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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 250 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
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- Reading responses are due by 10pm on the day PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading
In Moore’s chapter Red Light, Green Light, he talks about writes block and how we, as writers, can overcome it. The majority of the time, writers block is created through our own personal inner voices and how they speak to us. When we have writers block it is usually because those voices are telling us that we cannot or will never be able to be a good writer, and when we listen to those negative voices, we are letting them win.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels”, I got the sense that although it may have been titled to be about hotels, it was actually the writers journey in loneliness. The reason for this is because, in the beginning of this article Shteyngart writes about how whenever he is traveling alone in hotels he feels very lonely and it obviously does not help when he is put in rooms next to people having very loud and, at times, aggressive sex. He then goes on to describe the different types of hotels in different countries that he has stayed at alone, and sort of gives the readers a list of hotels that we may or may not want to avoid. However, he actually does this with some humor, he describes a couple of couples that he heard having sex and then was able to see the next morning during breakfast. He describes these couples in a way that I believe that most of us would describe couples, there was really nothing significant that showed us that they had sex the night before. It is because of this that I can see some humor in the situation, not because of the fact that he had to endure sex noises, but because we all know that feeling of having to be in the room with a couple when they are not able to keep their hands off one another.
Karina Gonzalez
Word Count: 318
I thought "Behind closed doors at Hotels" was so funny. It was a short piece but I felt that it said so much in spite of its length. It was paradoxically funny and sad, thus I found it to be beautiful. The writing was not overdressed in the slightest it was purposeful and enriching. The conclusion is what ultimately made the essay profound as opposed to just a guy talking about how when he is alone all he can hear is the seemingly mocking sounds of love-making. It turned the essay into a commentary of human nature and how being alone can be utter misery and conversely how being in love can bring you into a whole new world.
ReplyDeleteMoore's chapters were helpful! I often struggle with writing assignments simply because I have to find something to say and moreover I have to say a minimum of X and so the drive to put pen to paper and time to purpose is almost not at all there. My former attitude toward this block was to wait until I found the inspiration to write because when I do feel inspired the words flow and the ideas are clear. But more often than not I don't find the inspiration in time and so I have to just force the ideas out of me a day before the deadline. While this approach does work it is quite stressful. I feel that Moore's perspective in dealing with writer's block is immensely more rewarding in that I will have something to work off of even if I am struggling with my ideas. At the very least I will have some organization of ideas to assemble or expand once they are out of me. So this chapter was very helpful to me.
-Andres Trevino
Word Count 296
Gary Shteyngart’s “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” is literally my life right now. Everyone around me seems to be in some type of relationship. I’ve visited Austin and Dallas recently and it’s the same thing everywhere I go. Some people are madly in love and can’t keep their hands off each other and others are just sleeping together causally. Either way, they seem to be a lot better off than me and whatever I’ve been doing. I thought it was an interesting, easy, and funny piece. It was funny to me because it was so honest, what is it about certain hotels that makes people react differently? Is it the darker rooms or kinder room service? I think another factor is that most people in hotels are on vacation, or are away on business trips away from their wives. I especially liked the way Gary Shteyngart ended the travel essay when he really introduced his feelings towards his partner, “When I’m asleep in her arms, the universe has no reason to taunt me.” It really added personality and depth to the author by showing his affectionate side rather than his negative, bummed, and lonely side.
ReplyDeleteDinty Moore’s “Red Light, Green Light: Conquering Writers Block” was a great read as well. I was given the opportunity to write about the Young Republicans at UTRGV for a liberal online newspaper and I ended up sitting in front of a blank screen for hours not really knowing what to say. I found the conclusion of Moore’s chapter to be most helpful. He reminds readers that everybody has bad days so we shouldn’t feel too defeated. He confronts the fact that every now and then you will hear voices in your head discouraging your ideas…the key is to keep going! My favorite point was how he encouraged revision and told his readers that a lousy first draft is expected.
