Here are the guidelines:
- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 250 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
- From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, choose Anonymous, then click "Publish."
- Reading responses are due by 10pm on the day PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
In chapter 10, Karr is telling the reader to simply be true to oneself. I think this corresponds to most of what she has been going over in previous chapters. In other words it is recommended to write like you would normally speak and do not pretend to know about things you truly do not know about. Like she said, don’t pretend to be a “rock and roller” if you are not really a passionate head banger type.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of chapter 16 tells of how Susanna is possibly deported before being able to make her visit. Then it goes into how Ferguson wants to make a new documentary so she goes to see a play called “Rita” and this is where she starts to develop a plan for the new project. She is aware that getting information and tracking down people with correct information will be hard but she begins to reminisce about Ventura and the previous work and she is facing a new challenge. Once again she must find funding and met new people to help her traverse the Mexican country. I thought it was strange when she is shot at and she simply said that she doesn’t take it personally. That seemed a little strange because I’m sure most people would have reacted a little more scared.
In chapter 17, Ferguson faces a tornado in her attempt to add great footage to her documentary and then she is off to Berlin. When she returns home she is surprised by Valentin with a trip to visit her parent’s gravesites, a visit which was 20 years in the making.
Sheryl Cavazos
I think Ferguson’s definition of deportation is a bit exaggerated. I had never heard of border patrols coming into someone’s house, knocking the door and taking you with them. When i think of deportation, i think of people trying to cross the river, getting caught and then being deported. I personally like Ferguson’s description of RIta. She describes things about a person that i would not pay attention to. For example her sandals up to her ankle on her flat dark feet. Although she did not fully give a description of what Rita looked like, I can picture her looking like a native american. This then helps me comprehend why she lived on a mountain and why people think she is crazy as she speaks. I want to give details in my memoir like this that will help my reader understand and make their own assumptions about characters in my story.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Karr could have written more about this topic. Although her questions did make me reflect, i could have used a little more advice on this topic. Pretty much all she says is to stay true to your self in your writing. She invites us to seek within ourselves and discover what our true talents are. Once we have done so, we should put these in to practice and not be afraid to show our readers. She gives examples of people being afraid to write because it is too girly.
Word Count 247
Jennifer Millan
The reading for this weekend was very interesting to me. The chapter being short, conveys such an important message that we must not forget when writing memoir, and that is to stay true to ourselves and convey who we are into our writing. Regardless of what we hold deep in our hearts we should not be scared to show the real person we are in our work solely because you yourself are putting up a limitation that may be very difficult to overcome because only you can solve it by digging deep and how can you do that when you’re too scared to show your real feelings. You may have some part of your personality that you don’t want others to see because you may be self conscious about yourself but those are negative thoughts that are coming from you. It is not easy. I have struggled in the past to write because I tend to be more formal in person than with my friends where I often use profanity and speak utter nonsense but that’s who I am and if I am writing a memoir then I want the reader to feel like I am the one reading this out loud to them. I want them to envision that. Then we move on to Ferguson’s reading. I always search for something to connect it to the reading and I was looking for something that showed me that it was actually her saying it based on the rest of the book. I found this most diligently used in the part where she is talking about what she’s doing after a divorce. She’s not scared to talk about something painful from her past and just outright tells us she’s sort of a mess but still goes on. This leads later to her desire to always be doing something. She looks and looks for something to do until she finally comes to find another thing to do and that is making another film.
ReplyDeleteAmaury Cabrera
Word count 331
Although I personally did find this chapter form Karr interesting, I feel like she could have gone further into detail/ deeper into, why it is we are supposed to bare ourselves to our readers. Or rather, how we can show ourselves, thoughts, feelings, emotions, through our memoirs. However, this is the only thing that I came to question in this chapter from Karr. The thing I liked most though was how Karr is fairly consistent in attempting to get us to stay true to ourselves and our ways. styles of writing. Over the course of these readings I have come to understand that while Karr does want to help us understand and learn how to be better writers, she mostly would like for us to stay true to us, she is essentially saying “Do you booboo”.
ReplyDeleteNow, for Ferguson. While Ferguson has an interesting and unique way of writing, it more often than not confuses me. However, in these two chapters, I have to give her credit for writing Rita in such a way that I was able to actually see her. Ferguson was able to use what I assume to be carnality, to describe her in a way that does not really reflect some of her writing in this book. It is easy to see that in these chapters, Ferguson is able to use/ do some of the things that Karr writes about, which is use carnality and stay true to her own style of writing, even if it is confusing for me as a reader.
Karina Gonzalez
Word Count: 257
Mary Karr writes about the importance of being true to you. We should sometimes listen to those around us and perhaps think twice about what they are saying and why they are saying it. Once I hit thirteen my mom would always get after me for interrupting and my sister would always fuss about me never listening to her. It took life experience and struggle to finally realize that I just needed to have better listening skills. I realized that sitting down and listening to others made it easier to make friends. Once I dug past my old self I was able to find the nature of who I really was and was able to identify those bad habits.
