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Right at the start of "The Mute Sense", author, Diane Ackerman, describes smell as the most memorable thing. From experience, I can agree with Ackerman. Throughout the first page she describes how a certain smell would remind her of a childhood memory, the beach in Florida, or other examples. I have felt the same with certain smells. In most cases, for me, it's something from my childhood, even if at most times I can't remember exactly what it was.
ReplyDeleteLater on in Ackerman's writing, she mentions something very interesting that I had never realized. Our sense of smell is very precise, but we are unable to describe the smell to others most of the time. To those who haven't smelled it, you'll most likely end up comparing it to other things but both of you will know that neither of you can really understand it.
While reading James Brown's "My Papa's Waltz", I was having trouble relating or trying to get into the story. The writer talks about a memory of his drunk father getting him to dance at the age of six and seven. This story was a little different than most of the others we have read so far. It has a negative setting, with the mother in prison and the remaining family living in a one bedroom apartment. Later on, the writing has a quick turn to the writer, James Brown, contemplating to break his mother from prison.
The story of "Westbury Court" starts of by writer, Edwidge Danticat, descring a memory from when she was fourteen years old. During this time, a fire broke loose by two boys in her apartment complex. Afterwards, her mother sent her to stay with a family in the 2nd floor after school. Personally, I have been lucky to never have been in a situation like this. At the age of 14, this must have been quite a traumatic experience for Danticat. But, later on throughout her writing, she describes more tragic events and deaths that occurred throughout her area. As traumatic as it should have been, Danticat seems like a strong woman from her reading, as towards the end she was comfortable and able to mention the fire, while on the other hand, her mother was still effected by the event.
-Jesus Pena
Theses 3 readings were examples of short creative non-fiction writings. Each tells a personal story from the writers past as well as their view on the story.
ReplyDeleteIn, “Mute Sense,” Diane Ackerman states that smell is the most memorable of all senses. One would be able to live normally without sense of sight or sound, but without sense of smell, “you will die” (Starkey 215). Smell, whether it be a cologne or the smell of food, somehow finds a way to implant in our brains, allowing itself to trigger when smelled once again. Ackerman later goes on to state that that though smell is extremely precise, it is not possible to “describe how something smells to a person who hasn’t smelled it.” (Starkey 215). Ultimately, Ackerman gives multiple reasons on why the sense of smell is the greatest of all senses, but once again it is based on her personal opinion.
“My Papas Waltz,” by James Brown, is the story of a boy who recalls a memory of his father getting drunk and asking his son to dance with him. Following the memory, the author states that sometimes he mixed up what actually happened with how he imagined it to be. Later in the story we find out the authors mother was in prison at the time of the memory and he would secretly create escape plans for his mother to break out of prison. Though he knows his mother will not get out of prison like he imagines, he dances with his father to the repeated song, “Crazy,” anyways (Starkey 217).
“Westbury Court,” by Edwidge Danticat, is also about a memory. At 14 years old, Danticat recalls a fire that took place in the rooms of one of the neighbors in the apartment complex. It was started by 2 boys (or girls), who were playing with matches while their mother wasn’t around. The author and his siblings were just across the hall watching TV when a firefighter informed them to get out of the building. While on the sidewalk they witnessed the firemen carrying 2 limp bodies. As a result of the aftermath of the situation, the children were sent to another section of the complex for a few months before they were able to go home again. As the years passed, Danticat recalled other unfortunate situations occurring. Though his family moved from the complex, it is shown that years later the author and his mother still remember the unfortunate accident.
-Alyssa Ramos
Wow, the last two sentences of “The Mute Sense” still have me without the right words to describe it. I have never seen breathing, the act of breathing, from the perspective that Diane Ackerman puts it into. She painted a picture in my head, more like a process/cycle. I honestly can say the way she finished “The Mute Sense”, just those last two sentences did it for me. I noticed she used a combination of long, very descriptive sentences with vivid adjectives and also regular run-of-the-mill sentences. Some of the sentences in my opinion were over done and so long that I forgot what the beginning said by the time I reached the end. I had to pause for a breathe reading the first couple sentences but her closing two sentences were so badass I have to say I would read it again just to get to the punch lines.
ReplyDeleteI am not really sure what to make of “My Papa’s Waltz”. I read it twice and still I cannot quite figure it out. It is definitely not as easy or fun as the “The Mute Sense”. I think James Brown is jumping back in forth in time telling the story and then also comparing his real life to a story he once read? Maybe I’m completely wrong but from what I can comprehend it has a twist. I don’t like the twist it confused me and killed my interest.
