TORDA'S SPRING 2023 TEACHING SITE
  • Home
  • ENGL 226 policies
    • ENGL 226 Discussion Board
    • ENGL 226 syllabus
    • ENGL 226 PORTFOLIO
    • ENGL 226 PARTNER INTERVIEW MINI-PAPER
    • ENGL226 READING JOURNALS (assignment)
    • ENGL 226 Writing Studies Timeline Project
    • ENGL 226 Rhetorical Analysis
    • ENGL 226 Professional Writing Project
    • ENGL 226 SUPER FAST CAREER PRESENTATIONS
    • ENGL 226 Writing As Art
  • Previously Taught Classes
    • ENGL101 policies >
      • THE BIG DEAL: Archival Ethnography of Bridgewater State
      • THE BIG TALK: Alumni Interview Project
    • ENGL 303 policies
    • ENGL 301
    • ENGL102
    • ENGL 202 BIZ Com
    • ENGL 227 INTRO TO CNF WORKSHOP
    • ENGL 298 Second Year Seminar: This Bridgewater Life
    • ENGL406 RESEARCH IN WRITING STUDIES
    • ENGL 493 THE PERSONAL ESSAY
    • ENGL 493 Seminar in Writing & Writing Studies: The History of First Year Composition
    • ENGL 511 Reading & Writing Memoir
    • DURFEE Engl101
  • BSU Homepage

Liars' Club: Lindsey Suprenant

7/16/2014

0 Comments

 
Hello All--

Lindsey had trouble posting so I'm just posting a new comment to include her reflection:

In looking at the memoir from Lopate’s perspective, I’m kind of conflicted about whether or not I, or he, would think Karrr was successful in her writing. In The State of Nonfiction Today, Lopate discusses effective nonfiction as allowing the reader to work through an intricate problem, or even a frivolous one made to seem complex by the writer. I do believe Karr has done this. I think that we have to work through a lot of her problems to determine which have the greatest impact on her life. In class we discussed a number of times where we were left wondering why a certain memory of hers was included, and while that can be frustrating, I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing.

However, Lopate goes on to say later in that same essay that writers shouldn’t be doing the work for readers, that they should be drawing conclusions on their own. He questions that method, asking why that seems to be the only one taught to students and that it should not be the exclusive one. In this instance, I don’t think Lopate would necessarily be a fan of Karr’s work. I think that too much is left for the reader to decipher. While I wouldn’t expect each memory or story to be followed up with a reflection, as some are pretty self-explanatory in significance, I often felt a disconnect between Karr and her work. I felt almost as if she was telling someone else’s story because there was so little reflection.

When reading Kephart, a quote from the very first two pages jumped out at me. She quotes Ander Monson as saying, “I guess I want awareness, a sense that the writer has reckoned with the self, the material, as well as what it means to reveal it, and how secrets are revealed, and how stories are told, that’s it’s not just simply being told.” This, for me, is where Karr was unsuccessful.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    ENGL 513

    Here is our space to post bits and pieces from class, observations and reflections on memoir, and whatever else comes up over the next five weeks.  

    Archives

    July 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • ENGL 226 policies
    • ENGL 226 Discussion Board
    • ENGL 226 syllabus
    • ENGL 226 PORTFOLIO
    • ENGL 226 PARTNER INTERVIEW MINI-PAPER
    • ENGL226 READING JOURNALS (assignment)
    • ENGL 226 Writing Studies Timeline Project
    • ENGL 226 Rhetorical Analysis
    • ENGL 226 Professional Writing Project
    • ENGL 226 SUPER FAST CAREER PRESENTATIONS
    • ENGL 226 Writing As Art
  • Previously Taught Classes
    • ENGL101 policies >
      • THE BIG DEAL: Archival Ethnography of Bridgewater State
      • THE BIG TALK: Alumni Interview Project
    • ENGL 303 policies
    • ENGL 301
    • ENGL102
    • ENGL 202 BIZ Com
    • ENGL 227 INTRO TO CNF WORKSHOP
    • ENGL 298 Second Year Seminar: This Bridgewater Life
    • ENGL406 RESEARCH IN WRITING STUDIES
    • ENGL 493 THE PERSONAL ESSAY
    • ENGL 493 Seminar in Writing & Writing Studies: The History of First Year Composition
    • ENGL 511 Reading & Writing Memoir
    • DURFEE Engl101
  • BSU Homepage