We looked at a few selections to help inspire us on the way to writing a Not for College Essay.
In the comment box, please respond to either the Fun Home selection or The Dreamer Did Not Exist. Please try to address one or more of the following considerations:
a) How is the writer's voice important to the meaning of the piece as a whole?
b) What is significant about how the piece is arranged (here you can make comments about the arrangement of Bechel's illustrations)?
c) What problematic idea or experience is being explored in the piece? If you feel that this particular problem is "solved" in the selection, it is probably not worth too much attention.
In Bechdel’s Fun Home, she uses comic book graphics, tone, and allusions in order to give the readers an idea of her relationship with her father. In certain panels, we can see that she has placed certain elements to emphasize her father’s personality and the problems that he had to endure. For example, in one panel, we see that he is reading Anna Karenina, a possible foreshadowing of his death by an automobile accident. In one panel, Bechdel alludes to the myth of Icarus and Daedalus, comparing her father to both Icarus and Daedalus, highlighting his architectural genius and his fall from grace due to his closeted homosexuality. Also, the fact that she reveals her father’s homosexuality in the panel with the church adds an ironic twist, further emphasizing her father’s problems. In addition, Bechdel’s nostalgic and slightly embittered tone gives her readers the effect her relationship with her father had on her. Her years of enduring her father’s harsh treatment have caused her to somewhat embitter her towards him. However, we also see that she misses him and mourns the fact that he took his own life, filling her with this sense of longing.
ReplyDeleteGessner's The Dreamer Does Not Exists can be seen as two stories or events intertwined within each other yet still exist as separate beings. One is about a drunken pig-picking in the middle of the woods, the other a collection of moments from his life where he encounters his fear of the fact that he nor anything else may exist. The two are meant to connect and intertwine on a hidden or lesser known level- the pig picking representing some form of crude, primitive existence, the other addressing the issue of whether or not he and everyone around him exists. The issue that the author is dealing with is the paranoid fear of nonexistence that is so deep and intense that is caused severe anxiety attacks during his childhood. The conflict is present throughout the entire story, more noticeably in the memories story but more silent and hidden (yet still present) in the pig-picking story. The conflict, called the "feeling" by the author, does not ever seem to go away or to be resolved by the end of the story, however it has greatly diminished in his adulthood, especially when compared to the anxiety attacks that it gave him as a child. The voice that the author takes on a matter-of-fact kind of voice, one looking back on the past with some emotion but not enough to be highly noticeable. The emotion, while there, is limited, quite possibly to suggest or to coincide with the conflict of existence in the story. That or the author just does not write with an emotional voice in his works.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Katie Withers valid point in that Gessner's "The Dreamer Does Not Exist" is a story wrapped around another story. I, too, found this interesting. The two stories are not so much separate entities as they are continuances of each other. The first story, being his childhood memories of traumatic experiences involving non-existence, and the second his experience at the pig roast. The pig-picking (which sounds crude and disgusting) offers Gessner a way in which he is able to resort back to primitive habits. The pig represents his capture, and allows himself to see himself as a hunter. This primitive instinct helps him cope with his nonexistence, and prove that he has the ability to warp his surroundings and create significance. Gessner's pig-picking is a much more humane version of the article we read today by Kirby in class. Kirby rationalizes that many school-shootings are desperate individuals seeking a role in the world, a role that is often fulfilled by being a hunter much like their ancestors. Gessner has fulfilled this role in his pig-picking, and this success enables him to partially cast-off the "feeling" which he was so often traumatized by earlier. The feeling, though, is not completely absolved. His secondary answer to his problematic question of non-existence is to write.His writing will immortalize him, or so he hopes. In the end, Gessner never truly reaches a solid, complete answer to his problem but does find many ways, like writing, to cope with it. Unlike Katie, I found Gessner to offer a reflective tone on his work, especially in the base stories of his childhood. He offers secondary insight, such as when he remarks on the actions of his father for trying his best to calm him down and take hold on reality. This tone is also characterized by a monotonistic voice, where he takes things as-is. He is not pessimistic, nor is he optimistic but rather a realist. This voice helps pull the writing together and create a reasonable rationale for his dilemma. Gessner's work has truly made me think about non-existence and my role in our world.