ReplyDeleteI thought the deportation depiction in chapter 16 Chasing Rita was pretty dramatic and a bit biased. Kathryn Ferguson doesn’t explain how some Mexicans have taken it upon themselves to come over to the United States and apply for citizenship the long, tedious, and legal way. She then goes on to talk about her next project and the very specifics of documentary work. Chapter 17 moved a lot faster for me and the imagery on Rita was real. I also felt much closer to Valentin in this chapter, I was a bit skeptical about his place in the book at the beginning. His actions showed his dedication to Kathryn and his interest in her family was just too cute. I thought it was funny how he asked if all gringos forget about their deceased family members, really revealed the contrast in cultures.
M. Sarah Sanchez
In these chapters from Ferguson she leaves some things unsaid and it is a little bothersome. She usually explains everything in detail, sometimes even too much, but this time there were instances that she did not. For example, she mentioned that a New York educational film distribution company rejected her finished movie on Rita’s life, yet does not mention anything else about it. After having spent time and effort to make the film and going into detail about everything you would think she would leave the reader with some more answers about the film. Also this was a smaller event but she said her clothes came back smelling like cigarette and I would have liked to know her thoughts on the lost luggage and where it was. Flying is not something I have done and I would have liked some more information about the lost luggage and where it could have been. That may just be a me thing, but leaving things open like that for seemingly no reason is a little distracting. The short chapter in Karr’s book about was interesting. I like the short chapters with more detail on how to go about writing than the heavy analysis of other writers like the one that was almost purely on Nabokov. Again that may be just heavy opinion on my part but I like a focus on advice sprinkled with commentary about other writers than the other way around. The chapter was a little light but Karr does make the point clear. “How are you trying to appear?”
ReplyDelete-Jesus Alexis Prado
The Karr chapter was only a few short paragraphs but the information was solid. I found especially interesting the Dostoevsky quotation. I thought it was quite knowledgeable to say the least but since this is a response for academic purposes and I have a word limit I will say more. It really emphasized the importance of being true to oneself while simultaneously revealing the danger of lying to the self. And as for the purposes of writing, that truth is ultimately what has the power. It can reveal aspects of the self that were unknown and it can heal them too. The only obstacle in revealing this truthfulness, I feel, is fear. Karr does not address this, but she does ask the question, "how are you trying to appear?" I think Dostoevsky's quotation provides us with a strong foundation to begin to answer that question.
ReplyDeleteChasing Rita and International were sufficiently interesting though nothing exceptional. Ferguson's writing style is both detailed and abstract at times which I find to be enticing. However, the content can be a bit dull at times or slightly over saturated with details but that wasn't the case this time around (fortunately). I enjoyed Ferguson's description of Rita. I thought it was a phenomenal display of descriptive language and memory. The rest of the chapters was nothing spectacular just a detailed account of Ferguson's experiences. I do commend her memory though.
Andres Trevino
240
Karr’s chapter was about being true to yourself throughout your piece and bearing all to your readers. Although through reading and learning we pick up on different styles of writing, it’s important to stay true to your own personal style. In my own opinion, as a reader I will get easily bored if I’m reading something that is coming off as phony. As cliché as it sounds staying true to yourself will help the reader connect with you. Writing about real reactions to real situations may be difficult but the reader can’t connect to something overly exaggerated just for the sake of a better story. Digging deep is hard and some stories may be painful to put down but the way I see it is, your story deserves to be told the way it happened. There may be parts of yourself or your life that you may not way to reveal but most of that worry is you being hard on yourself. The chapter wasn’t as complex as her others but I like that. The idea is simple; the better version story is the unadulterated one. Fergusons view on deportation is raw and realistic, it is stressful and terrifying experience for most people and it really showed me how much I don’t know about what really goes on. I usually try to find a connection between the two readings but I think Karr’s chapter relates to Ferguson’s entire memoir. There are certain parts that I found annoying and some parts I found funny, confusing, and even heartbreaking and I am able to connect with Ferguson because she brings these emotions out in my through her truth. Even the parts I don’t like, I can honestly say I still believe.
ReplyDeleteOlivia Hinojosa
I would have liked Karr to go more into detail with this chapter. Even though the chapter was pretty short, Karr reminds writers that they must be themselves when writing in order for their story to be well written. Since we are writing a memoir, I feel like this small chapter reminds us of that very important piece of information. We can try all we want to be funny or sarcastic, but if that is not who we are it is not going to work. We cannot force ourselves to be someone we are not, and that goes with our writing as well. Karr’s questions made me really think about the way I have been writing my memoir. Academic writing has been ingrained into my brain, so it is hard to suddenly break out and write how I speak, or even in a style I normally do not use. If I want my memoir to sound like myself, I have to try and just be myself as I write, regardless of how I normally would write. As for Ferguson, I thought these chapters were much more clear than the previous. I tend to get very lost because of her writing style, and while these chapters were still a bit confusing, I actually knew what was going on for the most part. One of the things that stood out the most was when Ferguson brings up the topic of deportation. The scene Ferguson creates, or describes, felt very really. I could picture the whole heart wrenching ordeal.
