Inevitably, all things evolve over time. From decade to decade, a person can find many differences as in slight variances between popular fads and so forth like styles of fashion and trends. Even writing takes on a new form and shape after awhile as we see in the essays “Our Secret” by Susan Griffin and “States” by Edward Said. These two reveal a more evident truth of a different use of language than it is customary to read just as it is seen in Michael Herr’s novel Dispatches, which is written in the style of “New Journalism” where real events are told in a story format or narrative to appeal to more readers. In that same fashion, Griffin and Said break from the a-typical mold of professional writing to better illustrate their respective ideas of past experiences and exile defining who a person will or has become.
Both authors effectively attempt to do the same things; both strive to relate to readers with more than just words on a page. Except, Griffin and Said vary in the techniques they employ: one draws upon a reader’s ability to imagine while the other applies a more literal approach. The first, Susan Griffin, emphasizes her points through examples she integrates into her essays by depending on the reader to make what I’ve termed as “imagined visualizations” for a more enhanced understanding. Edward Said, on the other hand, demonstrates his main arguments with more “physical visualizations” by utilizing photographs along with his text for readers to further comprehend his meaning.
Griffin throughout her essay “Our Secret” refers back to her own life experiences and the journal of one man by the name of Heinrich Himmler. In essence, her essay comprises of a juxtaposition between the two. Both had eerily similar upbri...
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...n them today. This begins with, first and foremost, a creative new approach to teaching students to write.
Works Cited
Bartholomae, David, and Tony Petrosky. Ways of Reading: an Anthology for Writers. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.
Freire, Paulo. "The "Banking" Concept of Education." 1993. Ways of Reading: an Anthology for Writers. By David Bartholomae and Tony Petrosky. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 323. Print.
Griffin, Susan. "Our Secret." 1992. Ways of Reading: an Anthology for Writers. By David Bartholomae and Tony Petrosky. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 341+. Print.
Herr, Michael. Dispatches. New York: Everyman's Library, 2009. Print.
Said, Edward. ""States"" 1999. Ways of Reading: an Anthology for Writers. By David Bartholomae and Tony Petrosky. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 564+. Print.
For my reading assignment I read “Car Trouble” by Jeanne Duprau. The story takes place in many cities in the United States. Some are real places like Richmond, Virginia, St. Louis, Missouri, and Los Angeles, California. The book also has some fictional towns like Sunville, New Mexico, a town built completely off of solar power and other natural resources. There are many more real and fake cities throughout the story, but the ones mentioned are the most written about and most important to the story.
X, Malcolm. "Learning to Read." Rereading America. 9th ed. Boston/NewYork: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 189-97. Print.
Wideman, John Edgar. “Our Time.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. 9th ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky, Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 657-694. Print.
Writing with Readings and Handbook. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 52-57. Print.
Perhaps no other event in modern history has left us so perplexed and dumbfounded than the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, an entire population was simply robbed of their existence. In “Our Secret,” Susan Griffin tries to explain what could possibly lead an individual to execute such inhumane acts to a large group of people. She delves into Heinrich Himmler’s life and investigates all the events leading up to him joining the Nazi party. In“Panopticism,” Michel Foucault argues that modern society has been shaped by disciplinary mechanisms deriving from the plague as well as Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, a structure with a tower in the middle meant for surveillance. Susan Griffin tries to explain what happened in Germany through Himmler’s childhood while Foucault better explains these events by describing how society as a whole operates.
Wideman, John Edgar. "Our Time". Ways of reading: An Anthology for Writers [ninth edition]. Ed. Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky. N.Y.|Boston: Bedford/St. Martin Press. 2011.655-694. Print.
In "Our Secret" by Susan Griffin, the essay uses fragments throughout the essay to symbolize all the topics and people that are involved. The fragments in the essay tie together insides and outsides, human nature, everything affected by past, secrets, cause and effect, and development with the content. These subjects and the fragments are also similar with her life stories and her interviewees that all go together. The author also uses her own memories mixed in with what she heard from the interviewees. Her recollection of her memory is not fully told, but with missing parts and added feelings. Her interviewee's words are told to her and brought to the paper with added information. She tells throughout the book about these recollections.
Berger, John. "Way of Seeing." Berger, John. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Ninth Edition. Bedford/St.Martin, 2011. 141-160.
Rodriguez, Richard. "The Achievement of Desire." Petrosky, Anthony and David Bartholomae. Ways of Reading An Anthology for Writers. Boston ; New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. 516-532.
... that a “banking” education is not the better choice for obtaining an education. He does not present both options and allow or encourage the reader to form their own opinions. The style of his writing is direct and straightforward as opposed to analytical. By analyzing Freire’s essay, one can assume that Freire received a “banking” education based on the way he has written his essay. This is another example of how the style of education you receive affects your life and relationships.
Griffin, Susan. “Our Secret”. Ways of Reading Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Sixth edition. Boston. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.
The Compact Reader. Subjects, styles and strategies Editor: Jane E. Aaron. New York: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 1987. 315-319
Said, Edward Wadie. “States.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. 9th ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky, Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 537-575. Print.
Kahanamoku invitational competition. Although Eddie was at the age of 31 he still was full of
Griffin, Susan. “Our Secret”. Ways of Reading Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Sixth edition. Boston. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.