Point of view is the writer’s way of allowing the readers to see and hear from the same viewpoint. Many writers approach point of view in variety of ways. In the texts from Wayne Koestenbaum’s Humiliation and Joan Didion’s The White Album, the two writers use first person view in their own ways. Koestenbaum views his topic of humiliation by providing his own opinions and stories while Didion establishes her first person narration by writing about stories she has seen and experienced first-hand. Koestenbaum used first person narration to express his personal thoughts into the text. Although Didion used “I” to support her argument and prove her involvement in the stories she provided, it unfortunately obscured the readers’ understanding of her …show more content…
writing. “Humiliation is always personal…”, Koestenbaum says.
The “I” is crucial in the Humiliation because his perspective is relentlessly personal. It acts as a philosophical inquiry but also functions as narrative of pain – the public and private, sexual, racial, emotional and physical humiliations of the culture. He explains that he writes about humiliation to find out, for himself, why humiliation affects people the way it does. Humiliation, according to Koestenbaum, is something that “involves a triangle: (1) the victim, (2) the abuser, and (3) the witness…the scene’s horror – its energy, its electricity – involves the presence of three. An infernal waltz”. He provides many different angles of humiliation through literature and historical references to view different ways that they can fit into his triangle. By referring to some specific figures like Michael Jackson, Oscar Wilde, Liza Minnelli, politicians such as Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, and Richard M. Nixon, Koestenbaum turns away from the first person to examine the humiliation of others. In number 5 Koestenbaum talks about the two women who were humiliated, Monica Lewinsky and Hillary Clinton. These “betrayed women” as he describes, were victims. However, Koestenbaum uses “I” as the view of the witness: “By imagining what they feel, or might feel, I learn something about what I already feel, what I, as a human being, was born sensing: that we all live on the edge of humiliation”. I believe that Koestenbaum uses “I” not always as a first person but as a metaphorical reference to the world. For example, in this excerpt, “I” represents the society. As for the Lewinsky incident, because there was the witness, the two women as well as Bill Clinton – the victims, was humiliated. Koestenbaum was not the only witness to this incident but the whole world that was exposed to media and “I”, the society acknowledged the spontaneity of humiliation that it comes when we least expect it and was yet mesmerized by every
variety of public shame. Acting as both an abuser and a witness to many of these incidents, he reveals the limitations of first-person consciousness when coming into contact with the social, the cultural, the political, and the historical. Thus referring back to “humiliation is always personal”, I would disagree because humiliation becomes humiliating when something personal turns into something not so personal. Koestenbaum invoked literacy as a humiliating process. I indeed felt that humiliation while reading Joan Didion’s The White Album. Before reading, I assumed it was simply a recollection of the life during the 1960’s. It took me a while to figure out that The White Album is actually Didion’s attempt to depict that life is simply a set of chaotic and random events. “Everything was to teach me something”, said Linda Kasabian, a star witness for the Manson Trial. Perhaps Didion was trying to teach us something through all the chaos. The disjointed fragments of The White Album reflect the social chaos present in America or even the internal chaos within herself. Didion uses first person to explore cultural tensions that arose in the late sixties – from the California water supply to the questioning of all premises endemic to the time by combining her personal stories with stories of events that had occurred during those times. At first she uses first person narration to talk about herself, how she was the “Women of the Year” and was mentally diagnosed. She then transitions away from herself and into discussing about others’ stories that she had witnessed. By having experienced all the events first hand, Didion tries to establish herself as a person and a writer. In the beginning she says, “I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it… I was meant to know the plot, but all I knew was what I saw: flash pictures in variable sequence, images with no meaning beyond their temporary arrangement” (p186). Just like these images, The White Album does not follow the correct sequence. She interviews Huey Newton, talks about how she would pack for her journalistic trips, she talks about the time she was with The Doors, and then she describes the house she lived in during those years. What do these events have to do with each other? “These images did not fit into any narrative I knew”, she claims. Perhaps she was asking herself the same question. Although it is very difficult to find meaning in all the listed events, they do support her point. Thus shows that “I” in The White Album is not significant but is simply Didion’s way of making herself credible for these anarchic stories. “I recall… I remember… I put…” For the most part, her “I”s are used to describe what she has witnessed. Contrastingly, when she does not use first person, she is only elaborating more on her stories. Regarding the fact that because all her stories are events witnessed by herself, “I” is necessary however, logically speaking, the first person has no meaning at all. By not using the first person narration, Koestenbaum provides evidence of humiliation and by using “I” he establishes his thoughts and engages the readers thus enhancing the reading. On the other hand, “I” in Didion’s writing is meaningless. She uses “I” to declare that she has witnessed all the events first hand and she does not use first person narration to further discuss about the events. For Didion, first person narration is simply a tool to get her point across. Both writers made me wonder and seek after their purpose of their writings. In the beginning of The White Album Didion says, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” Maybe both readers wrote “in order to live”. Whatever their reasons may be, they certainly provoked the readers’ pondering to linger after reading.
