Blog Post 17

I. Rhetorical Overview of the Article

1. What is the author's exigence? Why does the author feel the article/argument needs to be made?

A: Hooks exigence is that writing an autobiography is a more difficult task then it may seem. She realizes that accuracy with detail is less important than writing down how you feel in from situation to situation. 

2a. What discourse community is the author speaking toward for the article? WHY do you think that?

2b. If you are not the intended audience, or outside of the discourse community, for this article, what would the author need to change to make you the primary audience?

A: The discourse community Hook is speaking to in her article is anyone who is interested or is currently in writing an autobiography.  She explains the process for that she went through to write her own autobiography.

3. What is the author's thesis/argument/niche for the piece? If possible, quote specifically from the text

Thesis: "Until I began to try and write my autobiography, I thought that it would be a simple task, this telling of one's story. And yet it tried year after year, never writing more than a few pages."

II. Summary

1. Write a few sentences that summarizes this article in your own words; make sure to cover the main arguments AND conclusions.

In her article, "Writing Autobiography," Bell Hook talks about the process she used while trying to write her own autobiography. Hook grew up in a broken household and found that writing about her life and her past helped her deal with the problems she had in the past. She also described the difficulties that come along when writing an autobiography.

2. Take the summary you just wrote and condense it into something “tweetable,” by which I mean a summary that is NO longer than 140 characters. Consider using the same conventions you would if tweeting, meaning abbreviations and informality in language.

Tweet: Find ways to forget the past and starting writing your future.

3. What hashtags (#) would you use for this article? Stated otherwise, what key terms would you provide to describe the content of this article?

#emotions #writing  #difficulties #autobiography 

III. Burkean Parlor/Intertextuality

1. In what ways does this author and/or the ideas in this article connect with, (dis)agree with, speak to or against –I think you get the gist– previous authors and their ideas that we have encountered in this class?

Hooks article is similar to Lamott's idea that although it may be difficult to write a paper at first you just need to find the right strategy and mindset to help ease the process.

Assigned Exercises

1. What does hook mean when she says she wants to "kill" herself through her writing?

A: What Hook is talking about when she says she wants to kill herself through her writing is because it brought back and opened up wounds from her past. With the pain though came a healing process that she discovered through writing

2. Bell Hooks changed her name from Gloria Jean Watkins, essentially changing her identity with it. Can identity be something we can change through text? How can we achieve this?

A: You can change your identity completely when writing. Many people write in ways that does not reflect their personality one bit. This is why many people find writing so entertaining because you can be someone else.

IV. Personal Reflection

1. How can you apply the information in this article to your own writing process? First, consider the main ideas that the author addresses, then consider other elements, such as organization, style, etc.

I personally didn’t take much out of this article because I don’t plan on writing an autobiography any time in the near future. But I did find the story very touching about her past and how writing has changed her life.

2. What is confusing about the article? What questions do you have after reading the article?

I think this article was easy to understand it just didn’t relate with me.