Rhetorical Analysis of “separate kingdoms”

The essay “separate kingdoms” by Valerie Laken was a story about a family struggles to understand each other after the father loses his thumbs. Laken arranged the story in a two column format each column represented a different viewpoint respectively from father and son in order to show different reactions from members in a family with the accident and a separation between them. Laken uses a lot of dialogue and onomatopoeic words to express the members’ emotion, in order to show audiences how the event as a turning point made the family finally confront the separation and try to understand each other. That is, the members of a family shaken by a terrible accident and divide themselves up room by room, only able to understand each other when the separated.

They were a common family which lack of communication because of the fathers’ working hours. And after the father lost his thumbs and his job, the family forced to stay together under one roof, but it did not make them more close to each other. The father was immersion into certain animal show; the son was playing video game and drum; the mother was doing Tea-bo in every possible second. They had their own way the pass the time and hide themselves into their own space, own kingdom in order flee from the separation. They do not know how to console each other at first, as Laken states, “She (mother)’s sucking up to him, feeling sorry. The dogs aren’t, and he respects them for it” (1). She tried to console the father and it was just seems did not work, and she throw the puzzle to the son hopes he could make some improvement. As Laken states the dialogue between she and the son. “Jack (son), why don’t you take a break and keep your dad company while I (mother) exercise? As if he (father) wants company from me. As if he’s said a complete sentence this week at all, to me or her or anyone”(2). The son was confused. It was oddness for three of them that seeing each other during the daytime, especially, after this terrible accident, they were all became very sensitive and was afraid of disturb others.

Laken repeated some sentences in both columns and arranged at the same line. “Dad? Mom says I’m supposed to come and sit with you” (2) and “Do I have to”(3). These sentences are all dialogue that the son spoke to the father, I believe Laken wants to show audiences that the family was in the same kingdom at that point. the son was try to communicate with his father, even though the father did not speak anything, but the son made a good start, he was trying to communicate with his father and break the separation, no matter it was intentionally or unintentionally.

Laken uses the dialogue from the fathers’ shouting as a column bridge to break the two column format. “Take it! Take the goddamn money and the little drummer boy and drive yourselves straight to paradise, set yourselves up! I’m fine right here” (11) here the family forced to be in one kingdom because of the fathers; shouting. The father was trying to navigate the rough territory that stretches between the human kingdom and the animal kingdom. He feels misplaced and had no difference with animals because of lost the thumbs, Laken shows it with the dialogue between he and his son. “You know what separates us from the animals?” And I said, “Our brains?” He held up his thumbs and wiggled them. “Opposable thumbs”(12). He was damaged and scarred, and torn between the wonders of the world and the adventures of the mind. travel and flee, struggling against his isolation to locate a place like home, and trying to reach for certain connection that will make them as a whole.

Laken also uses the sons’ drumbeat. “duh” (6). As a column bridge to break the two column format, when the fathers’ boss came to persuade his took the money that the boss would like to pay, but it was very a short break, and Laken came back to the two column format very soon, she expressed the fathers’ feeling in the first column. “Here we go,” Colt groans, and Eddie shudders. Jack’s at the drums again. Two hours a day, every day, without fail. The boy’s obsession is everybody else’s misery”(6). Even though the father was not seems to enjoy with his sons’ music, but here implied that as a family they had the obsession.

And in the second column which narrated by the son, Laken repeated the sounds almost until the boss left. “Duh Guh Duh Guh Duh Guh Duh Guh Duh Guh duh guh duh guh duh guh duh guh duh…” (6 to 8) it was because he was obsession with the whole thing, even though he was wondering if he father took the money it might help the family up to a better living level, “I get it, how the money won’t fix anything. But it might be enough to move out of this house, to a different bus route, maybe even a different school. A whole different town”(5).but he does not really care about the money and understand that the money is his father’s choice, as Laken represented the dialogue between he and his mother. “It doesn’t really matter,” I (son) say. The money…Yesterday I tried to do everything all day without my thumbs,” I say. She wipes her nose and pulls back to look at me.“It didn’t work at all.” It’s true. I never lasted more than a half hour at a time. Nothing worked right, and on instinct I kept grabbing stuff with my thumbs. Some things, like your zipper or the drums, were entirely impossible”(18). He was trying his best to understand the father, and noticed it is hard, but he did not give up, instead, he asked his mother to joining he.

At the end of the story, the mother and the son taped their thumbs with masking tape, and the mother said, “I think we should sleep this way” (19). They tried to do things without thumbs because they were trying to found a way which will make them as a whole and break the separation.

