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diff --git a/citations.tex b/citations.tex index db06eeb..8489099 100644 --- a/citations.tex +++ b/citations.tex @@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ \@title \else \@authlast - \fi% - , + \fi\ % \fi \@pagenum)% } diff --git a/jones-la/vance-annotation.tex b/jones-la/vance-annotation.tex deleted file mode 100644 index c418faf..0000000 --- a/jones-la/vance-annotation.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,371 +0,0 @@ -%must be run from root directory -\input mla8.tex - -%%Annotations should include: -% - Unknown Vocabulary -% - Themes and Support Quotations -% - Strong language/passages -% - Shifts in POV or tone -% - Author's tone and author's purpose -% - Short personal reflections grouped by chapter -% - Anything else that resonates with me -%%Prompt: -% In his book, Democracy in America, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville claims the American Dream is the charm of anticipated success. In 1931, historian James Adams first defined the American Dream as "that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." -% Trace the idea of the American Dream through Vance's book. How do the above ideas fit with the poeple in Hillbilly Elegy? What determines success or failure? Who is responsible and ultimately pays the price for failure to attain the dream? Is the American Dream attainable? - -\countdef\partnum=2 -\def\part#1{\advance\partnum by 1{\bf Part \uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral\the\partnum}: #1\/}} - -\countdef\chapnum=1 -\def\chapter#1{% - {\bf Introduction} - \def\chapter{\advance\chapnum by 1{\bf Chapter \the\chapnum\/}} -} - -\def\word#1#2{{\it #1:\/} #2} - -\long\def\reflection#1{#1\smallskip\hrule\smallskip} - -\def\note#1{#1} - -\def\ifquoted{\expandafter\iftrue \def\ifquoted{\iffalse}} -\def\quote#1#2{``#1'' \cite{\ifquoted \newcite \nameinline \fi - \name{Zinsser}{Zinsser, William}% - \contain{On Writing Well}% - \publish{Harper Perennial}% - \pubdate{2006}% - \pagenum{#2}% -}} - -%%Actual document - -\name{Holden} \last{Rohrer} -\prof{Jones} -\header - -\title{Running Annotation of {\it Hillbilly Elegy}} - -\chapter{Introduction} - -\note{I don't have a physical copy, so page numbers may be slightly inaccurate from Kindle version.} - -\quote{I wrote this book because I've achieved something quite ordinary, which doesn't happen to most kids who grow up like me}{1}. - -\quote{With all due respect to those people [who assume I'm some sort of genius], I think that theory is a load of bullshit. Whatever talents I have, I almost squandered until a handful of loving people rescued me}{2}. - -\quote{I want people to understand how upward mobility really feels. And I want people to understand something I learned only recently: that for those of us lucky enough to live the American Dream, the demons of the life we left behind continue to chase us}{2}. - -\note{The Scots-Irish/Greater Appalachians are a cohesive, extremely traditional culture.} - -\note{His tone is sympathetic to the Scots-Irish role as the downtrodden working class. \quote{From low social mobility to poverty to divorce and drug addiction, my home is a hub of misery}{4}.} - -\word{Inculcates}{instill (an attitude, idea, or habit) by persistent instruction} - -\quote{But this book is about something else: what goes on in the lives of real people when the industrial economy goes south. It's about reacting to bad circumstances in the worst way possible. It's about a culture that increasingly encourages social decay instead of counteracting it}{6}. -\note{This is preceded by an anecdote of Bob and his pregnant wife failing to maintain any sort of work ethic, emblematic of a larger social problem of poor work ethic even for good pay.} - -\word{Dole}{(British) benefit paid by the government to the unemployed} - -\quote{My primary aim is not to convince you of a documented problem. My primary aim is to tell a true story about what that problem feels like when you were born with it hanging around your neck}{8}. - -\reflection{As the name of the chapter states, Vance is introducing the content, so he talks a lot about what he wants to do and what he doesn't want to do. He makes very clear that this is a memoir, not a study or an academic argument. He also says that he doesn't want to make his relatives sound pitiful because he identifies with them. Relevant to the prompt, he explicitly states that this is a story about the American Dream.} - -\chapter - -\word{Holler}{(Appalachian) a small valley} - -\quote{I'd run around with my cousins, unaware of the ever-present poverty or Mamaw Blanton's deteriorating health. At a deep level, Jackson was the one place that belonged to me, my sister, and Mamaw}{12}. - -\quote{I once overheard Mamaw tell her mother [Mamaw Blanton] that I loved the Blanton men because so many father figures had come and gone, but the Blanton men were always there.}{17} - -\quote{Most important, they're mean about it [needing government assistance]---they will hesitate to open their lives up to others for the simple reason that they don't wish to be judged}{19}. \quote{Sociologists $\ldots$ found that avoidance and wishful-thinking forms of coping ``significantly predicted resiliency'' among Appalachian teens. Their paper suggests that hillbillies learn from an early age to deal with uncomfortable truths by avoiding them, or by pretending better truths exist.}{20} - -\quote{What I realized many years ago, watching that funeral procession with Mamaw, is that I am a hill person. So is much of America's white working class. And we hill people aren't doing very well}{21}. - -\reflection{This chapter introduces the ``honor culture'' of the Greater Appalachias in general, and how violence is well-accepted as part of this culture (of which the Blantons, Vance's family are a part of). This is the admirable part of ``hill person'' culture, visible as pride in vigilante justice. The other part, social problems brought on by vice, laziness, lack of work ethic, and unwillingness to accept those problems leads to the severe economic depression in Jackson and Middletown, Ohio, a town with a significant number of Appalachian transplants. The culture makes the American Dream difficult if not impossible to achieve without abnormal assistance.} - -\chapter - -\quote{When I first read this gruesome story in one of the country's most circulated newspapers, I felt one emotion above all the rest: pride. It's unlikely that any other ancestor of mine has ever appeared in {\it The New York Times}. Even if they had, I doubt that any deed would make me as proud as a successful feud}{24}. \note{The incident this is referring to is Mamaw's grandfather, Tilden, killing a member of a rival family on Election Day.} - -\note{The tone has changed some. He is less sympathetic and somber in this chapter, expressing pride and excitement at his family's past.} - -\quote{Pet, Paul, and Gary moved to Indiana and worked in construction. Each owned a successful business and earned considerable wealth in the process. Rose, Betty, Teaberry, and David stayed behind. All of them struggled fainancially, though everyone but David managed a life of relative comfort by the standards of their community}{29}. - -\quote{The full truth is that my grandparents struggled in their new life, and they continued to do so for decades}{30}. - -\quote{Economic mobility came with a lot of pressures, and it came with a lot of enw responsibilities}{30}. - -\quote{But hillbillies shared many regional characteristics with the southern blacks arriving in Detroit}{31}. - -\quote{Despite the setbacks, both of my grandparents had an almost religious faith in hard work and the American Dream. Neither was under any illusions that wealth or privilege didn't matter in America.}{35} - -\quote{To Papaw and Mamaw, not all rich people were bad, but all bad people were rich}{35}. - -\reflection{Vance develops the theme of the American Dream through Mamaw and Papaw's ``political'' philosophy. Their idea of the American Dream is more complex than a simple right to prosperity. Mamaw and Papaw believe strongly that hard work and the correct decisions leads to prosperity, with no patience for self-pity: \quote{\thinspace `Never be like these fucking losers who think the deck is stacked against them,' my grandma told me, `you can be anything you want'\thinspace}{35--36}. They also believed that it {\it should} lead to prosperity, and Vance carries some of those same beliefs with him, albeit recognising that making the ``correct'' decisions is often difficult without hindsight, especially when family and community ties pull strongly against those decisions (the stigma around migration and lack of social support).} - -\chapter - -\word{Carousing}{drinking alcohol and enjoying oneself with others in a noisy, lively way} - -\quote{Mamaw felt disloyalty acutely. She loathed anything that smacked of a lack of complete devotion to family $\ldots$ Yet in her own life, with three children at home, the men who should have been most loyal to her---her brothers and husband---conspired against her}{42}. - -\quote{I couldn't believe that mild-mannered Papaw, whom I adored as a child, was such a violent drunk. His behavior was due at least partly to Mamaw's disposition. She was a violent nondrunk}{43}. \note{This poorly constructed family life seems to be, at least partially, the result of the lacking social support in Middletown. Because the culture of Middletown teaches family life earlier in life than in hillbilly culture (which supposedly teaches it on the fly), Mamaw and Papaw got none of the necessary training for married life after leaving Jackson.} - -\reflection{This chapter, chronologically, tells the story of Jimmy, Lori, and Bev's childhood. Their childhood wasn't the privilege that Mamaw and Papaw were trying for due to their abusive and violent marriage. However, after most had moved out to try to recover their own piece of prosperity, Jimmy at Armco, Lori becoming a radiologist later in life, and Bev getting trapped in an abusive home. However, after the children moved out, Mamaw and Papaw restabilized, allowing them to support their children and give them some part of the prosperity promised by the American Dream. The American Dream, in this case, seems to be unrelated to the headstarts people have. It's not just about upward mobility. In a certain sense, it's about the ``typical middle class life'' Uncle Jimmy would describe his childhood as (33).} - -\chapter - -\quote{Today downtown Middletown is little more than a relic of American industrial glory}{50}. - -\quote{Despite its beauty, a Maryland couple recently purchased the mansion for \$225,000}{51}. - -\quote{Manufacturing in America was a tough business in the post-globalization world}{54}. - -\quote{We never considered that we'd be lucky to land a job at Armco; we took Armco for granted}{55}. - -\quote{\thinspace`Your generation will make its living with their minds, not their hands,' he once told me}{55}. - -\quote{To the average Middletonian, hard work doesn't matter as much as raw talent}{57} - -\quote{My grandfather and I would practice increasingly complex math once a week, with an ice cream reward for solid performance $\ldots$ [my mom] took me to the public library before I could read, got me a library card, showed me how to use it, and always made sure I had access to kids' books at home}{59--60}. - -\note{Point of view has been changing chronologically. In the first chapter, Mamaw Blanton's generation was the focus (told through young Vance's eyes, to explain gaps in knowledge). Then Mamaw and Papaw. Then Mom, Uncle Jimmy, and Lori. Now, Vance is telling his own story---how he grew up and got out in much the same way Mamaw and Papaw did.} - -\reflection{This chapter is about the current newest generation in the work force, Millennials, told through Vance's personal experience. Continuing in the locale of Middletown, he tells the story of the fall of industrial towns in America, blaming globalization. However, this was and is a slow process---Vance's generation and the next generation aren't able to see the severe decline in job prospects with companies like Armco because from one day to the next, it looks mostly the same. The segregated wealthy and poor communities remain segregated into wealthy and poor, especially because poor neighborhoods are stuck where they are. As home values decline due to deplorable job prospects, so does mobility, economic and geographic. But he doesn't abdicate the people of their personal responsibility. \quote{The only thing that report proves is that many folks talk about working more than they actually work}{57}. His views remain ambivalent, with his rejection of the meritocratic philosophy of why the certain few succeed while everyone else languishes---he thinks he got lucky because of his Papaw and his Mom's relentless efforts to educate him. He had library access from an early age, and Papaw taught him math to a much higher level than he could have possibly learned on his own.