Real and the UNREAL

I happen to be writing a paper write now arguing the Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried carries just as much, in fact more, weight than non-fictional accounts of the Vietnam War because it allows the reader to connect on a more personal level as the writer isn't just saying "This happened, then this happened.." it's much more...story like. And if a writer is good at what he does, then it shouldn't matter whether what he writes is based on his life experiences or not. Having said that, all authors add their personal experiences into their writing and I know that personally from my own fictional writing. It was, in fact, the best piece of advice I ever got from a teacher on the subject of writing: Write about what you know. And from the little I know about Ellison, he does shine through in The Invisible Man: the time era is the same, and therefore more importantly they must have had similar social experiences given the racial climate of that era.

So just because you find the two books on different shelves in Barnes and Noble, it doesn't mean I take either of them more or less seriously (going back to the "Expertise" discussion we had one day...) you take them at face value. At the end of the day, they are both stories to you, unless you are hiding something from us and are either Augustine or Ellison.............

and now I will go back to my essay in which I will in short expand upon my ideas here =]

'Factual' versus 'fictional' memoir

The type of memoir that a person writes- either fictional or factual- effects how we perceive the events in the work. If, for example, Augustine's Confessions was changed from fact to fiction, his modern audience would have much less sympathy for and understanding with the narrator. It is hard enough for members of a modern, secular society to completely relate to Augustine's religious struggles, heavy on rhetoric and light on detail as it is. With the lack of a story and more philosophical monologues, few readers looking for a fictional account of the 4th century Roman Empire will find an enjoyable read.
If modern readers would find a lack of enjoyment in Augustine's 'fictional' memoir, they would find a jarring account of segregation and racism in early 20th century America in Ralph Ellison's 'factual' Invisible Man. Ellison's prolific use of detail, showing the human race with all of its flaws but deserving of redemption, creates a picture of America under Jim Crow that rings true to those who have learned American history at the end of the 20th century. Even if the story did not actually happen, its reads to be true enough for those with a basic knowledge of American social history to earn plausibility.

9.26.09 Reflection on "Home"

Returning home Friday, September 25th presented a slew of mixed emotions in my already mixed mind. It was overwhelming. Living in Washington DC for this near month and a half stay has been by far my longest time away from home. Until riding the R5 train to our suburban Philadelphia Fort Washington station, I passed the weeks in Washington occupied and invigorated so my mind strayed from thoughts of home. I realize now how much I miss the last eighteen years of my life. The security and love of family, the familiarity of my house's turns, the solitude I find in my bedroom are all greatly missed. Life is changed in college, and only now can I confirm that the seemingly fictional and Hollywood-ized depiction of going home is without a doubt very true.

My mom picked me up at the train station, beaming a smile like I've never seen. She brought our dog Rascal who greeted me in his own, though equally exuberant dog way. My mom proceeded, as planned quite sneakily, to pick up my dad from a different train station as he returned from a long business trip out west. The two returned home and my dad opened the door to find me, his only son, waiting with a hug. He did a double take as he first glanced me, but soon his expression was one of sheer happiness. He even called me as I rode the train home, and I had to carefully place my words so as not to ruin the surprise. It was worth it. He said it was his best surprise ever, that much better since coming off an exhausting trip. We had pizza and hung out for the night. It was a great weekend.

So now I prepare for my voyage home. I have to admit I am a bit melancholy, but optimistic to continue my time if Washington. I appreciate the warmth and comfort of the green leather chair I sit in now. Rascal is sleeping in a familiar spot on the sofa. The Chinctoteague Island Easter Decoy Festival posters wear the cream colored walls behind them. The soft glow of the two shaded lamps evenly fill the room. This is the way things have been for years. I won't see them until Thanksgiving. I'll survive. Leaving home, I learned this weekend, makes the return that much more glorious.

reflection

This week seemed especially long. For the lab we observed the roll that the monuments play in life and how people react to the monuments. We saw their identity not only as a national icon, but as a regular building. It was interesting to watch the people engage the building. In class on Friday we reflected on the performance each piece presented with some members of the Board of Trustees. This was an interesting activity because we got to see a different perspective from someone who has lived longer than we have. There were a couple of points in class that I wanted to respond to and because we were short on time I did not voice my opinion. Everyone kept saying that the Korean and Vietnam Memorial was more emotional for those who visited because it was not a glorified war such as World War II. First I think it is important to realize that the Washington DC WWII memorial is not “thee” memorial. The main one is located at Pearl Harbor and that is where people go to memorialize those lost in the war. The WWII memorial in DC is more of a national representation bringing the states together. Everything people said in class was correct about the emotional detachment, but I disagreed with the reasoning. I think it is important to realize that the WWII memorial was “just” built. It opened in 2004, over 50 years after the war ended, while in comparison the Korean opened in 1995 and the Vietnam in 1982. Those wars were more recent than WWII so those who fought were still alive to mourn. The average age of a soldier serving in WWII around 65 or 70 when the memorial opened, most started to die so it does not create as much as an impact. I really do not think it has to do with the impact of the wars, but it has to do with the time period and the identity of the monument. I think it needs to be clear that no war is glorified, simply the grieving time has passed, and to most people it is a piece of history, not really a “current event” such as the Korean or Vietnam wars. Another point that I wanted to make in class was in reference to the Lincoln memorial. It was brought up how the Lincoln Memorial was modeled after the Temple of Zeus and PTJ asked if the memorial is treated like a temple. Some people said it was because it is such a national figure however when I observed the interaction of people with the monument the idea of a temple did not come across. I had already known that the Lincoln Memorial was modeled after this particular temple and I thought it was humorous to watch people “desecrate” that temple. I saw many people using it as a place of exercise, a meeting place, and a lunch stop. From my understanding, those are not normal activities for a temple. I would expect sovereign respect all around. I’m not saying people were not respectful, but I didn’t see the identity of a temple coming into play. Lincoln is a figurehead and the fact that was “thee” tourist attraction was very clear, but it did not serve as a temple. Those were just a couple of things that I wanted to say in class, but ran out of time to say. Not very important, but that is all I have to reflect on for this week. The baseball game was fun. It was my first so I enjoyed the experience! Sadly, the Nationals lost, but at least they scored one run in the 8th inning!