ReplyDeleteGessner's "The Dreamer Did Not Exist" feels particularly intriguing following the events that occurred on Friday. In the aftermath of the murders i Connecticut, there has been a great deal of conversation about mental illness, sanity, and madness versus pure evil. Reading Gessner's account of being a child who was suddenly terrifyingly convinced that everything is nothing seems very connected in my mind to the trouble people are having in trying to understand, to even vaguely comprehend the motives of the shooter. This is not to say that a childhood crisis of existence signals a mass killing in the future, but rather that we all have moments where we feel totally unconnected from the world, even to the point of believing it does not exist, like a scarier version of "The Truman Show." Anyone who has had these feelings and remembers them should recall how scary it was, and that until becoming re-grounded, it felt like there was nothing that could return meaning to life. Gessner's essay weaves together a carefully sensory detailed pig roast along with his struggle through his life to remain attached. He speaks in a way that the reader can connect to, and I think this is very important. The conversation about mental illness in this country stops before it even starts because of the shame that comes attached with "having something wrong with you", but Gessner's story sounds like one of a normal boy who suddenly feels things he can't explain. Is this mental illness? Depends on who you ask, but his ability to explain how he feels and how that changes is an important skill that could be what is needed to alter the way mental illness and its consequences are handled.
ReplyDeleteVoice and arrangement are so important to the story of Fun Home; particularly in the way the author wants us to notice certain aspects of her father’s life and her relationship to her father. The way the panels are arranged and the choice of action and words are all used to tell the story with smooth transition between the cartoons and the actual written parts. First of all, we can achieve a tone from the passages that would only otherwise be gained though painstaking, extensive writing. We can see the general mood and feeling of the family in the faces of the members of the family. The hooded eyes and persistent frown of everyone involved show us the attitude of the father and his children growing up. Even in moments of supposed happiness, such as when Alison is playing the airplane game with her father, he has that constant frown. In the arrangement aspect, we see how a new story can be started with someone saying something, a drawing explaining the quote, and then a narrative. This can be seen in the story about how her father had no margin of error and how comments on his appearance could cause him to change his clothes entirely. The voice of the story comes mostly through the narrative and the author giving more backstory and explanation towards the drawings. The voice is a constant, reflexive style, remembering things seemingly emotionlessly, or more accurately, showing a bit of emotion but letting the panels take care of the rest of the emotional setting. The writing gets to be emotional at the end, when it describes the death of her father, the pictures seem to be there in complement, instead of the other way around, and the change in structure certainly shows that there is a change in voice, and that it turns much more melancholy.
ReplyDeleteAlison was troubled by the absence of her father, though he was physically present it was as if he wasn’t really ‘there.’ Even before his death, she ached as if he were already gone” He was distant and his temper caused him to lash out at times. The narrative reveals her dissatisfaction with the relationship between her and her father and the desire to connect with him. As she reflects on her childhood, her language emphasizes how unfulfilling this father-daughter relationship was.
ReplyDeleteShe says her father was obsessive like Daedalus, more devoted to his passion than to his family.
Similarly, he was “indifferent to the human cost of his projects.” His family was sacrificed because of his intense dedication to his passion. Alison wonders: “Was Daedalus really stricken with grief when Icarus fell to the sea?” “Or was he disappointed by the design failure?” Her father “treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture.” They were to be utilized to accomplish his visions they were “extensions of his own body, like precision robot arms.”
Being unable to connect with her father was troubling, he put up a barrier between himself and others and there was nothing that she could do to break through and gain the closeness she desired. No matter what she tried, things weren’t within her control and the only person who could change things was her father. However, things couldn’t change because his involvement with himself made him unable to notice the need to change his ways.
In Gessner's "The Dreamer Did Not Exist", the author's somewhat sardonic tone lends to the tale a sense of realistic pessimism. Gessner uses the intertwined tales of the pig picking and his childhood obsession with nothingness to tell his version of the truth; that nothing can really fill the void left by death, but certain coping mechanisms can help satisfy ones longing for permanence. His voice shapes the story into something that can be appreciated by almost anyone who reads it, while at the same time making references to ideas that are too complex to have a real or clear solution. Gessner is brutally honest when it comes to the fact that no one is truly capable of making a lasting impression on the world. He comments on the futile attempts made by himself and other artists to achieve immortality through works of literature and other mediums, but seems to take the most solace in the simple pleasure of devouring a pig. This is most likely because that act requires no deeper thought; its a simple pleasure rooted deep in human nature. The feast represents something that grounds the author to the rest of humanity and thus to the world; its tangible simplicity acts as an anchor.
