Representations of Individuals and Culture through Literature

In the Tibet through Film and Literature course I am taking, while recently trying to catch up on my reading, I have read numerous articles about the Tibetan people and how non-Tibetans view them. Although this is not specifically directed toward the English 110 course, I think it is applicable because no matter what genre we read, the author is presenting a situation, a culture, or a person in a certain way that affects the reader.

In the class about Tibet, I have come across many articles by Western authors that depict Tibet as what is commonly called a “Shangri-La,” which is a utopian, mystical society with magical powers. Because creative writers, and even some scholarly writers, portray Tibet as a spiritually enhanced place, the average Western readers thinks of Tibetans as primitive people who are seriously spiritual and have clairvoyance. However, the reality is Tibet is not a Shangri-La society with magical influences. Because many Westerners are unknowledgeable of the Tibetan way of life, they accept this depiction of Tibet.

Another example of people being portrayed a certain way is found in Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard. Her deeply personal life paralleling a historical truth is the muse for her outstanding poems. An issue to think about is how Tretheway represents the groups of people found in her poems: herself, her mother, the African-American Union Soldiers, and her mother’s second husband. One interpretation is Tretheway compares herself and mother to the African-American Union soldiers are martyrs while demonizing her mother’s second husband and history’s lack of recognition for the Union Soldiers. This causes the reader to sympathize with Tretheway, and the reader takes in exactly what Tretheway intends for him or her to: Tretheway, her mother, and the Union Soldiers story evokes sorrow and a sense of courageousness, while society and Tretheway’s stepfather play the role of the bad guys. Tretheway constructs her poems with purpose to make the reader see a particular situation the way she does.

An final, primary example of people being depicted in a specific light according to the author or narrator is in the novel Atonement. Ian McEwan purposefully offers all of the main characters’ perspectives, and what the reader learns from this literary technique is the story changes depending on the teller. Subject to who is narrating at the time, the reader’s thoughts are influenced by that person, regardless of whether or not he or she agrees. The point is the narrator is revealing an event or person in the manner the narrator wants the reader, as well as other characters, to see. A case where this is obviously evident is with Briony. Through Briony’s representation of Robbie, she convinces most of the other characters in the novel to follow her suit. Even though the reader is set up to hate Briony and does not agree with her portrayal of Robbie, she manipulates the other characters to see her point of view.

Now, I am left with thoughts when reading new texts about how a person, situation, or culture is portrayed. As I write more papers, essays, journals, or blogs, these thoughts further develop into wondering how I am portraying a group of people. What perspective am I trying to convince to my reader? Am I biased because of lack of knowledge, personal upbringing, or culture? I encourage you, classmates, to look for this in both academic and pleasure readings. What is the author telling you about a person or culture? Are they believable? Also, as I will strive to do, we might try taking a step back to look at our own writing.

Reviews of Contemporary Literature. (G)- Class Post 04/13/2010

To begin thinking of reviews, one first must answer the question of what is a review. According to University of North Carolina’s website, “A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon” (UNC). Reviews are written about multiple genres aside from literature, ranging from dance performances to restaurants (UNC). Since this entry specifically pertains to contemporary literature, an important element of writing a book review is being cautious of not reporting a summary, but rather, the goal is to make an argument. When offering your critical perception of a text, the reader wants your opinions. Another distinguishing factor is the size. For the majority, reviews are general concise comments on an event. The author states his or her opinion and expands on how he or she gathered it in a brief fashion. Finally, the author of a review usually finishes with the greater audience in mind and how they will perceive the book, or whatever the case may be. Most reviews attempt to persuade their readers to act on their review. In some cases, this means buy the novel; in others, the critic advises his or her audience not to read the material. Continuing to draw from UNC’s educational website, a review can be considered a “two-step process: developing an argument about the work under consideration, and making that argument as you write an organized and well-supported draft” (UNC). When writing a review, it should flow in a logical order; this means including a thesis! A suggested format to follow includes: “an introduction, summary of content, analysis and evaluation of the book, and conclusion” (UNC).

An example of a respectable review is written by John Deming about Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard titled “The More That You Appear.” The reader is brought to Deming’s stance on the book immediately because he begins his review by agreeing that Tretheway deserves the Pulitzer Prize for this short collection of poetry. Following Deming’s initial praise of Native Guard, he summarizes her book as “the mistreatment and murder of the Louisiana Native Guards and the murder of her mother at the hands of her mother’s second husband” (Deming). John Deming uses examples from Tretheway’s text in conjunction with his recap of the book to show the readers a taste of what is in store for them if they choose to read her poetry. Following the summary of Native Guard, the reviewer writes of what it brought to him. Deming explains, that her book “reinvigorates the notion that to be alive is to forget.” Continuing in the review, the critic goes into detail of Natasha Tretheway’s writing style and the overall thematic element of discovering parallels in the murders of the African-American Union soldiers of the Civil War and her mother. While Deming gives a positive review, he also draws attention to some of Tretheway’s flaws. However, he believes that the Tretheway’s minor errors do not override the genius of her work. In the end, Deming finishes with a short conclusion of Native Guard and his opinions regarding the book.

