JD Salinger, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" Response

By: Cameron Okins

    The story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" portrays the mental state of a post-war veteran, and how it can turn a casual day into something considerably worse. JD Salinger illustrates this by depicting the apprehension that one feels everyday when around somebody with PTSD. He builds an eerie sense of comfort, while intermittently establishing hints as to the plot's conclusion. It's through these descriptive devices that Salinger sets up a shocking yet strangely expected ending.
"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" begins with a woman talking on the phone to her mother while casually going about her day. During the phone call we get an almost too perfect picture of the room. The beds are neatly made, the woman is getting herself dolled up in make-up, and is wearing a physical representation of her purity in the white silk gown draped around her. JD Salinger sets up this clean room to serve as foreshadowing that something messy is going to happen in the future. This is added to by the awkward conversation between the woman and her mother. The mother insists that something is wrong with the woman’s husband and it will be any moment that something bad happens. Then, everytime the mother tries to address what specifically might happen, the woman interrupts her, and reassures her that everything is alright. This builds suspense and foreshadows that something is undeniably going to happen. Salanger teases this idea repeatedly until the reader is left almost paranoid, and then he switches perspective over to the husband on the beach.
The man sits in his bathrobe, which we previously learned he never takes off. A young girl approaches him and asks him to play. The man acts weirdly close to the small girl and passively refers to his wife as “the lady”. Already modern readers feel uncomfortable with the scenario, as a grown man acting so casually with a young non related girl is frowned upon. This uncomfortability is then heightened when the man takes off the bathrobe to get into the water. Since we were previously informed that this is something he is known not to do, we get an understanding that something is different about this time. The man then tells the little girl a story about “bananafish”. The story tells of fish that eat so many bananas, that they get stuck in holes and die. The story feels uncanny, and alludes to how gluttony and complacency leads to death.
JD Salinger then has the man act strangely towards the girl, kissing her ankle. The girl gets uncomfortable and runs away, so the man packs up his things and leaves. Salinger then gives a brief scene in an elevator, where the man becomes angry over a woman looking at his feet. They both get upset and the reader is again left with a strange eerie feeling about how the man is acting. The man enters the room that he and his wife are staying in and finds the wife asleep. He casually walks over to a suitcase, pulls out a gun, sits on the open bed, and shoots himself.
The reader is left in shock over this, yet somehow almost knew it was coming. The ending wasn’t known in the slightest, but through descriptive hints the ending feels natural. There is some subversion of expectation, as its made to seem that the man will hurt the woman in some way. This subversion is done wonderfully and the whole story is very well written. As somebody who has known many who suffer from PTSD and has lived with several veterans, I feel this whole story is scarily accurate. The descriptive devices allude to future events in an indirect way, and the narrative techniques used build suspense. The suspense, and eerie feelings you feel when someone is close to a mental break, are all portrayed expertly. Overall, the story is suspenseful, shocking, and incredibly accurate.

Response to JD Salinger “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”

 Kelsey Cornelius 

2/23/21

Prof. Sampson

WRTG111

Response to 

JD Salinger “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”

JD Salinger “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is about a girl named Muriel Glass who went on vacation with her husband to Florida. She calls her mother but can’t get throw because of how many people are on the phones, as she waits she paints her nails and combs her hair. When the phone rang she finished her nails and then answer her mother was very worried that she wouldn’t be ok. Muriel assersh her she is ok. The phone call was about how Muriels husband wasn't mentally well and how Muriel was doing, and the people at her hotel. I feel like JD Salinger does a great job at using descriptive language to paint the scene. I could make a good idea of the room Muriel Glass was in and what she looked like.

“A Perfect Day For Bananafish” Response Paper

 Tyler Berg

2/24/2021

3:30PM-5:00PM

“A Perfect Day For Bananafish” Response Paper

“A Perfect Day For Bananafish” written by JD Stalinger was published January 31, 1948. It is about a Married couple, Muriel and Seymour Glass. The story starts with Muriel talking to her mother on the phone because her mom is worried that Seymour may become dangerous. Muriel is not at all convinced Seymour is dangerous but it orientates the reader as to who Seymour may be and to the fact that he recently returned from WWII. This leads us right into the next scene with Seymour and Sybil the small child.

Seymour meets Sybil on the beach when she runs over to him mad that he let another little girl sit next to him while he played the piano the night before in the resort. Seymour explains that he likes the other girl too but that Sybil is his favorite. Then Seymour takes Sybil out on the water to look for “Bananafish.”These fish are a complete make believe part of the story and ultimately show us how easy it is to be ok when acting like kids. Seymour is damaged from the war but PTSD is not recognized in his time so he is left without the proper treatment. He is able to act and feel ok when around kids but when he comes back to real life he can’t handle it. Seymour returns to his room and sits on the bed next to the one with Muriel sleeping in it. He then takes a gun and shoots himself. 

