Discuss the importance of Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt, the notion of the double voice, and the borderline between memoir, autobiography, and fiction in Fathering Words. Finally, choose one allusion and explain the intertextuality between Miller’s textual personal mythology and the literary allusions. (Post one comment using MLA format- no less than 300 words.)
37 comments:
This great and important memoir discusses the dilemmas and triumphs of the black American writer. It shows Mr. Miller with loneliness whereas he lost his father and brother, while also showing his desire and love. He shared this story with great passion and courage from deep within his soul. The notion of the double voice was very interesting to me. It showed me the way that his sister looked at the story and how she feels, while I also captivated Mr. Miller’s perspective and together I was able to understand the story fully. The notion of the double voice provided me with a trait of voice. It conveys their powerful views and the different things they experienced, it really brings the story to life. Now, Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt was crucial in the foundation of the story because he believed how one lives as a "single individual", giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking, and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment. This was something that shaped Mr. Miller as an individual and it processed him to commit himself and start becoming a writer and pull through. I believethat without the aid of this man’s words, this book would not have been written. The allusion that I chose, mentioned Doctorow’s Billy Bathgate and it explains how juggling got Billy to where he is now. This shaped the story, because it was what drove Ethelbert to create this story, and show the way he felt and how he brcame a writer. At first, he believed a poem would be good enough for this story, but later on he realized he needed to father more words in it; therefore, he created a book. The borderline between autobiography and fiction was very vivid within the story, and there were a few cases where some stuff obviously was made up to make the story more interesting. The borderline between memoir and autobiography was also shown where more than a few moments were portrayed all over the book.
Fathering words, memoir by the poet E. Ethelbert Miller, Miller looks over his past with his sister’s and his own voice. I believe Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt was very important because he is conveying that the best way to fully understand and regard your life is to look back on what had already happened but to keep moving forward. This excerpt applies fully in Fathering Words because E. Ethelbert Miller is a grownup and he is looking back on his childhood from when his father and brother died and how he moved on from that. The notion of double voice in the book was very significant. With the double voice, Miller portrayed to different sides, opinions, and experiences, within the same stories. This book was the borderline between memoir, autobiography, and fiction. The book was a memoir because it was written especially towards his father and brother. This was also an autobiography because Miller was writing this about himself and how he experienced certain things in his childhood. The book was a fiction story, however, because of course Miller could not remember word for word everything that happened and also, he wrote his sister’s voice in what he believes she would have said or thought. Allusion is defined as a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical, that the author assumes the reader will recognize. One example of allusion in Fathering Words is when Miller refers to the woman poet, June Jordan, at the Random House affair as “Athena”. Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom, and Miller wrote that June Jordan, as Athena, “would appear again to help me on my journey, to give me the wisdom I would need to understand what it meant to be a writer.” So, Miller is saying that he hoped June Jordan would be his “Athena”, and that she would give him the inspiration he needed to become the best writer he could be. He mentions that Athena disguised herself as she always does, in the body of June Jordan. This is a reference to historical mythology to Ancient Greek gods and goddesses.
E. Ethelbert Miller’s Fathering Words is about a man telling the story of his life, both the good and bad, with the aid of his sister. Soran Kierkegaard’s quote, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards,” makes complete sense if you think about it. I interpret it as stating that life goes on; time always moving forward in a ceaseless march. However, we can always look back on our past and try to understand why things happened the way they did. I think that is what E. Ethelbert Miller is trying to do. Even though he wrote this book, he is still trying to figure some things out that occurred in his past. His sister contributing her memories helps the reader get a clearer picture of what his life was like. When Mr. Miller wrote this book, he blurred the lines separating memoir, autobiography, and fiction. I am not sure if he meant for his story to be an autobiography or a memoir, but it seems to me that while the structure of his story are that of an autobiography, he colored in all the empty spaces with what you would find in a memoir. Fiction plays a small role in his story, since it is supposed to be about his life, but memory is not always dependable. Some things that Mr. Miller bore witness to or perceived from his surroundings may have been altered in his mind. Thus, the actual event could have been described incorrectly, making it untrue. For example, when Mr. Miller describes his relationship with his father, it could be that perhaps he looks on the situation one-sided and does not think of why his father acts the way he does. This may be the reason why he referred to Langston Hughes in his memoir/autobiography. Not only was Langston Hughes a poet like Mr. Miller, He also had a distant relationship with his father as a young man. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book very much, not just because it was interesting. Mr. Miller had the courage to write about something that most would not do. That is his life.
Fathering Words by E. Ethelbert Miller is a very unique memoir told in two perspectives, like a song sung by a duet. This memoir could relate to anyone as it did with Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt. Even though the excerpt is short, it seems to summarize the purpose of what Miller was doing in his story. For Miller to understand his life, he had to look back into his past, but write about it in the present. Kierkegaard’s short quote is very important since it hits all the right notes in relation to the story and may have influenced Miller to write the book. At first, I was a little confused by the change in voice, not knowing exactly what time or place the character was in; but after a while of reading, I understood that two different voices where going to tell the same story. In addition, this book lies on the borderline of a memoir, autobiography, and fiction. Miller writes about his past and the memory of his life as a child, but also about himself, and how he has grown into an author. On the other hand, it is also fiction because he wrote in another point of view; his sister’s which is not accurate since he does not know what she may have been thinking. Incidentally, there was one allusion in the text in which I felt a great sorrow, and pain being described. When Miller’s father told him he could leave his mother, he made a strong allusion to “the Middle Passage, the Holocaust, the plantation, the concentration camps, the bombing of cities, and whatever was left”. This showed how Miller thought of pain, and to explain it he referred to more disastrous events. Overall, I thought this book was excellent, with detail, imagery, sense, and great wording.
In my opinion, Soren Kierkegaard’s quote in the beginning of the book has a great importance in Fathering Words. In this thrilling, heartfelt novel, E. Ethelbert Miller faces the tragedies of his father and brother’s death. He then expresses himself by reflecting on the one day when his father told him that he was thinking about leaving his mother, and how these very words impacted his life. Besides discussing his life, Miller ventures into the world of an African American writer, himself, and what comes with his career choice. Kierkegaard’s excerpt was important to the story because it describes that in order for not only Miller, but anyone to understand their life, one must remember what your history and pass was in order to move forward. Having a double voice was very vital to the story. This allowed Miller to have multiple opinions and different sides of an experience in the same story. This book was the borderline between memoir, autobiography, and fiction for many reasons. It is a memoir because it was written specifically towards his father and brother. It is fiction because one cannot remember everything from their life, so he may have added certain aspects of the story. In addition, he had a double voice, which was his sister, and created the words that came out of her mouth, which may not have necessarily her words. One example of an allusion, which is referring to something that is historical, literary, or mythological, is when Miller describing why he became a writer. He refers to becoming a writer, by stating a line from Langston Hughes’ poem The Big Sea, which is “to walk out into the world and perhaps cross a street or a sea wide as memory.” This is related to Miller’s story because he is saying that he became a writer to let the world hear what he has to say about life, which was something his mother could not do, and because as a Black man, his father did not have a voice. Overall, there were tons of historical, literal, and mythological references in Fathering Words.
