I really liked the tone of this essay. It flowed evenly. with a lot of humor. The title was especially brilliant tying in her father's hobby and the ending nicely. The use of language drew a clear picture of the life of her family. Her mother says "you might ought to check", and Sarah says, about her first gun experience that her father felt it was "high time". It seems as if this most likely not the way Sarah spoke growing up but it was a clever way to express her own feelings about her family. I can definitely relate to Sarah's journey into adulthood and wanting to come to terms her family and bridge the gaps of their differing ideologies, especially concerning her father. I cringed at the description of the cannon as I have a phobia surrounding such things. As the essay evolved so did the portrayal of her father. Her child-like mind saw him as a somewhat one-dimensional gun-toting Republican. As Sarah matured so did her vision of him, seeing him more as a history buff who felt a great deal of pride in his home-made cannon and various firearms. I have had similar experiences of finding great depth in my parents' perceived idiosynchrocies. Over all, her style of writing is one which speaks to me: lots of humor and poignancy with a light tone.
"The way to Rainy Mountain"
This essay was a great deal more serious in tone than the previous one. Momaday's use of description is nothing short of breathtaking, painting a picture to the reader of Rainy Mountain with phrases of beauty. "Steaming foliage seems almost to writhe in fire." Tall grass is described as "popping up like corn to sting the flesh." Whereas Sarah Vowell had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with her dad, Momaday seems to convey nothing but admiration for his grandmother. He remembers her as often praying, in fact this is the last memory he has of her. He says "she made long, rambling out of suffering and hope, having seen many things." His beautiful portrayal of her always seems to directly related to her as if, in his mind, she was simply an extension of her surroundings. In describing her house, he speaks of the "white moon, nearly full" and the "long row of trees by the creek." I, myself did and still do not have the best relationship with my family and so sometimes assume that most have this same experience. It is refreshing to know that this is not always the case.
My blog on Marissa's blog
Sunday, September 20, 2009
HW for 9-19-09
On Sarah Vowell's Shooting Dad-I suspect that on some level most people feel that they do not quite "fit in" with the rest of their family. I went to high school with two cousins who are my age (one is six months older than I am, the other one is a year-and-a-half younger). They were both popular; they were both active in sports (the kind of sports that high schools care about; one of them did football and the other one did basketball and tennis), they had a lot of friends and they went to parties every weekend. I was quiet and easy to overlook; I ran cross country, I spoke to very few people, and I spent my weekends babysitting and doing homework. My cousins went to clubs and drank Red Bull. I went to the Pearl District and drank organic juice. They made fun of me for being vegan, for choosing to walk everywhere, and for being overly-introverted. I shook my head at them for spending too much money, for getting got consuming drugs and alcohol in their mom's house, and for having questionable taste in film. We went to the same school, but we lived in different worlds.
A few years have passed since high school and we're all a bit older now. I only see my cousins when I go back home to visit my family during the summers. One of them dabbles in drugs, the other dabbles in God, and I'm into film. However, there is a common ground that underlines us all; we grew up together and therefore we have a history together.
In one of them I can see the quiet sensitivity that I feel. I think that we both have traits that no one else really notices because we're already expected to act one way. In the other one I can see the desire to succeed. I want to tell her that she's going to do well and everything will be all right, because sometimes that's all that I want someone to say to me.
So I can't help but think about Vowell's realization that she and her dad have much more in common than she once thought possible (in fact she writes that she and her dad are the same person). My cousins and I are definitely not the same people (we have different interests, different concerns, and different ambitions), but I'm beginning to realize that we do have few things in common. And that's a start.
I know I have blogged Marissa's blog previously but since no one seemed to have theirs completed when I was doing my homework, I was forced to blog her again. It actually worked out well considering Marissa's writing style is quite similar to Vowell's. I was actually thinking of Marissa's writing as I was reading "Shooting Dad". I liked Marissa's descriptions of her cousins, especially their "questionable taste in film". Ha! Vowell's essay brought up the idea of realizing your differences with your family can sometimes be smoothed over by the realization of shared history. The love Marissa feels for her cousins shines in her protective words of encoragement to her success-driven family member. I am choosing my own mother to write about next essay. I have many issues with her that go deep but as I mentally write about her to prepare, I am starting to find the beauty and magic in my mother which facilitates my own healing process.
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