Alternative Assignment - Amy Leach reading
If you're unable to attend the Amy Leach reading, please watch the Anne Carson reading below.
After you've watched the reading, pick a section you liked/found interesting and write a few sentences explaining why you were drawn to this part. Try to use some of the terms we've covered thus far in class, for instance you might talk about her use of imagery, voice, or other craft elements at work here.
Although this is a sad story, I like the connection and disconnection. She talks about how her brother ran away and died, but then will go back and tell stories about him when he was still alive. For example, she talked about how he would call her “pinhead” and “professor” when helping with homework, which implied some sort of respect for each other. I think this connection and disconnection helps to show the stages of grieving, and how reflecting on happy memories is a part of that process. I also liked the imagery she used when talking about dealing with grief. One line reads , “soaked with tears of a brother and into forever brother farewell. I also think it was interesting how she always referred to the brothers wife as “the widow”. Even though she is a widow, purposefully only calling her “the widow” is kind of a constant subtle reminder that he died.
ReplyDeleteBetty Lundal:
ReplyDeleteWith such a sad story I thought it was very interesting how they talked about what happen when one perceives death. How the body and the mind reacts when a loved one, or anyone, has passed away. Hearing her explain how "stingy" people get with death and when someone isn't around anymore, reminds me of what it was like when my grandfather passed away. How the true colors of everyone are really brought out and how one reacts in such a circumstance.
This story shows a lot of emotion, ones typically shown with grief. Not only is it just sibling love, but also connection that many do not obtain with others. The imagery of their happy memories shows most of their happy memories shared together and the respect shown between the two. One thing that she reads, "Soaked with tears of a brother and into forever brother farewell" shows that she has grieved over the loss of her brother, but has not forgotten him. Reminding everyone as well as herself, she refers to his wife as "the widow", not really dwelling on it, but acknowledging such things.
ReplyDeleteI liked that throughout the reading, another language was used. While I did not understand what was being said, I could still tell how they were saying something through their voice. Her tone and Pejk’s tone showed through even when the language barrier was in play. More than just that, I liked when she defined the story of the father and the son and the egg. The imagery of carrying the egg and traveling from place to place with the conditions they did lasted very vividly in my mind. The shadows and motions that she talked about were so dense and descriptive that I was able to see the picture in my brain as she was reading it. Anne also shared the story of the King’s bowl and how it was made for more than just to hold items, but to hold meaning and to transcend even after the King’s life. The description of the bowl was used to portray a meaning deeper than what most people think of. This helped tie right into her brother’s story, her brother who always wanted to live further than what most people supposed life was meant for. She continues to share part of her brother’s travels and stories, using stories of his partner and his whereabouts to show how he carried himself. The voice was strong in this part of the reading, where the viewers could feel how Anne felt about her brother and “the widow”. I was drawn to these parts of the reading because I felt connected to the story even though it had never happened to me, as though I was able to feel how they felt.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching Amy Leach read from the Nox, it was apparent that the overall feeling was remorse and sadness over the disappearance of her brother and then his death following quickly after she reconnected with him. You can tell that since their relationship was inconsistent that she feels a disconnect between them. Her readings gave me a great example of the feeling of disconnect to a family member and another example of loss of a love one. The detail that stuck out to me during the reading was how her brother's widow told her that how his dog acted following his death. The dog was extremely angry and unsettled, up until he was brought to his owner's coffin and finally understand what truly happened. Throughout this story I could vividly see the imagery of the dog panting and being upset, and then finally laying down and becoming calm. This also shows that emotion can be felt by more than just humans and animals have feelings of guilt too.
