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I think the most immediate relation between all the readings for this week is between “The Things They Carried” and the concept of the Objective Correlative. The physical items, like Lieutenant Cross’s pebble or Kiowa’s copy of The New Testament, are all meant to elicit certain emotional responses when used together. I would even argue that the fox hole Cross digs for himself towards the end could be considered an example of this literary device. Each item is tied to a specific memory or feeling for each of the characters that carry them. On top of that, the ammunition and military supplies they carry aren’t just a literal representation of weight. I believe O’Brien intends for the weight of these items to double as the emotional burden that all these soldiers have to carry. I also thought the chapter as a whole was full of useful information for a writer of any level of experience. Approaching metaphors with a more precise hand, without straining to create them and allowing yourself to dive deep into particulars rather than attempting to force the big picture on the reader. As I’ve heard many times throughout creative writing courses, you should have faith in your audience that they will draw from what you’ve written without having their hands held throughout the narrative. In other words, don’t be afraid to let loose on the reigns of your own story a little bit.
ReplyDelete- Joaquin Castillo
This week’s reading was very useful for my own personal gain in my writing ability. I for one always have trouble focusing on the details of some characters and some setting. I feel like I drag the pace of the story when writing details. However, Tim O’Brian The Things They Carried changed my view on how much detail is too much detail. I have read The Things They Carried two times and have always awed at the amount of detail O’Brian got away with. Whenever I try adding detail I feel like I always over-do it no matter whom, what or where I am describing. This begs the question, when do we know when the detail is too much and when it is not enough? That is the current issue that I am have with my story. In LaPlante I really like how she used General and specifics on pages 62 and 63. That definitely helped me see an example of how to add more detail that is the “right” amount. I thought that her choice of having Tim O’Brian The Things They Carried as a sample of really detailed writing. This was the perfect chapter as it served as a remedy for most of my problems with my story.
ReplyDelete-Marco Garza
In the past, whenever I would write something, I would be incredibly vague in my descriptions. I wouldn’t include as much detail as I should have or tried to appeal to the senses of my readers for I believed my story would suffer in terms of pacing or it would just flat out bore them. I never want people to be bored from reading my material, so it was a fear I held close to me whenever I wrote something. Nowadays, however, this fear has almost completely disappeared, especially considering the feedback my peers and professors gave me throughout my college career.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter is one I will be returning to for when I write my story. The way LaPlante stresses the importance of details, and how using concrete, worldly things like the five senses help immerse the reader deeper into the world that you’re creating. It’s okay to use metaphors and similes, but one must be conscious not to abuse these two things. LaPlante best states that in page 72 of the book in the section “When Should You Use Metaphor?”: “Gratuitous use of metaphors or similes can clutter up a piece of writing…” This directly applies to me, since I’ve used metaphors and similes quite frequently when I wrote.
The readings on the Objective Correlative were enlightening, for they have helped me discover the object that will serve that purpose in my story. If it weren’t for these articles, I would’ve struggled for much longer trying to find it, and that would’ve lead to more complications in writing out my story. This chapter, along with the readings, are definitely something I will keep close to me in the future, for this course and after it.
Pedro Cano
When I read O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" I noticed how much detail he would put into his work. And it is something that I would have trouble doing in the past because I could not provide as much details as he could.
ReplyDeleteThe Objective Correlative reading was interesting to read because it is something that I never really put much thought in before. Most of the time I forget what I want the reader to feel when my work is being read and it has made me see that I need to go back and look into my work and improve it.
As for the Chapter reading, they were really helpful. LaPlante explains and gives examples in this chapter of how one should not abuse metaphors or lose their senses. How it is important to use all the senses to provide a better picture. And how to use good metaphors and similes so that the work can turn out well. Another thing that I found useful (and something I have had trouble in the past with) were the warnings about the cliched similes and metaphors and how to properly handle them.
All of these readings were helpful. They are something that I will defiantly go back and read when I am working on my stories because they provide a lot of helpful tips.
-Leslie Perez
One of the things I struggle with when I write a story is having a purposeful plot. I struggle with the larger picture. It’s blurred in my mind what I want the audience to see or feel as a whole. I tend to get into the details of things more than I should. This could be prevented if I followed the advice from “Understanding the objective correlative”, show don’t tell as in don’t have your character say something when they can evoke a more emotional response from the reader through their actions. This is also mentioned in “What Is The Objective Correlative” when they use the example of how sad the widower is without using dialogue. When letting the audience get to know who your character is you get the best out of your story.