In the beginning of the book Soren Kierkegaard states, “life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” By saying this he means people look back at events in their lives and only then realize the importance of them or their meaning. However, life cannot be spent dwelling on the past and wishing things had been done differently. One must keep moving on in their lives and accomplishing new things; just as E.Ethelbert Miller did. One of the voices in this book was that of Ethelbert Miller, the second belonged to his sister. This notion of double voice gives me more than one perspective on events in the book. It also shows how other people might have seen the author as a pose to the way he saw himself. The novel documents Miller’s life, but it is done in a way where he is recalling events as memories. As he remembers, he adds fond memories and uses allusions. When he talks about people he remembers his relationship with them and how he saw them at that certain moment. While the book is still an autobiography, it is also a memoir. However, at the same time is almost impossible to remember things that happened 20 years ago in such great detail, so there was some fiction on the part of Miller. An allusion Miller makes in the book is when he says “Denise made me tougher. Like Bundini coaching Ali, she made me stand up and speak out more.” Here he is comparing his wife to the one of the trainers of boxer Muhammad Ali, Bundini, and showing that his wife was his trainer, as Budini was Ali’s. It is noble how Miller writes about all the people who helped him become an accomplished author and shows just how important inspiration is when one is a writer.
The importance of Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt in Fathering Words is to give a different perspective on the events that are told in the book. Not only does it give a woman’s perspective, but it also shows the connection between Miller and his sister. In her last excerpt she mentioned how she never had children to visit and share with her brothers, which in turn, created a large space between them and herself. Although there was space between them, the excerpts still show that there is a deep connection between a brother and sister, one that can never be torn apart entirely. The doubling voice shows how important the topic is and how the author has grown in his memoir or autobiography, Fathering Words. As the book goes on, the excerpts show how much of a father and strong individual Miller has become. In the book, it can easily become an autobiography, which tells Miller’s life from the past to present tense in the story. It can be fictions because every story has a bended truth; also the way the book is written, to seem as though it is just written in the first person narrative to illustrate a person’s life and some events that have never occurred, make it seem like a fiction novel. However, the actual journey the author has made during his life deserves to be remembered which makes it like a memoir or an autobiography. One allusion in the book that caught my attention was, “Any writer of importance would make the hajj over to his home in northeast Washington.” This allusion is interesting because a hajj is a trip that is taken by devout Muslims to Mecca, a place of holy importance. Some Muslims make a hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca to show religious fervor for Allah and the religion. In this allusion, he refers to Sterling Brown’s house to Mecca and the writers to devout Muslims. If they are important and they value their writing, then they will make the journey to the holy place, A.K.A. Brown’s house. This allusion shows just how important and eminent Sterling Brown is to the writer community.
Fathering Words, by E. Ethelbert Miller, is a memoir about the author’s life, and how different people shaped his career and who he was. Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt at the beginning of this book is important because it helps explain why E. Ethelbert Miller decided to write this memoir. The quote is “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” Writing down your experiences in a book is like “going backwards,” so it can help you understand the things that have happened in your life. However, you cannot live only by looking at what has already happened; you must also keep living your life in the moment. The double voice in this book is very effective because it shows two different points of view, E. Ethelbert Miller’s and his sister Marie’s. This added to the story because it explained what the two siblings thought about each other, their parents, and their brother. This book is a combination of a memoir, autobiography, and fiction. It is an autobiography because the author was writing about his own life, but in some ways it is more like a memoir because it is about how he developed as a writer, not about everything that happened in his life. It also contains fictional elements because the author might not have remembered exactly what happened, so he had to make it up a little, or he might have changed the dialogue to make it shorter and easier for the reader to understand. One allusion in this book is when the author’s baby is being born, and he writes, “This is creation, like Miles putting his horn to his lips, Romare adding to a collage, Langston finding words for his dream.” This refers to Miles Davis, Romare Bearden, and Langston Hughes. The intertextuality between Miller’s personal mythology and the literary allusion is that these people were African-Americans who expressed themselves in different ways but all developed their identity as black Americans, which was what Miller was trying to do in this book.
Fathering Words, by E. Ethelbert Miller is an inspiring book that tells the story of the hardships and accomplishments of the life of the African American writer Eugene Ethelbert Miller. It is an encouragement to all people to pursue their dreams and desires and let no one get in the way of it. In the beginning of the book, their is a passage written by Soren Kierkegaard. To me this passage means that the only way to understand your life and who you are is to view from end to the beginning. This way you can analyze what caused you to be who you are and to identify your mistakes and learn from them. This brilliant book is written from two perspectives from Eugene Miller himself and his sister Marie Miller. These two perspectives were very interesting to me because it brought out the feelings, opinions, and ideas of both characters this allowed readers to get more in depth of the events that occurred in the book. This book is filled with memories from Mr.Miller’s past that explain the struggle of becoming an African writer in the Washington area and trying to support his family with his fathering words, which makes this book a memoir. Not only, it is memoir but also an autobiography that tells the life and time of Mr. Miller from the coming of life to giving life to his two children. Fathering Words is also a fiction story because it does not got in detail of his life and states opinions and feelings of his sister that he believes she said or thought. To sum this all up, this book is the borderline between memoir, autobiography, and fiction. This book is filled with allusions that Eugene uses to compare this life too. One example of an allusion that he uses is comparing a famous writer June Jordan to the Greek mythology goddess Athena. He believes that she could give him wisdom and the courage to become a famous African American writer and to understand what is meant to be writer. I guess the power of Athena worked because Mr. Miller had the ability to fulfill his dreams by becoming a successful African American writer and is spreading his fathering words throughout the world.