} %bruh, this a summary - -\chapter - -\note{This continues the idea of his advantage given by his Mom's love of learning; it gave him a leg up on the other kids for no reason of his own merit.} \quote{Mom cared deeply about enterprises of the mind. Nothing brought her greater joy than when I finished a book or asked for another. Mom was, everyone told me, the smartest person they knew. And I believed it}{65}. - -\quote{Even as a boy, I knew [moving to rural Ohio] was the very worst thing that could happen to me. Mamaw and Papaw were my best friends. They helped me with my homework and spoiled me with treats when I behaved correctly or finished a difficult school assignment}{69}. - -\quote{I began to do poorly in school. Many nights I'd lie in bed, unable to sleep because of the noise---the furniture rocking, heavy stomping, yelling, sometimes glass shatterring}{71}. \quote{Up to that point in my life, I was a perfectly fit and healthy child. I exercised constantly, and though I didn't exactly watch what I ate, I didn't have to. But I began to put on weight, and I was positively chubby by the time I started the fifth grade}{72}. \quote{The trauma at home waws clearly affecting my health}{72}/ \quote{Mom and Bob weren't that abnormal}{73}. After the domestic disputes with Bob, Mom cheated and entered depressive periods where she started to neglect her kids and became. Eventually, it reached a climax of Mom threating to kill J.D. because she's irritated, causing her to lash out at J.D., who runs away from her on the side of the highway, finding someone to call Mamaw. Mom didn't officially lose custody in the court, but Mamaw forcefully took it for J.D.'s safety. \quote{This was hillbilly justice, and it didn't fail me}{78}. - -Vance, after describing the abusive family structure prevalent in his community, describes how he still identifies with people in that community. He felt a kinship with the hillbilly transplants observing the court case where Mom was charged with domestic violence but didn't realise it at the time. Afterwards he took a trip to California to see Uncle Jimmy, and there he saw the contrast between hillbilly culture and the broader world. This strengthened his identification with the hillbillies. - -\quote{It is a testament to the class consciousness of my youth that my friends' thoughts drifted first to the cost of an airplane flight}{79}. - -\reflection{This continues the secondary theme of privilege. Because of his mother's abuse, he is dispriveleged. However, the presence of Mamaw means that he is luckier than a comparable kid who doesn't have the same support structure; he at least had a way out that kept some of the stability of his life. This is probably a factor in the lack of ambition of many Middletonian students---a miserable home life which destroys your health, your sleep, your ability to think will undoubtably make it more difficult to want to do anything other than get independence as quickly as possible. But Vance doesn't think that this is a reason to abandon the culture. In fact, this may have even {\it strengthened} his identity as a hillbilly.} - -\chapter - -\quote{The theology she taught was unsophisticated, but it provided a message I needed to hear. To coast through life was to squander my God-given talent, so I had to work hard. I had to take care of my family because Christian duty demanded it. I needed to forgive, not just for my mother's sake but for my own. I should never despair, for God had a plan}{86}. - -\quote{More than any other person, Dad understood what Kentucky meant to me, because it meant the same thing to him}{90}. - -\word{Caper}{skip or dance about in a lively or playful way} - -\quote{Dad had built a home with an almost jarring serenity}{91}. - -\quote{Regular church attendees commit fewer crimes, are in better health, live longer, make more money, drop out of high school less frequently, and finish college more frequently than those who don't attend church at all}{92}. - -\quote{In the middle of the Bible Belt, active church attendance is actually quite low}{93}. - -\quote{Dad had hired multiple lawyers and done everything within reason to keep me}{94}. - -\quote{On balance, I loved my dad and his church}{95}. - -\quote{Theological battle lines were drawn, and those on the other side weren't just wrong about biblical interpretation, they were somehow unchristian}{96}. \quote{In my new church, on the other hand, I heard more about the gay lobby and the war on Christmas than about any particular character trait that a Christian should aspire to have}{98}. \quote{Dad's church required so little of me. It was easy to be a Christian}{98}. - -\reflection{This chapter is about Vance's childhood religious enlightenment. %he was 8 -It happened because Vance's biological father came back into his life, a born again Christian, brought him into a highly conservative evangelical church. However, around the same time, Mamaw's spiritual anti-organized-religion Christianity helped him cope with Mom's violent outbursts. \quote{\thinspace`Mamaw, does god love us?'\thinspace}{85}. The conflict between these two beliefs continued to build, Vance isolating himself more and more from pop culture and the outside world as he began to believe in the hatred preached by Dad's church because he loved Dad and he loved the support the Church offered (especially because following the church was easy)} - -\chapter - -\quote{\thinspace`I never had a dad,' I explained. `But Papaw was always there for me, and he taught me the things that men needed to know.' Then I spoke the sum of his influence on my life: `He was the best dad that anyone could ask for'\thinspace}{109}. - -\quote{No matter how much we loved Mom, our lives were easier with one less person to care for}{114}. - -\quote{These sessions provoked little more than arguments and raw emotion, which I suppose was their purpose}{115}. - -\word{Apace}{swiftly, quickly} - -\reflection{This chapter is about the rocky teenage years Vance mentioned in the beginning. Because of Papaw's death Mom became more unstable and completely lost her ability to function within relationships---parental and otherwise. This left J.D.~and Lindsay to care for themselves, deliberately disregarding Mamaw's welcome arms because hill culture discourages reliance on anyone, especially reliance on a single individual, because it's thought to be unjustly burdensome. Papaw's death didn't only affect Mom, however; Vance was also deeply affected by Papaw's death because he played the role of a father figure---teaching him math, teaching him shooting, fiercely protective, and fiercely supportive of both him and Lindsay. The coming together of the people in Middletown, in Jackson, and from members of the Blanton clan across the country shows the virtues of the hill people. Their strong community, in highs and lows, helped to compensate for some of the other weaknesses.} - -\chapter - -\quote{I loved [Lindsay's] husband, Kevin, and still do, for a simple reason: He never mistreated her}{119}. - -\quote{I remembered life when I didn't have that safety valve [of going to Mamaw], and I didn't want to go back to those days}{120}. - -\quote{That she would ask me to move with her to Dayton, that seemed genuinely surprised by my resistance, and that she would subject me to such a one-sided introdution to a therapist meant that Mom didn't understand something about the way that Lindsay and I ticked}{122}. - -\quote{That feeling of being a burden to Mamaw wasn't something I imagined; it came from a number of small cues from the things she muttered under her breath, and from the weariness she wore like a dark piece of clothing}{122}. - -\quote{It was a boring evening. And it epitomized what attracted me to Dad's home. What I never lost, though, was the sense of being on guard}{123}. - -\quote{\thinspace`You can't stay away from that crazy grandma of yours. I know she's good to you.' It was a stunning admission from a man to whom Mamaw never said a nice word}{124}. - -\quote{Living with Mom and Matt was like having a front-row seat to the end of the world}{125}. - -\quote{As a teacher at my old high school told me recently, `They want us to be shepherds to these kids. But no one wants to talk about the fact that many of them are raised by wolves.'\thinspace}{127} - -\quote{I didn't know it, but I was close to the precipice $\ldots$ Along with my abysmal school record came drug experimentation---nothing hard, just what alcohol I could get my hands on and a stash of weed that Ken's son and I found}{127}. - -\reflection{Because of Mom's failed relationships and marriages, Vance was thrown around between at least four different households within the short time of two years. They also affected Mom's ability to parent (which was already subpar because Vance was forced to always have his guard up and Mom couldn't understand the effects of her actions on him). This damaged Vance's academics significantly, and isolated him from his support community. With respect to the theme of the American Dream, it's amazing that he achieved a ``normal,'' happy life.} - -\chapter - -\quote{Mamaw knew little of how this arrangement affected me, partly by design $\ldots$ I loathed living with these strangers and that everything that had made my life to that point tolerable---the reprieve of her house, the company of my sister---had apparently vanished}{129}. - -\quote{And maybe, if we help her this time, she'll finally learn her lesson.' It was the eternal hope, the thing to which I couldn't say no $\ldots$ Her life was a clinic in how to lose faith in people, but Mamaw always found a way to believe in the people she loved}{131} - -\quote{Mamaw told me that she wanted me to stay with her permanently, with no more moving in between}{132}. - -\quote{I also saw for the first time Mamaw's love of children, not as an object of her affection but as an observer of it}{135} \quote{She didn't believe in using the legal system until you had to}{136}. \quote{Mamaw was the best thing that ever happened to me $\ldots$ Those three years with Mamaw---uninterrupted and alone---saved me}{137--138}. - -\quote{Working as a cashier turned me into an amateur sociologist}{138}. \quote{I could never understand why our lives felt like a struggle while those living off of government largesse enjoyed trinkets that I only dreamed about}{139}. - -\quote{From that anger sprang Bonnie Vance the social policy expert: $\ldots$ Depending on her mood, Mamaw was a radical conservative or a European-style social Democrat $\ldots$ I began to see the world as Mamaw did. I was scared, confused, angry, and heartbroken}{142}. \quote{These were people with serious problems, and they were hurting}{142}. - -\word{Elegy}{a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead} - -\quote{We spend our way into the poorhouse}{146}. \quote{There's nothing left over. Nothing for the kids' college tuition, no investment to grow our wealth, no rainy-day fund if someone loses her job}{146}. - -\word{Inimical}{tending to obstruct or harm} - -\word{Mores}{the essential or characteristic customs and conventions of a community} - -\quote{My grandparents embodied one type [of people in our community]: old-fashioned, quietly faithful, self-reliant, hardworking. My mother and, increasingly, the entire neighborhood embodied another: consumerist, isolated, angry, distristful}{148}. - -\quote{But what I remember most of all [from staying with Mamaw] is that I was happy}{152}. - -\reflection{This chapter is long, but it effectively covers one issue: how childhood advantages lead directly to upward economic mobility. Vance's desperate situation with Mom (a typical example of a hillbilly childhood) caused Mamaw to remove him from all the moving around, an opportunity which most other children/adolescents wouldn't have had---especially because Mamaw was virtuous, a good teacher, and a good parent. His work as a cashier gave him a broader point of view (``turned him into an amateur sociologist''), while the kids without a stable home couldn't get a job or it didn't even occur to them (138). Vance also describes how a lack of thrift in one's character, taught as the value of a dollar, leads to bad financial decisions, mostly in overspending and overborrowing. Those financial decisions destroy the safety nets and savings funds, repeating the cycle of poverty.