An Insight into “Assassination Vacation” or Sarah Vowell? Revised

An Insight into Assassination Vacation or Sarah Vowell?

            In Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation, she writes of her travels to the significant stops that the assassins of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and William McKinley took leading to, and following, their crimes. From the first sentence to the last, Vowell displays her unique sarcasm and humor. Upon concluding this book, one feels as if they know Vowell on a personal level because she manages, in a book solely about presidential assassinations, to let her witty personality shine through. Vowell’s interview at Lenoir-Rhyne University offers an insight into herself, not only as an author, but also as a person, and helps to further explain her unique writing style in Assassination Vacation, something that many readers may never have the opportunity to learn.

Within the first few pages of the preface, Vowell gets off on a tangent, something that is not common of many authors, but is quite normal for her. While writing of the character of Emma Goldman in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Assassins, she states “Here was a woman whose words inspired a guy to kill a president. And come to think of it, one of her old boyfriends shot the industrialist Henry Frick” (5), concluding with “Wait, I lost my train of thought. Where was I?” (5). It is obvious that this tangent was not necessary for the understanding of her book, but was something she felt compelled to include because of her nature as a writer. Coincidentally, the first point in which Vowell addresses during her interview with Mike Collins of WFAE radio was her love of getting on a tangent, or a “shenanigan” as she likes to call them. She considers them an aside.

As her interview progresses, she talks about several of the other books she has written as well as her Master’s Degree in Art History, something that helped her to understand humanity and the contradictions seen in everyday life. Vowell notes that she sees herself as “a reader first, so I write for the readers. I don’t want to be someone’s doorstop, but rather something that people actually read.” Many of the books that she has written have come from her journaling throughout a journey and turning the entries into a book for people to read.

From her discussion of her first book and herself as an author, Vowell turns to Assassination Vacation. “Egomania” is a term which Vowell turns to frequently while discussing this book as well as in the preface of it. Vowell states that “Presidents are people who think they should be President, which is ridiculous. Assassins, think the same thing”; calling them both “egomaniacs; Presidents are just more socially acceptable.” In other words, both presidents and assassins believe that their way of thinking is correct and everyone else should follow them because of it, posing the question: “Just who do you think you are?” (7). Vowell notes that Booth was “shocked that what he thought would be regarded as a courageous act of southern patriotism against a despot is covered in the press as the treasonous crime of an evil lunatic” (81); a prime example of an assassin’s egomaniac ways. The claim which Vowell makes regarding the connection between presidents and assassins gives the members of the audience an insight into her writing technique, along with the workings of her mind, that her average reader will lack.

It is of no surprise that attending an interview of someone gives the audience an insight that others lack, but Vowell manages to take her interview a step further. Vowell allows her everyday sense of whit and sarcasm to come through in her writing and, thus, has created a paradox like no other: a book about presidential assassination that is funny. Although readers who have not been given the opportunity to hear Vowell speak in person still get the main effects of the book, they lack the insights into her mind and writing style that the audience of her interview now possesses.

Works Cited

Vowell, Sarah. Assassination Vacation. Simon and Schuster. 2005.

 

Vowell, Sarah. Visiting Writers Series Interview by Mike Collins. 27 Oct. 2016, P.E. Monroe

Auditorium, Lenoir-Rhyne U., Hickory, NC.

An Insight into “Assassination Vacation” or Sarah Vowell?

 

An Insight into Assassination Vacation or Sarah Vowell?

            In Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation, she writes of her travels to visit the different stops of importance that the assassins of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and William McKinley took leading to, and following, their crimes. From the first sentence to the last, Vowell’s unique sarcasm and humor is evident. Upon concluding this book, one feels as if they know Vowell on a personal level because she manages, in a book solely about presidential assassinations, to let her witty personality shine through. On October 27, 2016, the opportunity arose at Lenoir-Rhyne University to get to know Vowell at an even deeper level through an interview with Mike Collins of WFAE radio. This interview offers an insight into Vowell not only as an author, but also as a person, and helps to further explain her unique writing style in Assassination Vacation, something that many readers never have the opportunity to learn.

Within the first few pages of the preface, Vowell gets off on a tangent, something that is not common of many authors, but is quite normal for her. While writing of the actress that played Emma Goldman in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Assassins, she states “Here was a woman whose words inspired a guy to kill a president. And come to think of it, one of her old boyfriends shot the industrialist Henry Frick” (5), concluding with “Wait, I lost my train of thought. Where was I?” (5). It is obvious that this tangent was not necessary for the understanding of her book, but was something she felt impelled to include because that is the kind of writer that she is. Ironically, the first point in which Vowell addresses during her interview was her love of getting on a tangent, or a “shenanigan” as she likes to call them. She considers them a “side in a story” (Vowell).

