As I grow a little older and a little wiser, I start to appreciate the small details in life. It seems to me that I stand alone on some simple issues of appreciation. We often say that we have to do things such as: going to church, work, practices, and the list goes on. I like to say that I get to go to church on Sundays, go to work on the weekends, and go to practices on days that are less than desirable. When it comes down to it, I enjoy doing things that I trick myself into liking.
Louise Erdrich, the author of "Skunk Dreams," seems to be a couple steps ahead of me as far as appreciating the small things. She used a very descriptive choice of words to describe very simple, basic scenes of everyday life. Erdrich did not fail in painting a mental picture of what she was trying to portray. I was especially impressed with the descriptive language of the park scene (p. 343). It seemed like I was there which was pretty good, but I really appreciated the way that she tied it in with her dream that she wrote earlier. The way that she set the scene and captured my minimal attention span for reading, was a unique twist.
On a heavier note, I do not know if my attention span for reading is so minimal that I could not fully comprehend the material, or if her style of writing is so caught up in the fine details that it leaves the main point vague and unclear (COMMENT OPPORTUNITY). I understand that people do things for the most obscene reasons at times, but there are normally motives behind some decisions that can explain things. While reading the essay I drew a blank to why she was in a football field camping. At the age of 17 I like to say that I have done most of the childish things that I will do. Somehow camping on a field that is 120 yards long by 53 yards wide did not make my "to do list." I believe that more emphasis could have been brought upon the main idea, versus the little details (I did enjoy the details though).
I was not blown away by Louise Erdrich's "Skunk Dreams" piece. I often search for the deeper meaning in things; I could not find it within the descriptive words of this essay. For the most part, I do believe that Erdrich is a very skilled writer. If I saw another one of her works, I would probably sit down and give it a fair chance. Even though I did not understand this particular essay, I am still left saying that I got to read this piece of work.
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While I may also have a short attention span for reading essays such as this (especially in the summer) I don't think you're alone in finding it hard to figure out the main point of this essay. I found it vaque and unclear as well as to why Erdrich even wrote this essay. You were right on in stating that she seems to be a skilled writer, but this particular essay is confusing and odd.
ReplyDeleteAs I grow older, I also realize how much appreciate things that I never even thought about when I was a kid. It just hits me sometimes how many opportunities you're offered in life that you shouldn't take for granted.
ReplyDeleteI also agreed that this essay was very unclear and confusing. Most of my paragraphs are marked up with question marks, etc. I don't know what motivated her to write this essay--the point of it was very unclear.