Sunday, March 28, 2010
Journal Entry # 7
On Wednesday's class, we all brought in our reflections on "Pieces of the Frame" ( In my last post, I called the article ("The Frame", thinking that Professor Hunt meant it was literally just pieces of "The Frame"). When I realized this, I began thinking of why McPhee named his article this? I felt kinda proud of myself because it actually raised questions in class! haha. But anyway, it was interesting to hear everyone's interpretations of the article. There were definitely some interesting reflections. I am having a difficult time remembering them as I have been feeling quite sick this weekend. I want to make a more elaborate post later in the week when I can gather my thoughts better.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Journal Entry #7
Our assignment for this week was very challenging, but enjoyable. We were given McPhee's article entitled "The Frame" in pieces; our job was to try and piece the article back together in a way that we thought sounded right. This turned out to be quite difficult as there were pieces that seemed to be totally unrelated to the article. Professor Hunt even mentioned he might add in some pieces that don't belong, so automatically when reading through the sections the first time I became skeptical of certain ones.
It was challenging because I found that I just wanted to group everything together in a certain order; McPhee explains the lake; McPhee explains the observatory; McPhee introduces Skelton; Skelton talks about the monster, the end. I did this, and then realized that I didn't know where to fit in those random pieces that didn't really relate to the story, but had memories in them that did relate somehow to the article. I ended up leaving one of the "random" pieces out, and sticking another at the end.
When we got into our groups on Wednesday to discuss with each other how we chose to organize the article, it was really interesting to see how everyone came up with something different. You would think that when putting together an article, there would be a somewhat basic outline that everyone would follow. However, this was not the case at all; no one had the same order whatsoever.
When we discovered this, it made me realize just how unique John McPhee's writing is. He has the ability to get all this information and put it together in a way that doesn't neccesarily "flow", but still sounds right to the reader. By doing this, I find he creates a much more enjoyable read; the random tidbits he puts in intrigue the reader and also allow the reader to think beyond the article itself, to something deeper.
It was challenging because I found that I just wanted to group everything together in a certain order; McPhee explains the lake; McPhee explains the observatory; McPhee introduces Skelton; Skelton talks about the monster, the end. I did this, and then realized that I didn't know where to fit in those random pieces that didn't really relate to the story, but had memories in them that did relate somehow to the article. I ended up leaving one of the "random" pieces out, and sticking another at the end.
When we got into our groups on Wednesday to discuss with each other how we chose to organize the article, it was really interesting to see how everyone came up with something different. You would think that when putting together an article, there would be a somewhat basic outline that everyone would follow. However, this was not the case at all; no one had the same order whatsoever.
When we discovered this, it made me realize just how unique John McPhee's writing is. He has the ability to get all this information and put it together in a way that doesn't neccesarily "flow", but still sounds right to the reader. By doing this, I find he creates a much more enjoyable read; the random tidbits he puts in intrigue the reader and also allow the reader to think beyond the article itself, to something deeper.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Journal Entry#6
This week in class I learned a lot about McPhee himself. I was very intrigued and surprised to learn how he goes about writing his articles. I had no idea he hated writing so much! When I read his work, it is so well written that I could only assume he is very passionate about it and puts a lot of work into it. He does indeed work very hard on his articles; he goes out and does everything he can in order to get the true, full story. But when it comes to piecing everything together, he apparently hates it. He takes an excruciating amount of time to type anything up, and once he does he rearranges it countless times.
A lot has been said about the writing style McPhee has as well. He has the ability to subtly show his opinion through his work; someone in class read a quote they found in an article that describes McPhee and his "ability to juxtapose difficult questions in a way that insures that the reader will become his partner in the making of meaning". By the way he writes, he has the ability to have his readers side with his point of view. He never shoves his opinions in your face, but still gets his point across. Another point that was made in McPhee's writing is that his work always has a lot of facts with narrative sentencing. So the reader is reading this very informative article, but they are reading it with the idea that is more like a fictional book, because of the way he writes.
He is a very active journalist as well. A lot of people who write, usually just like to be the invisible person in the room, the fly on the wall. However, McPhee gets involved with his subjects. Like playing basketball with the player's he is interviewing. By doing this McPhee takes his research a step further, by establishing more intimate relationships with his interviewers, he is more susceptible to getting information that is true and close to home, creating a very impressive article.
Katelyn Mokler
A lot has been said about the writing style McPhee has as well. He has the ability to subtly show his opinion through his work; someone in class read a quote they found in an article that describes McPhee and his "ability to juxtapose difficult questions in a way that insures that the reader will become his partner in the making of meaning". By the way he writes, he has the ability to have his readers side with his point of view. He never shoves his opinions in your face, but still gets his point across. Another point that was made in McPhee's writing is that his work always has a lot of facts with narrative sentencing. So the reader is reading this very informative article, but they are reading it with the idea that is more like a fictional book, because of the way he writes.
He is a very active journalist as well. A lot of people who write, usually just like to be the invisible person in the room, the fly on the wall. However, McPhee gets involved with his subjects. Like playing basketball with the player's he is interviewing. By doing this McPhee takes his research a step further, by establishing more intimate relationships with his interviewers, he is more susceptible to getting information that is true and close to home, creating a very impressive article.
Katelyn Mokler
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