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In the story “The Mute Sense” it is put into great detail about a certain scent and it is also connecting with nature itself. The scent carries onto the brain, which people are able to determine the specific scent that flows around them. It is kept in their memory. I agree with “Smell is the mute sense” (Starkey 215) since people are left without words to describe the scent. We are left hanging to search for the meaning of it. Every breath we take in we are able to simple acknowledge the memory of the scent. For instance, smelling a flower which has a sweet scent to it that we are able to embrace. This is exactly how I felt when Thanksgiving came around, with the food was placed on the counter, my senses bursted into satisfaction. In “My Papa Waltz” from what I have read the narrator is going through some difficult times in his life and in his surroundings. He feels very uncomfortable when he dances with his drunken father due to the fact that it brings back old memories when he was younger. What I like about this story is that he does not give up on his novels and with time being so persistent. With writing, he is able to let off pressure from his father and with his mother in prison. There is hope in the end because his mother was coming back. His father does not want him to be sad but happy even though his mother might not feel the same. We are only human and we all make mistakes which we all grow from. In “Westbury Court” there is a huge tragedy that happens with the children that were playing with the matches and a fire erupted inside the apartment. From what I am getting from this story, after everything that has happened they question themselves what would it feel like if they were in their shoes. Their mother is letting them know that this is a lesson they need to learn from. With this tragic incident, they decided that it was best to move out of that area and to never look back at the painful memory of the fire at Westbury Court.
ReplyDeleteAndrea Espericueta
“The Mute Sense” speaks about using your sense of smell, taste, and site when telling a story. The sound of an ice-cream truck makes me think of my childhood when we would have barbeques with my family. When writing a story you want your reader to experience their own memories while reading about yours. In a way I think about writing a story as a conversation starter.
ReplyDelete“My Papa’s Waltz” James Brown talks about a drunk father that asks his child to dance with him. This story uses sense of smell when describing the father’s whisky breath. Making the reader believe that the story is realistic is what helps the audience connect with the author. The author relates to the poem by speaking about his relationship with his father and goes in to depth about his mother being in jail. What makes a good poem is when you experience memory recall or use your senses to bring the poem to life. He allows his father to dance with him because he is drinking his mother away. Brown says that it doesn’t matter that the father is lying about his mother’s return, which I interpreted as you still have each other to lean on and live life with.
Westbury Court” Edwidge Danticat shares a story about children surrounded by death and eventually moving out of their apartment. There was an apartment fire right across the hall and they had no clue about it because they were invested in the show General Hospital. I interpret this part of the story as us being invested in other lives that aren’t real. If the kids would have heard the children screaming, they could have saved them from harm. Society needs to be invested in what is occurring around them in order to make a real difference. The kids were traumatized from this tragedy, so they would keep an ear out for their new neighbors. Chaos would still occur around them down the hall neighbors were dying and across the streets people are getting shot. Realistically even if we are aware of our surroundings, not all people will jump in to help. Life happens and we can’t control all of it, but we can call the cops or try our best to help our neighbors.
Bianca Salinas
Three great pieces of literature are placed together to make our very first official readings. I found them all to be fairly enjoyable and unique in their own ways.
ReplyDeleteRoethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” seems a reflection of himself as a “lost son” This poem is a primary example of a time in the lives of a father and son. And what may at first seem like an attempt at something welcoming divulges itself into something much more frightening.
Roethke is clingy in every sense of the word. A prime example comes in the text when it is said that he hold to his father, such as death would hold on to anyone. A rather morbid example if you ask me, but it gives the reader a better understanding of what the author is faced to deal with.
Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat is another stellar piece of creative writing. It has its strengths in bringing the fire that consumes two boys to life. These deaths truly affect the author, and while it may seem that this is handled discreetly, underlying memories and thoughts make the story real relatable.
I love the fact that Danticat distracts the reader by giving vivid descriptions of what the children are watching on television. It takes away from the severity of the fire, and just as the children in the story are so is the reader drawn into a sense of monotony. An easy read overall, Danticat very good with showing just enough visuals.
Now we come to “The Mute Sense” by Diane Ackerman. Metaphorically charged with similes to boot, Ackerman provides us with a very well painted mental image of what it is she’s trying to convey.
The sense of smell is very poignant as various lines of text make the reader long to wonder about the scents of cereus. Perhaps even go so far as to want to travel off into some distant island to see firsthand what Ackerman so vividly described. I can only hope to be this good in portraying my sense of smell in future writings of my own. And the correlation between smell and memory is ever abundant, which I have much respect for.
