Casper Mulholland:
Saner's “Technically Sweet” was a very entertaining read for me. I love the way Saner uses repetition and rhythmic language to illustrate what he’s seeing. The beauty of the language serves to mirror the beauty of the landscape, which is very effective at drawing the reader into the essay. Read this passage to yourself, then read it aloud, trying to feel the ebb and flow of the language:
“In the luminous dusk of their canyon I sit doing nothing: savoring the strange pleasures of tired legs, watching the light go, watching white-bellied swallows catch damselflies, watching sunset fade from the spiderlike limbs of cholla cactus. An evening hush makes the light quiet, makes me want to give up the day as slowly as possible.”
Can you hear how easily Saner slips into an almost-entrancing rhythm? “watching, watching, watching...makes, makes.” In this passage, it shows how he's trying to hold onto the moment, as if by repeating the words in him mind he can inscribe it into him memory forever. She does inscribe it into memory, but not just him own; rathim, he gives the experience to him readers, using him language and structure to imprint it into our minds. It is a very powerful thing, to be able to communicate so clearly and vividly that it makes the reader sit up and take notice.
Another very impressive thing about the piece is how well Saner creates tension. She juxtaposes Robert Oppenheimer's life in the essay's past with the beauty of the New Mexican desert he is exploring in the essay's present. The very beginning of the piece starts us off by talking about how Oppenheimer was bullied as a child, and how he swore revenge. It doesn't do anything melodramatic; it doesn't imply that Oppenheimer created the bomb for the feeling of power, or to get back at his childhood tormentors by saving the day. In fact, it doesn't even tell us that this child is Robert Oppenheimer until a section or two later. What it does is get us instantly inside Oppenheimer's life. Who wouldn't sympathize with a child who, having issued very little observable provocation, found himself the subject of bullying and humiliation from his peers? It also, however, portrays Oppenheimer as a little strange and not quite fully identifiable to the reader.
The rest of the essay moves back and forth between the beautiful landscape of the “Land of Enchantment,” as Saner puts it, and facts from Oppenheimer's life and the lives of Americans during the last phase of World War Two. This serves to build tension because the two strands are so contrasted, yet ultimately intertwined, both being about people; about civilizations and cultures, how they interacted with nature, and how many members of them are now gone from what was once their home. Using this tension, Saner goes back and forth and develops the conflict, using it to express his viewpoint on nuclear weapons—and Robert Oppenheimer's decision to create them—without directly stating it.
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Azia Walker:
The second half of Reg Saners essay Technically Sweet was very interesting. It brought up issues and places that I am not familiar with and I was intrigued. For me, the language Saner used was very difficult to follow. I read this essay several times and even out loud in hope of trying to better comprehend what was going on. By doing so, I was able to find a better incite of the essay but things were still muddle. However, I was able to draw a conclusion and find out what I felt Saner was trying to get across to the reader.
Right from the start (page 12) Saner made it clear that he was going to be sharing with the reader his perception and memories of being in the military, and information and his feelings about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. "On a morning bright with sea haze and vapor still rising from dark ripples near shore, my troop ship eases toward its berth past cargo vessels riding at anchor off Yokohama." Saner immediately introduces us to a greatly detailed setting answering both the where and what question. I obviously cannot relate to this experience but this scene was easy for me to envision. I really appreciated as a reader the vivid detail throughout the essay.
Technically Sweet is loaded with names (people and places) that also made it confusing for me to follow. I think the many subjects is what got to me the most. I didn’t understand how certain memories tied into each other but then that might not have been his point. Saner uses many themes that showed how credible and experienced of a writer he is. I learned from him the true meaning of how much detail can enhance my writing and make the reader feel comfortable, willing, and connected. Also the importance of observing the world around me and concentration it takes to be good. Since writing is what I want to do and I wish to improve a great deal this is what has to be done. My thoughts before writing future papers will definitely be a much longer process than it has been in the past. I want to become better and more thorough and less worrisome about something I enjoy doing.
Overall, I think Reg Saner was trying to get the reader to appreciate the power of life and the people who have died trying to help our country. In Technically Sweet he states, "we ought to welcome that curse as a left-handed blessing. It will signal that an intelligent posterity exists." I think by this quote he called life first, a curse because we can't control how up and down day to day life is, and then a left handed blessing because we each were the cell that made it for a reason. It gave me even more a sense of purpose. Saner was very affective in tying in future generations with his experiences throughout his essay and it was enjoyable.
After having discussed this piece in class I am curious as to whether or not Azia's assertion that there are patriotic overtones is a key point in Saner's piece or not. I think his message may have been more universal than that, though I'm not necessarily saying Azia's analysis is incorrect.
ReplyDeleteI do think he is trying to teach us a poignant lesson about environmentalism and that things can have unforeseen consequences.
Casper- I also picked up on the rhythm throughout the piece that is built on repetition, but I found it kind of unsettling in my read through. The use of language seemed almost hypnotic in its repetition. This was one of my favorite pieces to read from the whole semester due to the odd tone presented throughout.
ReplyDeleteCharles--I agree that the piece is a little odd. It seems like kind of a rare braided essay because the braids are so intrinsically isolated from one another. The only connections are the ones the author makes, which take a number of pages to develop. That's what I found intriguing and a little unsettling about it: the strong language allows the braids to stand on their own, but I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop (so to speak).
DeleteCasper:
ReplyDeleteI have to be honest, when I read this piece on my own at home, I did it pretty quickly (it was early, just before running to class). On my quick read through, I didn't spend a lot of time paying attention to language or its function in this piece, though I wish I had. I appreciated your post, though, because you pointed out something I would otherwise have not appreciated. I liked the passage you quoted in your analysis. From that alone I could see what you were saying. I agree, on second read through, that the language does sound very hypnotic. On the whole, I think it's a really interesting use of language and I think it lends itself well to the piece.
I would have to agree with both Casper and Charles that I too caught on the rhythmic tones of the piece. But unlike Charles I found it to actually add to the piece itself. Also that I felt this helped to add the story in some way by getting the reader to focus more on certain pieces rather than others.
ReplyDeleteSince this piece was an example of the braided essay, I think its really interesting that you picked up on how Saner doesn't tell us anything outright about Oppenheimer's life. In essence, he never gets to the straightforward biographical synthesis/bias, the "moral of the story" if you will. He does, however, arrive at something similar to it at the end of his personal journey through the desert, as he observes the shards and reflects on the human relationship with the environment. I found this interesting. He has the authority to draw conclusions from his own experiences and reflections, but not from the more separate story of Oppenheimer. That's where the braided essay comes in - by placing the less personal story next to something that he can interpret clearly, it allows the reader to infer what he was implying and his point. I think this is an interesting way to approach facts without seeming assumptive and preachy.
ReplyDelete