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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
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- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
In Karr’s chapter we go through what is as writers always go through in a non fiction course or just writing about our lives, and that is details. Details about specific dialogue that was used to specific details of our surroundings. Even that if a person was with us during the time of this particular memory. How can we better our own writings when we can’t remember the entire memory. We look for bits and pieces as she mentions our minds being, like a pinball machine or a tiny thread we keep pulling at until we get to the end. We have the ability to find certain memories and write about them. As Ferguson writes her memory of particular events are all over the place as well, yes she keeps to a timeline but somehow in certain areas refers back to other memories which is never a bad thing as I know myself to do. To write as she does and keep it so short is amazing and well written. We don’t have to talk beginning to end of the entirety of our lives but the moments we see fit to mention as she does. It works well with the audience.
ReplyDelete-Christina Velasquez
In, “The Haunting Of The Mexican Border” by Kathryn Ferguson, I really enjoyed chapter two where she talks about her losing her dancing business and how she felt lost, how she felt pressure to find something to pay the bills and how one job she really wanted she didn’t get. I liked how she writes that she laid on the floor and felt bad for her self and then later tells her self to stop whining. All of these things happen, all of these things are real. I don’t know reading all this, goes back to the preface of Mary Karr’s book, how we all like prying into other peoples life’s. Then Ferguson ends up getting another job, one she came to love and was even promoted to a better position. Then in Mary Karr, “The Art of Memoir” I liked that she talks about memory and how even if it happens before your eyes the details are still hazy, this is the chapter where she mentions that she likes to send out her memoirs to make sure her what she’s writing is next to the truth. I honestly read through the chapter quickly. Her form of writing is easy to digest.
ReplyDeleteAlejandra Rodriguez
I really enjoyed Ferguson's reading. I enjoyed the first chapter especially the part where she is dancing to Rhapsody Blues and having a good time and just dropping on the floor in the end. The reason why I liked that is because if we go back to the beginning she says that in her old country there is a constant sense of fear. Whether it be someone not returning home, leaving the country forever, or even the sounds of the clicks on a telephone. So, knowing that dancing was her get away or her happy place, it reminds me that we are all humans. No matter the circumstances I think we all have emotions and feelings and they way she conveys them in the first chapter aligned with the beginning sort of reminds me of my younger days. On Karr's chapter, I really liked how she says that a memory is constantly happening before your eyes and how specific dialogue is used for specific places because it kind of reminds me of an older person telling stories of their past to their grandchildren or other young people. That's what I'm getting about what a memoir is... sort of.
ReplyDelete-Marco Garza
In “The Haunting of the Mexican Border” I felt the story real. The depth of self pitty, doubt, anger, sadness, and disappointment just travels on to the reader. The way the tells her story on how she wanted the job she had a passion for it and she knew a lot over the requirements. Even after all those good things she still wasn’t hired she felt like she had failed and she kept asking herself questions. After that, she came to the conclusion that she was going to try something else and she got back up and helped herself get to where she wanted to. I found it relatable because we have all at some point come across an obstacle that has made us feel unworthy and not capable of getting it done. Me personally I have come across a lot of those, but I’ve learned that sitting there and crying over it won’t get things resolved. I enjoyed this reading it was refreshing and an eye opener that things can get done.
ReplyDeleteMary Karrs “The Past Vigor” she played along with what memories are and she really had me thinking through the chapter. Memories occur at every second right before our eyes and when we look back to talk about it we sometimes interpret things differently. This might be like she says that some students replied to her that maybe she was sleeping with him, or that scene reminded that person of his or her parents fighting, or that she had maybe done something to him in order for him to react like that. Everyone saw things differently at different times and added dialogue that didn’t even happen. Memory is hard because not everything will be perfect but that’s okay.
-Abigail VAsquez
The first chapter of Karr’s book, “The Past’s Vigor”, mostly focuses on our memories and how we recall certain events in our lives. This chapter shines light on how sometimes we perceive these memories of events differently despite being present at them and seeing them transpire before our eyes such as when she stages a confrontation with another professor and her students each write down something different. I could relate to the more I thought about it because not only do I am I guilty of recalling events differently, but this subject matter has popped up in past Criminal Justice classes I’ve taken wherein we discussed the nature of eye witness accounts and how some people will perceive things differently. In the first two chapters of Kathryn Ferguson’s “The Haunting of the Mexican Border”, we are given an extensive look into the author’s past as she details her way through her memories and conjures up images from the imagination of the dreams of her youth to the gritty nature of reality. Overall, Ferguson describes to us the good times of her life like the aforementioned dream sequence she describes and dancing to music like “Rhapsody in Blue” or “Mal Hombre” while also giving us a glimpse into the uncertainty in life after losing her business and not knowing what to do afterwards.
ReplyDeleteNarciso Garcia Jr.