Lucas Zamora
From the three creative nonfiction read, The Mute Sense appears to be the outlier. I would dare call it an essay rather than a creative nonfiction due to its speedy narration of the narrator’s memories. This was seen in the first paragraph as he goes into great detail to explain different instances of smell (childhood summer, a moonlit beach in Florida, and a family dinner of pot roast). However, after her quick narration of his own memories with smell, the piece becomes abstract. It becomes an essay of the history of smell, from scientific point of view to anthropological with pop culture with references to Sherlock Homes. Smell is the unifying theme, regardless, it does provide a port entry into her memories and self as it was expected creative nonfiction should (Starkey 171).
ReplyDeleteBrown is bold in My Papa’s Waltz by attempting a pseudo break in the fourth wall. The opening, of Brown hesitating to dance “Crazy” with his drunken father, automatically drawls you in with his choice of imagery such as “his sloppy smile,” and “his collar of sawdust and sweat (Starkey 215).” As a reader, I was expecting Brown to use the dance, alcohol, or another key element in the memory to leap to the next stage of his creative nonfiction, or engage in the maypole analogy (Starkey 186). Instead he breaks the routine and explicitly tells you the memory is one he has already written about and while the piece runs the danger of becoming a narration of abstraction, such as in The Mute Sense, it becomes a exhilarating contestation between truth and literary freedom. As Brown states “I’ve come to think that the truth as it occurs isn’t much use to me other than, say, as a catalyst for a story (Starkey 215).” The story becomes a playful game between the truth and a leap from the truth to what Brown images as when he plans to break his mother from prison. The literary tease culminated perfectly when Brown leaves the reader to ponder whether his mom was released. Brown achieved to take the creative nonfiction to fiction levels.
Westbury Court, by Edwidge Danticat, epitomizes the conventional form of a creative nonfiction. It begins with a speedy narration of Westbury Court and follows the narrator as he grasps to cope the fire and the two children who died. It is linear, without many jump cuts exploring the multiple aspects of the author’s personality. The conclusion is straightforward as well when it is summarized by the mother who in regards to the mother and her dead two children says “sometimes it is too late to say, ‘I shouldn’t have (Starkey 220).”
Alejandro Sanchez
I enjoyed reading these three particular authors short stories. They used different type of strategies that can make a reader feel connected. I learned that there are a lot of ways to catch the reader onto a hook and as long as you continue on with doing so it’ll end up being a great read. “The Mute Sense” by Diane Ackerman, I was able to identify that at the beginning of her short reading she uses the strategy of experience to catch the reader. The experience of living with being able to smell things, how there are different situations and scenarios for everyone in this life we all have. I feel like she expresses different kinds of example of her life to portray her message about being able to smell. Without that singular ability there would be a completely different perception of life. I think that was a simple way she was able to connect with the reader. For “Papa’s Waltz” I think James Brown did a great job in demonstrating a type of story that would eventually crash down due to not having accurate facts imputed into it. “In my own life, when I try to remember exactly what happens the night that my fathers asks me to dance, I get confused.” This example can be that, even though he might remember, and decides to add it into the story it would not be the same. He believes in actually using true facts because that is the key to having a successful story to tell. Lastly, Edwidge Danticat revealed such a very emotional and sympathetic story in “Westbury Court.” I enjoyed this short reading the most because of each detail that was implicated. I loved how the author did not leave certain details out, but as soon as it was mentioned “Leaving Westbury Court until the year of fire” there was some type of hook that made me want to continue reading. When a reader reads material such like this sentence, they can understand that a fire and leaving a location are not positive things. That is what made me continue, not only did he add so much imagery and detail he was able to reveal the sorrow he felt growing up where he did. I believe that the more you are honest when writing, the more interesting it will be.
