Andres Sanchez 20229480 Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat The piece, Westbury Court, does a good job at presenting the subject matter of the fire, and the resulting deaths of the two boys, as well as how those deaths affected the author, in a subtle yet relevant manner. Some questions asked by the author are especially poignant, and reveal underlying feelings and memories that the reader themselves could relate too. Questions such as “could I have saved the children had I paid attention?” or “were there in fact two boys that died, rather than two girls, or a boy and a girl?” underlie the text and surely the mind of the author. As a whole, the piece does, I feel, convey accurately how a child would react and think during a fire where people died, and the years afterward spent in a sort of light self-reflection. To the author, the memories follow him through life, and years later, he still questions matters regarding the fire, as if some closure had yet to be reached. I find that the author uses the description of the television program General Hospital aptly, as it conveys to the reader a sense of routine and relatability. Not only this, General Hospital is used to contextualize the fire in the light of a scripted, purposeful television program where, if the children were a part of the show, they might not have died so helplessly. However, the lack of description on the viewpoint of the fire, which serves as the centerpiece to this writing, detracts from it as a whole, I feel. What was the fire like as seen from across the source itself? The reactions of the author’s siblings during these events? Thoughts and feelings going on through the head of the author as he evacuated? These questions could serve to shed more light on the inner complexities of the author that are hard to find in the text and may strengthen the piece as a whole.
I enjoyed reading Westbury Court because it was quite an easy read but it still had a really good theme to it. I liked how Danticat was not super descriptive in the short story and that her descriptions that she did have did a great job of showing just enough visuals of the events that happened to her when she was younger. I feel like it shows us just how much more “real” the story is because she is not trying too hard to remember every single detail. Another thing that I appreciated about Danticat’s writing was her way of showing us how she really felt at the time, again to where it was believable. She did not seem to exaggerate her feelings, they seemed genuine and relatable. We see this in the beginning when she is explaining how she never wanted to leave Westbury Court, then during and after the fire happened and how she felt guilt for not noticing what was going on just across the hall, and then at the end of the story her tone and feelings changed a lot and she began to list the terrible events she started noticing after the fire and how she saw Westbury Court different.
Andrea (Andy) De Llano 202-89-361 Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
Danticat is able to give readers evidence of the emotional effect a fire in their building had on the family. He points out that his brother, who had previously enjoyed playing with matches, is deterred from ever doing so again and that his parents, who had previously allowed Danticat to watch over his siblings alone, instead place their children with another family to be watched.
In one particular paragraph Danticat veers off into details of the TV show he was watching during the accident. I felt too much time was spent listing “freshly baked cookies”, “porcelain plates” and “lily white carpets” from the show. It would have been better for Danticat to stick to the main detail, which was the fact that “a smart dog” or “good neighbor” would have rescued the two children that died in the fire if it had taken place within the TV show instead of real life.
Later on in the story Danticat mentions two individuals who die in Westbury Court. I disliked the fact that both men and their lives and deaths are so quickly summed up into one sentence, after which Danticat continues onto other topics. Danticat had a bad habit of jumping from one topic to another so too quickly and some details, such as the two men that died, where given so little attention that they perhaps should have been cut out of the story all together.
Selena Garza 20291806 The Mute Sense by Diane Ackerman
Ackerman provided vivid images filled with metaphors and similes that worked well with the flow of the passage. The way she described the "night blooming cereus" drenching the air and connecting the memory of smell to something poignant such as land mines were exaggerated which contributed to the imagery. Not only does it make me imagine how cereus scents smell like but it makes me wish I was off in some island looking at the scenery and enjoying scented smells such as “Niagara’s of extravagance”.
Smell has always been associated with cultures around the world. She inscribes not only what our early ancestors strolled upon but also modern day senses are like. For example Sherlock Holmes and leathered shoes. Ackerman ties in all the 5 senses together but calls the sense of smell the mute sense because not only do we begin life with a breath but we end life with the loss of breath. I think that’s beautifully put together because it was “gently altered for having known us”.
The Westbury Court story was very interesting and it wrapped up the authors memoir quickly. What I found that stood out the most was how the author tells her memoire and how she looks back and thinks that the fate that those two children who died in the fire could have been her and her siblings who were doing something as innocent as watching TV. While reading the rest of the story, I felt that the author felt some sort of regret and guilt in regards to the fate of the two young boys who died in the fire. She elaborates of what would have happened should a fire breakout in a television drama. In the last line wrote, “And if their house should ever catch on fire, a smart dog or a good neighbor would rescue them just in time, and the fire trucks would come right quick because some attentive neighbors would call them.” I felt this would run through her mind, what would have happened if she was not so caught up in that TV show and she was paying attention to her surroundings. Would she have called 911 and would those kids have been saved? As for “Les Frere” parents, they served as a purpose, as a sign for her not to make the same mistakes twice. For her to be alert about her surroundings, rather than to indulge in her TV shows. While reading carefully, I noticed that she explained how tragedy was all around her, telling her that the death of those two children were just the same mishaps as the tragedies that were happening where she lived. In the end when she says, “even now, I question what I remember about the children.” It seems that she somehow forgave herself for not paying closer attention, for only caring about her TV show and not the life of those around her.
Reading Danticats’ short story allowed me to recollect some memories that had never came up before about my childhood. For as long as I can remember I had moved to different “homes”, in different area codes, constantly. Until I reached the first grade we moved into this brown bricked, ugly apartment complex that has probably been the only place that I can say ever felt like home.
Danticats’ made the imagery in this story very easy to visualize. It was very well detailed that it allowed me to mentally see what is was like in Westbury Court. I really appreciated the fact that Danticat was not afraid to confess the daily routine that he and his brothers had on a weekly basis & didn’t make an excuse for the negligence when the fire occurred.
Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that he brought up the ideas that would have happened if real life was like General Hospital such as “a smart dog” or a “good neighbor” coming to the rescue, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Life isn’t scripted like a soap opera where if something bad happens to one, something amazing & lucky will follow right after.
Another pleasing thing that came from Danticats’ short story was the domino effect that happened upon the family after the fire. It shows realization from different perspectives of the family. While one learned to not play with fire, another realized that kids need to be looked after by an adult rather than the oldest child.
Though I did find very many satisfying points of this short story, I didn’t like that the author started bringing up deaths of others that didn’t really have a purpose for the story such as the Nigerian or the cabdriver.
The author provided great detail throughout the passage which provoked my own senses. Through the intricate descriptions of her memories, I became curious as to what exactly the scents she mentions mean to her. She initially makes the correlation between smell and memory, which I found easy for the reader to relate with. Although she mentions how scent is difficult to describe to a person, the use of her vivid descriptions makes it possible for the reader to relate to similar situations they've been in, such as the scent of dinner being served, or the salty air at the beach. I think her point of smell being the most unique sense out of the five was effectively proven through the quote, “…if you cover your nose and try to stop smelling, you will die”. We cannot prevent our sense of smell. Scents linger in the air like they will in your memory. They remain dormant in our minds until we smell it once more.
Pedro Cano (20049610) Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
Eventuality: a term that, I believe, is very prevalent in this work. Never did the protagonist expect her life to be so drastically changed, and in such a dreadful manner. Nothing in life is certain, anything can happen, and death is but a lit match away. Danticat, for me, reminded us of the relevance of eventualities in her work, detailing certain events that occurred after the fire.
Danticat's depiction of the events after the fire give an almost mystical quality to Westbury Court itself, making it seem like the fire (as well as the two children's deaths) brought a curse upon the building. The fact that those events occurred the very same year of the fire seem to emphasize that, especially since a few affected her family directly. Eventuality, though, rears its head when a Nigerian immigrant was killed in front of the building, leading her to categorize these events as such.
As random and nonsensical as the cabdriver's death and the Nigerian immigrant's death seemed (especially since the fire was such a crucial event), in my opinion, they emphasized a statement for me: "Life is ruled by eventualities". That is why I consider "Westbury Court" a good narrative.
Brenda Salinas (20228345) Westbury Court By Edwidge Danticat
Westbury Court was a good story. What I liked about the story was that it made you think “what if, like what if the firemen never came for her and her siblings, they could have had the same fate as 6E. What if the mother of 6E never left her children or taken her children with her, the fire could have been avoided. A lot of things ran into my mind from reading the story. It really makes you think. The author goes on and talks about the Haitians who moved in. I felt sorry for the author though, to me it felt after the fire, it really changed her and in a way she became paranoid. The reason why I say she was paranoid was from this line “..I would always listen carefully for our new tenants, so I’d be the first to know if anything went awry.” Maybe she paranoid or maybe she feels guilty because of kids who died in the fire. Throughout the story it went on about the things that happened in her life while living at that place. How the Nigerian died in front on the building and dad camera being stolen. She goes on says that even though all the stuff that was going on in her home that she never thought about it being bad. The story overall was good, the author gave good detail.
The Mute Sense "And when we breathe we pass the word through our bodies." Take a deep breathe right before you continue to read this. Momentarily, while you took that deep breathe, one might feel a sense of weightlessness, I know I did. (Maybe because it was too see of a breathe) Another person might pick up a scent from their peer or food they might be snacking on. Whatever the case may be, the strong mute sense of the nose is inevitable. The nose can recognize 50,000 different scents, instantaneously making a connection to a past memory or experience. Has it ever happened when you're simply walking around and you happened to pick up a scent, a scent from a old lover possibly? A scent of your favorite aunt's perfume, and you can just recall whatever moment reminded you of being with them with that scent present. Diane Ackerman hits it on the nose (no pun intended) when she states, "smells decorate softly in our memory like poignant land mines, hidden under the weedy mass of many years and experiences." It gets even better when she warns you that hitting a "tripwire of smell, and memories explode all at one." That's it. It's all over. The human body is aligned symmetrically with the mind. It's almost guaranteed when the nose picks up a scent, memories of the past are bound to trigger at any given moment. I enjoy when she goes on a personal rant about how if you close your eyes, you can't see. If you plug your ears, you won't be able to hear, yet if you cover your nose, you die. How dramatic yet true. So because of our oddly shaped noses that we were born with, two things are inevitable. Death (because if we can't breathe, we die, and the memories that are going to be triggered once set off by a familiar scent. So don't blame your nose for reminding you of a bad memory. Your brain made the connection. I personally really enjoy this story, she went into great depth on what the nose is capable of, not just in the physical world where you associate a scent with a dish, perfume, etc but one is able to make the mental connection to a past memory just by smelling something and I believe that's simply beautiful. I had past memories of my grandpa that I tend to forget from time to time. Yet whenever I go a BBQ restaurant and smell the smokey scent of mesquite burning and the smell of brisket cooking, I can't help but remember my grandfather, and that's the beauty of the nose. May I add this, Diane Ackerman makes a huge statement when she makes a comparison between the nose and all its capabilities to the infamous, Silk Road. Did you know that only 19% of the Internet is available to public? So where's the other 81% at, what does that part of the Internet hold? That's not for me to say so easily but when she states that the Silk Road opened up Asia to the western world, she's also claiming that scents alone can open to the hearts of nature, that's huge. She even calls it the "Scent Road." This tells me that as a reader, the immense respect she has for the abilities of the nose.
There are several themes that Danticat explores in “Westbury Court”, such as the arbitrary nature of life, guilt, and the vagaries of memory. Danticat begins her essay by providing a brief description of Westbury Court and its seemingly infinite shortcomings. The setting is as much of a character as Danticat herself, as she juxtaposes her own inadequacies with the place she once called home.