M. Sarah Sanchez
When reading "Behind Closed Doors at Hotels," I remember what this experience is. It is when you're alone that the world seems to just taunt you without any remorse. When you are alone in public, you notice people and what they do. You can be walking down the mall and seeing a couple kissing each other at the food court and being in love, which your lonely self is disgusted by, yet when you're in love with someone that is exactly who you are. You don't have time to notice what's going on around you because all that matters is that person. I love the humor of the piece, because it's such a pain being on the other side just hearing sex coming from next door or even above or below you, and when you're alone, you notice this. It's quite comical but in the end you're either lonely in the other room, the couple enjoying each other's presence or the couple having sex.
ReplyDeleteIn Moore's chapter I liked the tips. I have done them before, when I am just angry I know it is going to be terrible but I just don't stop and keep going like putting a bow on the large turd I am about to gift myself with. It's continuing to write even when you're struggling after the end of every period, because eventually in that draft you'll find the key you lost in that turd waiting to be washed and polished.
-Victoria Benavidez
I read the first two sentences of “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” and I automatically started laughing very hard. Right after those two sentences I got depressed really quickly with the author commenting on his loneliness in hotel rooms. After I completely read the essay I started researching a little bit about the author because for once in this class I want to be Facebook friends with one of the writers. The author uses satirical writing to just comment on the loneliness of traveling without your significant partner. The obnoxious sounds of love making that he keeps hearing secreting through the walls is a constant reminder that he is away from his love one. I even loved the ending because after the traveling he finally gets to be with his one and only and appreciates that fact that he is with her. The universe just seemed smaller with her right next to him. This story also fits well with Dinty’s chapter about writer’s block. Dinty comments that writing is never an easy start. Your own thoughts at the beginning tend to be very negative and because of that you tend to just stop. Dinty advices two very simple things. Expect the negative voices and expect a very lousy first draft. A lot of people go through this and not just in writing. With Shteyngart the constant reminder of being away from the person he loves was actually his deep inner voices telling him that he was alone, but despite those voices he knew that at some point he was not going to be lonely anymore. He would be back with his wife. He even writes at the end to always make sure to love her back unconditionally. At the same time writing can be about anything. That’s why it’s very important to neve stop. Shteyngart just wrote about hotel rooms and traveling. At first that idea doesn’t sound very interesting but I bet after multiple revisions he found a way to just make it work. I loved it. It was short, it was funny, and it had a clear point. His first draft was probably depressing as hell. If that’s the case I’m glad he revised it.
ReplyDeleteWord count: 367
Juan Garcia Jr
Moore’s tips for conquering writer's block was the perfect read for me at the perfect time. I learned a great deal from this chapter and I’m exciting to get back to writing. “The true definition of writer’s block is when the writer gives up,” made me look at writer's block in a whole new perspective. When Moore mentioned the voices in one’s head is what causes writer’s block, I couldn’t relate more. I often think my writing is not good enough for numerous reasons, so I give up and sulk in my own pity party. Although friends who have read my stories before tell me they’re good and would like to read more, once I lay my fingers on the keyboard I freeze. It’s good to know that even the best writers are haunted by these voices. I need to remember that my first draft is like having a conversation with myself and it’s going to be lousy, That’s when the revision starts. Overall, this chapter taught me a lot and boosted my confidence a little bit more. More says to never stop writing, even if you write two sentences a day. Soon enough your writer’s block will go away. With practice, writer’s block will becomes less of a factor. Don’t let the bad voices win and don’t stop writing.
