Feel free to respond to any of these you like, or any questions or comments posted by a classmate, or post your own questions and comments about the readings and class discussion. Each comment gets you a "base on the scorecard" and just showing up gets you on first base, so aim for at least three posted questions/comments prior to class each week. That'll entitle you to "diamond" status, and full participation credit.
On Tuesday we need to get everyone assigned to a date for midterm report presentations, take a glance at the possibilities so you can express a preference on the sign-up sheet above.
- Any thoughts on anything we talked about during our first class on the 20th?
- If you've looked at the Richard Ford interview, do you have any comment or questions about anything he says? Does it surprise you that he says nothing his fictional characters do surprises him? Do you think other authors who say their creations take on an independent life of their own really mean it?
- "Lately, I've begun to think more than I used to about happiness." Quite an opening line. Do you find yourself thinking more, less, or not at all about happiness, the older you get? (Notice what Frank says about happiness and aging on p.11.) Do you think of the pursuit of happiness as your unalienable right? How is your own pursuit going? Does your education (which may or may not coincide with your schooling) contribute positively to the pursuit?
- Frank says (on p.2) he's "happy enough" to be himself. Are you? Does your personal perception of happiness fluctuate, depending on circumstances of the moment? Or do you think of it in a longer frame?
- "It's rare anymore to know who lives next door to you." (5) Why do you think that is? Have you ever gone out of your way to encounter a neighbor you haven't met yet? Would our society be less fragmented and polarized if more of us took that initiative?
- "We don't get to choose our parents, do we? They don't choose us, either. So it works out." (7) Should we pursue technologies that will allow parents to choose and even "design" the traits of their offspring?
- Do you, like Frank, have a hard time saying what makes you happy? 8
- [More soon... meanwhile, go ahead and post any comments or questions you have about the first chapter (thru p.46) of Be Mine.]
Comment 1 (Question #2): I quite enjoyed listening to Richard Ford talk about his writing process. While I do partly follow Barthes’ Death of the Author when approaching all types of literature and media, there still is a place in understanding a story from the creator/author’s intentions do matter. There are many insightful aspects about writing and applying literature to one’s personal life that I will come back to and ruminate on, but for the sake of this post, I will pick out a couple that struck me. When Ford said, “I don’t want you to wonder what will happen to them… This is all [I have] to say,” is very interesting to hear from an author as someone who is also a creative writer. He is interested in telling a definitive story and for the reader to focus solely on what is on the page. His frankness (pun unintended) when discussing how his characters and their relationships do not surprise or frustrate him stands out a lot to me. His characters are just instruments to tell the story he has and doesn’t see them as real people. This contrasts with a lot of creators who are more attached to their characters who talk about them as if they are real (as discussed last week in class) and I find it refreshing to hear. I’m a creator who enjoys spending time imagining how characters would act in scenarios outside the story, it is important to remember that fictional characters are literary devices used for specific purposes. They exist to behave in a certain way to tell the story.
ReplyDeleteHis way of viewing the characters as such can also be found when he discusses his process for writing the end of his novels, “When I get to the threshold of writing the end movement of the book, I ask myself, ‘what can I sat that’s redemptive? What can I say that redeems this experience? … What can I write in these sentences that will allow the reader to leave the end of the book and think that life worth living still?’” Ford’s goal is to leave the reader with something to think on, and hopefully, it be a positive one. This is something I will keep in mind as we get to the end of this novel.
Comment 2 (Question #4): As Frank stated, I am also happy enough to be myself and not someone else. As I’ve gotten older, my perception of personal happiness has fluctuated as I look back on bad past experiences and traumas and see my personal growth in life. After being formally diagnosed with depression and been on anti-depressant medication for three years now, that has contributed to a more positive view of seeing my past self. I am happy enough right now and as circumstances in the world change from day-to-day, I try to focus on happiness in the longer term. I don’t think it is over alarmist to say that the situation in America and abroad may continue to worsen before it gets better, so maintaining some level of personal happiness for right now and especially the future, as small as it may be, is vital to surviving.
Question for everyone else: On page 11, Frank states, “Everything’s of course, a narrative these days. And I didn’t particularly give a shit about mine.” What do you make of this sentiment regarding your own life? Do you think your personal narrative differs from how others in your life view you?
I also found his creative process interesting. I liked how he did a year of research. This approach did not feel forced. I also liked how he knew when to discontinue the other book once he found it uninteresting.
Delete1. Any thoughts on anything we talked about during our first class on the 20th?
