Michael Paterniti- In Class Lab

"The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy"

"Snap Nonfiction"

"175 Things a Man Should Do Before He Dies: Get Married"

All three pieces are from www.esquire.com

When I read Paterniti's first piece for the lab, "The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy," I immediately got a sense of his scene development. He uses extremely heavy descriptions which really takes the reader to the exact moment the story began (even before it became a story). Even though he was present for the crash and there were no survivors, his descriptions move you to that time and forces the reader to imagine the moments just before the plane went down. Paterniti writes, "All of these people, it was as if they were all turning to gold, all marked with an invisible X on their foreheads, as of course we are, too, the place and time yet to be determined. Yes, we are burning down; time is disintegrating. There were 229 people who owned cars and houses, slept in beds, had bought clothes and gifts for this trip, some with price tags still on them -- and then they were gone." As I read this section, the people on the plane instantly became real to me. I could see them preparing for their trip and sitting on the plane unknowingly experiencing their last moments alive. This piece had a very somber and surreal voice. It was very emotional to read the piece.

This also contributes a great deal to the way he develops his characters. Throughout the entire piece we don't know these people by name. We know none of the passengers by name, but we do get short snapshots of the medical examiner and the man who lost his daughter. Finally at the end of the piece, he tells us the names of these two men. I've heard throughout many situations that it is always easier for people to relate if "you can put a name to a face," but the fact he withheld that information did not hinder my experience reading. I still felt emotional connections to the characters, and I think a lack of a name enhanced that. The second piece I read, "175 Things A Man Should Do Before He Dies: Get Married," included more of Paterniti's character development. It is a short piece, but his descriptions make him and his wife real characters to readers. Paterniti lets us in on a revealing moment: "Sara's mother died in a scuba-diving accident, and on one of the murky nights just after, lying sleeplessly in Sara's childhood bed, in her childhood home, when everything in the world seemed broken, she turned to me and said, "We should have gotten married." And I said, "Yeah," but there was nothing more to say. Without her mother, it seemed unthinkable now." He uses the word "murky" to describe a night after Sara's mother's accident, and he definitely chose that word to relate the two events. Small effects Paterniti utilizes in his writing, like that, build the characters which are the basis of his stories. I think he plays with his characters a lot in his writing, and I like the way he molds them into the story.

His story about his marriage was a nice change in voice and tone compared to the plane crash piece and his final piece I read "Snap Fiction." Paterniti's snap fiction piece is a short, detailed account of the tragic shooting at Columbine High School. I have read a few articles about the shooting and none compare on the level of emotion and description that Paterniti includes. In his piece about the plane crash there is a very somber tone, almost surreal. The same is evident in the Columbine piece. That surreal feeling like while reading you're left in a cloud thinking "How could this have happened?" He also plays with his characters in this piece including the names of a few and what happened to them, including the detail that each is "a real boy." He also includes descriptions that are totally haunting. For example, he writes, "Inside that building, everything was exactly as it had been: computers and lights still on, lunches half eaten, books turned to the last page read, the college application of a girl who was shot, its final check mark made, the pencil lying next to it. That's what's most hard to imagine: how, in midsentence, in the throes of some idea, in the beginning of some meaningful life, that girl was entered by some dark, crippled thing and became a memory." We don't know what this girl's name is, but we do know she was shot and we feel a helpless feeling Paterniti captures through this piece. He captures this tragedy without writing a million word piece, without including all the victim's names, and it's still conveys the enormity of this tragic event.

Writing For Power

1. Kopchak lived here his whole life. The road his and Thompson's properties shared was named Kopchak road after his great-uncle. He taught seventh-grade science before he retired four years ago, but he didn't know much about lions. He heard lions would give chase if you challenged them; it would be unwise to make eye contact or run away. Kopchak decided to walk Red briskly toward the barn looking back only once. The lion stayed put, still on the opposite side of the fence, though at any moment he could jump over to the other side.

2. That was all they could learn for now; they were urgently redeployed to the southern end of the property where cats were readying to cross the fence. After the first shot, an African lion ran between dozens of junk cars, RVs, and tractors, rusted out and overgrown with weeds, parked on the property. They used the truck to see the escapees spread over the hillside, firing on them from seventy to a hundred yards away until they went down. Kanavel strategized to shoot for the head, then move to the body. "I was sick, shooting these animals, because they didn't ask to be there," he says. "And, you know, I'm a cat person."

3. The 911 operator asked for her name.

"Dolores," Mrs. Kopchak answered.

Trapped in the barn, her son watched the menagerie grow from a north-facing window.

Characterizations of a Hero

I am having great difficulty uncovering Velasco’s character and seeing past his experience labeled “heroic”. Because the story is written from his point of view I can only judge his character by his experience as he remembers it; this is difficult because there are times I question the author’s narrative involvement and the accuracy of Velasco’s memory. I think that his character can be uncovered throughout his approach to the experience he survived. How did he employ mind over matter because he knew he needed to survive? On the other hand, how did he succumb to the elements that faced him?

