“Echolalia,” Dr. Hayes called it. “Perseveration. He’s imitating what he hears.” Karin would not be dimmed. “If he can say a word, it must mean something, right?” “Ah! You’re pushing up against questions neurology can’t answer yet.” This passage was…
One With Albert
One of the things that has been brought up often has been the format of Casey’s novel. Did she intentionally make it confusing in order to place us, as the readers, in Albert’s shoes? Does this add any effect or…
The Man Who Can’t Stop Walking
One of the chapter that caught my attention is chapter 5 because I personally feel this chapter clarify to me the reader Albert disorder. “He walks through time as if it were as transparent as the bright spring air. But…
A Mystery which makes it hard to understand…
“I fear I will walk far, very far, with no one to watch over me,” the man says, starling the Doctor” (105). Albert’s memories come back to him and he realizes it is dangerous for him to walk away from…
Eager knees?
I found myself a bit confused yet interested when reading chapter 3. I felt like most of the dialogue by the great doctor and the audience and the manner in which the narrative of the chapter progressed left me lost during the…
First Two Paragraphs: Guidelines
Send a draft of the first two paragraphs to me and your writing group (via email), by Wednesday, May 4. Bring hard copies of your group members’ paragraphs to class on Thursday. For these first two paragraphs, you should include the…
Sample Intro Paragraphs (from published essays)
Eakin, Paul John. “What Are We Reading When We Read Autobiography?” Narrative 12.2 (2004): 121 -132. It might be said that each of us constructs and lives a “narrative,” and that this narrative is us, our identities. —Oliver Sacks In this…
What better way to say it?
What makes a lyric poem “lyrical” is a constellation of interrelated attributes that have characterized Anglophone poetry from the Renaissance (if not earlier) to the present. Lyric poetry is frequently soliloquy-like. Lyric voices speak from beyond ordinary time. Lyric poems…
The Man Who Walked Away
Not really clear on what Albert’s condition is, but is anyone? Including the very psychiatrist who tended to him? “The Man Who Walked Away” reminds me of the scene from “Forrest Gump” when he just starts running all across the…
Writing about Mental Health
Our discussion in class the other day about the ethics of writing about mental illnesses reminded me of this Vice article that I had read a few months back. The author, an anonymous observer, writes about his experience with his…
