Everyone has a story to tell, no matter how small or spectacular. Each day and each interaction we have shapes us as human beings, and more importantly leads us to discover things about who we are both as children and later as adults. Jamaica Kincaid makes this clear in her short story Biography of a Dress and she sets a much different tone than we have seen in the other readings. Kincaid gives the impression that she is writing for herself alone, but more precisely writing from the perspective of a mature self to a younger Kincaid. The author has a wisdom and understanding of the world she did not posses(obviously) at two years old or even at 20 or 30 years.
Kincaid's account of her second birthday and her mother's excursion to buy materials for the yellow poplin dress is not about entertaining her audience so much as recording the facts and examining them. Elements such as repetition seen in the story mimic human memory- we remember minute details over and over and they seem to resonate in our heads, yet we may have no recollection of other more important events. Kincaid is writing about herself in relation to an object(dress) rather than a situation, as seen in other readings. However, within that object there is a lifetime of secrets, misunderstandings, and family history waiting to be examined. Something as commonplace as a birthday dress and a worn black and white photo evoke powerful emotions equal to those in, for example Jo Ann Beard's Out There, yet the premise has a subtler appeal. The material is understated yet the prose is somehow haunting/ magical.
Brett Lott presents an amalgamative definition of CNF for us, but what we should remember is there is no perfect definition, only certain guidelines those writing should consult. As Lott points out, the only way to unequivocably know what CNF is, is to actually try it. His discussion on the definition of CNF reinforced the idea that writers should not feel compelled to embellish their lives to make them traumatic or something other than the truth. A CNF writer should not feel deprived of material simply because they had an ordinary or uneventful life because every one's story is worth writing down and sharing. It often takes greater skill to develop a seemingly mundane story into one that , as Lott explains " shapes and forms what it is to be seen". Self is the creative element in CNF and because we all have a self to write about, this genre is a powerful and universal means of communication/self examination.
Kincaid's account of her second birthday and her mother's excursion to buy materials for the yellow poplin dress is not about entertaining her audience so much as recording the facts and examining them. Elements such as repetition seen in the story mimic human memory- we remember minute details over and over and they seem to resonate in our heads, yet we may have no recollection of other more important events. Kincaid is writing about herself in relation to an object(dress) rather than a situation, as seen in other readings. However, within that object there is a lifetime of secrets, misunderstandings, and family history waiting to be examined. Something as commonplace as a birthday dress and a worn black and white photo evoke powerful emotions equal to those in, for example Jo Ann Beard's Out There, yet the premise has a subtler appeal. The material is understated yet the prose is somehow haunting/ magical.
Brett Lott presents an amalgamative definition of CNF for us, but what we should remember is there is no perfect definition, only certain guidelines those writing should consult. As Lott points out, the only way to unequivocably know what CNF is, is to actually try it. His discussion on the definition of CNF reinforced the idea that writers should not feel compelled to embellish their lives to make them traumatic or something other than the truth. A CNF writer should not feel deprived of material simply because they had an ordinary or uneventful life because every one's story is worth writing down and sharing. It often takes greater skill to develop a seemingly mundane story into one that , as Lott explains " shapes and forms what it is to be seen". Self is the creative element in CNF and because we all have a self to write about, this genre is a powerful and universal means of communication/self examination.
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