ReplyDelete-Aliza Longoria
It is without a doubt a mighty joy I feel after reading these three, very interesting short stories. I found myself thinking back to the previous reading assignment and finding that telling the truth is important and it doesn’t have to be boring. You can bring it to life in whatever way you please. Of the three, my favorite is “My Papa’s Waltz.” I found this poem to be very melancholy but yet very serene and thought provoking. The amount of ideas it gives the reader to explore are incredible. As I first read it, I assumed that it was a proud father, sluggishly dancing with his small son. Right after, the second time of reading it, I found it a tad more mysterious. The negative connotation, left me thinking this was no happy recollection but rather a drunk, rough man with zero clue as to what he’s doing to his son. Also I felt astounded that there was no complains on behalf of the narrator and yet his words were deep and dark like a lit match in cave. I loved it. Another very interesting short story that didn’t fall short of incredible was “The Mute Sense.” I found that it spoke to me in two ways. It provided, well for me, two perspectives via figurative and literal senses. For Ackerman scent/smell is the mute sense and she so perfectly connects a smell with a moment and doesn’t leave the reader with empty spaces. Never would I have thought about writing about something like that. In a figurative manner, I feel like she’s saying, write about the most ignored things, the things we forget, find a crazy way to tell your story and make it special. The literal sense is just that, literally explain what it you’re trying to say; no strange words, just sweet and straightforward. Lastly, we come to “Westbury Court.” Honestly it is so real, as she describes and narrates the story of this fire that consumes innocence and fragility just as quickly as fires do. I am fascinated by her writing and the details she provides. There is a fire, there are children, there’s a famous TV show, and then there is death, and you’re left with a story.
ReplyDeleteI can only hope my writing is as genius as these short stories.
- Mayra Lopez
In “The Mute Sense” Ackerman brings to our attention the uniqueness of the sense of smell. It has the ability to bring one back to old times and refresh memories that were thought long dead. It is much like music in that one can be transported to a specific place and time and remember everything from the worries one was struggling with at the time, to how bad or nice the weather was. “My Papa’s Waltz” provides a description of the father that is neither dry nor overly wordy. It describes his physical presence, the roughness of his hands and the smell of his breath, and also gives a brief glimpse into his personality—the type of drunk he is and his willingness to help people, often to his disadvantage. It is interesting how Brown’s life lent to his imagination (his plot to break his mother out of prison) and how this later led to his writing. Would a good writer still be good if he had nothing to draw from? No experiences that led to him feeling the need to put something on paper? Or something to help accept difficult circumstances such as Brown seems to have done when he writes, “Maybe it isn’t 1962 in that cramped apartment on the poor side of San Jose. Maybe it’s 1963. Maybe I’m closer to eight than seven, and why my mother is sent to prison doesn’t really matter because she is never coming back, not the same woman anyway, and what I did know of her—before—is little more than imagined,” (Starsky 217). “Westbury Court” seems different in that it seems more matter-of-fact than the “The Mute Sense” and “My Papa’s Waltz” yet is still engaging despite any long descriptions of people or scenery. It manages to communicate just what it has to without cutting corners or being weighed down with flowery prose. It is captivating without annoying the reader or dumbing down the content. Out of the three, it appears to be the most skillfully written as being descriptive without being descriptive is anything but easy and Danticat makes it seem effortless.
ReplyDeleteJessica Rodriguez
A deep earthy trail of the great outdoors, a whiff of fine cooking spices, or simply an aroma from a perfume to a new car. All of these odors trace back to your senses to remember something that isn’t physical. Such a strong, powerful sense without being seen or saying a word can cause great creative imagery. Invisible and mute as the scents you breathe in they require such descriptive and powerful words that you can actually start to remember what it was like during that moment breathing in such great moving smells. You can create great poems or incorporate them in stories to really call attention to the surroundings of a setting. This is what life is, as mesmerizing as a movie or soap opera maybe it’s created from inspiration in life. You can find creativity in any type of environment, from the simplicity of a bird landing on a tree branch to even the action that goes around in others people’s lives. ‘’There is a furnace in our cells, and when we breathe we pass the world through our bodies, brew it lightly, and turn it loose again, gently altered for having known us. (The Mute Sense 215)’’ The life we breath in does go through our bodies as we experience something that will leave a mute imprint inside until our sense starts creating that experience once again. Although the scent might get altered when taken in, there is a greater impact in us that changes us for that one moment and that we will take with us from then on. You don’t always get creative from just your own life but the experiences that you see in other people that make an impact to your life and into your writing. In My Papa Waltz you can see that the memory of the father is created from a simple breath of whiskey that creates an entire character to the story and a story develops completely out of that character. If you keep your senses mute from the world you are missing out on life. There are a lot of creative moments happening all around you at any point in time. In Westbury Court the older boys’ senses are turned off because of being too entertained with fiction happening on the television. When right outside that door there is a world that may seem fiction at times because of all the tragedy that happens but with tragedy there is joy. Can’t have one without the other at some point there will be both experiences. With this reality you can better influence your life and influence others about the experiences you’ve been through or the experiences that mold you into the type of writer you are.
