Our Time Essay
Alex Leen
9/5/12
English 110, 11:00
Final Draft of paper 1 In the essay “Our Time” by John Edgar Wideman he often takes a break from the narrative to address that he has many problems as a writer. He does this to try to consciously address these problems and hopefully solve these problems. He believes that if these problems are not rectified he would destroy any chance he has at telling a truthful account of his brother’s story. To rectify these problems he employs a variety of unique techniques in his writing. Looking at these techniques it is not always 100% clear how these are fixing his problems. It is also evident that the way he is writing may be going against a lot of things we were taught in school about our writing. The first and arguably most severe of these problems is also the oldest habit of his. This is him “listening to [himself] listen” to Robby. When he says that he listens to himself listen, I think he actually means that he thinks too much when listening. He thinks about things like himself actually listening which end up being very distracting for him. When he is distracted he finds comfort in running away with his brother’s story which prevents a factual account. Obviously this is, in his mind, something that he needs to rectify in order to write the best essay he possibly can. He claims that this habit “would destroy any chance of seeing my brother on his terms; and seeing him in his terms” (672) I believe this is him essentially saying “I need to fix this, now.” His plan to fix this problem is that he must “root out his fiction writing self” (672) by this it seems that he means he needs to ignore his instinct to take off with what the person says and making a fantastical story with it. This leads into another problem that he has and that is that he is distracted to easily. “A stranger’s gait, or eyes, or a piece of clothing can rivet my attention. Then it’s like falling down to the center of the earth.”(672) He is distracted
9/5/12
English 110, 11:00
Final Draft of paper 1 In the essay “Our Time” by John Edgar Wideman he often takes a break from the narrative to address that he has many problems as a writer. He does this to try to consciously address these problems and hopefully solve these problems. He believes that if these problems are not rectified he would destroy any chance he has at telling a truthful account of his brother’s story. To rectify these problems he employs a variety of unique techniques in his writing. Looking at these techniques it is not always 100% clear how these are fixing his problems. It is also evident that the way he is writing may be going against a lot of things we were taught in school about our writing. The first and arguably most severe of these problems is also the oldest habit of his. This is him “listening to [himself] listen” to Robby. When he says that he listens to himself listen, I think he actually means that he thinks too much when listening. He thinks about things like himself actually listening which end up being very distracting for him. When he is distracted he finds comfort in running away with his brother’s story which prevents a factual account. Obviously this is, in his mind, something that he needs to rectify in order to write the best essay he possibly can. He claims that this habit “would destroy any chance of seeing my brother on his terms; and seeing him in his terms” (672) I believe this is him essentially saying “I need to fix this, now.” His plan to fix this problem is that he must “root out his fiction writing self” (672) by this it seems that he means he needs to ignore his instinct to take off with what the person says and making a fantastical story with it. This leads into another problem that he has and that is that he is distracted to easily. “A stranger’s gait, or eyes, or a piece of clothing can rivet my attention. Then it’s like falling down to the center of the earth.”(672) He is distracted