Westbury Court was also, for me too gloomy. I think the initial reading, “The Mute Sense” spoiled me cause it was so good but I feel like the second and third readings were kind of sad. Sad might not be the proper adjective but they had some kind of dark, gloomy feel to them at one point or another. One thing I did notice about the last two short stories was they both used a phrase towards the beginning or middle of the story, and then used that exact phrase again near the end but in a different way. Repetition I think its called, but I have a feeling there is a deeper literary meaning attached to it. In “My Papa’s Waltz” it’s the usage of “Patsy Cline’s song ‘Crazy’” with how its used to describe a scene one way at the beginning and then to describe another scene at the end but in a different perspective. In “Westbury Court” it’s the phrase “Sometimes it is too late to say, ‘I shouldn’t have.’” Just after the two children die in the apartment fire and then again at the very end when the family is reminiscing.
-Freddy Montemayor
In my opinion, I feel as if all of these short stories all had one thing in common which is reminiscence. Things that happen either good or bad that one can sit back and remember these so called memories. These three short stories each have a little piece of advice going out to their audience, myself included. First let’s begin with the first short story called “The Mute Sense”, this one made me think of how scents occur every single day, every awakening but we don’t really stop and think about it. For example in the story the author mentions, “People of all cultures have always been obsessed with smell, sometimes applying perfume in Niagara’s of extravagance.” Automatically that made me think, how every holiday or season all stores with home products come out with different candles that fall under that particular season. For example, Thanksgiving – there’s a “pumpkin spice” or “sweet pie” scent. If you really think about it not just thanksgiving, but Christmas and every other holiday. I enjoyed this short story.
ReplyDeleteSecond short story called, “My Papa Waltz” seemed a bit sad to me about a young boy who enjoyed writing yet just wanted his mother back and all the memories of what his life could have been with her. How the scent of his father, he was disgusted of because of the tequila and how all the work he’s made is just based off of this lie and how sad to think that his mother is never getting out of jail. The young boy in my opinion, I believe that he soon dropped all those memories and fears and soon began to understand the love for his drunken father and that “Crazy” song he would dance too. I think the younger boy began to realize this is his reality and needs to be thankful of what they have and he finally realized it. They may not have much but he has this amazing father who just wants to dance with him.
The third short story, “Westbury Court”, is about a family who lives in this apartment complex and also towards the ends reminisce on memories (happy and sad) that happened to them. From the fire happening, to the children next door passing away, to their mother going to jail for leaving the children unattended can really shock other kids who saw it all happen. I wonder if the older child who was obsessed with “General Hospital” if she feels a slight bit guilty because maybe she could have saved the two children’s life? Since that was a horrible memory upon her and her siblings, when the moved and to another place with their family; they often remember had memories took place there. Yet some memories are not good ones, and it can’t be all laughs and giggles hence what is said in the next line. “After the burglar had broken into the house…my father never took another picture.”
*Arianna Tabares
These stories all together were intriguing. They messed with my head a little and made me think about their true meaning, the real truth the author was trying to express. The one that really picked my brain was My Papa’s Waltz by James Brown. I have read the original poem by Theodore Roethke and had analyzed it in high school, we discussed that it was a poem about child abuse. Using my knowledge of the original poem I was trying to see if the same theme applied with this story. After looking up who James Brown was the story made a little more sense to me, I came to an understanding that he was trying to make sense of a part of his life he had blocked out, as though he tried to pretend it didn’t exist or that it did but he changed parts of it to keep him from feeling lonely or broken. And after realizing what it was about I felt guilty and sympathetic. It meant more than it did when I read it the first time.
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court had me guessing at the very end, sort of like a cliffhanger, or an understatement. Edwidge Danticat leaves us guessing a little bit as into what his mother really meant by saying “‘I shouldn’t have’” (Starkey 220). I re-read this ending a couple times and came up with multiple conclusions as into what she might’ve meant by her words. Now trying to understand the idea or truth behind the story was a little easier to understand. At the beginning of the story Danticat is tuned into the reality of his television show, thinking what is happening on the show is what possibly happens in real life, he blocks out reality using a soap opera, until the fire happens. The fire was like a wake up call, it sort of opened up his eyes and mind to the real world. He starts noticing all the bad that is happening around him, like the murders and robberies. Suddenly his castle of an apartment building, Westbury Court, suddenly seems scary, and unpredictable. After the fire he slowly started feeling unsafe, and scared. He became more vigilant as into what was happening around him. This story made me think, and then it clicked, I realized how caught up we can get in something that isn’t real. Like social media, for instance, or the whole texting and driving. Was this the truth of the story? How sometimes we blind ourselves with fantasies or fake lives we think we live? Was this meant as a warning, or just a hint of advice? These stories gave me insight on people’s lives and their inner thoughts. The truths they’ve been keeping inside about themselves, and the world. Reading these stories took a bit of analyzing and also a little bit of outside research but it made the stories more understandable and relatable in some ways.