ReplyDeleteWhat I gathered from the readings “What is The Objective Correlative?” and “Understanding the objective Correlative” are that the objective correlative cannot be possible without connections, symbolism, a reason why, and repetition to reach a larger picture. One example from the story “The Things They Carried” is the repetition with Ted’s death and the love for Martha which ultimately connect in the end. An example of symbolism from the same story is basically all the things they carried physically as a sign of hope which is stated on page 83 “They carried their ghosts.”, ghosts as in he carried not a pebble, nor letters, but her physical love. There is no difference between his pebble, the hatchet; the slingshot carried for false safety and the rest of their good luck charms.
-Allison Gonzalez
For the readings, I reread Tim O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’ section (which I had read during high school along with the rest of the book). Alice LaPlante’s third chapter really links well with ‘The Things They Carried’ when there is a whole list of miscellaneous and vital things which the soldiers carry as details. LaPlante uses the nice saying ‘“you can’t see the forest for the trees”’ as a way to illustrate her point of not to lose yourself even when writing details. Details, for me, help flesh out a story while adding on to the backbone which is the main plot or direction you wish to have the story go. Imagery, figurative language, metaphors help in a story but cannot overtake a story as LaPlante says ‘“you have to be selective”’ otherwise you will become too entangled with details that don’t always have to be emphasized. In the other readings, they discussed objective correlative. Objective correlative would be the events or objects in a story which invoke an emotion. In the 'Understanding the objective correlative', it discusses how to 'show and don’t tell' which is the opposite of the listing of the various objects the soldiers are carrying, yet, for me, I don’t feel this ruins the story instead it creates a sense of burden as all those things end up being carried by them. O’Brien is able to use this listing along with other elements such as imagery to balance out his story.
ReplyDeleteSylvia Lopez
Sitting on my thoughts after this week's readings, I find how useful the concept of the Objective Correlative is to my writing and how it has already slipped into it, admittedly in an infantile state. More with less is a concept commonly applied in my life and I am surprised it's not a concept I apply to my writing of all things. I suppose that this compromise of pragmatism and aestheticism is really the thing I've been trying to attain in my writing without ever having the name to put to it. In relation to this topic is the idea of repetition and its use to create this string of story elements that elicit particular emotions or ideas. Personally I've never been overly comfortable with the idea of repetition but perhaps that is because I have not found the right amount of repetition to utilize to prevent it becoming overplayed or underused. Reading "The Things They Carried" shows though that repetition of words can't actually be overdone as long it is perfectly balanced with a sensible amount of story elements that builds upon why a certain word or phrase is repeated and how it can change its meaning: namely the dichotomy of the things that Lavender carried weighing him down so heavily that he dropped "Like Cement" as Kiowa finds impossible to stop repeating and the letters from Martha that carried Lieutenant Cross onward until he burned them after the death of Lavender. I will definitely be revisiting some of my older writings to work out the kinks in the repetition I've been having.
ReplyDelete-Aaron Garza
Alice LaPlante’s third chapter, Details,Details, explores one of the fundamental instruments of writing and that is the details. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried used details to bring the reader into the world of the narrative. It’s not only easy to say “this tree” or “the trees” it also doesn’t submerge the reader into the story. Saying “this tree” or “that tree” isn’t enough to bring the reader into the world that you want to share with them. Chapter 3 urges young writers to say “the pine tree that had three bites of the axe on the base, with acorns gathered around like subjects waiting to learn.” or something along those lines. The chapter teaches an excellent tool to bringing the reader into the narrative with details, details, details. T.S. Elliot’s Objective Correlative idea concerns which details you should use. T.S. Elliots encourages writers that the specificity of the details can completely submerge your reader into your narrative by using descriptions that correlate to significant details in the reader's life which promote real emotions. The ideas presented in the two texts are imperative to writing. The details were always something that, as a writer, you know must be in the narrative, but T.S. Elliot’s Objective Correlative was a concept that was new. We read books all the time with details, details, details, but what about them? If it is just description for description’s sake then why not just write a description of a vase, or tree. The idea, presented by Elliot, is to include in our descriptions a certain kind of specificity that will be able to resonate into the readers past and call upon the emotions that correlate with those descriptions.
ReplyDelete- James Attwood
Chapter 3, “Details, Details” in Alice LaPlante’s book provides excellent instruction on how to use specific and concrete language in writing. This lesson helped me to go back and delete some abstract/general statements in the story I’m working on now. Also helpful was the section, “Don’t Lose Any of Your Senses,” in which she talks about how writers often depend on visual images only and forget to use imagery from other senses such as smell, touch, sound and taste (69). Very helpful!
