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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
- From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, choose Anonymous, then click "Publish."
- Reading responses are due by midnight on Wednesdays, no exceptions.
I really enjoyed Woman Hollering Creek, the way the story bounces between points in Cleofilas life to give an almost episodic detailing of how her marriage to Juan Pedro is nothing like the telenovelas and books she read growing up, fantasizing that those stories would be just like her future romance. It also shifts perspective from the narrator being, assumedly, one of Cleofilas friends when talking to the reader directly about what the narrator will wear to Cleofilas wedding, to an omniscient third-person, to clinic workers trying to help Cleofila out of her absuive marriage. The story is tied in to Chapter 11 quite well, beginning in the middle of the story while also providing some backstory to the events that lead to Cleofila gazing out at the creek with her child. Starting in the middle is one of my favorite ways for writers to start a story, though sometimes it feels like they're going through motions of Middle to Beginning to Ending rather than providing a well-rounded view like Woman Holldering Creek does with it's bouncing narrative and windows into Celofila's life. The subject of Unbalancing Acts is not a way I had thought of writing before and at first thought it was Suspense, but given some of the examples LaPlante uses, it's not as intimidating as it sounds.
ReplyDelete-Nathan Smith
I enjoyed how Cisneros uses her opening to deliver on the tone of the piece. This kind of bittersweet and wise recounting of what her marriage was like and how naive her thinking was ("He had said that, hadn't he, when he hugged and then let her go. But at the moment Cleofilas was busy...she would not remember her father's parting words till later."). She also does a good job of introducing the situation at hand and making me wonder what will happen next. The characterizations of the main characters is also very believable such as that moment where Cleofilas was numb to her husband striking her at first rather than how she thought she would've reacted. Cisneroas also uses interruptions and conversations, internal and external, to provide the reader with ambiguous details that demand curiosity (the conversation she has with her husband about getting money for the appointment, the conversation between that doctor and Felice). One quote that LaPante includes and I believes Cisneros delivers on is this notion of "attracting the reader toward the paragraph to follow" (John Gardner). I will be sure to use that tip as well as the tool of partial knowledge to create suspense in my own writing.
ReplyDelete- Sandra Martinez
When it comes to writing stories, I sometimes get a little overwhelmed when beginning it. For some stories, it was easier to determine what best fit for the intro/beginning, for some of the other stories I write I just don’t know where to begin, but I already have it planned after the beginning so it gets a little frustrating. With others it’s a bit of both. For example, with my story “Perrie Winkle”, I knew I wanted her to be on her way to the competition and to capture Joseph’s feelings, I just didn’t know if I should describe the setting, or to have her inner dialogue right off the bat.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting about the chapter was on page 369, talking about starting in the middle. “Beginning in the middle means that the piece already has a sense of momentum, of things in motion.” And I found that very interesting because it’s true. As a writer sometimes my beginning isn’t that great and later within in a page or two, I start to feel myself getting more and more invested. The reason for this being the hard part is over.
When I was reading “Woman Hollering Creek”, I thought it was going to have some tie-in to the famous Mexican story of La Llorona, because throughout the story there’s talk of La Gritona which roughly translates to the screaming. And they keep mentioning the creek or arroyo as well! So, I thought that was interesting and exciting, but towards the end it says Felice is owns the truck she’s driving, and she thought that the truck was a real vehicle. The narrator even states that Felice isn’t like any other woman, and she just screamed for fun as the drove over the creek, so maybe this story has something to do with women being their own, having their own, and being strong.
Megan Cavazos
I enjoyed reading Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisnerors. I was instantly intrigued by the first line, the line about her father saying, “I am your father, I will never abandon you.” Struck a chord on me. This is something that my father tells me every time he and I argue, (and as two pigheaded individuals, we argue often.) One of us (usually me) will admit to being wrong and will apologize. My father is not an overly affectionate man, but he will never fail to tell me he loves me, and that he will always be there for me, even when I’m wrong.
ReplyDeleteBut back to the story, this is no action story, with guns blazing and “witty” one-liners, but this is interesting nevertheless because this is the life that one woman is living with. Her story is shared by many women in even today’s world. A young, just barely grown, woman falls for a man with pretty promises and marries him, but a few years down the line, their marriage is not as perfect as she believed it would be. The woman has the choice to settle for unhappiness and abuse, or to discover her own happiness, whatever it may be. I find this exceedingly interesting because its true. Sandra Cisneros used a beautiful language that painted the life of this beaten woman. The final line, comparing her laughter to the arroyo was the perfect way to end this story.