Fathering Words by E. Ethelbert Miller was an inspirational page turner. The quote “life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards,” made me want to keep reading. This quote in other words means that you can look back on life and understand why things happened in, whether your past is good or bad, although you may not have understood it while you were going through it. This quote is especially relevant in Miller’s life because he is an adult male looking back on his life and remembering the death of his father and brother which has to be an unbearable pain. One thing that held my interest in this book is the dual perspective. It was especially enjoyable to hear the story first hand from the guy who lived it and by his sister who lived with him. This story is like a biography and an autobiography combined because of these two perspectives. This double perspective changes the story’s feel because it give the reader an inside look on how someone, other than Miller Feels about his life. Sometimes getting another point of view make the story much more engaging. A wonderful example of allusion is when he refers to June Jordan, the poet, as Athena. She, Athena, is the Greek goddess of wisdom. Miller says Athena “would appear again to help me on my journey, to give me the wisdom I would need to understand what it meant to be a writer.” He wanted the Greek goddess of wisdom to shed light on him what being a writer really meant because she would have all the wisdom that he needed. June Jordan had more knowledge about writing so, to Miller, June was like Athena. There was definitely a borderline between memoir and autobiography because there were instances that Miller enhanced or embellished the story to make it more appealing to the reader; however, it was not enhanced to the point where the story became fiction. Fathering Words is a great story and I would recommend it to anyone.
In E. Ethelbert Miller’s memoir, Fathering Words, a quote by Soren Kierkegaard begins the story. Kierkegaard exclaims, “life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” I believe this quote encompasses the main idea of the memoir: you cannot change the past, but you can control the future. As Miller wrote this book looking back on his life, he articulately described his experiences and the journey he took to where he is today. Miller’s memoir discusses his life both good and bad and his accomplishments and sorrows. His story is moving and eloquently written. The dual perspective allows for contradicting ideas and a depth, which would not be present with one narrator. Miller used his perspective and that of his sister. It was interesting for me to read about his sister Marie’s thoughts in contrast to his own. Although they were in the same situation, they each had a unique voice on the events happening in their family. Whether Fathering Words is a memoir, autobiography, or fiction is unclear. In my opinion it has elements of all three. A memoir is defined as a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them based on personal observation. Therefore, Fathering Words covers Millers life and describes intimate details. It is also an autobiography because it was written by Miller and about himself and his own life. Yet, it also fiction because it is only Miller’s ideas of what his sister thought so he had to infer and make some of her thoughts up. Also, at times he might not have been able to remember the words in the dialogues verbatim so he had to make some of them up based on what he did remember. An allusion is defined as a reference to a place, event, literary work, or person that the author expects the reader to make a connection to. An example of an allusion is when Miller writes, “Is this what Frederick Douglas realized? The discovery of reading and writing can be linked to freedom.” This statement is an allusion because the reader would have to have prior knowledge of whom Frederick Douglas was in order to understand the statement. Fredrick Douglas was a advocate for equality and once slave, who is known for his powerful pieces of writing which depicted his first hand experiences of being an escaped slave. Therefore, Miller means that his story is a story of freedom just as Fredrick Douglas wrote stories of freedom. E. Ethelbert Miller detailed account of his life makes for an inspirational and motivating read.
Soren Kierkegaard's quote, "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards," at the beginning of the book shows not only intellect, but emotion. It is very important to the message of the story because it gives the foundation to what the book will be about. E. Ethelbert Miller was faced with the hardship of losing his brother and father. To me, this represents the first half of Kierkegaard's quote. What I mean by that is, when Miller's brother and father died, he looked back on the memories he had with them. He also moved on from those memories, which represents the second part of the quote. Miller's use of two perspectives in the book gives me, the reader, different ways to view the story. One from his point of view, and the other from his sister's. It helped me fully understand how the two of them felt at the loss of their family members. This book is written as an autobiography, a memoir, and somewhat fiction. It is an autobiography because it is obviously told from his point of view (as well as his sister's) and it speaks about his experiences. I say this book is fiction because it is told from another person's perspective. While it is written in great detail, it is impossible to know exactly what another person was thinking many years ago. An allusion used in the book is when Miller is speaking about why he is writing a memoir about himself. In the text it says, "Why am I trying to recall what I was doing ten, twenty, and thirty years ago? Didn't Miles Davis refuse to look backward?" This ties back into Kierkegaard's quote, he speaks about looking back and analyzing the past in order to move forward. I think he makes a reference to Miles Davis, an African American trumpeter, because Miller might have held him in high respect, seeing Miles Davis as an inspiration to write this moving novel. All in all, this book has left me looking at the world from a new perspective, one tells me the it is okay to visit the past, but I should look forward.
Fathering Words is an extraordinary book about a child's life going from sad events, to a better person, and, with the help of his sister, creates a brilliant novel. The double perspective gives both the feeling of more than one view of the subject, and getting into the "blind side" or the female perspective of the situation. The text, by its self, is a very strange one. The book ,being as short as it is giving the whole story a much bigger life, than it actually is. It can be considered more of a memoir, than an autobiography, since it is more of piece of his life. Fiction is something else in my perspective. To me it could have been something made up inside of his mind or an actual experience he actually had, however it may be it is his way of perceptions and that is how he is shaped as person and puts his classification of a human being. An allusion in the book would be on page 48, the very first sentences. He relates to ebony magazine as to himself thinking of how he is changing as well, and then trailing off into the imaginary "essence" of his mind. As being depicted in the story, he is able to trail off of the work he is doing, but being able to come back and make sense out of madness. Even though he is able to make plenty of references to many other things, making rich of allusions, it is amazing to put it all into one book. All in all it is a great book, even with its short length, and is good way to find sanity in two peoples mind over a single event. This book is truly entertaining, and a masterpiece in the form of the written word.
In E. Ethelbert Miller’s Fathering Words, the use of a double voice is quite fascinating. Miller uses his sister, Marie Miller, as the second voice in the story. Having a second voice and point of view allows a reader to completely see the detail and drama of the Miller family. Another curious aspect of Miller’s memoir is the interwoven bits of fiction with the true story. Miller does an excellent job of putting a fictional spin in just the right places to keep a reader entertained, but he still retains all of the important facts and dates that are pertinent to the story. In the beginning of the book, before the actual story starts, there is a quote from Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” This quote sums up the entire memoir. The meaning of the quote holds very true to what E. Ethelbert Miller says in his story. Miller’s memoir is all about delving into his and his sister’s past. They are reflecting about what happened and why those events occurred. This “going backwards in order to understand” allows Miller to find reason for all the events, yet, Kierkegaard reminds the Miller, as well as the reader that one must also live in the present because there is no rewind button. Soren Kierkegaard is basically saying that, even if you have to look back in order to understand, ultimately you must seize the day and live for the present and the future. One allusion that can be found within Miller’s memoir is when he associates reading poetry to playing baseball. Miller mentions Jackie Robinson, and compares himself to the famous baseball player. “I dug in behind the podium like a young Jackie Robinson. –The evening was young and I was young. I stepped off base after the first poem and thought about stealing second and perhaps making writing my career”. This allusion shows just how important poetry and writing is to Miller. His whole life has been based on his work as a poet and author. This story, while it contains many memories of depression and loss, shows the true light and creativity behind the ingenious eyes of one very brilliant writer.
Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt in the beginning of Fathering Words, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards,” is important because it helps Mr. Miller write his memoir. He means that life is confusing and to understand it all, you need to look back at the past to understand the things you have done. But you can’t live in the past, you have to accept it and move on to accomplish bigger and better things; just as Mr. Miller does in the story. The notion of the double voice of his and his sister’s, give two perspectives throughout the book. It also shows the relationship between Miller and his sister. This was effective as I read because it explained what the two thought of their father, their brother, and of each other. The book is definitely a memoir, but can also be portrayed as an autobiography or a fiction story. The borderline between the three was very interesting because it seems like he wanted to compose this book of poems and also because a lot of stuff was made up to make ideas fit in. Miller cannot remember every aspect of his life, so some things were made up, which proved it to be fiction. It is a memoir because it tells events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them. Mr. Miller writes to his brother and father about his memory of his life as a child with events leading up to his time as an author. It is obviously an autobiography because Miller tells about himself. There are many allusions stated in the memoir. An allusion is a reference to something outside the text. One allusion that really stuck out to me was when he said, “Denise made me tougher. Like Bundini coaching Ali, she made me stand up and speak out more.” Right here, he is comparing his wife, Denise; to Bundini, a trainer of boxer Muhammad Ali. Denise was Miller’s trainer as Bundini was Ali’s. By using references made to subjects outside of his text, Miller makes his story more interesting by writing about all the people who helped him become the accomplished writer that he is today.
In this book, Fathering Words, the author, E. Ethelbert Miller, looks deep into himself to deliver a powerful memoir depicting the years of his life; told by himself and by his sister. When I first opened the book, I was introduced to a quote by Soren Kierkegaard: "Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forward." To me, I think this quote is saying that go through life, you will not know what will happen next. Due to this you will make a lot of mistakes and choices that you will regret, and as you look back at those mistakes you can see what you can do next time to ensure that you will have better consequences, making your life easier. I think this quote applies well to the story because this quote is a great motivation for anyone to write a memoir. For Miller, he looked back at his life, such as the death of his brother and father, and took all the lessons he could from these experiences. The notion of a double voice intrigued greatly and kept pulling me back in. This double voice gave me insight on two different perspectives on the same situation, and how the author and his sister's views on situations differed. The double voice was also important because I got to see how the life of the author was seen throughout his family, thus giving me an unbiased view on different aspects of his life. Having a double voice created a memoir and an autobiography with a touch of fiction. This is because Miller writes about his life and also includes stories from his childhood. Also, Miller cannot recount word from word what happened during some of his earlier memories, and he certainly is not a mind reader, meaning that he could not possibly know what his sister was thinking at certain times, unless she told him. The allusion I used was when he was in Iraq and Iran, where he thought about the Langston Hughes's poem, "The Negro Speaks of River." In the poem he talks about how the deepness of his soul is comparable to the great rivers that flow, such as the Nile. This relates to how his soul is deeply intertwined with his writing and his brother; the writing brought him here, and throughout the whole, he could not stop thinking of his brother. This is not the only allusion, as he alludes to many other things in his book, making it accessible for a wide variety of people. But do not take my word for it, go read it!
by E. Ethlbert Miller was an extremely well written piece about an African-Americans life growing up in New York and D.C. The piece not only shows the hard ship the Mr. Miller went through but also the triumph and learning that occurred when he was growing up. Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt reflects exactly how the story was written, a reflective manner about how he is always looking back at his family, where he is from and what he wants to be while all the time moving forward with life and its challenges. The notion of double voice is the use of two different voices in the story to show two different perspectives on the same issue or topic. The use of double voice is evident in Miller’s story because not only does he use his own perspective, but he gains his sisters perspective on all the events in his life to get the idea of what others close to him thought. Even though the story is not split fifty/fifty with his sisters perspective, more like ninety/ten, it still gave me invaluable insight to what the events were really like in his life such as his brother and father dieing and the birth of his child. The story is a mix of memoir, autobiography, and fiction because Miller writes it in memory of his family and what it used to be as well as what his younger years were like. It is an autobiography because miller writes it about himself and it is fiction because Miller can not possibly remember everything that happened when he was so young and so he made some of it up even if it was based on actual events. My favorite allusion form the story was when he talks about Denise making him stronger like Bundini for Ali. Bundini was one of Ali’s trainers and he was famous for writing poems such as “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, you hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see” which is one of the most famous saying about Muhammad Ali. This was an allusion that Miller truly cared for her and was grateful for what she has done for him to make him a better, stronger person. In all, I really enjoyed reading the book, especially the two different perspectives, which added to the experience of reading it.
E. Ethelbert Miller recalls his past in Fathering Words, a memoir with his own outlook and his sister’s outlook. Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt is very important to the story because it summarizes the meaning of the Fathering Words perfectly. As an adult Miller is looking back on his past and learning from it. However, he continues to progress in life and does not allow the past to prevent him from moving forward. The notion of double voice is very significant to this story. It allows Miller to portray different perspectives of the same stories. These perspectives allowed the reader a deeper, more insightful understanding of the importance of the stories. Fathering Words is borderline memoir because Miller wrote it especially for his father and brother. It is borderline autobiography as well because Miller writes about his past. However it is borderline fiction too. This is because not everything is going to be completely accurate and Miller also writes from the perspective of his sister. An allusion is defined as “a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize.” In Fathering Words an example of an allusion is Miller’s reference to the female poet, June Jordan, at the Random House affair as “Athena.” Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom, among other things. Miller compares June Jordan to Athena and writes June Jordan “would appear again to help me on my journey, to give me the wisdom I would need to understand what it meant to be a writer.” By this, Miller means that June Jordan would come back, later in his life, and provide him with the wisdom and motivation that would allow him to progress further as a poet, similar to how Athena was believed to provide people with wisdom by the ancient Greeks.