I think John Deming’s “The More That You Appear” is a perfect model of a review because one unmistakably sees his critical analysis on Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard. The reader is capable of depicting all of the steps the UNC website suggests in writing a review, and it is in a logical sequence. I enjoyed reading Deming’s review, and if I had not already read Native Guard, I believe that he would have convinced me. The two links both serve as beneficial references in the upcoming assignment. UNC clearly states review guidelines, and John Deming’s review compliments it by being an excellent example.

Broken for You

The body is so exclusive
With rusted steeples that pierce new wounds
And doors that shut in one’s face.
Assigned seats on Sunday morning
And a popularity contest on Wednesday.
But, oh,Do we keep up with our tithes and offerings!
That hold more weight than our hearts.

But surely our voices
That sing those melodious, sweet hymns
Do something.
They may not justify as atonement
For the sins we committed last night
But we changed clothes and
Put breath mints in before 9:45.

Outstretched hands are extended
With claws of judgment---
That I’m certain the Son didn’t possess.
Darwin, do you have an explanation for this?
The body doesn’t agree with science,
But we pop pills when we have a headache.
And the body thinks Hollywood is corrupt,
But we hope no one knows we Ti-Voed
“Keeping up with the Kardashions”
Who are only famous because their dad defended OJ
As in Orenthal James,
Not as in the orange juice
Whose calories you counted at breakfast
And are more vigorously repenting
Than the lies you told this morning.

But we dismiss this
By focusing on the pain of our asses
Which have become so calloused
From sitting on a wooden bench
Beside our "brothers" and "sisters"
Of whom we forgot their names.
And by giving attention to our exhausted legs
Which have been wandering the dark corridors
Of the home that we have come to fear.
And of our arms that have grown weary
From uplifting the same burdens
Time and time again
To a Savior we half believe in.
And our hearts cry longingly
To a forgiving Father
We so desperately use to seek
But have become stagnant in faith
And distracted by the politics
That we, the body, have created.

David Orr lecture critique

David Orr, author of Down to the Wire, gave a lecture on the climate collapse at Agnes Scott College Tuesday, January 26, 2010. His main focus was on how human’s caused the demise of our environment followed by the efforts society can make to alleviate these self-created issues. He proposes, in order to change into becoming more sustainable, people need to be educated and aware of how the ecosystem has changed and how we caused it. The beginning of the presentation consisted of facts about the rising temperature (which is up 1.8 degrees Celsius), the population increase, and the escalation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (which has increased up to 100 ppm in the last century). Once Orr informed the audience of the statistical data involving environmental changes, he states the flaws in the economic system, as well as provides solutions. He provides hope to the audience by planning to become energy efficient, using renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind, more homegrown businesses, improving the agricultural and food economy, educating, and researching alternative methods. David Orr convinced me of the severity of the “climate collapse” through the well-researched facts and persuasive presentation. I found the numbers regarding the carbon dioxide increase impossible to dispute. The examples he used to support his thesis were hauntingly true to society, how we have functioned and wasted resources once assumed limitless. When he reached the point of his presentation involving all of the efforts in motion to improve the current and future problems our environment needs, it displayed how many actions are being taken to accomplish this goal. Although his ideas seem to have distant deadlines for the work needed to restore, and ultimately reverse, the damage our culture has inflicted on the ecosystem, he swayed me to believe it is a feasible and necessary task at hand. Orr’s lecture provoked a mixture of skeptical questions and practical ideas that people can participate to help the environmental crisis. For instance, what is the rest of the world doing to carry weight in their part of the global reform of nature? How much do I recycling a can or pop enhance the environment? Does it really make a difference? What are viable ways I can help? Is turning down the heat that meaningful of a step of using energy more efficiently? What if Orr’s message and the facts fail to reach a broader audience? How do people still not believe the climate calamity? Though I am unacquainted with the answers of most of these questions, I still agree with Orr’s plan of amending the way we use resources. The most important aspect of David Orr’s presentation that struck home was when he began speaking of posterity, displaying photographs of his grandchildren, and including the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. If the wellbeing of our children and grandchildren is not a sufficient enough reason to change, I do not know what is.