Into Thin Air Post #3

The author of this book uses a hyperbole really well. A hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally. In page number 223 is it used, and especially on paragraph 4. This paragraph from this part in the story explains how and when Beck committed suicide. Krakauer uses lots of imagery in this passage too. He added many details to support his hyperbole. (Before I continue I want to make sure you know this is how I pictured Beck's death when I FIRST read it, you may have thought of something different) So Beck killed himself like this: he first said "Hey I've got this all figured out", then he rolls down a bit, and stretches his arm out wide like Jesus did when he died. He is then blown away in the wind never to be seen again. I strongly felt that the author exaggerated how dramatic this scene really was. But then again Krakauker was experiencing and survived one of the most devastating Mt. Everest storms that has ever come on Mt. Everest. Krakauer used these devices in my opinion to lightly tell us the horror to us, but it also lets us be able to picture it ourselves. The majority of literary devices in this books are mainly hyperbole.

because ron swanson

Into Thin Air Blog Post #4

The picture that will be below is a image of Beck Weathers who managed to make his way down from where he laid on the verge of death. He lost most of the lower half of his right arm along with four fingers on his left hand. He also had large amounts of damage to his face. He with all this somehow managed to dig himself out of the snow and stumble his way back to camp in his condition threw the raging storm. This was just a small tangent I want to add after the image I am going to talk about how his writing style swapped during this last section of this book.

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There was a very drastic and sudden change in the way that he described things to the reader at this portion of the book. The amount of detail that he gave in the beginning of the book tends to fly out if the window at this point. I can understand how this could happen because it was the case he was mostly delirious and the amount of trauma this situation must have caused likely caused a lot of repressed information. I just know for sure there was a drastic shift that started out as such long and drawn out detail that it at point started to irritate me to a certain degree. Once the storm had a very focal point in the story itself it changed to short amounts which almost felt choppy and not satisfying.My thought on this makes it feel that the author got lazy or just seemed rushed this part of the story which this section is terrible sad is also such a important one. This important section was rushed and seemingly pushed threw without the care and effort as the others.

When I Was Puerto Rican #4

When I Was Puerto Rican 4

"Hit me, go ahead. You can kill me if that makes you feel better," I screamed loud enough for the whole world to hear. I stood in front of her, shaking all over, hands at my sides, martyr like, fully aware of the dramatic moment that might backfire but willing to take the chance.

I really love this section of the book for a few reasons and because I actually can't relate to it all in any way. First off this is like a pinnacle if you will in the book. Not the end but Esmerelda has been dealing with her mothers constant abuse verbally and physically all of her life and she is now finally for once dealing with it and responding. Now I found this whole buildup and climax very interesting to look in on as I and no person I am close to in some aspect has ever experienced this. I feel like family's like this one are often stereotyped to "be" like that but in reality that is wrong and any mother who does this should not have kids. I just feel like mothers should be nurturing and loving to there children not harm them and put them down as a parents influence on a child is easily without a doubt the strongest impact on a child's growth. Another point of this statement that needs to be touched on too is the breaking point. Esmerelda has finally hit in this section and the wrong is so clear to her and so ignorant it must be stopped through all means. No child should hit this realization that there parents are morally wrong and that they must fend for themselves against there creators who are supposed to love them. Thats really one of the largest issues in this whole book thinking about it now as Esmerelda lived in constant fear but yet continuously tried to give her mother love.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

As I was reading I noticed that Arnold seems to start out having a negative outlook on life. He doesn't want to live on the rez, and he tends to single himself out as being strange and hated on the rez. He does this when he says things like "Ten teeth past normal" as a way to describe how he had extra teeth when he was born. He doesn't have to describe it like that, and he is kind of cynical about life on the rez, and sees it as something that will make you less of a person, or a worse person. Although he doesn't want to live on the rez, he doesn't go out of his way to get off the rez until his teacher tells him to go to school somewhere else because he doesn't want his to lose hope. I think this just kind of strengthens the idea that life on the rez is hopeless. When his teacher tells him that his sister lost hope and he should leave, I understood what the teacher meant by he isn't gonna get anywhere if he is surrounded by hopeless people. I get what he means when he talks about how if you are surrounded by people who feel bad, you will start to feel bad as well. I think this was important in the book because Arnold starts to go after his dream of not ending up like everyone else on the rez, and in doing so he loses a friend. I think a lesson everyone could take from this is that even when something seems achievable and will have consequences, you should try, because you will never know what would have happened if you didn't try, especially if it is something that means a lot to you and you will be destined to be unhappy if you don't.

Here is a picture for my last blog since I forgot it.
Trust me, its relevant.

The Glass Castle Post #4: Links and Videos

     
     Jeanette Walls Interview

     This is an interview with Jeanette Walls, the author of "The Glass Castle". Not all of the questions are relevant to memoir writing, but there are two questions specifically that address it. In question 10, someone asks "... Do you think that when we tell our story, we embellish?" Jeanette, in response says she thinks that everyone interprets things differently and she hopes she hasn't embellished anything. Since we, as the reader, did not experience Jeanette's life with her, we only have her interpretation to understand her life story. Her interpretation is written beautifully and is a very enjoyable story. However, something about her interpretation doesn't sit well with me. Throughout the book, it never seems as if she has any major flaws. Sure, her family is messed up and some of the friends she makes are bad people, but it is never her who is at fault. She might very well be as wonderful a person as her story makes her seem, but not all of us who are writing memoirs are as great as she are.
     In this sense of memoir writing, I disagree with her. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but without even trying to, I think Jeanette unintentionally embellished herself. I hope that when I write my memoir, I can express raw emotion and personality without adorning myself too much. I admit that I am not the greatest person in the world and I hope both negative and positive traits can be seen for all of the characters in my memoir, including myself.
     In question 14, someone asks "...How do you write the book without feeling like you were turning on your mother? What do your other two sisters think of the book?..." While addressing this question, Jeanette says that the toughest part of writing her memoir was trying to be fair to everyone. She talks about this balance between condemning people and whitewashing the story. She also says that for these reasons, she cut out a lot about her kid sister. It is clear that Jeanette's younger sister did not turn out the way she hoped for her to. It is possibly due to her reliance on other people, or maybe perhaps because she grew up differently from the rest of the kids, never truly experiencing California. Regardless of the reason, Maureen was not the same as her three siblings and Jeanette made that somewhat clear.
     Again, I somewhat disagree with Jeanette. I understand that she doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, especially not her sister's, but this is still her own story. I think that when writing a memoir, your own view of other people should be shown because the story is meant to be through your eyes. The raw truth of her feelings and opinions should be expressed as far as Jeanette is comfortable with. I suppose some sense of balance is needed to make sure no one gets offended. But when writing my own memoir, I want to be able to feely express what I think about other characters.