The Black Automaton and Unexplained Presence

The Black Automaton was almost poetic in its structure, yet were not held together in any sort of specific scheme.  Kearney used plenty of sensory and concrete language to evoke emotions possibly relating to black struggle and problems associated with this society and black people.  I enjoyed the erratic scheme of this collection of poems, and they were very effective in conveying each of their messages.  Though they were trite in length, they were powerful in that each poem had a different theme, idea, and layout.  The poems that caught my eye the most were "From Voltron", and "Tallahatchie Lullaby, Baby", due to their unique layouts.  "Tallahatchie Lullaby", Baby interested me with its use of rhyming as well as alliteration, while "From Voltron" used an odd and erratic layout that was aesthetically pleasing.

Unexplained Presence used a short story style of narrative in its collection, yet was very descriptive in nature and very powerful as well.  This collection also deals with the strife of black people and deals with the black character as a whole in each story.  The description at the beginning that served as an intro stated that: "Black figures in Eurocentric literature, film, and visual art are rarely presented without being given a distinct, racialized function (Bryant 1)".  This is shown throughout each story, as the African American protagonists are all distinctly racialized in their language, habits as well as their issues.  This collection of stories effectively conveys the role of African Americans in all types of media and explores their role in storytelling and how adding race can affect the narrative.

I enjoyed both of these collections of poems and short stories due to their messages and their styles of narrative and structure.  I enjoyed The Black Automaton the most because I was captivated by the use of language and the aesthetic beauty that was associated with it.  It proved the effectiveness of the African American style of writing, and while it was somewhat confusing, the message throughout the collection was consistent.

Juice by Renee Gladman

These stories are interesting in its narrative direction, in that you must decide what is occurring in each story.  Each instance seems to follow a different person entirely, and they are seemingly unrelated.  They seem to follow a direct "stream of consciousness" style of narrative, and the events seem to attempt to sum up the underlying feelings and actions relating to the loneliness of the narrator.  There is no real rhyme or reason to the narrator's method of storytelling, however it all seems to flow together within each instance in an archaic and stylized manner.  The stories are intentionally vague, and in that the story becomes more mysterious and subtle, making it more interesting to the reader.

Apart from the loneliness described at the beginning, another theme I happened upon was not being able to fit in.  "People tend to have faith that the juice they drink in the morning is the same juice they have always drunk.  And the apples take their shape naturally.  The guy, whose name escapes me now, taught me to look  upon others' concerns as mine to make at home [...] When my friends came by- they liked to suddenly show up with all kinds of breads in their hands, thinking they knew what I needed and planned to force in on me - I had to tell them I was busy with my juice"(Gladman 22).  This might mean that the narrator was comfortable with his/her own ways (her juice) and did not want to adopt other people's ideals, thus making her lonely though they are surrounded by others.  In the beginning of the story, the narrator outlines being lonely because no one else is around.  The narrator states that the town "... is still vibrant though I have not seen anyone in years.  I am not in jail - they have just gone"(Gladman 10).  The narrator appears to be in denial about the town even returning, saying that the narrator is not imprisoned, yet she is all alone in this desolate town that the narrator considers "vibrant".  However, he seems to see the desolation as positive and he might be making the best out of a bad situation.

I enjoyed this novella for its style and method of story progression; it acts more as a collection of short stories than a cohesive story altogether because of the different instances that each chapter presents.  The author leaves many details up to the reader, such as the gender of the protagonist as well as the situation they are in.  This makes the reader wish to keep going, as if they are hungry for more details about the story, though they will be usually be meager and vague intentionally.  The author goes off of her own thoughts in a non-linear fashion, as if the book were inside the protagonist's direct thoughts.  At first, the story does not even make it clear whether the each division is together, or whether they are separate stories of their own.  Once one continues, however, the divisions imply that there is no correlation between the novels, thus demonstrating the slow feeding of information that this novella follows.

More Fiction Packet #2

My first impression of the story, "People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water" in the second fiction packet was that it dealt in a great deal of exposition and plenty of build up.  This story was interesting, because it consisted of a large amount of concrete details and specific imagery.  The poetic language was very effective in conveying the story to the reader and was very aesthetically pleasing.  The story effectively paints a picture of the setting and what is occurring between characters, even though not much happens at the beginning of the tale.