Throughout the essay, Danticat ruminates on how things could have been different if she had only noticed the fire across the hall instead of being immersed in the plot of General Hospital. She laments her negligence and begins to wonder what would have happened if she and her brothers were the victims of the fire instead of the two boys who were killed. One theme the author stresses is that life is a series of seemingly random occurrences; the fire, the cab driver’s death, a Nigerian immigrant getting shot, and her father’s camera getting stolen are all events that accentuate the arbitrariness of life.
Danticat relates her own real-life childhood with the fictional world of General Hospital to differentiate fiction and reality. If someone’s home caught fire in the fictional world of the soap opera, Danticat explains, “A good neighbor would rescue them just in time,” something that she was unable to do. As a result, she has harbored a great deal of guilt, even years after the event.
As Danticat wraps up her essay, she begins to question her own memory of the fire. “Did they really die?” She asks herself. With time, memories change, and certain details are less likely to be retained. Her inability to recall if they were boys or girls showcases the vagaries of the human mind, and how that may just be a result of her attempting to repress the traumatic memory. This would help explain the author’s lack of detail when writing about the fire.
Linda Ponce 20201593 The Mute Sense I am a person with a vivid imagination therefore, I believe the story has great imagery, “There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each other.”- This verse it sell made me picture a detective smelling the different scents in a crime scene, and think, would he not have a headache after all the smelling. The information the story provides is interesting, it explains how different cultures are obsessed with smell and gives different examples of what they do with scents, and how they felt about them. The story as well gives clear statement as to why our scent in smell is one of our most important senses. What would we do if we couldn’t scent? We’d be dead. The narrator illustrates how breathing is not weak, but explains it is something that is slowly building up stronger and stronger.
This creative nonfiction piece celebrates the sense of smell by using descriptive language. Diane Ackerman’s proper use of diction helps bring the world of smell to life to the reader. As a writer it is our job to not only grab the reader’s attention but to also let the reader experience what the writer is trying to convey. By diction and descriptive imagery Ackerman is able to convey that the sense of smell being the most overlooked is actually proven to be the most important because, “… [if you] try to stop smelling, you will die.” In addition, Ackerman uses beautiful and eloquent language throughout the piece. I really enjoyed reading this piece because she was able to write about something so overlooked like the sense of smell and make readers in a way rethink their senses. And to me that is what being a good writer is all about; someone who can challenge what you know and make you question your perspective on things.
Yesenia Betancourt The Mute Sense The Mute Sense was a story that I enjoyed particularly because of the use of imagery. I believe Ackerman does a wonderful job at utilizing imagery in the first paragraph. Through her use of imagery Ackerman is able capture how a memory can be triggered by a single, fleeting scent in the following phrase, “Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines, hidden under the weedy mass of many years and experiences. Hit a tripwire of smell, and memories explode all at once.” I really liked these sentences because to me they perfectly describe what a scent triggered memory feels like. I believe Ackerman’s organization is also pretty good. The first paragraph focuses on describing a scent triggered memory, the second focuses on a little bit of research on humans distinguishing smell and the last one focuses on the difficulty of describing a scent, hence the name of the story, The Mute Sense. Ackerman’s organization makes it clear what each paragraph is about and she does not stray from the points being made in them.
The Mute Sense is insightful and creative. I enjoyed the many similes and metaphors used by Ackerman throughout the passage. As the passage flows on, the writer uses incredible imagery that kept me intrigued. She is confident in how powerful the sense of smell is to a person throughout the passage. When she describes how “…scents can conjure memories, kind of like photos’’, I was particularly fond of this comparison, because if we venture to a new restaurant, city, or state for the first time we take in the environment in many different ways. Whether that be by photos, videos, or our senses, we can rely on them to take us back to that particular time and place. While I was reading this passage I could fathom my fondest memories like during the Christmas holidays my grandmother, cousins, and myself will make tamales and menudo, which fills me my heart with joy. Another phrase that caught my attention is “The brain is a good stagehand. It gets on with its work while were busy acting out our scenes.” It is a wonderful metaphor describing how everything we do is automatically registered to our brain without regard and it connects us with everything we done or will do in life. Which I felt summed up the writer’s appreciation for the sense of smell.
The author provides her thoughts on the horrific events that had gone on during his stay at Westbury Court. I could only imagine what it must have been like to witness all those sorts of things at that age. One thing I wish the author could have provided more information on was the scene where the firemen carry out the two "lifeless" children from the building. How did they look? Were there burns or bruises? Were they on a cot or being carried by the arms of the firemen? What happened once their mother jumped from the crowd? I feel as if there should have been more detail provided considering that it plays a major impact on the story and that it leads to a series of tragic events that follow afterwards; as well as more detail on those other events too. Even after everything that had happened the author seems to find some comfort in the Haitian musicians that moved across from them. The author seems to look at the positive side of everything rather than only the negatives seeing that she brings up how she never wanted to leave Westbury Court, or how she had a "made-up drama" on how children were supposed to come home to fresh baked cookies while their mothers took off their boots. Another example would be how she took comfort in General Hospital throughout the horrific things happening around her. Overall, I enjoyed this story and felt like I could relate to the author seeing how, as I mentioned earlier, she provided her thoughts throughout the story.
I feel that in life there are many things that help an event happen, whether it is intentional or by accident. It is very important to understand that everybody makes mistakes. Everybody in this world feels the same pain, sorrow, embarrassment, and excitement but delivers those emotions in a different way.
In Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat i feel like shes writing about the things you can't control in life, but in Danticat's case she feels guilty about her neighbors sons death. She feels like if she was paying more attention to her surronding instead of watching General Hospital she would have been able to help or react to it sooner. I really enjoyed this short essay because of the great detail.