} - -\chapter - -\quote{With my friends headed for college, I figured I'd do the same}{155}. \quote{Everything about the unstructured college experience terrified me $\ldots$ the Corps: `They'll whip your ass into shape'\thinspace}{156}. - -\quote{I realized through letters, how much my family loved me}{159}. \quote{I read every day that Mamaw was proud of me, that she loved me, and that she knew I wouldn't give up}{159}. - -\quote{Contrary to conventional wisdom, the military is not a landing spot for low-income kids with no other options}{160}. - -\quote{Marine Corps boot camp, with its barrage of challeneges big and small, began to teach me I had underestimated myself $\ldots$ every time th drill instructor screamed at me and I stood proudly; every time I thought I'd fall behind during a run and kept up; every time I learned to do something I thought impossible, like climb the rope, I came a little closer to believing in myself}{163}. - -\quote{Many of the foods that I ate once now violated the fitness standards of a marine}{164}. - -\quote{When AK Steel $\ldots$ announced that they were increasing her premiums $\ldots$ She had never accepted anything from me $\ldots$ But she accepted my three hundred a month, and that's how I knew she was desperate}{166}. - -\quote{To laugh and joke with the people I loved most as they scarfed down the meal that I'd provided gave me a feeling of joy and accomplishment that words can't possibly describe}{167}. - -\note{Mamaw's death bringing together the family and bringing back Mom's volatility and jealousy around grief are both profound examples of hill people culture,and it demonstrates the duality of destructive and supportive behavior coming from the same sense of familial responsibility.} - -\quote{I opened my mouth to spew pure vitriol in Mom's direction, but Lindsay spoke first: `No, Mom. She was our mom, too.'\thinspace}{172} - -\word{Mettle}{a person's ability to cope with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way} - -\quote{[After seeing true poverty,] I began to appreciate how lucky I was: born in the greatest country on earth, every modern convenience at my fingertips, supported by two loving hillbillies, and part of a family that, for all its quirks, loved me unconditionally}{173}. - -\quote{The Marine Corps taught me how to live like an adult}{175}. \quote{Now I knew exactly what I wanted out of my life and how to get there. And in three weeks, I'd start classes at Ohio State}{178}. \note{This brings up themes of education's ability to allow upward mobility.} - -\reflection{This is Vance's rite of passage, learning to do things like an adult would in a ``safe'' environment. This included facing challenges he didn't think he could possibly do---and succeeding. In the army, he learned something his peers staying close to Middletown never would have---that he has agency over his environment. His rite of passage included seeing unimaginable poverty in Haiti and Iraq. This included the death of his grandmother. And that was probably the most impactful. As an adult, he sees what honoring the dead looks like through the eyes of the decisionmakers. He helps choose to pull the plug on Mamaw, yet he maintains composure to appear strong while her last wishes are being acted on.} - -\chapter - -\quote{The whole experience [of college applications] had made both of us painfully aware of how unfamiliar we were with the outside world}{181}. - -\quote{I wasn't supposed to make it, but I was doing just fine on my own. Did I take it too far? Absolutely. I didn't sleep enough. I drank too much and ate Taco Bell at nearly every meal}{183}. - -\quote{Many of my Marine Corps friends were staunch liberals who had no love for our commander in chief---then George W. Bush---and felt that we had sacrificed too much for too little gain}{186}. - -\word{Tripe}{nonsense; rubbish} - -\quote{I graduated with a double major, summa cum laude}{187}. \quote{That feeling I had in college---that I had survived decades of chaos and heartbreak and finally come out on the other side---deepened}{188}. - -\quote{The most basic promise of the American Dream---a steady wage}{189}. This shows that the American Dream isn't a singular idea; it's a collective belief in certain economic rights. - -\quote{To understand the significance of this cultural detachment, you must appreciate that much of my family's, my neighborhood's, and my community's identity derives from our love of country}{189}. - -\word{Acela Corridor}{the train line Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston run by the Amtrak's Acela Express line} - -\quote{Nothing about [Barack Obama] bears any resemblance to the people I admired growing up}{191}. \quote{Barack Obama is a foreign alien actively trying to destroy our country. Everything the media tells us is a lie}{192}. - -\quote{Group belief is a powerful motivator in performance. When groups perceive that it's in their interest to work hard and achieve things, members of that group outperform other similarly situated individuals}{193}. - -\quote{What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives. Yet the message of the right is increasingly: It's not your fault that you're a loser; it's the government's fault}{194}. - -\quote{For the first time in my life, I felt like an outsider in Middletown. And what turned me into an alien was my optimism}{196}. \reflection{This chapter continues the theme of culture's relation to economic outcomes. In this case, Vance's optimism about his future and his ability to control contrasted with Middletonian beliefs. Working-class whites believe that their economic situations will stay the same (bad) or get worse. They blame, however, outsiders like the government or society at large or globalization. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. A belief you won't succeed means you don't even try, but then the person to blame is you. Because the system doesn't work for them, they alienate anyone for whom it does. The prevailing belief is that working class whites don't succeed, so you clearly aren't one of us.} - -\chapter - -\quote{Yale wasn't just my dream school, it was also the cheapest option on the table}{199}. The government/society provides plenty of resources for upward mobility. While none of them are perfect, culture is often much more to blame than financial or economic policies for restricted upward mobility. \quote{The most expensive schools are paradoxically cheaper for low-income students}{199}. - -\quote{I lived among newly christened members of what folks back home pejoratively call the `elites,' and by every outward appearance, I was one of them: I am a tall, white, straight male. I have never felt out of place in my entire life. But I did at Yale}{202}. \quote{Professors and classmates seemed genuinely interested in what seemed to me a superficially boring story: I went to a mediocre public high school, my parents didn't go to college, and I grew up in Ohio}{204}. - -\quote{This wasn't one of my prouder moments, but it highlights the inner conflict inspired by rapid upward mobility: I had lied to a stranger to avoid feeling like a traitor}{205}. - -\quote{One way our upper class can promote upward mobility, then, is not only by pushing wise public policies but by opening their hearts and minds to the newcomers who don't quite belong}{206}. \quote{When you go from working-class to professional-class, almost everything about your old life becomes unfashionable at best or unhealthy at worst}{208}. \quote{Why did I think that places like Yale and Harvard were unreachable?}{208} highlights how this hostility damages the ideal of the American Dream instead of just making ``cultural migrants'' uncomfortable. - -\reflection{This chapter is about Vance's life at Yale and the prestigious sphere it occupies. Its prestige is weaponised, often not deliberately, by the wealthy to keep working-class people from even thinking about entering this echelon of society. This is especially strange because they outwardly support and incentivize upward mobility---need-based scholarships mean colleges like Yale are often cheaper than regional or state options. This ``oppression'' is matched by Vance's peers. His family and community are very hostile to outsiders, so they're also hostile to ``insiders'' becoming outsiders, specifically Vance moving up the socioeconomic ladder.} - -\chapter - -\quote{In a place that always seemed a little foreign, Usha's presence made me feel at home}{210}. \quote{Nine utensils? Why, I wondered, did I need three spoons? Why were there multiple butter knives?}{212}. This chapter identifies why networking is so important in the wealthy world, starting off with basic information. Usha supported him by providing some of the knowledge he needed to to function as if he were a cultural native. - -\word{Pedigree}{the background or history of a person or thing, especially as conferring distinction or quality} - -\quote{The interview were about passing a social test---a test of belonging, of holding your own in a corporate boardroom, of making connections with potential future clients}{213}. - -\quote{I had always thought that when you need a job, you look online for job postings $\ldots$ The problem is, virtually everyone who plays by those rules fails $\ldots$ successful people are playing an entirely different game. They don't flood the job market with r\'esum\'es, hoping that some employer will grace them with an interview. They network}{214}. - -\quote{What matter was that, with a professor's help, I had closed the information gap. It was like I'd learned to see}{217}. - -\quote{So to get this information, you have to tap into your social network}{219}. \quote{Social capital is all around us. Those who tap into it and use it prosper. Those who don't are running life's race with a major handicap}{221}. Working-class people aren't taught this by their parents because if their parents knew this, they'd be upper class. The segregation of communities by income jeopardizes upward mobility for this and similar reasons of unavailable knowledge. \quote{Mamaw always resented the hillbilly stereotype---the idea that our people were a bunch of slobbering morons. But the fact is that I was remarkably ignorant of how to get ahead}{222}. - -\quote{It was okay to chart my own path and okay to put a girl above some shortsighted ambition}{220}. - -\reflection{This chapter discusses why the American Dream is so difficult to achieve: much like actual capital, social capital (the currency one needs to get a job and to understand how to choose one's course in life) is concentrated at the top. This compounds several other issues in poverty, but not knowing how to use the job market means you've already lost to someone who does. But even if you know how to make connections, the people with connections are nowhere near the Rust Belt or greater Appalachia.} - -\chapter - -\quote{I could scream at her when she did something I didn't like, but that seemed mean. Or I could withdraw and get away}{223}. - -\word{Morass}{a complicated or confused situation} - -\quote{So I tried to get away, but Usha wouldn't let me. I tried to break everything off multiple times, but she told me that was stupid unless I didn't care about her}{225}. - -\quote{A sincere apology is surrender, and when someone surrenders, you go in for the kill}{225}. - -\quote{\thinspace`I still call him regularly and check up on him. You can't just cast aside family members because they seem uninterested in you. You've got to make the effort, because they're family'\thinspace}{226}. - -\quote{We are constantly ready to fight or flee, because there is constant exposure to the bear, whether that bear is an alcoholic dad or an unhinged mom}{228}. \quote{For many kids, the first impulse is escape, but people who lurch toward the eexit rarely choose the right door}{229}. - -\quote{[Aunt Wee's] marriage got even better, she said, only after she realized that she didn't have to be on guard all the time}{229}. - -\quote{I realized that of all the emotions I felt toward my mother $\ldots$ I had never tried sympathy}{230}. - -\reflection{This chapter covers how relationships between people from the Greater Appalachias generally have more conflict and often traumatize children in the home. The defensive tactics employed by Vance and his family---hiding from a significant other, mistrust in apologies, and a general unwillingness to let one's guard down---are taught from childhood as survival methods, but they don't transfer to adult relationships. This type of bad communication causes the instability and stress-inducing situations which are so damaging to children. It points to a way out, a sort of solution to their cultural issues: marrying up/out of the culture is helpful because outsiders bring in the necessary knowledge to make a relationship work, not available from the broken homes of Ohio's industrial towns. This is why upward mobility heals in more ways than just a lack of money problems---wealtheir families aren't happier just because they have more money.