Velasco survives a traumatic ordeal. Throughout his ten days on the raft, readers delve into his quest for survival and the strain his mind endures to live. First, I began to realize Velasco’s hallucinations without him acknowledging that he was imaging seeing people and possibly the planes in the sky. Velasco describes his visits from a shipmate, Jaime, noting that he visits frequently and he points Velasco toward Cartagena. He says, “…I knew I was fully awake, completely lucid, and I could hear the whistling of the wind and the sounds of the sea. I felt hungry and thirsty. And I hadn’t the slightest doubt that Jaime Manjarres was with me on the raft” (40). I could start to see the weakness in Velasco; I knew he survived the days at sea from reading the “The Story of this Story,” but I wondered what would come of him if his hallucinations proved injurious. I think these are the moments in the narrative where I questioned the strength of his character. He appeared to decline from his lack of water or food.

On the contrary, he exhibited great physical and mental strength at other moments. When he catches the sea gull, he recalls a moment when an experienced sailor told him not to kill sea gulls. But, that didn’t matter to Velasco at this point in his experience because “hunger was more powerful than anything else” (51). Here, he regains his bearings for a time. He knows he must eat to survive, and he’s hungry. His mind is still sharp as he cunningly catches the gull and overcomes the struggle he feels to take its life. I think that in these moments of tense desperation, he develops humanistic features to his character. Velasco’s sailor experience and human instincts gear into overdrive; he needs to eat and overcome feeling in order to survive.

At the end of the story, Velasco questions his title “hero.” Marquez recounts Velasco saying, “I did nothing heroic. All my effort went toward saving myself. But since salvation came wrapped in a glow and with the title of hero as a prize, like a bonbon with a surprise inside it, I had no choice but to accept my salvation as it came, heroism and all” (101). I do not think that Velasco develops himself as a hero throughout the story, nor does he convey himself as a newfound hero. I assume that this depends on one’s definition of a “hero.” He didn’t save another individual (although he tried), and the ship did not thrust the men overboard in the course of treacherous hurricane. Whatever “heroism” he displays lies within his strength to ensure he survived. Throughout his own account of his character development, he did not portray any notion that he should be praised for his survival.

Esquire Prevails (Carla, Rachel, Elizabeth, Mandy)

After reading over the two articles, our group came to the consensus that Esquire created a better story. First, most of us agreed that Thompson's lack of presence was important to the piece. We wanted a story about what happened after Sam Kophchak's mother called 911. Although it may be important to know about Terry Thompson in order to piece together the "how" and the "why" we didn't think his presence should be crucial in the story.

Chris Jones did a fantastic job building tension and suspense through his descriptions in the Esquire piece. For example, Jones constantly keeps his eye on the time. Jones writes, "It was fifteen or twenty minutes before five o'clock, two hours before dark" and he follows up with the 911 phone call "at precisely five o'clock." He keeps the reader informed about when this fiasco started and what happened hour by hour. This precise consideration of time really builds tension. Readers feel like "what's going to happen next?" The article in GQ felt much more like a documentary, whereas Esquire pulled you in as a good movie would.

In terms of multimedia, Esquire used much better pictures and the trailer was interesting as well. We liked that the pictures focused on the actual people involved rather than pictures of animals that were not housed by Thompson. The trailer made it feel like it was just the beginning of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Tomato, Tomahto; Provenzano, Soprano

Two summers ago, I attended the most awful vacation to Ohio’s little town of Vermilion with my dad, brother and my dad’s overly opinionated girlfriend, Amy. There was only one television in our little lakeside retreat, and I had difficulty prying the remote out of my brother’s fingers. I made it very clear that the only show I wanted to watch in peace and quiet the entire week was Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New Jersey; the newest addition to my favorite reality shows. No matter how real it is (or isn’t), I really don’t care. I get involved for pure entertainment, and I enjoy watching it, so shoot me.

“This show is absolutely disgraceful to Italian-Americans,” Amy squeaked, “these people should be ashamed of themselves." She was sprawled out on the couch reading Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope. I wanted nothing more than to jump up and yell thanks for your opinion, but NO ONE cares right now, because truly, no one did. No one responded, but I should have.

I completely understand anyone, especially Italian-Americans like myself, who believes that shows like The Real Housewives of New Jersey and MTV’s Jersey Shore, portray those of Italian ethnicity in a negative light. Unfortunately, the media creates stereotypes for all types of people. When HBO’s Sopranos aired, it created a media frenzy because it made the “assumption” that all Italian-Americans living in New Jersey (or anywhere for that matter) deal with organized crime. Just because my mother’s maiden name is Provenzano, which rhymes with Soprano, doesn’t mean my family is in the mafia.