ReplyDelete-Jennifer Gutierrez
The readings for this week are not like the carnal readings of before. The Chapters Chasing Rita and International have plenty of areas for reflection, but Ferguson shies away from that. Instead she shotguns all the facts of her life. She does touch on larger social issues such as immigration, and its effect on our communities, however, she only alludes (also sets up a premonition) to her relationship with Valentin indirectly. In memoir, reflection is critical and it is my opinion that I for myself to be honest with the reader I can’t leave no area for doubt or guessing. The reader must be able to see how I feel, and have heard it directly from me. However, this is not the case in Ferguson’s chapter we read. An example of this situation is in the closing of the chapter, International. Valentin takes Ferguson to the cemetery of her father. It was a critical moment for Ferguson who “tears pour out of my eyes. I can’t stop crying (Ferguson 165).” In visiting her father’s tomb, she had an epiphany where she no longer wants to travel the world, but appreciate her home. As a writer, it is essential to guide the reader through this realization because they are attempting to arrive to it too. Ferguson cuts corners, and the reader is left to assume. Was Ferguson’s relation with her father broken and attending the cemetery brings closing. Did finding her father’s tomb bring back jovial memories of home? Thus, making her appreciate home? Too much is left to conjecture.
ReplyDeleteAlejandro Sanchez
Finally something I can preach about. It's true, finding the true nature of oneself should be the ultimate motivating factor. This all stems from the notion of self-respect of course. Often time individuals cease to peak their true talents because they are afraid of how they may be perceived. Why so? It may be because these people don't want to appear or come off a certain way, but to what extent? A writer is certainly taxing their talents by limiting their writing by trying to mold their practice to an audience, i on the other hand, am starting to embrace my true talents and that's writing with passion and emotion that my male counterparts may be inclined to ignore because as someone stated last week in class, “I don't want to be all mushy with my feelings.” It was something along those lines but regardless the individual let the class know that he wasn't about those actions. Hmm. Maybe that's what he's good at but doesn't want to be judged a certain way, this can also not be the case and maybe he's just a better writer is an another department. My point is this, what does one receive by going against the grain of their true hidden talents, are they afraid to expose themselves to themselves? This come from self-love. Is the individual aligned with their emotions or does the way they feel inside oppose the actions they give off on the outside. Self-respect is a beautiful thing. Let's not get away from such feelings just to appeal to others. Appeal to your nature first, the law of attraction is on your side. People really feel you when you're coming from a place in your soul of authenticity. Real eyes realize real lies. I see you for who you are. Be who you were meant be.
ReplyDeleteRuben Loa Jr
The purpose of Karr's chapter was to teach the reader to remain true to themselves in their writing. Trying to sound like a different person than what you really are in your writing will more than likely stand out to the reader. You can't just decide to thesaurus every other word to make your story seem more interesting. Everyone has their own way of writing and the writer's audience will be found. I always tell myself to write as if I'm telling a story to myself. I try to bring out as much of my personality as I can in dialogue used in my stories. Although Ferguson's chapter wasn't as interesting as Karr's, I appreciated her motive to talk about something painful, her divorce. It is always hard to bring to light a tough situation, but what better way to seek therapy than in your own writing. Also, I like the way Rita was described. I often have a hard time describing characters in my writing, but Ferguson did an amazing job describing Rita. I was able to envision her in my head, flat footed and all.
ReplyDeleteMayela Montenegro
These last few Ferguson chapters have been very nerve wracking for me. I know that Ferguson ends up okay, because otherwise how would she be here to write this memoir, but I still empathize the unease and paranoia and fear that she has experienced. Mostly though, I worried over her friends and the people that she knows. THough Karr has herself been in tough situations, the people she loves and that she writes about in her book are the ones in the most tenuous situations. Several have already died or disappeared! It is doubly upsetting because I know this is based on real life and that means actual people died and disappeared. Did anyone ever find their bodies? Or did they just disappear into the desert and end up as buried bones like the bodies the Samaritans recovered? Could they be identified? Or did, after deportation, Karr never see them again? Did they die? What happened to them? It is a very sad thing.
ReplyDeleteDoris Tolar
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKarr writes about being able to write as we are and the many students who have wrote the complete opposite of who they truly were. Her questions to ask ourselves I find helpful because I can be able to perceive my character as a person and how most times my attitude has been the issue but my compassion is admired. In Ferguson's two chapters, I enjoy how she was able to write about the egg scene and is open about not ever being too superstitious and how I could kind of sense that unfamiliarity in the healing of the egg. I can pick this up on how she writes and even adds a sneeze like she was watching the moment but not too into it as someone familiar to the practice would be. The way I used to demand my mom to rub an egg on me when I was a child and sick.
ReplyDeleteLisa Marie Serna