This story was thoroughly entertaining, as it powerfully illustrated hardships in the west between various families in the early 20th century.  One of the more interesting aspects of the story is how the author is able to fluidly switch from one family's perspective to another.  The sensory language within the story definitely pulls you in at the beginning, as the language is harsh and emotionally charged.  At first, it is unclear where the setting truly takes place, as it uses modern places and attributes to describe the setting: "Fences, cattle, roads, refineries, mines, gravel pits, traffic lights, graffiti’d celebration of athletic victory on bridge overpass, crust of blood on the Wal-Mart loading dock, the sun-faded wreaths of plastic flowers marking death on the highway are ephemeral."  It appears, though, that this text serves as some sort of intro or foreword, acting as some sort of message before the actual story.  The transition is confusing, however the rest of the story seems to follow uniformity following the Dunmires and the Tinsleys.  

What occurs within the story is also very emotionally-charged, given the obstacles placed in front of either family during the harsh seasons in the west.  This story is interesting because it brings to light many brutal and grating issues they face and the decisions they face.  I was notably shaken by the actions of the Tinsleys, such as when Mrs. Tinsley throws her child in the water, thus committing murder.  I enjoyed this story a great deal, as it emulated the effectiveness of a brief tale as opposed to an extensively long one.

Fiction Packet #2

This packet proved to be a nice contrast to the other fiction packet, because that the stories are much longer and are still effective and interesting.  I particularly enjoyed the Brian Evensan piece titled "Internal", as it proved that the sole purpose of a short story of that length is optimal for story telling over message conveyance.  This particular packet contradicted the first one in length, which allowed for more of a narrative to develop as opposed to small instances.  This allowed for there to be multiple parts within the story that acted as chapters in order to fluidly display the plot line.  I derived from this that shorter of pieces of writing act as a certain type of "poetry" in that it displays more sensory details and utilizes language in certain ways for an aesthetically pleasing effect.

I feel it is more appropriate in these types of stories to analyze the plot as opposed to writing style and conventions relating to language.  The story, "Internal" from Contagion by Brian Evensan was suspenseful and interesting.  The story revolves around an unnamed intern working under a Doctor Rauch and later a Doctor Kagen, who is told without explanation to observe the respective brothers of each doctor.  I particularly enjoyed the ambiguous ending, as I was lead to believe that the people in the apartment complex are all psychotic in some way, observing each other for some sort of sick sociology experiment.  The environment that the intern was immersed in changed the way the intern reacted to outside stimuli, becoming paranoid and wary of other's intentions.  At first, the intern came into the complex entirely sane, yet the intern dared not question Dr. Rauch.  The intern became relatively insane watching the Doctors' respective brothers, as the intern was quite paranoid of being watched and observed like the others.

The stories held more of a story line, more character development, and more of a rising action leading to the climax.  The most interesting aspect of the story I mentioned was the ability to hold suspense and lead to a longer narrative as opposed to a short synopsis of one particular instance.  These stories prove what a short story can be when they emphasize plot and character development.

Fiction Packet #1 Post

The written word takes on many forms, be it a poem, a short story, an essay, or a novel, however, one medium seems to be quite popular with many authors in fiction, namely, short stories.  The short story is a very different style of writing from a poem indeed, as in a poem, all words are deliberate and they play with the conventions of writing in order to convey meaning and purpose.  While a poem can tell a story, that is not its main purpose, as a short story is arguably the most direct form of story telling and as a result, is quite straightforward and simple to follow, as it arcs in regular story fashion, (exposition, rising action, climax and denouement).  I enjoyed the short stories very much, as they effectively told their stories and conveyed their meaning.

The stories that caught my eye particularly were the Mystery Stories by Sharon Krinsky, as her style was unique and ultimately proved that a story does not have to be lengthy to be interesting.  In these stories, she essentially deconstructs stories that would normally consist of lots of details and adjectives, but instead includes bare summaries of stories.  She most likely does this to leave the details and meaning up to the reader, as she only describes a brief plot line of a single occurrence.  "I go to a restaurant that's like a nightclub in a 40's movie.  At my table are three white plates filled with strawberries.  No one else is there.  I am afraid I will have to pay for their dinners when they come back".  Krinsky truly captures a short story by making the shortest story possible while still providing a plot; she does not add descriptive or concrete details, so she allows the reader to figure out what she is saying.  She does this all while providing an absurd or convoluted meaning in order to force the reader to solve what she is attempting to say, if anything at all.

These stories were very unique and interesting, and ultimately set a standard for what a short story should strive to emulate.  A short story tells of a brief instance that occurs over a short period of time, instead of creating character development and building up the story for a long period of time.  That being said, a short story can be any length as long as it does not border on being the size of a novel or novella.  The short story can have many different instances, as long as it wraps it up or proves its point in a brief manner.