Part Three:
Essays that I read for this week:
1. "January" by Verlyn Klinkenborg
2. "Winter" by Larry Woiwode
Analysis of "Winter"
In this essay "Winter" Woiwode imparts his experience of dealing with a brand new yet possibly broken outdoor wood burning furnace during the coldest winter that North Dakota has ever seen. Yet he captivates his reader through suspense of what is going to happen. Will he survive that winter night? One strategy that he uses to increase this suspense is the structure of his paragraphs and sentences. The start of every paragraph is either of a thought that is going through his mind or an action. Also the sentences, particularly at the end are longer with many connections through commas in them, which makes them seem fragmented, increases the pace of the essay and continues the suspense. This can particularly seen in the last lines of the second to last paragraph: "I'm not sure how long I wait for the torch to do its work but soon I know I have to sleep. Life, brief as a breath, over? . . . You'll have to resolve the distinctions between the two for yourselves, if I can't keep the torch on target, get us heat, undo the miscues that brought us to this, so you'll know it wasn't my interior and its resolving search for words that held me here, but you." This fragmentation and pace reflects not only his thoughts but almost acts like a pulse of a heart. A pulse that keeps the narrator going throughout the essay.
Wow, your analysis of this essay was so detailed. It's amazing how you connected the sentence structure with the tone and the feelings projected by the writer. I actually just left an english class where we were discussing a similar subject so I was pretty excited to see that your post was along the same lines since I'm still in the mind set of that class.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked how you paralleled the sentence structure with a heart beat. That's a really neat perspective and really shows your ability to think abstractly.
Excellent analysis, E. As an aside, I'm now realizing I've read three books about North Dakota--by Kathleen Norris, Debra Marquart, and Chuck Klosterman. That's weird, because I'm not sure I've read too many other location-specific books. Those about North Dakota really seem to wrestle with the place itself.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, what's your review of the somewhat frantic style. Is it working for you? Could you employ it?
DW