The quote by Soren Kierkegaard was very thought provoking. His excerpt, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards,” can be interpreted in many alternate ways. It made me think about how I live my life; furthermore, it made me think of the way I view my life. I interpreted it meaning that as you look back on life and think of all the things that happened, you are able to understand the results; however, you cannot only focus on the past. You must learn from your past to have a better future. Fathering Words tells about the journey of E. Ethelbert Miller; in addition, it is looking back on his life. As a result, this quote ties into Miller’s book extremely well.The notion of the double voice was very useful to completely comprehend and grasp the storyline. It was very helpful to hear his perspective and Marie, his sister’s perspective. This made it easier to feel as if you were living his experiences. This book cannot be put into a category as a memoir, autobiography, or a fictional story. I personally perceived it as a memoir. A memoir is defined by Princeton University as, “An account of the author’s personal experience.” This book is recalling Miller’s personal experiences, such as the loss of his brother and father within two years; however, there are reasons that it could be debated as a fictional book. For example, he did not know every exact thought that his sister had. Thus, he had to put himself in her place and suppose how she would feel and react. An allusion is a reference to a person, place, or event. It is meant to create an effect or enhance the meaning of an idea. Miller used several allusions in his story. For instance, “We went downtown and had a civil wedding ceremony, invited three friends as witnesses, ate some Chinese food, and took in a movie…the newly released Superfly.” This is an allusion because it is referring back to the movie Superfly. This allusion gave a greater detail to his wedding day. Personally, it made me feel as if I had been there. This book was a great. It gave me a new look on life.
E. Ethelbert Miller's work is a beautiful piece of literature that is part fiction, part memoir, and part autobiography. Miller enters the world of fiction in places. When Miller discusses his brother’s spirituality or speculates on the state of mind his family has, he narrates like one would in a fiction book. In addition, it is unclear whether his sister had a hand in writing the parts of the book from her perspective, but it would appear she did not, making those parts fiction. While Miller may sound like his was writing his work like a work of fiction at times, it is also the true account of Miler’s life, making it an autobiography. He tells us of the events of his life, from childhood until the present; giving his perspective and feelings on how he became who he became. However, Miller was part of history, and adds this third element to this work.Seeing real events through his eyes makes this book also a memoir.
In addition to his unique usage of three different genres, Miller also alludes to many other texts to explain his feelings. Miller alludes to many famous authors, African-American and non, as well as musicians and politicians. One especially important illusion is that to a poem by Henry Dumas, a modern African-America poet. He was given a book of poems by Dumas by a friend and his words help cement Miller’s decision to become a writer. This was a turning point for him, and so he alludes to Dumas, specifically to his expression of a turning point. This intertextuality between the turning point for one writer in the words of another is very characteristic of the book. Miller often uses allusions to help explain his feelings at the time.
Furthermore, Miller uses a quote from Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, perhaps to explain his reasons for writing a memoir. When Kierkengaard says that “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”, he may mean that we might not understand life now, but need to move forward. This is an especially important theme; not understanding, but reflecting and seeing the pieces of your
life fall together in a way that makes sense. This quote explains Miller’s apparent feelings of confusion, but upon reflection, peace.
Overall,Miller wrote a blend of fiction, memoir and autobiography that uses allusions to explain the author’s emotions. Miller takes life and turns it into a sort of poetry, painting a beautiful picture of a conflicted young man living in a world he did not fully understand. He shows how a family that was never really united can fall apart while a new family is born. In this book, Miller gives voice to his life.
E. Ethelbert Miller’s memoir, Fathering Words, expresses the feelings of a boy who makes the journey of childhood to manhood with the loss of his brother, and later, father hanging overhead all the while. In Fathering Words the quote by Soren Kierkegaard states: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” This means that we only truly understand the importance or significance of events that happen in our lives, or we only appreciate certain things, once time and life have moved on and we are looking back on our past deeds. For instance for Marie her hair would not have grown if not for the stories told to her while mother taught her to cook and clean. As Marie looks back on those times, she sees what her life could have been like if she had not learned those basic skills and family stories, she sees how her life was affected and how she is still being affected in present time. The double voice in the book allows you to truly understand the different points of view of the two family members. For example, the frequent trips to the Joneses beach is thought by Eugene to be a treasured family time, while Marie utterly loathes the beach, complaining how the sand gets in her hair, not even taking into account the way it helps her family bond. Memoir, autobiography, and fiction can often be intertwined. A memoir recounts very personal events and feelings, while an autobiography usually just an account that can be written by another person. However, it is fiction that ties everything together, the constant reminder of how the writer may have used fiction to draw the reader into their lives. In addition, the experiences in one’s life that some would believe to be fiction, or you wish had been. In Fathering Words, an allusion is made to Doctorow’s Billy Bathgate, in which it states how the hobby if juggling shaped Billy in a way that helped him progress to where he is now. The allusion of how Billy Bathgate got to where he is now relates to the memoir because, Fathering Words details the journey of young boy who becomes a writer, and how events in his childhood shaped his life. The life processes of Billy Bathgate and Eugene Miller are similar in the way they show life’s journey.
The memoir Fathering Words tells a story of an American writer’s most meaningful life event. A memoir is just like an autobiography except it highlights one very influencing memory that happened in someone’s life. An autobiography tells the whole life story of a person without leaving out any major details. In the story it shows a memoir because it points out one major event that made a difference. It also shows an autobiography because he talks about his life. And it is a fiction because when he portrays his sister, he is giving her words and not the actual things she is saying. At the beginning of the story where Soren Kierkegaard’s quote is it has a lot of relevance to the story. This quote sets place of what the message is coming from the story. This quote is important because it follows miller along through his life. The quote to me is saying that you should use the past to move forward along in life. I think the quote means this because in the story when miller looked back in the past to what have happened to his race and their history, he used that to move forward in his life. For me to think back on what have happened in the past it would make me want to keep going on in life and make the present and the future the best life ever.
In Addition, having a double voice in the book helped to see Miller’s multiple views on what he thought. For example, he let the reader see his point of view through his sister. He put in the words he wanted her to say so that we could see the different views. These different views were very powerful and showed some relevance to Soren Kierkegaard’s quote. An allusion that interested the most was “Ahmos and I were two different bodies of water. We were rivers flowing in opposite directions, suddenly forced to occupy the same place in time.” From this allusion I think that Miller was saying that when two people are doing the same thing at the same time they are forced to compete against each other. These two people are forced to compete for the same thing. Also, he is saying that when there are two rivers people use one river more then others. Compared with people, some one is going to be liked more then the other. I really liked the book Fathering Word, it not only taught me something but it gave me an interesting piece of literature to read.
In the memoir Fathering Words, E. Ethelbert Miller presents a series of dualities that define his life. The first duality is where he compares his own life choices with that of his family’s. He is the only family member to attend college and to pursue a career that he really enjoys. On the other hand, his parents, older brother and sister take jobs that are secure but unfulfilling. His father becomes a postal worker and his mother sews clothes in a factory. His older brother Richard leaves a monastery to work in a bank and his sister becomes a nurse. Secondly, his story is told in two voices that exist in space and time throughout the book. Ethelbert’s voice describes his journey of becoming an African American writer which differs with his sister Marie’s voice. She describes her own perspective of Ethelbert and family, her divorce and her search to find love again. Finally, the third duality contrasts the dreams and hopes of an African-American son with that of his immigrant Afro-Latino father. Egberto, the author’s father, came from Panama to the U.S. to seek a better life. He never knew his own father and rarely communicates with his son. Similarly, Ethelbert puts his job before his family and risks losing his relationship with his son, Nyere. He says he writes to fill the void that his parents created through their quiet and hard working lives, but he unknowingly almost repeats the same pattern with his own kids.