-Bibi Ann Gonzalez
In reading Diane Ackerman’s The Mute Sense, I become open to the fact that non-fiction creative writing is closely wound in personal story and “fact-ish” tid-bits of information. She mentions cultural information about smell and recalls a Sherlock Holmes reference that “there are seventy-five perfumes, which it is necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish” (p214). She also hits the meta writing level by explaining that smell can be “almost impossible to describe… to someone who hasn’t smelled it yet” (p215). This writing about writing to explain smelling a smell is a challenge and most writers can only write of a smell to explain it with very common smells that everyone must have experienced in their lives. I can’t simply say to someone I walk into my house and it smells like home. They would automatically get the sense of their own home; but if I said I walk into my house and it has the aroma of cat litter box in the far reaches mingled with doggy scent, then a person would get a better idea of what my home smells like if they’re pet owners. Ackerman’s essay works to not only be grounded in personal story but also works to get the reader thinking about their own writing in describing smells.
ReplyDeleteIn reading James Brown’s My Papa’s Waltz, I get a sense of how a non-fiction creative piece is forgiving of the writer’s memory. Brown struggles to recall the situation and writes that out as part of the narration. His ability to take us along on the journey causes the reader to become more involved with the story. Something that threw me off as a reader was that, at the beginning of the story, I considered the father to be dancing with a girl. I was stereotyping that a father wouldn’t be presenting a Waltz to a boy. I know this is wrong of me but as Brown opened up with this live image my imagination pictures a little girl. As this essay flowed I became aware of how we as non-fiction writers do not need to have every single detail sorted out.
In reading Edwidge Danticat’s Westbury Court the idea of struggling with memory recall is presented towards the end of the story -concerning what happened to the mother of the two children. I felt as though I got the complete author’s perspective and then a behind the scenes’ possible alternate endings. Somehow I felt more connected with this story than with My Papa’s Waltz. I suppose that this connection is because the writer kept me along on the journey of the initial thought process of what she thought had happened to the mother and then let me in on what could have been the other outcomes. I liked the story flowing in one direction of emotional turmoil and then having the after effects of dealing with a different possible outcome. This late recall worked well with this story. I realize that My Papa’s Waltz is centered closely around the author while Westbury Court is somewhat directed toward the neighbor. I wonder if this is the reason that a behind the scenes technique worked well in Danticat’s story, could My Papa’s Waltz have been written with the same behind the scene’s feel or do all memory recall struggles done surrounding the author have to be something that unfolds as the writer goes along with the story?
Brenda Gomez
Following reading the three creative non-fiction examples I noticed a similar theme intertwined in all of them: memories. Each author is reminiscing about a certain memory, whether good or bad.
ReplyDeleteThe first story, “Mute Sense,” the author, Diane Ackerman, talks of how smells can bring back memories and is the most important of them all. I agree with the idea that smell can cause more vivid memories and more bring back more memorable moments than other of the other senses. For example, occasionally I will catch a whiff of a certain scent and get sent on a nostalgia trip. Sometimes I am not even able to understand why a certain smell will remind me of a certain memory. For the most part I don’t even connect the smell to the memory. (Perhaps, the recollection I have I had smelled that smell faintly and thus my brain now connects the two.)
James Brown’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is a short story about how the author recalls memories of his father in his childhood. This one takes on a slightly dark tone wherein the father is an alcoholic. The boy reminisces about the smell of whiskey on his father’s breath and how he was always asked to dance with his drunken parent being told that the next day would be the day his mother would come home from prison. Again we see the connection of smell and memory as James Brown talks of how he really remembers the smells: whiskey, sweat, and sawdust. It makes me think of how I personally associate smells with people and memories of them.