ReplyDeleteBehind Closed Doors at Hotels was a short, yet interesting read. When I first started reading I automatically thought the narrator was single and alone. Then when I read the last sentence of the first paragraph my theory was proven, “You’re so alone, you’re so alone, you’re so ahhhh-lone!” As I continued to read I could tell the narrator would often travel with all the the knowledge he had on the different hotels and the types of sexual relations people would have. I started to think the man was somewhat of a creep with the amount of information he knew about other’s sex lives. The last paragraph slapped me in the face with a plot twist. Throughout the entire piece I thought this was a single man who got a high off listening and observing strangers love making. With 5 simple sentences the meaning of the story changed for me. I believe Shteyngart feels tempted to cheat on his wife when he travels alone, that’s why all he hears is people having sex when he’s alone. “Needless to say that when I travel with my partner, there is complete silence in the rooms next to us. When I’m asleep in her arms the universe has no reason to taunt me.”
Mayela Montenegro
word count: 430
In this particularly short chapter, Moore tackles the common trope know to everyone as writer’s block. He regards it as being a normal thing and not something you should be afraid of. As someone who doesn’t write often enough I do find myself struggling most of the time to figure out what to write about and it leads to me to procrastinate and making my writing process a lot harder. Moore makes a good point that the moment you give up is the moment you let the block win and he’s exactly right. How can you possibly expect to win and continue to write if you don’t keep at it? When I have trouble writing and after a couple of days of putting off the work I realize that I need to just sit down long and hard and think. And that’s when the ideas come flowing in. Regardless if the ideas are bad or they sound terrible still write he says. You have to fully expect a horrible first draft but the thought and ideas will still be present. After that difficult first step just revise it to your hearts content because in all honesty revising is what makes an essay and I really believe that because you go back and reread and make necessary changes that make something sound better. It can also make some things sound worse so you go and fix those until everything blends in perfectly well. When I read the essay for this week I came to a realization that not only could these stories be chosen to work with the Moore readings but it can also be to see how we can find the topic that Moore speaks of in the essay and in my own personal opinion it was clear as day! The author was probably having such a difficult time finding something to write about, or not, and just wrote about something happening around him. Something short and interesting that actually was a very enjoyable read because it is something relatable as well as humorous and just written well and that is only achievable through the constant revision we talked about.
ReplyDeleteAmaury Cabrera
Word Count 360
I liked how Shteyngart exaggerated quite a bit when he says that the reason why the population is topping seven billion is because of the Hyatt hotels. As i read this, I honestly thought this piece was written by a woman, i don't know why, maybe because it is so descriptive but that has nothing to do with it. Through out the whole essay, i got an idea that this piece was just solely written to talk about sex but as i reached the ending i realized the bigger picture. The author is talking about human nature and how lonesome it can be. The author has some sort of epiphany. Although i can relate it to travel pieces because it speaks of various places, i never thought a a travel essay could be written like this, because it is just describing different hotels in different places with people having sex.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Moore’s piece is just some motivation. i didn't learn anything, i just realized that i am not the only one who suffers from this. Sometimes i sit by my computer trying to come up with something, and the only thing i can come up with are bad ideas. How sad. But there are also other days were I'm driving, or I'm taking a shower and some really really really great ideas come to me (yes they are that great). I quickly write them down because i might forget them. It is crazy how it works but after reading this piece, i am no longer discouraged when i am trying to write and things just don't float. i realized, it happens to everyone :)
Jennifer MIllan
Word count 264
In the two stories “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” by Gary Shteyngart and “Red Light, Green Light: Conquering Writer’s Block” by Dinty Moore, I would have to say that the only relatable clues I found between the two was the idea that you must make love to your essay in order to complete the revision process and produce a truly elegant piece of work. The essay “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” has a poorly worded title that although it clearly defines the story it does not really seem to have had much thought put into it. I do love how the story was basically just about sex and how this author has heard so many different types of love making in his various stays in each kind of hotel. Sex always makes a story somewhat interesting which is why almost every movie has a sex scene in it. This lures the reader in and holds their attention in hopes that the rest of the story will hold up. I did enjoy this piece because he was able to allow the reader to see the emotion and lust of each couple he heard having sex. At first, Moore’s piece about the writer’s block didn’t seem to coincide with the essay but then I looked at it from the perspective that writing a sensual process that must be examined after it has been “laid” out on paper in order to see which “couple” of sentences work and which do not. This idea is seen in the difference between the couples in the essay and how one couple was still so in love the next morning while the other was indifferent to each other’s presence.