Danticat does a good job in her use of imagery. I enjoyed how well she explained and gave life to her surroundings without having to over explain in order for the reader to imagine what she is describing. I also enjoyed the way in which the author shares her story on the way the fire impacted her life. It seems as if she harbors some guilt about the fire, since she was not able to hear anything due to being consumed by her TV show. She doesn’t seem to have much recollection about the incident, which makes me think she may be wanting to forget it ever happened. What also stood out to me was her use of understating the events that follow the fire. She had already established and described the scenery that surrounded her and had give the reader a sense of the tragedies that seemed to follower her, that it was not necessary to over emphasize on the details. Rather, she lets the reader fill in those gaps.
Westbury Court captured my attention within the first paragraph with details that helped me better visualize the setting. As I continued reading and getting more engaged in the story I found myself starting to relate to the narrator. When I was younger my older sister and I would stay home alone everyday after school. We would get lost watching television shows before my parents got home, and we never knew what was going on around our neighborhood. There are a lot of “what if’s” that could be asked throughout the story. The reality is that no matter what, that fire started and there was nothing that could go back and change that. Sometimes I feel that it’s better to be lost in the world, than to see what a harsh world we actually live in. The author decided to pay more attention to his surroundings after the fire and all he saw were people dying one after another. As years pass the author mentions that the fire that happened on Westbury Court is now a vague memory. Sometimes it’s better to forget, than to keep thinking for the rest of your life, “what if I were paying more attention?”
Gabriela Montfort Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
Danticat’s use of imagery in the first paragraph straightaway places the reader in the story. Her detailed description of the setting makes it easier to visualize the type of neighborhood in which, later on in the story, all of these violent events would take place. Although descriptive, I feel, she ignored many focal points in the story. For example instead of talking about the made up world of general hospital in such great detail, she could have made the scene in which the children get taken out of the building more vivid and help the reader understand how emotionally devastating that event was for the mother or how scaring it could have been for those who were there to presence it. Yet her use of general hospital helps the reader identify with the story, while reading it I started to remember many times in which I got too immersed in a movie or a book to realize what was happening around me. Another detail that made me feel this is a relatable story is that after realizing and explaining all of the violence in the neighborhood she still says “Still I never thought I was living in a violent place.” Many of us live in a bubble in which although we notice things around us we still believe we are immune to any harm that can come our way.
I thought that the author of "Westbury Court," Edwidge Danticat did a great job by making his story easy to read. I literally visualized everything Danticat wrote in his story, and he did not need to incorporate large words in his work to make it interesting to read. Compared to Diane Ackerman's "The Mute Sense," I did not get lost with the structuring of words in a sentence; like I did in Ackerman's story it was confusing to me how she wrote her sentences. Another thing that amused me about Danticat's story was when he stated that he was too into watching his favorite show that he did not notice the boys screaming or the smell of fire, because I to get hooked onto watching my shows or movies that I space my self out and totally ignore everything else. I also like how the way that the author connected his favorite show to this traumatic experience, and how he shared the death's of other people that existed around his apartment, that they seemed like another episode of general hospital. Overall I thought that his short creative nonfiction essay was an interesting story, Danticat did a great job. The only thing that threw me off in his short story was that after his life changing experience in the fire on the apartment incident, he started talking about other people that died years later after the event, but maybe he was just trying to compare his true story to "General Hospital." What Danticat showed best in his story, was that his story did show the cruelties of this world, and the reality of child negligence.
Nydia Preciado Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat When I started reading the first two sentences of this story I never pictured it to be the way it was, it was until the last sentence of the first paragraph that got me hooked to keep reading on. Danticat uses great description and imagery, he is trying to make sure the reader captures every detail. One sentence I really liked was “The apartment across the hall stayed empty for a long time, and whenever I walked past it, a piece of his inner skeleton would speak…” I could really picture the burnt wood inside the apartment one or two pieces falling. This story also really grabbed my attention because one of my biggest fears is being in or killed by a fire. The way he describe the two boys’ dead bodies being carried out from the apartment building was descriptive and it made me start thinking of the boys being burned in the fire. This story gave me chills and in a way I felt like he was sort of blaming himself for the children’s death or for the fire in general. In general, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story.
We often find ourselves describing smells but not really giving any thought to what we experience when we smell something. Diane Ackerman does a great job of describing and almost indescribable sense through the use of imagery. When Ackerman writes, “It’s almost impossible to describe how something smells to someone who hasn’t smelled it” I felt that it was something I always thought of but never put into words. She goes on to list things that we would never be able to describe to people unless they themselves have smelled that same scent. I also enjoyed the way Ackerman uses the metaphor of a “tripwire” to describe how it feels to smell something that instantly reminds you of a memory. This is a perfect way to describe the way it feels to be instantly reminded of your mother when someone is wearing her perfume or your friend when you smell their shampoo. Lastly at the end of the story she begins to compare this unique sense we have to our other senses. “We taste only when we put things into our mouths, touch only when we make contact….But we smell always and with every breath.” She goes on to describe how our bodies naturally “brew” every smell that we come across and alter it in some way. This in my opinion was the most beautiful part of Ackerman’s story because she took something I take for granted, our sense of smell, and she made me realize that my ability to smell will always be a unique experience that only I can understand.
Andres Sanchez 20229480
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
The piece, Westbury Court, does a good job at presenting the subject matter of the fire, and the resulting deaths of the two boys, as well as how those deaths affected the author, in a subtle yet relevant manner. Some questions asked by the author are especially poignant, and reveal underlying feelings and memories that the reader themselves could relate too. Questions such as “could I have saved the children had I paid attention?” or “were there in fact two boys that died, rather than two girls, or a boy and a girl?” underlie the text and surely the mind of the author. As a whole, the piece does, I feel, convey accurately how a child would react and think during a fire where people died, and the years afterward spent in a sort of light self-reflection. To the author, the memories follow him through life, and years later, he still questions matters regarding the fire, as if some closure had yet to be reached.
