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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 250 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
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- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
In Camino Real, I liked how the author expresses about what happens. But I didn’t like how, there’s too much information put on certain things. Yes, it’s good to know what happened in South America, how it’s divided but it made me lose interest on what was going on. I feel like from the middle towards the end the story seems like a drag. I wish there had been less information on that and more on the surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Moore that when it comes to creative nonfiction writing we must write how we would actually write it. Not falsely adding on things to the story to make it more interesting. If we try to add things that, didn’t happen or would never happen then the story will seem fake, not right. Just because it’s simply never ever happened so we wouldn’t know what feelings to add, how the surrounds were, it wouldn’t flow right. If I was to write a story about religion if would be less than half a page long and if I was to “create” a better story it probably wouldn’t even make sense at all. The story is a reflection of who you are.
Stephanie Cisneros
ReplyDeleteAs lengthy as “Camino Real” was, I enjoyed reading it. It's a subject I’d never think to read up on, and the smooth transitions between factual background on the interoceanic road and Monte Reel’s bus ride through the very same route allows me to continue reading without losing interest or sight of the main topic. For someone like myself who thoroughly enjoys road trips, I love reading the descriptions of the outdoor surroundings like the “oceanic fields of sugar cane, soybeans and corn and flat pastureland studded by rust-colored termite mounds and patrolled by herds of wattle-necked Brahman cattle” (Reel). Although it is a different scene printed in my mind, it reminds me of when I leave the valley on road trips and you see nothings but greed fields,crops, and other nature scenes that are left undisturbed from the construction of the man-made road and vehicle traffic. Just the same, I truly appreciate that there are only towns here and there along the highway area, where “more than 85 percent of the state is jungle”; also on a side note, did anyone else think the government public Wi-Fi name “Digital Forest” was something both cute and commendable? Because I sure as heck did! There are different positions being expressed here regarding the continuous effect of the interoceanic route, so I am grateful that Reel is able to explain the various beliefs of the people who live near and experience the route without bringing in his own bias or persuading the reader to see things in a certain perspective.
ReplyDelete-Iggy Perez
Who Am I Today: I liked how honest he was about his doubts on his early writing career. For any aspiring writer those are some refreshing words to hear. One quote that stood out to me was “It is not what happens to us in our lives that makes us writers; It is what we make out of what happens to us”. It is something that can be applicable to our lives not just with our writing. The chapter talks about how we need to not make things up, and that is really a key thing for a personal essay. We are writing about our lives and our experiences and we have to be ourselves to tell those truths about what happened. If we don’t write as ourselves, does the personal essay become fiction? We want to invite the readers into our lives how can we do that as writers if we are not writing as our self.
ReplyDeleteCamino Real: At first it was a really interesting read, I liked the personality at the beginning with the whole ordeal of the delay. What took me a few steps back was all of the extra information about the highway, a paragraph would have been fine bit the information is very excessive and again I skipped over those paragraphs. It made me lose interest.
Jessica Guzman
In “Who Am I Today?” I agree with Moore when he mentions all readers worry that they are dull. I always worry my essays aren’t going to be interesting compared to others. As well as his complaining about having a boring life unlike the other authors he mentions. I’m feeling like that right now having read some of my classmates essays they’ve traveled to more adventurous places compared to me, making my life seem so boring. I enjoyed his examples by showing us a bit and pieces of others works. Like Robin Hemley’s so get where he’s coming from with hating people who smile all the time, no one can be that happy every second of the day if so then you’re either crazy or hiding all the pain you’re going through. In “Camino Real” I liked the description to the story, this gave me a great idea of what was going and what the author was seeing and experiencing. I’m not going to lie I felt myself dragging to read it since it was long, but I did like the story. There was information in the story that I found unnecessary. I don’t think there should be much history about everything maybe a sentence or two but not a paragraph. Yes, it’s good to know because it’s something we have never learned about but at the same time it kind of made me loose interest in the story. Other than that, I enjoyed it and the way it was well written.
