Joan Diddion: New Journalism

Joan Didion, the author of “A Book of Common Prayer,” is actually most known for her personalized and journalistic essays. Her first professional writing job was as a journalist for Vogue magazine. Naturally, she was most comfortable writing in journalistic styles. This is why most of her writings, even her fiction novels, are written with “new journalism” technique.

Tom Wolfe, author of The New Journalism, popularized this style and pointed to the fact that "it is possible to write journalism that would ... read like a novel." New Journalist writers tend to turn away from “just the facts” and focus more upon the dialogue of the situation and the scenarios that the author may have experienced. For example, it’s obvious that the narrator in “A Book of Common Prayer”,” Grace, becomes confused herself while telling Charlotte’s story. The style gives the author more creative freedom and blends elements of fiction, opinion, and fact. For example, in the novel, although it is fiction and set in an imaginary country, many of the facts pertaining to the situations in El Salvador around the time period in which the book was written. Also, as previously mentioned, while Boca Grande is an imaginary country, Charlotte also visits Guadalupe and Antigua, real countries. A prominent characteristic of New Journalism is the author’s mix of fact and fiction. This can help to represent the truth and reality through the author's eyes. Exhibiting subjectivity is a major theme in New Journalism; the author’s voice is critical to a reader forming opinions and thoughts concerning the particular work.

Although most of her works are written with new journalism style, her collection of essays, “Slouching Toward Bethlehem,” is one of her most famous works representative of this style. The book exemplifies much of what New Journalism represents as the essays explore the cultural values and experiences of American life in the 1960’s. Didion includes her personal feelings and memories in the first person narrative, describing the chaos of individuals and the way in which they perceive the world. Didion rejects conventional journalism, and instead prefers to create a subjective approach to essays, a style that is her own.

In essence, Diddion set the stage for experimentation. Her use of new journalism not only prompted writers to use it, but experiment with their own styles as well.

Works Cited

Didion, Joan. A Book of COmmon Prayer. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1977. Print.

Food and Dinning in Interpreter of Maladies

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of short stories “Interpreter of Maladies,” food and dining are a common theme throughout the compilation. Not only do food and dining add details to the developing characterization, they give insight into traditional Indian culture and the assimilation of Indian immigrants.

In “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,” the entire plot focuses on the fact that Mr. Pirzada dines with another Indian family in America after moving from Dacca. The reason Mr. Pirzada dines with the family is that he is currently living in a graduate dormitory and has no stove or television of his own, even though he lived in a three-story house back home (Lahiri 24). This shows that the translation of foreign currency will not produce the same amount of wealth in America as is does in the Middle East. Frequently in literature, the conversation among characters while at the dinner table is almost always significant. Mr. Pirzada and Lilia’s father often engage in conversations about the current war in Pakistan, giving the story a historical context.

Food and dining also plays an important role in “A Temporary Matter.” In this story, the only time Shoba and Shukumar truly engage in conversation is over dinner. Shoba, the wife, works outside of the home all day and Shukumar works as a writer from inside the home. The most important part of the story takes place while the couple is having dinner. Beginning one night a dinner, the couple being to “confess” small things that they had never told each other. One night, months after giving birth to a stillborn baby, Shukumar is finally able to tell Shoba that he had held their son, a secret he had never told anyone (Lahiri 22).

In”Mrs. Sen,” Elliot, the boy she babysits, enjoys watching Mrs. Sen chop vegetables using a special blade that was hinged at one end to a narrow wooden base and a serrated crest for grating (Lahiri 114). She explains to Elliot that whenever there is a wedding, all the neighborhood women bring blades like hers and sit in a circle chopping vegetables all night while laughing and gossiping (Lahiri 115) Furthermore, Elliot’s mother was skeptical about hiring Mrs. Sen because she does not have her drivers license. She refused to practice driving and is scared to drive on the road with other cars. One of the only ways she agreed to drive is so she can go to the fish market to get fresh fish for dinner. However, unfortunately, one afternoon when Mrs. Sen finally decided she wants to drive to get the fish, she gets in an accident. Luckily, she was not injured.

Obviously food and dinning is a big part of Indian culture. Jhumpa Lahiri uses different aspect of food and dinning to add detail and cultural elements to her stories.

Works Cited

Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies: Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Print.