ReplyDeleteDuring the reading, I found a lot of the content interesting. Something that stood out to me was the imagery used to describe the character's emotions as well as describing the setting. I felt that the passages were very thick with descriptors that shed light on the rare emotions that Anne and her family were encountering. Something that I specifically remember Anne describing thoroughly at the beginning of the reading was the emotions that her brother’s dog was portraying. She said “His dog got angry, stayed angry. Barking, growling, lashing, glaring. All through the day and night” I found it particularly interesting that she preferred to highlight the dog’s emotions first rather than her brother’s other family members. Something else that stood out to me throughout the entirety of the reading was the emotional content that was being presented in such a dull tone by the readers. I thought that if Anne’s true goal was to use imagery to describe the settings and emotions that surrounded her brother's death, she would’ve been more emotional reading it. But the answer arose toward the end of the reading when she says “ Nothing in English can capture the passionate slow surface of the Romanology.“ This sentence not only sheds light on her writing style but the delivery that belongs with it. All in all, there were a lot of takeaways that could be used to progress my writing as an individual, especially the imagery used in describing the setting and emotions.
ReplyDeleteWhat drew me in to this video were the voices. Although both of them were speaking monotone, I think it went well with what the writing is about. The writing was painstaking and morbid, so the monotone voices added to it. When it comes to depressing times, sometimes the body doesn’t accept it or feel it. Depression can make you go numb, where you can’t feel anything so that’s how life goes for awhile. It’s a disconnection from reality that you don’t want to come back to and I feel like that’s what Anne Carson has gone through. It’s the hardest part of grieving and the reason why it takes so long to accept it and I think she did an amazing job showing that. I could understand her agony because it’s relatable and she puts us in it through the story.
ReplyDeleteI had to go to my hometown this weekend because my great grandfather had passed away. I had been thinking about death lately more so than normal. I like how she started the story with history and definitions of things like autopsy. Her voice is so monotone and I believe it is because not only is the material heavy but also because she is fighting emotional pain for her loss. The epitaph is interesting to me because I've seen loss and in a way I think we all keep a mental epitaph of our relatives that have passed. Toward the end when she said "a brother never ends" really spoke to me because my brother and I are so close and I know that if one of us was to pass then we would both live on in each others memories.
ReplyDeleteI found this reading very interesting as she took us on a journey through her brothers death and how he ran away. I’m not sure why but the dog with paws on the coffin really stuck out to me and is chilling. I like how she consistently referred to her brothers wife as “widow” so we always knew who she was talking about. I also like how she brought in the widows perspective after the death like her throwing his ashes and how the widow viewed her brother.
ReplyDeleteThis reading really stuck out to me. The connection and disconnection with her brother and how he ran away and died but she still spoke about the happy memories and reflecting on them. The fact that people get uncomfortable on the topic of death is something I have never understood. Her tone of voice was very monotone and at first made it hard to connect with the story but once I got the perspective that she was just speaking with pain while still processing the loss.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the reading, she told multiple stories within the main story about her brother. The one that particularly stood out to me was 3 to 3.1. She switches from her brother death in a statement, to memories of her mother and her, and memories of his many wives. In these sections she talks about the death of her brother, but instead of having a longer section, it reads the few words, “my brother died in the year of 2000, in Copenhagen, a surprise to me” The story took a complete turn within that one chapter, but even still as she is reading it, her voice is monotoned and boring. Throughout this particular part her emotions do not change either. You would think with such a heavy topic she would have changed her demeanor but she did not. In 3.2 she then begins describing the setting and the letters, to me this feels as if she is describing all the emotion to the audience so that they can feel the exact situations of what happened next. This is an overwhelming seen to me. I feel like it is unusual for such darkness to be read so monitored, but when she recovers with happy memories it brings the story back together.
ReplyDeleteThis reading struck me as genuine and meaningful. From the beginning, language was a key part and added to the meaning of the piece. Throughout the reading, the deep and heartfelt emotions of the speaker was evident. The piece carried a somber tone full of regret and remorse for the past. She took as through the story of her brother's death and the deep feeling of loss that followed her. The imagery for the piece was vivid and painted a picture in my head as she spoke.