Strategies:

1.      Laken separated the essay into two columns, each column narrated by different narrator and in different way, but they were narrative the same story.

2.      The one column wrote in third person and the other column wrote in first person.

3.      Some sentences were same in both columns and appeared on same line.

4.      Some sentences were passed through both columns.

5.      Several pages in the second column were just repeating same words.

6.      The word "squaaaaaaawk!" the reason for repeated “a” was to emphasizing the father’s emotion at the time of that situation.

The purpose for the essay is to show audiences the different reactions from members in a family with same event, as well the reactions from people who were or were not related with the event. And think about the reasons for different reactions from different people.

Laken uses several unexpected writing strategies for to holding the audiences’ attention. And made audiences to consider questions like, which way do “I” suppose to read the easy or which way is Laken desire her readers to read? Page by page or column by column? And why there are some sentences across into both columns? Are they against the writer’s purpose for “two columns” or the writer made it on purpose?

Old purpose:
This essay is to point out that in the information age, face to the information-inflation the abilities of memorize and forgetting things, people needs to have the ability of resistance for it, and be able to filtrate out what are important and erasure others. and forgetting is inevitably, we do not have to always feel shame because of forgetting.

New purpose:
In the information age, people needs to possess the ability of resistance for the information overload, and be able to filtrate out memory are important. Also found the equilibrium point between shame and forgetting, and be aware of that forgetting is inevitably and do not have to always feel shame because of forgetting.

Introduction:
The essay “Shame and Forgetting in the Information Age” was written by Charles Baxter. This is the essay for the audience who faces to information-inflation and have a particular space for memory. Baxter uses rhetorical strategies such as style, diction, and knowledge ability to enlighten the audiences about how people remember, what people remember, and why people remember or forget in the days of memory can both apply to computer and own minds. The purpose for this essay is to point out that in the information age, people needs to possess the ability of resistance for the information overload, and be able to filtrate out memory are important. Also found the equilibrium point between shame and forgetting, and be aware of that forgetting is inevitably and do not have to always feel shame because of forgetting. Baxter quotes the words from Nell Postman at the very beginning of this essay to support his standpoint. “We have transformed information into a form of garbage” (p.141) the information here implied memory, and the “form of garbage” is a metaphor for forgetting. At the same time implied that erasure is inevitably.

Rhetorical Analysis of Shame and Forgetting in the Information Age

The essay titled “Shame and Forgetting in the Information Age” was written by Charles Baxter, Baxter uses rhetorical strategies such as style, diction, and knowledge ability to enlighten the audiences, who live in the information age, faces the information-inflation and have a particular space for memory, memory can both apply to computer and own minds. About how we remember, what we remember, and why we remember. The purpose for this essay is to point out that in the information age, face to the information-inflation the abilities of memorize and forgetting things, people needs to have the ability of resistance for it, and be able to filtrate out what are important and erasure others.

Baxter quote “We have transformed information into a form of garbage” by Nell Postman (p.141) at the very beginning of his essay. This is a clue for audiences, the information here include and imply memory, the “form of garbage” a metaphor for forgetting. At the same time implied that erasure is inevitably, in other words, forgetting is inevitably, we do not have to always feel shame because of forgetting. Then Baxter divided the essay into five parts, at first sight, those five parts are not relative to each other, and each part could be an independent unit, but in fact they are all about memory and forgetting and have close connection with the purpose of the essay. The title of his article and title of each part are completely informed the reader to what the article is going to be about.

The first part was the story about Baxter’s brother Tom who died at 1998, “Tom was an outcast of the information age.”(p.141) and for his brother’s life was shameful due to "He was among the ranks of those who cannot easily process written information, the data-disabled" (p.142) and he cannot remember things which others think are suppose to remember. This story has a sense of reality to the author, and also a muse for him and prompted him to write this piece, it is the reason that why Bater put it to be the first section. Then Baxter overhears a conversation between two women in a restaurant. "How much memory have you got?" one of them asked the other. "I don't know." "You don't know?" the first one asked. "You don't know how much memory you have? Didn't you ask the salesman?" (p.145) they were live in “where information processing is a major industry” (p.144) but they still forgot. Then Baxter say that the society has a “huge desire or need to forget, a kind of fetishizing of amnesia.”(p.145) it is ironic. In the age of information overload, privacy is virtually no longer and become the most trivial tidbits to the public, is it not a possibility to forget?