I find that the author uses the description of the television program General Hospital aptly, as it conveys to the reader a sense of routine and relatability. Not only this, General Hospital is used to contextualize the fire in the light of a scripted, purposeful television program where, if the children were a part of the show, they might not have died so helplessly. However, the lack of description on the viewpoint of the fire, which serves as the centerpiece to this writing, detracts from it as a whole, I feel. What was the fire like as seen from across the source itself? The reactions of the author’s siblings during these events? Thoughts and feelings going on through the head of the author as he evacuated? These questions could serve to shed more light on the inner complexities of the author that are hard to find in the text and may strengthen the piece as a whole.
Daniella De Leon
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading Westbury Court because it was quite an easy read but it still had a really good theme to it. I liked how Danticat was not super descriptive in the short story and that her descriptions that she did have did a great job of showing just enough visuals of the events that happened to her when she was younger. I feel like it shows us just how much more “real” the story is because she is not trying too hard to remember every single detail. Another thing that I appreciated about Danticat’s writing was her way of showing us how she really felt at the time, again to where it was believable. She did not seem to exaggerate her feelings, they seemed genuine and relatable. We see this in the beginning when she is explaining how she never wanted to leave Westbury Court, then during and after the fire happened and how she felt guilt for not noticing what was going on just across the hall, and then at the end of the story her tone and feelings changed a lot and she began to list the terrible events she started noticing after the fire and how she saw Westbury Court different.
Andrea (Andy) De Llano 202-89-361
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
Danticat is able to give readers evidence of the emotional effect a fire in their building had on the family. He points out that his brother, who had previously enjoyed playing with matches, is deterred from ever doing so again and that his parents, who had previously allowed Danticat to watch over his siblings alone, instead place their children with another family to be watched.
In one particular paragraph Danticat veers off into details of the TV show he was watching during the accident. I felt too much time was spent listing “freshly baked cookies”, “porcelain plates” and “lily white carpets” from the show. It would have been better for Danticat to stick to the main detail, which was the fact that “a smart dog” or “good neighbor” would have rescued the two children that died in the fire if it had taken place within the TV show instead of real life.
Later on in the story Danticat mentions two individuals who die in Westbury Court. I disliked the fact that both men and their lives and deaths are so quickly summed up into one sentence, after which Danticat continues onto other topics. Danticat had a bad habit of jumping from one topic to another so too quickly and some details, such as the two men that died, where given so little attention that they perhaps should have been cut out of the story all together.
Selena Garza 20291806
ReplyDeleteThe Mute Sense by Diane Ackerman
Ackerman provided vivid images filled with metaphors and similes that worked well with the flow of the passage. The way she described the "night blooming cereus" drenching the air and connecting the memory of smell to something poignant such as land mines were exaggerated which contributed to the imagery. Not only does it make me imagine how cereus scents smell like but it makes me wish I was off in some island looking at the scenery and enjoying scented smells such as “Niagara’s of extravagance”.
Smell has always been associated with cultures around the world. She inscribes not only what our early ancestors strolled upon but also modern day senses are like. For example Sherlock Holmes and leathered shoes. Ackerman ties in all the 5 senses together but calls the sense of smell the mute sense because not only do we begin life with a breath but we end life with the loss of breath. I think that’s beautifully put together because it was “gently altered for having known us”.
The Westbury Court story was very interesting and it wrapped up the authors memoir quickly. What I found that stood out the most was how the author tells her memoire and how she looks back and thinks that the fate that those two children who died in the fire could have been her and her siblings who were doing something as innocent as watching TV.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the rest of the story, I felt that the author felt some sort of regret and guilt in regards to the fate of the two young boys who died in the fire. She elaborates of what would have happened should a fire breakout in a television drama. In the last line wrote, “And if their house should ever catch on fire, a smart dog or a good neighbor would rescue them just in time, and the fire trucks would come right quick because some attentive neighbors would call them.” I felt this would run through her mind, what would have happened if she was not so caught up in that TV show and she was paying attention to her surroundings. Would she have called 911 and would those kids have been saved?
As for “Les Frere” parents, they served as a purpose, as a sign for her not to make the same mistakes twice. For her to be alert about her surroundings, rather than to indulge in her TV shows.
While reading carefully, I noticed that she explained how tragedy was all around her, telling her that the death of those two children were just the same mishaps as the tragedies that were happening where she lived.
In the end when she says, “even now, I question what I remember about the children.” It seems that she somehow forgave herself for not paying closer attention, for only caring about her TV show and not the life of those around her.
Anisa Perez, 20236859
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court: Edwidge Danticat
Reading Danticats’ short story allowed me to recollect some memories that had never came up before about my childhood. For as long as I can remember I had moved to different “homes”, in different area codes, constantly. Until I reached the first grade we moved into this brown bricked, ugly apartment complex that has probably been the only place that I can say ever felt like home.
Danticats’ made the imagery in this story very easy to visualize. It was very well detailed that it allowed me to mentally see what is was like in Westbury Court. I really appreciated the fact that Danticat was not afraid to confess the daily routine that he and his brothers had on a weekly basis & didn’t make an excuse for the negligence when the fire occurred.
Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that he brought up the ideas that would have happened if real life was like General Hospital such as “a smart dog” or a “good neighbor” coming to the rescue, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Life isn’t scripted like a soap opera where if something bad happens to one, something amazing & lucky will follow right after.