“Westbury Court,” follows the author, Edwidge Danticat, and a memory from his teenage years. He recalls a fire happening in the apartment across the hall from his. The fire ends up killing the two boys (or rather children, as the author explains he can’t remember exactly the genders or ages of the two deceased) who started it. In the end, the mother of the children who passed away goes to prison for negligence, bringing me back somehow to the previous story. Both involve a mother being in prison. In a way all these stories seemed to connect.
-Ryan Bluhm
The Mute Sense by Diane Ackerman makes sense when she describes many examples of how we tend to smell odors. When she describes how "We can detect over ten thousand different odors, so many, in fact, that our memories would fail us if we tried to jot down everything they represent." Some odors are indescribable and hard to explain but we can relate how they smell. Yet we just know when an odor smells good or bad. We now it's good odor if we smell the perfume or Cologne off of someone we love that we know smells amazing. As Ackerman explains, "but if you cover your nose, and try to stop smelling, you will die." I mean if we stop breathing we wouldn't have oxygen to breath and as we breathe we smell. Life without the smelling senses would be dull.
ReplyDeleteMy Papa Waltz by James Brown is an interesting story and I can imagine how hard it is without a mom. It is a cute memory of him trying to have fun with his dad dancing but maybe the father was trying to distract the son from thinking about the mother. His father seems to be drinking over the mother and having the stress of not telling his son what happened to his mom and why she is gone. I caught on to why he was imagining getting a rope and a gun to help his mother escape from prison so him and his father can take her to Mexico so they live happily ever after. Yet despite the sad thought of his mother gone, the narrator thinks positive even when his father tells him "Dance. Your momma's coming home tomorrow." Even though it isn't true he continues the fun with his father.
In Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat, is mainly a story about a teenagers understanding of what home is and learning about her home. She lives in a dangerous neighborhood apartment where bad things always happen such as people dying. Her family never had anything dramatic happen but a fire had broken out next door and two young children died playing with matches which could have involved them in the fire but firefighters saved them. She thinks of how lucky they are and the mother always explains how it is too late to say "I shouldn't have." Meaning, think twice about your actions. Lesson learned.
Adelisa Fuentes
I enjoyed reading "The Mute Sense" by Diane Ackerman. I agree with her how a specific smell can trigger a vivid memory. I have this happen to me often, especially when I visit my grandparents house. Depending on the time of year, the moment I get out of my car to approach the home that has housed so many memories, a citrus scent hangs in the air instantly taking me back to my childhood when I would run through my grandfather's orange groves. Describing this phenomenon perfectly she says "smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant landmines, hidden under weedy mass of many years and experience." I could not have put it into words more perfectly than that.
ReplyDelete"My Papa's Waltz" by James Brown was not my favorite read however, I noticed a connection between his short creative non fiction story to Diane Ackerman's short. They both tie smells to a certain memory. In "My Papa's Waltz" for example, Brown's memory of his drunk father involves the clear smell of whiskey, sawdust and sweat. Even though Brown struggles to remember the memory of his intoxicated father urging him to dance, the smell of his father remains the same.
After reading Edwidge Danticat's "Westbury Court," It was apparent this was another dark read. Like James Brown recalling his drunk father and imprisoned mother, Danticat's childhood was no better. Living in Brooklyn where hot water was not always working and piles of trash was commonly seen around town we read this devastating story about a fire that claimed the lives of two young boys. Unfortunately, this would not be the only tragedy Danticat would recall from her childhood in Westbury Court. It is made clear in the beginning that she did not live on the best side of town and three years after the fire her and her family moved. She writes how she sometimes thinks of that fateful day of the fire and like Brown from the previous short, Danticat struggles to remember clearly now that time has passed her.
-Brittany Garcia
As I was reading the assignmenst, I couldn’ help but feel really connected with the story “Mute Sense ” by Diane Ackerman. The way the author decribes this particular moment, that lrads to a lot of his memory really reminds me about my life. Like I remember I entered my fathers house once back when it had been a very long time since when we spoke, the aroma of his house reminded me of when things weren’t right in my life. I quick wanted to leave, however, I just had got there and I knew leaving early would not be approved by my father. So I waited and stayed for a bit. But I find it really amazing how a scent, or an object can bring back many memories, bad and good. I learn to appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading Westbury Court, becausit payed attentnion to a lot of huge details in life. The different deaths and accidents in that building area were so detailed it reminded me of when I was young and what we delt with in our neighborhood. We had a mentally ill neighbor that would act creepy and sometimes try and talk to us, but we never responded. In front of our mobile home we had a couple of thugs hanging out drinking, probably selling drugs too. To the right of us we definitely had some drug dealers living in that house. So I think it’s cool that even reading something that has nothing to do with you, can bring back those vivid memories that we all had at some point.
