Memoir Post
I will post my memoir as soon as I can. Right now it is only saved on my computer, which has decided not to turn on. I am going to take it to get fixed, so hopefully they can fix it soon and then I will be able to post my memoir. Sorry for the delay.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Hashimoto Response
I was confused when I first started reading Hashimoto’s article because he starts out sounding like he is praising voice, especially when he takes a bunch of quotes from authors who are advocates of voice, like Elbow. He quotes a lot from Elbow. But then Hashimoto turns his paper against voice. He believes that voice is not necessary to write a great paper. What really matters is the content that is placed in the paper. Voice can be nice, like adding on to the paper and making it more personal, but what really matters is the facts and content.
One argument Hashimoto makes against voice is that voice can be scary to writers who have not found their voice. It sure is easy to get excited about writing a paper in your own voice, but when you start to think about it, what is your voice? Voice is a spiritual thing all writers have, but how can you find your voice? This fear of not finding your voice can block writers because they cannot grasp this concept and their minds freeze up without a writers voice. They start to wonder if that means they aren’t a writer. I like how Hashimoto compares this voice to spirituality and religion. It reminded me of one of my education classes on Tuesday. We were talking about education in the past and that in some areas (like early America with the Puritans) people were taught to read and write so they could read the Bible. If you could read and write, you were saved. If not, you were damned. It’s almost like how the advocates of voice act. If you can find your voice, then your paper is saved. If you cannot, then your paper is damned. They say that if you write a paper with voice, then it will be good, but if it doesn’t have voice the paper will be bad. Hashimoto does not agree with this, because he does not believe that voice can damn or save your paper, it just depends on the content of the paper.
One other argument I liked is the idea that voice can be viewed in different ways. The writer might write their paper with their voice, but the readers might not like that voice. How can the paper be viewed now? If you focus so much on voice, the whole idea of content and the actual writing of the paper gets blown away. To tell you the truth, if someone does not enjoy the voice of the paper, they are not going to notice how well the paper is written or focus on the actual content. That’s why Hashimoto thinks voice can add to the paper, but what writers should really focus on is the content and not worry so much about placing voice in papers. What will make the paper good is how well it is written and the content that is placed in it.
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