As her interview progresses, she talks of several of the other books she has written as well as her Master’s Degree in Art History, something that helped her to understand humanity and the contradictions seen in everyday life. Vowell sees herself as “a reader first, so I write for the readers. I don’t want to be someone’s doorstop, but rather something that people actually read” (Vowell). Many of the books that she has written have come from her journaling throughout a journey and turning the entries into a book for people to read.

Having discussed her first book and who she is as an author, Vowell turns to Assassination Vacation. “Egomania” is a term which Vowell turns to frequently while discussing this book. Vowell states that “Presidents are people who think they should be President, which is ridiculous. Assassins, think the same thing”; calling them both “egomaniacs; Presidents are just more socially acceptable” (Vowell). In other words, both presidents and assassins believe that their way of thinking is correct and everyone else should follow them because of it. Vowell notes in Assassination Vacation that Booth was “shocked that what he thought would be regarded as a courageous act of southern patriotism against a despot is covered in the press as the treasonous crime of an evil lunatic” (81); a prime example of an assassin’s egomaniac ways. The claim which Vowell makes regarding the connection between presidents and assassins gives the members of the audience an insight into her writing technique, along with the workings of her mind, that her average reader will lack.

It is of no surprise that attending an interview of someone gives the audience an insight that others lack, but Vowell manages to take her interview a step further. Vowell allows her everyday sense of whit and sarcasm to come through in her writing and, thus, has created a paradox like no other: a book about presidential assassination that is funny. Although readers who have not been given the opportunity to hear Vowell speak in person still get the main effects of the book, they lack the insights into her mind and writing style that the audience of her interview now possesses.

Works Cited

Vowell, Sarah. Assassination Vacation. Simon and Schuster. 2005.

 

Vowell, Sarah. Visiting Writers Series Interview by Mike Collins. 27 Oct. 2016, P.E. Monroe

Auditorium, Lenoir-Rhyne U., Hickory, NC.

An Inability to Cope

An Inability to Cope

          Susan Snyder’s critical essay Othello: A Modern Perspective, gives an insight into the motives behind the downfall of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. The first approach Snyder takes concludes that this downfall of marriage occurs because of Iago. Iago, furious that Cassio has been given the post of Othello’s lieutenant and suspicious that his wife, Emilia, has betrayed him, begins to plan his evil plot to “poison Othello’s happiness” (288). These reasons; however, have nothing to do with the joy and love between Othello and Desdemona, so why does Iago choose to destroy their marriage instead of going after Cassio alone and his post? After reading Snyder’s analysis, one can conclude that this tragedy occurs solely because of Iago’s “anxiety of replacement” (290), and his inability to accept that he has low status in the social hierarchy.

The first sign of Iago’s feeling of being replaced is obvious: Cassio was chosen for lieutenant instead of him. Because Iago is lower class, his “insecurity about his ‘place’ in the social hierarchy blends into the specific obsession about the military position he has failed to attain” (290). Within the first few lines of Act 1 Scene 1, Iago proves to Roderigo that he is more qualified for the post by stating “As masterly as he. Mere prattle without practice / Is all his soldiership” (1.1.27-8). Cassio has no personal experience of fighting on the battlefield; all of his knowledge is merely from books. Iago, on the other hand, fought at Rhodes and at Cyprus. Despite his history, the Moor passed over Iago and choose “the well-bred Cassio, courtly in behavior” (290).

By the middle of the play, Iago has Othello convinced that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio, which makes Iago look like the “good guy” for telling Othello the truth and Cassio the “bad guy” for betraying Othello, along with Desdemona. To stir the fire, Iago tells Othello that recently while sleeping next to Cassio, “In sleep I heard his say ‘Sweet Desdemona, / Let us be way, let us hide our loves’” (3.3 475-76). Hearing this, Othello becomes convinced that Iago is telling the truth and grants him his lieutenancy, which, is exactly what Iago was seeking. However; Iago was unable to fulfill this want without destroying Othello and Desdemona in the process.

After reading this tragedy that Shakespeare has composed, one can conclude that a major factor, if not the only factor, that drives the unravelling of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage is Iago. Snyder, however, takes this driving force a step farther by dissecting the character of Iago and his motives, thus, revealing Iago’s inability to cope with his own insecurities, resulting in not only the tragedy of Othello and Desdemona, but also in his own death.

Works Cited

Mowat, Barbara A. and Paul Werstine, eds. Folger Shakespeare Library: Othello by William

Shakespeare. Simon and Schuster, 2009.

Snyder, Susan. “Othello: A Modern Perspective.” Folger Shakespeare Library: Othello by

William Shakespeare, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon and

Schuster, 2009. 287-98.