Haitian Culture in Breath, Eyes, Memory

In the novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, by Edwidge Danticat, the author, who grew up in Haiti, uses specific details and characteristics of Haiti itself to add detail and creative aspects to the book. One of the first Haitian aspects introduced to readers is the specific language spoken by the Haitian people, particularly, the main character Sophie. Citizens in Haiti speak both French and Creole, although it is considered a privilege to learn English. Most of the dialect spoken amongst the characters is Creole. The origins of Creole are still debated. Some scholars believe that it arose from a pidgin that developed between French colonists and African slaves in the colonies. Others believe that Creole came to the colony of Saint-Domingue as a full-fledged language, having arisen from the French maritime-trade dialect. Whatever its origins, Creole is linguistically a separate language and not just a corrupted French dialect. For example, in the novel the “bólét” man greets Atie and Sophie by saying “Honeneur, mes belles.” (5) Also, the words “non” and “mwin,” meaning “no” and “me, mine, or mine,” respectively.

A famous aspect of Carribean culture is the alluring sounds of calypso music. Calypso is heavily rooted in West African traditional music, and was originally used as a means of communication between slaves, as well as a form of entertainment. Calypso is generally played on folk instruments, including the guitar, banjo and various types of percussion. In the novel, Sophie comments that she and Joseph buy albums at a nearby Haitian record store. They listen to the “drum and conch shell beats” as they eat lunch everyday. (73) Creole food is also an important part of Haitian culture. When Sopie and her mother go out to dinner with Marc to the Haitian restaurant, Miracin’s, Marc complains about his boudin. Boudin is a specialty sausage is made with a mixture of pork, pork liver, green onions, green bell peppers, spices and cooked rice, piped into sausage casing. However, Marc complains that he can “still taste the animal” and Sophie’s mother replies “it is a pig’s blood after all.” (55) This is referring to a different kind of boudin called Boudin Rouge that uses the blood of the freshly slaughtered pig.

When Sophie returns to Haiti, readers are introduced to the “macoutes” which in Creole, translates into “boogeyman.” The Macoutes were the personal police force of dictator Francois Duvalier of Haiti. They were unpaid volunteers who were given virtual license to torture, kill, and extort. They murdered hundreds of Duvalier's opponents, sometimes publicly hanging the corpses as warnings. When Francois Duvalier’s son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, took over, he changed their name to the National Security Volunteers, though they continued to terrorize the citizenry. Even after their disbandment and overthrow, the group continued to spread terror. In the novel Louise claims that the Macoutes murdered Dessalines. Sophie also comments that parents used to scare their children when they were misbehaving by threatening that the Tonton Macoute will take them away. (138)

Works Cited

"Creole Favorites." French Creoles. Web. .

Danticat, Edwidge. Breath, Eyes, Memory. New York: Random House, Inc., 1995. Print.

Haggery, Richard A. "Haiti." Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress, 1989. Web.

Pre-Civil Rights Era: A Lesson Before Dying and The Color Purple

Before the Civil Rights movement of 1964, African Americans, among other minorities, were treated as inferior. Between 1877 and the mid-1960’s “Jim Crow” laws were enforced to keep blacks from interacting with whites. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-Black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were demoted to the status of second-class citizens. Whites were superior to Blacks in all-important ways, including intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior. Basic laws prohibited blacks and whites from eating in the same restaurants, riding in the same train car, even drinking from the same water fountain. There were separate accommodations everywhere, including restrooms, schools, libraries, hospitals, barbershops and movie theaters. In Georgia, retailers selling wine and beer were not allowed to serve to both races. They either served exclusively to colored people or exclusively to white people. African American etiquette prescribed that Blacks were introduced to Whites, never Whites to Blacks. When addressing white person, blacks were always to use courtesy titles, such as Mrs., Mr., and Sir. However, blacks were always called by their first name and were never allowed to be addressed with a title. (Pilgram) In two of African American Literature’s most famous novels, The Color Purple and A Lesson Before Dying, the characteristics of the pre-civil rights era in the south are prominent themes.