ReplyDeleteThe short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien has long been one of my favorite stories. His use of details and symbolism provide sharp visual images and convey meaning. In the opening sentence alone, O’Brien’s use of symbolism to introduce the protagonist conveys the sense that the platoon leader Jimmy Cross is a Christ-like figure – his initials are J.C., and as LaPlante mentions, “the cross stands for the crucifixion of Jesus … and the ideals and beliefs of Christianity” (72). A lot to unpack in that story, especially in the death of Ted Lavender. My favorite descriptions are of the intangibles the men carried, such as “grief, terror, love” and “shameful memories” that had “tangible weight” (89). I love the metaphor in “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die” (89). O’Brien’s story is a nice example of how to use details to provide vivid imagery.
While LaPlante warns against overusing symbols and metaphors and focusing more on concrete images, Jon Gingerich advocates using repetition and symbols – “objective correlatives” – as exercises in economy in “Understanding the Objective Correlative.” LaPlante’s advice that symbols and metaphors should occur organically and not be forced helps to balance the use of these objective correlatives in writing.
-Dorie Garza
After reading chapter 3 I have realized that there is more to detail than sampling stating what a character is feeling. It is much better to describe what’s around a character and hint how this character is feeling rather than plainly stating what the character feels. This chapter made me want to rewrite everything I have written so far for my fiction story. In stead of simply saying “there was a scary spider” I could say something like “that 8-legged creature that can strike at any given moment and inject its venom into your body.” Paying attention to all these details makes the reading more vivid and alive. Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” has magnificent detail. On page 84-85 when Ted Lavender got shot, I pictured it happening and with every single detail after that I formulated a very gruesome in the back of my mind. I can picture the blood, the broken teeth, the missing cheek bone, everything. Chapter 3 also contains some great examples. The other two articles, “What is the Objective Correlative?” and “Understanding the Objective Correlative” were very similar, but they both gave me a good understanding of how to add detail to your work or change simple lines into extremely detailed ones that in the end will give the reader the same meaning. I will defiantly go back and rewrite a lot of my story, and it’s a good thing, I can even extend the length of it, I just hope it makes sense.
ReplyDelete-Alexis Perez
LaPlante’s main idea for the chapter was helping us understand the importance of creating specific imagery. Using small details makes the picture both messy and vivid. In “The Things They Carried” images were painted for the readers of the war as well as the unrequited love Cross had been carrying with himself through Martha’s letters. It’s O’Brien’s use of repetition that makes the audience feel the weight the soldiers had to carry physically and emotionally. The repetition in the story ties in with the readings regarding the objective correlative. Readers can recognize the purpose of repetition and the author’s intent as described in “Understanding the Objective Correlative”. I was also reminded that the readers will figure out the meaning in a scene without having to be directly told. In every creative writing class I’ve taken, a key point is knowing the difference between showing and telling. This can make the difference on whether or not the readers will ultimately be engaged in the story. “What is the Objective Correlative?” points out that in order to get the proper reaction, using the right words or objects can help the audience feel the right emotions. This goes along with what I try to do in most of my writing of leaving bits of the story implied for the reader to help fall into the story even more.
ReplyDelete- Gabriela Urbano
The two supplemental readings provided discussed the concept of Objective Correlative and how it became used. It showed the method writers used to create depth on the concrete rather than using the abstract to help intensify the emotion of the reader. I found these readings to support Chapter 3 of LaPlante’s book as it was one of the topics highlighted. LaPlante advised that an attention to detail was vital to the creation of imagery within the context of the senses and the use of metaphors. These discussions introduced a wave of new details I had seen before, yet I had not taken it to heart. It had seemed foreign until now after gaining an understanding about what LaPlante was talking about when writing small concise detail without limiting the senses unless they move away from the story. The same can be said of Objective Correlative and how objects can provide readers a better experience, yet that depends on how the writer presents the overall concept; abusing the concept could destroy the idea being written – that is always dependent on the writer. As for Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” it highlighted details and moments that followed the readings along with LaPlante’s chapter. What I found interesting was the immense detail to every single item they carried along their shoulders, backs, and what they wore, from the flak jackets to the helmets protecting their heads. O’Brien went further by giving each member items that represented their character and what duty they had to perform without outright saying that they were this person. Reading this example allowed me to understand the concepts and details LaPlante and the readings presented as if a eureka type of moment. For sure I am more prepared than I was before and I am glad to have learned something more from these readings.
