Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Journal 5: Pastiche

   Finally Tess started to feel Disappointment. Disappointment, that hungry beast with the round gaping maw who hid deep down Inside. The unexpected force who lives in each person like a parasite without a host, and without a need for one. Why would Disappointment crave a carrier, when all persons bear him? He hides, invisible, in the small space just behind the ribs. Hides quiet and inconspicuous with his lips drawn back, waiting to devour failed expectations. Bides his time until there is an inundation of hoping or wanting or needing. She was beginning to feel the pull from his inhalation as he sucked the hope from her lungs. She was lost and alone too. Stupid Jay! He should have followed through with his enda the promise. Tess asked Mrs. Clay to look out for him, but she came back with Nothing. Those young lovins' are mighty important to the young, but they meant nothin' to old-timer Mrs. Clay. She'd keep looking out for him just until the waiting girl decided to move on with her life. She wasn't gonna do Tess' dirty work. That was what she said. But she didn't say she wouldn't help, so Tess hoped. And even if she hadn't, the next afternoon would have dashed Tess down again anyway, because no one was waiting on the stone step in front of Jay's house. Mrs. Clay who loved to share information did not make an appearance and did not give Tess any advice. Just peered out the window at Tess and frowned. Understanding, that heavy cloud, began to settle in Tess' empty lungs.

To match Hurston's style, I capitalized the same words she did, such as "Inside" instead of "West" and "Nothing" instead of "No." Hurston does this to make the "West" into a place, and to make "No" into a more powerful statement. I tried to do the same by capitalizing those words.

I also used the repetition of the 'in' sound in multiple words to really emphasize the fact that this Disappointment lives INside and comes from withIN. Instead of using alliteration like she does to create tension or discomfort, I used 'in' to really focus the reader within themselves.

Instead of using nature imagery like Hurston ("what winds can blow," etc.) I used organic imagery. I talked about ribs, lungs, lips, devouring, craving, etc., to once again emphasize the internal setting of this passage.

Hurston uses Rumor to contrast Death, by saying that Rumor is a "wingless bird" but saying that Death has feathered wings. Like this, I tried to contrast Disappointment with Understanding. Disappointment sucks the air (hope) from your lungs, whereas Understanding fills your lungs with a dense/heavy "cloud," or feeling. Both are air-related, but they have contrasting functions.

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