ReplyDeleteMonika Gonzalez
I found it very hard to enjoy reading “Camino Real” because there were some aspects that I really enjoyed, but there was just so much information constantly being thrown out that it was hard for my brain to keep up. I enjoyed how every person he introduced had some sense of importance, be it as proof to the rise of tourism, or as proof to the fact that tourism wasn’t working as well as they had hoped. I also enjoyed how he gave us some insight into their political problems, because I know most of the time we’re too wrapped up into our own political problems to care about others’. But aside from those two things, he just gave too much information too quickly, and I got confused a lot trying to sort through all of it.
ReplyDeleteOverall, Moore’s “Who am I Today?” really helps open up a variety of options to aspiring writers, because it really is necessary to adopt a persona when writing, and to have a different persona when writing a different essay. It’s difficult to choose which part of yourself you want to invest into an essay, because there might be a different essay where it could work even better, but it would end up just being the same essay because you used the same persona. I also think it’s really important to not only pick the positive personas, because most people only ever want to appear in a positive light towards others. But, while using a good trait will make you look good in your essay, the negative persona you could have used could have made your essay more interesting.
Ayesha Crutchfield
I will be up front and admit that I am not interested in essays, and with as lengthy as “Camino Real” felt at times, there was a lot of information being given out. I had been a bit overwhelmed by what was thrown about, making the story drag as I made my way farther in. What I can say is that I understand why the information was being given, with the fact that many, like myself, have probably never experienced, nor read about a subject such as that of the essay. I think that there could have been pieces removed pieces, since I was able to skip paragraphs and get what I needed to understand what was going on. For the most part, I guess that I should admit that I did enjoy it at times despite unnecessary filler.
ReplyDeleteIn comparison to Moore’s “Who Am I Today,” both are a reflection of the reader, “Camino Real” expand on the growth of the writer through the experiences of the outdoor surroundings. Moore’s piece go at in depth, not pin pointing a single time, but period in his life as a new writer. It pin points how an aspiring writer should find themselves when writing the work of others, adopting a persona when writing for which one can find what they love and build upon it to be the best they can possibly be. You must be willing to invent yourself, as well be willing to change and adapt as you develop your skills. Moore’s personality shines in this piece.
-Patrick Diehl-
“Who I am Today?” is what bogged my mind when was trying to find who are was as a person and my own personality years ago. I guess today I can answer that neutrally I’m reserved, highly introvert person with a multicolored confetti and balloon filling. It just takes about a good conversation to make me open up and express my true self. But for an essay, I usually take on a serious phase without even forcing myself to do so. For example, my first non-fiction piece was about my complaints and compacted anger towards events in my life, using sarcasm and unnaturally cursing up a storm. The two introduction pages were well written and shows my spiteful emotion, a tumor just throbbing on my hands. Anyway, Moore’s chapter explains the same notion I have with my own life. I find it not so interesting, but to another, one who doesn’t know about moving from place to place, having a fear of losing a military father or mother overseas, and not having a place to permanently call as home would find it unique. It’s just the difficulty of recollecting memories and establishing a whole piece, chapter, or book about it. Basically, where I should start.
ReplyDeleteAs for Camino Real, there wasn’t much sign of what the author thought of his journey through the Interoceanic highway. There was an immense amount of research about the countries agreements and struggles to create a highway and the effects of the people, but less self-expression. To be frank, even though I have read the whole chapter, I felt utterly bored and overloaded with too much facts or information. How were the surroundings like? There has to be distinct types of trees or woods. And what about the villages? Descriptions of the surrounds would be rather nice. It was okay of an essay in length, but I wasn’t in the urge of reading a portion of history article.
Hector Dimas
I read “Camino Real” by Monte Reel, I find it to be a great essay. I like the way the author describes the trip in great detail. Instead describing the places in a way a tours would describe it, Reel describes it from a different perspective. The long trip from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Lima Peru, a journey of more than 3,000 miles made the author write from plains, to roads to people. What made the essay so interesting was the way the author put things in perspective. Stop and think their way of life for these people in South America. For example the campesinos, people with no educational background and how they make a living or the Haitians living in poor conditions at migrant camps. The road conditions were very nasty, as the author puts it, “that allowed the highway to police itself.” It’s a compare and contrast as how many people in the world live so different and sometimes are so much worse off than you.
