Tag: Journal Entry

  • Location Provides Identity

    I have a particular identity at home as my parents’ daughter. I am the peacemaker, the one who needs protecting. At school, I was the planning one, the one who made good grades. At work, I am the well-recommended one, the one for whom teal seems an appropriate color. Growing up in church, I was…

  • Saint Maybe

    Thoughts on Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler There is humor at the beginning in an overly serious tone. However, as the formality fades and the events of the novel fit the seriousness, the humor ends. The book uses colloquial language that makes it feel more real. There is high tension both internally for all of the characters…

  • Stygo

    Thoughts upon finishing Stygo by Laurie Hendrie Depending on chapter, it mixes 3rd person and 1st person narrators. The 3rd person sections, especially, have noticeable “you”s that stand out because of the seeming inconsistency of the perspective. However, the “you”s work colloquially to boost the voice of the town. The language throughout the book is very…

  • Machine Dreams

    Thoughts on Machine Dreams by Jayne Anne Phillips As with Out of Peel Tree, the fragmented stories are hard to get into, but cover a lot more ground in time and setting. The use of letters for Mitch’s war memories do a nice job of characterizing him and his relationships with others through the use of small…

  • Outside Reader 1

    Feedback from a peer, and brainstorming how to fix it She was confused on Dawson’s job. She thought he was a doctor at first. She agreed the ending was rushed. More time, such as a day, could pass for Charlie to think about what Cadence said before Darlene returns. She liked the descriptions of Darlene’s…

  • Out of Peel Tree

    Thoughts on reading Out of Peel Tree by Laura Long By fragmenting the novel through short stories, Long could cover an impressive 2 generations of time. This led to some flat sections that told, rather than showed, the passage of time. The inconsistent narrator to style ratio made the overall story harder to follow. (For example, some…

  • Country Music and Running Away

    This past week, I found radio stations that played the country songs popular on the radio in my childhood. The first day I listened to the 90’s and early-2000’s favorites, I estimated that at least 65%, if not up to 85%, of the songs alluded to running away in some form or fashion, usually for love.…

  • Glorybound

    Thoughts upon finishing Glorybound by Jessie Van Eerden Though the beginning was hard to get into because of its dense content and sad tone, I couldn’t put it down for the last 100 pages. It picked up speed toward the end as everything came together and everyone got healed. There were shorter sections and quicker shifts…

  • Unexpected Hospital Visit

    This past weekend, I unexpectedly got to observe a hospital. A close relation had to go to the emergency room because they could not breathe. As their condition stabilized, I visited them in both the Critical Care Unit and a normal room. This gave me a chance to observe a hospital that was different from the…

  • Interview with a Nurse

    1). What has been your most memorable experience working in a hospital? (Feel free to include more than one.) When I delivered a baby in the elevator at [a local hospital]. I hadn’t even graduated nursing school yet (I had a year to go). That was terrifying. Working the ER at [a local hospital] and being the…