The Forgotten Garden

For my first independent reading novel for the inquiry project I read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. My topic is on truth, especially with respect to ignorance. Basically, my project revolves around the following questions: Will the truth really set you free? Or is ignorance really bliss?

But where to even begin? I was fascinated by this book and I couldn't even put it down. This is the first time I've finished an independent reading novel over a week before the deadline, if that tells you how much I liked it. The story starts out with a young girl, Nell, about four years old, who is left on a ship departing for Australia in 1913. She travels alone because she was abandoned and is taken in by the dock master and his wife. She learns the truth about herself on her 21st birthday and sets out to discover her past and origins, including her real name. Her search is stopped in 1975 when she is left to take care of her own granddaughter, Cassandra. As Nell grows even older she develops Alzheimer's and dies in 2005, leaving Cassandra to inherit a cottage along with a "forgotten garden." Cassandra sets out to pick up where her grandmother left off and finds herself unraveling a complicated, tangled web of lies and secrets.

The author, Kate Morton, did a spectacular job of always adding something new to the mix. Just when you think that there couldn't possibly be anything new to discover, she throws something in. And to me, that keeps it exciting. The book switches between Nell in 1975 to Cassandra in 2005 and even all the way back to the early 1900's, describing the life of the person who abandoned Nell on the ship in the first place. This back and forth between characters and time periods led to some dramatic irony because at times, the reader wanted Cassandra to discover something that her grandmother had previously discovered.  I did some research and I found this video on YouTube:

                                   

You may not get where I'm coming from if you haven't read the book, but I can draw many parallels between Morton and Cassandra. They both have grandmothers whose identities were not what they thought, and some of the location was the same too.  And the music behind this video sounded a bit creepy, but the book is really not that creepy, just kind of scandalous.

I really hope my other two books for the inquiry project are as compelling. I think I can definitely use this book in my project, which makes me glad that I chose this topic. I will NOT give the ending away, and I would most certainly recommend this book to anyone. It's an easy read, and the characters are really easy to relate to. I thought it was predictable at first, but my predictions turned out to be way wrong. This novel isn't a cheesy love story (ahem Nicholas Sparks) but its not boring or dull either (not going to mention any names there).  I found myself getting very attached to the characters and I was sad that the book ended.  In short, this book rocked my world.

Outlining in Reverse

I read "Outlining in Reverse" this week, and I found it very intriguing. In the article, Hamburger states that he prefers to do reverse outlining, meaning that he composes an outline after writing down some main chunks that he already is clear about. 

I agree and disagree with Hamburger in some aspects. I agree that to sit down and do a specific outline can be daunting. I prefer to make a different outline depending on the assignment. If it's an essay, I usually do bullets with a separate section for each paragraph. If it's longer, I usually group my research based on topic similarity or relevance. It all just depends on how long the assignment is and how in-depth I need to go with it. I disagree with writing the outline after having written part of the work. That seems backwards to me because I can't stand it when someone doesn't complete something all the way through. To do some of the finished product, then do the outline, then go back to the finished product... it seems haphazard and very ineffective to me. 

But one thing about this article does ring true: reverse outlining can be abused. Maybe that's why I disagree with it. To me, it seems as though if you keep going back and forth between outline and draft, you will either keep adding extraneous information or experience the Christmas Tree syndrome. The Christmas Tree syndrome is when you keep chopping the Christmas tree until the three is practically only one foot tall (like you see on TV). Likewise, reverse outlining can result in constantly chopping off extra information until there is practically nothing left. Either way, I think reverse outlining works for only some people. I am not one of those people. Although I don't advocate a standard outline for every assignment I do, I think outlining should be done before drafts, not after, in between, or anywhere else.

*I am very proud to say that I used a vocabulary word. That is all.

The Elements

There is nothing left on this Earth.
Billows of ash, moving unseen
Charred ruins shrouded in the carbon fog.
We are not godspoke men,
yet we are carrying the fire,
enkindling what we don't remember,
the dark of the invisible moon
reminding us to venture at the edge of the world.
We do not curse God.
We will never be safe in heaven with God.
We knew that the world, long forgotten, would not last long.
But as we stare at the blackened shape of rock,
the dead black ivy, and the raw cold daylight,
we are ready and even willing to topple into the flames
into God knows what.

This was my "Found" poem from class, and I found the concept very interesting (pun very much intended). Each phrase that I took from The Road was used in a different context or situation (despite the repetitive ash/fire imagery) but it created a whole new meaning.

My two categories that I got quotes for were fire/ash imagery and religion/faith. I don't think that McCarthy intended to link these two topics together, but the poem actually does link the two together. 

What I find most interesting is that technically, these aren't really my words. I used linking words and made up a few phrases, but for the most part I didn't really "write" the poem. I just manipulated what was already there to make a message that I thought encompassed The Road. Also, even though a lot of us had ash and fire imagery as one of our topics, every one of our poems had something different to offer.

Even though I sort of enjoyed this process, I do feel a little guilty. I really like my poem but I know that I didn't really come up with the words for it. Mr. Mullins even gave us clear cut instructions on how to write this poem, which is not how poets usually write. My understanding is that poets take inspiration from what they see. I guess I could say that I am inspired by the road, but I was inspired way more by getting a good grade.

Long story short, I liked doing the poem, but I'm not sure whether I can really be proud of it because even though I wrote it, I didn't write it...if that makes sense.

The Road

                                          

It seems appropriate to start the first blog post of the semester with something very relevant to class right now: The Road by Cormac McCarthy.  I got mixed reviews from many of my friends who had English class on A-days. Some said it was amazing and written in a thought-provoking way. Others said it was depressing and they couldn't wait to get it over with, not to mention the ambiguity drove them crazy.  I am surprised to say that I like this book very much so far.  McCarthy really makes me think about what he's writing. Here are a few examples:

"On this road there are no godspoke men. They are gone and I am left and they have taken with them the world. Query: How does the never to be differ from the never that was?" p32

"Dark of the invisible moon. The nights now only slightly less black. By day the banished sun circles the earth like a grieving mother with a lamp." p32

I won't try to analyze those quotes because that's what we did in class, but I truly admire the deepness of those statements. To imagine how precisely and meticulously McCarthy must have worked to convey exactly what he wanted to leaves me awestruck. If nothing else, I think we can all agree that McCarthy should be commended on his hard work.

Another interesting point is the title. The man and his son are literally traveling on a road, but there is obviously some figurative meaning there too. The cliche about "the journey, not the destination" is important. When I saw the book, I thought, "What road? Where does the road lead to?" I also think it's interesting to note that most books that are considered literary fiction sometimes don't have such straightforward titles. For example, the three books I am reading for my inquiry project all have non-straightforward titles: The Forgotten Garden, Not Me,  and Dark Places. But even though McCarthy chose a perspicuous title, the language used in the novel is anything but.

Those are just a few thoughts as we start this unit. I think I will actually understand McCarthy's reasoning for using such complex thought processes in writing this book. As of now, I'm just trying to understand what's going on. I am also very proud that I kind of used one of the vocabulary words in this post. My goal is to try to do that as often as I can. Let's see how that goes! :)