ReplyDeleteIn “Who Am I Today?” Moore talks about the importance of being true to your essay. That your essay should be an honest representation of who you are. He goes on to mention that we are made of many selves: happy self, sad self, worried self demanding self, optimistic self etc. I feel that writing is a great way to express ourselves. It is the opportunity we get to analyze our own selves and think better in some decisions we have done and will do in life.
-Luis Antonio Rodriguez
This is my response
ReplyDeleteIn "Camino Real" The description of the trip was wonderful. Reel does an amazing job in describing the scenery. But one huge thing that threw it off was that he gave too much unnecessary details that wasn’t needed. I also wanted more of a story to it rather than just describing every little detail he would see. I wanted him to make a connection of some sort with a character. So the story was quite dull in that area for me. Although I enjoyed learning about a place I have never heard of or seen. The highway seemed very interesting and unique.
In Chapter 12 I liked almost everything Moore talks about. I take his advice to heart. A lot of the things he speaks of in the chapter was extremely helpful for myself. I feel like I am not alone, it’s nice to hear about how he has had the same issues that we encounter with our writing as well. Only thing I don’t like is the little pieces of essay he uses.
Lizette Garcia
“Let go of the worry and focus on how good a writer you can become” this sentence from Moore, made me realize that even great writers can have self-doubts. I always loved the idea of one day writing my own book, but I always think, “I doubt I can write a good enough book to get published”. I’ve had several writing ideas, but I usually just start them and never go back to them. Moore lets us see that we can all be great writers, and we should overcome our doubts and just keep jotting down ideas on paper, until one of them strongly clicks. In Mont Reels essay, the chain of events that occurred, seemed to be written more like in a historical sense than in a personal essay. The essay was not bad, it had good aspects, of teaching us the different things in another country. How one event can bring people together and get them under one idea. One thing that caught my attention was when the bus drivers told them that “plans rarely match up with reality”. We can plan all we want, things turn out perfect in our “perfect universe”, but life being the way it is, will throw us curve balls, like a good baseball pitcher. And yes it might take us longer to reach our goals, but the key is persistence and patience.
ReplyDeleteCelica Chavez
"Camino Real" has a lot more to offer than a simple description of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Reel starts his essay with an unexpected turn, his bus breaks down. From an outsiders perspective, an american, this seems quite fixable. It isn't until the passengers understand that it is not an easy fix that the journey really starts to unreel. I find it interesting what Mauro says to Reel when they discover that the bus has broken down, "plans rarely match up with reality, and it’s almost never immediately obvious whether that’s a good or a bad thing.". Reel discovers that the infrastructure and government of these contradicting south american countries are to blame for many disadvantages and unjust acts. Reel added a bit much on the governmental aspects of these countries but I feel as though without it I wouldn't have felt the same about why the great disparity. I disliked how he ended the essay, "from sea to shining sea" that is song for the USA. He compared their oceans to our reality, those are some expectations. Then I suppose he understands this because he notes that the Silas is covering the same road but taking it a different way.
ReplyDeleteIn Moore's "Who am I today?" I find the insights he provides to be of use. He first mentions persona which is something that one can change in an essay quite a bit to demonstrate our emotions. He makes it a point to say that we must be honest with who we are and clear about that, we don't want to seem indecisive. I agree with this because sometimes you read pieces where the author doesn't even believe in themselves. Moore ends the chapter talking about voices, these are the ones that seem to have doubt in us or that don't let us move on. I think that if we put these voices aside we are capable to allowing our true self to translate in our writing.
