Orlean articles- Amber Cleave acleave@uci.edu

I know we don't have to post on the Orlean Articles, but I can't resist. She is such a great writer. While reading "The Lady and the Tigers", Orlean really takes the reader to a different place. She structures her articles so well that she actually combines more than one story. First you think the story is about Jackson and tigers in Jackson (which is essentially what the article is about), and then you think it is about Joan Byron Marasek (who really seems crazy), then the artcicle shifts to the legalities of owning wild and exotic animals, then it goes back to tigers in Jackson, then back to Joan and her tigers, then back to Jackson after the trial's conclusion- now there are no more tigers allowed in Jackson. It is a profile of many things- and that makes it really interesting. She takes you all over the place, but she leads you in the right direction rather than pushing the reader to see her point. She is so subtle and suggestive. For example, she doesn't flat out say that Joan is one of the "animal hoarders" who engage in the pathological collection of animals, but it is implied in the fact that she talks about the hoarders at all. Orlean has some great descriptions, such as "As forlorn as a bankrupt construction site" and "the amazing three ring spectacle". She really gives a great sense of a place. Also, she does a lot of reserch. Since I have gone through the research element in my piece, I now see it everywhere in her piece. She does a lot of research and has a lot of facts which makes her article seem more valid and the profile seem more accurate. Even though she is a creative writer, she is very informed and authoritative. I like her style, and I respect her as a writer.

Comments

[Tatiana Gordon]

I loved Orlean’s descriptions of Jackson. Because my article is focusing a bit more on a location than a person I immediately appreciated the way she manages to bring a clear image of the town into one’s mind. Her use of dialogue and usage of voice reminds me of other articles we read earlier in the quarter and I admire her technique. I think it brings the reader into the article more because it gives the impression that it is a monologue, not part of dialogue.

[Evan Dixon]

What about the Shaggs? That article really had to be one of my favourite articles that we've read this quarter. It was so interesting to me partly because about a paragraph into it, I stopped and found some samples of Shaggs music. I had a variety of responses to the music, ranging from "What the hell!?" to "Whoever came up with this beat should be locked up in an asylum and kept on heavy doses of various drugs for the rest of his/her life." But I continued on in the article, and by the middle of it, I could honestly say that I really liked the Shaggs. It really analyzed what went into the music, the people and circumstances who caused it to be. That sort of context is what I like about the music; I no longer feel like I'm listening to a discordant beat and wacky lyrics--I can hear the story of the people and place in the music. It's sort of a morbid story, but I think that's what attracts people to it. On that note, I also was left wanting more about Helen. For instance, more of what sort of person she is and the life she leads, and more abotu what happened to her husband. Did she have issues with depression all along, or was it brought about by something?

[Yao Xu]

When the article mentioned that the Shaggs did not sing very well, I honestly thought Orleans was comparing them to other bands of that time. However, when we heard clips of it in class, Orleans was seriously not kidding when she mentioned that the Shaggs sang offbeat but had a catchy tune; I can still hear their voices singing in my head as I write this comment, it's really quite creepy. However, I liked the article. I noticed that Orleans did a lot of research and finally interviewed them at the end of the article, incorporating her into the scene, but at the same time focusing all the events during that scene related to the Shaggs. I thought that was a really nice balance becaue she did not give herself too much of an appearance in the article. Though most of her article centered on research, the style in which Orleans wrote her article did not sound like a research paper but an interesting story many people probably do not know about.