Visiting Writer Series: Sarah Vowell

From the minute Sarah Vowell spoke her first sentence during her featured talk of Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Visiting Writer Series in PE Monroe Auditorium, all I could hear was Violet from The Incredibles. While working at a radio station, the director of The Incredibles heard her unique voice and knew immediately that she wanted Vowell to be the voice of the character Violet. Having only spoken over the radio as herself and never having to portray someone different, Vowell was hesitant to accept this job. After careful consideration, she decided that doing this movie would be a huge learning opportunity for her, so she took it.

All throughout school, Vowell was “that kid” that would skip classes to go read at the library, not knowing that this was the start of her writing career. Vowell stated that “I am a reader first, so I write for the reader. I don’t want to be a doorstop.” With every book that she writes, she takes many notes. While taking trips to different historical sites, she took many notes that would eventually become her book Assassination Vacation. Vowell stated that she is never done researching or taking notes for a book but rather that she has deadlines she must meet.

Vowell said that “I can always learn more from seeing something in person perhaps because of I have a Master’s Degree in Art History.” I myself am much like this. Visually seeing something and taking notes is how I learn the best. Hearing Vowell’s insight during her talk on Thursday evening was very educating and something that I throughly enjoyed.

The Relatable Writing Styles of Vowell and Lincoln

Katie Tonnesen

ENG 131.02

Professor Lucas

26 October 2016

The Relatable Writing Styles of Vowell and Lincoln

            It does not take a rocket scientist to pick up on Sarah Vowell’s sarcastic, yet relatable, tone used throughout her work of nonfiction, Assassination Vacation. Vowell, herself, is taking trips to the pit stops along the paths in which the assassins of U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and William McKinley had taken before and after they committed their crimes. After attending a musical at Ford’s Theatre (the theatre where Lincoln was shot), Vowell finds herself taking a walk to the Lincoln Memorial. Upon arrival, Vowell decides to read “the two Lincoln speeches that are chiseled in the wall in chronological order, Gettysburg first” (26). After reading these two speeches, both of which she has read many times before, Vowell makes the realization that her two favorite parts of the Second Inaugural speech are when “Lincoln is sarcastic” (26). Through Vowell’s interpretation of Lincoln’s two famous speeches, the stage is set for the informative, personal, and down-right sarcastic tone that will be prevalent through the rest of this first chapter.

Vowell immediately starts her interpretation of Lincoln’s speeches with a light, witty memory of pausing at the feet of Lincoln’s memorial, “swaying back and forth a little so it looks like his knees move” (26). This recollection of a whimsy moment not only gives the reader an insight into Vowell’s humor, but it also prepares Vowell and the reader for reading the Second Inaugural speech, a speech which is far from being whimsical. Lincoln is “a writer. And in his sarcasm and his writing, he is who he is” (26). Because Lincoln began this speech by connecting with his audience and reminding them that the nation is at the eve of war, it sets a relatable and serious tone for the rest of his speech. Vowell, much like Lincoln, begins this book (which can be seen as her speech) by asking the question “Who wants to hear the founding fathers break into song? Me, it turns out” (21). By answering her own question, Vowell immediately connects with her readers much like Lincoln did at the beginning of his speech.

Lincoln ends his Second Inaugural speech with four simple words: “And the war came” (26). Following her reading of this speech, Vowell immediately admits that not only do these words “kill me every time” (26), but that she has also “always wondered how anyone who heard those words could kill the person who wrote them” (27). By making these statements, not only does Vowell confirm that she admires Lincoln and his brilliance, but also shows that even she herself, a highly educated and praised author, can be left in awe and with questions after reading a piece of work much like the readers of her books may be at times. What is quite ironic; however, is that Vowell is in awe with the immensity and power of Lincoln’s conclusion: “a four-word sentence that summarizes how a couple of centuries of tiptoeing around evil finally stomped into war” (27). Meanwhile, she herself has abridged a huge chunk of history, as well, by summing up Lincoln’s presidency, assassination, assassin’s get-away and capture, and lastly, her travels to the different destinations in just over 100 pages.

It is no secret that one of the responsibilities of an author is to grab her audience’s attention from the beginning of her work and continuing this interest throughout. As mentioned, both Vowell in Assassination Vacation and President Lincoln in his Second Inaugural speech have done just that. This being said, one must not conclude that because of this similarity (along with a few others) that Vowell and Lincoln wrote from the same motivation and at the same level of intellect. Rather, by showing a sense of personality from the beginning of their works, and condensing an immense time frame of history, which is not something can be easily done, Vowell and Lincoln wrote something that will stick with their readers and be studied for years to come.

Work Cited

Vowell, Sarah. Assassination Vacation. Simon and Schuster. 2005.