Stalinger uses description to show certain characters emotions in this story very well. I especially liked when Sybil asks Seymour, “where's the lady” and Seymour responds by describing the many things Muriel could possibly be doing. A few of them were having her hair dyed, making dolls for poor children in her room, or lying around. This showed that Seymour didn’t feel a connection with his wife anymore because he didn’t know where his wife was and frankly didn't really care. Stalinger, by using this important description of what Muriel could be doing is able to show pathos because the reader feels how Seymour looks at his wife.

In conclusion I think this was an excellent story to try and help people get a glimpse of how it feels to have PTSD. You as the reader are really able to see into Seymour’s life. This story also brilliantly uses description to show emotion.  

A Perfect Day for Bananafish - Rigdon Hermann Response Essay

 Rigdon Hermann

Prof. Simpson

2/24/21

WRTG 111

A Perfect Day for Bananafish

In J.D. Salinger’s book, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” three different perspectives are focused on, and inevitably interact with each other. The story starts off observing a young woman, Muriel Glass, who is attempting to call her mother. A large sales convention is happening in the lobby of the hotel the daughter is staying in, so the phone lines are extremely busy. After a night of waiting for her call to go through, the daughter successfully rings her mother in the late morning. Much to her demise though, the mother lectures the daughter’s husband, Seymour, for she does not approve of him. The mother asks about the safety of her daughter, and of Seymour’s driving skills, alluding to a previous car accident that involved both Muriel, Seymour, and the father. She hints at it being Seymour's fault by asking if he was staring at the trees as he drove. The daughter denies this and voices her support and love for her husband. However, the mother is not convinced and repeatedly asks the daughter to come home, bribing her with a paid trip back, if it meant she would be safe. Muriel, frustrated with her controlling mother’s antics, exchanges a final disgruntled goodbye, replacing the receiver back onto the base.

The story cuts from Muriel Glass’s perspective to that of Sybil Carpenter, a young child, who wants to go play on the beach. She eagerly sits on a beach ball, while her mother lathers her with sunscreen. The mother informs Sybil that she is going to get a martini inside the hotel with Mr. Hubbel and that she will bring the olive back for Sybil. The daughter bolts out of their room in excitement and makes a b-line to the beach. Once near the water, she begins walking the length of the sandy shoreline looking for “see more glass.” At long last, a young man with a towel over his eyes is found lying in the sand, far away from everyone else. The young girl hurriedly runs over to him and starts a quaint conversation with the young fellow. They exchange pleasantries, and Sybil questions him if he was planning on going into the water. To which he responds, saying he had been giving it quite some thought. Mr. “See more glass” Seymour, and young Sybil make their way to the water’s edge, timidly sticking a toe in to check the temperature. After exclaiming at how cold the water was, they proceeded out till waist height, for Sybil at least. They discuss the book, “The Black Sambo,” and talk about how there are only six tigers. He laughs at how she said how there were only six as if seven was where she drew the line in her head. He mentions the pitiful, yet intriguing lifecycle of Bananafish. Entranced, Sybil listens to his tale of the elusive fish and excitedly looks around in hopes of seeing one. She bobs underneath the waves and catches a glimpse of one with six bananas in its mouth. She bursts back up and exclaims that she saw one. Seymour humors her and goes along with her joyful mood. After a few more minutes, the dynamic duo heads back to shore, where they bid farewell for the evening. 

The story continues with Seymour heading into room 507 in the hotel, the same room his wife, Muriel, staying in. He opens the door, and notices shes asleep across from him, on the adjacent twin bed. Seymour silently retrieves a piece of luggage, and methodically empties its contents, revealing an Ortgies semi-automatic pistol. With which he checks to see if there is ammunition inside, before relieving himself of his mortal body.

Response Paper to JD Salinger

 Zachary Woodrum

WRTG 111-3:30-5pm

02/24/2021

                                    Response paper to JD Salinger

  I notice in this piece by Salinger what seems to be a phone conversation for the most part, between a worried mother and daughter. Muriel, the daughter must be vacationing in Florida. She needed a vacation and Florida was the place to be. She has a long conversation on the phone with her mom while she sits in hotel room 507 in a silk gown, casually smoking cigarettes maybe to ease some tension from the talk she is having with her mom about Seymour, there seems to be a lot of interrupting during the phone call. But that could be expected between a phone call with a worrisome mother and a daughter who just wanted to get away. 

  Seymour, the presumed to be boyfriend, is also at the hotel but he is down on the beach talking to this other girl, Sybil Carpenter who he finds a liking for. He seems to try to hit on her, taking her out in the water wasit high picking her up and putting her on a float where they presume to talk about the bananafish, A fish that seems to hide in banana holes and eat crazy amounts of bananas, But Sybil seems to show little to no interest. She shows a sense of uneasiness while being in contact with him. Seymour seems too flirty and actually causes Sybil to run away from him.

