http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/gay/features/5947/index1.html
This is a great article about "coming out" as gay to your parents and community. i think that it would be good for a person to read this before reading the story so they have a little background about how hard it is admitting you are gay. its so easy for sedaris to talk about being gay and it just helps to know what he went through in a way. it also talks about how new york is one of the easiest places to come out that your gay. it gives a little insight on why he moved to new york.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBdymtyXt8Y
This is a link to a video of david sedaris on the david letterman show. I think that this would be good to watch before reading the book because i think that it is important to see the author and hear his voice. I feel that after reading the book and then watching this video i would have liked to watch the video first because i can interpret things a little differently now.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Super Post
Since I didn't post last week I'm actually doing this over the Tapeworm is in and Make That A Double too. Both of these essays are a continuation of Sedaris's life in France and his struggle to learn the language. In the Tape Worm Is In Sedaris tells about one of Sedaris's hobbies, listening to books and other things on tape. Among his hobbies, as we later find out, are crosswords and watching a bunch of movies. He takes all three of these things to what some people would call an extreme. After reading about his time spent in France, it's safe to say he has a fair amount of free time. What do you think of how Sedaris chooses to keep himself entertained? I personally found the part about how he listened to a Pocket Medical French cassette pretty funny. What do you think of Sedaris's ability to make relatively ordinary situations, and some that are not, sound humorous?
Make That A Double is a very short essay about Sedaris's struggle with learning the gender of each noun. I'm in my fourth year of Spanish right now so I can relate to his opinions on this. It dosen't bother me like it does Sedaris, but then again I'm not living in France, I've always found it very strange. I'm sure there are plenty of things in the English language that seem messed up to people trying to learn it, assigning a sex to each noun is definately the strangest thing about the language in my opinion.
The final two essays were the Late Show and I'll Eat What He's Wearing. I really enjoyed I'll Eat What He's Wearing. Although it seemed like an odd choice to end the book with, I thought it was a good idea. What is everyone's opinions on David Sedaris's decision to finish the book with this essay? Do you think that there was any meaning behind this or did he just want to end the book with a funny essay?
What does everyone think about Sedaris's shows that he puts on in his mind while he's in bed? There really isn't a whole lot else to say about this one besides it was fun to read.
Back to I'll Eat What he's wearing, I personally enjoyed all of it. Sedaris's dad is hilarious. Does anyone know anyone like this that is not facing starvation? I've heard of people hording material possessions but doing this with food is new to me? I especially liked how he would hide it through out the house. My favorite one was how he brought a shriveled up banana all the way to Paris after hiding it under the bathroom sink. What really made the story was how he ate it and offered half of it to Sedaris. Outside of the essay about the giant turd, this one was my favorite one.
Speaking of the giant turd, on one of my posts I posted on the wrong essays. Therefor we never had a discussion of the essay called Big Boy. I couldn't resist talking about this one. I mean it came out of no where. I was caught completely off guard. Once again how David Sedaris describes the situation to us and the image he is able to create in your mind is what makes it funny. My favorite part was when he starts talking to the turd telling it shoo. What is every one's opinions on the log Sedaris finds in the toilet? How would you have handled the situation? Are there any other comments that someone would like to make on this?
Now that we have finsihed the book, what are everyone's opinions on it?
Make That A Double is a very short essay about Sedaris's struggle with learning the gender of each noun. I'm in my fourth year of Spanish right now so I can relate to his opinions on this. It dosen't bother me like it does Sedaris, but then again I'm not living in France, I've always found it very strange. I'm sure there are plenty of things in the English language that seem messed up to people trying to learn it, assigning a sex to each noun is definately the strangest thing about the language in my opinion.
The final two essays were the Late Show and I'll Eat What He's Wearing. I really enjoyed I'll Eat What He's Wearing. Although it seemed like an odd choice to end the book with, I thought it was a good idea. What is everyone's opinions on David Sedaris's decision to finish the book with this essay? Do you think that there was any meaning behind this or did he just want to end the book with a funny essay?
What does everyone think about Sedaris's shows that he puts on in his mind while he's in bed? There really isn't a whole lot else to say about this one besides it was fun to read.
Back to I'll Eat What he's wearing, I personally enjoyed all of it. Sedaris's dad is hilarious. Does anyone know anyone like this that is not facing starvation? I've heard of people hording material possessions but doing this with food is new to me? I especially liked how he would hide it through out the house. My favorite one was how he brought a shriveled up banana all the way to Paris after hiding it under the bathroom sink. What really made the story was how he ate it and offered half of it to Sedaris. Outside of the essay about the giant turd, this one was my favorite one.
Speaking of the giant turd, on one of my posts I posted on the wrong essays. Therefor we never had a discussion of the essay called Big Boy. I couldn't resist talking about this one. I mean it came out of no where. I was caught completely off guard. Once again how David Sedaris describes the situation to us and the image he is able to create in your mind is what makes it funny. My favorite part was when he starts talking to the turd telling it shoo. What is every one's opinions on the log Sedaris finds in the toilet? How would you have handled the situation? Are there any other comments that someone would like to make on this?