ReplyDeleteIn the two stories “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” by Gary Shteyngart and “Red Light, Green Light: Conquering Writer’s Block” by Dinty Moore, I would have to say that the only relatable clues I found between the two was the idea that you must make love to your essay in order to complete the revision process and produce a truly elegant piece of work. The essay “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” has a poorly worded title that although it clearly defines the story it does not really seem to have had much thought put into it. I do love how the story was basically just about sex and how this author has heard so many different types of love making in his various stays in each kind of hotel. Sex always makes a story somewhat interesting which is why almost every movie has a sex scene in it. This lures the reader in and holds their attention in hopes that the rest of the story will hold up. I did enjoy this piece because he was able to allow the reader to see the emotion and lust of each couple he heard having sex. At first, Moore’s piece about the writer’s block didn’t seem to coincide with the essay but then I looked at it from the perspective that writing a sensual process that must be examined after it has been “laid” out on paper in order to see which “couple” of sentences work and which do not. This idea is seen in the difference between the couples in the essay and how one couple was still so in love the next morning while the other was indifferent to each other’s presence.
ReplyDeleteSheryl cavazos
When I read the intro of Shteyngart’s essay I thought it was going to be an essay on the experience of traveling frequently and having to stay in hotels a lot. Well I guess in a way I was right, but the experience Shteyngart wrote about is much different than I expected. Moore’s chapter talks about writer’s block and how he believes it does not exist. I really think that is true. I remember being in school and before a certain grade none of my classmates ever complained about writer’s block. It was not until a teacher introduced the term to them when that started being said. After that everybody started saying “oh I have writer’s block I’m having trouble writing.” I think in reality it comes from either simply not wanting to write, or like Moore mentioned, not believing that the ideas you write are good. I used to have a big problem with this. I was always concerned about my writing, especially the intro and conclusion. We were taught to emphasize on those two so much that I was always worried about how they sounded. I had difficultly with writing until I let go of the notion that I had to be perfect with my intros and conclusions on the first try or even at all. Especially on first drafts getting everything to sound the way you want is not a likely outcome. However, as you write and develop your piece you will start to see how you can change and improve your intros/conclusions. Overall I think the idea of writer’s block should be done away with and not said anymore. Especially by teachers, as kids pick up on anything and everything and not always in a positive way.
ReplyDelete-Jesus Alexis Prado
Dinty Moore’s chapter “Red Light, Green Light: Conquering Writers Block” was something I really needed to read. More often than not I find myself having trouble getting my thoughts onto paper and when I do I never feel confident with it. I can always hear those voices in my mind and I end up scraping all my work and starting over. It is very hard to stay positive about my writing when those annoying, negative voices always come out and cause me to worry. Like Dinty, I avoid showing others my first draft because it is absolutely horrendous, same for my second and third, so I definitely agree with him on that. I am always astonished when I show someone my writing and they mention how much they like it because those voices are always in the back of my mind telling me they are just being nice. While I do believe that writers block can be overcome, I do not think sitting there and continuing to write is the answer. I think walking away and getting a change of scenery is best instead of forcing out shitty sentences that will eventually have to get revised and create more doubt. I may work for some writers, but then again everyone functions differently. Shteyngart’s “Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” was a very humorous essay. I think out of all the essays we have read so far for this course, this one is by far the funniest. As I read the story, I felt like Shteyngart was narrating everything while I pictured it in my mind. I feel like this essay delivered so much even though it was very short.