ReplyDelete-Victor Vasquez
The Mute Sense
ReplyDeleteThis piece of writing is one of my favorites that I have read because it is so accurate and relatable and describes something that is so hard to describe in a way that conjures up memories of our own. For example, as I was reading this I remembered a time when I bought a body spray that I wore years ago and as soon as I sprayed it, I was taken back to junior high and all of the memories that came with that time in my life. Specific things that I would have thought were forgotten just came flooding back in vivid clarity and it was one of the strangest sensations that I had ever had. We tend not to think so much about how things smell. We focus on sight, sound and touch. But a scent is such a powerful thing that should not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
My Papa’s Waltz
This piece of writing is so powerful and honest about what may really go behind the scenes in a writer’s life and where direct inspiration may come from. Writing is mostly seen as an opportunity to be honest about how you feel and maybe to draw people’s attention to something that you are passionate about and think is important. While this is absolutely true, sometimes writing is most helpful to yourself to imagine this not as they are, but as you wish them to be. Some authors only have the happy endings that they create in their writing. It can be a way to correct a wrong that was done to them, a way of finally coming to peace and letting go of something. Fiction isn’t always something that comes from another life separate from your own. Sometimes fiction is based on something very real. Something that only you know the truth about. Whatever the real story is doesn’t matter, and that is something that is something really special.
Westbury Court
Westbury court is a perfect example of writing that is both tragic, yet almost cathartic. I wonder if the writer felt better after sharing such private memories. I wonder if they were able to let go or if it caused them to think about the terrible things that happened there more often because now it is fresh in their memory. Whatever the case may be, there is something sentimental about this piece. Even though all of these terrible and possibly traumatizing things happened at this place, it was still home to her and I thing that is something beautiful and heartbreaking.
Erin Valdez
I really enjoyed these stories. In “The Mute Sense”, I found what the author said to be so true! Reminiscing on a single smell could bring back a whole memory. I remember when me and my husband were dating he would write me letters and spray them with his cologne. The cologne had such a specific smell that when I get a whiff of that now it reminds me of a part of the letter. By adding details of scents and smells to your story it makes it more relatable to understand where the author is coming from. Like when he says, “…we smell always and with every breath.” This is a fact because we are always using this sense because this is how we live and breathe. We can cover every other sense and not be able to use it but the sense of smell is one that we cannot live without.
ReplyDeleteThe story “My Papa’s Waltz” also used the sense of smell to describe the father. When he described the smells on his collar immediately I had an idea of his occupation. Just with a simple description we gained that much information. The idea that what you write about doesn’t always have to be true but what you remember about it is what counts. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember the exact details or specific dates about the story, but as long as it appears to have come naturally. This strategy would help us out a lot. I know sometimes I try and remember a story but the details that I may or may not have added make the story sound more natural. I think that if that’s the way you remember it then that’s how it happened.
I really enjoyed reading this story because it had me wanting to read line after line. The author was detailed in every way that he described his life before and after the fire. I could relate when he would pick up his brothers from school and rush home to see a show; while doing homework. While reading, I got flashbacks of when I had to do that for my sisters. Every event that was taking place just made me want to get to the end of the story. I think what I concluded was that you don’t notice everything that goes on around you until it knocks on your door. And when that happens you open your eyes to the reality of this world.
-Cassandra Martinez
I’m surprised by the selection: one essay and two memoirs. They were all certainly good, enjoyable reads but one wonders why they were placed together. A quick look at the authors’ last names indicates they were placed there in alphabetical order. So much for some kind of grand, meta-theme lurking behind their placement.
ReplyDeleteDiane Ackerman’s short “The Mute Sense” was a well-researched exposition of the sense of smell and how it relates to memory. Over the years I’ve occasionally given it some thought myself and it’s nice to see a larger explanation of this very thing. We don’t seem to use our smells that much, though, not nearly as much as, say, dogs. Dogs are always sniffing things. They also sniff one another’s anus presumably for identification purposes. This makes sense since the microbiota flora within each individual, man or beast, is unique, and every creature therefore has his or her own particular alimentary canal smell. Tack onto this the newly-acquired knowledge of the brain’s capacity for relating smells to memory and, voila, a recognition system just as precise if not more so than fingerprints but without all the mess and hardship involved of both gathering and matching them. It does, though, take an embarrassing whiff of another’s rear-end which leaves little to wonder why other creatures have not adopted this form of recognition. Faces may not be foolproof but at least we keep our noses clean.