- Areli Garza
I've read Sandra Cisneros' work before and I couldn't exactly say that I was a fan. However, this story of hers "Woman Hollering' is by far one of the better pieces that I have read in this class. There was not a moment when I didn't want to continue reading. It pulled me into the story innocently enough, mentioning Texas. Then it shifted to a tale of a woman who is being abused and I couldn't put it down. Would she get away? Would she sit there and take it "for the children" ? It was a little confusing at first. The way that the writing doesn't have any quotations and just kind of spoke to the reader as if we knew what was going on, but in the end I found that I kind of enjoyed that style. I love the way that it talks about novels and how it switches between English and Spanish. It was an easily relatable story. We all want our lives to be like a novel but as they say, be carful what you wish for.
ReplyDeleteThe Chapers are getting more enjoyable to read. I particularly like the small sections talking about how to open the story. I had always been taught to use the gimmicks that it very clearly says not to use because it would get a reader's attention. While I haven't been actually using that tactic, it good to know that I was in the right and that watering down my reading to something gimmicky would only hurt and not help. I particularly appreciated the section talking about opening with description. I like to set a scene and seeing this in a book about writing as a useful strategy, really put me at ease. It way worried me that I would be boring my readers instead of intriguing them.
Valeria Jaime
After reading "Woman Hollering Creek" I found myself fascinated with the character named Cleofilas, who's views on romance and aspects of her life obviously draw influence from her precious telenovelas. However, the marriage that she's stuck in is far from the ideal and just brings her pain. When the abuse started, what I found interesting was how Cleofilas reacted to being hit. She had the fantasy ready where she wasn't going to take it, but when the actual situation happened, she couldn't do a thing about it. I found this interesting cause of how it highlights Cleofilas fantasy versus her reality. Certain segments of this story sometimes have a stream of consciousness type of style to it, as though the whisperings Cleofilas hears, her own insecurities, are flooding to the surface and are just taking over her mind. And then the story would abruptly shift back to Cleofilas's everyday life, as though whatever breakdown was going in her head was suddenly done and over with. And then there's the interesting psychology that goes into abuse victims and why they stay with their abusers for so long. Cleofilas's despite her husband being less than ideal, is willing to forgive him because she loves him. Abusers don't hit and cause harm all the time, it comes in a cycle. Abusers hit before either turning sweet or are filled with regret, but are quick to go back to their hitting ways a bit afterwards. I found it interesting to see Cleofilas forgive her husband out of love and for her kids, even though she idolizes the strong main characters that are in her telenovelas.
ReplyDelete—Airam Sandoval
This chapter helped me reconsider how I approach the introduction to a story. I’d say it is easy for most writers to think of main body of any form of writing but when it comes to starting it, they get stumped. For me, I often start in the middle of a normal conversation or in the middle of the main characters errand before moving into the main plot. After reading the chapter, I realize that can be rather boring and make the reader think my work is not worth reading on. I do want to take the lessons from this chapter and incorporate it into my short story draft, revamp the opening for a more intriguing and engaging introduction. I’ve considered going back to old personal drafts to edit some of their introductions and better set the tone.
ReplyDelete“Woman Hollering Creek” had a pretty interesting opening paragraph that I kept thinking about as I was reading farther into the story. Cleofilas thinking back to her father’s words and this sense of security even though he is separated from her. This story hit home for me, I know family and acquaintances that live in similar circumstances and in small towns along the highway. I do like the sense of hope that Cleofilas was able to escape from her husband and perhaps have a new outlook on life after experiencing the Felice’s independent and wild personality.
-Marc Fuentes
I think is a common problem we have when trying to write something. It doesn’t matter if it’s an academic or a creative piece. To write the beginning of a story is most of the time the last part to write, at least personally. When I have an idea, it´s more common for me to just write a scene, than a whole plot out of it. The plot or the story itself will come after. Usually, because I cannot decide for a start. The idea of starting in the middle, although is the way I usually start, doesn’t mean that it will be the same start in the final draft. I know that what LaPante means with this idea is for the story to start in the middle of the conflict. I consider this is a cliché idea if it´s not well written. I believe that the idea of starting in the middle in a story may seem more adequate for a movie than for a novel. However, I think that Woman Hollering Creek's start is well written. It doesn’t seem forced and flows naturally with the story.
