Stamped and Ready to GO! April 29, 2011

I Hear:

As Kaysen goes through her experience of being in a metal institute for two years the reader can see an almost atypical way in the telling of her story. Instead of telling the read that she was or was not sick, she seems to play around with the idea, never really come to a conclusion. During her reflection of this time in her life, she also likes to incorporate what others thought of her as well. What she looked like to the outside world and how she was marked because she was in this hospital at one part of her life. I would like the discuses Kaysen’s interact with people when she left the hospital and who people reacted to the idea of a metal hospital and there idea of her.

I Notice:

It is not completely clear in the novel if Kaysen thought herself to be sick. At some moments she can relate to the definition of her disease, while other aspects seem completely wrong. This has no meaning in the real world though. She was in a metal hospital and it does not matter that she could have been falsely diagnosed, she lived there, that makes her different. One thing I found interesting was one of the documents that’s was written six years after her being released from the hospital allowing her to get a drivers license. Or when she had her job interview:

“What were we, that they could know us so quickly?” (124)

This is what Kaysen wrote about the man how gave her the job interview.

These experiences combined with Kaysen’s own way of interoperating her disorder work together. For example, although it may seem that Kaysen is trying to work through with herself if she has a disorder, for instance, when she adds the definition of borderline personality disorder to her story and they ways she tries to relate the definition to her own life. Seeing if what she did added up with what borderline personality was.

What I find interesting is that the answer to the big question, “Is Kaysen crazy?” really does not matter. Once she told someone or if they found out she was in the hospital she was crazy instantly, no questions asked. The day she walked in and the day she left, two years later define her life no matter what.

I just found it interesting that Kaysen was given a chance to say she was not crazy and defend herself in this book, but she does not do this.

She was able to produce this through her incorporation of documents and her own personal experiences in life after the hospital. When she left the parallel universe with a stamp on her fore head.

I Wonder:

I would like to know if Kaysen really thinks she was sick or is still sick? Although I do not think that there is an answer to this. I would also like to know more about her thoughts of being “stamped” for life, for example, the driver’s license.  Does it even bother her anymore? If she did not tell people about this experience because it changed the way they thought about her, why did she write the book? Was it a way to show them that she might not be crazy?

Autobiography: An Interpretation of One’s Life April 20, 2011

Looking at the definition of an autobiography, it is said to be “a history of a person’s life written or told by that person” (Oxford Dictionary). Although this definition is very flexible in how to represent an autobiography, in the past it can be seen that most authors have similar patterns in the way they write. In a traditional autobiography, everything is written in prose, each sentence beginning with a capitalized letter and ending in punctuation.  Every sentence falling in order, one after another, until it creates a full paragraph, then the enter button follows and the process starts again. Although this method has been successful in the past, some writers are taking the autobiography to the next level. Instead of just relating an autobiography to factual events, authors have begun to incorporate an imaginative and almost creative process in telling their non-fiction stories. To enhance and draw attention to the creative aspect in the non-fiction, the use of multimedia and multi-genre text are included into the pages of the autobiography, ultimately increasing the personal connection with the author. The concept of adding multimedia and multi-genre to autobiographical text can be seen in N. Scott Momaday’s, The Names, where photos and his interpretation of his past are used  in telling the story of his life, as well as in Natasha Trethewey’s novel Beyond Katrina, where she incorporates prose and poems to tell her story about the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In both cases, the typical format of an autobiography is completely changed, leaving the reader with a more creative text that enhances the personal connection between the reader and author.

In N. Scott Momaday’s memoir, The Names, photography as well as prose are incorporated into his autobiography. When first seeing his use of photography, it almost seems logical. By nature, photographs are a form of documentation, as they represent the past of a person or place. Using photography in an autobiography allows the author to show his readers what he tries to say in words, almost creating a stronger personal connection with his audience. This connection develops because photography allows the reader to view a moment out of a person’s life that is concrete, making it seem like the reader is viewing an event through the authors own eyes. Although Momaday adapts this generalized meaning of a photograph to his own story, he adds a twist.  He begins to incorporate an imaginative side in interpreting his photos, allowing the reader to understand Momaday on a more personal level. For instance, a photograph of Momaday as a young boy is shown with the caption, “I believe that I was thinking on great things” (Momaday 71). When first looking at this photo, it seems like a typical studio photograph that most parents have their children take at this age, but what makes this photo more complicated is the inclusion of a caption. This is because it is almost impossible to recollect what a person was thinking when a photo was taken, but Momaday does this. He begins to interpret and imagine an idea of himself in this photo that could be completely false, which is the opposite of what an autobiography should portray. The interesting aspect is that his use of imagination does not weaken, but strengthens the autobiography, resulting in a closer relationship to the author. For example, Momaday writes, “If I were to remember other things, I should be someone else”, (Momaday 63). Momaday’s interpretation of an autobiography is focused more on events that happen in a person’s life, and how they remember certain events. So in reality, for Momaday, an autobiography is a set of facts that a person believes to be true about themselves. For instance, when thinking about an event that took place in life, one story could be remembered in many different ways, some stories are completely forgotten, and others are remembered forever. In the end it is up to the individual person to decide how a memory is stored, and when the reader is able to understand this, a personal connection is made. A connection is formed because when the reader is able to see how the author thinks and why they thought that way, it is almost like being in their head, seeing an event from a different perspective, and eventually understanding that person. In N. Scott Momaday’s memoir, The Names, the incorporation of photography and captions help Momaday interpret his life, and form a closer relationship with the reader. Although it seems strange to include a fictional way to interpret one’s life, in the end it strengths the autobiography as well as the personal connect with the reader, which was made possible with the use of multimedia.

