tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post6991396193514466939..comments2024-03-27T16:40:21.941-07:00Comments on A Country Boy Can Surmise: Silas Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08720545904650129484noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-73661171246793646562010-06-10T07:46:39.928-07:002010-06-10T07:46:39.928-07:00I am a high school teacher and would like (ok, LOV...I am a high school teacher and would like (ok, LOVE) to use this essay with students in three ways: 1. To explain the importance of word selection in conveying a message; 2. As a model for great non-fiction essay writing; and, 3. With my Character Education students when we talk about stereotyping and labels. Permission to reproduce for classroom use?K Jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-16825860366400797322010-06-02T16:00:17.642-07:002010-06-02T16:00:17.642-07:00I never have seen this blog before today. I have ...I never have seen this blog before today. I have to say, I was actually happy in one way to see the word "retard" used in Eli the Good. Let me qualify that I do not like that word at all. But the word IS USED, and you're right, it is the word she would have used in that spot. I think it is good to be true to the character, in the same way I think it is right to respect people in real life who use words you don't like. I do not like to hear certin things in real life either, but I do not want my kids to think it is okay to run out and correct, immediately despise, or shoot a dirty look at someone for using a word that is sticks-and-stones to them, or others. You can never account for context and point of departure- and no person's choice of words is less valid than another person's choice of words. If there is hurt as a result, it is often unintentional, and is always an opportunity for someone to learn about the context or origin in a way that is not accusatory. Intention is not an easy thing to guess correctly, and I think we as a society think we know intention when we see or hear it. We are often mistaken, and miss out on a lot as a result. Yes, some people are just mean, but we can learn from that too. I hope parents discuss these things with their kids when they are encountered in books and in real life, and that all people consider the humans on BOTH sides of any given word. I do not hold it against Edie, and I hope I haven't had too many people hold similar gaffs against me.<br />Thank you for keeping it in there, and I hope you have moved through your regret.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-51060251265453797212010-06-02T15:59:46.426-07:002010-06-02T15:59:46.426-07:00I never have seen this blog before today. I have ...I never have seen this blog before today. I have to say, I was actually happy in one way to see the word "retard" used in Eli the Good. Let me qualify that I do not like that word at all. But the word IS USED, and you're right, it is the word she would have used in that spot. I think it is good to be true to the character, in the same way I think it is right to respect people in real life who use words you don't like. I do not like to hear certin things in real life either, but I do not want my kids to think it is okay to run out and correct, immediately despise, or shoot a dirty look at someone for using a word that is sticks-and-stones to them, or others. You can never account for context and point of departure- and no person's choice of words is less valid than another person's choice of words. If there is hurt as a result, it is often unintentional, and is always an opportunity for someone to learn about the context or origin in a way that is not accusatory. Intention is not an easy thing to guess correctly, and I think we as a society think we know intention when we see or hear it. We are often mistaken, and miss out on a lot as a result. Yes, some people are just mean, but we can learn from that too. I hope parents discuss these things with their kids when they are encountered in books and in real life, and that all people consider the humans on BOTH sides of any given word. I do not hold it against Edie, and I hope I haven't had too many people hold similar gaffs against me.<br />Thank you for keeping it in there, and I hope you have moved through your regret.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-9555427549512786992010-01-17T16:59:16.781-08:002010-01-17T16:59:16.781-08:00I love that "gloaming" is one of your fa...I love that "gloaming" is one of your favorite words. It stood out to me as I read the closing pages of Eli the Good. I had never heard the word prior to that, but as I read it, I knew what it meant. It was the perfect word to express the haziness of endings that permeated those final scenes. And I love that the word that means so much to you could play so prominently in this book. I don't remember that you used it in the trilogy of books I read. When I reread them, I will be looking for it. Blessings!