Mix Bag Post

Since I am caught right in between finishing a major research paper and reading Song of Solomon, this post is going to be a bit of a mixed up mess. Let's start with Song of Solomon: In the latest reading, I couldn't help but notice so many jabs that Toni Morrison took on slavery. As horrible as it sounds, I actually laughed out loud at some of these jabs. An example would be when Reba says "Negroes don't like water" when the whole Dead family was talking about summer homes by the water. I saw this as a reference to the slave ships that African slaves were brought on. Another example that made me laugh out loud was when Pilate told Guitar and Milkman "You all must be the dumbest unhung Negroes on earth." This of course is a reference to the horrible conditions slaves had to endure. Then there was the pig named General Lee (priceless)! I also thought it was interesting to hear the story of how the Deads got their last name:
"Then he asked him who his father was. Papa said, 'he's dead'".
I think that this is Morrison's way of showing just how African Americans have been labeled with meaningless American surnames that tell them nothing about their heritage.

As for my research paper, I am liking my little experimental strategy. For one thing, it is almost fun (and I say ALMOST) to write what is supposed to be a formal paper in a completely informal tone. Also, this way I have exactly what I want to say on my paper. Most of the work in writing these kind of papers is trying to present it in a formal tongue, which often trips me up and makes my writing unclear. It's sort of like the Elephant Droppings method Mr. Rayburn told me about all the way back in subbie year. I have heard so many times that the hardest part about writing a research paper is staring at that blank piece of paper/word document. I guess what I did was just my version of elephant droppings. Also, it was fun to see my peer editor's reactions to my complete disregard for formality. Sometimes, I add stuff in the rough draft just to mess with my peer editor. Last year in nonfiction writing, I made a reference to 2 girls 1 cup. Long story short, he was not happy about it. I laughed my butt off. Writing papers can be hard, so you have to have fun with it when you can.