Rosa Wolf on Barbara Kingsolver’s “High Tide in Tucson”

    Successful, engaging nature writing such as “High Tide in Tucson” must find a very precarious balance between observation of the natural and observation of the unnatural.  It must also avoid sounding condescending or preachy.  Kingsolver does this by pointing out the human race’s missteps without unnecessary judgement.  The reader, as a result, is interested rather than insulted.  We are not made to feel like parasites or criminals, but like misguided members of a large ecological family.

     The hermit crab is used as the foremost metaphor in the essay, portraying a natural being who has had an unnatural situation thrust upon it.  We see the hermit crab vacillating between times of  disturbingly languid behavior and times of extreme busyness.  Humorously linking the hermit crab’s mysterious behavior to the often mysterious behavior of humans, Kingsolver says that “Buster was manic-depressive” (267).   This kind of personification is sometimes frowned upon by animal behaviorists and defined as anthropomorphism.  However, the great thing about creative non-fiction is that Kingsolver’s job is not to accurately and scientifically represent animal behavior.  Her job is to present the information in a way that will strike a chord in her readers, that will flow out like poetry.  Though she presents scientific facts and anecdotes, she is free to wrap them in a gauzy layer of metaphor and figurative language.  She is free to anthropomorphize a hermit crab to her heart’s delight.  She is allowed to use science as a jumping-off point for her beautiful prose.

     One of my favorite quotes in the essay is this: “We carry around these big brains of ours like the crown jewels, but mostly I find that millions of years of evolution have prepared me for one thing only: to follow internal rhythms” (269).  Not only is this beautiful and truthful, but I think that it holds the key to the heart of the entire essay.  By observing and analyzing both the environment and the creatures in it, Kingsolver comes to the conclusion that the human race would benefit from getting in touch with their natural instincts.  This is suggested as a remedy both for struggling individuals and the entire human race.     

     Another element that makes the essay successful is the introduction of fascinating but little-known facts.  The information about the moon and tides was both new to me and extremely relevant to her main idea about the need for humans to reconnect with their instincts and natural desires.  Though not everyone is going to find the same things interesting, the same can be said of any statement or subject matter. 

     I may be biased because I have read and enjoyed nearly all of Barbara Kingsolver’s books and short stories, but I never fail to be enchanted by her writing. She is a beautiful writer with a deep talent for connecting the natural world with the unnatural world, consequently creating a simultaneously philosophical and poetic essay with “High Tide in Tucson”. 

Joshua Morrison on Barry Lopez's "Flight"

Starting out, I found myself a bit beleaguered wading through the mountain of technical jargon that permeates the piece. At first I believed the specifics were to merely lend some credibility to the narrator but as the story continued and the terminology pushed on perpetually, I came to believe that the language serves a more interactive purpose. Reading the technical material made me tired (I actually fell asleep for a while) and I believe the author wanted the audience to be weighed down with it. For a time I tried to keep up with it, attempting to learn everything I could about the aircraft and how everything functioned on and in it but very quickly I was overwhelmed, as was the narrator in traveling so much.

One thing that immediately struck me was the disconnect from nature and man’s need to not only conquer nature but to use it unnaturally to feed the desires of man. How ridiculous a thing is it to have “a fresh strawberry on a winter morning in Toronto” (309). The business like, calculating and financial language throughout the piece further distances the reader from the natural world while a sense of longing is continually expressed as the narrator looks down on the beauty of the world from above in this aircraft that could be seen as a symbol for man’s ridiculous and unnatural state; “the Boeing 747 is the one airplane every national airline strives to include in its fleet as confirmation of its place in modem commerce, and it’s tempting to see it as the ultimate embodiment of what our age stands for” (310).

