The two best were already chosen so I decide to write on both. While "Community College" is stylistically written and quite innovative the subject matter is a bit more commonplace. I was never bored while reading and found myself in tears more that once if only for the momentous of his daily grind. What this piece brings to the essay, more than anything else, is the way it showed me that it is written in the interests that is shared by others. "Community College" is a testament to the writers and their rare skills, of being creative at creating creative non-fiction. This is a skill that is essentially needed for writers who pour their guts out while engaging their audience. I love the peculiar, fascinating and amazing stories he shares in this piece.
Wesley Yang's "The Face of Seung-Hui Cho," which takes on the freighted topic of the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. While "Community College" and "What Come's Out" employ the techniques of literary fiction to relate autobiographical stories; they're well told, but don't transcend the memoir genre. Yang's entry is a memoir and more, providing a personal narrative of disaffection along with a studied analysis of a historical event, suggesting the wider scope that's possible within the bounds of "creative nonfiction." The techniques and forms are visible and understood through the writings. Though “What Come's Out" and "The Face of Seung-Hui Cho," are relatively simple in style their subjects are simultaneously uncomfortable and wonderful.
Craig Fontenot
I found these two pieces more favorable than the other selections from last week. Partially because the content was more relatable, as both a Virginia resident and a college student, and also because the form of both pieces stayed close to typical writing. Yes, one doesn't find prose that separates itself by weeks often, but it felt as if the author were chronicling his classroom and the weeks weren't just weeks but journal entries. Both of the aforementioned nonfiction selections had a form closer to prose that I am accustomed to than, for example, Miller's 'Table of Figures."
ReplyDeleteI agree, Craig, that Bascom's ability to entice the reader in "Community College" while minimizing inclusion of his opinion took skill. Bascom takes these people and creates characters whom the audience wants to observe. The details that he incorporates changes this piece from being a semesters worth of journaling to an interesting look at a semesters worth of life at a community college.
~Nitesh Arora