As seen with N. Scott Momaday’s memoir, The Names, the use of multimedia can be integrated into an autobiography, increasing the effectiveness of the story; but photographs are not the only option. In Natasha Trethewey’s novel, Beyond Katrina, poems are included alongside prose to help Trethewey tell her story about the Mississippi Gulf Coast. When just looking at the general definition of a poem, it is said to be, “a literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm” (Oxford Dictionary). From the definition it can be seen that poetry is associated more with the idea of imagination and conveying certain feelings one has, which can be seen in Trethewey’s own poetry. For example, while reading the poem Liturgy, each line reverts back to a previously stated aspect in the text that was written in prose. Natasha writes, “To the security guard staring at the Gulf / To Billy Scarpetta, waiting tables on the coast / To the woman dreaming of returning to the coast / To miss Mary, somewhere” (Trethewey 65). When reading about them the second time, it is almost different; the emotion and the connection with these people seem to strengthen. For instance, when first hearing these stories, they are completely spread out in the novel, one being on page sixteen another on page ninety, with no real relationship besides where they lived. While in the poem the stories become one, Trethewey is able to create one story out of many, through her use of figurative language in her poetry. As the poem continues, Natasha writes, “This is a memory of the coast: to each his own / recollections, her reclamations, their / restorations, the returning of the coast” (Trethewey 66). Although the idea of the coast having memories is imagined, it helps blend their stories together in a way that creates a stronger emotional reaction to their lives. As she make the land the people are living on come to life, and as it is dying the only life line it has are the people living on top of it. In the end illustrating the fact that is it not one person going through a disaster; they are one of many, and the only way for the coast to come back to life is for them to come together, just as the poem was put together. By fusing together the stories of Katrina into a poem Trethewey was able to create a stronger personal connection to the tragedy and the people. Although she did this with the use of a poetic license, it does take away from the autobiography; this is due to the personification intensify the main point that Trethewey was trying to express: the returning of the coast. This was all able to be portrayed with the use of figurative language and a multi-genre text.

It has become routine to view the genre of non-fiction as just a straight list of facts, with no creative depth to enhance the telling of the author’s story, but in many cases this is untrue. A story can be told in many ways, and there is no set formula on how to express a given fact. In N. Scott Momaday’s memoir, The Names, the use of photographs and captions are used in a way that incorporates an imaginative interpretation of his life. In addition, Natasha Trethewey’s novel, Beyond Katrina, includes the use of poetry in her story on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, were she begins to personify the Gulf Coast as a person. In both stories, the idea of imagination is used alongside autobiography, resulting in a stronger personal connect between the author and their readers. This was all made possible through the use of multimedia and multi-genre in the texts.

Work Cited

Momaday, N. Scott. The Names: a Memoir. New York: Harper & Row, 1976. Print.

Trethewey, Natasha D. Beyond Katrina: a Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Athens: University of Georgia, 2010. Print.

Sophie Kerr Weekend:Natasha Trethewey (Extra Credit) April 11, 2011

The event took place during Sophie Kerr Weekend on April 1, 2011. During this event Natasha Trethewey discussed her work, her life, and her writing process. Going into the event I had an idea about what I was going to hear. After reading her book Beyond Katarina I felt like I understood why she wrote. To me it seemed like her work was a way to coop with what happened to her and her family before and after hurricane Katarina. I found this to be false, in a way. While describing her writing she talked about how she does not have a strait road that she follows when writing, in fact it just comes out when it wants to. Through this process of writing she describes it less as cooping and more towards a road to discover. One thing that stuck out to me was how she stated that she never realized that she never wrote her bother until she began writing this book. I learned that writing is not a straight plan and more of a free flowing of thoughts that help you uncover things about yourself that you might have not known before. Hearing this it made me think of my own writing. Sometimes I struggle to plan out what I want to say that I get completely frustrated with the paper all together. I feel like I showed practice more free writing. I need to stop thinking so much and just write and in the end I might find something I never would have thought of.

The Works of the Mind April 8, 2011

I Hear:

As Momaday begins his autobiography one can see a great difference in how he presents his life story. From the very beginning it seems as if he is focusing on others that were in his life and not himself at all. When Momaday describes his autobiography he says

“In general my narrative is an autobiographical account. Specifically it is an act of the imagination” (Momday).