Reading “My Pap’s Waltz” brought back many memories as well about my father, because I too was asked to do certain things that were beyond my guess to do so. I ended up staying up with him this one time talking about the civil war, I must have been like nine. And talkig about the civil war wasn’t a bother for me at all, in fact I love history. But my father was a drug addict, and it was like 12:30 in the morning. I knew and he knew had to be up around 7 something to get ready for school. I on the other hand was so confused as to why he would get angry at me for staying up past 10, and here I am reluctantly having a conversation with my dad after midnight. I had to tell him that school was very important to me and that I had to go to sleep already. I guess he understood, until the morning came and wanted to continue having the same conversation. I didn’t go to school that morning.
So this “My Papa’s Waltz: really connected with me. Both author and I, were confused but now since we both know better, it doesn’t really matter because it’s in the past but that exact same moment is pretty molded into my brain.
-Christopher Capello
In Diane Ackerman’s The Mute Sense, a lot of the senses she describes are very much relatable. One scent can bring about very vivid images of past experiences and the wiring behind that is truly remarkable. A sense that can be considered as less than one of the others is painted in a very passionate light that makes it appear as in expendable. The ending is very moving, showing how we, by doing so little can cause so much change in the world. That change can then serve us by transporting us back to moments that have special importance to us.
ReplyDeleteI had actually read the poem My Papa’s Waltz and was expecting something similar in meaning. The poem explains the things a father does that sometimes go unnoticed by his loved ones and the endearing aspects a father and his children might have. Although Brown’s essay does, in some way touch on that it seems more focused on the writing of a story and his personal life. However, his fantasizing and honest mentions of his relationships show a very real look at the suffering and want of a boy who wants his mother. The ending is powerful because it connects the poem to the essay.
Westbury Court was a very easy and intriguing read. It was very smooth and moved forward without any sections that would otherwise cause a dull read. It was tragic and moving to live through the life of a young man who lived in a world surrounded by danger. The naivety of people is also evident in the way that the family rationalizes the tragedies. The author however does not give into that by proclaiming, “it was too troublesome for her to acknowledge that people could die randomly, senselessly, at Westbury Court or anywhere else.” He is the realist in the world in which hides from the fact that tragedy does not discriminate. Life is chaotic like Westbury Court, sometimes that chaos takes unexpected turns, and to think that by simply being good we can avoid those tragedies is a tragedy in itself.
- Alvaro Pulido
Reading “The Mute Sense” by Diane Ackerman really has the reader put smelling into viewpoint, I had not given smelling enough credit or thought. There are million upon millions of smells we might encounter in one’s lifetime, it literally is a “Mute Sense”. We can’t see it, we can’t hear it, but in order to keep breathing we must smell things, from good to bad. My favorite will always be a distinctive cologne/perfume that might remind me of a certain person. I like how Ackerman opened up her short creative nonfiction story, “nothing is more memorable than a smell”, she is right indeed. Her opening descriptions where very detailed and a bit confusion to put together but over all they were diverse and comprehensive. My favorite out of the 3 reads!
ReplyDeleteJames Brown in “My Papa’s Waltz, the writer talks about many unfortunate things that have happened in his life time, but one thing that does make him happy is writing. “But when I write today, when I write now, when I write this, the drunken smile on my father’s face no longer annoys me”(Brown). He becoming accepting towards his father, considering his father has been his support. A story like this to me opens my perception with many emotions that humans take upon in one day, writing about it is something that can always put someone into a slightly better state than they were before writing. Whether it’s writing down problems or expressing it through dancing, like his father. My opinion is, if getting drunk and dancing with your son is what brings your happiness then so be it, and if writing down what makes you unhappy or happy then do it. We live to make ourselves happy, because without happiness comes craziness.
Westbury Court doesn’t sound very pleasant, especially in the way the author describes it. Edwidge Danticat writes about her teenage years living in Brooklyn, just buy reading the first paragraph I automatically think to myself that her living conditions could have been worse but they do sound awful already. “It was too troublesome for her to acknowledge that people could die randomly, senselessly, at Westburry Court or anywhere else” (Danticat). As I continue reading I realize the conditions/problems like this never go away, they just appear more often. Death, fires, lost children, burglary, new homes, it only makes more sense to make these issue more known to prevent them from happening. This short creative nonfiction story was a bit out of the blue, yet I try and read upon its perspective and its importance on how to survive this crazy would.