Point of view is a literary device that can be often overlooked, and yet, it has a huge impact on the novel Bone Gap, as it changes how the reader imagines the story. This is due to the unique way that each character is seeing and living the moments that are written on the pages. The literary device of point of view is very important, as when it changes, so does perception, giving the reader a fuller or lesser understanding of what is truly going
The essay should not overly serious and takes risks to constantly push the boundaries to expose the author’s voice. While the other’s perspectives play a small role in the creation of an essay, the writer is always justified to take their own path in their writing and disregard any other
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
Jonathan Kozol was teacher and an author. He wrote a book called The Shame of the Nation. Kozel says this book isn’t supposed to make the readers comfortable, its about tradiagiy and return of schooling in America. Over the last fifteen years, the state of inner –city public schools has been in horrible and continuing decline says Kozel. Since the federal courts began dismantling the landmark ruling in Brown V. Board of education, segregation of black children has reverted to its highest level since 1968.
When writing literature, authors will adapt points of view to mold the perceptions of their readers. Three points of view that authors use to draw readers into their works of fiction are the limited perspective, the first-person perspective, and the objective perspective. Three stories will be examined and critiqued for their use of these narrative techniques. Of the three perspectives that will be examined, the first-person perspective is the most useful for sharing the authors’ vision.
What does sense of self-mean? It means what that person sees when they look in a mirror. Whether it is a decent, awful or an indifferent image. Everyone’s self-image is different, and that’s acceptable; normal even. No one person is exactly the same. The authors explain how a sense of self is like internal conflicts and the decision to lie in order to gain approval.
Point of view is one of the single greatest assets an author can use. It helps to move the plot along and show what is happening from a character’s perspective. An author can make the plot more complex by introducing several characters that the reader has to view events through. The events can then be seen through different eyes and mindsets forcing the reader to view the character in a different light. From one perspective a character can seem cruel, yet, from another, the same character can seem like a hero. These vastly contrasting views can be influenced based on the point of view, a character’s background, and the emotions towards them. The novel Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich showcases some examples of events seen from different points
It has been said of Anton Chekhov, the renown Russian short-story writer, that in all of his “work, there is never exactly a point. Rather we see into someone’s hear – in just a few pages, the curtain concealing these lives has been drawn back, revealing them in all their helplessness and rage and rancor.” Alice Munro, too, falls into this category. Many of her short-stories, such as “Royal Beatings” focus more on character revelation rather than plot.
The point of view of a story could make or break it. In Richard Wrights short story “Big Black Good Man” the point of view makes the stories ending very surprising. In this essay I will explain what point of view Richard Wright wrote his story from, by using textual evidence, to get a better understanding of how important point of view is in all stories.
In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At ...
In the essay “Shame”, by Dick Gregory, the author narrates how two painful experiences during his childhood reflected how difficult it was to grow up as a poor African American. Gregory was ashamed of being on welfare and of his poverty, so much so that he got of rid of the warm hooded mackaw he received because it was a reminder that he and his family were on relief. Gregory also expresses his embarrassment, shame, and desire to hold onto his dignity throughout it all. In the essay “I Became Her Target”, by Roger Wilkins, the author describes how it was difficult for him to break the ice with his classmates because he was a new student in school. In fact, Wilkins was the only black student in this new school which only worsened the situation. Moreover, he was the target of both
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
A fundamental element of any story is the perspective of the narrator. It guides the point of view from which readers perceive and understand a story and greatly affects how a story is presented. As such, the perspective is crucial in determining how engaging a story is. First person narration, a narrative perspective in which the story is told first hand, has proven highly effective in making a story more compelling to read. Recently, it has become very popular in young adult fiction, as it can allow, when well-executed, for the reader to be better immersed in the story, increased suspense, and insightful reflection on the significance of events taking place. In Claire Battershill’s Circus short story Two Man Luge, first person narration is
Alongside a plot that deals with a series of unhappy events, Ian McEwan’s Atonement explores the concept of reality in the fragile equilibrium of human existence. McEwan’s mastery of narration helps to shape his reader’s comprehension that reality is subjective. McEwan’s employment of shifting focalization and presentation of a single event approached from several character perspectives and use of both third and first person narration all contribute to this conclusion.
Breaking down point of view in stories can be helpful in determining the central idea, as the two concepts typically support one another. An author such as O’Connor has the ability when writing narrative to use whichever point of view they feel best portrays the story they are telling in the way they would like readers to understand it. By including and excluding certain bits of information, the author can present the story the way they choose, with the option to leave as many or as few subtle or obvious details within the narration as they would like to reveal to