Close to the Knives

Close to the Knives is more then just a creative essay about the tragic death of Peter and how his death affected others and it's more then the side stories about going to the doctor. This creative essay tackles something much bigger. The stereotypes and prejudice that people in our society have against homosexuality and AIDS. The takes some quotes from real life people and uses them to show how wrong people can be.
    "To solve the problem of AIDS just shoot the queers..."(politician in Arizona)
    "What you want is a little place; an island where you can isolate these people so they can bang each other
                up with this AIDS virus"(former city government official)
How can believe say and believe these things, it's upsetting that out there there are people who feel like this and it needs to stop. This essay does a good job of bringing the issue to the front of any ones mind who reads it. Also the essay talks about homosexuals in school.
    "I hear endless news stories of murder around the nation where the defendant claims self-defense because
     this queer tried to touch him..."
It talks about violence and name calling in the school system just because someone likes the same sex as themselves. That needs to be put to an end. It also talks about how there was no reference material out there for this young man when he needed guidance the most and how he felt alone. He saw that there was no help, but why is that. I believe that we should be talking to our children at a younger age to explain to them that everyone is different and that it's OK to be. My hope is that we can stop this horrible behavior.

Essay Response

The humming bird essay is a very creative way to write an informational paper. The essay itself provides much information about humming birds; including their heart rates, sleeping patterns, prefer color, and much more. This essay stands out because it is not just straight up information overload, but it presents the info in a creative way with many details. Not only does it tell us information, but the author tells us stories that contain information of their own and that help explain the other information said. An example is the story about Jeanne Mackin who had a cat that trapped a humming bird, so the author goes on to explain how she nursed it back to health. This essay is a perfect example of a creative essay and if you ever had trouble explaining the difference between creative and regular essay you could use this humming bird essay as an example. It's not just presenting information, but doing it with a flair. The essay entitled "Farder to Reache" is more complicated in the sense that it provides a lot of information and dates, but I don't think they do it with enough creativity to stand out as a creative essay. One essay that I wish would have been finished was called "The Fine Art of Sighing." This essay seemed really interesting and creative. I believe that this would have been an excellent example of a creative essay,  with its information and details. It uses common everyday objects to describe sighing, example would be "A kettle hisses. A balloon deflates." Wonderful images that capture the art of sighing.  

Essay Packet 1

When heard that we would be reading a packet full of essays, I cringed at the thought. I had pictured in my mind these boring essays with technical talk, why I do not know. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that these Essays were enjoyable. I like the essay entitled "Total Eclipse" the story was very interesting. The author uses many details and I felt that I was experiencing the eclipse with her. I felt that if I look out my window I would see this alien world that she describes the eclipse makes the world. She states in the beginning that she doesn't remember all the details, well I beg to differ. She did a fantastic job detailing the events, she even remembered an article that was in the hotel lobby and a picture of a clown. It did kind of have a rhyme to it through; the essay had a beginning, middle, and end. Unlike some of the other stories we have read. The essay entitled "Red: an Invocation" I did not understand. She saw a hawk and a fox, then the color red. She said something about her child. I don't know how any of that connects? I also enjoyed the piece entitled "Mint Snowball" and how from not knowing or getting to taste that one creation the author felt out of step his whole life. That is an interesting idea, that one moment or non moment can change your whole life.

Fiction packet 3

Fiction packet 3 had highs and lows. The low parts were the the stories from The Singing Fish by Peter Markus. I did not understand really what he was talking about. In the beginning of the story "When it Rains it Rains A River" I thought he was writing about independence because the brothers/boys were leaving their mothers and going out into the rain by themselves. The the story changes to them eating mud and making Girl who has girls in her eyes I did not understand what that was meaning. The stories made no sense to me. Some high points included the story called "Death of the Right Fielder" this was the first story in the packet that I liked. It was quick, to the point, and made sense. It was also sad that it took his follow players so long to go and check on him, I would think that after the first ball did not get returned then you would check it out but they waited til a couple of balls disappeared and all the while he was back there dead. I always like how the author Stuart Dybek describes the infield and outfield. "The infield demands communication- the constant, reassuring chatter of team play. But he was remote, clearly an outfielder(the temptation is to say outsider)." The next story I liked was entitled "August 25, 1983" this story was about a man who meets himself at a later date. They talk about what the future holds for the younger man and then the older man dies by a suicide. I like how the younger man does not want to believe this and he says that he will remember this dream and change the future. The old man just looks at him and knows he won't be able to. I don't know why I liked this story I can't really explain it I just enjoyed reading it. Who has never thought about the future and wished that they could know what was going to happen, I know I have, and if my future self could come back and tell me somethings that would be awsome. Although I hope it would be better news then the younger man gets in this story. The last story in the packet entitled "The Fifth Story" was cool because it started four stories all with the same sentence, "I was complain in about the cockroaches." And each story explores a new feeling this man as.