Mary Karr’s first chapter deals with the uncertainty that comes with trying to recollect memories in order to write a memoir. Thing is that most people suck at remembering things. I know I do. I liked the example that Karr uses on page 2. Having those scripted scenes to put on in front of her new classes is an excellent way of showing just how fickle our memory is. I think her biggest message here is that it’s okay. Most of the time we base our memories off the emotions we had at the time so there’s always going to be discrepancies between what you think happened, what your friend thinks happened, and what actually happened. It’s a fact of life. Ferguson’s To Begin sets the tone, I’m assuming, for the rest of the book. She gives us our setting and goes back to her roots for a bit, explaining her relation to the US/Mexican border. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say she did this for credibility. The next two chapters are a lot more interesting to me, namely because I love Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (truly a wonderful piece) and I can really relate to that exhilarating feeling that music gave her. I feel the same way whenever I hear Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights from his 64th OP, the Romeo and Juliet ballet. I believe this chapter was meant to show us how Ferguson was truly a part of two different worlds like most people that live in border towns. Her second chapter, Job, is a pretty accurate description of how I feel every day, but it gives us a brief account of how she found a new passion in her life that will no doubt be of use later in the book.
ReplyDeleteAngie Acuña
Reading the first 2 chapters of, “The Art of Memoir’ by Marry Karr, I had some new insight in the world of writing. First off I’d like to say that we as humans do have memories of things that have happened to us, but it does beg the question of how accurate are those memories? If you are the only one who can remember the event, then how can you fact check yourself? We as humans can have our memories distorted or even create false memories of what had happened. I could very much relate when Karr mentions how something so simple as the environment, person, or object can flood an individual with memories. This unearthing of old memories is something that we have all been through at one point in our lives. What really took the cake for me was in the second chapter where she talks about how to tell the truth in an experience. I’m one who tends to be blunt and tries to get straight to the point. The way she explains telling the truth is a method I haven’t thought of before. It goes back to the earlier readings from Moore about writing being a journey, and Karr overlaps with Moore in her example about writing a painful past. You could be blunt and get straight to the point, but the reading would be too repetitive and uninteresting. Adding the small bit of hope in suffering takes the reader on a roller coaster. I began to think about how that applies in movies, where good script with good acting will take the audience on a ride that they will remember. That small glimmer of hope can make all the difference in building a story.
ReplyDelete-Benito Reyes
“The Haunting of the Mexican Border” by Kathryn Ferguson, the struggle of being pressured to finding a job and paying the bills she had was interesting. As well as how she talks about her losing the dancing business and how she couldn’t get the job she really wanted. She keeps these events in a timeline form and goes back to them every now and then, which is something I do at times, just to provide a memory and how things work out at the end. I liked that she did that, because not every story has its pretty sides, you must go through hardships to succeed. In Karr’s book, I enjoyed reading about where she talks about memory and how she links it to her memoirs. So far I enjoy reading her book and how she says that a memory is constantly happening before your eyes, because it’s true, time never stops and the past is inevitable. Writing about past events isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it sure just make the reader connect with you on a personal level and that’s what some readers want, to be able to relate to the author and know them personally.
ReplyDelete-Claudia Anzaldua
In The Art of Memoir, Karr talks about memory. Karr begins every workshop with a planned out scenario. The students are unaware. The students witness a dispute between Karr and another colleague involved in the demonstration. The students are later told to recall the scene. Karr knows every single detail that went into the scene. Karr explains that the students have a hard time detailing what had happened. I liked that Karr is up front about Memory being warped. Comparing Memory to a Pin Ball marching was a great metaphor. Karr made me realize that memory is not always 100%. When writing a memoir, yes, the topic was set off by a trigger. However, what you see in your head is probably not what happened in real life.
ReplyDeleteFerguson, chapter one was a interesting read. Right now, its about her life growing up near the border. As an adult, Ferguson has no job. She is overqualified for a poster saleswoman. She eventually gets a job as a grunt person working for PBS. Ferguson mentions a back-and-forth with John McCain. Ferguson realizes her passion is film making and wants to peruse it. I liked the second chapter the most because it’s the start of something.
--Mathew Betancourt
I really enjoyed reading "The Haunting of the Mexican Border" She really made me feel every motion that she was expressing through the chapter. In chapter two she talks about how she lost her business, and the struggles that came along with it, but during this time stays true to herself realizing that its reality and that sometimes those are the things that we encounter. I thought it was a great read and a great example of how a memoir should be. There are a lot of things that we avoid talking about especially when it comes to financial issues so I really commend her for sharing that with us. In Mary Kars essay she talks about the memories and how we create memories our entire lives and its true. In Kars essay she mentions how simple things trigger memories. I know for me certain scents bring back memories, even music can bring me back to my childhood days. Kar also talks about everyone perceiving the memory different. Everyone has their own side of how a certain thing happens through their eyes. Some people just don’t have the best of memory. I like to say that I do.
ReplyDeleteLeslie Luna
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