artwritesthings

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3/17 - Kiese Laymon

For today's blog post, please take a few minutes to write about what you learned about Kiese Laymon from his convo with Michel Martin and how that helped you have a better understanding of the piece "Greens."

Kiese’s interview with Michel Martin was very tough to get through for me, and so was “Greens.” All I can think about are the bad things he justified, or even saw nothing wrong with at all: letting girls get sexually assaulted, his mother beating him, his grandmother being basically tortured by a doctor, his mother gambling away his and his aunt’s money, his and his uncle’s eating disorders. His approach to the earlier two things, while they logically make sense to me--he didn’t want the guys to hurt him instead, his mom was trying to beat him into a shape or form or even color where he wouldn’t get killed by white men-- ...TBC.

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3/16 - Little Miss Sumo Reflection

Reader Response: Something I couldn’t help but notice during this film, as I always have when encountering sumo wrestling (and, really, all that comes to mind is one of the Austin Powers movies...), is the weight of the wrestlers. I know, of course, that being big is the point. But still, I waited for someone to negate the fat-shaming. Instead, they all just laughed about it, even Hiyori. Most of the time, she was the one making the jokes, saying that she’d always had a fat face, wondering if the plane would crash with all of them on it. In the environment she is in, being fat isn’t a bad thing. Even for a woman. (I recognize that, in everyday life in Japan, that might be different.) Which is a wild contrast to my own American culture. Women aren’t supposed to be fat. I feel shamed buying the XL clothing I can find, and most of my shirts are men’s because the women’s fashion industry is obsessed with tight clothing and don’t think about those of us who have rolls or curves. I can’t even find a damn bra at the store... TBC

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3/2 - Your Black Friend, The Help, and Critical Race Theory

I read Ben Passmore’s comic, “Your Black Friend,” last spring for the graphic novels class, so I decided to go into this assignment without rereading and instead focus on what I remembered, what stuck out to me the most. First, there was the art style. I don’t know what the term is for this particular one, but, especially in the main character, I noticed a sort of distorted/warped face. The color scheme was also pretty different and almost at odds with the subject matter--similar to the use of text speak. 

What I’ve thought a lot about since this past summer is what it means to be an ally. After the death of George Floyd, I saw that The Help was on Netflix, and I loved a scene I had seen before--where Octavia Spencer’s character tells Bryce Dallas Howard’s to eat her shit, and then is like, “Oh, wait. You just did!”--so I decided to watch it. I guess it was me trying to show my solidarity? To know, as a white person, what not to do? But I had totally missed one of the key things not to do, and I fell into a bad statistic. That week, The Help ended up trending on the platform because of ignorant people like myself. And though I still believe it is a well-made film with an enjoyable and thought-provoking story, I now realize that it is also equally as harmful. Here’s why, according to this Buzzfeed article: “In the words of Wesley Morris’s 2011 review, ‘Skeeter’s expose is meant to empower both the subjects and the author, but The Help joins everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to The Blind Side as another Hollywood movie that sees racial progress as the province of white do-gooderism. Skeeter enjoys all the self-discover and all the credit.”

This makes sense, yet I will admit that I still don’t quite know where the line is drawn between being an ally and being a white savior... I want to help, but maybe my silence is the best way to do that? Not total silence, but more so, instead of being obnoxious like the white girl at the end of “Your Black Friend,” I work to amplify the voice of the individual or group who has been wronged. Although, I still don’t love this idea--what if there’s no one else there who can speak up?  Re: Critical Race Theory: I’m pretty familiar with the terms introduced in this handout, although I do find it interesting that race is considered a social construct versus something biological, or due to genetics. I’m going to keep thinking on that one. 

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module project #1 brainstorm

original pitch: I will analyze the novel Anne of Green Gables as a coming-of-age story; in particular, I will examine its use of tropes and decide whether or not they are effective in allowing the reader to connect to the characters (specifically, the protagonist, Anne Shirley). I plan to write my analysis in essay form, though I might also use my Anne with an "E" slideshow from Week 2 as visual supplementary evidence and/or a comparison.

