Blog #16 Response

Hooks - "Writing Autobiography"

Rhetorical Overview of the Article
1. What is the author's exigence? Why does the author feel the article/argument needs to be made?
I think the author's exigence is that writing an autobiography is much more of a difficult task than it seems. Certain memories, vivid memories, should be described in the reading. Without realizing it, those are the memories that are most important to you as a person.

2. What discourse community is the author speaking toward in the article? Why do you think that? Provide textual evidence.
I think that Hook is directing her article to anyone who is thinking about writing an autobiography. She never specifically gives any hints to who she's talking to (like saying "you" or "we") but she does give a lot of insight to writing an autobiography. She admits, "My inability to write out the story I was interpreted as an indication that I was not ready to let go of the past, that I was not ready to be fully in the present."

3. What is the author's thesis/ niche for this piece? If possibly quote specifically.
The last three sentences of the first paragraph. Start with "By writing the autobiography..." and ends with "This death in writing was to be liberatory."

Summary
1. Write a few sentences that summarize this article in your own words; make sure to cover the main points and conclusion.
In her article, "Writing Autobiography," Bell Hooks discusses the troubles she had with writing her own autobiography. Her whole purpose of writing was to break free of her troublesome childhood (Gloria). She thought it would be a easy thing to do: just write about one's life. She later realizes, "Until I began to write an autobiography, I thought it would be a simple task, this telling of one's story." Also, by the end, she realizes that writing brought her a sense of reunion and release, and that "...[she] did not feel as though [she] had killed the Gloria of [her] childhood. Instead [she] had released her."

2. Take the Summary you just wrote and condense it into something "tweetable."
Memories that make an autobiography don't erase the past, they release it.

3. What hashtags would you use for this article?
#sensorymemories #autobiography

Burkean Parlor/ Intertextuality
1. In what ways does this author and/or the ideas in this article connect with, (dis)agree with, speak to or against previous authors and their ideas we've encountered in this class?
I think this article can be compared to Allen's article about the Inspired Writer. From what I read, it seemed like Hook was trying to be the writer that she is not meant to be, giving every detail and never forgetting a memory. She admits, "And yet year after year, never writing more than I few pages." She never fully became could write until she just sat down and let the ideas flow. Also, her idea that some memories stick out more than others for a reason can be related to Greene's idea of framing, and focusing on specifics and not branching out to unnecessary information.

Assigned Exercises (no questions were posted on blackboard so I did the alternative assignment)

Your Response	Author's Quote/Passage
I know it is a long quote, but I think all three sentences are Hook’s thesis/ niche. They state why she is writing her article, and setting the stage for the discourse community.	“By writing the autobiography…. I wanted not to forget the past but to break its hold. This death in writing was to be liberatory” (177).
I know exactly what Hook is referring to, but I could never put a name with the feeling. Specific smells can take you back to a distant time and place.	“I thought often of the phrase ‘sensory memory,’ for it was those smells that carried me back” (178).
Hook realizes that writing isn't going to erase the past, but it will allow her to finally face it head on.	“It was the act of making it present, bringing it into the open, so to speak, that was liberating” (179).
Hook was able to come to terms with her childhood and no longer hide behind it. Gloria is part of her life and will never be completely gone, but she is no longer trapped inside her like she always has been.	“In the end, I did not feel as though I had killed the Gloria of my childhood. Instead I had released her” (180).
The memories that Hook wrote about were the ones that stood out the most, and she was able to realize those are the memories that are most dear to her heart. They make her who she is today.	“Remembering was part of a cycle of reunion, a joining of fragments, ‘the bits and pieces of my heart’ that the narrative made whole again” (180).

Personal Reflection
1. How can you apply the information in this article to your own writing process? First, consider the main ideas that the author addresses, then consider other elements, such as organization, style, etc.
Right now, I don't think I would ever write an autobiography, but if I were to I think her advice would be extremely helpful. Also, Hook's article was very entertaining to read. It kept me interested and made me think deep into what she was saying. I like how she reflected on her writing and said what she learned from it.

2. What is confusing about the article? What questions do you have after reading the article?
Is this actually an article or a passage from a book? It seems like it could have been the last chapter of her actual autobiography.