And so they shall. Welcome to the community blog for English 4017 Spring 2015. For your first foray into blogging on CNF, read the assigned texts and answer the following questions:
- How is Sedaris's "Dentists Without Borders" characteristic of creative nonfiction?
- How would you classify "Dentists Without Borders" in terms of subgenre?
- Why would you place it under that category?
Rather than leading everyone toward One Right Answer, these questions are designed to elicit your critical reading of CNF. I am interested in how you answer these questions based on your understanding of CNF and your facility in reading a text through the lens of CNF.
Post your response by 11pm this Sunday and comments by 4pm Tuesday.
Happy Blogging.
In David Sedaris's article, he uses creative details to describe his doctor visits in Paris. It's more than what illnesses he had, or what the doctors prescribed to help him, but more or less who these doctors were as people. It really is a "true story told well." Someone who is describing their experiences at the doctors doesn't seem that interesting, but thanks to creative nonfiction, Sedaris made a simple story a fun one to read. He didn't lie about anything, he simply told his story in a way that attracts people to actually want and enjoy reading it. Based on the sub genres, I feel as though David Sedaris's writing can fall under the essay of place sub genre. Sedaris captures the settings of each scene he has from riding the subway to the dentist. He uses real quotes and gives great detail like how he describes the process of his four new teeth. He also describes his point of view throughout his medical experiences. For example, when he tells his boyfriend why would the dentist think he would leave the house with teeth missing anyway. He describes his experiences in his own way, how he felt, what he thought, and what actually happened. I did struggle choosing between the personal essay sub genre and the essay of place. I just felt that this article fell in line with the description of the essay of place genre better. His story wasn't an essay; it was simply describing a few of life's events over time in his point of view.
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