JCD Critical Analysis Draft

Katie Tonnesen

Professor J. Lucas

English 131.02

20 September 2016

Day Lucinda vs. Night Lucinda: An ongoing battle

            In the chapter titled “The Recovery” of James Marlon’s John Crow’s Devil, Lucinda’s two personalities, Day and Night, are beginning to tear down the wall she had previously built between the two as she administers aid to an unconscious Apostle. After completing the difficult task of putting the Apostle to bed, “Day Lucinda took off his jacket and shoes, and as she looked at his pants, Night Lucinda entered her heart” (134). Trying to make herself come back to the Day Lucinda she has become, she thinks of the scars on her back and the whipping with which she had disciplined herself just nights before. As Lucinda begins to pray for herself, she makes the realization that she was “A beast, not the false creature in church clothes” (134-35). While the Apostle is indeed what triggers Night Lucinda to resurface, this is also the first time that Night Lucinda’s drive for sex and wrong doing is connected to and driven by her longing for control over herself and her feelings, something that will prove too much for her to handle.

The battle between Day and Night Lucinda has been an ongoing affair that began before she was even thirteen. Lucinda blames her mother as the creator of the two for her mother “was the same, a church-going sister on some days, a spell-casting obeah woman and whore on others” (65). Having enough, Lucinda is driven to drown her own mother; for she was the one who had controlled Lucinda her entire life. Following this event, Lucinda, “having resigned herself to never again experience the misery of a man, took over Sunday school” (132). By taking over Sunday school at the church, Day Lucinda is simply running away from Night Lucinda, as opposed to changing herself into Day Lucinda permanently. Not only was the return of Night Lucinda a possibility, it was in fact inevitable and would consequently lead to the downfall of Lucinda.

Chronologically speaking, the downfall of a character should come at the end of a story: a conclusion. Marlon James; however, creatively mixes things up by foreshadowing Lucinda’s downfall within the first several pages of the novel. Lucinda begins to go mad after she starts living in the church steeple. With Day and Night Lucinda constantly bickering back and forth, she begins to see faces in her mirror. Lucinda allows for these faces to control her through their judgement, causing her to panic for she does not know how to deal with all of her feelings.

At the conclusion of this novel, Lucinda is dead. She had leapt from the window of the church steeple after being “prompted by three voices that spoke to her in the shattered mirror” (200), the same scene that was presented in the first pages of the novel. These voices, much like her mother, were trying to control her. Jumping out of the window was Lucinda’s way of running from the problem at hand, much like she ran to teaching Sunday school to escape Night Lucinda. Had Lucinda been given the control over her own body and feelings at an earlier age, she would not have reacted so extremely.

Through Marlon James’ irregular way of starting this novel with the ending scene, we are given an inside look at how the characters, particularly Lucinda, would evolve throughout the story. Lucinda, being the heavily judged lady that she was, had an image of sex and wickedness written all over her that had been defined by her actions previous to her mother’s death. Because these pictures engraved in everyone’s mind by Night Lucinda and her mother, Day Lucinda was only able to be present for a short time before the mighty Apostle gave Night Lucinda the opportunity to return. After all, “far below grief was lust, and like any other sin, it came with opportunity” (135).

Work Cited

James, Marlon. John Crow’s Devil. Akashic. 2005.

My Ecstasy

Horseback riding. It is something that many elementary school aged children try at one point or another. Maybe because an older sibling does it or maybe because their mother just wants that cute “Look at my cowgirl” picture. But to me, it isn’t just something I do because it passes the time, it is my ecstasy. It is the one thing that I know I will always have and no one can take away from me.

It started way back in 1st grade. While I did start riding horses because my older sister did, this was not the only reason. I have loved animals for as long as I can remember and a horse was definitely at the top of “My Favorite Animals” list. I took lessons at the same barn until the 7th grade when I finally moved “up” and continued on to a higher ranked barn. I moved to several different barns throughout middle school until I found my “home away from home” during my freshman year of high school.

Being on the back of a horse gives me the wings that I lack (cliché I know). Growing up, my sister played tennis and my brother played baseball. They were both always going to practices and games and winning trophies that I wish I had. Horseback riding has given me those opportunities to be in the spotlight and for lack of better words, be number one, even if it is just for a few minutes. To me, there is no greater feeling in the world that riding my horse and being “one” with her. Being on the back of a horse is where I am, and will always be, my most genuine self.

I told you, it started way back in 1st grade! Ok, so maybe this picture was taken in 2nd or 3rd grade, but you get the point!

Remember that “spotlight” feeling I was talking about? This was one of those moments. Together, Sugar and myself received all first places and the Grand Champion in our division.

This is a perfect example of the “wings” that my horse gives me when I am on her. Even just practicing at home like we are in this picture brings me such indescribable joy.