As I began to read on in the autobiography I was able to repeatedly see this style of writing.

I Notice:

The first time I noticed his imagination came when he wrote

“Some of my mother’s memories have become my own. This is the real burden of the blood; this is immortality. I remember my mother was very young, four or five years old” (Momaday 22).

What sticks out to me in this particular moment is his use of words. In the being he states that some of his mother’s memories have became my own. From this statement it can be inferred that a story has been told to him (most likely from his mother) many times, fusing it into his memory, making it immortal. The thing I find interesting his how he says “I remember” almost as if this memory happened right in front of, when we know this cannot be true, due to his mother being four years old at the time. But instead of saying my mother told me or I remember this story my mother told me he says “ I remember”. After reading this statement it immediately drew me back to the words from the being, “imagination”.

In most cases the word imagination is not used in the genre of autobiographies; words like fact and truth are typically used. I find this interesting because when you think back on your life it is almost impossible to remember everything you have done. Things are forgotten or you beginning to say you did things when in reality you never did. You are not lying it is just a flaw in the human memory.

To me it seems like Momaday recognizes this flaw and uses it in his own autobiography. Reporting things as if they are facts, like in the example with his four year old mother. Later  on in the novel Momaday sums up this style of writing beautifully saying

“They are not stories in that sense, but they are story like, mythic, never evolved but evolving ever. There are such things in the world: it is in their nature to be believed; it is not necessarily in them to be understood….If I were to remember other things, I should be someone else” (Momday 63).

Although this book seems strange in what is being told to use, this is how made Momaday who he is. It does not matter if it is made up in some way; the only thing that matters is how he remembers them.

I Wonder:

Was Momaday, in some way, trying to prove a point with this type of writing? What inspired him to stray away from the normal, factual way of writing? Why did he include photography? (Photography is so concrete it is no form of imagination, but it seems that his writing is forced a great deal on how the mind stores memory) Are the notes at the bottom of the photos (The one of his mother, saying she looked Asian or Russian) trying to bring out his imaginative thoughts?

Life As They Knew It April 1, 2011

I Hear: In her novel, Beyond Katrina, Trethewey tries to document the events that took place before and after hurricane Katrina. Within her documentation of the events, her family and others are mentioned, all there to help portray what life used to be and life as they knew it now. Reading through these events, the word “cleansing” continued to pop into my mind, remembering the waiter at the restaurant, ever time Trethewey mentioned the empty lots, the eviction signs, and even her own brother’s incarceration.

I Notice: Although it is a very short segment in the novel and is not mentioned again, the episode with the waiter is heavily weighted through Beyond Katrina. The scene begins with the young waiter expressing his opinion about the hurricane, saying,

“What’s different now is that the new generation respects the hurricanes, unlike the folks before. It needed to happen, to teach us something, a cleaning, that’s what it was” (page 27).

Trethewey replays to his way of thinking by writing,

“ I feel uncomfortable thinking about what he might have meant, particularly after hearing some people opine about New Orleans and who are turned out: the poorer, working class-overwhelmingly African American- all lumped together with supposed criminals that the city would rather not see return” (page 27).

As I continued to read, I found out that her brother owned many houses   and it was looking like he would be successful in this business, just like his uncle. After Katrina we see a lot of focus on the houses that used to be there and how many people could not afford to rebuild or even to demolish their own house. It was almost like it was made impossible to for anyone to rebuild from the tragedy that wasn’t part of the higher class of society. Including, Joe, Trethewey’s bother. So instead of the reconstruction that was supposed to be happening, houses were being torn down and boards were getting put up on the windows.

Another moment that sticks out is when Joe is sent to jail for trafficking cocaine. To me Joe was focused to resort to that type of life style due to the lake of opportunity that was available to him at the time. For instance, in this portion of his life he thought he was going to begin to start his life, by renting his houses and starting a successful career. Instead, Katrina resulting in him losing everything he ever had and no job or money to rebuild. An easy 4,000 dollars seemed like the only way out at the time.

Going back to the original quote from the waiter one begins to think more about what is said on this half a page of text. Although it is a very brief part of the novel I feel that the way Trethewey responds plays a huge part in the way the novel was structured and put together. She never quite says this, but to me it seems like her brother and other stories were told to help people see how everyone was forgotten and no one was cared about. The city wanted to get rid of what they saw was a bearded, not allowing them to move into their houses or making it impossible to rebuild. While in jail Joe found more people in jail that were there do to Katrina. It is almost like they were trying to make these people leave or locking them up so that they were not able to come back. It was all part of the cleansing process.

Craft wise, I feel that this was very cleaver. Trethewey was able to show people how badly the people of the Gulf were treated without even saying it. For example, she never outright says that the actions that were taken against these people were only put there to harm the locate people. Instead she used what the waiter said to get her point across and by just stating the facts.

I Wonder: I would still like to focus on the idea of cleansing some more. Do you think Joe’s time at prison and his reflection on himself was a back fire to the cleansing process? Did the author intentionally not mention the cleansing processes again?