Seeing the details
Welcome to our English 101 blog.
"The essential purpose of art is to overcome the deadening effects of habit by representing familiar things in unfamiliar ways."--novelist David Lodge
Our purpose for this space is to have a place for the convergence of our best thoughts and writing throughout the quarter. We will regularly post our reflections on our lives as well as our thoughts on things that we are reading and questioning. Through literature and writing, we hope to "re-see" the familiar, like Ebay and McDonald's hamburgers, with new eyes.
Our first post is an observation exercise that comes from Hemingway. Hemingway, when asked by a young man who had come to him for advice on how to become a writer, says this:
Watch what happens today. If we get into a fish, see exactly what it is that everyone does. If you get a kick out of it while he is jumping, remember back until you see exactly what the action was that gave you the emotion. Whether it was the rising of the line from the water and the way it tightened like a fiddle string until drops started from it, or the way he smashed and threw water when he jumped. Remember what the noises were and what was said. Find what gave you the emotion; what the action was that gave you the excitement. Then write it down, making it clear so the reader will see it too and have the same feeling you had."
(from Rossenwasser and Stephen, Writing Analytically, 4/e, ThomsonWadsworth, 2006, p.3)
Hemingway called it a "Five finger exercise." Here are our posts--our own five finger exercises--on seeing the details.
posted by phebe @ 9:43 PM
3 Comments:
We went crunching over the semi-dry bark on the trail. The smell of rain and upturned earth lingered like incense mixed with the wet bark. All over the sounds of snarling, and barking reached us from all sides of the park. It was nearing dusk and the longer we stayed, the further the sun was disappearing below the horizon, letting the temperature dip and involuntarily made us shiver.
Every dog we passed was busy with their head in the tall, marshy grass sniffing for the last creature who marked their spot. The fresh and recent rainfall made the air feel tactile and moist, with the remaining grey clouds tumbling together in the sky looking less ominous as they floated further and further away.
The trail meandered through sparse fields grass, and bright green foliage from trees and large bushes. Every few minutes a new would go rumbling by and the danger of your knees being taken out grew more imminent the longer we continued on the trail. The rare teeny tiny dogs wouldtrot by proudly with their little sweaters and you couldn't help but think the little one would make a good snack for one the larger mastiffs or pitbulls lumbering throughout the area nearbye.
Finally the chills couldn't be held off any longer and we had leave my favorite place in the world, the dog park.
I didn't have your e-mail and my blogger page kept saying there were errors andwouldn't let me publish. I'm hoping you'll be able to see the time and day i send this so that you'll see i mad ehte deadline. Tommorrow i will have a chance to e-mail you, until then i hope this ill work.
I looked throughout my bags over and over. I reread the paper my sister had written out in her perfect handwriting telling me not to lose any of the tickets, papers or money that were enclosed with her directions. Yet there I was tearing apart my backpack, retracing my steps, and so close to tears I had to keep looking up and away. I knew I was in the right area. The sign matched what my sister had depicted, I was definitely in Tokyo’s subway station right next to the bullet train. In fact, it was the only thing that was right, except for the fact I could not find my tickets.
Misawa is at the opposite end of Japan from where Tokyo is. It’s in the northern most province, where as Tokyo is at the farthest south end of the island. I needed to get Misawa, and those tickets were $400. It was very bad news . . .
As soon as the tears were starting to spill over my eyes, an thick Irish accent reached me from behind, asking if I needed to use a cell phone or needed any help. After letting me use his personal cell phone, he then gave me enough money in change to call my sister long distance from Tokyo phone booths at the airport, which happened to run directly above the subway.
Two days later, after a very lonely night in Tokyo hotel, I found myself in Misawa. All of it thanks to the mysterious Irish Samaritan. Without whom, I have no idea how I would have got hold of my sister. And also a good $600 later after the bullet train tickets, and the hotel.
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