Reflection 9/27

This weekend I had the opportunity to watch two very different movies and for some reason the disparity between the two movies made me think of the different fronts movies put on. One of the movies I watched was a terrific horror movie called Descent. When I say it was terrific I mean it was terrible. The basic plot was that six woman trying to find some excitement in their lives decide to travel into a cave which is, of course, inhabited by either bats that evolved into semi-humans or humans who evolved semi-bats. Of course, these bat things jump out of dark places and then attack and mutilate the women who quickly turn on each other. The other movie I watched was a bollywood movie called Dil Se. This gem told the story of a man who looked at a woman once and fell madly in love with her. Despite only having seen her once and never actually having a conversation with her, the man decides to hunt the woman down relentlessly and tell her of his endless and undying love for her, even after it is revealed that the woman is affiliated with a terrorist organization.

Although I really did enjoy watching both of these movies, afterwards I could not help but think about how stupid they were. People want certain things from their movies, and at certain points in the movie, I felt that the movies would be so much better if the directors did not give the people what they wanted. There are certain formulas that most movies tend to follow. For instance, in Dil Se, at the end the man and woman both reveal their true love to each other. I think the movie would have been much better if the man instead realized that he was in love with his faithfully waiting fiance, instead of the woman who is attempting to blow up half the participants in a parade. I don't know if this is relevant at all, but I really think that in some situations, movies would be much better if they were not constantly following the same stupid formulas and were actually surprising.

Bookstore politics

On a visit to Dupont Circle this week, I passed by several bookstores, and visited a few. What struck me more than the selection of the books, however, was how the political views of the management were expressed in the layout of the stores.
While entering Books-A-Million, I was immediately struck by a large pile of Glen Beck's latest book, Arguing with Idiots. Among the 'recommended titles' was Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism. I did not see the tables full of Obama paraphernalia that I was used to in the local Borders or Barnes and Noble in my hometown, Bowie, which had a majority African American population. It was quite subtle, but easily noticed.
Others were not so subtle in their political viewpoints. One gay bookshop made their disdain for social conservatism blatant, filling their window display with signs condemning the passage of Proposition 8 in California, mannequins with t-shirts reading "legalize gay", and various political books supporting gay marriage. I couldn't help but smile at their honesty. There was no use of the subtilties seen in Books-A-Million; they wore their hearts on their sleeves.
In a town that runs on politics, it is not hard to believe that the great issues fought over in Congress could flow over into the city's public life. During these book store visits, it became quite clear to me just how extensive it can be.

Board of Trustees

Having the Board of Trustees in class was an experience, not necessarily good or bad. The wierd thing about it was that you could almost feel everyone putting on a front in a way: dressing neatly and such. What was a little awkward for me was that I had a feeling that the man trustee was a Vietnam vet... but only in between our discussion of the Vietnam memorial and his introduction. It made me feel just awkward about everything, because at some points we must have been bringing up things that were sensitive material to him and he even said that he knew people who never came back from Vietnam. I felt maybe I was being a little insensitive, especially because I raised the idea that the memorials do not necessarily need evoke emotion in order to be effective in commemorating the war.

I would have been a little more sensitive if I had thought about it...I was even telling my group how when I was at Union Station the other day, I was sitting next to a Vietnam veteran and the fiancee of a man who served in Iraq. They were comparing and constrasting their two experiences which was so interesting. The Vietnam veteran was saying that "the war never goes away - it's with me 24/7, 365". It was interesting to eavesdrop on their two stories.

Still - I was thought having the Trustees there brought an interesting perspective to the class and allowed us to see things on a different level with, in a sense, more adults in the room.

On a different note, this whole spiel with the war memorials (in addition to reading Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried, has ignited my interest in war again, if that makes any sense. In fact, my revelation just now (as I told Keara, Molly and Anna) was that I want one of my concentration areas in SIS to be Peace and Conflict Resolution!! haha! Good moment. I kind of already knew that, but I just made sense of why I wanted to do it. I've always had an interest in war and its causes and consequences and such...

So all in all - I've enjoyed my war themed classes this week and will continue to =]

p.s. Invisible Man is pretty disturbing - point of discussion for anyone who know's what I'm talking about, but also a disclaimer =]