} - -\chapter - -\quote{But upward mobility is never clean-cut, and the world I left always finds a way to reel me back in}{237}. - -\quote{But these problems of family, faith, and culture aren't like a Rubik's Cube, and I don't think that solutions (as most understand the term) really exist}{238}. - -\quote{Other people who have overcome the odds cite teh same sorts of interventions [as Mamaw's support of Vance]}{239}. \quote{They had a family member they could count on. And they saw---from a family friend, an uncle, or a work mentor---what was available and what was possible}{241}. - -\quote{No one's that nice, I thought, especially not someone who's suffered any real adversity. But Gail was a Blanton, and, at heart a hillbilly}{240}. - -\quote{Part of the problem is how state laws define the family. For families like mine---and for many black and Hispanic families---grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles play an outsize role. Child services often cut them out of the picture, as they did in my case}{243}. - -\quote{Boys who got good grades were `sissies' or `faggots'\thinspace}{245}. - -\quote{Some scales aren't that amenable to the proverbial thumb}{246}. - -\reflection{The complexity of the issues is precisely what makes them difficult to solve. Vance claims, however, that it's impossible to solve them as the government or as a corporation---simply because any outside influence wouldn't really change anything.} - -{\bf Conclusion} - -\quote{[The ``adopt-a-child program''] sounds pretty simple, but I managed to find fault with nearly every suggestion}{249}. - -\quote{It was the holiday season that taught me about tax refunds, which I gathered were free bits of money sent to the poor in the new year to save them from the financial indiscretions of the old one}{252}. \quote{Somehow my aunt and uncle's children ended up with more pedestrian gifts than I had come to expect as a child $\ldots$ there was no obsession with meeting a two-or-three-hundred-dollar threshold for each child}{252}. Christmas is a microcosm of bad financial decisions by poor people ``trying to be rich.'' - -\word{Confabulate}{engage in conversation; talk} - -\quote{I believe we hillbillies are the toughest goddamned people on this earth. $\ldots$ But $\ldots$ are we tough enough to look ourselves in the mirror and admit hat our conduct harms our children?}{255} \quote{These problems were not created by governments or corporations or anyone else. We created them, and only we can fix them}{256}. - -\reflection{This chapter tires to give a satisfying reaction to the socioeconomic problems faced by Vance, his family, and his community. He recognizes the social programs instituted by companies and governments (adopt-a-kid, social services, education grants), but he knows that's not enough because the problems still exist. Vance believes that part of the reason for upward mobility is so scarce in these poor communities is because of how poor people act. They are often financially short-sighted when they're trying to provide for their kids, and social support structures are failing because of social pressures. People are forced to act invulnerable, and not share their emotions because that might get them hurt. They also can't admit fault and improve from a problem because then they get hassled for the issue. Instead, people blame external actors like Barack Obama.} - -\biblio -\bye diff --git a/jones-la/vance-essay.rough.tex b/jones-la/vance-essay.rough.tex deleted file mode 100644 index 4770425..0000000 --- a/jones-la/vance-essay.rough.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,50 +0,0 @@ -%must be run from master directory -\input mla8.tex - -%%Prompt: -% In his book, Democracy in America, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville claims the American Dream is the charm of anticipated success. In 1931, historian James Adams first defined the American Dream as "that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." -% Trace the idea of the American Dream through Vance's book. How do the above ideas fit with the poeple in Hillbilly Elegy? What determines success or failure? Who is responsible and ultimately pays the price for failure to attain the dream? Is the American Dream attainable? - -%%Preamble - -\def\ifcited{\expandafter\iftrue \def\ifcited{\iffalse}} -\def\vancite#1{%cites J.D. Vance in particular - \cite{\ifcited \newcite \nameinline \fi - \name{Vance}{Vance, J.D.}% - \contain{Hillbilly Elegy}% - \publish{Harper Press}% - \pubdate{Jun 2016}% - \pagenum{#1}% - }% -} - -%%Document -\numberfirstpage -\name{Holden} \last{Rohrer} -\prof{Jones} -\clas{AP Lang} -\header -\title{{\it Hillbilly Elegy} on the American Dream} - -The American Dream is a very nebulous concept, and it covers a lot of smaller ideas, like a theory of prosperity. One thing {\it is} clear, however: it is a dream, an aspiration to something. That something is mostly economic, and is related to some very American values: freedom at all costs and meritocracy. It's similar, but not identical, to the idea of upward mobility---that anyone, regardless of class, should be able to work hard and improve their social and economic statuses. J.D. Vance's memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, follows in a long line of philosophers who try to pin down the American Dream. Except Vance brings something else to the table that most of those philosophers didn't: firsthand knowledge of the people who couldn't achieve it and firsthand knowledge as a person who could. -%determine and strengthen thesis - -Vance starts by describing Appalachian culture in broad strokes. They honor their families to a fault. ``\thinspace`When you say [son of a bitch], you're calling my dear old mother a bitch, so I'd kindly ask you speak more carefully.' When the driver---nicknamed Big Red because of his size and hair color---repeated the insult, Uncle Pet did what any rational business owner would do: He pulled the man from his truck, beat him unconscious, and ran an electric saw up and down his body'' \vancite{14}. %use shorter anecdote (maybe chap. 2 feud?) -They have a close-knit community unwelcoming to outsiders. They act like their problems don't exist. And they often ``[leave] a trail of neglected children, cheated wives, or both'' \vancite{17}. Their undesirable traits %just say flaws lol -have a bigger effect than just a bad family life. It propagates, importantly, into a lack of economic successes for those children. In addition, the same people avoid hard work, preventing their own economic success. %draw interest into next paragraph. Also, Bob story? -%bruh is that a summary - -There's a sense that those people deserve to not succeed, especially identifiable with Vance and Mamaw's observations of ``welfare queens.'' %clarify -Because Mamaw has ``an almost religious faith in hard work and the American Dream'' and believes ``welfare queens'' deserve to fail, the American Dream is probably meritocratic \vancite{35}. People who work hard and make the right decisions deserve to succeed and prosper---to be upwardly mobile. The hillbilly communities point to this being unrealistic: hard workers without the emotional, social, educational, and financial resources to succeed don't. Even if they were innately able to make the right choices, social support structures are lacking if they exist, and defensive behavior learned from childhood trauma prevents most from sustaining relationships long enough to develop personal structures. This may mean that the American Dream isn't realistic, or it could mean that the definition is more complicated. - -Maybe it's the right to being able to provide for your children. Having kids is typically valued by American society, providing for those kids even more so. Where the economic prosperity of extreme wealth (being professional-class as Vance became) may not be the ultimate goal, it's replaced by the ability to work hard and give your child the tools to succeed. However, this isn't always achievable either. In the broken families and abusive relationships, kids don't learn how to make their own relationships work. Vance had this same problem in his marriage---he couldn't deal with his emotions healthily by talking to his partner. Instead, he ``tried to get away, but Usha wouldn't let [him]. [He] tried to break everything off multiple times, but she told me that was stupid unless I didn't care about her'' \vancite{225}. This is because poor kids in Rust Belt cities ``are constantly ready to fight or flee, because there is constant exposure to the bear [a metaphor for an environmental stressor], whether that bear is an alcoholic dad or an unhinged mom'' \vancite{228}. If he weren't married to an ``outsider,'' he wouldn't have had the necessary loving support to learn how to break those habits, and much like Mom, he would have continued the cycle by not being able to properly care for his kids. %this is poorly written - -This shows that the American Dream is clearly impossible if defined that way. Looking to the aforementioned philosophers, %should I use aforementioned? -historian James Adams defined it as ``that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.'' %need to cite?? -Considering that the American Dream is a dream, it can be defined as America's common desire instead of a reality. Politics, education, and religion are proxies for these goals; people who want to enact change do it through these vessels. Politically, virtually everyone supports upward mobility, need-based scholarships are plentiful in the realm of education, and churches generally act like mutually beneficial communities, which lines up well with Adams's definition. The other aspects also mostly fit---general prosperity is better for the individual and most people think they are hard workers, %cite that neighbor who hadn't worked complaining about lazy bums -so they support meritocratic rewards. - -%it's unattainable, not impossible; this is all based on bad thinking :( -Vance supports the meritocracy to a degree. He believes that hard work is valuable and should be rewarded, but he also recognises that no one starts on a level playing field. He is a firm believer in the American Dream, the right to opportunity, but he knows that to provide it is a long process which for at least one group, the Irish--Scots, can only occur from internal change of values which are extraordinarily stagnant. %add citation from original (is this thesis?) - -\bye diff --git a/jones-la/vance-essay.tex b/jones-la/vance-essay.tex deleted file mode 100644 index c1bdc33..0000000 --- a/jones-la/vance-essay.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,47 +0,0 @@ -%must be run from master directory -\input mla8.tex - -%%Prompt: -% In his book, Democracy in America, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville claims the American Dream is the charm of anticipated success. In 1931, historian James Adams first defined the American Dream as "that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." -% Trace the idea of the American Dream through Vance's book. How do the above ideas fit with the poeple in Hillbilly Elegy? What determines success or failure? Who is responsible and ultimately pays the price for failure to attain the dream? Is the American Dream attainable? - -%%Preamble - -\def\ifcited{\expandafter\iftrue \def\ifcited{\iffalse}} -\def\vancite#1{%cites J.D. Vance in particular - \cite{\ifcited \newcite \nameinline \fi - \name{Vance}{Vance, J.D.