Both my mother and father are Italian; my father’s grandparents and my mother’s parents immigrated to America. I was raised to embrace my Italian heritage, and I am extremely proud of my family. I was also raised to distinguish truth from opinion. These shows serve as entertainment outlets, a look into someone else’s ridiculous life to give viewers a laugh or to make them feel better about their current situation. Television viewers need to keep an open mind, and if the show is that bothersome change the channel or contact television executives to express your opinion on why the show should be removed. I know I don’t fit most of the stereotypes shown through these programs. Yes, I can be loud, and I express myself with hand gestures. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I like glitter and animal print anything. On the other hand, my cousin Frankie doesn’t have a blow-out, I don’t go tanning, and no one is referred to as a “guido” in my family. If it is impossible to distinguish characters on a show from “real life” people, then maybe you shouldn’t watch television.

I remember being in middle school, playing outside with the kids from my neighborhood. One kid asked me, “Hey, are you Puerto Rican?”

“Nope,” I said, “I’m Italian.”

“Oh, are you in the mafia?” He assumingly asked me.

“Yes,” I said laughing at this boy so naive to false stereotypes, “and if you aren’t nice to me, my Uncle Vinny is going to cut you off at the knees.” He never bothered me again.

Choo-Choo Beans

White, cylindrical drums sit scattered around the roaster, filled to the brim with tiny green beans. I lunge my entire little arm into a drum swirling the beans around like a coffee stirrer. They’re dusty and rough like sandpaper. I turn around and plop down onto a couch of burlap bags full of un-roasted beans. The fibrous bags feel itchy on my skin. I hate feeling itchy. I stand up and scowl, displeased at the discomfort the bags provide.

Guatemala, Kona, Colombia, I read out loud. Dad! They spelled Columbia wrong!

It’s a different country, Carla.

Oh.

Dad walks over, picks up the drum I was playing in only a few minutes ago, and heads toward the choo-choo train. I know it’s a coffee roaster, but it dwarfs my four foot five frame and bears a striking resemblance to an old train. He turns the roaster on and it lets out the loudest rumble of thunder, spinning the mixer at the bottom and lighting flames inside. Tall, metal vents that jut out of the ceiling shake from the force of the roaster; it is so strong I think it might let out a whistle and move right out of the produce terminal. As Dad climbs the step ladder to the left of the roaster, he hoists the drum over his shoulder pouring the green beans into a copper-colored funnel at the top. I can hear the beans making their way into the warm cylinder in the middle of the roaster spinning around and rising in temperature.

A few minutes later, Dad checks the beans through this convenient knob which you twist and pull out to check the bean’s new color.

They’re ready.

He flips open the flap at the bottom of the roaster. Thousands of beans and billows of smoke fall out of the choo-choo train into a circular vat where they are spun to cooler temperatures. I place my hand into the vat, being careful not to get smacked by the spinning arms. Now, the beans are a deep brown like dark chocolate, and they are smooth and oil seeps out.

Writer Presence in the Digital World

Rebecca Skloot is present in various digital forms discussing her work and making her writing available on the internet. She uses social networking like Facebook and Twitter to update and invite her readers to new works and current events in the writing world. These two social networking sites are extremely effective in capturing an audience. First, Facebook allows inquirers to see Skloot's pictures, write on her fan page's wall, and posts links to other sites (her website, the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, and her Twitter account). In comparison, her Twitter account works in the same way, but I think Twitter allows users to gain a bigger perspective on what is current in the writing field. By simply following Skloot's account and looking at her profile readers can find out who she follows and what interests her at this time in her life. I think both of these social networking tools are extremely effective to reach an audience. They allow readers to feel personally connected to an author they admire and can find up-to-date information about what the author has going on.

I also found a blog of hers called Culture Dish on Scienceblogs.com. It appears to have moved to a different site as stated in the last post on July 8, 2010, but I also think this is a great digital platform she used to interest those in the science world about her book and what in science interests her. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" has a heavy grounding in science and the medical world that would interest avid readers of the science genre and those who are studying medicine. I think by having this type of blog is an excellent way to reach out to that part of her audience.

Rebecca Skloot also appeared on an episode of "The Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert. I watched the video on his website of his interview with her and it provided more of a light-hearted discussion of the book. This is another great way to capture readers from other areas. Maybe a viewer of "The Colbert Report" doesn't read much but was inspired to read this book based upon this episode of the show? Even television interviews and watching those things online can grab the attention of future readers. In this interview clip, she was in good spirits laughing at Colbert's jokes and I think this shows an enthusiastic tone/personality of her digital presence. Even her Twitter and Facebook pages show pictures of her and her interactions with fans and it makes a viewer think "Wow, she's very friendly and very involved with her followers." That is extremely important for a writer in the digital age. Since we rely so heavily on impressions over the internet it's extremely important that it paints a good picture of the author.