To After That again

I decided to talk about To After That again because we discussed it in class and some of the other students comments stood out. One was that this book is like Goldberg's book in the sense that they are both how to books. They both go through the writing process but in very different ways. Goldberg is more do this ad try this, while To After That was more this is the exact process I used for my writing. Another theme discussed in class was the theme of change; how she changes, how the people in her life change, and how her environment changes. All those factors impacted her writing in different ways and, what for it, changed it. Before this book I never really thought about what could effect your writing I didn't really believe that location mattered now I understand that it does. Throughout her book she always makes a reference to where she is at that moment and how she then took on the charactertics of that area. Also I realized that just because this person is a published writer doesn't mean you can't relate to that person. I felt like I related the most, when she was struggling to find her voice or when she felt blocked because I feel like that sometimes when I'm writing these stories for class. Because of this I feel that I can become a stronger writer and maybe expanse on what I already have.

To After That respond

The book entitled "To After That" is an interesting book that is pointless to me, no offense to anybody who enjoyed it. The book is about the author as she struggles to write an awsome book. "... I set out to write a book that when completed will weigh three pounds." She writes about the highs and the lows. How the people around her influenced her and how her environment affected her. She offen refers to the fact of where she is living and if it's her old place or a new place. When writing she uses pet names or the first letter of the persons name; such as Frog, Chubby, and R. She bounces around a lot and ping pongs around. She jumps throughout her life with no real pattern. She tries to find her voice and style for this book "After That" so she takes inspiration from other writers to try to find it. Also she uses inspiration from a movie that she enjoyed called "Carla and Aida." Because the writer of that movie is just like her a black lesbian woman, so she relates to her. She also seemed forgetful. In one entree  is says that she can't remember when she started writing the book if it was in 1998 or 1999. She leaves it at that only to come back few entrees later to stand that she found a journal entree from March 1999 referring to the book, so she must have started writing in 1998. The whole book is basially one big journal entree in style over a period of time. The only thing that I liked about this story was that the book started and ended with the same words, so if was like coming full circle. "" Let me see it," as strange as this sounds, was my first thought when I returned home this evening." She also uses spacing and breaks to make her points and when she is starting to write about a new item or moved on to another day. Overall I did not get this book and I did not enjoy it.

Blood Dazzler

   I am not a poetry reader; I don't understand it and I usually don't like it, but I was surprised to find out that I actually enjoyed reading the poetry book entitled "Blood Dazzler" by Patricia Smith. The book is a great read that contains highs and lows. This collection of poems tugged at my heart strings and when reading one poem in particular I actually wanted to cry and I did get a little misty eyed. The poem entitled Ethel's Sestina is about the women Ethel who died during Hurricane Katrina in her wheelchair, because they couldn't reach her to give her simple medical attention. The poem is from her point of view; you can not only feel her pain but also her son's. When she asks her son when the people are going to come he can only tell her to wait.
      "I ask my boy, and all he says is Wait. He wipes my brow with steam, says I should sleep....I believe him when he says help gon' come."
Help didn't arrive in time to help her and her son was forced to leave his mother there in her wheelchair, because she had passed away. The poem continues by describing how Ethel passes into the afterlife and how she calls out to her son; but its not his time to go, so then she is forced to leave him behind.
       " Nobody sees me running toward the sun. Lawd, they think I done gone and fell asleep. They don't hear Come. Come. Come. Come. Come. Come. Come.Ain't but one power make me leave my son."
Heartbreaking that this son and mother had to be separated by death because medical couldn't reach her. When I read this poem it pulled me in and put me right in the middle of the aftermath of the Hurricane. I had seen the news and read some stories, so I knew it was bad but I put it aside and just thought that it didn't happen to me. Sure I felt bad for the people but I never was really put into the shoes of the victim until these poems in Blood Dazzler. Good, Strong Emotion.
   On a lighter note I like how she goes and writes poems from other points of views, not just people but from Hurricanes. In the poem entitled What Betsy Has to Say, Hurricane Betsy gets to say a few words to Katrina.
         "No nuance. Got no whisper in you, do you girl? The idea was not to stomp it flat, 'trina, all you had to do was kiss the land..."
So the poem was about Betsty basically telling Katrina that she did it all wrong, Betsy told her what to do to leave her make and instead Katrina did the complete opposite and powered through like a man. I like how the author gives a voice to the Hurricanes, it makes for an interesting read.