Favorites: Grace’s Favorites
Posted by Grace Kohut
My favorite passages come from Margrette’s My Life in the Words I Remember and the Ones I Don’t and Eriks Bookworm’s Manifesto.
Bookworm’s Manifesto: The Physicality of Reading
“We are so fascinated with the immediate and the ‘next’ that nothing can last anymore. Give me the book, the handheld, fleshy (or furry) kind!”
Erik starts the reader off talking about a book he read as a child (it had fur!). In describing what it was to read his furry book he was communicating a certain physicality of reading. He then connects it to modern day life where everything is written on the internet or is sent through cyber space. People today are forgetting that reading is a deeply human activity; it should be felt with both hands. I think this extended metaphor Eriks uses is brilliant and really shows how unsatisfying today’s forms of reading truly are. Read books!
My Life in the Words I remember and the Ones I Don’t: Simple Complexity
“but nothing to capture the simple complexity of its staying power”
This quote describes how I feel about Margrette’s writing. Margrette has a true gift for communicating things in a funny yet serious, elegant yet straightforward, and simple yet complex way. While the quote I chose does not perfectly depict what I’m talking about it certainly describes it. I wrote this in one of my edits of her work but I think she does such a good job of stating emotional things in a matter-of-fact way (which strangely has a bigger effect than just stating things emotionally). Her words are so strong and the topics are so interesting. Since I could go on and on I will leave it at that!
X7: “Eruditio”
Posted by Grace Kohut
I plan to submit my first project, “since feeling is first,” to Eruditio, Duke’s yearly publication for academic papers. According to their website, they publish academic papers on wide range of topics from almost every department. Since full-length academic papers are normally long, I suppose their typical entry is at least 8 pages in length. It’s hard to tell, however, due to the journal’s format (3 columns per page). This is one of the potential conflicts I’m going to have with the publication. I spent a long time formatting my piece but I guess I will have to come up with a completely new design to comply with their three-column page.
I think my piece will be a good piece to submit because Eruditio deals with diverse topics every year. “Since feeling is first” is hard to classify in my opinion and I can’t necessarily see it published in a publication that specifies in anything. The piece is about reading, writing, e.e. cummings, discovery, and me. It’s diverse in and of itself so I thought Eruditio would be a good home for it. Thanks to Professor Harris for suggesting it!
Project 2: (Still) Not Dead
Posted by Grace Kohut
This piece came from our R9 assignment. I had not understood the directions clearly so I used our readings as “inspiration” for this piece. The Monson readings started me thinking on concepts like memory and the Egger readings had me thinking of form. Egger’s last line in his own mini-biography is “They had no pets.” This is what sparked my memory of my own mini-biography that my parents had uncovered this summer. This probably makes no sense to you, so just read it : )
PS. I decided to keep the design as simple as possible. It just didn’t feel right to make it look like anything other than what is written there.
R9: Still Not Dead
Posted by Grace Kohut: Still Not Dead
since feeling is first
Posted by Grace Kohut
Process Note
I started writing this piece for the X4 assignment (writing a text). I was very excited when we were assigned this because words have always been important to me and this was my opportunity to write about my quote book. I got some great feedback and encouragement from the class and so I decided to put my other revision on hold and continue with this work.
My first draft was essentially all about e.e. cummings so professor Harris suggested I should use the actual quote book as my text while using cummings as a sort of guide. I loved that idea… but, let me tell you, it was hard. My second draft, to borrow from the words of Professor Harris, was more of a 1+1=2 rather than a 1×1=1. I knew exactly what he meant (see the piece to understand). So then I set forth to create my world of multiplication. This is what I’ve come up with. I hope you like it!
R5: The New Biography
Posted by Grace Kohut
I have to say that I loved reading Assassination Vacation. Her style reminded me of how biographies are turning into an art form. I’m currently reading Savage Beauty, a book on the life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, and I was reminded of it when reading Vowell’s work.
Assassination Vacation, however, does something different. She relays an impressive amount of historical information that could otherwise be boring and somehow manages to grasp the reader’s attention and interest. I think she accomplishes this by “setting the stage,” so to speak, in real time. She is an average human going about her life and pursuing her interests. She has friends and family, and a life of her own. She’s a real person with real opinions as well as a vast knowledge of American History.
