of getting down. This should not pose as much of a problem as it does. One would think to themselves that they should not climb such structures for they know that they will be unable to descend the towering structure upon their arrival at the summit. However, I seem to always find myself crouched at the top of something, for fear of a powerful and brutal meeting with the ground below. What makes this idea so intensely nerve-racking is that I always end up in that situation unwittingly. If not for this predicament my fear of heights would be null and void.

Too Much Awareness

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-welch-mammograms-20101020,0,2961910.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fopinion%2Fcommentary+%28L.A.+Times+-+Commentary%29

I chose this op-ed article because I have similar feelings to the writer. Also it is a great example of what these articles should be. It has a very specific opinion. One that most might not agree with, but an opinion nonetheless.

Writing is Like...

To me writing is like swimming. You have to work hard and train everyday but eventually you'll get stronger. Also even when you put it all down in front of you, like swimming your best at a meet, there is still a lot to learn. Then you have to go back and practice more and fix the mistakes you made, until eventually you get better. Also even like the best swimmers still have things to learn, so do the best writers.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

The non-fiction book I chose to read was Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, which consisted of 28 short essays on different parts of his life. It was one of the most enjoyable non-fiction books I have ever read. Sedaris has always been known for his wit. He writes in and uncomplicated style and explores seemingly simple ideas, but his stories have a lot of meaning. The book as a whole flowed very well; the separate essays held together and painted a full picture of his life. Because the stories were in a chronological order, I was never really confused as to what part of his life I was currently immersed in. Yes, I said immersed. Sedaris really knows how to put you in his shoes, whether they are those of a fifth-grader with a lisp and a penchant for mischief or those of a speed-head looking for his next fix. Throughout the book I felt connected to Sedaris and was, despite it sounding cheesy, scared when he was scared and happy when he was happy.

My favorite essay in the book was called “12 Moments in the Life of the Artist”, which oddly enough chronicles twelve events in Sedaris’s life as a mediocre artist before he became a writer. The essay begins with Sedaris taking up painting because he was jealous of the attention his sister was getting as an aspiring painter. However, as he started in on the profession, many of the tasks proved to be much more difficult than he had imagined them to be. He continues to pursue art in college and finds himself still lacking in the talent department, so he transfers colleges and tries to start over, but soon finds himself skipping class to get high with his roommate. Eventually he drops out. Moving back home to Raleigh he discovers Crystal Meth and conceptual art. My favorite line in the book comes from this section when he writes, “Either one of these things is dangerous, but in combination they have the potential to destroy entire civilizations.” Sedaris goes on to explain how his new friends, who also shared a love of conceptual art, and slightly more than habitual drug use, shun him for selling out to a museum reception, the collapse of their collaborative performance art piece, and his dealer’s admission to a treatment center in Georgia. What is wonderful about Sedaris’s writing is that throughout these descriptions of tragedy and heartbreak he is able to keep the reader laughing.  Sedaris’s story continues with his explanation of the horrible depression that follows a speed user’s continual highs. The last moment of the twelve captures the newly sober Sedaris attending a piece of performance art. As things usually are in situations such as this, the art is not nearly as interesting or profound as it would have been if he were high. Instead of going right back to find a new dealer he uses this as a chance to change his life and walks away from drugs and art altogether. This was my favorite essay because I loved the way Sedaris described the effects of such drugs on one’s life: they always seems like a wonderful and beautiful idea before and while high, but as soon as you’re sober you realize what a mess of your life they have made.

Reading a five page essay by Sedaris is a great lesson on how to tell a story, build a character, mix tragedy and comedy, and inspire a reader’s response. 

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was a tough read. Mainly in that it contained vocabulary that, to a child of the new millennium, are foreign despite being part of his spoken language. No doubt, the language is antiquated, but one still has to understand the vocabulary in order to read the piece. So I set off on the arduous journey through the eighteenth century upper class, highly educated, vernacular. Once I managed the vocabulary as best I could, her points became quite clear. In essence, she blames the condition of eighteenth century women on men and their actions throughout the past.

According to Wollstonecraft the main culprit in women’s less than desirable condition is an inadequate education system. Lack of education, unlike with men, leaves most women, except for the very fortunate or self taught, in the dark, especially on the principles of reason. Wollstonecraft’s makes the argument that reason should be the primary goal of all humans. Women are not taught to reason. Girls are taught not to think, but to act in such a way that they need never think. Women are taught to look beautiful and act beautiful so that men will marry them and take care of them for the rest of their lives.  I really found this interesting considering I live in a time where some women are choosing to forgo marriage in favor of leading the rest of their life as a single, independent women. Also, as a man in this generation, I don’t see why one would deny women the chance to be educated. Women should receive the same schooling as men. Given that men and women are different in many ways, equal education will promote broader ideas to improve society.

One of my favorite parts of this essay was her comparison of uneducated women to soldiers. Wollstonecraft makes the point that women and soldiers share some of the same characteristics. Both are taught to follow orders, so to speak. Both are expected to be subservient. An army is only as strong as its soldiers are blindly obedient. Wollstonecraft also points out that women are bound by their appearance. Women are taught to be pretty and coy. Soldiers are taught to stand up straight and push out their chests. They are told to parade around full of pomp and vigor. They are not, however, allowed to think.

