The Writing Life By Annie Dillard

Hannah Arendt presents in her novel, The Life of the Mind, a theory she refers to as the “two-in-one.” She builds her theory off of a Socratic proposition. Socrates stated that it would be better for a group of men to be out of tune with each other than for him to be out of tune with himself. Here, however, lies a paradox. How can one be out of tune with itself? Arendt states that “you always need at least two tones to produce a harmonious sound” (183). Yet when you appear to others, you are one, otherwise you would be unrecognizable. But Arendt points out that you do not only appear to others, you also exist and appear for yourself. In doing so, you become more than one. As Arendt paradoxically states, “A difference is inserted into my Oneness” (183).

Our contemporary society was influenced by the idea of memories and justice, obstacles and struggles can influence why a person writes, and how “the good life” can be unique to different people. First of all, people read and write in our society today because it helps them with the memories and bring justice to some struggles in their lives. For example, by writing down their memories, many authors and writers are able to overcome their fears and struggles. They do this and it helps them to express how they are feeling and what they experienced.

The Short Story “My Father’s Life,” by Raymond Carver illustrates the difficult task of a son trying to find his own sense of identity and individualism while watching his father’s life unravel. Carver explores the relationships of his parents and his own struggle with sharing the same name with his father and the similarities and differences between them.

In the novel, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the theme of growing up is prevalent throughout the book. Throughout the novel, a young mexican girl named Esperanza goes through experiences as she matures that involve her friends, society, dangers that expose her to the outside world and help her to realize what the real world is like.

As I read more and more the more I get confused. It is just the way the author writes, that throws me off track. I did realize that there was little stories throughout the passages that I found interesting, but it just skips around so much. There are many different ways people can write. It all depends on what you like to read. I think that if I started to read these kinds of things on a daily basis I would start to learn how to read them better.

In the short stories, the “Death of the Moth,” Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf discover a moth flying and observes it. The short versions has two versions and both author tries to explore the theme of life and death and explains their perspectives on it. Both of the short stories have similar titles, but both pieces exhibit several differences. Annie Dillard starts off her short story by beginning the death of the moth and realizes the value of life. Virginia Woolf tells us that she sees the moth as a pathetic creature and sees that death is a powerful force that no one can stand up to. Both authors go into great detail pertaining to life and death.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan follows multiple Chinese-American women who struggle with their self-identity and creating a balance between American and Chinese culture. Because of their immigration and many hardships in life, many of the women feel like they cannot truly tell who they are anymore, and throughout the novel these women are portrayed as ghosts. Ghosts are used to symbolize these women because they share many parallels including being only a remnant of who they once were, or who they could be. Ying-ying St. Clair is one of the women, who has a daughter named Lena St. Clair, she has had a troubled past in China, which has made her lose her fighting spirit, and her spirit in general. Ying-ying is fully aware of her loss of spirit and is embarrassed because she considers ghosts to be shameful and weak, and wants to save her daughter, Lena, from her fate.

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

Literature is defined as written works published on a particular subject. Literature can also be viewed as witness, because it can be a source of proof based on the events it was written on. Literature as witness allows readers to get a deeper understanding of the issues that have happened based off of what the books are about. Those who read literary texts such as historical novels, memoirs and novels are witness to historical events. These texts can be viewed as witness because the events mentioned are based off of true life events. Some may argue historical fiction is not real and therefore could not be viewed as a reliable source. Even though historical fiction is made up of fictional characters, the conflicts that are mentioned are based

Let the Circle be Unbroken portrays an african american family’s hardships against powerful white landowners and family tragedies. All in the perception of the strong-willed Cassie Logan. Let the Circle be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor is an enjoyable book with engaging characters, unpredictable plots, and an amusing genre.

To begin, I will be discussing money, one of the many themes in “The Living is Easy” by Dorothy West. This book is about a woman named Cleo, who grew up in an upper-class African American family. Cleo was always into the business world ever since she was a little girl. She moved to Boston and married Bart Judson also known as “The black banana king.” They have one daughter named Judy. Bart owned business that he transported bananas. He was a very productive and wealthy man, but when things took a turn for the worst, he had lost all his money leaving Cleo with the remains of it. Their marriage was solely based on money, while Cleo sisters, Charity, Lily, and Serena had it differently. They loved their husbands, so much that money was not a necessary object, and no money was involved. The sisters had visited Cleo without their spouses for most of the book making their mindsets change as well as their attitudes towards their husbands. This mindset has shown the many problems with Bart Judson’s money and revealed how careless the characters can be.

Humans and Weasels are from the same kingdom, but from different families. Weasels are part of the Mustelids family. The earliest Mustelids appeared roughly 35 million years ago. Weasels are the smallest Mustelids, weighing 1.2 to 2.4 ounces. There are about 10 different species of weasels. Weasels are furry mammals that are excellent hunters. Weasels are fearless carnivores. Weasels live in forests, meadows, and grasslands. They can be found in North America, northern South America, Europe, Asia, and north of Africa. Weasels can live up to 10 years.

Nowadays, a large number of people migrate to the United States to work and achieve the American Dream. According to the Article “What is the American Dream?” by Kimberly Amadeo, “The American Dream was first publicly defined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams in Epic of America. Adam’s often-repeated quote is, ‘The American Dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.’” There are many people that can have different perspectives when it comes to the topic of the American dream. Even though many people assume the American Dream is dead, it is a very controversial topic. The American Dream may have many different points of views, but it really does exist, after all, it takes an ambitious person to strive for success through hard work, dedication and determination.

“In 2009, 33 million people in the United States were second generation immigrants, representing 11% of the national population. The children of such immigrants in the U.S., also known as "second generation immigrants," experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of mainstream U.S. society” (Wikipedia 1). Amy Tan the author of “Two Kinds”, and the young character in the story both are a second generation immigrants, who have struggled in their life with parents, about the culture they assimilating and their real culture.

In “The writing life,” it was separated to be 7 chapter written about Dillard’s perspective on the learning to be a good writer, and the way or strategies to create the good writing. She starts with the quote call “Line of words” that is a main part of a piece of writing on her perspective (Dillard 3). It is a heart of work that is a strategy using to create, lay down, or remove the words to create sentences. Also, writers will write through the nature of line of words that is a key component of the process to create scenes, character, and emotion of the story. Finally, over all will interpreted by the reader. Besides, the line of words not only the line that create sentences, but also help the writer to connect their heart to readers by passing