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me was Dr. Oliver’s point about people today reading less and less. It gave me a flashback to the 90s, when many kids had books in their hands because they were drawn to the adventure rather than the obligation. Reading felt immersive and personal, not assigned.
As we enter a new era shaped by AI, I worry this decline may continue, as people may choose summaries over engaging with a text in its entirety. I am not against AI. In my view, it is a tool. However, we cannot allow a tool or instrument to replace the act of building understanding in the first place. My goal is to continue encouraging reading within my household.
2. If you've looked at the Richard Ford interview, do you have any comment or questions about anything he says? Does it surprise you that he says nothing his fictional characters do surprises him? Do you think other authors who say their creations take on an independent life of their own really mean it?
If I am being honest, I am not a fan of his approach in which his characters only do what he tells them to do. I respect his commitment to not lying to his audience. However, I believe people connect to stories through imagination. In the back of our minds, we know that Frank is fictional, but our imaginations still hope that the person we are following finds closure.
Why does this matter? We connect with characters by seeing ourselves or others in them. Turning off the imagination is not always that easy. We know that Harry Potter is not real, yet children who have lost their parents, who are searching for their identity, and who are navigating a new world find hope in those characters because they need hope in their own lives.
I am not saying that authors should lie to their fans. I am simply saying that they should not crush the imagination that draws readers in to begin with.
I think some other authors mean it. I believe it depends on their imagination. Richard Ford has an omniscient approach, while another author may be surprised or feel that the character is communicating with them as they write. Ultimately, it is all contingent upon an author’s imagination and creative approach.
3. "Lately, I've begun to think more than I used to about happiness." Quite an opening line. Do you find yourself thinking more, less, or not at all about happiness, the older you get? (Notice what Frank says about happiness and aging on p.11.) Do you think of the pursuit of happiness as your unalienable right? How is your own pursuit going? Does your education (which may or may not coincide with your schooling) contribute positively to the pursuit?
ReplyDeleteThese are loaded questions. I think more about happiness as I get older, or perhaps more accurately, about joy, which I see as a longer term and more consistent version of happiness. I believe this shift happens as we grow wiser and spend more time reflecting on our past. Looking back, I realize that many of the things I once obsessed over no longer matter, especially after my father’s sudden death at the age of fifty-seven. He accumulated many material items and gadgets that ultimately did not matter or fit into his casket.
That experience forced me to look in the mirror and question whether I am searching for tomorrow or truly living for today. I believe the pursuit of happiness is our right. I also believe that we all have a purpose and are challenged to discover what that purpose is. We are not created simply to work, sleep, pay bills, and repeat. We are meant to find our impact and strive toward it.
My personal pursuit of happiness is simple, but meaningful to me. It is to remain present and to fully experience today. Even if tomorrow does not come, I can say that I did my best today while being kind to myself and to others. When I stay in the present moment, I can listen more critically, think more clearly, and make better decisions, which in turn fuels my sense of happiness.
I do not base my happiness on education, because once I graduate, I do not want to feel empty. However, I believe learning extends far beyond collegiate spaces. I choose a simpler, cumulative path toward happiness rather than relying on things I cannot control. That said, education does spark my curiosity and provides me with new skills that help me operate more effectively in the present moment.
4. Frank says (on p.2) he's "happy enough" to be himself. Are you? Does your personal perception of happiness fluctuate, depending on circumstances of the moment? Or do you think of it in a longer frame?
ReplyDeleteI believe that I am as happy as I am supposed to be. Not perfect, but grounded in a stable sense of happiness that I actively try to protect from the chaos of the world. Am I impacted by what happens around me? Yes. Seeing Renee Good and Alex Pretti assassinated deeply disturbed me. I cannot ignore my emotions, but I try to remain present and make decisions that do not create foundational cracks within myself. That effort, however, does not change the fact that I am not happy with the state of our country or with the injustice faced by people who deserve to live peacefully.
Is separating the two healthy? I am not sure. What I do know is that I cannot allow my children to see the weight of the world written on my face every day. At the same time, I am not in the business of doing nothing while others suffer. Holding both awareness and responsibility feels necessary, even when it is uncomfortable.
I think of happiness as a marathon. Each day is different, and living every day without change would eventually turn life into something mechanical and hollow.
5. "It's rare anymore to know who lives next door to you." (5) Why do you think that is? Have you ever gone out of your way to encounter a neighbor you haven't met yet? Would our society be less fragmented and polarized if more of us took that initiative?
I think it is rare. I do not know either of my neighbors’ names. We used to wave, but after repeated lack of response, we eventually learned to live among what feels like ghosts. I believe we should be more friendly with one another, but that is not our reality as a Black family living in a predominantly white neighborhood.