I also find it interesting that Wollstonecraft makes the point that, if we leave women uneducated, marriages will fail. Put simply, since the woman has been taught only to please she will do such. The husband will be happy at first but then become accustomed to her and become bored, thus leaving the woman bitter and the man searching for another. In essence Wollstonecraft is saying that a thinking woman makes a better wife. I had a harder time with this part of the argument. Many families seem to get along fairly well with an uneducated mother and a full-time working father. I don’t know that similar educational backgrounds are the key to marital bliss. 

Wollstonecraft was clearly writing her essay for learned men of her generation. I found the reading difficult and boring at times. I know that it’s an essay of argument with points and counter points, but it was hard to identify them because the language was so challenging and drawn out. 

Homo Sapiens Sapiens Googlous

Is Google making us stupid? I do not know for sure, but I do know, that just as Guy Billout says in his article it is changing the way that we as a people think. I have been realizing, just as he does, that this is the way I now think. I search for quick snippets of information on a topic and then as soon as I find them I move on to the next one. I am essentially a hunter-gatherer of the current generation. I have stopped reading longer more engrossing books, in favor of shorter books or stories that essentially explore only one idea and move at the pace of the Internet I have now become accustomed to. Often when I sit down to read a novel, I find myself distracted by an idea it proposes within minutes of beginning to read. This makes it hard to continue to read, so I put the book down and continue to think on the idea while I walk away to go towards some other task. It is usually not the case that I do not like the book, just that I am, in my own way, making the reading process more like that of the Internet: I read a little, stop, and go on to something new.

I also find it genuinely intriguing that he brings up Frederick Winslow Taylor and how he reshaped the way we work so well that we still use it today. The only problem I see with this reshaping of the working community done so long ago is that it was meant only to improve efficiency of the work being done, and by doing this has made the working man into a machine. Why did he not, instead, improve the efficiency and happiness of the workers at the same time? Give them time to relax and reflect, while also making it part of the norm, so they don’t end up rushing through work to get to the next break. Don’t ask me exactly how I propose this to work, because I have not a clue, but think for a moment. Don’t studies often show that workers who like their job are, in effect, more efficient? We cannot lose the human to the machine.

Another thing that disturbed me is the whole Sci-Fi idea that Google aims to put a search engine in our brain. Google’s design is appealing because it mirrors neural circuitry. Yet, the human brain also contains an emotional center without which, we would be a race of automatons. Think of what this would do to schooling. If we don’t have to learn anymore, but simply think of what we want to know and there it is, are we really anything more than a carbon based computer? What then becomes of knowledge, just something for those not affluent enough to afford this piece of hardware? Think of the class boundaries that would form, it would be monstrous. A whole new species would be born, think—Homo Sapiens Sapiens Googlous.

However, despite all that disturbed me with Google’s ambitions, I did like the way he ended the article with the reference to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odessy. If humans become so automated that computers have more human characteristics than we do, is that not a truly sad world?

Skunk Dreams

I will start off this entry by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed reading Louise Erdrich’s Skunk Dreams. I found her writing to be very complex with its layers of drawn out descriptions of all she encountered. It is not difficult to read in terms of sentence structure or thought process; it just tends to leave you in a maze of descriptive words if you are not paying attention. Although, it was these descriptions that led me to enjoy the piece even more. I found it a perfect example of how a good writer can truly transport you to the land he or she is describing.

I liked her willingness to see dreams as sorts of omens for dealings in the “real” world. The dream she had while staying in the Valley City motel was what originally caught my attention. I found it odd that she dreamed of an actual place, which she later encountered in her waking life. Most of the dreams I have are more symbolic and less bluntly “real”. If I were to have this dream, it would be a metaphor: the elk would represent something beautiful from which I was cut off by a thin, almost permeable, barrier. I also found it enjoyable how her dream brought me back to a scene from one of my favorite movies of all time, Princess Mononoke. It was curious to me how the scene from this movie was almost exactly the same as the dream Erdrich experienced. It invoked a great sense of déjà vu, which seemed to persist with me throughout this reading. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

This feeling of déjà vu was brought back to my mind when she was living in New Hampshire and happened upon the same fence as she saw in her dreams. I thought it was interesting that it was a large hunting ground with animals imported from all over the country, but it felt like she described it was without judgment. Then when she describes her desire to cross the boundary and enter the land, I love how she references the writings of Adam Phillips. His ideas on desire seem to be very true to me. I loved how he stated that dreams are often a place where boundaries have been removed entirely. We can often do things in dreams that we normally wouldn’t be able to do in real life, such as fly or breath underwater. I do think it was interesting that he left out the point that she implied: very often the dreams we remember are dreams where our desires were left unfulfilled by the obnoxious twang of an alarm clock or the gentle breaking of the sun through our window.