}% - \contain{Hillbilly Elegy}% - \publish{Harper Press}% - \pubdate{Jun 2016}% - \pagenum{#1}% - }% -} - -%%Document -\numberfirstpage -\name{Holden} \last{Rohrer} -\prof{Jones} -\clas{AP Lang} -\header -\title{{\it Hillbilly Elegy} on the American Dream} - -The American Dream is nebulous. One thing {\it is} clear, however: it is a dream, an aspiration. It could comprise a personal hope, a hope for society, or both. If there were a personal aspiration, the American Dream is about prosperity, so it would probably be to prosper. However, almost everyone is motivated by that, so that couldn't be a part of the American dream. The hope for society would be similar: for everyone to prosper. But this wouldn't work because if everyone prospers, no one prospers. Therefore, there must be a discriminating factor. According to James Adams, this factor is ability or achievement: ``[The American Dream is] that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.'' This is upward mobility at its most meritocratic, which is only possible in theory. J.D. Vance wrote his memoir, {\it Hillbilly Elegy}, about those failings of the meritocracy. Meritocratic approaches fail for both the very poor and the very rich, as Vance observed firsthand. -%determine and strengthen thesis - -Vance starts by describing Appalachian culture in broad strokes. They honor their families to a fault. ``I doubt that any deed would make me as proud as a successful feud'' \vancite{24}. -They have a close-knit community unwelcoming to outsiders (even when those outsiders come from their own communities). They act like their problems don't exist. And they often ``[leave] a trail of neglected children, cheated wives, or both'' \vancite{17}. Their flaws -have a bigger effect than just unhappiness. It propagates, importantly, into a lack of economic successes for those children. -%bruh is that a summary - -There's a sense that those people deserve to not succeed, especially understandable through Vance and Mamaw's observations of ``welfare queens.'' %clarify -Mamaw has ``an almost religious faith in hard work and the American Dream,'' but she is deeply ambivalent if welfare queens deserve to fail without a gover\kern0.05pt\relax nment support safety net \vancite{35} \vancite{141}. People who work hard and make the right decisions unambiguously deserve to succeed and prosper---to be upwardly mobile. The hillbilly communities, however, suggest this is unrealistic: hard workers without the emotional, social, educational, and financial backing to succeed don't. Even if they were innately able to make every right choice, social support structures are lacking if they exist, and defensive behavior lear\kern0.05pt\relax ned from childhood trauma prevents most from sustaining relationships long enough to develop personal support structures. This points to the unhappy truth that the American Dream, where society is now, is unattainable for certain people. - -In the broken families and abusive relationships, kids don't lear\kern0.05pt\relax n how to make their own relationships work. Vance had this same problem in his marriage---he couldn't deal with his emotions healthily by talking to his partner. Instead, he ``tried to get away, but Usha wouldn't let [him]. [He] tried to break everything off multiple times, but she told [him] that was stupid unless [he] didn't care about her'' \vancite{225}. This is because poor kids in Rust Belt cities ``are constantly ready to fight or flee, because there is constant exposure to the bear [an environmental stressor], whether that bear is an alcoholic dad or an unhinged mom'' \vancite{228}. If he weren't married to an ``outsider,'' he wouldn't have had the necessary loving support to lear\kern0.05pt\relax n how to break those habits, and he would have continued the cycle of poverty (emotional and financial) because he couldn't deal with stress. %this is poorly written - -Vance, however, didn't continue the cycle of poverty. This was due to his partner, but it's also partially a result of Mamaw's saving grace: her stable home, her consistent guidance, hers and his Mom's encouragement of learning. Factors which allowed Vance to get into college were even more complex; he had to make up for missing social knowledge by joining the military, which worked but wouldn't have happened with every Middletonian student in the same situation. For getting to any high-paying professional job, he would have need to learned networking is necessary (which took him a while even at Yale) and then applied it. ``The problem is, virtually everyone who plays by those rules fails. $\ldots$ Successful people are playing an entirely different game $\ldots$ They network'' \vancite{214}. The presence of any of these factors are uncommon in any hillbilly family, but the presence of all of these factors---what was necessary to lift Vance out of poverty---is extremely rare. Someone born into that class already has every single one of those boxes ticked. - -Vance supports the meritocracy to a degree. He believes that hard work is valuable and should be rewarded, but he also recognises that no one starts on a level playing field. He is a firm believer in the American Dream, the right to opportunity, but he knows that to provide it is a long process which for at least one group, the Irish--Scots, can only occur from inter\kern0.05pt\relax nal change of values which are extraordinarily stagnant. %add citation from original (is this thesis?) - -\biblio -\bye diff --git a/jones-la/vance/essay.tex b/jones-la/vance/essay.tex index c1bdc33..0131791 100644 --- a/jones-la/vance/essay.tex +++ b/jones-la/vance/essay.tex @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ \def\ifcited{\expandafter\iftrue \def\ifcited{\iffalse}} \def\vancite#1{%cites J.D. Vance in particular \cite{\ifcited \newcite \nameinline \fi - \name{Vance}{Vance, J.D.}% + \name{Vance}{Vance, J.D}% \contain{Hillbilly Elegy}% \publish{Harper Press}% \pubdate{Jun 2016}% @@ -26,22 +26,28 @@ \header \title{{\it Hillbilly Elegy} on the American Dream} -The American Dream is nebulous. One thing {\it is} clear, however: it is a dream, an aspiration. It could comprise a personal hope, a hope for society, or both. If there were a personal aspiration, the American Dream is about prosperity, so it would probably be to prosper. However, almost everyone is motivated by that, so that couldn't be a part of the American dream. The hope for society would be similar: for everyone to prosper. But this wouldn't work because if everyone prospers, no one prospers. Therefore, there must be a discriminating factor. According to James Adams, this factor is ability or achievement: ``[The American Dream is] that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.'' This is upward mobility at its most meritocratic, which is only possible in theory. J.D. Vance wrote his memoir, {\it Hillbilly Elegy}, about those failings of the meritocracy. Meritocratic approaches fail for both the very poor and the very rich, as Vance observed firsthand. -%determine and strengthen thesis +The American Dream is nebulous. When investigating its meaning, we see a personal aspect and a social aspect. Prosperity plays a major role in both. But it needs some differentiation between who succeeds and who doesn't because scarcity exists. The American Dream posits that those who prosper should practice productivity and diligence. %reword, super awkward +``[The American Dream is] that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement,'' claims John Adams. +%THESIS +J.D. Vance's memoir {\it Hillbilly Elegy} argues that factors outside of individual control affecting attitudes and opportunities obstruct the American Dream for a large segment of the population. +%I really want to include "Such a pure meritocracy can only exist in theory" -Vance starts by describing Appalachian culture in broad strokes. They honor their families to a fault. ``I doubt that any deed would make me as proud as a successful feud'' \vancite{24}. -They have a close-knit community unwelcoming to outsiders (even when those outsiders come from their own communities). They act like their problems don't exist. And they often ``[leave] a trail of neglected children, cheated wives, or both'' \vancite{17}. Their flaws -have a bigger effect than just unhappiness. It propagates, importantly, into a lack of economic successes for those children. -%bruh is that a summary +%Assume that all readers have already read the book -There's a sense that those people deserve to not succeed, especially understandable through Vance and Mamaw's observations of ``welfare queens.'' %clarify -Mamaw has ``an almost religious faith in hard work and the American Dream,'' but she is deeply ambivalent if welfare queens deserve to fail without a gover\kern0.05pt\relax nment support safety net \vancite{35} \vancite{141}. People who work hard and make the right decisions unambiguously deserve to succeed and prosper---to be upwardly mobile. The hillbilly communities, however, suggest this is unrealistic: hard workers without the emotional, social, educational, and financial backing to succeed don't. Even if they were innately able to make every right choice, social support structures are lacking if they exist, and defensive behavior lear\kern0.05pt\relax ned from childhood trauma prevents most from sustaining relationships long enough to develop personal support structures. This points to the unhappy truth that the American Dream, where society is now, is unattainable for certain people. +Childhood adversity develops those attitudes possibly more than any other single factor. It impacts Vance most strongly in his earliest years. ``I began to do poorly in school. Many nights I'd lie in bed, unable to sleep because of the noise---the furniture rocking, heavy stomping, yelling, sometimes glass shattering'' \vancite{71}. +His experiences with Mom begin to shape him into a person with all of the trademark Appalachian flaws: excess hostility to outsiders, drug abuse, a complete lack of work ethic, and poor parenting. +However, Mamaw gave Vance an option most of his peers didn't have---a stable home which supported his education. ``If Mamaw could drop \$180 on a graphing calculator $\ldots$ then I had better take schoolwork more seriously'' \vancite{137}. +This, of course, opened many doors directly: finishing his high school education let him get into the military, Ohio State, and eventually Yale Law. More importantly, he uses the work ethic he learned in high school to succeed in boot camp---another door opened by good parenting, a luxury in the Rust Belt. -In the broken families and abusive relationships, kids don't lear\kern0.05pt\relax n how to make their own relationships work. Vance had this same problem in his marriage---he couldn't deal with his emotions healthily by talking to his partner. Instead, he ``tried to get away, but Usha wouldn't let [him]. [He] tried to break everything off multiple times, but she told [him] that was stupid unless [he] didn't care about her'' \vancite{225}. This is because poor kids in Rust Belt cities ``are constantly ready to fight or flee, because there is constant exposure to the bear [an environmental stressor], whether that bear is an alcoholic dad or an unhinged mom'' \vancite{228}. If he weren't married to an ``outsider,'' he wouldn't have had the necessary loving support to lear\kern0.05pt\relax n how to break those habits, and he would have continued the cycle of poverty (emotional and financial) because he couldn't deal with stress. %this is poorly written +Those opportunities which Vance describes as provisions of ``family, faith, and culture'' can't be given through government programs \vancite{238}. But the government still tries, creating the desolate class of ``welfare queens.'' Mamaw feels deeply ambivalent on if the welfare queen actually deserves to fail. %Is this quote-worthy? +On one hand, she feels wronged by them, having achieved her position through hard work \vancite{141}. +But she also recognizes that the degraded economy and environment produced them. People who work hard deserve unambiguously to succeed, but are those who never learned to work hard equally liable to do so? No reasonable person can hold them to such standards because regardless of their inherent abilities, they have none of the emotional, social, educational, and financial backing to achieve upward mobility. -Vance, however, didn't continue the cycle of poverty. This was due to his partner, but it's also partially a result of Mamaw's saving grace: her stable home, her consistent guidance, hers and his Mom's encouragement of learning. Factors which allowed Vance to get into college were even more complex; he had to make up for missing social knowledge by joining the military, which worked but wouldn't have happened with every Middletonian student in the same situation. For getting to any high-paying professional job, he would have need to learned networking is necessary (which took him a while even at Yale) and then applied it. ``The problem is, virtually everyone who plays by those rules fails. $\ldots$ Successful people are playing an entirely different game $\ldots$ They network'' \vancite{214}. The presence of any of these factors are uncommon in any hillbilly family, but the presence of all of these factors---what was necessary to lift Vance out of poverty---is extremely rare. Someone born into that class already has every single one of those boxes ticked. +Concretely, that backing necessary to succeed is social capital. ``Virtually everyone who plays by those rules fails %Specify? +$\ldots$ Successful people are playing an entirely different game $\ldots$ They network'' \vancite{214}. Hillbillies don't network for two reasons. First of all, their immediate surroundings don't have anyone with whom a connection would be valuable because everyone who could leave left, following the jobs. Second, they simply don't learn to do it. The knowledge, social