ReplyDelete-Jennifer Gutierrez
Reading Moore’s “Red Light, Green Light” I see that his perspective on writer’s block is based on the voices one hears and giving in to them which causes one to stop writing. He states that even when you’re not motivated to write to have something down. I guess he is trying to say that the only one blocking your writing is yourself. He makes sense but I think that writer’s block also come with a lack of inspiration or fears that may arise. Or, it can come from a sudden fear of writing an experience down on paper because you just never have the words to begin with which I guess is when his point comes in and makes sense to start writing. I feel that maybe Shteyngart did this with his piece on his travels somewhere where he had enough of the loneliness or when he realized the great company of his partner. I wonder if one day he just began venting and jotting down about all the sex going on around him and he was left with himself and thin walls. IT is interesting that someone could write a travel piece just on the loneliness in a sex/relationship-filled atmosphere when your miles from your own partner. I wonder now if I should just stick tone topic in my travel essay, though it can go in any direction, but I guess I just need to write it all out and revise later.
ReplyDeleteLisa M Serna
Moore’s chapter on writers block is very helpful because it give a couple tips on how to deal with the negative thoughts you get when you can’t come up with what to write next. The key to getting through the process is just accepting the fact that some days you write better then other days and your first couple of drafts are going to be rough. Even though you may think your writing sucks and it may not be what you want in you piece, keep writing. The worst thing you can do is give up on writing for a few days, weeks or months. Stopping the whole process does nothing but prolong your work. Getting everything down and then revisiting the piece for revision is the best way to over come writers block. “Behind Closed Doors” was a fun, witty little piece that I loved. I think sometimes talking about sex in sometimes comes off a raunchy. He does a really good job at making a relationship between the places he goes and the kind of sex the people from those places had. The loud sex coming from his neighbors at different hotels is only noticeable when he is traveling without his partner. I really liked how the end was kind of romantic. He talks about how silent and peaceful everything is when he is in his lover’s arms as opposed to the wild sex jungle in the next room whenever he is alone. I thought this piece was funny and had a lot of personality and I really liked it.
ReplyDeleteOlivia Hinojosa
Dinty W. Moore chapter was refreshing to read as I have been struggling to write my travel/nature piece last week. I had a vision of what I wanted to write, but when it came to writing it out, it didn’t feel right. As Dinty W. Moore states, writing down is better than having a blank page. (Moore 217). It’s an advice I started to take this week. I also agree with his take on drafts. The first drafts never have completed thoughts, but it is in the numerous drafts one burns through that a well structure essay is seen.
ReplyDelete“Behind Closed Doors at Hotels” is an argument against sex without passion. This is seen as how sex is alluded to: “animalistic” and “post-human (McCarthy 281).” Shteygart then varies into the different sexual climates based on hotels from different geographic region. He ventures into a critique of class, even language. Of most importance is his first sentence that sets up his premise: “when I travel alone…someone in the room next to me will be having loud sex (McCarthy 281).” His ending, shows a maturity and realization as “when I travel with my partner, there is complete silence in the room next to us (McCarthy 283).” The noises could represent the needs of the narrator, which when alone, sexual urgency kicks in, but when in companionship, love enters. However, it is important to note how love is never mentioned until the end when is mentioned in a formal “companionship.”
Alejandro Sanchez
Behind Closed Doors at Hotels was kind of deceptive - but I mean this in the best way. It starts off funny and then it continues to poke fun at the couples that the writer 'encounters,' so to speak, at hotels. Through it all, he drops lines that allude to his loneliness, and I had wondered if maybe there some bitterness in the humor toward these couples. I had even wondered if he was envious. Then, at the end of the essay, Shteyngart hits the readers with a very beautiful, poetic ending that is completely different in tone and language than the rest of the essay. It is a shock. It is a surprise. It's the happy twist to the story! I realized that the writer was not bitter or poking fun at the couples just to make fun of them, but rather those couples reminded him of his partner on the other side of the world. His loneliness was not because he was single, but because he did not have a partner to share the night with. Having his partner with him is not important to him for sexual reasons as the ending reveals, but because he misses them and loves them and wants to hold them, to share space with them. I was so happy with this essay. I think it would have paired very well with Moore's chapter on humorous essays. It is also a wonderful example of how an author can successfully pull off a surprise ending.
