Journal Eight: from Ian

Part One:

Its hard to put into words everything you have learned since starting the non-fiction chapter, because each story is different and teaches you different methods of writing. I have learned that it is best to know exactly what voice you are trying to write in because that can effect the quality of the piece. Like if you are writing in first-person you then have to make sure that all of the other elements of your story all add up, my short story became a casualty of that. The readers have to be completely aware of what message or point is trying to get made in the story, and my story did none of that. Most of the pieces in this chapter are Narratives, but there is one that looks so out of place and has some kid of effect on the reader. The El Toro Rojo piece by Dinty W. Moore stood out right away because of the length, I like stories that get right to the point, in other words I am still a lazy reader, but I am working on it. Never the less after I read the story I realized that it was one of the most brief, yet entertaining stories. First thing I noticed was the title, even though I failed Spanish in high school I understood the title "The Red Bull", and immediately I know it is a story about matadors and how they have the red flag thingy and that's what I like about the story, I don't want to have to dig to find out what the underlying theme of a story is, I want it right in the title. The second thing that stood out about this piece was the author, not that I knew anything about him (I'm assuming), but his name. What kind of name is Dinty, and what could that possibly be short for? I like how it adds intrigue to the piece and a real sense of mystery to the piece, is this guy (?) Spanish? Or is he just observing something like this happening as a tourist from the outside.

Part Two: The essay i chose is out of the Harvard Review, which from the sound of the magazine it sounds like something about it would be worth reading. I have never really looked online for essays like this because i am always just scrounging the internet looking for the next thing to read. I will admit that i do not have the attention span of a normal person like say someone who doesn't use social media.

http://harvardreview.fas.harvard.edu/?q=features/fiction/my-family-recalls-cookout-circa-1989

This is a story that makes you go way back, to remember a time when things were not as good as they are today, and you are able to laugh about the stories that you have been able to tell along the way.  The story summed up is of a family reminiscing about a memorable family barbecue, which took place in 1989, awkward year it seems. What i've learned from this piece is that you always have to be able to look back at the bad times and just remember, theres always something better waiting for you along the way. That is a very powerful tool in writing because it can take us to different times and places.