capital, and actual capital all concentrate at the top of the pyramid. -Vance supports the meritocracy to a degree. He believes that hard work is valuable and should be rewarded, but he also recognises that no one starts on a level playing field. He is a firm believer in the American Dream, the right to opportunity, but he knows that to provide it is a long process which for at least one group, the Irish--Scots, can only occur from inter\kern0.05pt\relax nal change of values which are extraordinarily stagnant. %add citation from original (is this thesis?) +Extending networking, relationships are also poorly modeled in Appalachian families. ``Caught between various dad candidates, Lindsay and I never learned how a man should treat a woman'' \vancite{89}. Vance's relationship with Usha starts to show some of the same poor communication. ``Put two of me in the same home and you have a positively radioactive situation,'' he writes \vancite{230}. But, because Usha is an outsider (usually completely shunned by the Irish-Scots fierce sense of family), she didn't have the same issues. ``I tried to get away, but Usha wouldn't let me. I tried to break everything off multiple times, but she told me that was stupid unless I didn't care about her'' \vancite{225}. Vance has less than no relationship skills. In order to survive as a child, he learned a set of aggressive, defensive, and evasive strategies, which don't transfer at all into adult life. +Vance supports the ideal meritocracy completely. He believes that hard work has value and should be rewarded, but he recognises that in real life no one starts on a level playing field. He, like Mamaw, is a firm dreamer of the American Dream, the right to opportunity with respective achievement, leading to his criticism of the stagnant internal values and harmful external structures such that the Irish-Scots ``were people with serious problems, and they were hurting'' \vancite{142}. \biblio \bye diff --git a/jones-la/zinsser-annotation.tex b/jones-la/zinsser-annotation.tex deleted file mode 100644 index b17df24..0000000 --- a/jones-la/zinsser-annotation.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,205 +0,0 @@ -%must be run from root directory -\input mla8.tex - -%%Annotations should include: -% - Unknown Vocabulary -% - Themes and Support Quotations -% - Strong language/passages -% - Shifts in POV or tone -% - Author's tone and author's purpose -% - Short personal reflections grouped by chapter -% - Anything else that resonates with me - -\countdef\partnum=2 -\def\part#1{\advance\partnum by 1{\twelvebf Part \uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral\the\partnum}: #1\/}} - -\countdef\chapnum=1 -\def\chapter#1{\advance\chapnum by 1{\twelvebf Chapter \the\chapnum: #1\/}} - -\def\word#1#2{{\twelveit #1:\/} #2} - -\long\def\reflection#1{#1\smallskip\hrule\smallskip} - -\def\note#1{Note: #1} - -\def\ifquoted{\expandafter\iftrue \def\ifquoted{\iffalse}} -\def\quote#1#2{``#1'' \cite{\ifquoted \newcite \nameinline \fi - \name{Zinsser}{Zinsser, William}% - \contain{On Writing Well}% - \publish{Harper Perennial}% - \pubdate{2006}% - \pagenum{#2}% -}} - -%%actual document -\name{Holden} \last{Rohrer} -\prof{Jones} -\header -\title{Running annotation of William Zinsser's {\fourteenit On Writing Well}} - -\part{Principles,} \chapter{The Transaction} - -\word{Bohemian}{(adj) socially unconventional in an artistic way} -\word{Walden Pond}{a lake in Concord, Massachusetts} - -\quote{I was asked if I would come and talk about writing as a vocation $\ldots$ He was going to talk about writing as an avocation}{3}. \quote{Writing is a craft, not an art}{4}. \quote{There isn't any `right' way to do such personal work}{5}. - -\reflection{This chapter is an explanation of why teaching good writing is difficult. The first concern is easily summed up: writing styles differ significantly from person to person, as told through the story of Dr.~Brock, the avocational writer, and the authors' panel. Zinsser boils it down to a few relevant essentials in the end: writing is a vulnerable and thus tense act (explain), writers have to compel the reader to continue reading exclusively with good writing, and good nonfiction writing consists of a writer showing their own humanity, warmth, and enthusiasm with clear and strong prose.} - -\chapter{Simplicity} - -\quote{Our national tendency is to inflate and thereby sound important $\ldots$ But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components}{6}. \quote{Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one cannot exist without the other}{8}. \quote{Writers must therefore constantly ask: what am I trying to say? Surprisingly often they don't know}{9}. \quote{If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard}{9}. - -\word{Mollify}{(verb) appease the anger or anxiety of someone} \word{Bearded}{boldly confronted or challenged} - -\reflection{This chapter describes, instructionally, the mechanical act of writing. I find this very helpful, in contrast to the majority of wishy-washy writing advice commonly provided by other writers of the ``write your passion'' sort. While writing, of course, isn't a purely mechanical process, it isn't ethereal, so it can be broken down into the simple process of 1) determining ideas, 2) writing those ideas, and 3) rewriting those ideas to sound clearer to the easily-distracted reader.} - -\chapter{Clutter} - -\word{Laborious}{(of speech or writing style) showing obvious signs of effort and lacking in fluency}. \word{Ponderous}{dull, laborious, or excessively solemn} - -\quote{\thinspace`In the unlikely possibility that the aircraft should experience such an eventuality,' she begins---a phrase so oxygen-depriving in itself that we are prepared for any disaster}{13} - -\note{Zinsser says \quote{Simplify, simplify}{16} Instead, he could have used the more traditional ``simplify, simplify, simplify,'' but this leaves a very lasting impression of the admonition to remove useless words even if they sound beautiful.} - -\reflection{This chapter repeats the last chapter's major messages from a different angle, motivations. It explains that clutter obscures and inflates, so it makes truth cloudier, less meaningful, and falsely important. It, slightly satirically, provides ?tons? of evidence for clutter's inefficiency and inefficacy.} - -\chapter{Style} - -\word{Finials}{an ornament at the top, end, or corner of an object} \word{August}{respected and impressive} - -\quote{Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the foremerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance---and with a toupee there's always a second glance---he doesn't look quite right}{18} - -\quote{Writing is an intimate transaction between two people, conducted on paper, and it will go well to the extent that it retains its humanity.}{20} - -\reflection{Zinsser recognizes that writers fail to express their own style because they are too ``tense.'' This explains a lot of flow and writer's block problems as he mentions near the end, and it gives me a useful lens into my cognition: I often can't write effectively, so instead I fill up a page with useless blather. Instead, I could have actually said something and presented the much more compelling ``warmth and humanity,'' as explicitly sought out by this book (5).} - -\chapter{The Audience} - -\word{Garrulous}{excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters}, \word{Vaudeville}{a type of entertainment popular chiefily in the US in the artly 20th century, featuring a mixture of specialty acts such as burlesque comedy and song and dance}, \word{Infidel}{adhering to a religion other than one's own}, \word{Consecrated}{(of a church or land) having been made or declared sacred}, \word{Reread Monkey Trial passage!!!}{43}, \word{Mountebank}{a person who deceives others, especially in order to trick them out of their money}, \word{Mirthful}{merry or amusing} \word{Kowtow}{act in an excessively subservient manner}, \word{Curry}{(``Curry Favor'') ingratiate oneself with someone through obsequious behavior}, \word{Tendentious}{expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one} - -\quote{You are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for}{24} - -\reflection{Foremost, this chapter deals with reassuring the reader of his/her style---he uses several examples of professional writers' style to prove that good style is about the writer's personality, unrelated from what the audience prefers. Also, he reaffirms the idea that a writer writes to show his or her ideas, so they should proudly show those off, damned the consequences.}%too informal?? - -\chapter{Words} - -\quote{Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what was written by earlier masters.}{34} - -\reflection{This chapter describes the tools useful for writing: thesauruses, dictionaries, and dictionaries of synonyms. It also describes the writers' objective when using these tools: to choose good words because of both how they sound and what, precisely, they mean. Zinsser gives a useful way to improve this skill, other than the aforementioned books: to read as much good writing as possible. I think I often fail in this respect. I rely too much on the dictionary instead of developing my internal sense of what words mean.} - -\chapter{Usage} - -\word{Argot}{jargon or slang of a particular group or class}, \word{Pudgy}{slightly fat}, \word{Genteelism}{a word or expression used because it is thought to be socially more acceptable than the everyday word}, \word{Genteel}{Polite, refined, or respectable, often in an affected or ostentatious way}, \word{Picayune}{petty; worthless} \word{Sardonic}{grimly mocking or cynical} \word{Affected}{artificial, pretentious, and designed to impress} - -\note{Zinsser uses humourous examples frequently like \quote{You might say it's how I verbalize the interpersonal}{45} The stylistic choice is very entertaining, and shows his personality well.} - -\reflection{``Usage'' is a display of Zinsser's heuristics and biases around how he and others should use words. His repetition that usage is a ``gray $\ldots$ area'' (37) is reassuring that none of these suggestions are hard and fast rules, but the specific guidelines of clarity, precision, and jargon vs. real need are helpful.} - -\part{Methods,} \chapter{Unity} - -\word{Ebb}{gradually lessen or reduce}, \word{Edifice}{a complex system of beliefs} %or a building, especially a large imposing one - -\reflection{Zinsser's observations remain very concrete and specific in this chapter. His audience-centric point of view is rightfully critical of confusing writing, and he exemplifies inconsistency as the most common cause of confusing writing. Inconsistency in tense, tone, and person are fairly obvious because a reader can't determine what is meant by the author if the tone changes from satirical to impersonal, for example. The less obvious unities he lists, amount of coverage and lasting impression, have the same problem. Any choice for these unities work, according to Zinsser, so the choice must be deliberate. However, it is okay to change while writing a piece, which gives me solace.} - -\chapter{The Lead and the Ending} - -\word{Discursively}{digressing from subject to subject}, \word{Felicitously}{pleasing and fortunate}, \word{Fealty}{formal acknowledgement of loyalty to a lord}, \word{Epigrammatic}{of the nature or in the style of an epigram; concise, clever, and amusing}, \word{Adduced}{cited as evidence} - -\quote{The lead must do some real work. It must provide hard details that tell the reader why the piece was written and why he ought to read it}{55} - -\quote{This is not the `breakfast to bed' format used by inexperienced writers}{61} - -\reflection{The lead (introduction) section of this chapter has advice relatively close to standard writing instruction manuals. It's useful in that it decries a certain degree of liberty to the writer. The conclusion section, however, stands in stark contrast to typical instruction---and Zinsser knows this. Because the typical advice is so bad at explaining how to work towards a good conclusion, I've looked into ways of masking the ``in sum,'' ``in conclusion,'' and ``notably'' mess which normally shows up. None of them work however, because of such a conclusion's core, Zinsser is spot-on: the writer is ``cranking'' unnecessary words, and ``the reader quits.''} - -\chapter{Bits \& Pieces} - -\word{Glutinous}{like glue in texture; sticky}, \word{Fitfully}{not regularly or continuously; intermittently}, \word{Preening}{devoting effort to making oneself look attractive and then admiring one's appearance}, \word{Byline}{A line in a newspaper naming the writer of an article}, \word{Rankle}{(of a comment, event, or fact) cause annoyance or resentment that persists}, \word{Laconic}{using very few words} - -\quote{Short is better than long}{68} - -\quote{They will have their proper power because you have learned to use adjectives sparsely.