ReplyDeleteI thought this reading was very interesting. The story was heavy and sorrowful. It was beautifully illustrated though with her use of abstract speech and imagery. One part that struck me specifically was at the very end, around the twenty to twenty-one minute mark. She used the word "prowling" twice, which put emphasis on it and connected the two ideas she was discussing. She also used imagery with vast vocabulary to paint the picture of what she was trying to convey. Overall it was beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteThis reading was very eye opening to me personally. The story's pathos was emitting sadness and other sorrowful emotions. I could feel the speaker's tone of voice and her emotions through her speech. When she spoke about her brother's death I felt sad, because I too have lost a family member that I was extremely close with, and I like her it was hard to cope and grow. I feel like as she was speaking I was there with her, like she was speaking to me one night.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Nguyen
What I liked most about this story was its flow. Carson has an extremely eloquent and smooth writing style. She is able to blend a lifetime of stories and perspectives into a cohesive story. The imagery Carson uses for her brother is another high point of the story. Carson is able to show how her brother was not just a troubled young man, but a wayward soul who wanted to see the world.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this reading from Amy Leach. She did a good job of connecting the listener and keeping them engaged. The tone in her voice when switching through the grief and poor judgement that she feels like she may have had with her brother was used quite well. The imagery focused on her brother and his mishaps was also used well throughout the reading. All in all, I enjoyed the story and feel it helped her with her healing
ReplyDeleteI found this reading very moving, and eye opening. This reading showed how much death can open a persons eyes to the world and change the view people will have in life, the things we take for granted. Her tone used while she read shows remorse, sadness. I feel that when a person dies their animal takes it very hard because dogs do not understand the concept of death, they don't realize that their companion has passed away and is not coming back. I like how she describes the dogs emotion, how the dog feels confused and angry. I enjoyed how her similes were very detailed and when you close your eyes you can see exactly what she is describing. All of the figurative language especially the similes and the imagery made her reading captivating.
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me most was her motive to what she was writing. It didn’t really make sense to me. She wrote such an emotional piece on her brother, who she didn’t really know and hadn’t talked to in years. I guess it could be in remembrance of him which would make sense why the voice of the writing is so sentimental and emotional. However, the actual voice when she’s reading is so monotones, like she wasn’t really affected by it. When looking at the writing I could see her motive, but when listening to her read it, it was like she could care less and it didn’t’t have a big affect on her.
ReplyDeleteI liked all the parts where she talked about the odd things her brother would do. She talked about him sending letters and post cards without return addresses. She also talked about meeting his widow and learning things that she never knew about her brother. Even though she is monotone I can tell she has feelings of regret, which I am sure is something that many grieving people go through. It is like you feel guilty for mourning someone that you did not even know. I can tell that she has a melancholy feeling about not having a closer relationship with her brother. Of course, this death is something that has hurt her but I think the absence of communication with her loved one is what pains her the most.
ReplyDeleteI think that the way her poem was written, in the form of an epitaph, made it very emotionally complex because it is a story about her brother, but it's also directed to him in a sort of way. The line "I wanted to fill my elegy with light of all kinds, but death makes us stingy.", followed by the fact that kind words and love can't change the fact that her brother is gone is incredibly insightful on what loss is like.
ReplyDeleteA part of her reading that touched me the most is when she talked about how following her brother's death, her brother's dog was very angry and almost concerned; "He went to the door, he went to the window, he would not lie down." The imagery of this dog looking for its owner made me profoundly sad. Then the dog was brought to the funeral and when he had smelled his owner in the casket, his anger went away. Sometimes the emotions shown by pets can be so much more disheartening than the emotions told by humans because an animal can't speak for itself or exaggerate its feelings.
This reading really stuck with me due to the story and message behind it and how it was delivered. Tackling a very difficult situation for much such as the passing of her brother, act as if it had not affected her in anyway with how she spoke and presented the writing to the audience. One thing that could explain this is the fact of how she did not know him very much since he would send her letters but never added an address so that she could never see him. Overall I think it was a very good writing that had a deep meaning and struck a cord with those in the same situation.