  This guy Seymour seems to have a troubled past from being in the army. The mother and father of Muriel are worried sick that he may lose control and do something crazy to himself or her while they're on vacation. The dad had talked to a psychiatrist who has talked to Seymour through a therapy session. He offered to pay everything to get his daughter to come back home. They're just looking out for their daughter.

  It seems the parents were right to be worried for their daughter, because towards the end of the piece, Seymour makes his way back to room 507 where Muriel lays asleep, Seymour sorts through luggage finding a gun. He sits on the unoccupied twin bed. Stares at Muriel and fires a shot through his right temple.

Response Paper - Silko, "Storyteller" - Rigdon Hermann

Rigdon Hermann

Prof. Simpson

2/20/21

WRTG 111

Response paper to Silko

In the story “Storyteller,” by Leslie Marmon Silko, A young woman is introduced to be living in her Eskimo village, where white men have come to drill for oil. The main character lives with her grandmother, and an older man she refers to as the “old man”. The story starts off talking about how she was kept home from the new western style of school in the village, but eventually, she was sent off to the public school, where she was bullied and looked down upon by the teachers for she did not speak English. She reminisces back when the white men brought machinery and heavy equipment to take the natural resources in the areas surrounding her village, large machines driving off the barges and into the bogs, sinking and being swallowed up entirely. 

She begins to describe life around the white men, or “Gussucks,” how she wasn’t allowed in the back of the store unless invited by one of their own. And how they had different perspectives and ways of life. An excellent example of this was when the old man mentioned how they didn’t let the dogs inside. “They tell us we are dirty for the food we eat – raw fish and fermented meat. But we do not live with dogs.” This shows that they feel hurt since white men think they are uncultured or less civilized since they eat “gross” food. Whereas the natives think the Gussucks are uncivilized since they live with their dogs indoors. This is a very good example of differing cultural norms and traditions. 

At the end of the story, the storekeeper runs after the girl in a fit of rage. After months, of running and exploring the ice flows on the river, she knew which chunks of ice were stable, and how to tell where was safe or not. The storekeeper, on the other hand, did not have this prior knowledge, so when he went chasing after her, she ran where she knew he could not follow her. She knew he would not survive the chase on the ice, since he did not bring his parka, along with not knowing the technique of running across the ice. The story ends with the girl admitting in court that she killed the storekeeper since she knew he wouldn’t survive the ice. Even as the Gussuck attorney pled with her to say that she did not kill him. She doubled down and restated that she would not lie since her parents died because of a lie, and she didn't want to stoop as low as that. 

Ana Menendez - In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd - Rigdon Hermann

Rigdon Hermann

Prof. Simpson

2/20/21

WRTG 111

In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd

In Ana Menendez’s story, “In Cuba, I Was a German Shepherd,” The life of an old man, Maximo, is depicted, and establishes a brief overview of his life moving from Cuba to Miami. It starts off with him as a young man, hard-working and earnest, working with his wife in a small restaurant on the street. After a few years of steadily selling and making just enough to get by, they move into an actual restaurant, after years of working in a food cart on the street. The story describes how he and his wife slowly finished the day after closing shop, “Máximo and Rosa would sit down to whatever remained of the day's cooking, and they would chew slowly, the day unraveling, their hunger ebbing with the light.” This quote shows how they had just enough money to get by, but not enough to take the food for granted. This is shown by them slowly savoring their meal, instead of gorging on their supper.

As the story progresses, it introduces how Maximo plays dominos with his close friends, who are a mix of Cuban and Dominican histories. At first, their domino games consist of silent and thought-out plays between friends, but as time goes by, they start to argue more and more, and the friendly and peaceful feelings between them begin to stain. The story describes four main jokes throughout their plethora of games of dominos. In the beginning, Maximo’s jokes are light-hearted and upbeat, but as time goes on, the jokes aren’t filled with joy or laughter, but a sad and heartbroken undertone that steadily increased through each successive story. They start to describe the sad parts of his life, and the things he misses and regrets, instead of something he finds funny. 

At the end of the story, their place of solace, Domino park, is put on the map and becomes a hot spot for tourism and discovery. The cries of laughter of schoolchildren in winter cannot compare to the prying and judgemental eyes of tourists and guides. Especially when Maximo hears them directly mentioning their group, and spouting falsehoods about their culture and ways of life. The story concludes with the finishing of his fourth and final joke after he forgot it midway through a previous session of dominos. This personal anecdote finishes with the line, “Here in America, I may be a short, insignificant mutt, but in Cuba I was a German shepherd." This shows their deep-seated resentment and sadness stemming from being seen as inferior to others in America, and how their graduate credentials in Cuba meant nothing in America. 