}{70} - -\quote{Readers want a writer who believes in himself and in what he is saying}{70} - -\quote{I can't overstate how much easier it is for readers to process a sentence if you start with `but' when you're shifting direction}{73} - -\note{Zinsser says that \quote{there's no rule against [using contractions]---trust your ear and your instincts}{74} However, most formal writing guidelines say just the opposite. Is there a way to mix the two, or is Zinsser's method more accurate to good nonfiction writing.} - -\quote{What is so eerie about these sentences is that they have no people in them}{76} - -\quote{But writing for the college newspaper is no great credential; I've often found that the hares who write for the paper are overtaken by the tortoises who work studiously toward the goal of mastering the craft.}{78} - -\quote{Try not to use words like `surprisingly,' `predictably,' and `of course,' which put a value on a fact before the reader encounters the fact. Trust your material}{91} - -\reflection{This is too large of a chapter to be thoroughly described in two or three sentences because it has so many different ideas shoved into it. However, most of them stick to the same principles of warmth, clarity, and brevity which Zinsser has been touting throughout the rest of the book. The adverb/adjective/punctuation advice all fits neatly into the brevity and warmth categories, and most other stylistic choices he warns against like passive voice and concept nouns are very much about humanity of the author in the reader's view. The continued viewing of writing as a problem makes it sound much more straightforward than it often feels, but I think that adopting a similar outlook will make writing feel more straightforward for me.} - -\part{Forms} - -\reflection{OMITTED} - -\chapnum=19 -\part{Attitudes}, \chapter{The Sound of Your Voice} - -\quote{Don't alter your voice to fit your subject. Develop one voice that readers will recognize}{231} - -\quote{What is the line that separates eloquence from bombast?}{238}. \word{Bombast}{High-sounding language with little meaning, used to impress people} - -\quote{But ultimately eloquence runs on a deeper current. It moves us with what it leaves unsaid, touching off echoes in what we already know from our reading, our religion and our heritage. Eloquence invites us to bring some part of ourselves to the transaction.}{238--239} - -\word{Sonorities}{the qualities of being imposing and full} - -\reflection{Zinsser's opinions are much more about subjective truth than objective truths, like the fact that simple language is easier to understand. In this chapter, he talks a lot about taste and how difficult to define and use it is. It leads back to the same ``practice by example'' method he recommends---reading as much good literature as possible and imitating it. The pointers he gives are still very useful---good writing is fresh, and freshness isn't found in cliches. Forced simplicity (breeziness as Zinsser puts it) is bad writing and condescending. Good writing is a transaction, between the author and the reader (echoing the first chapter's double entendre).} - -\chapter{Enjoyment, Fear and Confidence} - -\word{Blithe}{showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper}, \word{Portentous}{Done in a pompously or overly solemn manner so as to impress} - -\quote{I'm often dismayed by the sludge I see appearing on my screen if I approach writing as a task---the day's work---and not with some enjoyment.}{243} - -\word{Dour}{relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance} - -\reflection{Writing is an act of ego and thus an act of emotion. Managing one's emotions while writing is, then, useful to make the process of writing easier. This comes in the form of choosing what to write on carefully, and self-reassurance over writing outside of one's expertise. I think that I enjoy writing most of the time, but I do fear having written something poorly or incompletely. I suppose that both my writing and my confidence improve with rewriting, so I'll continue to take Zinsser's advice and rewrite heavily and well.} - -\chapter{The Tyranny of the Final Product} - -\quote{The fixation on the finished article causes writers a lot of trouble, deflecting them from all the earlier decisions that have to be made to determine its shape and voice and content}{253}. - -\note{Because of the way the school system is set up, and that I do the vast majority of my writing on behalf of an essay, I have the all-too-common American focus on success. Most of the time, this works well with small essays, but it makes the writing process dreadful. I'd love to take the relaxed, loose-timeline approach that Zinsser used in his class, but that's logistically impossible in my position. I wonder if there are any ways to fake the ``failure is O.K.''\ sentiment without having to resort to actually failing.} - -\quote{I was primarily interested in the process, not the product. At first that made them uneasy. This was America---they not only wanted validation; it was their national right}{257}. - -\quote{Figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it, and work your way with humanity and integrity to the completed article.}{260} - -\reflection{``The Tyranny of the Final Product'' is a very real struggle. All of my writing, as of yet, has been strictly a means to an end---the final product. None of the concepts like a compelling lead, stopping in a timely manner, or simplicity are conducive to this farsighted methodology. I'll try to be more fluid or human in my first drafts because rewriting is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities.} - -\chapter{A Writer's Decisions} - -\quote{Never be afraid to break a long sentence into two short ones, or even three}{262} is repeated verbatim from another chapter. - -\word{Forlorn}{pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely}, \word{Frieze}{heavy, coarse woolen cloth with a nap, usually on one side only} - -\reflection{This chapter repeats a large number of concepts from previous chapters, starting with ``The Lead and the Ending.'' It's a good review, and the extended example gives a good idea of how the writing process is a set of distinct problems solved by the writer to present information. Its instructions seems a little bit restrictive to the narrative structure, but he couldn't reasonably have included every structure analysed in this depth.} - -\chapter{Writing Family History and Memoir} - -\quote{Be yourself and your readers will follow you anywhere. Try to commit an act of writing and your readers will jump overboard to get away. Your product is {\twelveit you}}{283}. - -\word{Lassitude}{a state of physical or mental weariness; lack of energy} - -\quote{The strongest memoirs are the ones that preserve the unity of a remembered time and place such as $\ldots$ which recall what it was like to be a child or an adolescent in a world of adults contending with life's adversities.}{285}. - -\quote{My final reducing advice can be summed up in two words: Think small}{290}. \quote{Look for small self-contained incidents that are still vivid in your memory. If you still remember them it's because they contain a universal truth that your readers will recognize from their own life}. \note{This points back to the resonance concept repeated in ``A Writer's Decisions,'' where he used allusions to relate to the reader on a grander scale than he alone would've been able to (270-271).} - -\reflection{This is a specialized chapter for a specialized purpose, but the grand narrative structure of a memoir resonates. While organization of large pieces has never been a relevant problem to me, it seems useful if I need to write a longer work or the same concept can be applied at smaller scale---paragraphs instead of passages. Of course, this is already available in some form with the word processor. Reorganization is as easy as selection, Ctrl-X, Ctrl-V.} - -\chapter{Write as Well as You Can} - -\quote{A good editor likes nothing better than a piece of copy he hardly has to touch. A bad editor has a compulsion to tinker, proving with busywork that he hasn't forgotten the minutiae of grammar and usage. He is a literal fellow, catching cracks in the road but not enjoying the scenery}{300}. - -\quote{My favorite definition of a careful writer comes from Joe DiMaggio, though he didn't know that's what he was defining. DiMaggio was the greatest player I ever saw, and nobody looked more relaxed $\ldots$ he didn't appear to be exerting himself}{302--303}. - -\reflection{This part has taken a much more narrative tone than part I or II, which were much more instructionally-oriented. Also, a significant portion was dedicated to editors, which isn't particularly applicable to me now. However, the message of quality resonates with me. I'd like to write well, so I'll try to build my ``craftsman's ethic'' (297).} - -\biblio -\bye diff --git a/jones-la/zinsser-essay.rough.tex b/jones-la/zinsser-essay.rough.tex deleted file mode 100644 index 0253930..0000000 --- a/jones-la/zinsser-essay.rough.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,59 +0,0 @@ -%must be run from root directory -\input mla8.tex - -%%preamble - -\def\ifcited{\expandafter\iftrue \def\ifcited{\iffalse}} -\def\zincite#1{%cites William Zinsser in particular - \cite{\ifcited \newcite \nameinline \fi - \name{Zinsser}{Zinsser, William}% - \contain{On Writing Well}% - \publish{Harper Perennial}% - \pubdate{2006}% - \pagenum{#1}% - }% -} - -%%document -\numberfirstpage -\name{Holden} \last{Rohrer} -\prof{Jones} -\header -\title{{\fourteenit On Writing Well\/}'s Areas and My Style} - -Writing is an intrinsically egotistical, self-centered act, but it's not done alone. ``At the heart of good nonfiction writing'' is a personal transaction, the writer's vulnerability to the reader \zincite{5}. ``Out of it come two of the most important qualities that this book will go in search of: humanity and warmth'' \zincite{5}. To present a warmer and more human style, I need to passively learn what good writing sounds like and actively learn what writing well feels like. %edit w.r.t. concerns in comments of next paragraph; also, very very bad transition - -To learn the writing process well, starting at the beginning is only natural. The lead, the introduction, the hook. All of these pose a difficult problem---how to convince the reader that what I'm writing is worth their time. %clunky -However, instead of a lead, I often simply summarise my paper because I'm ``too stiff'' to communicate any meaningful information without just using formulaic patterns \zincite{19}. But my writing style isn't all weak. In the middle, the most constant section of the drudgerous story's outline, my writing often does a good job of relying on the facts and reducing clutter \zincite{49}. %Weak or no thesis. Thesis should be "To present a ??warmer and more human?? style, I need to passively learn what good writing sounds like and actively learn what writing well ??feels?? like." -%%lead/conclusion (maybe use a different thing as lead) - -Research is another strongsuit of mine. My capacity to generate information with the tools available to me is almost always larger than my need to use it. %tighten up -And that helps my writing because as I gather less information, the chance that I need to use an unfit fact, phrase, or quote skyrockets \zincite{46}. My ability to gather copious amounts of information %want to use quantity, or do I? -is outweighed by my weaker sense of quality---both of quotes or information and of writing. -%research - -By quality of writing, I don't mean my writing---I mean models for my writing. %``I'm not referring to?'' -In chapter 6, ``Words,'' Zinsser recommends to ``make a habit of reading what is being written today and what was written by earlier masters. Writing is learned by imitation'' \zincite{28} However, he makes a more difficult request than simply reading a lot---``cultivate the best models'' \zincite{28}. In certain cases, this can be easily discerned, like the breezy style chock-full of cliches denounced by Zinsser. %clean up -But it's not always that clear. A cliche or two can slip into a good writer's writing by accident. They are human, after all. So the presence of cliches couldn't possibly be the deciding factor. The frequency does play a part, but holistic analysis is necessary. Because magazines and newspapers' standards can be low, maybe best-sellers compose a good series of good writing \zincite{28}. This means I'd miss out on good magazine and newspaper articles, but to develop a stronger taste, it's not a terrible plan. This completely ignores my teachers, who probably have a better idea of what makes a good book than me. %good pivot point; also, is it too pandery or does ``probably'' weaken it too much? -To a degree, that is useful, but it's not enough---the number of books we read in class, and I am grateful for this (for a different reason), is too small to be of any large value in ``cultivating my models.'' My next question, after choosing what to read, is what to read {\twelveit for.