“The American Man at Age Ten” --
I really enjoyed reading Susan Orlean’s piece on Colin Duffy. The piece was fun and light in the beginning, but delved into something much deeper and more powerful later on. Gender socialization was the underlying tone of this article. I have been learning about this topic in my Intro to Women’s Studies course, and so I found this article fascinating. There was example after example of how young boys are taught through their peers and the media about what it is to be a boy or girl. My only issue with this piece, and it may be attributed to it’s audience or the style, was that Orlean used opinionated descriptions on several occasions. Words like “handsome,” “pretty,” and “awesome” don’t belong in a hard news piece. Because this was a narrative piece are these descriptions acceptable?
“Trina and Trina” --
I also enjoyed reading Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s devastating article on the young and troubled Trina. The story was depressing and filled with conflict, and had no feel-good resolution. We have been taught many times over in our readings that this is not necessarily the way to keep readers reading. Why does it work in this article? Does it work? Also, I felt that at some points I had trouble keeping up with where and when the story was taking place. It was a bit jumpy.
Telling True Stories --
I felt that this part of the reading was largely informative, rather than entertaining. At times the information was repetitive, but I feel that I am better for having read it. I feel that I now hold many tools for good interviewing. The examples given via instruction were helpful and at times relatable. I also feel that I have a better grasp of how I want to go about writing my profile.
I also thought the commentary on gender dynamics was really interesting. At first it seemed like Colin was expressing basic boy/girl cooties stuff from 5th grade, but the author delved further and exposed a lot more. I found it particularly interesting that Colin went to an "alternative" school where the administration tried to eliminate these kinds of issues. Clearly the teachers and the parents are doing their best to eliminate this kind of thing, but kids will be kids and boys will still give the girls foolish nicknames.
ReplyDeleteI was also really amused by their insights into how to attract members of the opposite sex. In particular, I liked how Colin's friend did it by stealing their things.