-Natasha Villarreal
In “The Mute Sense,” author Diane Ackerman beautifully describes one of the most magical senses we take for granted: smell. In this non-fiction short-story, Ackerman uses her fondest memories in association with scents. Or perhaps the other way around, truthfully. As I was reading, I noticed a poetic rhythm to the story although the format is not like that of a poem. Also, it makes me feel as if the author wrote this on a tangent, but without the negative connotations rants tend to emit. I can agree with the author; I clearly remember visiting my best friend’s house on several occasions when we were in high school and there was a distinct scent. It’s tough to put my finger on it, but if I experience it again, I will automatically know. And it will take me back. Inclusively, the selection of words paints such vivid pictures; anybody could assume it derived from poetry. If I was required to write my own interpretation of “The Mute Sense,” different scents would bring different nostalgic memories to mind as each person’s experiences vary greatly and uniquely. The beginning and center of the story focuses on the author’s personal memories, but the last paragraph wins me over. The delicate diction stretches out to reach a general audience which makes connecting with the text an easier task.
ReplyDeleteJames Brown’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is a nonfiction story heavier on the heart as there’s visible signs of loneliness, addiction, and depression in the context. My mother has always been in my life and I am endlessly grateful, but the aspects of the author’s father reminds me of mine. I took into consideration that James Brown is a man dictating the story, and even after that fact, I portrayed the beginning scenes with a father/daughter waltz instead. Through society’s discourse, there’s evident traces of racism, sexism, homophobia, you name it. It makes me feel shameful to possess this train-of-thought momentarily, but my justification is that I was thinking of my father all throughout the story. Also, the author meditates the events in a struggling wave of uncertainty. But the story ultimately emerges into a hopeful tone as the lines, “When I write today, when I write now, when I write this, the drunken smile on my father’s face no longer annoys me” (Brown, 217) speak volumes about the author’s decision to let go and let live.
As I finish reading “Westbury Court” by Edwidge Danticat, a prevalent theme in all three stories comes to life as they all regard memories. Different than the previous two short stories, I feel as if Danticat delivers more of a straightforward story in chronological sense even if it centers on recollections that emit strong emotions. And strong scenes, as well. At least for a story centering on children. The story reveals a series of unfortunate events that occur to the families living in Westbury Court, which also associates with a gloomy, dark tone. Similarly to “My Papa’s Waltz,” the author also struggles with recollecting the true events that happened. I do not have a favorite story out of the three, but this one definitely deciphers a cliff-hanger at the end leaving me guessing, wanting more. Which will only lead me to read it a few more times.
-Cecilia Ramirez
In the “Mute Sense” by Diane Ackerman, the author writes about arguably one of her favorite sense that she feels connected to. This is a prime example of what great creative nonfiction writing should be. You can feel Ackerman’s emotion, which is a key element that should be inserted in creative writing. I really enjoyed the syntax in this reading. For me, it connected me more to the writing and made me want to keep on reading. Ackerman was also informative at one point; she mentions that we can smell up to 10,000 odors. One specific quote that really grabbed my attention was “….but if you cover your nose and try to stop smelling, you will die”. If this doesn’t scream out passion and emotion I don’t know that will. This was a very great read that had so many necessary tools needed to be a successful creative writer.
ReplyDelete“My Papa Waltz” by James Brown was an interesting read to say the least. Brown takes us back to childhood, describing to the very detail about his father, his mother in prison, and how he grew up in the ghetto. Brown does by using the literary element imagery. With great imagery in creative writing you can easily paint a picture in the readers mind. Brown uses writing as an escape from all things that bother him such as the annoying drunk dad and the mom in prison. I like how he uses creative writing as an escape and that can impact a persons writing in a creative way.
“Westbury Court” by Edwidge Danticat was a great piece to read! I enjoyed the well-detailed description of Westbury Court and the connections it had. Danticat didn’t mind that Westbury was ghetto but it was home and that’s all that matters. Although, a fire that occurred in the apartments changed that view. Which leads to the family moving out of the apartment and Danticat describes all the great memories and also the people she met. Just like in “Mute Senses” you can feel the emotion through the text, which is key in any form of writing. I truly enjoyed all three of these reading. They are great examples of how to be a great creative writer.
