Blood Dazzler: Katrina

What kind of rhythm does the writer create? Is there a variety in the sentence structure? Read the piece aloud to get a sense of the writer's voice. Write about the writer's rhythmic choices and their effect on the overall tone of the piece.
This poem is from the hurricanes point of view. It tells what the hurricane is doing and what it likes to do. It also talks about what kind of material it is going through and what it is picking up. An example of this would be when the hurricane talks about breaking through the slush, branches, and steel.
The writer creates a rhythm when there is a start of a new line. In the lines there are two or three commas separating what the hurricane is doing. This happens in every group of words beside the first.
The first line starts with the hurricane being born and how it is restless so it wants to get out of where ever it was. From there it takes us on the hurricanes journey.
I think the Patricia Smith uses this structure very effectively. I felt as if I knew the hurricane and it was telling me what was going on. So I think it was Patricia Smiths intention to make Hurricane Katrina sound like a human being but to still act like a hurricane. I think this because a human could not do most the things in the poem. A couple of examples would be when the hurricane says it broke through steel or when it was hungering for wood, walls, and unturned skin.

Snapshots

Write three 50-word "snapshots" (or, brief narratives) from key experiences you've had within environment/place.



We were at baseball practice on the edge of the town. Black clouds were running over the sky in very different patterns. The grass and dirt were darker than I had ever seen. All of the sudden winds picked up and it started raining very heavily. Tornado sirens went off. My teammates and I packed up our stuff as quick as possible and headed home.



I was exhausted and my shirt was drenched in sweat. Dark red mats on the ground with lighter red pads against the walls. It was a rectangular room that had far more length than width. About eight dimly lit lights on the ceiling with two more knocked out. Hard rock music blaring from the stereo while whistles go off randomly. A big white board with writing stands on one of the walls. The room was filled with high school kids trying to get on that board.

One side packed with red and white. The other side black. Inbetween light green turf that went on for 1oo yards with endzones in yellow. Twenty two players were on the field lined up for the opening play. A jumbotron stands on top of the southeast corner showing the action. Sweat wreaks on the field as popcorn does in the stands.

2 Questions

Two questions you'd like to ask both Rick Bass and Terry Tempest Williams
-How did Rick Bass become so fond of wolves?
-How would these guys writing be different if they lived in the city their whole lives?

Map of Cedar Falls, Iowa

I chose a road map that shows pretty much the whole city. Included in the map are mostly the streets with the main streets labeled and the parks. Also in there are some cemeteries, the University of Northern Iowa, and a hospital. Many things are left out like all of the houses, the buildings, and most of the street names. The houses and buildings are left out because it is just a road map and you don't need all of that but I think it would be good if they put some of the major buildings in so people who are not so familiar with the area could have some major landmarks. I also think it would be good to have the other street names in there but the map is not big enough for that.

UNI Dome

What does this image represent about your hometown? How would you represent it differently?

This is the UNI Dome located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. You can see it from miles away and if you don't it is probably the first thing you see when you get into town. It has hosted a varitey of events like college and high school football games, wrestling tournaments, basketball games, boat shows, and much more. Many people come from all over to go to these events so it brings a lot of business to the community. I wouldn't represent it any differently than it already is because its a great thing for the Cedar Falls area an I think a lot of people are proud of it.

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

What specific details stay in your mind? Why? How do these small details lead to larger ideas?

Some of the details that stuck in my mind are of the way he describes the Great Salt Lake area in the beginning. She goes into great depth and has a lot of descriptions. She talks about living things and gives a good example about the salt water that he did while in school. It really seems like the writer, Terry Tempest Williams, has a great appreciation and passion for this area.