I said James Brown’s “My Papa’s Waltz” was a memoir earlier, which it is, but it also have as a lot of essay material relating to his remembrances. Specifically, he talks about writing non-fiction and fiction, and how the line between the two can sometimes become frayed upon dredging them up from memory. That and the desire to tell things the way the author would have had them rather occur than the way they actually did. He gives the example of his drunken father picking him up when he’s seven to dance with him but the little boy, Brown, doesn’t want to. Now, of course, after the years have passed and his father is probably buried somewhere, he gladly accepts his father’s drunken dance with his son.
“Westbury Court” was pretty much all-memoir with a great introductory paragraph. The author, Edwidge Danticat, a Haitian-American, bridges numerous years reminiscing about a fire that occurred in her apartment complex in Brooklyn. The memoir though is not about the fire itself but what her life was like before it occurred, how it changed as a result, and how the memory of it sits in her mind occasionally brought up in conversation. Amusingly, the author finishes the piece by relating how her mother remembered the fire: a moral lesson emphasizing the necessity of prevention.
I guess there is some kind of theme after all. We went from all-essay, to half-essay/half-memoir, to all-memoir. But they’re still in alphabetical order.
Elizabeth Barham
The Mute Sense really pushed how I tie my sense of smell along with memory, color, and sense of taste. I think the most fun thought for me was how an assortment of words on a page could engage and stimulate my brain to envision myself smelling the things presented in the reading as well as some in my past. As I read, my mouth would water with the descriptions of tasty foods and then some smells would remain a mystery. The end of the read left with a personal insight. As we smell we inhale and as we exhale we leave a subtle scent as a result of having "cooked air". This is because the inside of our bodies is warmer than the air we breathe. This is a very detailed observation and the way that Ackerman chooses to describe it, it's more like a little miracle of life. The way in which we use the senses in creative writing can really help the delivery of a concept we want our readers to discover and explore.
ReplyDeleteMy Papas Waltz was a little tricky to read. I would try to keep up with change of settings, characters and what I thought was off tangent writing. Then I realize that Mr. Brown was able to sum up a reflection within himself that changed his perspective on what he thought of his father's behavior then and now and the way he would present his reaction in a story. He originally believes his father's sentimentality is annoying and is reluctant to dance with him. As Mr. Brown tries to write a novel based on this memory he is conflicted with the details that seem to blur the intent of the story. He realizes that the truth is the catalyst for a story. He starts another book with him searching for simple and effective delivery of its contents. He remembers his tough childhood; especially his mother's absence and his longing for her. He believes any memory of his mother is imagined but the memory and longing of his father for her is not. He feels for his father and dances with him. He admits that dancing with his father is not true but it has no effect on the validity of his writing. The truth of his past is not the truth of his present self. Dancing to comfort his father is what he truly wishes he could do. The truth in creative writing can be subjective.
Westbury Court was straight forward in its readability. The author describes a terrible accident that occurred in the apartment building he lived in as a child. His memory and reflections of that day change and fade through the years. When he mentions the accident to his mother years later she replies with roughly the same statement she did years ago. "Sometimes it is too late to say, 'I shouldn't have.'" The memory of the tragedy was etched in her mind and her thoughts on it had not changed. I think his memories of the events were confirmed. Maybe not the details but his fear and thought of how easily it could have been him.
