William Harrison’s “Present Tense Africa” is a personal
account of Harrison’s time spent in Africa.
He uses vivid imagery to make the readers feel just like they are in the
story and know what is happening,
just as Harrison in the essay. Harrison
then goes into describing different situations that he faced while in Africa,
and the way he writes is so wonderful that it makes you feel like you are there
as well.
Harrison also used some really strong wording; strong in
terms that the wording evokes such feeling and thought and other meanings that
not every author is able to provoke through their writing. One example is from the beginning of the
story when Harrison writes, “We’ve talked about what to do if the van breaks
down out here, how we’ll stay close to the vehicle because, as we know, we’re
the slowest beasts on the landscape.” I
found this sentence alone to be so strong because although it is a simple
realization, Harrison also uses the word “beasts” very carefully. He was able to truly show that he is in
Africa, because in other parts of the world, such as the United States, we do
not think of staying close so that we are not attacked beasts. As for the word beasts, I think that also
says something about the human race and how we can be as vicious and malicious as
the wild animals that roam around Africa.
Another part of the essay where Harrison used strong and
thought provoking wording was when he wrote,
“Africa is in the present tense. Like most Americans, I live in the future or
past, planning ahead most of the time, thinking what job I ought to do next,
considering the calendar, or thinking and sometimes writing about where I’ve
gone, what I’ve seen, and who I am because of all that. But here one is in the moment. A peculiar African Zen: time becomes itself,
not a thing pulling us forward or a psychological thing pushing us back. Journeys, often because they’re so difficult,
tend to make destinations of little consequences, even foolish.”
This paragraph is nothing more than the truth, showing us
that the time Harrison spent in Africa had opened his mind and slowed it at the
same time. He is right, we take the
moment that we are currently living for granted. The differences in culture and lifestyle are
obvious in this story, even showing that we might need to make a change and
live a more Zen life. This strong
wording show me that it possible for an author to make a strong point without
having to use big words, and that simple is sometimes better- such as this
case.
Overall, I really enjoyed this piece by Harrison because
it was both strong and wonderfully written.
Other than that, I also learned how to add in description without being
overbearing, because I have always had a problem in doing so, and Harrison made
it sound so beautiful together.
I like that this post discusses the idea of making a text "present," and how this might both help and hurt the reader/essay. What I mean is: when do we know that we've fully "evoked" a place (via details, imagery, etc) and when do we know we need more? Do we need to describe every lightsocket and piece of lint to make a room "present"? Every expression/characteristic to make a person present? When and how do we know to stop or cut or add?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing you mention here is avoiding big words (and the usefulness of doing so). Especially in context of our discussion of persona--which is built consciously by the author through each word, each sentence, and every single choice you make in a piece--it's always good to think about how you'd like to be perceived. Do you want to sound academic, formal? Or do you want to be more conversational, informal? Or somewhere inbetween? There's really no right answer, only the ways in which we hope to be seen/understood by our audience, whomever that might be.
I agree that Harrison does an excellent job of placing the reader in the scene he describes. His language and attention to detail is great. Yet as Mr. K points out, the notion of what to add or cut is an interesting dilemma. It was exciting for me to read his description of Cape Town, Simon's Town, and Muizenburg as I have also visited these places. The details he includes are not the exact details I would describe the place as, but I think this is like most writing, about the perspective the writer brings to the experience. I trust him as an author not only because his writing reads easily but because his descriptions seem so accurate that I can only picture him soaking in the scenes as he's living them - making mental notes and capturing the
ReplyDeletesenses around him.
I especially enjoyed the bit about beauty, asking "is beauty is a curse?" This is one example where he could go on a tangent and add an overwhelming amount of information or history, but i think the way that he ends his thoughts - "one can imagine that it is here" is an eloquent and simple solution to his own questions.
I really enjoyed this story for both its vivid descriptions and inquisitive tone. I liked the idea of present versus future and past tense. This idea gives the author a sense of belonging and forces the reader to analyze their own lives in the developed world. I think that this use of 'present' is very well done, but it could easily become overused if placed in the wrong context.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Makenzie with regards to the use of strong vocabulary to create the the tone and set the scene. After reading this piece, I get the feeling that the author is trying to say something about our fast paced and maybe even egotistical lives. Perhaps we should slow down and live in the present.
I really liked that you chose to include the particular paragraph about "the present tense" in this response. That paragraph caught me too. I liked this author because I think a lot of what he said could be applied to so many different things, although his context was Africa. But I also liked him because I think ideas like this show a lot of deeper, introspective thinking that had to happen first. You could tell that this story, as well as the ideas behind it, are really important to him, which makes the reader feel that these ideas are worth considering (something that happened to me after reading it). I liked his style of writing and his voice. And I agree with what you said earlier; I also got the feeling that every phrase, even every word, had a particular place
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