Practice IOC Outline

Intro:

• Moons of Jupiter story
• Situated near the beginning of the story when Janet first talks to her father in his hospital room
• First reveal and development of the relationship between Janet and her father
• The story that incited her success this story unlike those before it aimed to include the complexities of a regular novel in spite of its condensed format
• The stylistic choices in which it was written, tracking back and forth from the future, to the present to the past.

• Munro manipulates time in order to juxtapose stereotypical short story structure and also express human complexity in the way that people typically don’t think linearly while also characterizing the relationship between Janet and her father through implicit communications.

Chunk 1 (1-7):

• First section focuses implicitly on the flourishing of relationship between the main characters
• Can be seen through the writing and beeping of heart monitor expressing life as a bunch of jagged lines (fluctuations like a rollercoaster) and a ticking timebomb (waiting for life to end)
• Perhaps defines life as a few jagged lines as opposed to one flat line
• Physical display of the room shows that her father’s most intimate and vulnerable sides are literally exposed, similar to his exposure of emotions in this tough time
• “I tried to ignore it” shows Janet’s ignorance to the situation and foreshadows the complexities of their relationship in her composure (where perhaps she should’ve showed more care)

Chunk 2 (8-30):

• Munro employs periphrasis at the very beginning of this section, tracing back to the events from the previous day, as starting in the middle of the story she is now beginning to build context for the reader
• Through her intentional way of retelling of previou events, the reader can infer that the narrator has seen her father in a similar state before, in addition to the father and her having a special, not very effusive relationship
• Munro then returns back to the present day to characterize the daughter and the father as being proactive, wanting to hear a selection of alternatives before reaching decisions (In tying with Munro’s style of capturing the essence of human life)
• Adds tension to the plot by stating that without the operation the father would only have 3 months to live, and that to in a bedridden state.
• Develops this theme of emotional intelligence as in spite of his situation Janet is trying to put a positive spin on an otherwise negative situation.

Chunk 3 (31-40):

• From advancing plot, Munro traces back to characterize and build context.
• She uses personal language to allow the reader to feel exactly Janet would be feeling at that time
• She then goes on to describe the relationship between Janet and her father as being not effusive and of too much approval but instead of tacit affection.

Conclusion:

Munro defies the typical conventions of short stories by employing periphrasis from the very onset of the story to build plot and context simultaneously - in a seamless fashion. This is effective in creating a story that is both centered and continually moving forward.

Practice IOC

IOCheck this out

https://soundcloud.com/joshua-toor-457044995/munro-ioc

Butterflies can kiss?

Two posts in a row!!!! It’s an early Christmas folks, or to be politically correct, happy holidays.

Now instead of beating around the bush with the playful banter that preempts the main discussion of these posts, lets jump right into it!

Before that however, today’s WOW word describes the speech of those filled with rage. An intellectual adjective, the word acrimonious is the perfect word for any rage inspired moments. An example of this would be, “The students engaged in an acrimonious debate in regards to whether or not ESS was a legitimate science.”

Now, completely switching gears, it is time to examine the lyrical complexity of emotional music and how it succeeds in bringing the “feels.” The song I have chosen is the angel of a song, Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle. In a song that delves into the evolving relationship between a father and his daughter, starting from the key moments of her childhood years to teenage, young adult and finally marriage. The song succeeds in evoking emotion in the hearts of the listeners through the music and melody, but more importantly through his use of lyrics. Written from a first person perspective, the listener is given the ability to place themselves in the viewpoint of this father, watching his daughter mature from being “Daddy’s little girl,” to a fully grown woman. Going from that place of complete dependency on their “Daddy” to being independent in their own right. Bob creates this conflict of the struggle the father faces in accepting this as he misses the intimacy they once shared. This for me allowed me to feel like what a father may feel with his daughter and is quite the tearjerker.

I recommend you listen to it and cry.

Fostering Intelligence through emotion?

And so comes the beginning of the end. Unfortunately my turn into badassery was disrupted by the fact I am simply not one. So as a result of this, the WOW word of the post will continue.

This word comes courtesy of those who are easily managed and controlled. Tractable, a great sounding 3-syllable word is also a trait most desirable in company workmen.  An example of this would be, “The Company valued tractable demeanors in their employees.”

Moving on to the topic of this post, today’s blog pertains to commencement address written by David Foster Wallace and its relation to the writings of Alice Munro. In his essay Wallace argues the importance of emotional intelligence as being the true hallmark of knowledge as without it our lives are rendered banal and routine. The joy of understanding others allows us to see the world in a new light and no longer through a lens that sees ourselves as being the center of the universe but instead as apart of collective society that is in need of mindfulness. This essay was of great interest to me as it develops the lesser-known idea of emotional intelligence. The idea of empathy, most commonly confused with sympathy, doesn’t refer to sharing in someone’s sadness but instead being able to understand what someone else is feeling and partake in whatever that is with them.

This being said, the question is however, “How does this relate to the writings of Munro?” The connection the two share is actually quite interesting. The writings of Alice Munro seem to capture the essence of human life without having specific intentions or plot lines that are always resolved. Her stories seem to be quite cryptic with deep, underlying messages. This much like David Foster Wallace’s essay drives home the fact that life isn’t a fairytale and doesn’t have an elaborate climax but is instead entirely dependent on the way we react to the circumstances we are placed in. Our freedom is in the way we choose to act. Alice Munro builds on the idea of emotional intelligence through her writings as the reader is exposed to a variety of different emotions displayed through her various characters and is given the opportunity to relate to them. Seeing the way they react towards their situations allows us as readers to imagine ourselves in that position giving us the perspective of others. This encourages mindfulness as the world is no longer seen selfishly but instead a mindful towards those around us, seeking to understand just what those, around us, are experiencing.