- Abran Garcia
When writing a story, a way you can interact with the reader is to make them feel like they are in the story. In the short creative nonfiction, “The Mute Sense”, written by D. Ackerman, she is describing the scenery, the sounds, the taste of food, and/or the smell of whatever is around the character. “… hours of passion on a moonlit beach in Florida, while the night-blooming cereus drenched at the air with thick curds of perfume and huge sphinx moths visited the cereus in a loud purr of wings; (Starkey pg. 214)”. From this you can see there quite a few imagery devices, just describing the scene and what actually feeling like you in the story. In the 2nd short creative nonfiction, “My Papa’s Waltz” written by James Brown; a father that has had a few too many drinks asks his kid to dance. In this story Brown describes the sense of touch by saying, “his palms feel rough and hard when he slips them into mine. (Starkey pg. 215)” Then later he describe the sense of smell when he says, “His breath smells of whisky, his collar of sawdust and sweat. (Starkey pg. 215)” From the way he is describing the father, sounds a lot like my uncles on my mother’s side of the family, with the sawdust and sweat; it sounds like the man is a hard worker, then to relax and unwind he will drink a whiskey, as everyone should. The way he wrote that short narrative, it related to me just because I know the feeling of being close to an uncle that smells like sweat and sawdust that is a little tipsy. In the beginning of “Westbury Court” written by E. Danticat he describes the area he was living in, “we lived in a six-story brick building in a cul-de-sac… Beneath the building ran a subway through which rattled the D, M, Q trains every fifteen minutes or so… graffiti on most of the walls… hills of trash piled up outside” (Starkey pg. 217). To me that has to be a great description of what it was like for him at the age of fourteen, here in the RGV we really don’t know the feeling of the subways being underneath us, but from this short narrative we can read that it seems kind of horrible to live on top of, with all the shaking and what not. One way this can relate to me, I didn’t live in the best part of town when I was growing up at first, my mother had recently told me a story that there was a shooting like a block away from where we use to live, I was about the age of five when this happened. Our neighborhood had a lot of graffiti on some of the buildings, some artistic ones, some gang related.
ReplyDelete-Roberto I. Rodriguez
In “The Mute Sense”, the sense of smell is explored on how it is something that words cannot describe; to conjure up an image. What is short essay or article is expressing is that in order to obtain such talent in order to describe imagery in one’s story, the writer must experience the senses they want to express in their own work. “Lacking a vocabulary, we are tongue-tied, groping for words in a sea of inarticulate and exaltation” (215). When have experienced the different senses and be also what the writer wants to put in their own work, they would be able to come up with the imagery that they want their readers to picture in their heads. Smell is very different to describe to a reader or anyone in general, but when having experienced a particular smell and also have the extensive writing skills, a person and writer could use this as a tool to help express what image they want to conjure up to others.
ReplyDeleteFor “My Papa’s Waltz”, Brown is trying to incorporate how a writer can delve from their past works and also their own lives into the new story/novel they are working on. Brown is expressing that it is alright to actually use some past ideas but disguise it. “So I start another book, one that makes me see past what I think actually occurred, to what hasn’t but should have according to that thing I imagine called plot” (217). When not only using past ideas, but also using past/personal experiences in one’s story. This gives the author more to work with. The author would then have some new ideas from these old ideas and from his own personal experiences to work with and be able to change a couple of things about them to match whatever work he is working on. This could help him connect more with his story and be able to take things that are old and from personal experience and show the world that writing can come from the past and one’s own soul.
In “Westbury Court”, trying to use personal experiences as an idea for a writer’s work can be a challenge if the writer doesn’t remember what really happened during that situation. Things can become foggy overtime especially after so long not thinking about it but writer’s don’t have to remember everything in their memories. They can actually change certain things in order to actually fit the story. “Even now, I question what I remember about those children” (220). To me, the writer of this short story is expressing how memories can be hard to remember and how many people to tend to actually forget about certain things. But the author actually described what the children went through in the story, such as they did die and also their mother was arrested. But then she says she doesn’t really remember what really happened to those children. The author simply may have used what she did remember and changed certain things that fit the story in order to move the plot along. She wanted to continue with the story but since she didn’t remember everything, she had to come with stuff on her own. If a writer doesn’t remember everything about their memories but wants to use it in their writing, they don’t have to remember everything. They can change certain things as long as they fit the plot and idea of the story and be able to move the plot along.
- Andrea Serrano
There is something peculiar about the way our lives are affected from the slightest details that pursue us daily. It can be from a simple tune we hear or the image of a neighborhood that brings us back into our past. In her literary work, Diane Ackerman accurately describes the power of “The Mute Sense,” and how often we bypass life itself ignoring the fact that our lungs carry the very breath of it. Personally, I never imagined how attached our brains are to the sense of smell and the strange longevity of its memory. Nevertheless, these two are meticulously joined and are able to re-live an experience. Ackerman is able to create a real experience from something that is so familiar as the smell. From the earliest summers to the family dinners, our smell won’t betray us. Thus, the reader is able to travel from the outskirts of a city to the coziness of a dinner table.
ReplyDeleteJames Brown, for instance, will never forget his father’s alcoholic breath when he wrote “My Papa Waltz.” After all, how could he dismiss one of the most terrifying and trivial memories of his life. The reader is introduced to an awkward scene that haunts the narrator forever while the author unravels his very own perplexion in the development of his story. The reader is able to capture the scenery. What drew the narrator from the distress of his life - a drunk father and a captive mother- to the art of writing was the gravity of his memories. There was so much more happening the night when the son and father danced to the melody and the reader is invited to accompany the bafflement and mystery of this memory as Brown develops his poem.
