It was a quick half-week, but if there are any takeaways, please share…
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It was a quick half-week, but if there are any takeaways, please share…
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I am very glad that we continued our discussion of “We the Animals.” It is such an interesting book and I felt that I could understand the themes better when I analyzed it more thoroughly. I missed a lot of foreshadowing on the first read, so I liked being able to go back and catch that.
I appreciated how vast our conversation was that we were able to cover so much of “We The Animals” and its many different themes and images despite our reduced discussion time!
I enjoyed how we moved through We The Animals. It felt like we unpacked a lot and were also able to avoid getting stuck on only one concept or chapter after having fully exhausted them. I still greatly appreciated the focus on the endings of the books since so many points we made can be brought back together in the final images of the books.
The word choice reflecting the cyclical nature of the novel, “We The Animals” really astounded me. This prose to me was a reflection back to our poetry unit. The specificity of the word choice was so interesting to me because of how meticulous it is. I never ran out of opinions or comments because of the sheer amount intent and specificity behind the words. The themes and the topics discussed made this a book that will resonate with me for years. I also have been inspired to look at more of Torres’ work.
One takeaway I had this week was how much there was to say about We the Animals. Although the novel is not a time consuming read, there is so much depth presented in the words Torres writes. It feels as though the book can be talked about for as long as we wanted and yet there would still be more to talk about.
My main takeaway from this week is how rich a conversation can be with different perspectives. I am so excited to have our closing discussion about We the Animals, because of how much clarity it have given me (and hopefully others as well)! This book is also such an intriguing book to dissect because of the complexity, which makes each interpretation and opinion valued.
My quick takeaway from this quick week would be that I loved our Tuesday discussion in class particularly because I felt like we pushed against each other’s ideas in a way that created space for multiple interpretations. I think that is imperative when talking about We The Animals as a text because of the inherent complexities of the novel in both form and content. I’m hoping we can make a little time to talk about the ending next Tuesday before we dive into Giovanni’s Room, because I didn’t quite feel like I got closure in my understanding.
This week, I kind of came around to the idea that I have things to bring to a book that the book doesn’t necessarily supply. We The Animals asked me to connect to the book and to bring in context that isn’t included. It’s not that I thought that this was the Wrong Way to read, but I definitely felt some hesitation to add my own experiences to what was being said, especially at the beginning of the book.
I really enjoyed our in-depth discussions on We the Animals, it is a book with so many little pieces that could be talked about for hours. I’ve also begun reading Giovanni’s Room which I’m excited to dig into a little bit more after finishing.
I really enjoyed our discussion of We the Animals this week and last week. It was so fun to dive into a text like that which is so rich that it always feels like there is more to uncover no matter how much you discuss it. Each section of the book had so much depth and so many intricacies, and it was interesting to hear different people’s interpretations of even just one phrase. However, although I’m sad that we have to move on from We the Animals, I’m looking forward to our discussions of Giovanni’s Room!
Something I’ve noticed over the past few weeks is how we keep getting to the end of the class time allotted for a particular piece of literature and realizing that we have more to say. This is a product of the complexities and subtleties of what we have read, always offering more to think about, but also the discussion potential of our class and how we take each other’s ideas and branch off them and bring in new unique interpretations in a way that is really enjoyable both to participate in and also simply to witness.
This week was brief, but I enjoyed our continued discussion of “We The Animals.” Since it’s a dense text, I appreciated the break over the weekend and I felt like we were able to pick back up where we left off. I also feel like we really focused on the complexities of the novel and how we as readers respond to those difficult moments.
Abigail, I love that you watched (some of) Grizzly Man …and yes, Herzog’s curation and narration (Herzog as a character himself) is the most fascinating part.
We didn’t talk about it in class, but I watched some of “Grizzly Man” and found it fascinating in relation to “We The Animals.” Although the documentary on its surface was about Treadwell and his attempts to be accepted in bear society despite it being extremely dangerous and causing his death (which drew the most direct parallels to Torres’ work), the most significant portion of the documentary to me was the creation of it by Herzog – an artist and filmmaker going through hundreds of hours of work by a fellow creative, and viewing his work through the lens of artistry rather than daredevilry as had been frequently depicted.