Another pleasing thing that came from Danticats’ short story was the domino effect that happened upon the family after the fire. It shows realization from different perspectives of the family. While one learned to not play with fire, another realized that kids need to be looked after by an adult rather than the oldest child.
Though I did find very many satisfying points of this short story, I didn’t like that the author started bringing up deaths of others that didn’t really have a purpose for the story such as the Nigerian or the cabdriver.
Damaris Cantu
ReplyDeleteThe Mute Sense - Diane Ackerman
The author provided great detail throughout the passage which provoked my own senses. Through the intricate descriptions of her memories, I became curious as to what exactly the scents she mentions mean to her. She initially makes the correlation between smell and memory, which I found easy for the reader to relate with. Although she mentions how scent is difficult to describe to a person, the use of her vivid descriptions makes it possible for the reader to relate to similar situations they've been in, such as the scent of dinner being served, or the salty air at the beach. I think her point of smell being the most unique sense out of the five was effectively proven through the quote, “…if you cover your nose and try to stop smelling, you will die”. We cannot prevent our sense of smell. Scents linger in the air like they will in your memory. They remain dormant in our minds until we smell it once more.
Pedro Cano (20049610)
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
Eventuality: a term that, I believe, is very prevalent in this work. Never did the protagonist expect her life to be so drastically changed, and in such a dreadful manner. Nothing in life is certain, anything can happen, and death is but a lit match away. Danticat, for me, reminded us of the relevance of eventualities in her work, detailing certain events that occurred after the fire.
Danticat's depiction of the events after the fire give an almost mystical quality to Westbury Court itself, making it seem like the fire (as well as the two children's deaths) brought a curse upon the building. The fact that those events occurred the very same year of the fire seem to emphasize that, especially since a few affected her family directly. Eventuality, though, rears its head when a Nigerian immigrant was killed in front of the building, leading her to categorize these events as such.
As random and nonsensical as the cabdriver's death and the Nigerian immigrant's death seemed (especially since the fire was such a crucial event), in my opinion, they emphasized a statement for me: "Life is ruled by eventualities". That is why I consider "Westbury Court" a good narrative.
Brenda Salinas (20228345)
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court By Edwidge Danticat
Westbury Court was a good story. What I liked about the story was that it made you think “what if, like what if the firemen never came for her and her siblings, they could have had the same fate as 6E. What if the mother of 6E never left her children or taken her children with her, the fire could have been avoided. A lot of things ran into my mind from reading the story. It really makes you think. The author goes on and talks about the Haitians who moved in. I felt sorry for the author though, to me it felt after the fire, it really changed her and in a way she became paranoid. The reason why I say she was paranoid was from this line “..I would always listen carefully for our new tenants, so I’d be the first to know if anything went awry.” Maybe she paranoid or maybe she feels guilty because of kids who died in the fire. Throughout the story it went on about the things that happened in her life while living at that place. How the Nigerian died in front on the building and dad camera being stolen. She goes on says that even though all the stuff that was going on in her home that she never thought about it being bad. The story overall was good, the author gave good detail.
The Mute Sense
ReplyDelete"And when we breathe we pass the word through our bodies." Take a deep breathe right before you continue to read this. Momentarily, while you took that deep breathe, one might feel a sense of weightlessness, I know I did. (Maybe because it was too see of a breathe) Another person might pick up a scent from their peer or food they might be snacking on. Whatever the case may be, the strong mute sense of the nose is inevitable. The nose can recognize 50,000 different scents, instantaneously making a connection to a past memory or experience. Has it ever happened when you're simply walking around and you happened to pick up a scent, a scent from a old lover possibly? A scent of your favorite aunt's perfume, and you can just recall whatever moment reminded you of being with them with that scent present. Diane Ackerman hits it on the nose (no pun intended) when she states, "smells decorate softly in our memory like poignant land mines, hidden under the weedy mass of many years and experiences." It gets even better when she warns you that hitting a "tripwire of smell, and memories explode all at one." That's it. It's all over. The human body is aligned symmetrically with the mind. It's almost guaranteed when the nose picks up a scent, memories of the past are bound to trigger at any given moment. I enjoy when she goes on a personal rant about how if you close your eyes, you can't see. If you plug your ears, you won't be able to hear, yet if you cover your nose, you die. How dramatic yet true. So because of our oddly shaped noses that we were born with, two things are inevitable. Death (because if we can't breathe, we die, and the memories that are going to be triggered once set off by a familiar scent. So don't blame your nose for reminding you of a bad memory. Your brain made the connection. I personally really enjoy this story, she went into great depth on what the nose is capable of, not just in the physical world where you associate a scent with a dish, perfume, etc but one is able to make the mental connection to a past memory just by smelling something and I believe that's simply beautiful. I had past memories of my grandpa that I tend to forget from time to time. Yet whenever I go a BBQ restaurant and smell the smokey scent of mesquite burning and the smell of brisket cooking, I can't help but remember my grandfather, and that's the beauty of the nose. May I add this, Diane Ackerman makes a huge statement when she makes a comparison between the nose and all its capabilities to the infamous, Silk Road. Did you know that only 19% of the Internet is available to public? So where's the other 81% at, what does that part of the Internet hold? That's not for me to say so easily but when she states that the Silk Road opened up Asia to the western world, she's also claiming that scents alone can open to the hearts of nature, that's huge. She even calls it the "Scent Road." This tells me that as a reader, the immense respect she has for the abilities of the nose.
Christian Martinez
ReplyDelete“Westbury Court” by Edwidge Danticat
There are several themes that Danticat explores in “Westbury Court”, such as the arbitrary nature of life, guilt, and the vagaries of memory. Danticat begins her essay by providing a brief description of Westbury Court and its seemingly infinite shortcomings. The setting is as much of a character as Danticat herself, as she juxtaposes her own inadequacies with the place she once called home.