Response to: Storyteller

 Ariel Miller

WRTG111

       The reading Storyteller by Leslie Marmon Silko, is an intriguing story about revenge and truth. While I read the story I came across a part that confused me, “he hated the people because they had something of value, the old man said, something which the Gussucks could never have. They thought they could take it, suck it out of the earth or cut it from he mountains; but they were fools.” When I read this part I kept thinking, “what is that thing they are trying to take? What is she talking about?” Surely Silko doesn’t mean the actual minerals like gold or oil. It must be something figurative. Like a mood or a concept. What is something the native Americans had that the Gussucks did not? When I finished the story, I realized it was truth. In fact that is what the lesson in the story is about, telling the truth. The main character’s parents died because of a lie. That is why she never denied killing the store owner out of revenge. She understood that if she lied about it then, it would in some way or form, come back to haunt her. Perhaps it is more difficult for the Gussucks around her to tell the truth, and that is the one thing they could never take away. 

        Another part I found interesting within the story are the racial differences. How one side views something as acceptable vs. the other. Like how dogs are kept as pets, “they tell us we are dirty for the food we eat—raw fish and fermented meat. But we do not live with the dogs.” In this quote who is the one being the most racist? Is it more wrong to judge a culture based on what they eat, or what animals they decide to live with? If the Gussucks came to the Eskamo’s land without a shred of judgment would the Eskimos instead be the ones who judged harshly? Perhaps they wouldn’t have even understood racism until the Gussucks introduced it to them. Like many people now, I wish time could be turned back and things be done differently. 

        I fine it almost amusing that it took so long for people to stop being nearly xenophobic. I believe racism stems from fear and lack of understanding. Yet that fear is also what keeps people from understanding. It is indeed a viscous circle that is hard to break. 

Leslie Marmon Silko, “Storyteller”-Response Paper

 Tyler Berg

2/17/2021

3:30PM-5:00PM

Leslie Marmon Silko, “Storyteller”-Response Paper

“Storyteller” was written by Leslie Marmon Silko in 1981. This is the story of a young Eskimo girl whose life has been full of tragedy and loss. It focuses on the death of the young Eskimo girl's parents as well as the death of her grandmother and the old man who she lived with and took care of after the death of her grandmother. This story has a few themes but I feel the most important or at least the one that resonated most with me was the idea that despite the “gussuck” or white man coming, taking all of the lands resources, mistreating the natives, and lying to them. The girl chooses to keep her integrity by telling her story with honesty in her view.

 

The girl reacts to this happening in her own life harshly but is able to justify her actions to herself. She leads the white store owner that caused the death of her parents out onto the ice where she knows he will fall through. Although he was the one to follow her onto the ice, in fact he was even chasing her, the girl takes the blame saying that she won’t lie even if it means jail time. She argues that the story needs to be told with truth not deception. This gives her power over the white man's system because she is able to stand up for what she believes and what is part of her culture.

The “Storyteller” is full of helpful descriptions that portray the story in my mind without “over describing” as Stephen King would say. One of my favorite descriptions is included in the following paragraph from page 32.

“She looked out the window at the frozen white sky. The sun had finally broken loose from the ice but it moved like a wounded caribou running on strength which only dying animals find, leaping and running on bullet shattered lungs. Its light was weak and pale; it pushed dimly through the clouds. She turned and faced the gussuck attorney”

This is not at all a boring description. Silko effectively takes the sun in the Alaskan winter which I know but her audience may not and compares it to a dying Caribou struggling to run after being shot. This perfectly describes the sun in the cold dim Arctic winters. Without personally seeing and experiencing what the sun is like during the winter in the Arctic Silko’s description is as close as you can get. I could imagine the sun with its dim light creeping along the edge of the tundra just as a Caribou does after being shot.

Silko uses description of places and ideas like this to supply the proper balance of ethos, pathos, and logos that keeps the reader interested and to propel her story forward. She also uses them well to help support her theme. In conclusion I really liked the use of description and message this story had and it was definitely worth the read.

Response to Ana Menendez, "In Cuba I was a German Shepherd"