_Elizabeth Diaz
The way the author vividly paints the setting for the reader is so graceful. I felt like the place was an exotic and tropical paradise. He really gives justice to the sights of South America. There is something very special about these descriptions, and I feel that the interoceanic highway is the ultimate metaphor. I think the highway itself is like a road to discovery. Although the intention was to produce an economic boom by allowing the transportation of goods from far ends, the fact is that the people took it as opportunity. Reel was observant in his journey, and his story-telling skills really grabbed my attention. One thing I disliked was his tangent toward the end felt like he was digressing from the interoceanic highway and its destinations. The talk about car shows threw me off, but I realized its purpose to expose more aspects of the highway. Once he reaches the end of the highway, I understood how he felt like he reached the end of a finish line. The description of the “finish line” as a vast, calm ocean of nothingness was a nice touch. I really enjoyed the reading… most of all, how he captured the beautiful sights and brilliantly put them into words.
ReplyDelete-Damaris Cantu
ReplyDelete"Camino Real" was a great read. I found a lot of similarities in the reading and felt that Reel was true to many things Moore described. Like the last reading, I enjoyed how Reel used a humanistic portrayal of the people that he encountered in his journey. I also enjoyed how made his facts relevant and his descriptions vivid. It was a lengthy essay but I felt that the details of the trip, the miles for example, helped me use the online picture map to see where he was and how it different in areas from others. He did mention things he didn't like but took it with a grain of salt. My favorite thing about his essay was the zingers that he would add to or close some paragraphs with. The Haitians and not stopping their pursuit of hope was the most impactful for me. I liked the balance of narration and the dialogue in the story. There was not too much dialogue and it seems to come at a point where the details were at it's peak. The ways that the choice of dialogue was something that enhanced the places he took me to and also set a tone for the types of the people there. I appreciated that. Moore, feels like an old professor, I keep in touch with, that breaks it down for me when I'm freaking out of a project or don’t grasp a concept. This kind of personal connection he makes with the reader is not one of a formal textbook where if you don’t understand it, then you don't belong taking the course. He really goes out of his way to provide his own insight and writing struggles, they are always relevant and the examples he gives, helps me see the various ways his tips are used by other, and their various styles. It may be confusing for some. But it really helps me comprehend the elements of the chapter that he is explaining.
-Amanda Gonzales
I really enjoy “Camino Real” by Monte Reel, it was super enjoyable to read because I literally felt like I was there. I felt like I could really picture his journey through all of his great descriptions and details. I also really enjoyed how he would start a sentence with the time and how many miles they have gone which was a great way to help put us in the authors shoes and to really feel how long of a journey this was for him. I also really liked “Who Am I Today?” by Dinty Moore, because I felt like what he said was something everyone could relate too. Especially about us doubting ourselves, I feel that doubting yourself is part of being a writer especially a beginning writer. You are always going to wonder if your writing isn’t good enough, but you have to believe in yourself. I also really liked how Moore talked about all how we have many different selves, and how you have to choose one of your different sides to write about, because if you don’t then your writing will get very confusing for the reader when you go back and forth between each different personality you have. This is something that I really struggle with when writing, I will try to incorporate my sad, sassy, angry personalities all together and I think I easily get distracted while writing my papers when I’m trying to use all of my different personalities.
ReplyDeleteJessica Young
“Camino Real” by Reel was a drag to read. Though it was interesting, I think the writer focused too much on the actual information, it felt like hard data, which is honestly, boring; which in turn evidently, took away from the actual story at hand. In a way, I understand what Reel was doing, she’s attempting to tie in a narrative with a bigger issue at hand, in which you actually have too include real numbers and statistical data/information because it adds the realness that is needed to the piece. Something that he did do well though, I must admit where his transitions with the information. It all seemed to flow fluently without any actual like abrupt beginnings or endings. I also really liked how he introduced his characters, and they were three dimensional. Again, though, all the information made this piece really overwhelming for me, and I didn’t enjoy it as much as others probably do.
ReplyDeleteIn Moore’s “Who Am I Today?” he expresses how important it is to be truthful not only to yourself, but to your reader as well. This part had a touch of philosophy to it, at least in my opinion. He touches and talks about how we have many egos, and that it is important to tap into all of those for your writing. It is important to show your emotions in your writing. It’s also about finding your personal voice and tone.
Jesus Garcia