Now that we have finsihed the book, what are everyone's opinions on it?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Additional Media Post
Just to give you a sense of if you will be turned off by this book, I would reccomend taking this quiz http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/etc/quiz.html. It is an article on homophobia followed by a quiz with instant results. Pretty interesting stuff. Aparently I scored "Homophobic" but i still enjoyed this book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBdymtyXt8Y this video is david sedaris reading one of his essays on david letterman. Take a look at it, see if you are feeling his style. Also note that his essays when read aloud, they are much more vibrant and lively.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBdymtyXt8Y this video is david sedaris reading one of his essays on david letterman. Take a look at it, see if you are feeling his style. Also note that his essays when read aloud, they are much more vibrant and lively.
Written/Media Piece
For the media Piece I would suggest watchting this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBdymtyXt8Y
It is a video of David Sedaris reading one of his essays from a different book on the Late Show. I think that by watching this you will get a better feel for David Sedaris's style of writing. It will show the reader that Sedaris is going to insert a lot of humor into his writing and will prepare the reader for a book with a lighter tone.
For the written piece I would suggest reading this article.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/etc/quiz.html
I think it really relates to some of the subjects such as homosexuality. It will let you know if some of the material will bother you.
It is a video of David Sedaris reading one of his essays from a different book on the Late Show. I think that by watching this you will get a better feel for David Sedaris's style of writing. It will show the reader that Sedaris is going to insert a lot of humor into his writing and will prepare the reader for a book with a lighter tone.
For the written piece I would suggest reading this article.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/etc/quiz.html
I think it really relates to some of the subjects such as homosexuality. It will let you know if some of the material will bother you.
Thinking Aobut Big Ideas
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20126018,00.html is an article about what it is like to grow up gay in America. It is located at people.com and was written by Richard Jerome. I think this could be very useful for readers before reading This Boy's Life because David Sedaris is gay and a lot of the book relates to this. Readers knowing and understanding what it is like to grow up being gay would be helpful for establishing background information and a insights to his childhood. It also provides some very intresitng statistics such as estimates that 5-10% of United States High School students are gay.
For the media piece I would recomend this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBdymtyXt8Y&feature=PlayList&p=D8149242E63A684E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=24 it's kind of helpful to hear the author's voice and listen to him talk about stuff to get a feel for what he's like.
Thinking About New Ideas
In trying to analyze the main ideas of this book and figure out exactly what the hell Sedaris is talking about half of the time, there a few sources I would recommend you give a quick glance, just to make sure you're on the same page he is.
The first of these pieces of media is the questionnaire: article.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/etc/quiz.htmlTake this, and figure out where you lie, and maybe it'll tell you whether or not this book is for you. What I'm not saying though is that this book is as... flaming as the questionnaire is. But still, it should at least put things in perspective for you.
The second piece of media I would recommend would have to be
this youtube video.
Just to get a taste of who Sedaris really is.
The first of these pieces of media is the questionnaire: article.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/etc/quiz.htmlTake this, and figure out where you lie, and maybe it'll tell you whether or not this book is for you. What I'm not saying though is that this book is as... flaming as the questionnaire is. But still, it should at least put things in perspective for you.
The second piece of media I would recommend would have to be
this youtube video.
Just to get a taste of who Sedaris really is.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Screw Crosswords
The reading assignment that coinsides with this post are the essays Remebering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa and 21 Down. These pair of essays don't really have anything to do with one another. One is about his boyfriends childhood while he lived in africa and the other is about sedaris obsession with crossword puzzles. The Africa essay is by far the longer of the two and in my opinion is more relevant to painting a broad picture of sedaris current life. 21 Down is just a rant on how he wants to be good at cross words and how he has been training for years to get good at it.
My Childhood on the Continent of Africa was in my opinion really good. The part of the essay where he talked about his boyfriend hugh seeing a dead man dangling from a light post while he waited for his dad to pick him up after a movie kinda shook me up. The other people that saw it seemed so jaded, and just went on with their lives discussing the movie that they had just watched. How did this part effect you guys? Were you as taken aback as I was?
21 Down was a chore for me. I personally hate crosswords, and to read about someone else loving them just made me go insane. There is nothing worse than a teacher giving out a cross word for points, that you end up just bullshiting because you know they dont check for accuracy. Imagine doing crosswords on your OWN time and having to PAY for them. Do you guys share my hatred for crosswords as well or am I alone on this one?
My Childhood on the Continent of Africa was in my opinion really good. The part of the essay where he talked about his boyfriend hugh seeing a dead man dangling from a light post while he waited for his dad to pick him up after a movie kinda shook me up. The other people that saw it seemed so jaded, and just went on with their lives discussing the movie that they had just watched. How did this part effect you guys? Were you as taken aback as I was?
21 Down was a chore for me. I personally hate crosswords, and to read about someone else loving them just made me go insane. There is nothing worse than a teacher giving out a cross word for points, that you end up just bullshiting because you know they dont check for accuracy. Imagine doing crosswords on your OWN time and having to PAY for them. Do you guys share my hatred for crosswords as well or am I alone on this one?
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