Cameron Okins

Richard Simpson

WRTG 111

 Ana Menendez Response

    In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd is a heartbreaking story about the progression of a Cuban man’s life, as he reminisces of his days in Cuba. Initially, the story starts happy, establishing the main character Máximo and the three men that he plays dominoes with. However, as we progress throughout the story we learn more of the hardships that he has experienced, and the life he used to have. Slowly Máximo loses his happiness and the tension between the four men grows. Máximo’s jokes start becoming reflections of his longing for the old Cuba, his distaste for America growing. This is then only increased by the introduction of tourists coming to their small neighborhood, and gawking at the men try to enjoy a peaceful evening. The story ends with the now old man Máximo breaking down and crying in the park, longing for his life in Cuba. By the end, we feel this heartbreak that Máximo is experiencing, and despite not knowing it’s full extent we can’t help but sympathize. From the very start till the end, the story pushes us to experience Máximo’s pain, expertly crafting the story that is before us.
    The story starts with Máximo telling a joke about Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro in the year 2105. The friends that he is playing dominoes with laugh, and we learn that Máximo makes a habit out of telling such jokes. The next joke that Máximo tells, however, is filled with more sorrow than the first. This joke is met with slightly less laughter and a quote “they still didn't understand all the layers of hurt in the Cubans' jokes.”. By the third joke, Máximo starts cheerful and even gets a laugh, but by the end, none of the other men are laughing. Finally, by the fourth and final joke, Máximo is so full of sorrow that he is unable to even remember its entirety, having to finish the joke another day. When he finally tells the joke, it is clear to be less for comedy, and more an anecdote about his own life. In the joke, a small Cuban dog talks to an American poodle. The poodle looks down on him, questioning why a small dog could talk to a pure breed such as herself. The small dog responds, “'Here in America, I may be a short, insignificant mutt, but in Cuba I was a German shepherd”. After finishing the story, Máximo turns away from the dominoes and softly weeps to himself. This painful moment is only further added to by a tourist standing closely behind him watching his sadness as if it’s an amusing show.
    The story captivates the reader in the pain that Máximo feels by progressing the story similar to Máximo’s life. The story starts happily, and then through his wife’s death, his memories of a better past, and a longing for Cuba the story morphs that feeling of happiness into sorrow. Similar to Máximo we are left with a longing for the happiness that we felt at the beginning of the story, and just as it is for many Cuban Americans, there is no happy ending. As the readers, we glimpse into the pain that many immigrants face when coming to America, giving us insight into what their lives are like. With this story, there is no reason to question its purpose. The evaluation is clear. This story is told to give us perspective and understanding of other’s hardships. The entire narrative is expertly written, and overall really impactful on its readers.
 

Response Paper-Ana Menendaz

 Zachary Woodrum

02/16/2021

WRTG 111/3:30-5pm

                      “In Cuba I was German shepard” By Ana Menendaz

   This was a very interesting short story written by Menendaz, as I read and progress through this piece it gives a very imaginative feel to it. Almost like an overhead sight of these 4 men sitting around a pine table playing dominos, chatting, telling stories, getting emotional, physicality. The way Menendaz explains the actions and movements of these individuals really gives a sense of what these guys are going through and how they feel in each given moment throughout the story. 

   Tourists pass by them as they sit and play dominos at Domino Park in Little Havana. While only 1 of the 4 men (Maximo) really show emotion to how they feel about these different nationalities of tourists who pass by, some even stopping to take pictures of these Cubans playing dominoes. Maximo is appalled at how they are looked at by outside people. A “spectacle” is how Maximo refers to them being gandered on like wild animals. 

   Regionalism is a key factor here. Menendaz gives a good sight of how it plays into the story. Maximo being so amazed and highly interested in the game of dominos he would zone out at some points and compare the game to the relativity of everyday life. It was an art form to him that he really enjoyed to wander on about.

   Nochebuena tradition, Maximo had a wife (Rosa) and two kids. Back in the day he speaks about how preparation and slaughtering of a pig for daily feast became a tradition. They did this on many occasions. Maximo and Rosa, not wanting the kids to know what was going on, Rosa made sure to keep the kids inside the house occupied with other things while they capture and slaughter a pig for a feast for the family. It became natural to them. I thought that it was interesting how this part was included in the story. Gives a sense of background of Maximo.

   To end this, one line that stood out to me particularly. “Here in America, I may be some short insignificant mutt, but in Cuba I was a german shepard.” Because with this it represents him arriving in America and some white person or “white poodle” judging this Cuban (German shepherd) the instant that he gets off the boat. Immediately calling out the negatives and stereotypes. Close minded people will always be quick to judge a different nationality they are not familiar with. How Menendaz uses the term “dog” to actually represent humans of different cultures is rather unique. She is a rather in depth writer who gives a clear picture about Cubans being categorized within their environment by the outside tourist.

"In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd"-Response Paper/Tyler Berg

 Tyler Berg

2/12/2021

3:30PM-5:00PM

In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd-Response Paper

In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd is a short story written by Ana Menendez and published in 2001. It’s also part of a collection of short stories about Cuban immigrants published by Menendez. Firstly I really enjoyed reading this story. I was able to really feel what Maximo was feeling and I think the author did an amazing job with constructing this story in that I was able to follow and was interested the whole time.

I felt the phrase from Maximo’s story about the cuban dog, “In Cuba I was a German Shepherd” really stuck out to me more than anything. I feel it had a much bigger meaning than just what the dog was feeling at that time. It implied how Maximo and most likely all of these immigrants were feeling. These people had lost everything. Before Maximo came to America he was a well respected professor. In fact all of his friends were well respected before immigrating. Menendez is using a German Shepherd as a representation of the high class socially connected people Maximo and his friends were before leaving Cuba and the mutt to show what they were now. She is trying to show how badly the loss of place or regionalism can affect these immigrants. They were reduced to a mere tourist attraction. The whole story led up to that one phrase. All of Maximo’s stories about Cuba and all of his jokes had an implied sense of reflection back on the good times that turned bad, forcing him to leave his beloved home. 