-Brandon Garcia
I really enjoyed reading Diane Ackerman’s “The mute sense” because what she talks about is so true, we remember the smell better than the actual memory itself. Smell is a very powerful sense that many people take for granted. I love how she includes other cultures and a lot of past cultures as well and not just one person’s experience with smell and stuff. She also describes a problem that I suffer from a lot, a lack of vocabulary in order to define a certain smell or a past memory.
ReplyDeleteJames Brown’s “My papa’s waltz” really tugged at the heart strings, you can even hear the raw emotion bleeding through the paper as if he was sitting next to me telling me about his father. You can definitely tell that James brown had to be honest with this paper and tell about his childhood and how his mother went to prison and how his father, brother and sister share a small one bedroom apartment with a kitchenette and a hot plate. I can’t really tell is he’s being serious or not, even though the point of the story was to express truthiness and fiction and how it “doesn’t matter”. I also struggle with whether or not I should be truthful in my writing, or make up a completely fabricated story that could possibly happen to someone else and make it seem like I’m the one that experienced it.
Wow, Edwidge Danticat’s “Westbury court “ really makes you think about how life goes on, even after something as tragic as a fire breaking out and two children dying, and how it can seem like it never even happened. “Westbury court” is a real page turner and really hits close to home, losing an uncle and a grandma I can totally relate to that, and I’m sure everyone else can, that all these events happen after their death that they kind of replace your memories of your loved ones with new memories and you kind of forget they were ever in your lives. Until, one day, out of the blue you remember them and all these memories come flooding in and you remember the lessons they taught us and how it’s too late to say “I shouldn’t have.” –Lowen Sauceda
All three reading seemed to bring forth a lot senses, humanly senses that bring us to an awareness of our own memories and potential stories. In "The Mute Sense" Ackerman spoke about how we are too busy in our scenes while the nose does it's job. I myself can testify to this because I seem to get very irritated when I smell Black Polo cologne because at one time in my life as I was living each day in what I thought was a great relationship I didn't put much thought into his cologne until a few weeks after that breakup and we went our separate ways for reasons I could not fathom. In "My Papa's Waltz" I was able to see how some memories could be bittersweet through how we recreate them in writing. The drunken father figure who no longer annoyed Brown in the short story was an example, a turn from where it began as the father with the "drunken sentimentality" who annoyed him. Then, there was "Westbury Court" in which Danticat writes about a town where one grows up but never sees it as a violent place but for home. How memories have come to pass and we are left to vividly remember details and left to wonder what happened to the faces one once knew. I tried to examine my life and how I could transform certain events into writing and reimagine certain truths or create some sort of false reality and form a story for others to enjoy by the things only I have come to know. I think that's a privilege of living in the Rio Grande Valley because for most of us this is home and we know it best. The types of scents in certain locations, the crimes, the family lifestyle and so forth. Through writing we can show others what it really is and what it was to live here. Especially for the people in other states who believe many people in the valley are living poorly. Writers should take advantage of this and to write what it is we really know not about things or places we don't know or think we know as Ackerman wrote.
ReplyDelete-Lisa Marie Serna
The Mute Sense was a very interesting story to read about, the way this author was able to express their thoughts by simple memories of smell was something that was of great interest to read about. This author with quite simple words was able to catch my attention for the start and was able to make me feel as if I was living the story myself. The second author with the story about his father gave me a view into this beautiful memory of a dance with there father that made me feel as if I had lived that same thing with my own father. The last author was able to give me a quick reflection of a memory they had of when they were only young children living in a small bed room apartment when this horrible fire happen that made the lives of two young children be lost. All these nonfiction stories I believe were constructed very well and gave made me so interested on what was yet to happen when the story came to its end. These stories were able to catch my attention as I am sure they did for every single reader and made the story feel so real to the reader itself as if it was something we were personally living. These stories as a beginner I think are of great example on how it is I can write my stories when I am required to. I am also able to see that after reading last weeks required reading that these stories use many of the points that were spoken about in last weeks required reading. I hope that in class I am able to bring up the questions I have about these reading and be able to get a better understanding of some of the things that I was a bit confused about. These readings at first had me a little confused when I started to read them I wasn’t sure where the stories was headed of how it was going to end, but I believe that was something that I loved about them. The wanting to read more and see how these memories are expressed with amazing words.
