Readings for class on 9/29

After reading for class today, I felt as though pages 132-135 in Telling True Stories were the most helpful to me. It mapped out that accuracy, atmosphere, dialogue and emotion are the most important to get through to whoever will be reading your profile. You have to create the perfect atmosphere that your reader will enjoy word after word and want to figure out what happens next and what drives the person you are profiling. Emotion is included in that because if you create a character that is relatable, that is when people can connect with this person, through their exact words (dialogue) and accurate storytelling. I felt that this section of reading condensed all of the important parts of profiling someone into a simple way.

Book Club- Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arab by Jean Sasson

The group that I am in for book club will be reading Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arab by Jean Sasson. My expectations for this book are that it will be interesting to read, and a complete new outlook on Saudi Arabia's culture through the eyes of the princess. Saudi Arabia has a completely different culture than we do here in the United States and I am looking forward to learning about their customs and what the princess had to deal with in her life time. After looking at the summary, I can tell that this book will be worth the read. The princess is a prisoner in her own home and I am excited to read and find out more of the details of her life and how she deals with everyday life.

Zepps Last Stand

After reading Zepps Last Stand, I felt like I knew him. Madeleine Blais did a great job at portraying the man Edward Zepp was. This was a very personal story that shows Zepp's old age which can also tug at some emotions. He holds on to hope that he can get an honorable discharge from the army, after not getting anything for serving his time. At 83 years old, he needs to get this clear so he can have relief. Similar too Mrs Kelly's monster, it was helpful that she used dates for the reader to follow along. Although I enjoyed this story, it was hard to focus and get through the beginning of it. There was a lot of information at once. At the end of the story, I could almost feel his sigh of relief after hearing the judge say, "(1) That all Department of the Army records of Edward Zepp be corrected to show that he was separated from the Army of the United States on a Certificate of Honorable Discharge from the Army of the United States dated 9 November 1919 in lieu of the General Discharge Certificate of the same date now held by him.” It was also sad that he got the news that someone had voted against him and he is holding anger towards him. It is completely understandable, but I think that added tension and a realistic/relatable twist to the end because of people holding grudges. Madeleine Blais wrote a good story about Zepp and told a great story about his early life.

Mrs Kelly's Monster

The title alone of this reading grabs the readers attention, wanting us to know what is this monster? The way in which Jon Franklin sets up his story works well. He starts off telling us about Mrs Kelly and her husbands day, their daily routines and then brings us right into the problem and what is her monster. This allows the reader to have something to relate with the topic, showing that this could have happened to anyone, and just like that our daily routines can be altered. To add on, it also shows how strong Mrs Kelly was when Franklin mentions how she kept going and living with the pain even for another birth of her child and to take care of her husband. I like that Franklin used time tables to show us when things were happening because it was almost like I was there in the room with the doctor as he was doing the surgery, looking back and forth from the clock to the operating table. It made this intense situation even more intense. It was very effective. Emotions are what drive this piece. We hang on as readers to see what happens to her because of the language that he uses and the tense situation. When someone's life is in danger, we want to see a miracle happen and for that person to be able to make it and beat the odds. The final line of the story, when he says "The monster won." is showing us that Mrs. Kelly did not make it through surgery, but Franklin reminds us of what Mrs. Kelly had said before the surgery, "I'm not afraid to die." The emotional ending leaves us wondering how Mr. Kelly is going to be able to live on his own without his wife.

Paper #1 Ideas

The three options that I have for the first paper are my friend's sister, who I have never met. She is in her mid-twenties and randomly up and left and moved from a small town in MA all the way to Amsterdam. I am curious to find out this specific story which she created for herself and what she hopes to come out of it. Another option that I am exploring (I know that you said we cannot do family members) but I believe my brother Brian would be a another good person to do my paper on. To profile him, would be very interesting because he suffered a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) a little more than a year ago and is a completely different person that he was before. I think it could be interesting to share this specific story in his life and see what he has to say about it. For my third option, I was thinking of asking one of the woman who works in a dining hall at BSU. I have talked to her before since my freshman year, and she is a very interesting person with what seems to be a interesting life. I feel that I need to go over the main points of this paper again to make sure that I will be doing it correctly and asking this person the right questions in order to have success with my paper.