LeBlanc’s story has so much characterization: both of the author
and how she deals with the cycles of Trina’s behavior, and of Trina. Even
though there are not many physical descriptions of Trina, besides her physical behavior
(crouching, darting, jumping) or her skinniness, I got a real sense of Trina’s
tough tomboy nature. The characterization of Trina comes in many forms, as
interpreted by the author, in Trina’s word for word account of herself, in the
words of the observations made by her case workers, and through dialogue,
providing for a strong sense of her presence in the author’s life as the main
focus of the story. Additionally, the author does an excellent job keeping the
reader captivated and hopeful for change for Trina, just like she is kept
hopeful with every phone call she receives “There are many calls and they all
share a shape, opening with the easy rhythm of friendship, and then collapsing
awkwardly because I can’t carry the optimism for us anymore” (230). As these
calls and attempts at rehab start to get old for the author in her life, they
start to become cyclical for the reader as well, signaling and end to the
story. I really enjoyed this pace of writing as it covers a large time frame.
We get details and small sub stories at the beginning, and as the patterns of
Trina’s life are narrated and become repetitive for the author, they spin to an
end for the reader as well. This story also gave me a real sense of what it is
like to write a narrative piece. This is a story not just of the main character
but also of the author and character’s relationship over time: the context for
the story. Writing narrative is not just about telling someone else’s story, it’s
about telling their experience as the author has been a part of it. I hadn’t
understood this distinction before.
The
characterization in Orlean’s piece starts out much more literal, but also sets
the scene very well for the piece. It is much more directly descriptive and,
but is nicely congruent with the age and character of the protagonist. She also
stages the story with an intervention, talking about studies of teenage boys
that I thought would ultimately lend themselves to Colin’s story, and was
surprised when they did not become a prominent part of the story. I wasn’t ever
quite sure what the story was about exactly, and never really understood what
caused the writer to write this piece. Was it the affection she has for this
young boy? I was also left wondering who the writer is exactly, and how she
came to meet Colin or decide to write about him. Her relationship with him was
confusing to me, as she seemed to function as a babysitter or caretaker at times
picking him up from school, but never explicitly had that role. I didn’t enjoy or
understand this story as much.
I like that you touched on time frame here: I'm interested, too, in how long a piece like one of these takes to write—how long it SHOULD take to write.
ReplyDeleteI also struggled when comparing these two pieces. I think that in a lot of ways Orlean's piece can be dismissed, but I also enjoyed reading it more, and puzzling together how Colin was representative of larger cultural truths (the "what is this story about," I think).
However, you bring up a really good point about the role of Orlean in the piece. What I admired most about these was that both seemed to have an honesty or disclosure about being present in the lives of their subjects, but in "The American Man" that's certainly a little bit fuzzier.
It's funny to me how everyone's impulse seems to be to compare and contrast the two pieces! They're separate and distinct, and but two examples of narrative journalism. The narrator need not use first person or be an overt character in the piece at all; it's but one possible technique at your disposal. One piece of writing isn't necessarily better or worse given how much disclosure the writer/narrator provides about him/herself or methodology.
ReplyDeleteThere are many variables to consider when approaching each profile (reporting, writing, and/or reading).
Charlotte, I really enjoyed reading your interpretation of the two texts. I also felt the "I can’t carry the optimism for us anymore" section of LeBlanc's piece resonated with me.
ReplyDeleteI can see how a reader would want more answers from Orlean's piece, even though when I was reading I felt very satisfied with the lack of intention or purpose behind the piece. Maybe that's a stylistic difference, but I think that's one of the aspects of narrative I'm learning to embrace, that by withholding information, the reader is able to question the piece more and make their own observations. Maybe that's one of the major differences between memoir-ish writing and narrative journalism, that narrative allows the reader agency.