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-14828677723228913312009-12-04T18:35:29.256-08:002009-12-04T18:35:29.256-08:00I think to have done any less would not be 'tr...I think to have done any less would not be 'true', using a word in it's correct context is what you have chosen to do. Ensuing letters that may arise are really irrelevant when you have written what is true to the character. <br /><br />It's an interesting struggle that you endure, and I enjoyed how you explained the love of the language. I often cringe when people use profanities because they have no ability with language. <br /><br />Good luck with your new book.CChttp://seducedslowly.multiply.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-82944643442216504992009-12-04T13:13:22.320-08:002009-12-04T13:13:22.320-08:00I often hear "hillbilly" used like that....I often hear "hillbilly" used like that. Where I live now, it's considered by some to be clever irony, I suppose, to use the word "Bradentucky." To me, it has the same connotations as "trailer trash." But maybe I'm too sensitive.Randallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-89815173544425186502009-12-04T12:43:14.067-08:002009-12-04T12:43:14.067-08:00Contrast ... life vs. death, dark vs. light. Those...Contrast ... life vs. death, dark vs. light. Those are the very keys of a writer's art. We put forth situations only to resolve them in some way. I could think of a dozen parallels, which I will spare you here except a simple one: lemonade. <br /><br />If there was no sour pucker, would you seek so hard to welcome the taste of the sugar on your tongue? Done right, it's a balance too perfect for argument. <br /><br />What a writer seeks -- or any artist, in fact -- is to present their own view of the balance. A one-sided scale is useless. <br /><br />The lessons contained in a single word are immense, yes, but not immutable. Maybe I'm weird, maybe I'm not really a writer. (Now that is arguable!) Yet I have no favorite color, no favorite kind of dog or horse or even book. Nor word. I take them all for what they are: parts of the whole. Take any part away from the rest and you lessen the whole. It becomes uglier for the lack of completeness. <br /><br />Be complete. Let go of the angst and tell the story. Please, Mr. House?RLMThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00332092032368975641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-90518443228318614552009-12-03T13:46:26.035-08:002009-12-03T13:46:26.035-08:00You did the right thing, Silas. Above all, as a w...You did the right thing, Silas. Above all, as a writer, you must tell the truth, get out of the way of yourself/it and let it flow onto the page (or screen). <br />P.S. I love "cinnamon"Suzannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12724792675755603299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-36845711375883447752009-12-03T06:43:59.248-08:002009-12-03T06:43:59.248-08:00I hope a desire to write clean is a trend that kee...I hope a desire to write clean is a trend that keeps going. Characters can get unruly at times. I think it might be good for some of them to hear a voice from the past that says "Don't even think about letting that word get past your lips." We would all know the character was about to fling it out. Sometimes we have to face ugliness to correct it. Eventually, maybe they will think of 'horse feathers' first. :)Miltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17781916458342031662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-84741898675223113572009-12-03T06:38:35.286-08:002009-12-03T06:38:35.286-08:00Great post. I must say that I could speak of word...Great post. I must say that I could speak of words and their meanings forever. One of my favorites is Appalachia! Of course, it helps that I was raised in Appalachia, and grew up running wild in the WV mountains...<br /><br />I love the F-bomb, but have yet to put it in writing. The funny thing is that I get great satisfaction in using it verbally (when no other word will do and I'm not near young children or in public) and when I write it, it just doesn't have the same affect.<br /><br />As for your use of 'retard' I have mixed feelings. My sister's husband's mother taught Special Education until her recent death from cancer. I understand the derogatory connotation. <br /><br />That being said, I grew up using the word retard because I grew up learning to ride horses from a woman who used very proper english. She often said things such as 'Don't start mixing grain yet because we have only a few minutes to spare right now and that is a very retarded process.' Meaning that it was slow and hindersome and would take time. I also grew up learning music and heard retard used in that manner. It wasn't until I was in middle school that I understood other people used the word in a derogatory way. <br /><br />Another thing to remember is the age of your characters. Regardless of what other people think, you must be true to the situation represented in your story. Unless young kids are going to be reading it, you aren't going to be profoundly