In the third narrative “Westbury Court” by Edwidge Danticat, the reader is bombarded by a series of images that capture the scene of a burning apartment.The very harmless activity of children watching a television show is interrupted abruptly by the flames of a nearby fire. The quick narrative brings the reader to a state of desperation. I can not help but think how rough experiences shape the way in which we live. Furthermore, the author is able to transmit a message through an experience. There is a uniqueness and fragility in our routinous activities, such as the leisure of a popular show.Two children lost their lives and the reader is stuck in between the fierceness of the fire and the delicateness of the children’s lives.
Julio C Manzano
“Mute Sense” was my favorite essay of the three mandatory readings. Smell is a huge sensory that we rely on yet can’t come up with the words to describe. The way that Diane Ackerman discussed the complexity of this sense, the more I was able to relate. She strove to write out the difficulty of describing what the smell of a home cooked meal feels or a childhood summer. When walking through town or just sitting somewhere in the mall you may get a whiff of a smell that can bring back a flood of memories, and you won’t know how to explain to the person walking with you, just exactly how you feel in the moment with your sensory ringing with nostalgia. I loved the way Ackerman said, “If you cover your nose and try to stop smelling, you will die.” This is an amazing way of describing our dependence on our sense of smell. Without it we cannot breath in the surroundings, or understand if we should cringe from the atmosphere or embrace it. If you blindfolded someone and gave them earplugs to wear their sense of smell would come to life and give them the assistance they need to identify what they are around.
ReplyDeleteIn “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Westbury Court” I read a common thread of childhood memories. These both tied into the thread of memories in “Mute Sense.” In “My Papa’s Waltz” I loved reading the difficulty James Brown had in remembering accurately the moment he had with his father. As we get older our memories morph into what we want to see or how our opinion has changed with a different perspective. Brown as a child new he was embarrassed of dancing with his father, but when he looks back at the memory he doesn’t resent his father, he embraces his weathered hand and looks upon the memory with fondness. As a writer staying true to the non-fiction guidelines can get harder to describe and write about the further away we get. Brown discusses how he struggles with making up things and lying in his writing. In “Westbury Court.” Edwidge Danticat retraces his steps specifically but still shows uncertainty with the turnout of the family across the hall after the fire. He was honest with his ignorance and didn’t make up an ending. Instead he let his non-fiction piece speak through the remembrance of the truth he recalls. As a non-fiction writer sharing the inner perspective but being honest and telling the truth are huge factors. Trying to stay away from the gaudy and the fiction writing in a non-fiction piece is important.
Claria Buddle
All short nonfiction stories dealt with memory. Diane Ackerman in “The Mute Sense” shows not only how the sense of smell plays a bigger role than the other four, but also how scent is significant to important things in life, such as memories. We can control our other senses, but we need to smell in order to breathe, to live. She interprets the way the Silk Road lead to great fortune can be compared to the way certain scent, out of the ten thousand, can bring up a memory. In “Papa’s Waltz” the memories comes from Whiskey to replace the hurt of a wife who is away in jail. At first reading the short nonfiction, you’re thinking you know what’s going on in the story, but as it continues we see that his first dilemma is the first of many. James Brown uses great detail when describing his father’s description making the readers as uncomfortable as he was. When thinking the story has no “happy” ending, due to the other struggles, Brown at the finale goes along with his father, as his way of seeing that life is short and we should go with the flow. When reading “Westbury Court” the memory of a fire seems to still haunt Edwidge Danticat. He shows through his writing that we get caught up and forget about reality, and when we do, we should remember what his mother said, “sometimes it is too late to say, “I shouldn’t have” (Starkey 218). The way I see it is, it’s nice to look at the past to live better in the present life. All three authors were able to show their special way of writing creative nonfiction. They were also able to demonstrate that instead of holding on to the troubles we have, a great way to get it out of your head is to write about it. Readers are able to connect with the different stories, because they are able to provide reality.