As we read the book we also see the tension that exists between the factual truth of an autobiographical experience contrasted to the fictional reality of all narratives. On the one hand, we have Miller’s memoir—a thin slice of his life—which he writes like a series of flashbacks and memories. In addition, it is difficult for the reader to verify the reliability of his account, since other voices are not present. What would his family think of his narrative? What would other opposing voices say about his account?
Miller cites the Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard writes that “life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” On the one hand, Miller has to live his life in the present but is unable to do so because of the persistent pain he feels due to the love he never fully received from his father in his youth. Our lives are like pieces of a puzzle and we don’t really understand each piece while we are young. We can’t see the whole puzzle and understand it until the end of our lives. But on the other hand, telling the story of one’s life requires reconstructing the past through memory and can be a healing process. But the challenge with memory is that it is selective—we leave out more than we decide to keep in. In addition, memory is fragmentary, and its selection process may emphasize the good qualities, in contrast to the negative qualities, of the narrator. It is almost as if Miller writes this book to go back and find the young boy who never got to develop a relationship with his parents and siblings, the way he wanted.
Finally, Miller alludes to Harold Bloom as a literary critic who would approve of the African American poets whom Miller most admires. Bloom believes that poets suffer from what he calls "the anxiety of influence." He says that young writers are anxious because they fear that their poetic voices will be silenced by those of the past and that they can say nothing original.. This seems to be Miller’s personal mythology; he really wants the African American writer to be heard and remembered and so he not only dedicates his life to his own work but he makes sure that the voices of younger black writers will also be heard.
Fathering Words, written by E. Ethelbert Miller is a powerful memoir that depicts the life of a boy turning into a man while embracing that he is an African American and is faced with the hardships of being a son, father, and brother.
In the beginning of his memoir, E. Ethelbert Miller includes a powerful quote by Soren Kierkegaard, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”. I believe that this excerpt signifies that one must look back and learn from ones mistakes and successes. Nevertheless, one cannot live all of life looking at the past; instead, they must look forward and embrace the future: see new experiences and possibilities. I believe that this excerpt was incredibly important for the story seeing as it sets the mood on how Mr. Miller lived his life.
Another important aspect E. Ethelbert Miller included in his memoir is the use of double voice. Through the double voice, he conveyed his ideas as well as his sister Marie’s. That is to say, the story depicted two perspectives on the same situation. By having two perspectives, we were able to have a deeper connection to what was truly going on in their lives, and get a more realistic sense of how their family lived: the relationships between parent and child, and child and child.
Fathering Words is written on the borderline between memoir, autobiography, and fiction. By incorporating all three styles of writing in his story, it made it more accurate as well as more interesting. In addition, with all of the different styles, it never fails to capture the attention seeing as the book is dynamic-not static.
In fact, E. Ethelbert Miller used many allusions in order to enrich his writing. An allusion is a reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing of another work. Many of Ethelbert’s allusions related closely to what was going on in his life or the African American movement. An example of an allusion related to the African American Movement states, “One such play was the Militant Black Preacher written by Ben Caldwell” (Page 57). This short play was written in the black revolutionary style of the 1960’s and is about a preacher that is converted into a black militant by a thief that pretends to be God’s voice. This allusion closely relates to Mr. Miller’s memoir seeing as in both the black rights movement is visible as is the fight for their rights.
Fathering Words is a very creative and interesting autobiography that captivates the reader’s attention through multiple perspectives, the different forms of writing, and the allusions used.
Ethelbert’s memoir Fathering Words is about a man telling a story about events in his life his story is told in two perspectives. One is Ethelbert himself, and the other being his sister. I believe this has a significant effect on the story. Because you receive two different lenses on the different events in the story, it gives you a deeper meaning to them. For instance, when Ethelbert’s father died you got the story from Ethelbert himself and his sister. While the sister was feeling awfully bad for her lost, the father- son bond of the man and his father may have been way more than the sister could ever describe. Therefore, I think it was a good thing that we got to see both sides of the story so that we could understand the situations better. I believe Soren Kierkegaard’s excerpt “Life can only be understood backwards but must be lived forward” was also an important aspect of the story. This is because I believe it related to the story tremendously. For instance, Ethelbert had to learn how to move forward in his life. He could not let the death of this brother and father hinder him from continuing to follow his dreams. I believe this quote fits this scenario perfectly. This story was a mixture of a memoir and an autobiography. Because Ethelbert was writing about himself, it can be classified as an autobiography. Because Ethelbert was dedicating this book specifically to his father and brother, it can also be classified as a memoir. It can also be classified as a fiction because since Ethelbert definitely did not recall all of the information from his childhood verbatim he had to embellish some things in the story. An allusion that was interesting to me was when Ethelbert stated “In the picture my father is handsome, cool, debonair, a lady’s man, Billy Dee Williams when Diana Ross was Lady Day.” This is an illusion to these famous people to compare them to his father. Ethelbert is trying to portray his father as being very sophisticated and well respected as the people mentioned in this quote. Overall, I believe Fathering Words was a great memoir and I would recommend to anyone who would be willing to read it.
Fathering Words by E. Ethelbert Miller was a story of a man recalling his father; it is a memoir. The quote in the beginning of the book sets forth the story by saying, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” Although the book focuses greatly on Miller’s father, it is also a memoir towards Miller himself. The author looks back at his childhood in hopes to understand his father and by doing that he thinks of many questions and compares himself as a father with his own father. He also discusses his life and what drove him into becoming a poet. However, this book was not only about Miller and his father. The voice of his sister, Marie, gives another perspective into the life of his family. This dual-perspective worked occasionally in the story and was nice to have, but it also broke the rhythm of the writing and was quite confusing. Although I was unclear about the double perspective at times, I still believe that Miller did a fantastic job at telling his story, as well as the story of his father. His work is inspiration to many who have dreams about becoming writers, and also gives people a new view on life.