ReplyDelete-Alicia Lucio
All these stories are linked by memoires; simply a triggered sense by a smell, a common hobby or even a conversation. As the first story goes, “The Mute Sense”, Diane totally blows my mind away, with just the idea of a nose and how powerful it is. I do believe it is true, that smelling something can be indescribable. Yet we can remember that same exact smell years from today and at least recall the moment and get to thinking about it. I loved how she mixed it with history and Sherlock Homes, and ended with a big bang.
ReplyDeleteAs for the next story, “My Papa’s Waltz”, it even triggered memories of my father. Similar but very different details towards this father dance. James Brown, mentions how writing is magic. This made me think of our first assignment, the way is hard work and all talent. Yes, yes that a write, maybe not all, but they do write from different point of views telling the story from different angles and have us, the readers; all fooled thinking is something new. Like in the story James wrote that, “Every detail has to work or it will fail. Lives, real or imagined, are at stake.” It is a liability that how details work in stories, one has to make them fit like puzzles, it is for the readers and critics to analyze and learn something or figure it out, but I believe that only the writer knows the only and full truth.
For this next and last story, the one Edwidge Dantict wrote, “Westbury Court”. Gave me a sense of awareness. It has brought me back to life again and to realize the little things. It also has got me thinking about painful memories and things we still don’t know the answers to. This story is about the memories and curiosity. The truth is that every time the oldest teenager, interacts with a conversation, it triggers the unknown and the fear of chance. This story also is to remind us not to play with fire and for parents to not leave young kids at home alone (this is on the surface). But underneath, like I wrote, I would consider myself very luck and extremely strange for being right across their door and not being able to do anything about it because I (he) really did not have a single clue of what would be going on.
But in conclusion, yes all are linked for something as little that can change everything and anything; all are personal thoughts and experiences.
-Maria J. Salinas
After reading these three short stories I have come to a conclusion, memory is such a great and terrible thing to have. You can agree or disagree with that statement but it doesn’t get more accurate than that. In “Mute Sense” we are forced to recognize the great sense of smell. When I read it I remember how I tell people, “for a second it smelled like Michigan.” Now for most people they are wondering, “What the hell does Michigan smell like,” which is indescribable. Isn’t it insane how we can smell something and once they ask us what you mean it usually comes out with no answer because how can you describe it? Describe the smell of rain? I don’t know but it smells like it’s going to rain.
ReplyDeleteIn “My Papa’s Waltz” I had a connection with because I understand a negative life but finding some happiness in it even if there isn’t any. Instead of alcohol I think of the medication being overtaken which I won’t get into but it is quite sad. I am lucky to have my mother here and not in prison or my dad here also but it’s also not easy when my family, including myself, have all sorts of mental wrongs that are never good. It made me think about how the bi-polar would take over my mom and cause episodes in the middle of the night, it’s not the greatest.
For “Westbury’s Court” I thought of how someone can live with seeing these type of things on a daily basis. I find it so astonishing how children are exposed to death or accidents that don’t really come around often. You know what, to wrap all this up is the idea of memory. The fact we have the power to see, hear, smell, all these senses to remind us of something we either hate or love. It can be a beautiful thing or a terrible thing and it makes for the best writing because we know every single emotion and we want them to feel what we feel. So it must be a blessing and a curse.
-Victoria Benavidez
They say that as you get older your memories are the first thing to go. We try our best to hold on to the ones we feel are important but try as we might details begin to slip away. Even still certain smells will remind me of my childhood, not any one particular memory, rather, my childhood in general. Of the three stories from the reading, My Papa's Waltz hit home the hardest for me. Like many fathers out there, my father wasn't around as much as he should have been and in this world of meeting new people and exchanging stories with one another I've often found myself altering reality in my retell to make my father have a more pivotal role. I don't know if I do this because I don't want all of my friends to feel bad for me, or I'm trying to fit in with all my peers who have a normal relationship with their father, or maybe on some level I know he's a decent enough human being and I want my friends to like him; whatever the reason may be the stories are changed to include him in my life. For the new year I made one resolution to keep a journal and write in it as many memories that I hold dear. The journal isn't a daily journal that notes the experiences of my passing day; just my memories. So far I've written about my earliest memory, a particular event that happened in elementary, and a year in my life that drastically changed the dynamics of my household. I chose to start this journal specifically because I knew that if I didn't write these things down they would fade from my memory. Either because the details begin to wither away, or my false realities begin to blend with apparent reality.
ReplyDelete-Brian Odom
huh
ReplyDelete