ReplyDelete- Joseph Gonzalez
I feel since the early stages of education in English (emphasis on composition/writing) since our youth we’ve been taught that imagery is what makes for a better story. Upon reading the two articles “what is the objective correlative” and “Understanding the objective correlative” and even the story of “the things they carried” bring a completely new depth to imagery in creative writing. The detail in all the items the soldiers carried with them really made it intimate and allowed the reader a small look into the lives of these men and could also leave a little room for the audience to carry on their own imagination of the rest of the details or perhaps they can relate to some of the characters. The three readings really exemplify what it means to utilize this descriptive language technique and how it triggers emotion and really grasps the reader and builds that closeness with the text. To be completely honest before reading these articles I feel that I’ve allowed this component of textual imagery to slip from my mental process in writing which I feel is why I have not had much luck with connecting with my writing. These in depth techniques really sheds a light of undiscovered ways to delve deeper in textual language.
ReplyDelete-Clarissa Cardenas
Being descriptive and detailed with my writing is one of my weaknesses as a writer. The readings gave me some insight into how to improve that. I didn’t really understand the specific differences between objective correlatives to symbolism and the “McGuffin” trope. I understand that objective correlatives are a representative of the themes for the story, so does that mean that the McGuffin and symbols are part of it? Just like the previous chapter, I think chapter 3 will be the most useful of the readings. I will probably reread it again as a refresher to properly detail my stories. It already gave me some insight into how I will approach my story for the class. Specifically, I’m going to simplify my story; focus on the characters and stick with one storyline. According to the readings all stories need a theme. Of course, it’s not just the readings that say so, but in my stories I try to find the theme that best fits the story I’m making. It seams to work and even now I’m slowly finding a more concrete theme for my story. Overall, the chapter on details was very informative. It was easy to understand and gave good advice on how to detail my writing.
ReplyDelete-Jose Sias
This section was enlightening from the description of setting and images. At times I find it a bit challenging to articulate something I view in my mind, into words. I’ve always heard “show don’t tell” and Laplante’s viewpoint on setting and use of the five senses, to create a more immersive narrative is compelling. When I first read, “No Country For Old Men” the expressions McCarthy used, is just so distinct and executed with confidence. The coin toss segment is the best use of an image, setting and, character. We get everything we need to know in a single scene. The reader is never told what’s at stake, nor what Chigurh wants, and lastly, why he wanted a piece of candy. Inside, the events unfold in your everyday middle of nowhere convenience store, McCarthy describes what is needed for the viewer to visualize and what is required for the story’s sake, while the rest is for us to fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteGoing through the Objects Correlative was impressive, the idea of certain things being about emotion. The purpose of this is not possible unless you’ve built connections throughout your story for it to land right. From symbolism to repetition, this allows for the character to come out and be understood by the reader.
-Eloy T Sepulveda
This week’s readings tell us about the importance of making our audience read between the lines so to speak. A good story must be told by both author and reader, and we can do this with objective correlation. In the article “Understanding Objective Correlation “we get lots of good examples from literary works and how details can be shown to us without actually being written out for us. This reminds me to do this in my writing more often that maybe not everything needs to be spelled out for my reader. Also, by doing this in my writing there can be more different ways my story can go, and I can even keep my audience guessing at what the ending will be; hopefully making it a better story. I feel that by using objective correlation that stories can be left with out a true ending, the endings can be left open to interpretation creating multiple endings to please a larger audience of people. This is very helpful to me because a lot of the time I really don’t know how I am going to end my stories. At some points I am so indecisive the I will wait until the final draft to come up with a ending.
ReplyDelete-Maria Sanchez
What is the Objective Correlative?
ReplyDeleteI like this article because it talks and explains very well what the objective correlative is. I found it interesting that there seems to be a formula that is needed to evoke certain emotions. Although I was caught off guard when emotions were described as “right” or “wrong” because I’m curious as to what could possibly be considered a right or wrong emotion.
Understanding the objective correlative -
I actually didn’t really like how this article was written simply because it seemed almost as if it was going against the previous article which had explained what the objective correlative was, very well. It seemed as if this specific article was trying to convince one that the objective formula was more usually only one item. While I agree that it could be one item at a time, it also later went against itself (in my opinion), by bring in T.S. Eliot’s interpretation of the objective correlative. It seemed as if it was going around in circles but that’s probably just a matter of taste on my part.
The things they carried – O’Brien;;
In this reading I was able to define how much of something is too much. Even in just the first page, it was describing already too much. It is very detailed and that is where the problem lies. The reader is completely overwhelmed as time goes on because it just keeps getting worse. It’s interesting to see how the objective correlative comes to play here and how the articles we read beforehand help us understand exactly what is going on in the reading.
- Angélica De La Cruz