For the radical revisions, I worked a lot on my claim, and also my introduction as a whole. I also tried to generate some missing text in some parts, and now know what I have to do to generate the missing text for the rest of my essay.
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Writing
is typically composed of two essential factors or components: style and
content. The content is the facts, the material, what actually happened, while
the style is the medium, the approach, the technique.
In
Junot Diaz’s Drown, he tackles the
same themes and issues throughout his story. Yet the ways in which he explores
and navigates them greatly vary from story to story, even page to page. So although
the content is the same in many parts of the book, the styles in which the
content is relayed are so different that we almost miss the connection. And
furthermore, when trying to extract his style in order to replicate and mimick
it, it became seemingly impossible to separate it from the content. It seemed
almost as if they were combined, So what is the relationship between style and
content? How do they relate to each other, depend on each other, work together?
Content
is a part of style. It is not style and content that coexist but rather form and content that fuse together to
form a style. In Diaz’s novel, his form and his content are so inextricable and
intimately intertwined that isn’t possible to disconnect the two, but only to
acknowledge and embrace them as one. Furthermore, it is not just one distinct style that Diaz embodies in
his book, but many. He uses the power of poetry, metaphors, analogies, and more
to weave together a tale so intricately layered with thoughts and emotions and
experiences. Rather than trying to pinpoint or label Diaz’s style, it is more
effective to observe and analyze his writing as a whole, and explore how he
idiosyncratically integrates his content and his form to reveal and present his
stories.
In
Diaz’s book, he explores similar themes repeatedly throughout his story. But
although the content is similar/even the same, the styles in which he explores
the themes are so different that we almost don’t make the connection. So the
way he tackles his themes hugely affects the content of the story: or at least,
it affects the effect of the content. The very first chapter of the story,
“Ysrael,” revolves around Yunior and Rafa’s encounter with Ysrael, the boy
who’s face was scratched and destroyed by a pig when he was very young, as he
describes to the reader while he watches Rafa beat Ysrael up. Eight stories
later in “No Face, we read about a boy who always wears a mask to cover up his
face. And halfway into the chapter, when we start to make the connection from
story to story, Diaz, or rather the narrator, gives us a different description
of the same event from “Ysrael.” Although the content is the same, the styles
in which the content is relayed are so different that we almost miss the
connection. (***go further
deeper
into each of the styles.)
Something
interesting also enters the picture when we define
style, which is most commonly done by using the idea of genres to classify
writing. Because this book is labeled as a “memoir,” we are making instant
assumptions about the story, and about Diaz himself. But would it change our
reading of the text if it was “fiction,” per se? The effect of the stories on
the readers would change, and maybe even alter our interpretation on the
content and messages of the literature. As Edna St. Vincent Millay said in
1925, “A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with
his pants down.” When sharing any of their writing with the public, authors put
themselves at stake for judgment and critique by their audience. And a book is
most reflective of the author–or at least we assume so–when it is labeled as a
memoir. So as readers, all the experiences that we see Yunior going through, we
assume they come directly from Diaz’s life. But how is it fair to place a
bounding, limiting box onto Diaz and his abilities as an author? Diaz could
very well be exaggerating things, expanding on things, adding things to help
create a sort of mood or affect. But does that break the rules and requirements
of a “memoir”? Many would argue that it does. And this shows how tricky and
restrictive it can be to place a name or category onto a style.
Writers
often run into difficulty when trying to mimic styles. When we were told to use
Diaz’s style to write our own creative pieces, I found myself hesitant and
confused out of the fear that it wouldn’t work because our content was so
different. My story had none of the heartbreak, family drama, or immigration
struggles that Diaz’s stories tackle, and I found it nearly impossible to
separate his style, his way of writing, from his pure content.
Diaz’s
way of introducing details alters our reactions and interpretations of the
events within the stories. He has a consistent style of messing with the order
of revealing information, both with the order of the stories themselves, and
even within the actual stories. In the 2nd chapter “Fiesta, 1980,” he welcomes us
into the book by informing us of Yunior’s familial situation in America, and
their relationship with their father. So when we read “Aguantando” at the very
end of the book and we go back in time to learn about the family’s journey of
getting to America, it makes it
all the more heartbreaking to see their family all as one when we know they’ve
had all those bumps in the road....
Diaz
claims he wants to “make some mirrors so kids like [him] might see themselves
reflected back.” Although he has the power to create this “mirror,” he portrays
himself and people like him in a way that’s seemingly negative, what with
drugs, intense family issues and scandals, and other things that would seem to
reflect poorly on his culture. But maybe this is the truth. This is his life;
this is not a peace of fiction that tries to artificially represent a group of
people. Diaz is raw, honest, and truthful, but also poetic, lyrical, and
intimate. He uses the power of style not to alter and hide the truth, but to
embrace it and get in touch with its reality.
Definitiely explore more how form changes content.
In
Diaz’s book there is no raw truth. There are no stripped down, naked facts.
There is only what he gives us, which is his own spin on the truth. But is it
reliable? Is it the truth? Can
content exist outside of style? Everybody, every author, every person, tells
their tale in their own unique way. But no matter who claims they have unbiased
information, direct records, or the truth,
everything we’ll ever see of anything will always have some sort of spin on it.
So what can we call the truth? Did his dad really abandon his family the way
Yunior claims he did? Did his mom really disappear for a while for the reasons
Yunior claims she did? Will we ever know? Does it even matter? We have to treat
his story as his own, personal truth. Does the way Diaz/Yunior write about the
events in his life affect our take away from the stories? Of course.
Explore
more some of the actual “forms” that Diaz uses (objective correlatives,
metaphors, poetry, fantasy).
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