Raw Draft

Lola Lafia
Raw Draft
Due: May 21^st, 2015

**I am having trouble finding ways to connect my ideas back to Diaz, so if you could keep that in mind as you read this, that would be helpful.

Claims (I think...)

Style changes content

Content cannot exist outside of style.

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.

(Body paragraphs // supppor)

- 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.)

- We see this cognitive dissonance (right phrase?) again even within the single story of “Aguantando” (discuss the mom’s anticipation of papi coming, and Yunior and Rafa’s “fantasies.”)

- 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.

- So it seems to be that style and content are not counterparts or even on the same level in the hypothetical “guide to writing” pyramid. 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. Form is the power that we have over content; it’s our only way of altering and influencing it. But form and content are both equal parts of style and come hand in hand: you cannot have one without the other.

- 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 first chapter “Ysrael,” he welcomes us into the book by informing us of Yunior’s familial situation and his father’s absence in his life. So when we read chapter two, “Fiesta 1980,” 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.... (wait I just realized this doesn’t make sense because Ysrael actually did happen before Fiesta 1980.... I’m thinking of another example but I can’t remember it right now...)

- 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.