I think this distance is rooted in racism, often tied to fears about property values decreasing due to proximity to Black families, or the belief that one arrival will lead to many more. If more people took the initiative to connect, I believe we could grow as a society and begin breaking down generations of misunderstanding.
ReplyDelete6. "We don't get to choose our parents, do we? They don't choose us, either. So it works out." (7) Should we pursue technologies that will allow parents to choose and even "design" the traits of their offspring?
I do not believe we should play God. When a society attempts to build a tower to reach the heavens, it often falls apart, scatters, and collapses..
7. Do you, like Frank, have a hard time saying what makes you happy?
I do find it hard to say what makes me happy because it is such a loaded question. I also do not want to advertise perfection. I never want to appear complete, but rather as a work in progress, still flawed, and striving for what is best.
8. [More soon... meanwhile, go ahead and post any comments or questions you have about the first chapter (thru p.46) of Be Mine.]
I think Chapter One was a good read with strong writing. It is very deep and thought provoking. I found myself thinking about the moment when he sees the woman who resembles his mother, wondering whether she could be an unknown relative, an angel, or simply a coincidence. Deep down, I do not want Paul to die, or for Frank to die internally alongside him. However, this is part of life that we all eventually face at the end of the marathon, and this book shows just how difficult that reality can be.
[Question 4]: On pondering this question, a word I feel more accurately describes how I feel is “grateful.” I am profoundly grateful to be myself. I’m grateful for my family, for all the opportunities I’ve had to travel and learn, and for the comfortable and safe environment in which I live. I’m grateful for the life experiences I’ve had (even the bad ones), because they’ve molded me into the person I am today. So, if you consider gratitude to be a form of happiness, then yes, I am happy to be myself. I don’t think I’d want to be anyone else. I like who I am - I’m kind, thoughtful, and have good work ethic - and if I were a different person, I’d want to be friends with me. Of course, this wasn’t always the case. I really related to what Amanda said about receiving a formal mental health diagnosis. When I got diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder 12 years ago and discovered there was clinical language to describe how I felt and that I wasn’t just “crazy” or “broken,” I started to view myself in a more positive light. Before that, I didn’t like myself and wished I was someone else.
ReplyDeleteI can’t decide if I think of happiness in a short-term or a long-term frame, because the situation changes day-to-day. Whenever I’m unhappy about something, I try to adopt an attitude of “it gets better” by looking past that specific circumstance and thinking about happiness that will come in the future. But of course, that’s hard to do when you’re upset about something in a particular moment and that moment feels all-consuming. Even though my sense of happiness probably fluctuates depending on circumstance, I’d say my base level of happiness is generally good. I agree with what Markeem said, that happiness is a marathon. Happiness is something we each actively cultivate and constantly build upon. Even when our leg muscles burn and the finish line seems impossibly far, we keep running - no matter how long it takes us to finish the race - because collapsing on the track won’t do us any good.
[Question 5]: People rarely know their neighbors anymore because our society drives us to isolate and prioritize our individual needs over community and collective good. People tend to be so absorbed in themselves and their own personal struggles that they don’t necessarily think about others outside their immediate household. I think the physical spaces in which we live also facilitate isolation. Land developers know they can make more money by building apartment complexes instead of single-family homes, so they do just that. As a consequence, lots of people live in spaces over which they have no ownership or control. It’s hard to build a community when you inhabit a space (such as an apartment complex) that you feel like isn’t truly “yours.” Even for people who live in houses and not apartments, the trend toward isolation holds true (though maybe to a slightly lesser extent). I know all of my immediate neighbors because I’ve lived in the same house for 27 years, but I don’t know the people who live on the next street over. Our society would absolutely be less fragmented if more people took the time to make actual human connections with their neighbors.
ReplyDelete[Amanda’s question]: Unlike Frank, I do “give a shit” about my personal narrative. I don’t like to admit it, but I do care what people think of me…to some extent. I hope the people I encounter in life see me as a nice person who is smart, compassionate, despises bigotry, has good ideas, and is worth listening to. In that sense, I think my personal narrative aligns with how others view me. What I find really difficult is aligning my “real” life with my online life. Nowadays, there’s immense pressure to share every aspect of our lives on social media - from important milestones like graduation or the birth of a child, to the painfully mundane like what we ate for breakfast. More often than not, I don’t feel like bothering with social media, because it’s exhausting. I also feel like people get a better sense of who I am when they meet me in person. At the same time, though, I feel the pressure to share my life online in order to stay “relevant,” whatever that means.