affecting anyone's outlook on things. In fact, if my mother (a school teacher) read that scene she would just roll her eyes and say 'typical children'. <br /><br />While using the word retard in a derogatory manner might cause pain to some people, in a way, you give that word the very power you don't want it to have by responding to it in just that way. Does that make sense?Artemis Greyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10849091563671031929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-6894098805800411472009-12-03T05:48:24.864-08:002009-12-03T05:48:24.864-08:00As a retired Special Education teacher, that word ...As a retired Special Education teacher, that word is like throwing acid into my eyes. I cringe to hear it even now. My own grown kids, who often champion the disabled, sometimes use it. I want to run for a switch; they know better. Growing up, I wasn't "allowed" to even say "Shut up!" So, I tried to teach my children to be kind. <br /><br />However,as writers and artists, it's hard to reflect reality when we are often more civilized than a character or subject may be. When you write horror stories, you show terror but do not condone it. All fiction is like that.Hazardgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17440005970258168595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-40233586824281987142009-12-02T21:47:21.760-08:002009-12-02T21:47:21.760-08:00I love Huck Finn, despite all the controversy, and...I love Huck Finn, despite all the controversy, and Big River is one of my favorite musicals. To me, the story between Huck and Jim is one of the greatest love stories ever told: their fights were horrible, but don’t good stories need conflict to be real stories? Huck uses the ONE word I’ve have never let my children, at any age, use in my house, but in the time period Huck Finn was written, Huck would have used that word, frequently, and used it in the most derogatory way. To substitute any other word would have killed the story’s authenticity. <br /> The Holocaust and Slavery are two issues often chosen as the backdrop for fiction. Writers have been criticized for the amount of graphic content such depictions include, but they have also been praised for painting realistic pictures of a painful but very real part of our history. <br /> A teacher of 27 years, I spent my first six in special education. I have the utmost respect for parents and advocates of special needs children, and I try to include them in all ways possible in my current field, but Silas’s story is set before PL 94-142 was passed, and long before it was put into practice in the deep south. Silas used the word that would have used by not only by that particular character, but by many of his characters during that time period. Leaving out “re-tard” would not have changed the story, but would have deprived the reader of another link with time and place. For those of you who have read the book, imagine leaving out the term “baby killer.” The basic structure of the book would have remained the same, but that blunt and painful phrase would have stolen a single moment in time that adds greatly to the feeling of living in that time. We are taught as writers to fully develop our characters—isn’t the omission of a character’s words a blatant refusal to develop that character to the best extent of our knowledge?<br /> In my writing, which rarely leaves twentieth century South Georgia, I use the “n” word far more than I want, but only with characters who have no substitution within their vocabulary. A close friend, reader, and fellow writer tells me she has no problem with this, but would “knock me into next year” if I, personally, used the word. We laugh, then she tells me she’d never speak of me in the terms she uses for people of MY color in the slavery stories she often writes. I guess what I’m trying to say is that sometimes we need to see pain and hardship written graphically on the page before we can realize the extent of that pain: Seeing it in Technicolor can help us understand its severity, and even GAIN us as advocates in the fight towards making things better. Sometimes, when you haven’t BEEN there, someone else must take you there before you really understand. <br /> For the record, taking me back to the heart of this thread, my favorite words of both extremes are “zealot” and “reverie.”Elaine Drennon Littlenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-76881227211897593522009-12-02T20:29:55.264-08:002009-12-02T20:29:55.264-08:00I appreciate this post, Silas, and I respect your ...I appreciate this post, Silas, and I respect your philosophy on using profanities and carefully weighing whether you would want your children or mother to read them in your work. Bravo.Bobbi Buchananhttp://www.newsoutherner.