Throughout the essay, Danticat ruminates on how things could have been different if she had only noticed the fire across the hall instead of being immersed in the plot of General Hospital. She laments her negligence and begins to wonder what would have happened if she and her brothers were the victims of the fire instead of the two boys who were killed. One theme the author stresses is that life is a series of seemingly random occurrences; the fire, the cab driver’s death, a Nigerian immigrant getting shot, and her father’s camera getting stolen are all events that accentuate the arbitrariness of life.
Danticat relates her own real-life childhood with the fictional world of General Hospital to differentiate fiction and reality. If someone’s home caught fire in the fictional world of the soap opera, Danticat explains, “A good neighbor would rescue them just in time,” something that she was unable to do. As a result, she has harbored a great deal of guilt, even years after the event.
As Danticat wraps up her essay, she begins to question her own memory of the fire. “Did they really die?” She asks herself. With time, memories change, and certain details are less likely to be retained. Her inability to recall if they were boys or girls showcases the vagaries of the human mind, and how that may just be a result of her attempting to repress the traumatic memory. This would help explain the author’s lack of detail when writing about the fire.
Linda Ponce 20201593
ReplyDeleteThe Mute Sense
I am a person with a vivid imagination therefore, I believe the story has great imagery, “There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each other.”- This verse it sell made me picture a detective smelling the different scents in a crime scene, and think, would he not have a headache after all the smelling. The information the story provides is interesting, it explains how different cultures are obsessed with smell and gives different examples of what they do with scents, and how they felt about them. The story as well gives clear statement as to why our scent in smell is one of our most important senses. What would we do if we couldn’t scent? We’d be dead. The narrator illustrates how breathing is not weak, but explains it is something that is slowly building up stronger and stronger.
Alexis Madrigal
ReplyDeleteThe Mute Sense by Diane Ackerman
This creative nonfiction piece celebrates the sense of smell by using descriptive language. Diane Ackerman’s proper use of diction helps bring the world of smell to life to the reader. As a writer it is our job to not only grab the reader’s attention but to also let the reader experience what the writer is trying to convey. By diction and descriptive imagery Ackerman is able to convey that the sense of smell being the most overlooked is actually proven to be the most important because, “… [if you] try to stop smelling, you will die.”
In addition, Ackerman uses beautiful and eloquent language throughout the piece. I really enjoyed reading this piece because she was able to write about something so overlooked like the sense of smell and make readers in a way rethink their senses. And to me that is what being a good writer is all about; someone who can challenge what you know and make you question your perspective on things.
Yesenia Betancourt
ReplyDeleteThe Mute Sense
The Mute Sense was a story that I enjoyed particularly because of the use of imagery. I believe Ackerman does a wonderful job at utilizing imagery in the first paragraph. Through her use of imagery Ackerman is able capture how a memory can be triggered by a single, fleeting scent in the following phrase, “Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines, hidden under the weedy mass of many years and experiences. Hit a tripwire of smell, and memories explode all at once.” I really liked these sentences because to me they perfectly describe what a scent triggered memory feels like. I believe Ackerman’s organization is also pretty good. The first paragraph focuses on describing a scent triggered memory, the second focuses on a little bit of research on humans distinguishing smell and the last one focuses on the difficulty of describing a scent, hence the name of the story, The Mute Sense. Ackerman’s organization makes it clear what each paragraph is about and she does not stray from the points being made in them.
Gabriela Canales
ReplyDeleteThe Mute Sense
The Mute Sense is insightful and creative. I enjoyed the many similes and metaphors used by Ackerman throughout the passage. As the passage flows on, the writer uses incredible imagery that kept me intrigued. She is confident in how powerful the sense of smell is to a person throughout the passage. When she describes how “…scents can conjure memories, kind of like photos’’, I was particularly fond of this comparison, because if we venture to a new restaurant, city, or state for the first time we take in the environment in many different ways. Whether that be by photos, videos, or our senses, we can rely on them to take us back to that particular time and place. While I was reading this passage I could fathom my fondest memories like during the Christmas holidays my grandmother, cousins, and myself will make tamales and menudo, which fills me my heart with joy. Another phrase that caught my attention is “The brain is a good stagehand. It gets on with its work while were busy acting out our scenes.” It is a wonderful metaphor describing how everything we do is automatically registered to our brain without regard and it connects us with everything we done or will do in life. Which I felt summed up the writer’s appreciation for the sense of smell.
Adam Rivas
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
The author provides her thoughts on the horrific events that had gone on during his stay at Westbury Court. I could only imagine what it must have been like to witness all those sorts of things at that age. One thing I wish the author could have provided more information on was the scene where the firemen carry out the two "lifeless" children from the building. How did they look? Were there burns or bruises? Were they on a cot or being carried by the arms of the firemen? What happened once their mother jumped from the crowd? I feel as if there should have been more detail provided considering that it plays a major impact on the story and that it leads to a series of tragic events that follow afterwards; as well as more detail on those other events too. Even after everything that had happened the author seems to find some comfort in the Haitian musicians that moved across from them. The author seems to look at the positive side of everything rather than only the negatives seeing that she brings up how she never wanted to leave Westbury Court, or how she had a "made-up drama" on how children were supposed to come home to fresh baked cookies while their mothers took off their boots. Another example would be how she took comfort in General Hospital throughout the horrific things happening around her. Overall, I enjoyed this story and felt like I could relate to the author seeing how, as I mentioned earlier, she provided her thoughts throughout the story.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRyann Gonzalez
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court
I feel that in life there are many things that help an event happen, whether it is intentional or by accident. It is very important to understand that everybody makes mistakes. Everybody in this world feels the same pain, sorrow, embarrassment, and excitement but delivers those emotions in a different way.