Fathering Words is a thrilling memoir based on the trials and tribulations of the African American writer. In the beginning of the book, there is a quote from Soren Kierkegaard that states, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” I believe that this quote represents the plot of the memoir. All throughout the book, E. Ethelbert Miller looks back into his past and remembers the memories he has with his late father and brother. This quote also shows the importance of the double voice in the book. Miller and his sister are both showing their perspectives on everything that happens in the story, and having these different opinions helps the reader to understand what happened to the authors. The double voice tells us a little bit about each author from the other author’s view. For example, Miller’s sister talks about E. Ethelbert Miller and vice versa. This memoir is a lot like an autobiography, fiction story and memoir all wrapped up into one. It is a lot like an autobiography because it recounts a lot of moments in his life and tells us a very large portion of his life. Even though a biography is about a person’s whole life, the memoir is about much of E. Ethelbert Miller’s life and even times before his birth. The descriptions that Miller uses in the story seem to take you to another place. Because of this, I think the story feels like a fiction story. The way he describes scenes that I have never seen before, seem to make them come alive, almost like he made them up. The allusion that I believe was one of the most important facts in the memoir is that he grew up in the Bronx. Since this is supposed to be a place that the reader knows, Miller describes his perspective of the Bronx. Living in the there has shaped Miller’s life and has made him who he is today. His mythology is centered around the Bronx. No matter where he lives or goes, he will always have his memories from there. Fathering Words is an inspirational memoir that teaches you a new way to view life: backwards.
E. Ethelbert Miller is an outstanding writer that portrayed his life in a very unique way. In the memoir Fathering Words, Mr. Miller incorporates a duel perspective of his life with the help of his sister Soren Kierkegaard. This simple act changed the whole tone and stance of the entire book. The duel vistas gave us a sense of completeness that helped the reader feel more connected with evolution from young man to man.
In the beginning of the memoir, his sister Soren Kierkegaard said: Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. What this means is that you do not really understand your journey, or even realize what is happening until you look back on it. This excerpt is like a chess game. While you are playing, you might think you know what is going to happen next, but when the unexpected happens you are too shocked to fully grasp what just occurred. Only until you calm down and later think about your experience, would you be able to understand how your actions were bad or good. Moreover, you do not really get a chance to see the affects of your actions until after you look over it.
The borderline between memoir and autobiography in Fathering Words is that the novel is not a full story of Mr. Miller’s life, but instead it focuses more on his life as a writer. A memoir is a collection of anecdotes that refer to one or two themes, while a biography tells more about the full picture. I think that his book has some fiction in it, but unlike tradition fictional novels it is not as extreme. When he used fiction he uses it non-intentionally. In this circumstance, he is trying to recall his child hood events, so of course he will exaggerate some things because that is how he saw it as a child.
In Mr. Miller’s memoir he made a very interesting allusion to the World Series. He described how he was becoming to get recognition, almost like an off-season trade in baseball. He wrote that he became like a star player who could take his team to the playoffs or the World Series.
Moving past the death of both his father and brother in the book Fathering Word, E. Ethelbert Miller tells the story of how love prevailed in his family. In the book, Miller not only uses his voice, he also uses the voice of his sister, Marie Miller. I think that this was very significant because it gives two perspectives; one is of Miller’s and how he dealt with his problems and the other is his sister and how she dealt with her problems.
Soren Kierkegaard wrote a quote in the beginning of the memoir. It said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” This quote pretty much sums up what the whole memoir was about. I think that the quote means that in order to move on in the future, you must understand and come to terms with your past. This is pretty much what Miller went through in his story. He had to deal with his father leaving, and the deaths of both his father and brother. Although, this was painful for him, he never gave up and he became a powerful, moving writer and father. He did not let what happened to him in the past ruin his life in the future.
An allusion that I found in the memoir was,” Any writer of importance would make the hajj over to his home in northeast Washington.” This is very interesting because the hajj refers to a trip that Muslims take to Mecca, which is a place of holy importance because it is the birthplace of Islam. Muslims go on a pilgrimage every year in order to show praise to Allah and the Islamic religion. However, in the story Miller refers to Sterling Brown’s house as Mecca and he refers to the writers as the Muslims. To deeper explain, Miller is saying is that if they value their writing, then they will make their journey, or hajj, to Mr. Brown’s house.
Ethelbert Miller’s Fathering Words was one of the best books that I have read in a long time. The period he was talking about was a very controversial time. He captured the essence of a young black male’s perspective during that time. His sister Soran Kierkegaard’s view in the story was also given. Her perspective also being included let us see different perspectives on the event. One person’s account of events in history might not be accurate. This story might be considered fictional because of this reason. His view of an event might be biased and might not have happened exactly how he remembered it. His sister’s point of view made it less fictional because there are two different perspectives. Her opinion might have been biased, also. Analyzing the two different outlooks and concluding what really happened, is the reader’s job to do. On page 115 he says “It’s not a matter of distance between us. My father lacks a vocabulary for love”, he might have had a clouded perspective of this. Because he was mad at his dad for not expressing his love as much as most fathers, this might have been his way to lash out at him. In Fathering Words there are a lot of allusions. Ethelbert Miller makes a lot of references to people, places, and things outside of the text. You would need prior knowledge to figure these things out. For example in the text it said “It’s no different from Alex Haley knowing that Malcolm X would never hole his autobiography in his hands”, you would have to know that Malcolm X is a very famous well-known figure. He is way more famous than Alex Haley. This memoir was beautifully written and had me turning each page wondering what would come next. This was a great story and I would recommend it to anyone.
E. Ethelbert Miller’s memoir, Fathering Words, when at times may be slightly confusing, is a wonderful example of the double voice. Throughout the book Miller displays his poetic style through various different creative writing techniques. At points in the story the author creates a rhythm; in the following sentences Miller uses rhyme to create this sense of rhythm: “Farewells are different from good-byes. The separation more permanent. The Farewell can be romantic, like a tear falling from an eye. A woman leaving behind a relationship no stronger than the tide.” However, the more prominent example of Miller’s experimentation with different, and more creative, writing techniques is the use of quotes from his sister which creates a double voice. When I first started the memoir I thought the double voice was confusing but then, once I understood the highlighted parts represented the voice of Miller’s sister, I got into the voice and I started to appreciate it. I believe that, with the addition of the double voice, the reader can obtain a more realistic idea of what it was like to be and live in their family. Another reason that I believe Miller uses his sisters voice is because she may know more about the topic at hand because she claims to know their mother and father better, because of the fact that she was a girl. Miller’s sister might also have had various key roles, as well as influences to Miller’s writing, and he might not have thought of it fair to write a memoir of the family without including his sister’s distinct views on certain key events that took place in their lives and in their family. E. Ethelbert Miller has done a great job of introducing me to the double voice in a way that I can learn from and hopefully use in my own writing.
