a.
Techniques: Begins with “Initial Intake Notes,”
which would not be written from her perspective but from someone else’s which
she is now assumedly reading for the first time as we are. It begins the piece
bonding the reader and narrator together and peaking interest in a unique way.
b.
Tone: Slater writes the first section to begin a
tone of separation. She separates herself from the patient, especially in the
notes at the beginning and continues to use speech that creates the “me” and
the “other.” This tone switches when she lets the reader into her past in the
mental institution. The tone of otherness fades away, but unwillingly, giving
us the perception of growth or mental change. Slater uses more professional
vocabulary toward the beginning to separate herself from the patients and uses
more simple speech toward the end, which joins her back with her patients
symbolically.
c.
Structure: There are 11 sections including the beginning
intake notes section. Each section is a mini-scene, some more related to each
other than others. But the scenes always start anew to give the narrator a
fresh take on something. The sections always seem to do a pause and reset on
tension or awkwardness.
d.
Tension: the tension is vague and unclear but
always building toward the beginning. The reader doesn’t know why she dislikes
Mount Vernon so much at first. Her anxiety about it puts the reader on edge as
well. The tension has lulls and spikes as she has experiences like going to the
bathroom where the patients should go.
e.
I will take from this piece the strategy of
changing the vocabulary or jargon I use to write with throughout a piece to
chow transformations or changes in my thought process.
f.
Q’s: Is this written as real non-fiction or as a
part of a “metaphorical memoir” like the title of her earlier book? Why the
birthing woman analogy at the end?
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