And later in the essay he mentioned how certain types of memories can work be perceived, he discusses the example of Reagon, “it was characteristic of Reagon to say, I don’t remember.”(p.148) Not only his “dumb brother” forgot, but also people who are seems to be good at deal with information, forget, or they chose to transfer some memory in to a form of garbage. This is an example what the article calls ‘strategic amnesia’. A type of forgetting that is strategically used to forget something which is unfavorable figure for the person. “Forgetfulness means that your mind may have crashed. It may, paradoxically, set you free” (148) for Reagon, he uses the strategic amnesia to somehow set him free form responsibilities. His strategically ignored the past and obtained power for the future. Likewise, Clinton uses his forgetfulness as an escape route. “His high approval ratings suggest that nobody really mind, that in fact, the American people secretly approve Clinton has become a hero of selective data management.”(p.149) Those examples above are how people uses the strategic amnesia to make things work. And I do not think they feel shame because of forgetting. “Forgetting and shame might just serve, under the immediate surface of consciousness, as an escape route of sorts.”(p.150)

Memory for Baxter seems involve several different meanings, and had a kind of worry about the balance between memory in data and memory in experience. He uses several examples to discuss his points.

Cultural memory, the mass memory of certain group, people in the group have a common past sense of identity. Baxter uses his city as an example. "The virtuosi of knowledge, they are presumed to have-they do have-some authority because of what they know and what they remember. Their lives and their authority depend upon their ability to remember, and to remember their subjects in public. (p. 144)" his concludes was cultural memory pushing the personal memory do not have place at all. The culture itself becomes the act of remembering, and the ability to remember becomes extremely important, personal memories are now swapped out with information, therefore when people stay in front of a computer screen all day then when they come back home feel as though they have had no experiences, and look elsewhere for some stimulation. And we can found other evidence which had the same issue in his essay. Just like "The day ends, not with physical exhaustion, but with data-fatigue or data-nausea" (Baxter 146) Nowadays people spend a lot of time in front of computers, people become exhausted from day to day, not the physical exhaustion, is the mental exhaustion from information-inflation. Baxter also worry about that nowadays, our minds are flooding by tons and tons information, and the personal experience become devalued. “Experience has fallen in value,” he suggested that many people do not want to exchange experience with others. That is kind of what the society tends to do.

As Baxter say "No one can absorb all the information" (p.146). We must selective memories. And do not feel shame about forgetting. The reason is face the information-inflation, try to remember everything might not be a good idea.

Assignment #1.1

The essay "Shame and Forgetting in the Information Age" by Charles Baxter, being with the story from Baxter's brother which I think is the muse for Baxter to started this essay

The purpose for this essay is to point out that in the information age, face to the information-inflation, people needs to have the ability of resistance for it, and be able to filtrate out what are important(information for experience), and erasure others. Like the author mentioned at the very beginning "We have transformed information into a form of garbage" it is implied that erasure is inevitably, in other words, forgetting is inevitably, we do not have to always feel shame because of forgetting.

Quotes:

"No one can absorb all the information" (146).

"Maybe Erasure is Necessary(153)

"what meaning does forgetfulness possess in an information age?"(146)

“Many people seem to believe that remembering is simply a matter of willpower” (147)

“Forgetfulness means that your mind may have crashed. It may, paradoxically, set you free” (148).

assignment#2

What Charles Baxter trying to say in his essay is about the abilities of memorize and forgetting things, and what should we do to deal they in the information ages. The author divided the essay into five parts, at first sight, those five parts are not relatived to each other, but in fact they are all about memory and forgetting. and have close connection with the title.

The essay begin with the story about the author's brother, this story has a sense of reality to the author, and induce he began to think about --"shame and forgetting in the information ages", it is the reason that why the author put it at the very beginning.The second part is like a connecting link between the preceding and the following. The author also mentioned about different types of memory, relation between information and experience...The last part suggested that maybe erasure is necessary. Sometimes people feel shame when they forget something, which they suppose to remember. Sometimes people feel comfy beause they forget some trauma form past. Nowadays,the technology and computer are improving so fast, we can get information very easyly , but it did not help people's memories. there are to much information and include many are worthless. So people need to pick those important informatins.

hi everyone, this is Zhen Zhen, 18, from China and have been here about one and half year. For me, the best thing about Milwaukee is the weather, the cold weather, it is completely different from my hometown. The winter in my hometown is warm and without snow. What I enjoy doing in the free time is just stay alone and head in the clouds( daydreaming). It is nice to meet you all and hope we will have nice time together.