ReplyDeleteDoris Tolar
Reading “behind closed doors at hotels” I thought it was pretty funny and entertaining, I think after reading all these travel essays that I didnt really like it was refreshing to read this piece. Because at one point or another we’ve all felt alone while watching couples be in love. While the kiss and give each other that heart eyes look. And Shteyngart plays with that emotion of being alone by warning us to avoid certain spots and certain hotels if you dont want to hear people have sex. If you dont want to be surrounded by couples. Throughout this essay I had the idea that Shteyngart was single but at the end he reveals he has his partner. Which tells me he was just feeling lonely, missing her being surrounded by these couples. He ends with “there is complete silence in the rooms next to us...the universe has no reason to haunt me.” (282) and I interpreted this as him no longer being taunted by these couples, because he was finally with his partner. No longer missing her, just being with her. In Moores chapter “red light, green light: conquering writers block”, I feel like he keeps reiterating the same tips: DRAFTS ARE IMPORTANT. Draft after draft after draft. Your first attempts will not be your best efforts. Your head is going to tell you its garbage, its bound to happen. As writers we tend to be our greatest and toughest critics. The voices will come, pay attention to them. But don’t let them tear you down. Prove them wrong. Because writers write even when they have nothing to write about.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Victoria Ramirez~
What "Behind Closed Doors at Hotels" lacked in length, didn't disappoint in regards to the depth of his content in this travel piece. Allow me to explain, after reading this material I got a deep sense that Shteyngart treated sex as an art form. The aesthetics of the display of affection in his persona was truly passionate, one could guess-timate due to the way he would observe other couples and the way they would display their nature with their partner, I assume Shteyngart wasn't pleased. He was witness to a couple having sex throughout the night and in the morning, the male partner behaved in a way almost to show no emotion of what occurred the night before as stated that the gentlemen seemed "sullen" as he was scrolling through his phone. All happening while the female partner was glowing this morning after a few rounds. I do understand that males carry an ego, and the ones that often carry a heavy one display this same act. All night he finds ways to lure in his partner into sexual acts and is a dog trying to eat. Males will do anything till they get it, then they act like it's no big deal. Which is why hotels are popular because many times, they are ego-based dominant, and males enjoy the fact that hotels carry this personality of having a lack of commitment. You're in and you're out. Shteyngart explains that he would have frozen in time whenever he is with his lady. I felt that he longed for her affection and because he would hear others and the way they displayed their emotions and understood that he was much more passionate about his actions towards his beauty.
ReplyDelete*Apologize for the late entry, worked a double
Ruben Loa Jr
In “Behind Closed Doors At Hotels”, the author writes about his experiences in different hotels and the different kinds of sex encounters he hears from his room. I thought it was a pretty funny story and although the topic was sort of random, I liked the humor with which he wrote it. “Hands down, the lustiest hotel chain in the world in my experience is Hyatt. I don’t know if every encounter is registered in its loyalty rewards program, but Hyatt may be one reason why the world’s population is topping 7 billion.”
ReplyDeleteIn relation to Moore’s chapter about writer’s block, I think the only way to tie it in is how Moore mentioned that “…the true definition of writer’s block is when the writer gives up.” (Moore, 214) So even if the topic one is writing about isn’t the most interesting topic, at least you’re putting something on paper and maybe while you’re writing about a random story that really has no real point, during that writing process, something can come to mind that is even better. Moore also says, “If you stay at the task, you aren’t blocked, you’re just idling for a while.” (Moore, p.215) He also revisits the importance of revising. He mentions how maybe at first when one is writing something, it doesn’t sound all that great, but the only problem is if those ill sounding sentences or words stay on the page and you don’t do anything to fix them.
Monica Casanova