My chosen "I" essays..

I don't think I could have chosen 3 different styles of "I" essay writing if I had actually researched the type of category they might fall under and purposely chosen them. Instead, I chose 3 randomly selected articles. And they were quite different, not only their subject matter, but in their style and choice of words and descriptions. I chose "Steinbeck" by Dagobert Gilb; "Bats" by Linda Hogan; and "Two Ways to Belong in America" by Bharati Mukherjee.

All of the author's points were to show their personal point of view and thoughts and feelings on their subject of choice. Gilb's point was to describe how his feelings changed from not impressed to beyond impressed by John Steinbeck's books and writing style. He talks of how he appreciates the writing of the hard working people in America and how there should be more of the today. He most likely got this idea after reading more of his books to see why he was so popular and then developed his thoughts on how it relates to our culture today where the "small" yet important people are overlooked. The author was moved so he seemed to set out to move other readers. I liked how he built up to his point of how Steinbeck wrote about the people who should be written about more today.

Hogan was completely different. Her subject matter was literally on bats!! At first I was grossed out by how she thought they were beautiful and so was there mating process. But honestly, the way she uses metaphors constantly to describe every aspect of bats became spellbinding as she painted pictures. She has this fascination and apprecation of bats and she most likely wants to sway, or at least, show her readers why she feels this way. And I have to be honest, her form of writing, especially the colorful metaphors, was actually moving! This is the first essay I have read so far that had an almost lyrical language.

I most enjoyed Mukherjee's essay and style of writing. Her point is to show the differences and similarities between her and her sister. However, she has such a straightfoward and pointed way of writing that seems to have an authority to it. She in fascinated by the way she and her sister love each other but are completely different in their ways of thinking and acting. My favorite line was a rhetorical question that resonated such truth: "Who is the freak?" You can literally see both sides of her personal debate that leaves your thinking questionable. It had a sort of similarity to the story of Karla Faye in that it leaves you questioning your standpoints the same way.  

Kidder, Lopate, Lott readings....

I really think that Kidder's essay focused more on finding "your voice." It seems like she is saying to explore avenues that work for you or showcase you, instead of doing what others do because you are sort of apprehensive about being different.  To me, her essay seemed to blend "I" and "Eye" which I found interesting.

I really enjoyed Lopate's essay.  It definitely echoed some of Kidder's points, especially finding your voice. Except to need to go beyond that and make your voice believable. You need to captivate the reader and not be afraid to look within yourself and reveal yourself. Don't be afraid to give yourself some sort of praise instead of downplaying and coming across as dull or boring.  It was more about developing yourself as a character, whether in the 1st or 3rd person point of view.

Lott's essay went into even more detail. I loved the prompts given by asking yourself questions. It really motivates the writer to reveal and be believable; to say the least, it is a great beginning of a personal essay.  We all want to hold on to the past in some way to leave our story behind. To do this, it is important to explore and discover to create knowledge. This self-inquistion to find "my truth" and to make it my own ultimately lead to an understanding.

I really think that their definitions gave me much more insight to CNF writing, rather than being similar or different to my "definition." My definition seemed so basic...and there is so much more to think about and explore! I love the idea about creating a character-and someone like me wont have to try very hard! I certainly am a character!

The differences between "I" and "Eye"...

After reading the essays by Lowry, Vowell, & Bellow, I was able to see more clearly the differences between the "I" and "Eye" perspectives in personal essay writing. Like I said in my previous blog, I thought the "I" essay was mostly an interesting account of one's personal life, whether past or present, positive or negative.  Now I see it as so much more! It is more than just relating a story that happened in your life.  It's more than just your perspective. You need to question whether you are telling the truth or your truth. You need to self-reflect. Am I telling it through my eyes now or then? It is constantly questioning yourself to be able to best describe the story you are telling.

The "Eye" as shown by the 3 mentioned essayists was incredibly interesting.  Although I enjoyed Vowell's personal accounts and feelings of Gettysburg and Bellow's point of view on how or if photographs can really show a person - and what to believe if you see one image, I was most struck by Lowry's essay on Karla Faye. She spends the time getting to know Karla Faye and see things through another's eyes.  I especially liked the part when she talks about "...would your feelings change." We are usually so set in our thinkings and views and justifying them, that we seldom stop to think of another scenarion and how we would react. This also seems to be questioning the truth as in "I" essays:  what is it we believe and why?

What is creative nonfiction?

At first, I thought Writing Creative Nonfiction was going to be a course about writing on the works of someone else; sort of similar to research papers. I have to be honest, I was not looking forward to that. I don't like to write on something someone else already did. Of course, I could add my own thoughts and ideas to what they have said - but i really don't enjoy that!

Now that I have come to this class, I understand much more what it is about. It's about writing your own stories, thoughts, ideas...and reflecting on them. Finding out why you find something so important to write about. Maybe seeing how it changed, where it came from, what it meant then and now...and how it shaped who you are today. It seems to be a constant learning process. You don't see things now the way you did as a child, adolescent, adult (young or "not as young"). So to write about it, whatever "it" is, is a reflective process. Sometimes, it brings out memories and feelings that are not pleasant to remember - even down-right horrifying. But we learn from these things: mistakes we have made or things that were done to us...the list seems endless. Life is an ever-changing journey (sorry if that sounds cliche, but it is the truth!).

I now look forward to this course. I know it will be challenging, especially trying to put our own stories and thoughts together to form "creative writing." But so far, in my opinion, that seems to maybe be worth it.