ReplyDeleteThe arrangement of the story allows the author to compare his experiences as a child with those of his adulthood. The author's earlier bouts of anxiety, brought on by his fear of nothingness, appear in different forms later in life. They explain some of his actions and feelings, especially the edginess he feels when confronted with the idea of God; religion offers an answer that he doesn't accept for the issue of nothingness.
In Fun Home, the author’s choice of narration helps the reader to see into her childhood, which was largely centered around her unaffectionate father. Even at a very young age, she longed to have a better relationship with him, yet she was instead subject to his unreliable temper and helping with the constant projects around the house. She refers to the fact several times that he treated her and her siblings more like decorations for his house than as his own children. The way that the story is arranged in a comic book looking format adds a different dimension to the story. It is different reading a story partially from pictures and partially from words rather than relying on just words. You can form a different idea of the story when you have images of the story right on the page. A big issue that the author is dealing with in the story is how her father was during her childhood. Through several short memories that the author shares, you can get a sense of how unloving and detached her father was towards his family. Although he was alive all throughout her childhood, she still referred to the fact that it already felt like he was gone. Something that struck me while I was reading it was the tone of voice the author uses. It seems almost emotionless. She is just relaying the memories she has of her father, without any emotional attachment to them or to him.
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ReplyDeleteThe illustrations used to relay the childhood experiences and the interesting relationship between the narrator and her father in "Fun Home" give the work a very unique affect. The clear, however concise, descriptions of the narrator's experiences make them realistic, and in some cases makes the audience feel as if they are actually looking on as the events unfold. The narrator uses realism and a straightforward, non-expressive tone in her work. Her choice enhances the intense subject matter of the story. Her father's unloving, distant relationship with the family hurts the children however he seemed to have no idea and was completely unattached from his emotions. Having access to a visual of the peculiar relationship helped me understand it; it is still very odd however. How does the father treat his children as simply a part of the home? The way in which he reacts to those around him is confusing; he cares for no one. As the author relays multiple times, it seems as though she lived her life without a father, and after his death, she feels as if he was never truly there. Her select memories paint a visual of their relationship that is difficult to look at and smile. The narrator feels no need to be with her father again, however relationship has shaped the way in which she sees life. As I read along, I could feel the frustration and anguish of the narrator and understood, as she also has, that the relationship will never be solved nor the feelings erased.
ReplyDeleteIn Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home", she as the author, makes conscious choices about her tone of voice and narration to get her story across as effectively as possible. I really enjoy reading this because of how interesting it is. The way she words her sentences makes the piece more intriguing to read. The story was centered around her father. Her father was a very odd person, The way he was described seemed very strong but there was always a sense of contempt. The book was arranged like a comic book and the pictures went really well with the sayings. Her problem in the section that we read was how her father affected her childhood and how she dealt with the knowledge, which she discovered later on, that he was a closet gay man. The guilt eventually led him to suicide. During her childhood, there was always something off about him and she did a great job making us wonder what it was. I really did like the tone the author used. It was almost emotionless with sense of negativity. I found it interesting that the father was a neat freak. Yet in the end of the story, it came down to the fact that she had all of these memories with her father, but seemed to have no emotional attachement. I agree with Hannah on that point. I don't quite understand how she could be that way.
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ReplyDeleteDavid Gessner delves deep into one of the most vexing thoughts in the human mind in The Dreamer Did Not Exist, exploring the paralyzing thoughts of death, nonexistence and insignificance. Gessner throws the reader into the turbulent thoughts of his younger self, revealing a massive and nearly maddening fixation with mortality. Death is inescapable, undeniable, and nigh on impossible to ponder without feeling even the slightest sense of dread. With the inevitability of death comes a certain feeling of unimportance and Gessner forcefully delivers that feeling throughout the piece.
ReplyDeleteThe intertwining of the pig picking and the flashbacks creates a jarring tension. Gessner reveals the extent to which death consumed his thoughts, the unbearable doubt and worry that he felt while realizing his minimal significance on a universal scale, but then strips away all concerns, thoughts and beliefs in order to focus on a basic human instinct. I agree with Henry that devouring the pig offers the author a simple but substantial solace. David is fueled purely by a primal impulse to satiate a strictly physical hunger. This action is devoid of critical thought; dwelling on it offers an escape from the bothersome notion of a life devoid of meaning. The author is mercilessly sharp with his words, offering only the pig picking scenes for anxious readers to retreat to. The construction of this piece serves to underline the conclusion that Gessner makes after ruminating on death. We can throw all of our effort into denying or trying to avoid looking in the face of death, and we can try to transcend it with our art, but eventually the marks we leave in the earth will fade and be erased. We can try to forget about our mortality, to live in defiance of an undeniable part of our lives, but we are all going to die, and we will all fade away into insignificance. Our stomachs may be full, but our hunger to perpetuate ourselves will be left unsatisfied.