In Westbury Court by Edwidge Danticat i feel like shes writing about the things you can't control in life, but in Danticat's case she feels guilty about her neighbors sons death. She feels like if she was paying more attention to her surronding instead of watching General Hospital she would have been able to help or react to it sooner.
I really enjoyed this short essay because of the great detail.
Naomi Munoz
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court
Danticat does a good job in her use of imagery. I enjoyed how well she explained and gave life to her surroundings without having to over explain in order for the reader to imagine what she is describing. I also enjoyed the way in which the author shares her story on the way the fire impacted her life. It seems as if she harbors some guilt about the fire, since she was not able to hear anything due to being consumed by her TV show. She doesn’t seem to have much recollection about the incident, which makes me think she may be wanting to forget it ever happened. What also stood out to me was her use of understating the events that follow the fire. She had already established and described the scenery that surrounded her and had give the reader a sense of the tragedies that seemed to follower her, that it was not necessary to over emphasize on the details. Rather, she lets the reader fill in those gaps.
Mayela Montenegro
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court captured my attention within the first paragraph with details that helped me better visualize the setting. As I continued reading and getting more engaged in the story I found myself starting to relate to the narrator. When I was younger my older sister and I would stay home alone everyday after school. We would get lost watching television shows before my parents got home, and we never knew what was going on around our neighborhood. There are a lot of “what if’s” that could be asked throughout the story. The reality is that no matter what, that fire started and there was nothing that could go back and change that. Sometimes I feel that it’s better to be lost in the world, than to see what a harsh world we actually live in. The author decided to pay more attention to his surroundings after the fire and all he saw were people dying one after another. As years pass the author mentions that the fire that happened on Westbury Court is now a vague memory. Sometimes it’s better to forget, than to keep thinking for the rest of your life, “what if I were paying more attention?”
Gabriela Montfort
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
Danticat’s use of imagery in the first paragraph straightaway places the reader in the story. Her detailed description of the setting makes it easier to visualize the type of neighborhood in which, later on in the story, all of these violent events would take place. Although descriptive, I feel, she ignored many focal points in the story. For example instead of talking about the made up world of general hospital in such great detail, she could have made the scene in which the children get taken out of the building more vivid and help the reader understand how emotionally devastating that event was for the mother or how scaring it could have been for those who were there to presence it.
Yet her use of general hospital helps the reader identify with the story, while reading it I started to remember many times in which I got too immersed in a movie or a book to realize what was happening around me. Another detail that made me feel this is a relatable story is that after realizing and explaining all of the violence in the neighborhood she still says “Still I never thought I was living in a violent place.” Many of us live in a bubble in which although we notice things around us we still believe we are immune to any harm that can come our way.
Francisco Guerra
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court
I thought that the author of "Westbury Court," Edwidge Danticat did a great job by making his story easy to read. I literally visualized everything Danticat wrote in his story, and he did not need to incorporate large words in his work to make it interesting to read. Compared to Diane Ackerman's "The Mute Sense," I did not get lost with the structuring of words in a sentence; like I did in Ackerman's story it was confusing to me how she wrote her sentences.
Another thing that amused me about Danticat's story was when he stated that he was too into watching his favorite show that he did not notice the boys screaming or the smell of fire, because I to get hooked onto watching my shows or movies that I space my self out and totally ignore everything else. I also like how the way that the author connected his favorite show to this traumatic experience, and how he shared the death's of other people that existed around his apartment, that they seemed like another episode of general hospital.
Overall I thought that his short creative nonfiction essay was an interesting story, Danticat did a great job. The only thing that threw me off in his short story was that after his life changing experience in the fire on the apartment incident, he started talking about other people that died years later after the event, but maybe he was just trying to compare his true story to "General Hospital." What Danticat showed best in his story, was that his story did show the cruelties of this world, and the reality of child negligence.
Nydia Preciado
ReplyDeleteWestbury Court by Edwidge Danticat
When I started reading the first two sentences of this story I never pictured it to be the way it was, it was until the last sentence of the first paragraph that got me hooked to keep reading on. Danticat uses great description and imagery, he is trying to make sure the reader captures every detail. One sentence I really liked was “The apartment across the hall stayed empty for a long time, and whenever I walked past it, a piece of his inner skeleton would speak…” I could really picture the burnt wood inside the apartment one or two pieces falling. This story also really grabbed my attention because one of my biggest fears is being in or killed by a fire. The way he describe the two boys’ dead bodies being carried out from the apartment building was descriptive and it made me start thinking of the boys being burned in the fire. This story gave me chills and in a way I felt like he was sort of blaming himself for the children’s death or for the fire in general. In general, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story.
We often find ourselves describing smells but not really giving any thought to what we experience when we smell something. Diane Ackerman does a great job of describing and almost indescribable sense through the use of imagery. When Ackerman writes, “It’s almost impossible to describe how something smells to someone who hasn’t smelled it” I felt that it was something I always thought of but never put into words. She goes on to list things that we would never be able to describe to people unless they themselves have smelled that same scent. I also enjoyed the way Ackerman uses the metaphor of a “tripwire” to describe how it feels to smell something that instantly reminds you of a memory. This is a perfect way to describe the way it feels to be instantly reminded of your mother when someone is wearing her perfume or your friend when you smell their shampoo.
ReplyDeleteLastly at the end of the story she begins to compare this unique sense we have to our other senses. “We taste only when we put things into our mouths, touch only when we make contact….But we smell always and with every breath.” She goes on to describe how our bodies naturally “brew” every smell that we come across and alter it in some way. This in my opinion was the most beautiful part of Ackerman’s story because she took something I take for granted, our sense of smell, and she made me realize that my ability to smell will always be a unique experience that only I can understand.