Menendez uses all of these jokes and short stories Maximo tells to guide her audience to the point. She never comes out and tells the reader that immigrating is incredibly hard. Instead she uses Maximo to teach the reader about how these immigrants in real life are feeling. 

Menendez uses logos, ethos, and pathos amazingly well in this story. I could almost feel Maximos' pain as he sat in his chair playing dominoes hearing the camera shutters click. By using real examples of places in Miami like the park where Cuban people get together to play dominoes she was able to give credibility to this story and make it seem like this could have really could have been the life of a Cuban man who immigrated to America and lost his regionalism. The stories and jokes Maximo told in Menendez’s story were the best way to logically explain how these people felt. Menendez was able to use these stories to explain complex issues in an effective way.

In conclusion this short story wasn't just a story it was a reflection of how real people were feeling and Menendez was showing it through a story. In my opinion it was a genius way to approach these hard issues. Menendez was able to effectively show how the lack of regionalism and how long it takes to develop it in a new place was affecting these immigrants in a negative way.

Rigdon Hermann - Mary Louis Pratt

Rigdon Hermann

Professor Simpson

WRTG 111

2/11/21 

Mary Louis Pratt and Ana Menendez

Mary Louise Pratt’s paper addresses the social and linguistic differences in culture. She mentions two distinct examples by William Labov, of an old white man with his hunting dog and a black young adult. She mentions how schools see that the individuals who spoke the Black English Vernacular (BEV) as lacking verbal skills. “... Black English Vernacular (BEV), ‘that relatively uniform dialect spoken by the majority of black youth in most parts of the United States today, especially in the inner-city areas.’ (Labov, 1972:xiii)” Mary Louise Pratt (pg 3)

When in reality, it was quite the contrary. The issue was that their verbal skills weren’t of any real use in schools. She focuses on quotes and writings by Labov, which mention how there are many ways to tell a story. Not every way is the correct way to tell a story, however, stories are not limited to a single style or perspective. They can be altered, changed, or rewritten depending on the situation or application it is being used in. 

She shifts focus onto narratives and narrative clauses, and the importance of both. She Mary Louise Pratte supports these claims by quoting Labov. 

A fully developed natural narrative, according to Labov, is made up of the following sections:

1. Abstract

2. Orientation

3. Complicating action

4. Evaluation

5. Result or resolution

6. Coda

Complicating action and resolution are the foundation of the narrative. They typically appear in sentences in their respective orders. An abstract is a short summary of the story that “encapsulates the point of the story.” Pratt. The orientation identifies the main character and the setting of the story. This must occur directly before the first narrative clause to be effective, according to Pratt. The evaluation in a natural narrative typically concentrates on the piece of the story that is immediately before the resolution. Labov notes, however, that “evaluative devices are generally strung through the entire narrative,” and that it forms a “secondary structure.”

Mary Louis Pratt helps reinforce and explain William Labov’s ideas and gives her thoughts on his beliefs and findings. It really tied it all together in an easy to read and understand format and gave readers such as myself a chance to explore and understand quite an interesting and informative topic such as this.

Response to: Mary Louise Pratt

Ariel Miller

    The essay Natural Narrative is a piece where Pratt is basically explaining the meaning of narration through the opinion of “Labov” (kinda wish there was a first name as well, or am I blind?). It starts off explaining dialect and introducing the theory of, “whether dialect deferences had anything to do with the constant reading problems of inner city black children”. This is one of the studies Labov focused on in, “Language in the Inner City,” which stood as one of the stepping stones for Pratt, because it is a great place to start talking about the main dialect every story-teller uses. I think the reason Pratt focused on this study was to point out that different ethnic groups, races, and general American English speakers all have something in common. We can understand one another because of a baseline dialect that links not only oral narrative but also novel or “professional” narrative.

The trick then is understanding and identifying the proper narrative, which Pratt then explains how to do.

1.    abstract: a short summery of the story.

2.    orientation: serves to identify the setting and the situation.

3.    complicating actions/resolution: the core of the narrative. One starts a narrative, the other ends it.

4.    evaluation: what the narrator uses to indicate the point of the narrative.

5.    coda: brings the narrator and the listener back to the point.

Towards the end of this essay Pratt states that whether a story is heard from a friend, or read in a book, both ways are strikingly similar when broken down. Because both can contain what it takes to make a good story, “an introduction, a gradual rising action, a climax followed by a swift denouement and resolution with the option of an epilogue at the end,” these are the basic steps to a story. From then on he talks a bit about the two reasons he thinks “self evidence” is important.