Other interesting things:

• I’m not really sure what she means, but I like where she writes “every inch of the ground turned over more than once”
• Her description of fertile land in the West being measured in inches (mostly because it’s so true).
• The description of her desire to cross the fence being like poachers lust, but only wanting to smell the air

The Talk of the Town Indeed...

For this post i will focus mainly on the first article of the two in the New Yorker series. That's not to say that Susan Sontag's article is any less pertinent, i just had a lot more going on in my mind while reading the first one by Adam Gopnik.

Obviously this article covers a very touchy subject in our country today. Not only is that the topic of school/campus shootings, but also just gun control in general. I really liked that Gopnik pointed out one of the main reasons things like these horrible shootings happen is that many of the people we give guns to are seriously mentally ill. I also liked that he stated that the so called "heartfelt" speeches made afterword are completely unneeded. Sure they might help people cope with the things that happened a little easier, but isn't that what psychologists are for? The governors main responsibility should not be helping the people cope with what happened, but to make sure that terrible things like this never happen again.

Also, Gopnik points out that the US has done little to nothing on this front; whereas in nations across Europe, when things like this happen, new policies are immediately put into place to combat the events that lead to madmen gaining access to weapons. He points out that after a school shooting in Dunblane, British gun laws were tightened even more than before (and before they were still more strict than the current US gun laws). Since then there have been significantly less incidents including gun violence on campus. So what is his point? I think it is kind of obvious here. The US is not doing enough to prevent insane, psychopathic killers from getting their hands on guns (and i don't use the words insane and psychopathic lightly here, because if you think about it, someone who sits down and premeditates a mass killing of innocent civilians on a college campus is obviously totally screwed up in the head).

However, one thing i don't agree with him on is the total banning of handguns. If you think about it, yes the handgun does help someone easily conceal a weapon and shoot more rounds out than that of a hunting rifle. One thing he doesn't mention though, is that someone could have just as easily modified an assault rife, which can be found at most any Gander Mountain, to be fully automatic and outfitted himself with many extra magazines and done just as much if not much more damage. So i don't really agree with him that banning the firearms altogether is the answer. Make them very difficult to get, but not impossible for men with clean mental history and no intention to kill.

A Little About Me

Hello there,

My name is Geoffrey Glover and to start out in this, my AP Composition class, I am posting to tell you a little about myself.

I was born in the cultural heart of America, New Orleans, on June 10, 1993. Unfortunately I did not stay there long, by the time I was five my family had moved to somewhere I had never remembered being before, north. We ended up here in McFarland Wisconsin, mostly because my mom had been following her brother around the country for a while now, and this was where he had decided to settle down.

And so I began school. The first school I went to was Lapham Elementry on the East side of Madison, but seeing as we had just found a house in McFarland, I was soon enrolled in the district where I would receive my education up till leaving after my senior year, hopefully soon. Being an outgoing young child, friends were easy enough to make and I set about to live it up, as best a six year old could.

However, since most people know what school is like, I will skip that part and go straight to the extracurriculars. When I first moved to McFarland there was a small Karate dojo that I was very interested in. I asked my dad if I could take lessons and low and behold, he said yes. I immediately knew that I loved Karate. I progressed quickly through the belts and by the time I was 9 I had gotten my black belt. Unfortunately after that there wasn't much to do, and I quickly became bored.

Around that same time my current assistant swim coach, and then swim instructor, Neil Weiss, had told me that I should think about joining the swim team. That is, the sport that would eventually take up most of my free time. So I started swimming. In the beginning it went fairly well. I would go to meets and occasionally place in the top three in my age group, however as I stared getting older, relations with my club swim team coaches were beginning to worsen and around the summer before I started high school, I was seriously considering quitting. I decided to stick it out and see what high school swimming was like. This was the best choice I have ever made in my life. I loved swimming again. My then, and current coaches, Nick and Neil, were amazing. They seemed to make swimming fun and challenging at the same time. But even though I loved swimming again, I still did not consider myself a "good" swimmer. It wasn't until January of 2009 that that happened. I can still remember the exact meet that I became confident in myself, as a swimmer, again. It was Small School State in Shorewood. I had always been a decent backstroker, but had never broken the milestone for being a good backstroker. That is, to go under a minute in the 100 yard back. Until that race I had never broken the minute mark. I had always been hovering right above it with a 1:00.47 or something close to that. But that day I don't know what happened and I shattered the milestone and swam a 57 second 100 back. My coach says he can still remember the look of awe I had on my face when I saw my time. However it got even better the next year, that is last winter, when I swam under two minutes in my 200 IM and got fourth at state. And since swimming is basically my life, that pretty much brings you up to speed on where I am right now.

Geof's Fun Facts

My favorite color is purple
My favorite food is a good egg drop soup
My favorite genre of music is Alt./indie rock
My favorite book is Alice in Wonderland
I weigh 147 pounds and I am 6'2''
My favorite event in swimming is the 100 back or 200 IM
Some other sports I like are Soccer and Tennis

Also, I am a major music snob

And that's about all there is to know about me.