ReplyDeleteMelaine Villarreal
The Mute Sense was an interesting story for the way it was organized and the subject matter discussed. Like so many before me have mentioned, the story’s informative nature reads like an elementary school assignment used to educate and entertain. Beyond that, I didn’t really find the story to be compelling or great use to adopt its style into my own writing. I liked the change that it makes from entertaining to an informative approach but I have seen it done before. My Papa’s Waltz was super confusing to read at first. Actually, it was greatly confusing to read all three time I tired. The structure and narrative are scrambled and shift from multiple story lines. I loved it! It was like a train of thought, shifting from a story the author read to his experience to his writing and it’s all fantastic. This is a great example that a story doesn’t have to be linear or discuss a subject of great importance in order to be touching. The experimental nature of this piece is truly wonderful and a great form of prose. Westbury Court was such an engaging story. I love all the elements the author uses and the various parts it takes. To some extent I think I relate to the author’s experience and upbringing. I think that as children we generally don’t really think too much about the place that we live, it’s just a house, just a neighborhood like any other. Even today, I still don’t spend too much time comparing my surroundings to that of others. Then, I think it is interesting that the author mentions how that event could had easily happened to her and her brothers. She obviously lived in a rough neighborhood but the extent to which crime happened is astonishing. From what I read, I think the author feels responsible for the death of the two children. If she hadn’t been engrossed in her TV show, maybe she would have been able to listen to the screams of the children. What makes this story so great is that is has layers and multiple bits of information that make up a bigger tale.
ReplyDelete-Maria Fajardo
Mute Sense is a great example of creative nonfiction writing. It takes you to a deep reconnaissance of your senses. The description is great and with great comparative attributes of the other senses. It elaborates on the sense of smell. I dare to say almost not everyone happens to take a minute of their day and stop, extend to feel, admire, and appreciate one's senses. It is life, and we all are busy people now. There are so many interruptions, distractions, and responsibility in our life, we do not stop and appreciate this things in life. It also, tells a different perspective of what one’s smell is. It is indeed something you can not weigh, and compared to other senses there seems to be no level of measure. It also becomes more interesting when it comes to time, and memories. How one can remember the smell from certain situation, at another age, in some year a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court is another great piece with a different approach in regards to creative nonfiction. It is somewhat dark but it is as real as it gets. There is great detail, and description of the physical place, which happens to be an apartment complex. I believe there is a lot of creativeness when it comes to imagining things throughout the story, for example: wondering whatever happened to the burned kids. Also the different things that happen there, like robberies or fights. It was poor, low income, neighborhood area. It is sad, but there are many other worst things that could happen there, but anyway, that's a whole different subject, and it gets you thinking. My father used to watch General Hospital. The story took myself to my youth, but the story could have happened from anywhere late seventies to late nineties. Also, the moral of the story is, plain and simple: Too late to say “I shouldn’t have”. Which I thought it was brilliant, as it applies to many situations, and goes deeper than that, and very similar to what we say in spanish: “el hubiera, no existe”.
-Francisco J. Aboytes
The Mute Sense by Diane Ackerman is probably what it means to write you feel, what you see, what you sense. Although I have never taken a writing course before this one, I have heard it said before that when a writer writes, they must write in the way that a person really experiences the world. The way to begin with that is your own senses. The Mute Sense devotes itself to smell. It is an entire short story of smell. It is nonfiction that manages without fantastical constructs to convey to the reader how the world smells when humans actually stop to think about and catalogue their experience.
ReplyDeleteMy Papa's Waltz by James Brown is a nonfiction piece about a fictional scene he makes. He knows it is not real, but he can view it in his mind as if it was. It is his deep desire to see his mother, who hedoesn't really know, out of prison, to see his family reunited and whole. What makes this short story work is how honest the writer is. He admits that his desire is fiction and that he has had to imagine stories about the mother he doesn't know - maybe she will or won't live up to imagination. His fantasies include him and his father coordinating to break his mother out of prison, violence and hope. It is sad and emotional. The last scene where the writer imagines him and his father dancing to celebrate his mother being released from jail is especially heartwrenching because the song playing in the background is Patsy Cline's "Crazy," which serves to further drive the point that even the writer knows that his dreams are things that won't come true.
Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat is a nonfiction story about the time in the writer's childhood when he lived in the impoverished neighborhood of Westbury Court. The writer describes the fire that took place in the neighborhood and the events afterwards: dead bodies removed, the escalating violence, robberies, neighbors murdered in their homes. While the writer himself never outright reveals how he personally feels about this events, his feelings of concern, horror, and regret are hinted through his descriptions of the events and with his lingering questions about the children left behind in the neighborhood.
-Doris Tolar