Fathering Words, by E. Ethelbert Miller, is a memoir written in dual perspectives. This usage is very interesting, in that, the dual perspectives are of Miller himself and his sister, but it is telling the dilemma of Miller finding his way as brother, father, and son. I thought this was an interesting and unique way to write a book because it had a different way of showing emotions and portraying the scenes. His sister might have gotten a different view out of one situation and might have thought that what she saw was more important that what her brother found most important. In the beginning, an excerpt by Soren Kierkegaard is included: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” This is a powerful quote which was included in the story because it helps signal the author's motive towards the story and the attitude towards writing his memoir. This book is also unclear whether it is an autobiography, a memoir, or a fictional work. It is each in many ways: autobiography because it is written by Miller detailing his life, fiction because he had to make up his sister's perspective, and memoir because it details many significant events in his life, much like all memoirs. There are additionally many allusions in this story. I noticed that Miller alluded to many prominent African American figures of the twentieth century, perhaps because they were a guiding hand when he was younger so he wanted to thank them in his own way while writing. My favorite allusion in the book is when he talks about standing at the podium like Jackie Robinson stands at home plate, comfortable and at home. The poetic way that Miller compares them is signaling that Miller thought that he was very strong and graceful and that what was happening in his life was a point where he liked to think of himself highly and allude to the greatness of others. Overall, E. Ethelbert Miller created an empowering story which uses strong language to detail him and becoming accomplished.
Ethelbert Miller wrote this fascinating memoir with so much detail that you could imagine how the pages came to life. The allusion Miller uses is in the beginning of the book and it is a famous quote that says, “life can only be understood backwards, it must be lived forwards.” What this quote means is that everyone looks through history to understand life at present, but we must not get sucked in to the past, we must live on each day and see what happens in the future. This is a really big theme in the book because the author chooses to talk about his father and childhood, all in the past, and to explain important it is since it brought him to be where he is today, however, the individual must go on in life and not stick to memories of the past. The use of double voice - the type of writing where the author conveys two perspectives simultaneously - was very effective in this book because it gave the reader another viewpoint, the sister's. All in all, this book was a memoir, and autobiography, and fictional. The way it is a memoir - a biography written from personal knowledge - is by the way Miller uses all of his own personal knowledge to describe every detail with the best type of depiction. It is an autobiography because this is about the author's life, not anyone elses. Lastly, it is a bit fictional because Miller did not know every single fact that he had written about, he needed some help, so he turned to the imaginary world. In the end, this book was a very nice read because of the many different events it talked about. Also, it was very different from any other book I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This memoir written by E. Ethelbert Miller was quite interesting and had a clever use of dual voices, which went helped to move the story along and create a sort of flow which made this a nice enjoyable read. It shows the loneliness of Miller because of the fact that he lost his brother and his father; however, he still had his longing to love. The dual voice was an interesting way to display two different perspectives of the story and was beautifully combined into one story. It was very interesting to see both his side of the story and that of his sister and how they compared and varied from each other. The allusion that I found interesting is the one that he made to the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena. It was said that this goddess could give wisdom to any person that she choose. In a way you can say that this happened to him because Miller fulfilled his dream as to become a successful African American writer. The quote “Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards” by Soren Kierkegaard was very moving. It made me look back and jus reflect upon my past experiences and see how I could use those while moving forward. This quote I believe captures the story because it seems as if by reflecting upon harsh events he has a better understanding on how to move forward with his life. The borderline between memoir, auto biography and fiction is a very thin line because it is talking about a life event that happened in his past except that there are some made up details. When thinking about how hard it is to write this short journal prompt I think of how much harder it must have been to write and entire book about such a painful past experience or memory and I applaud Mr. Miller for such a successful result.
In the memoir Fathering Words by E. Ethelbert, the character Miller tells the story of the loss of not only his father, but his brother as well. Losing his father and brother was a significant part of Miller’s life because they both supported him becoming a writer. Although this memoir was written by one author, the story is told from two completely different perspectives. The perspective of Miller is told by explaining his feelings towards the matter and his sister Marie’s perspective is told in a similar way. I found that this method was most effective in telling the story because of the poetic structure.
When I first began to read the book, I was puzzled by the quote in the beginning. Soren Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” In my own way I found this quote to mean that what is in the past has been finished and what is in the future is yet to be determined. I found that this quote was well suited for the story because when someone close to you has passed away there is nothing that can be done, but to honor them in the future by doing well and making your dreams come true can be done.
I found this story to be inspirational and thrilling. Even though I do not want to become a writer, the message of following your dreams, even though times can be hard, is a message that everyone should follow. I have often wanted to give up and walk away when things get hard, but this spectacular memoir is a great example of why not to.
In the memoir Fathering Words by E. Ethelbert, the character Miller tells the story of the loss of not only his father, but his brother as well. Losing his father and brother was a significant part of Miller’s life because they both supported him becoming a writer. Although this memoir was written by one author, the story is told from two completely different perspectives. The perspective of Miller is told by explaining his feelings towards the matter and his sister Marie’s perspective is told in a similar way. I found that this method was most effective in telling the story because of the poetic structure.
When I first began to read the book, I was puzzled by the quote in the beginning. Soren Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” In my own way I found this quote to mean that what is in the past has been finished and what is in the future is yet to be determined. I found that this quote was well suited for the story because when someone close to you has passed away there is nothing that can be done, but to honor them in the future by doing well and making your dreams come true can be done.
I found this story to be inspirational and thrilling. Even though I do not want to become a writer, the message of following your dreams, even though times can be hard, is a message that everyone should follow. I have often wanted to give up and walk away when things get hard, but this spectacular memoir is a great example of why not to.
In E. Ethelbert Miller’s novel, Fathering Words, he relives his deepest memories. In the beginning of the book, there is a quote from Søren Kierkegaard: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” To me, this relates to Miller’s memoir because all through the story, Miller was struggling to find his place. Only at the end did he realize who he was. The quote is highlighting that something only makes sense, or sometimes does not make sense, once it is completed. You can have an excellent plan for something, but only when it is all over can you say “Man, I really should have added X,” or “I should not have done Y.” It is hindsight. A feature that the author used in the story was the double voice. That confused me. I felt like one viewpoint was already overwhelming, but two just made my head spin. The double voice helped to describe a scene the way Miller’s sister saw it. She was usually quick and to the point, which I liked. But when the double voice ended, the author was on a whole other topic. The entire story is on the line between autobiography and a memoir. A memoir is more about experiences and views on a time. An autobiography is more about dates and concrete times. There are parts when the story was more towards one of those than the other. I liked that. It menat that the author was choosing to be “Free as a Bird.”
Post a Comment