Sketchy-Mick-Sketch-Sketch...

As I dove into the intense reading known as “Speaking in Tongues,” I honestly had no idea what to expect. From the title alone, I personally thought that the story was going to be about some linguist… However, I then recalled Mr. Kunkle warning us about some of the content in this story, and by the end of the story, I think we could all see why.

But before I go into some of the nastier details of this short story, I first must say that I thought it was a very well-written piece. The author really knew how to keep the reader absorbed through clever uses of setting up the story by showing a clear contrast between the two girls, Tia and Marcelle. I especially appreciated the band room scene with Marcelle sharing her hilarious thoughts on the school’s band. Marcelle became one of my heroes after that stunt.

So as the story goes, Tia, quiet and reserved, eventually runs away from her heavily religious family after a series of events concerning a rather “pleasant” nun known as Sister Gwendolyn. I can’t blame her though; with such extreme religious practices like that, I probably would’ve ran away myself. But this is where the story really starts to pick up in a momentum that would eventually end in tragedy.

Alone with little items of her own, Tia eventually stumbles upon Sketchy-Mick-Sketch-Sketch, AKA: Dezi. Of course, this mysterious man helps out Tia with getting food, and later lets Tia into his apartment. It’s there that we find out that this lovely man is actually a drug dealer AND pimp! J (Rather reminiscent of the “good-gone-bad” Tom Shiftlet in one of our previous readings in my opinion.)

Skipping over some details regarding a hooker named Marie, who would later aid Tia in her escape from Dezi, Dezi eventually rapes Tia. It’s also in this event that the author displays one of the most disturbing to read metaphors that I’ve ever encountered in my life, which can be found near the end of page 700. Honestly, it would just feel rather awkward to type it again here. Thank God Tia manages to escape in the end of the story.

Now, one reason why I did find this reading to be so great, aside from the fact that was written so well, is because I believe it really shows a “darker” side of religion. Of course I’m not putting religion down; however, it’s a clear fact that too much forced upon a person can eventually lead he or she to rebel against it. Also, I thought the story was a perfect display of alienation and some of its possible outcomes, shown with Tia. In conclusion, the story of “Speaking in Tongues” truly grasped me with its hardcore writing and sinister themes.

Pondering about Censorship...

Something that we’ve all ran into at one point in our lives has definitely been censorship. While some of us can remember specifically when they’ve been censored, others, such as myself, cannot. Personally, I can’t really remember a single instance when another person or thing has censored my thoughts. Perhaps it is because I usually don’t always express my thoughts so often, so when I actually do express my opinions on a subject, people just don’t have time or the necessary ninja-like reflexes to censor anything I say. It’s usually in these kinds of expressive moments that my words just lie out in front of me, naked, blatantly displaying themselves to others nearby. Awkwardness ensues shortly afterwards.

However, there are many times when I feel we’re being prevented from learning something due to censorship, specifically from the news. When I feel like the information we’re receiving from the media has been censored, paranoia usually begins to seep in. What events can we truly believe being reported on the news when the media already censors so much outside of our lives, especially on TV. Visions of vicious curse words being spat at each other by the predictable cast of MTV’s latest rehashed version of The Real World come to mind; however, by no means can a not-so-real MTV reality show be compared to an event being reported by the news.

What I really mean to be getting at are historical events such as the Vietnam war. In AP Composition, we got to read a lot about how the US media would distort much of the information being relayed from the war to United States, so the US would look like they were doing well in the war, when in actuality, they weren’t. It’s acts like this that make me question sometimes what I hear on the news.

Finally, I began to think further about censorship in general, and I soon started thinking about how we censor ourselves many times throughout a single day. Countless times in a day, we won’t like what is happening between our classes, friends, or family, but won’t say anything about it in fear of making matters worse. This greatly reminded me of Mrs. Bartman and how she would teach us about using our “Filters” to block unnecessary or immature thoughts from blurting out of our mouths. Overall, I was just surprised at my own realization of how often we censor ourselves.

Thoughts on "Slaughterhouse Five"

As I first began reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, I couldn’t help but be perplexed on the first chapter. I didn’t really mind how it was basically more of a background on Vonnegut, and I also loved reading about the parts pertaining to his friend’s wife Mary and the Gideon Bible. However, I was hoping to get into the story right away, which made me glad when I finally got to chapter two.

But then I became even more perplexed. Had this Billy Pilgrim discovered time travel!? I’m sure Uncle Rico would’ve loved to have known (Kudos if you can figure out that movie reference). However, as strange as the book may be so far, I loved reading about Billy’s aliens: the Tralfamadorians. Their philosophy on death really was interesting and comforting. Although the person who has died may appear dead, he or she is still very much alive in the past. According to the people of Tralfamadore, “all moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist.” Then Vonnegut shows how Earth has the allusion that events and moments play out one after another like “beads on a string.” This was just so ingenious to me, making the Tralfamadore passage my favorite so far in the book.

Another aspect that I really enjoyed about the book so far are some of the descriptions Vonnegut wisely uses. For instance, when Vonnegut describes Billy being shot at from enemy soldiers, he describes the bullet as a “lethal bee buzzing past his ear.” Another simile that I loved from Vonnegut was when he described how he carried “a bottle of Irish whiskey like a dinner bell” in front of his friend O’Hare. It’s creative descriptions like these that really kept my interest while reading the book.

In the end, while I thought the book was oddly strange, it still did manage to capture my attention through Vonnegut’s original writing and imagination. Perhaps the book is meant to be so bizarre that it oddly works?

Looking at Alexie's "Because My Father..."

