Influenced by One of The Greatest

Sarah Vowell has been recognized by New York Times’ bestselling author of six nonfiction books on American history and culture. Vowell’s work of nonfiction Assassination Vacation is included in this recognition. She has many other accomplishments that she has been idolized for. She specifically voiced the teenager Violet Parr in the Pixar animated movie The Incredibles in 2004. Sarah Vowell has made a name for herself with her writing skills and her ability to examine and make connections with American history and even things that are happening now. By going to the interview that she had on campus, many people were able to see how she uses her personal experiences, sarcastic tone, and knowledge to connect with the world which makes people want to read books.

As mentioned earlier in my analysis, Sarah Vowell visited the Lenoir-Rhyne community a few weeks ago for an interview about her book Assassination Vacation.  Honestly, I am glad I attended this interview because there was so much that I learned about her as writer and a person. Most of the questions that were asked in the interview were about her works of nonfiction. They were mostly the “what did you mean when you said that” questions. What really got my attention was her ability to connect to the world we live in today. There was a point in the interview when someone ask a question and she answered by connecting with the world and her opinions which is a good way to approach opinion questions. If you read Assassination Vacation, it is really subjective but she uses her experience and knowledge that she learns from her traveling to come up with her statements. Many people might say that Sarah Vowell can be sarcastic in her writing. At the beginning of Chapter 2 on page 123 she writes, “The most famous thing ever said about President James A. Garfield is about how nobody has any idea who the hell he was”, kind of gives a hint that she has a sarcastic personality and style of writing. When I attended the interview, I understood it all as soon as she started speaking. But this is her main weapon when she writes and even when she speaks. She may be sarcastic but she uses realistic sarcasm. All throughout her interview the way she speaks is the way she writes her books even if there are bits and pieces of sarcasm. She still goes off of facts and experiences.

Sarah Vowell’s book Assassination Vacation was one of her greatest works of nonfiction. Going to the interview and reading her book made me want to read more of her books in the future. It also gave me a bigger look on the book we read for class and allowed me to understand Sarah Vowell in an entirely different way.

 

Work Cited

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

“Sarah Vowell.” StevenBarclayAgency. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

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The Collapsed Marriage of Othello and Desdemona

Othello and Desdemona were a couple in love but, were drawn apart by many obstacles. In William Shakespeare’s Othello there are many things that Othello has to go through. Othello is a Moorish general in the Venetian army and Desdemona is a Venetian woman. In Susan Snyder’s essay she is addressing to the readers why she thinks that Othello and Desdemona’s marriage went bad. Snyder goes over many reasons that the marriage was a failure. Not even in Snyder’s essay but throughout the actual play you can almost expect for things to be a disaster for these two. They had no kind of mutual bond to one another and just seemed to be totally different from one another. Othello considered his lover Desdemona to be superior over him which I find confusing in a way but, he was madly in love with her  and spoke from his heart. As you read on, more and more happens in their relationship which brings it to an end sadly.

In Susan Snyder’s essay starting on page 287, she starts our with a quick background of the two lovers and then gets into more detail about the argument she is making. As she said on page 288, ” What goes so quickly and terribly wrong with the marriage of Othello and Desdemona?” Immediately, Snyder aims at another main character. Iago is acquainted with Othello’s standard-bearer. Snyder also throws out in the beginning of the second paragraph on page 288 that ” it is he who plots to poison down Cassid as well by getting first stripped of his military position and then suspected by the Moor as Desdemona’s lover. Iago seems to be the best reason why Othello and Desdemona’s marriage went terribly wrong.

Iago in my opinion is the reason why Othello’s marriage ended out like it but, this point that Snyder made seems to be the strongest. There are many other points that are brought up in the book that could catch the eyes of readers about what was it that ended the loving marriage of these two.

Work Cited

Mowat, Barbara A. and Paul Wersine, eds. Foldge Shakespeare Library: Othello by William Shakespeare. Simon and Schuster, 2009.

Snyder, Susan. ” Othello: A Modern Perspective. ” Folger Shakespeare Library: Othello by William Shakespeare, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon and Schuster, 2009. 287-98

Sarah Vowell Convocation

Sarah Vowell came to Lenoir Rhyne University this past week. Everyone came to P.E. Monroe auditorium to hear her talk about her book, which was our schools summer reading Assassination Vacation, and other things in her life. I could not get out of my head that she played Violet in the Pixar animated film The Incredibles. I literally was picturing the actual character from the movie on stage and it just made the entire event that much interesting. The one thing I really enjoyed was Sarah’s personality and her realism about certain things. Before she answered any questions from the audience she took her time to think about what she wanted. I really enjoyed this event and I was happy at the end because I got to ask the last question of the night which was, ” Are you going to play the role of Violet in the upcoming Incredibles 2 film?”.  Everybody got a good laugh out of that one! Also we were on a live radio station at the time so I got to be on the radio as well!