The initial “PENGUINS AND LIPSTICK, STRAWBERRIES AND GOLD” (308) grabbed me and I sat for a while trying to find an immediate connection between them all. It wasn’t until I got to the very end, to the last sentence that I felt I understood, “I think the of the penguins two decks below, standing up on their toes and slamming flippers that once were wings against the walls of their pens” (333). The author states that the freighting industry is driven by three things, one of which is “…frequent changes in fashion and in the design of basic products.” Throughout the piece, exhaustive lists of cargo are ceaselessly shoveled to the reader, most of which being either basic consumer goods or money. I feel the sentence starting the story is a simply summery of the disconnection between man and nature as viewed by the narrator and attempts to illustrate how humanity has not only separated itself from the natural but also has taken advantage of the natural, placing everything (including those employed in the freighting industry) in a state of limbo, without time, and breaking everything and everyone down to a bare practical, numerical equation. I believe the “Gold” represents greed and a need to have more, probably the ultimate driving force behind the whole predicament. The “strawberries” illustrating man’s need to feed their own desire, no matter how ridiculous those desires may be. The “Lipstick” as a symbol of commercial and cultural influence, a show of the western world pushing needless objects on the world as a whole, destroying foreign cultures by homogenizing everything. Finally the “Penguins”, like humans they cannot fly and have been taken out of their natural habitat for nothing more than the desire of humans.

Paying close attention to things I have read this semester as well as “Flight” I have slowly begun to recognize patterns, or rather techniques, in writing. Not just in nonfiction but for writing in general which help illustrate points through context. These techniques may not be constrained to nonfiction but I feel that they are easily visible in it. I enjoy the way Mr. Lopez used his knowledge of planes and the freighting industry to wear down the audience so that they experience some of what he went through. Although tiring my reader may not be something I wish to do, it is a technique that I feel can be very effective. I also feel that taking these normal items (penguins, lipstick, gold and strawberries) and enlarging their environment and exposing the influence they have globally to demonstrate a greater human fault is another great technique I can utilize in my own writing.

Makenzie Thiel on William Harrison's "Present Tense Africa"

            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. 

Stella Ruvalcaba on Phillip Lopate's "Portrait of My Body"

Reading Phillip Lopates “Portrait of My Body” made me realize how at times we become too harsh with ourselves in terms of appearance. Lopates begins his interpretation of his body and begins with his posture, which I thought was very odd. I had to reread the line various times, “I am a man who tilts,” it’s simplicity caught my attention immediately. He’s very critical of himself almost over analytical. But I respect his honesty and the fact that he decided to share so much about himself. I feel that in order to begin writing about our own sensitive information or quirk we must be willing to reach out to an audience with our imperfections and create a connection. This piece made me realize that in order to be a writer we must be dedicated to art and expose ourselves, imperfections, desires and oddities. You’re no longer writing for yourself create a web of connections with others.

             I didn’t expect the piece to swerve into a more personal direction but I did expect a twist of some sort. I just didn’t think it would involve his penis. I didn’t know 2 pee holes were even possible. I also appreciate writers that set themselves apart by creating unique pieces, like Lopate with “Portrait of My Body”. I had never read a piece that involved an issue so personal and sensitive as the one mentioned in Lopate’s. I appreciate the fact that he’s so honest with the reader, picking out physical aspects of himself that make him uncomfortable. For example, when he mentions his sister telling him he’s gotten “flabby”. Talk about brutally honest. This even made me feel uncomfortable.

            Just as he writes of his imperfections, Lopate also mentions his appreciation for exquisite backs and other characteristics of himself. He compares this with his own back affected by his time spent writing. I noticed there’s an implication that he’s going through a mid-life crisis. He doesn’t feel his age but younger. His mind not catching up with his body. At the same time he seems to describe it, comparing himself then and now. But ends with a final note on his appreciation for his fingers and noting a peculiarity with his right middle finger, broken after a ball game. Throughout the piece he’s sarcastic and too critical of himself and ending with this made me realize the piece has a tone of admiration and underlying pride for himself as a writer.  