One of my favorite points that Pratt made was about similes and metaphors. I have recently been fascinated with how metaphors are used to describe ideas or situations. Throughout history, it was common for more educated people to use metaphors (and storytelling) to help common folk understand big ideas and even beliefs. Which proves that a good story can be a powerful yet simple influencer.

Marry Louise Pratt Response

Cameron Okins

Richard Simpson

WRTG 111

Natural Narrative Response

    In the passage Natural Narrative, the author Mary Louise Pratt summarizes the findings of American linguist William Labov. More specifically Labov’s dissection of two natural narratives; one by a middle-aged white male from Massachusetts, the other from an adolescent black male from Harlem. Using these narratives, Labov establishes six sections of what he defines as a complete narrative. In addition to these sections, he also addresses the purpose of a story and several evaluative devices. Mary Louise Pratt then concludes this with a summary of the quotations she used in the passage, and a few closing remarks. Overall, Natural Narrative is an informative piece that can be used to help further our understanding of regionalism.

    The two narratives that Mary Louise Pratt refers to in the passage are great examples of differing regions. The first is an almost stereotypical rural America story, told from the perspective of a middle-aged white man. The second was about a fight, told by an adolescent black male. The differences between the two stories are too numerous to count, but the core struggles of each story represent just how different they both are. In the story told by the middle-aged man, the conflict revolves around a man’s hunting dog not retrieving the shot animal. In contrast, the story told by the younger male is centered around a fight he had over a cigarette. Each of these struggles highlights what the speakers consider important, as well as, the expectations of their environment. That said, however, they do share common patterns within their storytelling which Labov points out as the six sections of a fully developed natural narrative.

    "A complete narrative," states Labov, "begins with an orientation, proceeds to the complicating action, is suspended at the focus of evaluation before the resolution, concludes with the resolution, and returns the listener to the present time with the coda.". According to Labov each of the above sections can be classified as such: The orientation serves to orient the listener to the time, place, persons, or situation in the story, the complicating action is the first narrative clause in the story, the elevation is the means by which the narrator indicates the point of the narrative, the resolutions is the last narrative clause in the story, and the coda is used to “close off the sequence of complicating actions and indicate that the events that followed were important to the narrative”. There is, however, another section that is not mentioned here, which is the abstract. The abstract is used before the story as a summary of what is to come. 

By identifying each of these sections of a narrative, we can dissect and analyze a story to effectively identify the uses of, and inspirations drawn from, the author’s region. This can be done by comparing and contrasting how the author establishes each section, and what details they provide. For example, during the orientation section of the narratives, the two authors above take different approaches. The story told by the young man gives very little initial orientation and then works in pieces of important information later on. The story told by the middle-aged man however, established a solid sense of orientation first before moving on to the complicating action. We can infer in this case that within the younger man’s region, events are usually more rushed and people only worry about what is absolutely necessary. Conversely, in the older man’s region perhaps things are taken slower, and information is well shared. Looking at where both of these stories came from, we find that these inferences aren’t farfetched. Commonly in urban environments, people are more rushed and in rural places, people tend to be “laid back”. 

Overall, the summary of William Labov’s findings that author Mary Louise Pratt gives in Natural Narrative, is one that focuses heavily on the aspects of what makes a story. These aspects, in conjunction with our knowledge of regionalism, give us a new set of tools to decipher and analyze texts. Tools that are sure to be useful in many upcoming assignments.

Response to Marry Louise Prat

 Response to Marry Louise Prat 

    I felt like this short 5 page expert from her book "Toward a Speech Act Theory of Literary Discourse" focuses on Labov's findings BEV another know as Black English Vernacular. also what the six main elements to telling a narrative or story/speech patterns. In this Little snippet of the five pages, Marry Louis talks about 2 stories one of an African American talking about a fight that included a Cigarette. the other was about a white man and his dog. 

Mary Louise talked a lot about Labov. She talks about how Labov took 10 years to document and figure out the meaning and different variations of the English language.  one of the arguments she mentioned in her paper was in Labov’s findings the different variations of the English language depending on where you're from. I think this is true if we look at how somebody in Alaska talks versus have somebody in New. With these two places, we all have different slang we use, for instance, somebody in New York wouldn't know what out the road would be. This also made me think about What we've been talking about for the past couple of weeks regionalism. 

  Mary Louise also talks about BEV(black English Vernacular)  and Labov’s findings on it. My interpretation of his findings was that African American kids were not failing English because they lacked verbal skills,  but instead, it was because their verbal skills were not school.  this made me think of something my friends used to say in high school they used to say “I'm not book smart I'm Street Smart”.  I think Labov was trying to get at. 

 also in the short five pages, she talks about two stories one of them is of a middle-aged white man talking about his dog the other one is an African-American talking about a fight that was about a cigarette.  after she gave us these two stories she said there were different ways to tell a story to fit an audience. I find this to be true, I feel like four different people telling a story a different way can have a bigger impact. 