In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, a young black girl named Celie struggles to find her identity while overcoming the hardships of abuse, an unwanted marriage, and her relationship with God. Celie begins writing letters to God in hopes of understand why her life is the way it is. She is frequently sexually and physically abused and treated like a slave by her stepfather and later her husband. Towards the middle of the novel, Celie stops writing to God because nothing had changed. Celie claims it’s because even thought God gave her life, he also gave her a “lynching daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa, and a sister she probably won’t see again. “ (Walker 199) In her description of God to Shug, Celie explains that God is white man. Although there isn’t a lot of interaction between whites and blacks in the novel, Celie’s angst again God centers on the fact that she believes he’s a white man. During this time period, many African American’s blamed their problems on the oppression of the white man. When Celie found out that God was an old, white man, she said she lost interest in the Bible. (Walker 202) Tangible interaction between Blacks and Whites is more recognizable in Ernest Gaines’ novel, A Lesson Before Dying.

In Gaines’ novel, Grant, an educated black man is given the task of enlightening a black prisoner who was sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. He was practically automatically convicted based on his race alone. Throughout the novel, the prisoner Jefferson is frequently referred to as a “hog” by the white characters. As previously mentioned, he is considered a second-class citizen. Also, being educated created problems for Grant, since he is not allowed to sound smarter than or disrespect a white man, he often has to “dumb him self down” in their presence. When asked by Mr. Guidry, a white man, how long he had been waiting for him, Grant answers “about two and a half hours, sir.” Immediately after, Grant realized that he should have simply said “not long” so he didn’t sound too intelligent. (Gaines 47) Later in the conversation, recognizing that Grant may be too smart for his own good, Mr. Guidry says he doesn’t like Grant’s intelligence. (Gaines 49) Not only does Grant teach at an all-black school within an all-black church, while shopping he is expected to buy items of “colored quality.” While attempting to buy a radio for Jefferson, Grant insists on buying a brand new one, much to the dismay of the white woman working behind the counter. Opposing his request, she is persistent on selling him a used one, based solely on the fact that he is African American. (Gaines 175-176) Although the two novels do not present all the issues present during the pre-civil rights era, both authors perfectly describe the significant trials and tribulations African American’s endured during the time period, just because of the color of their skin.

Works Cited

Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1994. Print.

Pilgram, David. "What Was Jim Crow?" Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Ferris State University, Sept. 2000. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Pocket, 1985. Print.

The Color Purple

There are many obvious similarities between the classic novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Not only do the main characters embark on similar journeys towards self-actuality, but the structures of the novels are similar as well. First and foremost, both of the protagonists are African American women who have no sense of self. Both Janie (TEWWG) and Celie (TCP) are forced into marriage at young age. Because of the arranged marriages, both relationships are loveless. Both characters were abuses, physically and emotionally. Janie’s second husband, whom she thinks is somewhat of the “perfect man” begins to yell and hit her when she doesn’t do what she’s told or talks back to him. For example, when Janie doesn’t serve a customer at her husband’s store, Jody tells her not to “stand dere rollin’ yo’ pop eyes at me wid yo’ rump hangin’ nearly at yo’ knees!” (78) Starting at a young age, Celie is continuously raped by her stepfather, and ends up giving birth to two of his children, who Celie believes were killed by him. When Pa is trying to convince Mr. to marry Celie, he openly says in front of her that she’s ugly and that she’s “spoiled.” (9) When Celie marries Mr. he keeps a mistress in the house and continues to treat her as an object. Both women have a very hard time standing up for themselves.

Despite their hardships, both women eventually find their true. Janie finds true love with her third husband, Tea Cake. Janie can finally be herself with him and enjoys his company. Celie finds companionship in a sultry lounge-singer named Shug. At first, the two don’t get along because Shug is sleeping with Mr. However, eventually the two become lovers. Shug empowers Celie and teaches her life lessons about men and God. Both women find senses of self-empowerment by the end of the novel. Both women are able to recognize and appreciate the good things in life and realize that no one can control their lives accept themselves. At the end of “Theie Eyes Were Watching God”, Janie comments that she has been to the horizon and back and she was finally at peace. (191) At the end of The Color Purple, although Celie is now old, she claims she feels younger than ever. (295)

Structurally, both novels are set up the same. Even though The Color Purple is written in the form of letters, both novels tell a story and are written over a long period of time. The dialects of both novels also represent the vernacular tradition native to African American people at the time.

All in all, both novels are classic tales of the hardships endured by African American women and their journeys towards self-independence. Most importantly, both novels will remain classics until the end of our time.

Works Cited

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Pocket Books, 1985

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial, 2006.