            So far, and including this piece, creative non-fiction has showed me that it’s ever expanding in topics and peculiarity. Coming from a poetry concentration, non-fiction has helped me use more description that poetry seems to condense or omit. It’s refreshing to read a detailed piece that guides the reader through peculiarities that makes us all feel unique in a positive way, not shameful or alone. After reading Lopate’s piece I’m realizing there’s no limit to what you can write about. Whatever it is, can be expressed truthfully as “Portrait of My Body” has.

Ella Wilcox on Lucy Grealy's "Mirrorings"

While reading this personal essay, I was initially captivated by the fact that this woman avoided her own reflection for an entire year. You do not know why this is. It is intriguing and now you are committed.

The part where she describes her chemotherapy is the part that I felt she made the best connection to the reader, because everyone is affected by cancer. Personally you may not be affected by cancer but chances are, you know someone with cancer. The detail that she put into describing her symptoms was incredible. It made me experience what she was experiencing.

I found it inspiring that in order to cope with being bullied and being an outcast at school, she found her savior in being around horses. I know from personal experience that being around horses makes you feel graceful and you can even find beauty in yourself. They are kind creatures and as cheesy as it sounds, they accept you for who you are. They don’t care what you look like they only care about how you make them feel. If you are kind to them they will return the same kindness. This is not always the same case with humans.

I really enjoyed the parts of the essay where she talked about how she felt lucky to know the real truth about life, while everyone else walked around thinking that they have things so bad. Through this, it was clear that she started to count her own blessings instead of those of other people. Although, throughout the entire essay she explains that she wasn’t always this way. She was constantly teased and bullied in school and even later on in her work place. It was a bit heartbreaking to know that this woman had to go through all these experiences and that she couldn’t even say she was depressed because all she felt was ugly. That was the only sensation she knew.

A quote from the essay that I thought really summed up her feelings was;

“On one level I understood that the image of my face was merely that, an image, a surface that was not directly related to any true, deep definition of the self. But I also knew that it is only through appearance that we experience and make decisions about the everyday world, and I was not always able to gather the strength to prefer the deeper world to the shallow one.”

This quote really expresses that even though she found a deeper meaning to life and that she was lucky to have discovered it, it was sometimes really exhausting to keep that up. She would get tired of keeping it up and just want to “fit in” for a change.

Towards the end of the essay, there was a sense that she was starting to become more comfortable being who she was. She even had a sense of humor about all the surgeries that she had to endure. “The one good thing about a tissue expander is that you look so bad with it in that no matter what you looked like once it was finally removed, your face has to look better.”

I believe that this essay did impact the way I look at creative nonfiction writing a and just writing in general. I particularly liked the way she described things that others may experience what she experienced. I hope to be able to achieve that one-day.

Shelby Marra on Brenda Miller's "The Date"

       The day we signed up for these blog posts, I chose this essay based on the title. Hearing about someone’s personal dating life and dating experiences is always entertaining and taps into our own social interactions. When I first started reading Brenda Miller’s “The Date”, I made a predetermined guess that the essay would actually describe the date between the author and a man. But after reading, it has deeper meaning and background. I feel that the author shows through this writing that she has a void in her life and is trying to fit into the same mold as her siblings. She has had troubles maintaining relationships, is unsure with herself and has not exactly lived up to the standards of getting married and having children like her brothers.

            In this essay, Miller thoroughly describes her process of getting ready for a dinner date with a man she likes. She speaks about rearranging the pictures on her refrigerator so that she comes off a certain way to the man. I felt a sense of connection to this part because I feel like we all convey ourselves in ways that we feel are suitable. We carefully arrange the way we speak, dress, act, think and interact with others to display who we are or who we want people to think we are. Miller writes of the photos, “…I know this collage exist only for others, a constructed persona for the few people who make it this far…” Consciously or subconsciously, we “construct” our lives the way we want to be seen. I find this interesting because it relates to what I studied last semester in my previous English class, about the difference between sex and gender. Sex is described by biology, male or female but gender is an achieved status, something we build through social and cultural means. I may be getting a little off track, but I enjoyed the build up of preparing herself for this date because I could use the reading to make a deeper connection to something I already know and have knowledge about. This section and many others of the essay show Miller performing her gender.