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-37246399885448370942009-12-02T16:24:11.138-08:002009-12-02T16:24:11.138-08:00As the mom of a child with special needs I am of c...As the mom of a child with special needs I am of course disappointed that you decided to keep it in. Who ever made up the sticks and stones saying didn't have a special needs kid. The real issue with the word retard is how dehumanizing it is to millions of kids who have to hear it daily in school, on the playground, and in every day life. They don't know how to turn the other cheek, they just take it and it hurts. They can't defend themselves like other kids. Words hurt and that's the danger of insisting that a made up character needed to use the word because in fact you needed to use the word. And yes, it's just another person dismissing what the entire special needs community is asking you not to do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-18480463018410621162009-12-02T14:14:23.141-08:002009-12-02T14:14:23.141-08:00I struggle daily with the language of my character...I struggle daily with the language of my characters. I don't use profanity, I don't condone it, and quite frankly I don't like to read it, but sometimes the character just wants to blurt out a nasty word or phrase despite what I want. I've trashed one novel for that very reason. My main character had a very colorful personality. (I tried to rewrite her but she didn't seem real). <br /><br />I guess I've failed as a writer on this one. <br /><br />I've often wondered how other writers handle this problem. I suppose it's a constant battle for us all.Leeunahttp://leeunafoster.com/humorblognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-75110106354083041042009-12-02T13:43:49.829-08:002009-12-02T13:43:49.829-08:00Great post, Silas. I especially appreciate your c...Great post, Silas. I especially appreciate your comments about "trailer trash" being a hurtful term. In MFA school, someone turned in a poem called "White Trash," and no one but me had a problem with the poem (which was everything you might expect a poem called "White Trash" to be). I remember thinking, "What am I doing here?"Tom C. Hunleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02972166472389394669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-54163982264094838982009-12-02T13:37:04.585-08:002009-12-02T13:37:04.585-08:00Language has the power we give it. It has the powe...Language has the power we give it. It has the power to hurt or to heal. Sort of like the struggle of good vs evil, it all depends on whose hands it falls in.<br /><br /><br />And my favorite words is onomatopoeia. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10626628141472537281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-62101281100315228812009-12-02T10:46:10.234-08:002009-12-02T10:46:10.234-08:00Silas!! That was THE word in 1976! And, I'm s...Silas!! That was THE word in 1976! And, I'm sooo bad about the f-word...oh, my! I'm going to try to do better!!! Thank you for your good thoughts.Pattinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-32620606042367395562009-12-02T09:53:38.091-08:002009-12-02T09:53:38.091-08:00Love the word "blackberry" (pronounced b...Love the word "blackberry" (pronounced black-burry) and this poem about blackberries and words by Galway Kinnel:<br /><br />Blackberry Eating<br />by Galway Kinnell, from A New Selected Poems (Mariner Books, 2001)<br /><br />I love to go out in late September<br />among the fat, overripe, icy, black blackberries<br />to eat blackberries for breakfast,<br />the stalks very prickly, a penalty<br />they earn for knowing the black art<br />of blackberry making; and as I stand among them<br />lifting the stalks to my mouth, the ripest berries<br />fall almost unbidden to my tongue,<br />as words sometimes do, certain peculiar words<br />like strengths or squinched or broughamed,<br />many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps,<br />which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well<br />in the silent, startled, icy, black language<br />of blackberry eating in late September.Marianne Worthingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01830809101496519258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-7360690392548300092009-12-02T04:31:53.896-08:002009-12-02T04:31:53.896-08:00Very thoughtful and provocative. Any one who knows...Very thoughtful and provocative. Any one who knows you or your writing senses your honesty to your characters and yourself. People aren't perfect, nor should characters be, because they are reflections of ourselves or people we know. As a parent myself, I struggle with the words that are bandied about in the sphere of teenagers today, and try to guide my own child in his interpretation of his world. We all struggle in this way. Thank you for putting it into words so eloquently.Teresa Kravtinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04091096166261139454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736523594228656794.post-54816728586593778382009-12-01T19:19:31.720-08:002009-12-01T19:19:31.720-08:00A beautiful post that reveals the goodness of your...A beautiful post that reveals the goodness of your intentions as writer. Thank you for sharing so openly your "regret."Amynoreply@blogger.com