'Onward' by R. Dean
Coming Up...
Where in the World...?
What I'm Reading
What I've Read
What I Plan to Read
Non-Fiction Reading Reflection
January 7th, 2010 by Humanities 8 Journey
Before semester vacation, we all had a chance to get our hands on some non-fiction reading, maybe a biography, autobiography, memoir, history, science, philosophy, how-to/self-help, or some other factual book. The trick was to find a book that seemed interesting as well as challenging.
Now’s your chance to share your non-fiction reading. Create a post at your blog about non-fiction reading that you began during or after second quarter and which you have now finished. You blog post is due Monday, January 18.
Here are some points for you to bring out in your blog post:
* What kind of experience have you had with non-fiction reading?
* How did you choose this particular non-fiction book?
* What did you already know and/or assume about the topic covered in the book?
* What did you already know about the author?
* What’s the first sentence in the main part of the book (i.e., not the introduction or prologue sections if the book
has one)? What did this first sentence tell you about the attitude of the author and how the information in the
book might be presented?
* How did the author try to make the information interesting? (e.g., How effective was the author’s writing style?)
* What were 2 or more interesting things that you learned about the topic inthe book?
* Without giving away too many details, did the book end in the way that you were expecting?
* What kind of readers would you recommend this book to?
* You can also make reference to other non-fiction reading that you finished.
* Include one or more image (e.g., book cover), and if you can find one, a related video (with an introductory caption for the video).
Here’s an example of a reflection on non-fiction reading:
I usually reserve my non-fiction reading to on-line newspapers and other websites and blogs about politics, sports, science, technology and pop culture. However, like a lot of readers, over the last few years, I have found myself reading memoirs, in addition to the fiction books that I usually read.
A couple of memoirs that I read during semester vacation included What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami and Driving Mr. Albert by Michael Paterniti.
Haruki Murakami is one of my favorite fiction writers of surreal mystery stories, so it was interesting to read his down-to-earth thoughts about his other passion – marathon running and how it relates to writing and life.
You could call Michael Paterniti’s book a travelogue memoir, but I would call it one of the strangest – and fascinating - stories I’ve read, just as the subtitle on the book cover indicates!: ‘A Trip Across America With Einstein’s Brain’
The non-fiction book that is the focus of this post is one that captures so many elements of writing and contemplation - The Autobiography of Mark Twain.
Mark Twain has always been one of my favorite authors of all time, although I may have reconnected with him at the beginning of this school year when a number of students chose to analyze a quote about writing which just happened to be from Mark Twain: “The difference between the right word and the wrong word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
Later in October, while checking the titles of books in our classroom, I came across a copy of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I decided to read it, the first time since Grade 7!
Mark Twain’s autobiography is a 500-page read, but it was so personally written, that it was like drinking in the letters composed by a wise elderly grandfather who was looking back on his life’s journey with both sadness and humor.
The author’s first sentence of his autobiography is: “I was born the 30th of November, 1835, in the almost invisible village of Florida, Monroe County, Missouri.” I’m not sure why Twain italicized the first part of the sentence other than to emphasize the irony of how small-town life would play such an important role in his life. Maybe Twain was previewing his goal of revealing memories that could have faded forever just as Twain died in April of 1910.
To really get the most out of reading this autobiography, it would be essential to have already read at least one of Twain’s books such as the stories of Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer. The fun aspect of reading the autobiography is that Twain reveals the real-life people that he based his fictitious characters on, including Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Becky, Aunt Polly and Jim, the runaway slave.
One issue that is clearly revealed about the author is his attitude towards black Americans. Twain lived at a time, before and during the Civil War of the 1860’s and into the 20th century, when most Americans considered blacks to be inferior. Now there are schools in the U.S. that are reluctant to use Twain’s classics about Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer because, in capturing the language of Americans at the time, the author often uses the derogatory word ‘nigger’ in reference to black Americans portrayed in his stories. Those schools should read this autobiography and read about the influence that Twain’s mother had on him and his own opinion as stated on page 39: ‘Slavery was a bald, grotesque and unwarrantable usurpation.”
Reading this autobiography was like reading not only a personal history of American society but also a travel memoir as Twain included his perspectives about his encounters with people in Europe and Asia.
Mark Twain is often associated with his sharp sense of humor, using satire to poke fun at he failings of humans, especially those in power. You could say that Mark Twain would have felt very much at home with the 21st century American comedian, Jon Stewart.
However, if you read this autobiography, be ready for the sudden swings in Mark Twain’s moods and writing style, for example, going quickly from describing a humorous prank he had played on his brother Henry to recounting a vivid dream he had of Henry laid out in a coffin with a bunch of white roses along with one red rose placed on his chest. Shortly after, Henry in fact died, and when Mark Twain came home for the funeral, there was Henry with the same roses placed on his chest.
As with perhaps many elderly folks near the end of their lifetimes, Mark Twain finishes his ‘journey’ recalling more melancholy in his life, but his humor remained intact when he claimed that he would leave with the comet that he had come into life with back in 1835, and sure enough, he died when Halley’s comet passed by in 1910. In anycase, Mark Twain’s fame as a writer and humorist live on.
One way that Mark Twain remains literally ‘on stage’ is from the dramatic presentations of Twain as portrayed by the actor Hal Holbrook. For the last 50 years, Holbrook has taken on the appearance of Mark Twain and does a theatrical dramatization of the author speaking to a mesmerized audience!
Here’s a video clip of Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain.
Posted in Reading | | |
Leave a reply
At ISB
Blogroll
- Aim
- Alina
- Andrew
- Anne
- Arun
- Awang
- Boon
- Cheryl
- David
- Devon
- Dongwon
- Dr. Everett’s Class Blog
- Esperanza
- Forge
- Hannah
- Howard
- Jack
- Jeff
- Jimmy
- John
- Kai
- Katie
- Kimberly
- Kizi
- Lau
- Marcus
- Margaret
- Matthew
- Max
- Mr. Romary’s Class Blog
- Ms. Jones’s Class Blog
- Ms. Pine-Petthong’s Blog
- Nathan
- Robbie
- Sai
- Sakura
- Sam
- Sanjana
- Sarah
- Shane
- Simon
- Swikriti
- Thita
- Wacharit
- Yasmine