Author Study Response (Book Two)
To be terrific, you must be specific!
Poet David McCord tells the story of how he once picked up an old copy of St. Nicholas magazine, which printed stories written by children. One of the stories caught his attention, and he was "suddenly struck by a prose passage more earthy and natural in voice than what I had been glancing through. This sounds like E.B. White, I said to myself. Then I looked at the signature: Elwyn Brooks White, age 11." The qualities that led McCord to recognize the young author who would one day write Charlotte’s Web can be summed up in the word "voice."
Roy Peter Clark, "Writing Tool #19: Tune Your Voice," Poynteronline.
As you read each of four works for your author study, your goal is to study the writing as a guide to understanding the writer’s unique voice, which you’ll present to your readers in your final project. For this reason, it is important to read analytically and critically. For the second book you read, address these questions. Add paper as necessary or word-process your responses.
My Name: Hannah Kay Hunt Class Period: _B period__________
Title of Book Read: High Tide in Tucson
Published in (year) 1996 Number of Pages 270
Genre: Nonfiction, Essays
1. A. For a work of fiction, summarize the plot. OR B. For a work of nonfiction, summarize the contents.
This novel consists of twenty-five short, nonfiction essays. The themes of all the essays typically consist of nature, some politics, a lot of family, and cultural history. Humanity’s place and our motives and acknowledgement of our pasts and futures are brought up. I will touch on each essay with sentence fragments and notes describing Kingsolver’s ideas and opinions, as well as her experiences presented in each essay.
2. In what ways is this book similar to the first book you read? (Think of as many similarities as possible.)
High Tide in Tucson is similar to Pigs in Heaven thematically. High Tide discusses Native Americans, politics, and family values. All three of those elements are vital in Pigs in Heaven. High Tide stresses the importance of Native Americans in today’s society, and that exact point is central to the Pigs in Heaven storyline. Pigs in Heaven questions today’s politics and law systems as Taylor fights for her custody of Turtle. High Tide includes numerous stories about Kingsolver’s daughter, Camille, and the reader knows that Kingsolver treasures her daughter more than anything else in the world. This concept of mother-daughter connection shows through in Taylor and Turtle’s relationship in Pigs in Heaven.
High Tide reveals Kingsolver’s history; she grew up in Kentucky and haphazardly traveled west as a young adult. Taylor does the exact same thing in Pigs in Heaven, but gains a baby along the way; that did not happen to Kingsolver. Kingsolver states in High Tide that she never bases her characters on anyone, but Taylor’s story is uncannily similar to hers. That was really confusing to me. money
High Tide includes many references to pigs, just like in Pigs in Heaven. Pigs in Heaven indirectly discusses the value of the Earth and, that is a major factor of High Tide. Nature is always intricately described in Kingsolver’s fiction in a favorable way and sets the mood for the scene. Kingsolver reveals her deep appreciation of nature in High Tide.
Kingsolver also discusses her lack of money in her past and how she dealt with it in High Tide. Taylor desperately needs money in Pigs in Heaven to a point of where she is in poverty.
3. A. For a novel: Who is the protagonist and what is his or her struggle? OR B. For a work of nonfiction: Who is the narrator? (Go beyond superficial identity and consider the quality of his or her mind.)
Barbara Kingsolver is the narrator of High Tide in Tucson. She is a middle-aged woman who is barely in her second marriage with a daughter that she adores. She believes in a more primitive life with less superficiality than the norm American culture. She has a high respect for nature and other cultures. She craves knowledge and understanding, spurring her travels and vacations to less "touristy" locations. She values family more than anything else in her life and believes in respect for younger generations because they are our future, as well as the Earth’s. She is adventurous, but not wild. She can at times appear shy. Like most writers, she is individualistic and thinks for herself and forms her own opinions; she does not conform to fads and popular culture.
4. A. For a work of fiction: What are the themes of the work? OR B. For a work of nonfiction: What ideas (claims about topics) are made in the work?
We should value the Earth we have and look at its future. We should preserve it and look into the long-term future. The Earth is so valuable, and we take it for granted. There is hardly any natural, untouched Earth left.