Sherman Alexie really knows how to create an interesting, although rather awkward at times, piece of writing. The reading that I’m getting at here is “Because My Father…” Reasons for why I loved this reading so much are because there were several distinctive parts in the reading, and there’s one prominent theme that I feel like Alexie really knows how to get across to his readers.

First, I loved the third paragraph of the story. Already, Alexie drew me into his story while writing about the irony with his father’s “Make Love Not War” picture, which was very comical to read. I especially liked one of the captions for the picture created by some editor: “Demonstrator Goes to War for Peace.”

The second part of the story that I thought was excellently written, although rather uncomfortable to read, was when Alexie wrote about how he was “conceived during one of those drunken nights, half of me formed by my father’s whiskey sperm, the other half formed by my mother’s vodka egg.” After getting over the initial shock of the paragraph beforehand, talking about how the father would sometimes pass out during the “middle of it,” I thought to myself how well-written that passage was. The creativity that Alexie brims with really shines here because who would ever think to write about being formed by a drunk sperm and egg?

Finally, one of the last reasons why I loved reading this story was because Alexie really presents readers with the theme of having a close connection to your parents. Now, many stories have this sort of generic theme; however, Alexie really goes the distance with it because he shows this family connection in very… strange ways.

For instance on page. 26, Alexie writes about how Victor would perform a type of “ceremony” where he would wait all night for his father to return home from drinking. Then Victor would wait for him to pass out on the kitchen table, and finally he would fall asleep under the table with his head near his father’s feet so they could “dream together until the sun came up.” It’s really odd passages like this that make the story mesh together really nicely because they show a clear relationship between Victor and his parents. I won’t get into the part though where Victor talks about listening and falling asleep to his parents’ lovemaking; although, I guess I just did. X.x

In the end, Sherman Alexie has really created an awesome piece of writing with “Because my Father…” through his clever use of writing very unique passages. And after getting over the intensely awkward feeling of some of the paragraphs in the story, you can really begin to realize why Alexie put them in there, which I believe was to tie the story together with an unusual family theme.

"Nighthawks" Comparison

Throughout reading "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway, thoughts of the Edward Hopper painting "Nighthawks" raced through my mind, blending the literature and work of art together. Once you compare the two pieces of work, I think you’d definitely agree that they’re both very similar in many aspects.

First, the reading gives off a very clear and gloomy mood. It’s late at night; however, it’s still very bright in the “well-lighted” café. In my eyes, I see the bright café as a beacon for all of the troubled souls wandering the streets in need of a refuge. I could imagine it’d be a nice feeling though, being able to stay somewhere like a café while escaping a painful reality. The older waiter seems to agree with me, which is why he was willing to let the poor, old drunk stay a little bit longer at the café.

As we look at the painting, we can see that the diner is very clean. The people appear to be just thinking about life and all of its complexities. While one of the men may have his back turned towards us, his body language generally gives off a very lonely, depressing vibe. We could also compare the waiter from the painting to the older waiter in the reading as they both look pretty old and mature. Also, the diner waiter could be getting ready to close the diner like the older waiter in the reading, or he could just be working behind the counter.

After comparing the two pieces of work, it’s interesting to see all of the similarities between the two. Perhaps Hemingway became inspired to write “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” from Hopper’s painting “Nighthawks.” The mood and setting given off in both of them are so similar and could possibly reflect each other. In the end though, there is definitely an incontrovertible connection between the two works.

The Lovely Elements of "Every Little Hurricane"

Recently in class, we read and discussed a passage from The Lone Ranger and Tomb Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie entitled "Every Little Hurricane." There were definitely many parts of the reading that kept my attention. The aspects that the author seems to be getting at in the work also enticed me. In the end though, there were two main reasons why I loved the story.

First off, I absolutely loved how the author compares struggles and battles in real life within the family to that of storms and hurricanes in the natural world. The paragraph on page five of the passage, while short, is a excellent passage that shows the relation of the family's struggles to thundering storms.

"In those dreams, Victor and his parents would be sitting in Mother's Kitchen restaurant in Spokane, waiting out a storm. Rain and lightning. Unemployment and poverty. Commodity food. Flash floods." p.5

However, my definite favorite scene of the entire passage is actually near the beginning at the start of page two, where the two uncles are shown fighting. The undeniable contrast that Alexie depicts with the two uncles astounds me. Not only does she contrast how the uncles are physically different, "One was tall and heavy, the other was short, muscular." But she also shows readers the contrasting emotions that the uncle's experience while they fight against each other.

For instance, “he could see his uncles slugging each other with such force that they had to be in love. Strangers would never want to hurt each other that badly” is one of the few phrases that the author uses to demonstrate the distinction of uncles, their emotions, and the writing of the passage itself. The author then goes on to describe the love and hate within the looks of the uncles. Basically, I really enjoyed reading this part of the reading because I loved how Alexie intelligently used the element of contrast throughout it.

There’s also a second reason for why I was drawn to the uncle’s fight scene passage; in my opinion, Alexie really hits home with relating to real life when he talks about how no one at the party tried to stop the fighting of the uncles. “Witnesses” as he called them--no one was willingly change the situation. I personally feel like this occurs everyday in the real world. People may witness an act of violence or cruelty happening as they watch but not do anything to stop it.

I was slightly skeptical of this reading when we first given it; however, it has definitely proved to be one of my favorite readings of the school year thus far, which is including the readings from AP Composition that many of us had begun taking prior to College Literature. The elements Alexie uses to describe the contrast of the uncles, and also how he relates storms to everyday struggles all culminates together to fabricate an absorbing piece of work.