2/8 thoughts: my plans for this project remain much the same. I will still be looking for coming-of-age tropes throughout the text, but I will also pay close attention to my own thoughts and emotions as I read. for instance, was there anything in the story during which I felt any sort of connection to? a specific character, or event? that is to say, i’ll also be examining the novel through a reader-response lens. use of Anne with an “E” slideshow is still TBD.

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1/25 - reflection on Lee Martin’s “Traps”

Blog first about your initial responses to the piece: words or phrases you noticed, how the characters are revealed to us, story arc, tropes, etc. Then explore the experience of growing up that Martin raises in his piece. What factors seem to have most shaped his identity? What power dynamics are at play in the story? What important binaries are present in his story? These may be binaries presented as “natural” or “normal”; they may also be directly or indirectly. Finally, write a little bit about what features you see in Martin’s piece that you usually associate with poetry and/or fiction. Story arc and character reveal: heavy focus on father, then on mother, then on grandfather, and then a sort of bird’s eye view, or at least a normal, non-centralized POV as we learn about Bus Piper and what happened that day. None of the characters are seen as perfect, and only the mother is really seen as “good,” although that’s still with a tint of something not-so-good due to the fact that she allows Lee’s father’s violence towards him. 

Tropes that I noticed (to some degree): first (and many more) disagreement with parents, finally seeing one’s parents as people, first experience with grief, loss, death, rejection, etc., a loss of innocence, identity.  Words or phrases: I noticed a few things that made me uncomfortable, for one reason or another, but overall, I really enjoyed the piece, much more than I honestly thought I would.

Genetics, in a way, are what really seem to have shaped Lee’s identity. Or maybe it’s a question of nature versus nurture; I really haven’t figured out yet if some of my own quirks are from observing my parents or sharing my DNA with them. But, as Lee said, “That summer I had no idea who I was to be. I didn't know whether I would finally be like my mother, kind-hearted and shy, or like my father, high-strung and full of temper” (1). He had a bit of both in him, and it was the timidness that provoked his father’s anger and the temper that provoked his judgment, seemingly. Yet, his kind-heartedness...

WRITTEN ON 2/2: Okay, I have no idea where I was going with that last bit. I only took a couple hours away from this post and suddenly lost my train of thought, which is why its taken me so long to actually post. So, carrying on...

Important binaries: father versus mother, child versus adult (in particular, the power dynamic of father versus son), good versus bad. 

Earlier today (or yesterday now that it’s so late, whatever), I had an appointment at the Writing Center with an older ESL student, and I described her writing as poetic. Why? Imagery. Her attention to detail, specifically within nature. I saw it in “Traps,” too.

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1/19 - what do you think about when you think about coming of age?

"Coming of age," to me, is like growing into yourself/who you're supposed to be or who you want to be. Maybe it happens earlier for some, later for others, but it has a lot to do with growth, physical and especially mental.

Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't bring up Anne with an "E" here. Maybe that's because I'm writing this post after doing an assignment on it, but Anne Shirley-Cuthbert is the perfect example. You have this young girl who hasn't had the best life, and then she's given a fresh start. To learn, to find acceptance in who she is.

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welcome to my blog!

hello! i’m alyson talbott, a twenty-one-year old who studies creative writing and film at truman state university in missouri. oh, and the cat is clarke, who has already gained a degree in stealing the dog’s food, another in messing up my mom’s rugs, and a third in household parkour. 

this blog will be where i write what i think about different pieces of literature and film for a class i’m taking during my final semester of undergrad. and because i love a good list, below are some random facts to help you get to know who is behind these musings.

favorite book: the starless sea by erin morgenstern

favorite tv show: anne with an ‘e’

favorite movie: frozen II or the internship

favorite video games: immortals fenyx rising, dragon quest builders 2, wizard101, skyrim, breath of the wild, new horizons -- anything with adventure and/or the ability to create!

hobbies: making bookmarks and holiday cards, not actually reading and especially not writing

3-5 year goals: earn a master’s in writing for children and young adults, start an etsy shop, learn sign language, learn how to embroider, learn how to sew by hand and with a machine, travel outside of the united states, actually beat a video game