The Things They Carried

Tim Obrien's "The Things They Carried" is written in the direction of a collection of short stories or a stream of consciousness both representing the horrors of the Vietnam War, as well as the identity and life experiences of each soldier. The setting of course takes place in a war zone however Obrien is careful to dive into the lives of several solider characters. The details go from distant memories, to wishful thinking (Jimmy Cross' infatuation with a college girl named Martha), as well as tiny details of what each soldier brings with them on their dangerous journey. Most of the time Obrien describes these items in simply a bland, materialistic way; however there is also an underlying meaning behind them which may make an allusion to the title "Things They Carried." The things they carry can represent both fragments of their former selves before being conformed to warfare, and stripped down to a uniform and a gun, as well as burdens they may carry with them. These burdens may be a result of what happened in their pasts or past regrets, or they could be burdens of warfare, and traumatizing events that most likely took place within the jungles of Vietmam during such a bloody war. Overall Obrien's writing techniques revolve mostly around a sort of stream of consciousness narrative while revolving around the lives, emotions, and pasts of several soldiers, that are most likely designed to become relatable to the reader.

Denis Johnson's Emergency

Denis Johnson's "Emergency" is primarily dialogue-driven which complements the fast-paced nature of the story. Since it is situated in an emergency room, it makes sense that the plot progresses quickly, and allowing conversation to carry the story is the most effective way to do so. This device also lends a face-paced sense of immediacy to the storyline, and therefore allows the reader to become convinced and engrossed in the story more easily. Whenever Johnson does interject, he writes in first person and adapts a casual dialect that allows the piece to be conversational and again complements the immediacy of the story. He also emphasizes the episodic nature of the environment he is writing about by jumping from scene to scene, again, adding to the immediacy.

Emergency

One technique evident within the story "Emergency" is the use of dialogue. The dialogue within the text is very prevalent and functions in multiple ways including creating a scene and revealing character. For example when Georgie and the narrator are talking following Georgie's removal of the knife from the man's eye, Georgie's responses are very cool and relaxed, "'How's the guy doing?' I asked 'Who?' Georgie said". Georgie's indicated to the reader that Georgie was unfazed by the action of removing a knife from someone's eye, this spoke loudly about his character revealing things such as; he's not squeamish, he's brave, he's one to act then analyze. All of these things are revealed through the short phrase "Who".
The author also uses dialogue to create a scene which adds momentum to the story. This is best exemplified when examining the scene where Georgie and the narrator run over the rabbit and then discover its babies. This scene is almost completely dialogue but by inserting phrases "It's getting late, let's get back to town." and "We can't go on I don't have any headlights." Both of these phrases exemplify how the author uses dialogue to describe an issue which in turn creates the next scene for the story. This makes the story flow together very nicely and allows it to move in a way which does not feel forced.
A final technique used within the story is summary.  The author uses summary to describe the scenes, but keeps said summaries relatively short. This works effectively because the readers are then offered some contextual description without getting lost in long, irrelevant descriptions. One place where I think the author achieves this seamlessly is the summary preceding the rabbit scene, "After awhile you forget its summer. You don't remember what morning is". While concise, these two sentences describe both the season, and also enlighten the reader to the feelings of the narrator.

Blog 4: Workshop

     The best part about being workshopped, was receiving constructive criticism. It was interesting to hear what others had to say in regards to my poem. The difficult part about being workshopped was receiving conflicting advice. It was confusing to hear one person offer a suggestion, and then another person say otherwise. Being workshopped is such a humbling experience- it is a reminder that writing is a process and is never done perfectly the 1st time. 
     To workshop was totally different because I was the one doing the critiquing. I know people, often times, take their work personally. Knowing that people can be sensitive about their work, it was pretty uncomfortable to have to offer suggestions and/or critique the poems. But as the saying goes, 2 heads are better than 1. And even better than 2 heads? 14! It was wonderful to collaborate as a group to help contribute to the masterpieces of one another. 
     It is difficult trying to decide how much I should change and/or edit the poem based on suggestions, while remaining true to my original context. It also difficult changing the lines and/or stanzas in ways that make sense to others. So many times I have a hard time conveying my thoughts into actual words. 

Workshop review

I found workshop to be a really fun, positive experience and a great tool in my writing. It was really great to get such positive feedback from the class. I'm not sure anyone notices, but it made me tear up a little.

One of the most difficult aspects was not being allowed to speak or answer the questions or comments people made in the course of the discussion, but just sitting back and listening to the ideas and critiques were having was an interesting experience. Some people had some conflicting ideas on what to change/ expand on, which  was interesting to think about. All the comments were very helpful, and I paid particular attention to the classes critiques on possible changes in the form and grammar. I actually did end up taking quite a bit of it into consideration when I re edited the poem again.  Even reading the poem aloud to the class helped in this, as poetry tends to sound different when spoken.

Overall it was such an enormously beneficial experience and it really helped. I am not ashamed to say I went home and re read over all the lovely things people said in their comments, grinning all the while.

Workshop

Workshop was better then I expected it to be. Honestly, I was nervous to have my poem critiqued. I was worried and unsure how to react to the criticism. Confrontation is not my forte. So, when my time came and I read my poem aloud, I was surprised by the responses I got from my classmates. Every part of my feedback was constructive and useful. I enjoyed it more then I thought I would.  It was cool when my own concerns about the poem were shared among the class. This gave me a chance to hear some helpful opinions on how to improve my piece.

The one thing I love about poetry is that you can read a poem and take what you want out if it, especially if its unclear on what it is about. A lot of the responses I got were “I’m not sure what its about, but I love the way it sounds” or “Its mysterious and I like it, it could really be about anything.”

In particular, someone said it was delicate; kind of like a song. This was a really important response for me. That is exactly what I was trying to go for when I wrote my poem. I wasn't looking for people to completely understand where I was coming from, I wanted to leave room for imagination. I appreciated everything that was said in workshop. I can only hope my comments on others poems are as helpful and useful as everyone else's were for myself.

In turn, I am grateful for having the opportunity to be work-shopped. I now understand what AG meant when she said it can be “addicting” It’s a weird thing to be thankful for, but I am! I'm currently working on rewriting my poem and I cant wait to re-share it with everyone.

Workshop Reflection

I have done a workshop once before. It was senior year of high school, I think, in my writing class. We workshopped short stories.

God damn, that workshop was not even real.

I learned almost nothing from that workshop. No one had any criticisms. No one had any thoughts about form, sentence structure, or grammar (the easiest thing to have thoughts about). If anyone did say anything, it was probably along the lines of "It was good" or "I liked it." I think Mr. McQueary probably shared my frustration with the class.

This workshop was the polar opposite, and it's probably because everyone who is in the class wants to be there, has a vested interest in creative writing, and was not forced to sign up for the class. I received criticism, praise, and analysis from my peers that helped me think of revisions and improvements before the workshop was even over. If anyone was critical, they were not malicious. If anyone was congratulatory, they were sincere.

Additionally, by being forced to read my poem in front of others, any delusions about its quality had to be swept away. And that's good; delusions about its quality had to be swept away. And that's good; delusions about the quality of your writing are bad. I think when poems are workshopped, it forces the author to humble him/herself and come down to earth. Someone who thought their poem was deep and meaningful might realize in a workshop that it was actually just hoity toity bullshit.

Not that anyone's poem was like that...