ReplyDeleteI like how it compares the idealization of love from telenovelas with real life. How the Mexican culture creates the desire for women to get married, however, this shows never portray the life after marriage and how women should be treated.
-Yazmin Sanchez Cortez
I would say that “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros really brings clarity with what state of mind a woman may go through when they enter an abusive relationship. I appreciated that this was mainly based on the hardship’s women have to deal with when they are in any serious relationship. At times they might even think that this is how a relationship works and not see anything wrong with it. I also liked how in page 55 it mentions “But when the moment came, he slapped her once, and then again, and again.” Many women believe that they would never end up in abusive relationships, but they never know what they will do until they are in that position. I’ve witnessed that in Mexican culture many women have gone through abusive relationship and other women have encouraged them to stay in the relationship, and what women will deal with until their breaking point.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 11, it mentions about “Starting in the Middle” which is something that I typically do. I usually always start in the middle when I start writing a story because it gives me an idea where I need to start and where I want to take the story. I feel like beginning in the middle inspires me and motivates me more than starting from nothing. It keeps me from swerving to different storylines and making my story seem messy.
Angela Milan
I really enjoyed Women Hollering Creek. I like how the story sort of going back and forth with the main character Cleofilas and her marriage to Juan Pedro. I also liked that the author set the tone for the whole story since the beginning.
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out for me in Chapter 11 was when the author talks about starting in the middle. My guess would be that that is a good strategy when it comes to writing. Sometimes when I write, the most difficult part for me is to begin the story, probably because I know that the beginning is supposed to be the most compelling part of the story—the one that will ultimately hook your audience, therefore you should make it as interesting as possible.
I’ve read stories who start off in the climax (in media res) and I really like that method. I think that it is a good strategy for a reader to read your story. Beginning in media res makes the story a lot more interesting and makes your audience think “What happened that lead up to that moment in the story?”
It is a very good method to use but difficult to craft nonetheless.
Ivanna Zamudio Trevino
I loved Women Hollering Creek. It feels like the story of La Llorona where she is constantly competing for the attentions of her husband. I really liked how it was jumping back and forth in time and how the story was very internal exploring the thoughts and emotions of the main character.
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting part of the chapter for me was when LaPlante mentioned ripping the first three pages of whatever it was that I wrote. I have always struggled with trying to start my stories at the point of maximum tension, but I was always scared that starting in the middle would be too disorientating for the reader. Like yes, I think it would be a great way to get the reader interested and get them to ask questions, but there is also a sweet spot that needs to be hit where it is intriguing without being confusing. I don't know I wish LaPlante talked more about that. Other than that I think that starting with setting the atmosphere would be really interesting and it is something that I like to do with my won writing. I think the least favorite way to write beginnings is with character introductions where you explain what a character looks like because most of the time I feel as if that is irrelevant to the story and not as important as the story itself. Character description rarely ever is important to the story so I don't really like it when stories start with it.
Tiffany Joissin
In Woman Hollering Creek I liked the part where the main character says “He had thrown a book. Hers. From across the room. A hot welt across the cheek...what stung more was the fact that it was her book, a love story...what she loved most now.” I like the idea that this was symbolic to her, she felt that this book was the only love that she had, it was the only thing keeping her idea of love alive. She had thought that this is what love was supposed to be and now the one thing that she loved left a welt across her face. Later in the story i wondered if she was going to drown her baby like la Llorona had when Cisneros writes “Wonders if something as quiet as this drives a woman to the darkness under the trees”. I started thinking that Cleofilas was going to drown her baby because it sounded like she was contemplating the quiet and the stream in front of her and wondering if this is what drove la llorona do what she did to her children.
ReplyDeleteI related to when LaPlante mentioned starting in the middle of a story. Every single one of my stories starts with a random scene that I can vividly see in my head. & everything else is built around that. Sometimes the middle i start with gets tweaked or completely changed but for me it is a great way to start.
Aisha Teegarden