Response Paper-"The National Narrative"

 Tyler Berg

10/2/2021

3:30PM-5:00PM

"The National Narrative"-Response Paper

The “National Narrative” was written by Mary Louise Pratt as a part of her book “Toward a Speech Act Theory of Literary Discourse.” It was published in 1977 and again in 2008. In the “National Narrative” she is quoting Labov analysing different types of speech coming from different areas and races. Specifically the grammar differences between Black English Vernacular and Standard English. In his Research Labov uses storytelling to draw out these types of English and in doing so he gave Pratt the perfect material to prove her point. 

In this essay a few words and phrases are very important. “Natural narrative” is key because this is what the stories are that she uses to prove her point. A “complete narrative” is also important because Pratt is trying to reiterate what one consists of. She also uses abstract, orientate, complicating action, evaluation, result or resolution, and coda to describe a “complete narrative.”

 Pratt is trying to show that all good stories have the same six things in common. She does this by quoting “Labov’s (1972) analysis of these “natural narratives.” First she states that they consist of the “abstract.” She explains this to be “a short (usually one or two sentence) summary of the story” This shows the listener what the story will be about and captures their interest. Without the “abstract” the reader doesn't have any idea what the story is about so will lose interest. Second they “orientate” the reader by telling about the place, time and people involved. This allows the reader to follow the story and effectively be put in the storytellers shoes. Third is the “complicating action.” This is where the storyteller starts to tell the story in detail. Fourth is the “evaluation” This is where the storyteller stops and reflects on the story so far. Fifth is the “result or resolution” The storyteller finishes telling the story. Finally the “coda” is used. This shows the reader the meaning of the story and ends it making it feel complete. In addition to these six things Pratt also points out that the storyteller can invoke even more interest by using intensifiers or evaluative commentary.

Pratt uses two main stories as examples. One from a black man telling how he got in a fight over his last cigarette and one from a white man telling a story about his dog while duck hunting. These stories come from two very different people and cultures yet Pratt is able to show them using the same six parts to effectively tell the story. By doing this she uses logos and ethos. First she shows credibility by using a legitimate study and second logically using examples to explain and prove her point. Pratt also shows ethos in her essay by providing some bad examples of stories. These examples make you feel both disinterested and let down. She lets you feel these emotions to help you understand her point that a good story needs those six key things.

I feel that Pratt is very successful in her argument. She has a great balance of ethos, pathos, and logos. She also is able to use examples to perfectly explain and prove her point that all effective stories have the same six key elements and without them the story is either incomplete or doesn’t grab the reader's attention.

Response Paper-Mary Louise Pratt

 Zachary Woodrum

WRTG 111/Response paper

02/10/2021

                                        Mary Louise Pratt “Natural Narrative”

    Mary Louise is speaking in regards to Labov’s personal thoughts on vernacular speech communities. I noticed while reading this piece how Louise focuses on the topic of communication, thus, giving ideas of common grammar in language. She provides two personal short stories from individuals residing in different cultures/areas. One being a white middle aged male speaker at Martha's vineyard located in Massachusetts, who speaks about experiences with his dog. The other being a fight story told by a black adolescent male from Harlem who shares an experience of a fight he had involving a cigarette. This immediately made me think about regionalism. Because I see a connection with language in communities and culture of people. Where you are born & how you are raised plays a vital role in how you speak a language, pronunciation of words, and grammar.

  Louise provides a section where she summarizes Labov’s description of a fully developed natural narrative. Some very important key terms provided help form around the thought of vernacular speech communities & what should be involved within a narrative to make it feel more natural, there being six of them. 1.Abstract, 2.Orientation, 3. Complicating action, 4.Evaluation, 5.Result of resolution, 6.Coda.

  Continuing on, “there are many ways to tell the same story, to make very different points, or to make no point at all” was interesting to me. Because it shows that given all the many different areas with separate societies of people, they all have comfortable ways of how they speak and how they pronounce a certain word or phrase. Louise really tries to present this to us. I think she does great at doing so. Giving examples of real life grammar in communities helps us understand the cultural impact on the way people speak to one another.

  Evaluation seemed to be one of the more important factors of the six according to Labov. Focusing on two of his preliminary typologies of the evaluated devices used by his informants. Evaluative commentary consisting of external and internal standpoints of how grammar works in a sentence, could be past tense or future tense depending on what is said. Sentence-internal evaluation includes intensifiers and comparators. The order, commands, given in a negative way could define comparators. Intensifiers being more of the gesture or body language of someone. Evaluation immediately precedes to the resolution of the narrative. The more deeply embedded evaluation, the more effective it will be to the reader or narrator.

  The unspoken agenda in a narrative defines how we access an experiences tellability. We expect there to be some kind of dramatic ending, a climax to the narrative piece we read. How will this person's language and grammar help define to the reader who they are in the story? Endings are anticipated in many narratives. But how we formalize our words and grammar structure gives the reader a regional feel of the person telling it.