            While reading, I also liked her detailed description of each little story within the essay. She made it easy to see and imagine what was going on, as every good writer should. Her style of sensory detail has inspired me to be more attentive to detail as I am starting to write my manuscript. One description that I liked was, “…I realize that I’ve never really dated before. I’ve always been transparent: approach me and you see inside. Touch me and I will open, like a door made of rice paper, light and careless.” Personally, I always find it easiest to describe anything using metaphors. I also liked the overall mood of the essay; it was very melancholy, calm and collected even though getting ready for a date can be hectic and a bit unsettling.

I feel like this topic is relatable to a variety of people. I think it is safe to say that we have all experienced the nervousness of preparing for a date with a man or woman we like, hoping that the feeling is reciprocated and hoping that our “constructed persona” worked in our benefit. I think the essay did a good job of letting us see her inner thoughts and emotions and experiencing them with her as she tells her story. I would have liked to see what happened next but I feel like cutting it short was a technique she used to entice the reader and keep us guessing. Extending the essay and recounting the actual date would have made it less mysterious and suspenseful.

Victoria Farrar on David Sedaris’s “Repeat After Me”

            When I saw David Sedaris’s name on the roster, I jumped on the opportunity to analyze one of the icons of humorous non-fiction.  As a writer, Sedaris is famously funny, and “Repeat After Me” stands as a clear example of his talent.    However, this essay sits apart in that it not only cleverly shapes the details so as to be entertaining, but also reveals deeper insight on the tension of portraying one’s life, an issue currently relevant to this class.   

            A few blog posts ago, Pilar delved into the issue of how to portray the real people of our lives as quasi-characters in writing in Mary Doty’s “Return to Sender”.  How honest should we be, or conversely, how much should we elaborate, zooming in on details we want to exaggerate until the person on the page is no longer recognizable? All writers sit on this teetering balance, and Sedaris gives his take on this subject through the objects (the same subject-object connection brought up in class) of the upcoming movie and the parrot, Henry.  As we discussed, he transplants the associations of those themes in his life with the greater, general meaning that the reader access.

            In the essay, an upcoming movie being made about Sedaris’ recent book provides an underlying tension between him and his family, a tension that also defines that line an author straddles between blunt fact and flattering fiction. Like all film adaptations, the movie represents a sudden awareness of an audience that most of us feel at some point in the writing process.  Sedaris and his sister wonder, “Who will play me? How will they represent my life, how will I come out as the hero?”  We can choose to glamorize and show only the “best of” highlights of a true life experience in our work, just like a movie.  But dramatization (either negative or positive) is dishonest. It no longer shows reality, it’s no longer nonfiction. Biopics are “based on true stories”, but they don’t take true stories and speak through them. That is the job of non-fiction. Sedaris notes this when he considers, “[…T]he director might get me and my family wrong, but [… W]hat if he gets us right?” The honest truth is more emotional and difficult to depict, but in the end, its reality will resonate more.  

            Henry the parrot, on the other hand, offers the less-serious, but still reflective, side to portraying our lives. Nobody takes what Henry says particularly seriously on its own. As a writer, Sedaris implies that he too is granted innocence (so to speak) for what he says about his family. The writer, like Henry, only mimics what they hear and see, reforming it into their own personal combination of “You can do it!” and “Where are the keys?”, which shows what they find important as much as it accurately reflects the situation. Yet, Sedaris ends the essay stating that he “has something important to say”, but “[f]rom his own mouth the words are meaningless”. So he repeats his plea for forgiveness to the parrot, trying to say something deeper and heartfelt through the repeated words of a mimicker.  In this metaphor, the humble writer of non-fiction does not claim the glamorized, poignant director’s chair.  Only through the mouth of the unassuming, observing parrot can he touch upon something meaningful -- the truth.