She also succeeds in making her “subjects” real people: both the heroes and the villains. We learn about their families, their histories, their opinions and pain. “Never before have I felt the meaning of the word crushed” (64). Everything is so real in her novel; it is as if it were happening in the moment.
I also like how she imparts knowledge on us. She not only shares the contents of her research but also what her research (the means and the substance) has taught her. So in essence, she is sharing two different scopes.
*Note: Reread page 50-52 to see a good example of what I mean by different scopes, historical facts (the letter specifically), and bringing it back to real time (the fourteen dollar cab ride)
R3: “…but it holds a great deal more”
Posted by Grace Kohut
The stylistic phrasing I have found I most admire can be located in two essays: Taking a Reading and You Be the Moon. This little trick is difficult to explain for it is a description that deals in both literal and abstract forms. It is a play on words–a certain eloquence that allows the writer to make his or her reader think twice about meaning. It makes the reader “picture” things from a different angle.
To give a straightforward example, I’ll start with You Be the Moon, “If a moon can reach this groove, it will never crash down like masonry nor drift away like a mood” (67). Here the author describes the moon (or what the moon wont be) by using something both concrete and abstract to indicate weight. The moon will not sink like stonework nor float away like passing emotional state.
Here’s another time the author employs this trick: “Another is known as an open orbit, where an unaffiliated traveling object gets pulled to another body, curves around it, and flies away, never to return, like a minute” (71). Here the author is very literal in describing the phenomenon of an open orbit. She does a good job of accurately depicting it. The last three words, however, give the sentence and the description an entirely different form. She uses the idea of time to get across the idea of something that comes and goes, never to return.
Now I want to move on to Taking a Reading. “Carat, candela, caliber, Kelvin, case. A chain is precisely 66 feet divided into precisely 100 links. It is also what is around my neck holding a diamond heart which I’ve kept clasped since receiving it some anniversaries ago. It cannot hold a ship to shore, but holds a great deal more” (1-2). To me, this passage is brilliant. She states a chain of “kuh” sounding words, then gives a definition of a standard metal chain and finally refers to the chain around her neck. She mentions all these chains, showing the reader the different things a “chain” could mean. “It cannot hold a ship to shore, but holds a great deal more”. She makes the reader understand its lack of physical strength but then alludes to the amount of emotional strength it represents.
I have always been fascinated by double-meanings, which is why, perhaps, I’m fascinated by these two essays.
R1: Becoming Conscious
“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You only see as far as your headlights but you can make the whole trip that way” – E. L. Doctorow
This quote was the most useful to me. I often get caught up in the details of my writing to the point that it inhibits me. I try to know all the answers at the very beginning and I’ve been trying to kick this habit. This quote is a great way to illustrate how it’s possible to not see where you’re going while still being able to complete the journey. Any time I get caught up again, I’ll read this quote.
Unfortunately this quote comes from the first 27 pages so I had to find another one. Before I share the quote I chose, I want to first reflect on the novel. While I think Bird by Bird is nicely written and very thoughtful, I did not agree with all of her advice and did not like her approach. Maybe it is because I’ve had many teachers over the years give me a lot of the same advice only to find that my brain works in a different manner. I think many people forget that their way may not be the best way for everyone. A teacher can have the best of intentions but if they forget this little fact, they can do more harm than good. I wish Lamott phrased her advice more as suggestions rather than as absolutes. In fact, she could have phrased it the same exact way… as long as she added that there are more ways to look at the situation. Just adding that one sentence may have changed my entire opinion of her approach.
“Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you’re conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader” pg. 225
This quote ties everything together. I think “becoming conscious” is the best thing you can do as a writer and it applies to every step along the way. It refers to the first quote I chose… about the process of writing. You have to be conscious not only of the lit road ahead of you but also of the destination obscured by the dark. So it refers to being conscious of yourself as you write and of yourself as a writer. It refers to being conscious of your reader as well as being conscious of ideas and opinions different from your own.
I’m not sure if this is what Lamott meant when she wrote that sentence but this is how I took it. And I think it is a great statement of truth.