The three readings resonated with me in different ways. I felt disconnected from Hemon's piece, "Reasons I Do Not Wish to Leave Chicago: An Incomplete, Random List." Perhaps this is because the title rings true -- it is incomplete and random. Although there is beauty in unpredictability, I personally resonate with pieces that flow and connect. "The Snow Line" by Kailyn McCord and "Writing Home" by Camille Dungy sparking something in my heart, like a match to a gas stove. Stories like these, stories that make you feel, are magic.
McCord applies less imagery compared to Dungy but utilizes other literary devices. For example, McCord writes, "She tells me about how it was her mother who first showed her the woods, how they hiked together, how there has not been so much hiking this year, how that is hard." The use of anaphora and asyndeton result in feelings of nostalgia and vulnerability. The reader understands that the subject misses the time she spent with her mother, without McCord specifically writing that.
Dungy uses a significant amount of imagery which helps the reader step into her mind and see what she sees. For example, she writes, "Walking down a slope is different than walking on flat land, and each part of my legs recorded required positions until they could move as correctly up and down those bluffs as my tongue might move over the alphabet." From the author's description, I can imagine myself walking in the same rhythm as her, with ease and calculation. I can practically feel the familiar tension in my muscles that I felt running around the hills in my own backyard.
Typically, when I write about place, I am writing about my experiences abroad. These writings always come across as diary entries where I explain what I did, rather than what I felt. I'm excited to practice writing about place in a way that is creative and dynamic. I plan to apply literary devices in my essay, like Dungy and McCord. Sensory imagery in particular will be useful in describing my small rural hometown.
When I write, I find myself over analyzing and investigating every word. The problem is that I lose the moment. I'm so focused on perfect diction and perfect structure that I stop thinking about the place and how it makes me feel. Consistently, I fail to capture the emotion. Dungy and McCord most certainly reworked their writings before publishing them, but it is also clear that they wrote with their hearts, not just with their minds.
Dungy uses a significant amount of imagery which helps the reader step into her mind and see what she sees. For example, she writes, "Walking down a slope is different than walking on flat land, and each part of my legs recorded required positions until they could move as correctly up and down those bluffs as my tongue might move over the alphabet." From the author's description, I can imagine myself walking in the same rhythm as her, with ease and calculation. I can practically feel the familiar tension in my muscles that I felt running around the hills in my own backyard.
Typically, when I write about place, I am writing about my experiences abroad. These writings always come across as diary entries where I explain what I did, rather than what I felt. I'm excited to practice writing about place in a way that is creative and dynamic. I plan to apply literary devices in my essay, like Dungy and McCord. Sensory imagery in particular will be useful in describing my small rural hometown.
When I write, I find myself over analyzing and investigating every word. The problem is that I lose the moment. I'm so focused on perfect diction and perfect structure that I stop thinking about the place and how it makes me feel. Consistently, I fail to capture the emotion. Dungy and McCord most certainly reworked their writings before publishing them, but it is also clear that they wrote with their hearts, not just with their minds.
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