Sarah Vowell’s Vacation

Introduction

The second book that was assigned to the class was another interesting work of nonfiction written by Sarah Vowell which is titled Assassination Vacation. Most of this book is mainly  dealing with Sarah and her “vacation” around the United States. Throughout the book she expresses her views and opinions about the past presidents that have ran the country and she also is recounting North American History throughout her journey.Sarah writes in her own sarcastic attitude as you read through the book. Most readers would notice it as you read through because it is really easy to notice. As she tells us about these presidents and what all they have done she also focuses on how they were assassinated hints the title of the book. Sarah chose presidents that were assassinated in her novel to talk about. Throughout her journey around the country, Sarah Vowell learns new things about the presidents and recaps it all in the novel.

Sarah Vowell’s Journey

In Chapter 1 of Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation, Sarah’s first victim in the book is Abraham Lincoln. On page 26, Sarah has traveled to Washington D.C. to view the Lincoln Memorial. In the book she recounts reading the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural speeches. After Sarah can only tell so much based off of the information that she has attained from her “vacation”. She traveled to many monuments and museums dedicated towards the presidents for information and answers. In Chapter 1 she is reading these two speeches she expressing her opinions in her own sarcastic way again. Sarah also tries to explain the way that Lincoln writes. On page 27 she said, ” To read this speech is to see how Lincoln’s mind worked, to see how he governed, how he lived”. Sarah also goes into deep detail about John W. Booth who was the man who assassinated Lincoln. She explains the many plots that were planned by Booth along with George Atzerodt and Lewis Powell. Sarah reads these two speeches so she can get a better understanding of Abraham Lincoln and what he did as president of the United States. Sarah also is able to identify the negative obstacles that were in his way while he was the president. As you read more of the chapter she tells more and more about Lincoln’s life. Sarah seems to focus more on how he was assassinated and the people who were behind it but by Sarah going around on her journey and visiting these different locations, she is able to reveal important information about the president, in this case Abraham Lincoln, and get a better look at there lives and decisions that lead them to their deaths. 

Conclusion

A few pages after Sarah has read the speeches she goes on to and explains the assassination plots to kill Lincoln. Most of the time she is talking about Booth and what he does to achieve his mission which is to assassinate Lincoln. Sarah visits many other places to get information about Lincoln as you read through the chapter.

 

 

 

John Crow’s Devil

Introduction

The interesting book that was assigned to for the class to read over this short period of time is a novel by Marlon James which is titled John Crow’s Devil. This novel tells a story about a Jamaican village in the late 1950s. The village is in a struggle with religious beliefs and there are conflicts throughout the entire novel. It was tough to actually comprehend the specific style that James had written the novel in because he had written the book the way that Jamaican creoles speak. As I read through this novel it became easier to understand what the characters were actually talking about which made it better for myself.

  The Unbalanced Life of Lucinda

On page 134 and 135 of John Crow’s Devil, Marlon James is presenting a scene in the novel involving Lucinda and the Apostle. The Apostle seems to be inebriated in this part of the novel. Lucinda struggles to get him to a bed complaining about how “the Apostle is the heaviest man she had every held, heavier than all the other men she had helped her mother throw out of the house”. Lucinda is whipping because she is once again put into another situation in which she has to “experience the misery of a man” which she has had enough of in her life. Later in the passage Lucinda starts to describe the sudden arousal of the Apostle when she says,” A black hill between the huge ridges of his thighs” which she is trying to ignore but can not.

The stress Lucinda is under is so stressful that she starts praying to the Lord. On page 134 she seems to be some sort of religious ritual/pray when she “spoke to Sasa and rubbed goat’s blood on her breast”. The Apostle is still unresponsive at the moment lying in the bed while Lucinda is sitting next to him. In this part of the novel, she is describe as Night and Day Lucinda. Day Lucinda seems to want to punish the Apostle for the wrong things he has done. Her eyes are currently closed and Day Lucinda says, ” God will punish you for your wickedness“. Night Lucinda is more on the peaceful when she said, “ Touch where life come from“. Lucinda was having a spiritual moment with herself and the Apostle during this time. After she had walked out of the room, “Lucinda saw herself for what she really was. A beast, not the false creature in church clothes”.

Lucinda continued to feel pain throughout the novel as more events rushed over her mind putting more stress in her life. Just so many problems came up in her life were leaving her in tears and keeping her life out of balance with no peace with the world or anything.

Word Cited

James, Marlon. John Crow’s Devil. Akashic. 2005.

 

 

 

I am COMMUNICATION

There are literally a million different things that I could tell you about myself. There are numerous aspects about me that I have a very powerful passion for. But the biggest aspect that I am very delighted to obtain is the ability to communicate. When I meet new people for the first time they immediately notice that I am someone who enjoys to talk. All of my friends and family will inform you that Leroy loves to talk up a storm. I think that it is essential to be able to interact with others around you and your surroundings. When I am interacting, I get this feeling of exhilaration and liveliness that brightens my entire mood. I am usually in a great mood all the time anyway but interaction with my surroundings helps me feel human. I feed off of interaction everyday and all day until it is time for bed. It is amazing because when I do not have anything to talk to, I will end up talking to myself but who doesn’t do that every now and then. Interaction is key in my life and it will continue to be a primary aspect in my agenda each day. 

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