October 16th, 2023 – October 22nd, 2023
My essay has finally been completed, and I no longer have to worry about that particular essay. She is handed in, she is done, and so are all of the presentations now. Many of the presentations were very well done, and it was interesting to see what other people were interested in relating to WW2 letters.
For Thursday’s class, we read Emma Donoghue’s Astray, but in different sections. We were split into 5-5-5 groups to read three different short stories from within. I personally read Counting the Days, which was actually quite interesting. It’s about an Irish couple, separated by the husband’s (Henry) early emigration to Canada, finally hoping to reunite on the docks after the wife (Jane) and her children take the leap of emigration. Unfortunately, they never reunite, as Henry dies of cholera shortly before Jane’s boat docks. I really liked the distinct language used in it, especially when describing people or environments, and I thought that the changing of the POV when there was another line from their real letters was an interesting way to work in both Jane and Henry’s perspectives.
Once we arrived in class, after reading our short story, we got together in our groups to mark down the important aspects of the story, including characters, plot, and use of letters within the story. With Counting the Days, we started off by listing the characters. The story predominantly focused on Jane and Henry, and the kids were… well, just there. We also did the epilogue math of Jane losing her husband, but keeping her two children, then remarrying and having 7 more children. Here was our equation:
4 (Jane, Henry, 2 kids) – 1 (Henry dies) = 3
3 (Jane, 2 kids) + 1 (new husband) + 7 (more kids) = 11 people, 9 whole kids, as opposed to half kids
I thought it was very silly. Then, we recounted the plot, what purpose the letters served, and what the letters helped to display. Our presentation to the wider class was a little disorganized, but fun nonetheless. It was a really interesting exercise, and I liked being able to map everything out on the whiteboards. Mind mapping!
Also introduced was our creative writing assignment to write epistolary fiction. I already have an idea, perhaps a self-indulgent one, but I’m excited to see where it takes me. Writing from the heart is certainly one of the best ways to write, might I say.