Americans need to value our children and human life in general much more. Our society tends to look at children as inconveniences, not as blessings. Children are our future. This opinion came forth when she wrote about her experience in Spain. Americans do not absorb what life is. We do not look at life as a gift. We abuse it. We make nuclear missiles that could detonate cities and countries and don’t really think of what kind of destruction it can cause.
Humans are not almighty. We are not the supreme rulers of the Earth. We seem to usually take this approach in response to nature, and it is not so. Who made us able to own parts of the Earth as our own? We do not appreciate life. The Earth in its natural state is beautiful.
5. Select a passage that reveals the voice. Copy that passage here and explain what it reveals. (You may attach a photocopy of the passage if you wish.)
Kingsolver’s opinion of herself is revealed in this passage. Her humor and wit is revealed with irresistible charm. Once again, her daughter and value of the no-frills life comes through as she longs to go home. She gives opinions and backs them up, and don’t be surprised if they crop up again when you don’t expect it. She ties in the author from earlier in the book who was classified as "untourable" into her own crazy story, hoping she could become viewed as that.
Kingsolver does seem to think little of herself at times. She doubts herself; that probably goes hand in hand with her shyness. She just sobs when she hits her breaking point, showing how human she is. She’s a grounded person and just wants to go home and see her daughter. Kingsolver is a little paranoid and self-conscious. This shows as she reveals that she cannot stop thinking of the booksellers and if they are going to talk about her.
Kingsolver mentions her outfit, which she has worn everyday for four weeks. This just further proves my assertion that she is not superficial.
Her voice is perfectly accented in this passage for a variety of reasons. Her common themes of family and primitivism show through. She is witty and longs for normalcy.
5. What did you discover from the photocopied reading(s) I gave you? Can you see connections between comments in that article (or those articles) to the works you’ve read so far?
I definitely found some similarities in High Tide in Tucson and Pigs in Heaven and the articles. I did discover from The Bean Trees article why Lou Ann and Taylor got along: because they talk the same way. After reading that, I thought back to their dialogue and realized that this is very true. Kingsolver was quoted in that same article for saying, "’I don’t know how people write about characters they don’t know and care about.’" This shows through in both works of her fiction that I have read. The setting and characters share pasts and characteristic undeniably similar to that of Kingsolver. Taylor shares the same heritage and childhood moving past as Kingsolver.
The other article about Pigs in Heaven pretty much reaffirmed some opinions I had drawn about Kingsolver. She likes to write about "grinding injustice (usually perpetrated against Indians and Central Americans)," which is visible in all of her pieces that I have read. A thought that had never directly occurred to me was presented in this article; it states the following: "Ms. Kingsolver not only respects Taylor, she understands a single mother’s greatest fear – that her lack of resources can be used against her in an effort to take her child away." In High Tide in Tucson, Kingsolver talks nonstop about her daughter and her respect for Camille. It becomes obvious to the reader that she treasures her daughter more than anything else and having here taken away would be the worst thing that could ever happen to her.
The Pigs in Heaven article also recognized Kingsolver’s use of poverty in her novels. A new concept was presented to me, saying, "It’s a trap because poverty is viewed as shameful. In this culture, it’s more honorable to steal than to beg." Kingsolver used Taylor when she was in poverty to show that you can still be a great, smart person and not have money. Not having money does not indicate stupidity or failure. She also uses Taylor’s position as a single mother to show that that is not a negative role to play. Kingsolver, for a long time, was a single mother herself. She shattered that stereotype be making Taylor a strong character who did not constantly long for a companion; she already had one, Turtle.
6. Your final project must include several different pieces of writing in different genres, which must be framed or organized in some unifying way. After reading the first two works, what pieces of writing might you compose? Do you have an idea for a frame or unifying device? (As many ideas as you can generate will help you think about your study.)
I read part of Swapna’s Barbara Kingsolver author study, and I believe she did a version of a third book in the Taylor and Turtle story. If I completely misread it and just interpreted it as that, then that would be a good way to do it.
I also considered packing a small suitcase like Kingsolver did on her book tour and filling it with bits of new novels, interviews, family mementoes, and maybe even a letter to the President calling for preservation of wildlife or maybe the disarming or less funding for nuclear weapons.
I could do like Taylor did in Pigs in Heaven and make a picture triangle with sentimental mementoes inside. I could make a journal or scrapbook like the one she describes in High Tide in Tucson.