ReplyDeleteI found the telephone conversation at 15:30 very interesting. You can feel the connection and disconnection radiating off of the situation. So little words spoken, so many words that wanted to be said but were not. You can feel the disconnection by analyzing how the author speaks versus how her brother speaks; the author seems like she wants to have a genuine conversation, and the brother seems to be brushing her off with every rebuttal. You can feel some connection when he is brave enough to state that he is not happy, and she responds saying “oh no” as an act of sympathy. The short, concise lines are meaningfully exemplifying how underwhelming this conversation was for the topic at hand.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sad story in general but I think the part that I was drawn to the most was the part where she was speaking in latin. Even though I could not understand what she was saying I still could tell by her tone how she was feeling and how she is sad. I think that authors chose the tone of their books on purpose to convey the message they are trying to get across on purpose so even if we don't understand the language they are speaking, we can still tell how they are feeling about the topic.
ReplyDeleteThe story was very sad. I was drawn to the part where she spoke about things that her brother did even though she didn't really know him. it mentions that they haven't talked in years so that surprised me. I feel like her voice was monotoned throughout the whole thing which made me think about the emotion she must have felt toward her brother.
ReplyDeleteMicah Pittman:
ReplyDeleteThis story was very sad. Her voice being so monotone just added to the effect. I was drawn to the part where she hasn’t talked to her brother in years because I could not imagine not talking to my siblings. They are my whole heart.
I really like the way she tells the story of what she remembers of her brother and what he did when he was alive, and how his story didn't stop when his life stopped. I also really like the connection she made to the roman poet Catullos (no clue if that's how you spell his name). But she based her story of her dead brother off of the story the roman wrote about his dead brother.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of emotion put into this story, and it was very brave of her to be able to not only write, but also read her story of losing her brother twice to an audience. I like that she give the audience a picture of her brother through diary notes to form the book as a dialogue with Catullus who also wrote for his brother. I think it was very well written and executed providing in extra languages.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed around 9 minutes in when she is talking about history as a concept. using opposite words to describe one thing speaks to the paradoxical nature of history. This was something I had never really thought about but describing history as concrete yet indescribable is very interesting. I really enjoyed her simile, "like a dog roaming around Asia Minor picking up bits of muteness like burrs on its fur. However, I did not like her delivery throughout the video. her lack of enthusiasm made it feel very dry throughout and hard to focus on.
ReplyDeleteThis reading is filled with emotion. When we read a reading by ourselves we don't always interpret the story like the author wants us to. Hearing the reading read aloud we are able to hear how the strong emotions associated with death and grief are supposed to come across. This reading also provides the audience with lots of imagery. When she starts reading from the journals about her brother she provides the audience with a very clear image of what her brother was like. To speak aloud about the loss of loved one and family member is a very impressive thing to do and I think she was really able to get some of his story across.
ReplyDeleteI like how she shows emotion with the story and how the story shows a side to her brother’s death, talking about something that dear to you, can be nerve racking so it drew me more to the story. I also liked how the story came to life, how she had our imaginations running and kept us listening and thinking.
ReplyDeleteThe part in which she is talking about the egg for some reason really made me think. She talked about hollowing it out and putting father inside of it and yet it ways the same as before, I wasnt able to fully rap my head around it but for some reason it gave me clear images in my mind. I think of an egg as something very fragile, but also something that can create life or a source of food and i feel in this way she is not really talking about much any of those which is why it draws me to it. Its using something that is very common to me in a way i typically dont see it used, and in that it makes me think more and draws my attention.
ReplyDeleteThis story showed a lot of emotion and especially when she shows the side of her brother's death it expresses how intimate the story was to her. I really enjoyed how she starts with reading her brothers journals and gives the audience a clear image or look into who her brother was through the journals. I think her being able to show case in a way her and her brothers relationship through a reading and in front of an audience demonstartes how strong she is as a human being and can also inspire others in the audience to do that same.
ReplyDeleteI found this piece very interesting and compelling. The idea of grief is something that I am familiar with and have experienced but seeing another perspective is always interesting. Her monotone delivery was interesting to me because I think we often imagine these feelings as bubbling up or being big and uncontrollable. This makes me think of the saying "progress isn't linear" or just the general idea that we all heal in different ways and on different timelines. More often than not, grief has its own timeline.
ReplyDelete