Fun Home is an interesting piece to analyze because Alison Bechdel's “voice” isn't even entirely words. It's a combination of pictures and captions which support each other. For example, Bechdel's captions can be quite matter of fact. Without the pictures we could read them and gain little insight on what it was like living with her father, and the true emotion felt by her which is revealed through her cartoons. While the captions make up the structure of the story, the pictures, with their speech bubbles and facial expressions, suggest something else is happening, and show it through the eyes of her as a child. With these two similar but different points of view, we can really begin to understand the story.
ReplyDeleteThe issue that Bechdel explores throughout chapter one is a mix between her own struggle to understand why her father was the way he was. It's clear that Bechdel felt bitter about her father and how distant he was from her. She feels angry that he seems to care so much for the objects he finds, and so little for his family. At the end of the chapter when she discusses his suicide she says, “ Was he a good father? I want to say, 'At least he stuck around.' But of course, he didn't.” But this bitter feeling is also intertwined with the love she felt for him, regardless of his faults, and the emptiness she experiences when the love doesn't seem to be returned. The part about her father giving her a bath and how even though he hardly ever did it, they were the baths she remembered most. The water being poured over her head and the cold she feels afterwards is a good symbol of how she felt with her father's love.
Fun home is an interesting piece to analyze because of the combination of writing and illustrations. Allison Bechdel is able to combine these two forms of art to communicate one fluid voice. She also uses imagery through both forms to create irony but still have a deeper meaning. Her fathers ability to polish up old junk and create shiny pieces of art is a symbol for the “fake” family that her father builds. Another interesting aspect of this story is the fact that the pictures provide a childs point of view while the author is also able to provide an adult view in retrospect as she evaluates the problem in both points of view.
ReplyDeleteIn the graphic memoir Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, you are able to see that the author still desired to have to a relationship with her father throughout her childhood even though at times his actions certainly made her feel as if she was not really something he cared about. Even upon reaching adulthood and after her father’s death, the desire she always had to be close with him and have a real, meaningful relationship between them, never left and possibly even grew to be more prominent. The emotion she depicts through her words and illustrations may present a sense of regret towards the end. Her familiarity with all of her father’s flaws, looking back, may only open her eyes wider to everything that he may have been feeling or going through at the time. However, this certainly does not cover up the deserved resentment she has for him. There is clearly an attempt to highlight all of the positive attributes her father possessed but they are surely overcome by the overwhelming amount of things that he things he did not do well with her and the rest of his children. There is a shift in this portion of the memoir that goes from depicting mainly her frustrations with her father and the lifestyle that he had her family living, to a more solemn feeling that seems to read more slowly and depicts her longing to have him have been a father to her rather than merely an employee or detail in his masterpiece. His presence in her life as a father figure is something she had always desired and the arrangement of the panels excels in explaining the mixed emotions that she felt and continues to feel about the circumstances her father has presented in her life.
ReplyDeleteAlice Bechdal’s voice is important to the meaning of the piece Fun Home because she describes her relationship to her father as a child by using allusions, metaphors and tone. Bechdal introduces a different approach in her memoir to describe her personal experience by illustrating her point of view graphically. What’s most interesting about Fun Home is the fact that Bechdal drew the illustrations herself. In some panels, Bechdal darkens or creates a shadow of the face of her father. One partiucular scene is the panel in which Bechdal’s father is punishing her younger brother, the face of her father is masked. The arrangement of Fun Home is interesting. She picked a certain time of her childhood that best described events that took place which illustrated her perspective of her relationship to her father through a playful yet serious tone. The problematic experience that Bechdal describes through her graphic novel is not only the distant relationship with her father, but she depicts his behavior inhabits in order to suggest his problem with being a perfectionist. She leaves clues throughout her photos that come together in the end after reviewing the piece is that her father is a homosexual, one being the scene at the chruch.
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