} -%reading - -Being that Zinsser describes the task in the chapter ``Words,'' I think reading and contemplating these authors would have one goal---the development of style: grammar, word use, sentence structure, cliche recognition (and removal), humor, and every other minor facet of style. But the idea of deliberately reading to develop style seems contradictory to his criticism of adding fake style and bald men wearing toupees. ``Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the foremerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance---and with a toupee there’s always a second glance---he doesn’t look quite right'' \zincite{18}. %is the quotation necessary? -The only way to reconcile these two admonitions %find a better word -is to view it as a passive process. The only trouble is that passive processes are slower than active processes. This matches up perfectly with style not ``solidify[ing] for years as {\twelveit your} style, {\twelveit your} voice,'' despite being disappointing to my American ``I want it now'' spirit \zincite{23}. %should ``I want it now'' be in quotes or italicized? Use a better word than despite because that is not what I wanted to say. -%style - -I haven't found myself as a stylist \zincite{23}. Therefore, I'm in the previous stage---learning to prune, clean, fix my writing \zincite{23}. %I prefer "pruning, cleaning, fixing my writing." Should I change? -Clean writing leads directly to warm style because it's not poisoned with the lack of fluidity endemic to cluttered writing. %feels very much like something I'm including because it sounds pretty, so double check if actually fits; also poisoned and endemic is repetitive -Lack of fluidity refers to both the act of reading---clutter makes ideas less sharp, less clear---but also the act of writing. Writing with clutter in my style ``beefs up'' what my words look like on paper, but it makes it difficult even for me to understand my train of thought when I'm busy writing ``gaudy similes'' and using ``tinseled adjectives'' \zincite{18--19}. Making ideas less sharp is problematic, but worse is the loss of identity behind such a fake and mechanistic facade. ``Style is who you are, [so] you only need to be true to yourself to find it gradually emerging from under the accumulated clutter and debris, growing more distinctive every day'' \zincite{23}. %may be redundant -And this method works, focusing on personal style instead of on hiding behind a preconceived notion of what is good (mostly based on what is common, leading to cliches), because ``ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is'' \zincite{5}. %Is this an ending?? -%clutter - -All of these issues can be reduced to the one atom of writing: problems. Writing is an analytical process, so the easiest and best way to fit it into my cognition is to recognize it as what it is: a big problem that can be broken down into smaller problems. This also allows active learning to be recognized as practice. ``Whatever it is, it has to be confronted and solved'' \zincite{49}. But therein lies the utility of recognizing problems. %does this fit my style? -They can be solved, and solutions can be learned in two ways: reading other people's good writing, and writing well myself. %conclusion doesn't leave people thinking -%Problems. Maybe this can become a body paragraph, or put this theme more into other paragraphs? - -%Make statements of qualities clearer - -\biblio -\bye diff --git a/jones-la/zinsser-essay.tex b/jones-la/zinsser-essay.tex deleted file mode 100644 index 15820af..0000000 --- a/jones-la/zinsser-essay.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,58 +0,0 @@ -%must be run from root directory -\input mla8.tex - -%%preamble - -\def\ifcited{\expandafter\iftrue \def\ifcited{\iffalse}} -\def\zincite#1{%cites William Zinsser in particular - \cite{\ifcited \newcite \nameinline \fi - \name{Zinsser}{Zinsser, William}% - \contain{On Writing Well}% - \publish{Harper Perennial}% - \pubdate{2006}% - \pagenum{#1}% - }% -} - -%%document -\numberfirstpage -\name{Holden} \last{Rohrer} -\prof{Jones} -\header -\title{{\fourteenit On Writing Well\/}'s Areas and My Style} - -Writing is an intrinsically egotistical, self-centered act, but it's not done alone. ``At the heart of good nonfiction writing'' is a personal transaction, the writer's making him/herself vulnerable to the reader \zincite{5}. ``Out of it come two of the most important qualities that this book will go in search of: humanity and warmth'' \zincite{5}. To present a warmer and more human style, I need to passively learn what good writing sounds like and actively learn the problem-solving of writing. %edit w.r.t. concerns in comments of next paragraph; also, very very bad transition - -The first problem is the beginning---how to start. As Zinsser teaches, a good lead is about compelling the reader to start and continue reading and nothing else. Of course, to present the ideas covered is necessary to keep their attention, but it isn't a primary goal. -However, instead of a lead, I often simply summarise my paper because I'm ``too stiff'' to communicate any meaningful information without just using formulaic patterns \zincite{19}. But my writing style isn't all weak. In the middle, the most constant section of the drudgerous story's outline, my writing often does a good job of relying on the facts and reducing clutter \zincite{49}. - -Research is another strongsuit of mine. I'm almost always able to gather more information than I can or need to use. -And that helps my writing because as I gather less information, the chance that I need to use an unfit fact, phrase, or quote skyrockets \zincite{46}. My ability, however, to generate a large quantity of information %want to use quantity, or do I? -is outweighed by my weaker sense of quality---both of quotes or information and of writing. -%research - -By quality of writing, I don't mean my writing---I'm referring to models for my writing. -In chapter 6, ``Words,'' Zinsser recommends to ``make a habit of reading what is being written today and what was written by earlier masters. Writing is learned by imitation'' \zincite{28} However, he also makes a more difficult request---``cultivate the best models'' \zincite{28}. Sometimes it's easy to tell, like the breezy style full of clich\'es denounced by Zinsser. -But it's not always that clear. A clich\'e or two can slip into a good writer's writing by accident. They are human, after all. So the presence of clich\'es couldn't possibly be the deciding factor. The frequency does play a part, but holistic analysis is necessary. Because magazines and newspapers' standards can be low, maybe best-sellers compose a good series of good writing \zincite{28}. This means I'd miss out on good magazine and newspaper articles, but to develop a stronger taste, it's not a terrible plan. This completely ignores my teachers, who probably have a better idea of what makes a good book than me. %good pivot point; also, is it too pandery or does ``probably'' weaken it too much? -To a degree, that is useful, but it's not enough---the number of books we read in class, and I am grateful for this (for a different reason), is too small to be of any large value in ``cultivating my models.'' After choosing what to read, I have to ask, ``how can I read to my maximum benefit?'' -%reading - -Being that Zinsser describes the task in the chapter ``Words,'' I think reading and contemplating these authors would have one goal---the development of style: grammar, word use, sentence structure, clich\'e recognition (and removal), humor, and every other minor facet of style. But the idea of deliberately reading to develop style seems contradictory to his criticism of fake style \zincite{18}. -The only way to reconcile these two admonitions -is to view reading as a passive process. The only trouble is that passive processes are slower than active processes. This matches up perfectly with style not ``solidify[ing] for years as {\twelveit your} style, {\twelveit your} voice,'' albeit disappointing my inner American {\it I want it now} spirit \zincite{23}. %should ``I want it now'' be in quotes or italicized? Use a better word than despite because that is not what I wanted to say. -%style - -I haven't found my style yet \zincite{23}. Therefore, I'm in the previous stage---learning to prune, clean, and fix my writing \zincite{23}. %I prefer "pruning, cleaning, fixing my writing." Should I change? -Clean writing leads directly to warm style because it's not poisoned with the lack of fluency endemic to cluttered writing. -Lack of fluency refers to both the act of reading---clutter makes ideas less sharp, less clear---but also the act of writing. Writing with clutter in my style ``beefs up'' what my words look like on paper, but it makes it difficult even for me to understand my train of thought when I'm busy writing ``gaudy similes'' and using ``tinseled adjectives'' \zincite{18--19}. Making ideas less sharp is problematic, but worse is the loss of identity behind such a fake and mechanistic facade. ``Style is who you are, [so] you only need to be true to yourself to find it gradually emerging from under the accumulated clutter and debris'' \zincite{23}. %may be redundant -%{Removed for Badness} And this method works, focusing on personal style instead of on hiding behind a preconceived notion of what is good (mostly based on what is common, leading to clich\'es), because ``ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is'' \zincite{5}. %Is this an ending?? -%clutter - -All of these issues can be reduced to the one atom of writing: problems. Writing is an analytical process, so the easiest and best way to fit it into my cognition is to recognize it as what it is: a big problem that can be broken down into smaller problems. This also allows active learning to be recognized as practice. ``Whatever it is, it has to be confronted and solved'' \zincite{49}. But therein lies the utility of recognizing problems. %does this fit my style? -They can be solved, and I can learn to in two ways: reading other people's good writing, and writing well myself. %conclusion doesn't leave people thinking -%Problems. Maybe this can become a body paragraph, or put this theme more into other paragraphs? - -%Make statements of qualities clearer - -\biblio -\bye diff --git a/notes.tex b/notes.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df5e228 --- /dev/null +++ b/notes.tex @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +\newbox\columnone \newbox\columntwo \newbox\columnthree +\catcode`\@11 +\def\sepcol{\def\struct##1{\vbox{\hrule\hbox to \marghsize{\vrule\hfil\vbox to \vsize{\vfil\vskip-\baselineskip\expandafter\box##1\vfil}\hfil\vrule}\hrule}}\def\bigstruct##1{##1}} +\def\nosepcol{\def\struct##1{\vrule\hfil \vbox to \vsize{\vskip -\baselineskip \vfil \expandafter\box##1\vfil}}\def\bigstruct##1{\vbox{\hrule\fullline{##1 \vrule}\hrule}}} +\font\eightrm=cmr8 \font\eightit=cmti8 \font\eightbf=cmb8 \eightrm \baselineskip=8pt\relax%text fonts (8pt) +\font\eightrmop=cmmi8 \font\sevenrmop=cmmi7 \font\fivermop=cmmi5 +\font\eightsy=cmsy8 \font\sevensy=cmsy7 \font\fivesy=cmsy5 +\textfont1=\eightrmop \scriptfont1=\sevenrmop \scriptscriptfont1=\fivermop +\textfont2=\eightsy \scriptfont2=\sevensy \scriptscriptfont2=\fivesy %math fonts +\nosepcol +% +\nopagenumbers +\hoffset=-.9in \hsize=2.4in +\newdimen\marghsize \marghsize=2.6in %margin hsize +\newdimen\fullhsize \fullhsize=8.3in +\voffset=-.9in \vsize=10.6in \def\realpage{\vsize=10.8in} +\def\fullline{\hbox to \fullhsize} +\emergencystretch=.15in +% +\def\makeheadline{% + \vbox to 0pt{\vskip-22.5pt + \fullline{\vbox to 8.5pt{}\the\headline}\vss} + \nointerlineskip +} +% +\def\makefootline{% + \baselineskip=2\normalbaselineskip + \fullline{\the\footline} +} +% +\let\col=1 +\output={% + \ifx 1\col + \global\setbox\columnone\leftline{\pagebody}\global\let\col=2 + \else \ifx 2\col + \global\setbox\columntwo\leftline{\pagebody}\global\let\col=3 + \else \ifx 3\col + \global\setbox\columnthree\leftline{\pagebody}\global\let\col=1 + \finformat% + \fi\fi\fi% + \ifnum\outputpenalty>-20000 \else\dosupereject\fi +} +\def\finformat{\shipout\vbox{\makeheadline +\fullline{\tracingall \realpage \bigstruct{\struct\columnone \hfil \struct\columntwo \hfil \struct\columnthree}} +\makefootline} \advancepageno} |