7/2 Readings

Summary

Frank Mathias is a man who served in World War II as a soldier. Before writing his memoir, he had already written two other books and had no problem publishing either one, but when it came to his memoir, it was a different story. As a soldier, you might "lie" about certain situations and falsify some events that had taken place. Frank knew his story would be different from others once he found letters he had sent home. He knew his stories would be truthful now. He believed that the difference between a memoirist and historian is that a memoirist writes "of himself, and not of other people and institutions." A memoirist can have some false information in his writing but a historian cannot. And it would be hard for a historian to turn into a memoirist because they have to be able to put themselves out there and show all their bruises and scars to the whole world and they'd have to be okay with it.

The first FSU writing I read was "Sing With Me Somehow" by Alison Slusarczyk. She wrote her paper in chronological order and it was about her life. Her mother would always sing to her and her sisters in any situation. She recalls many events in here life, all different situations. The situations range from her waking up and hearing singing, to waiting hours for her drugged up sister to take her to school and from having a friend die, to starting college. She also remembers music being sung by her mom many times as she grew up. Sometimes it would be her mother, other times it would be her sisters.

The second FSU paper I read was "the O" by Michael Melhorn. He writes about his childhood and how his "second home" is a theme park right next to his house. He says how he goes there everyday and how much he loves that place. And on his 16th birthday, he rushes in to apply for a job. When he finds out he gets the job, he says it's the best day of his life. But he's in for a real treat when he learns that his favorite theme park is full of lies and corruption. After seeing a man die on a ride, he's confused and mad that something like this can happen and be kept such a large secret. He now wants to show the world what this park is all about and show all the hidden and well-kept secrets to everyone.


Reaction

When I read the first posting about Frank Mathias, honestly, I was very bored. He wasn't very interesting. The only part that really made me giggle was when he was talking about when he got shipped to the South Pacific and the guys who went to Germany were laughing at him when he left. But when he talked about it in his memoir, he was laughing because he was swimming through water and the guys in Germany were freezing in the snow. I liked how he said that a memoirist and a historian are a lot alike but at the same time very different because a memoirist can not tell the total truth because he can't remember the exact words used years ago, but a historian has to have total truth and evidence to back it up.

When I read the FSU papers, the first one was a bit confusing. The author jumped around in her paper a lot, which I know was meant to happen, but she just jumped from one thing to another. I didn't like it all that much, only some parts were interesting. I was able to relate to this one a little. When she talked about her friend dying and her not knowing what to do, I definitely can relate because I've had a few friends die as well. And I could also relate to her when she started talking about being really upset about being what happened with her sexual relationship gone wrong with a boy.

When I read the second paper, I was definitely able to relate to it. When I was 17, I started to work at an amusement park that I loved: Busch Gardens. Of course, no one was being killed by the CEO of the park, but it definitely ruined my love for the park. I am able to understand why the boy loved his job at first because I did, too! You thought it would be all fun and games, but it definitely wasn't. When I finished the paper, I was really interested in what he was writing about because he used great detail and made it an intriguing paper. I was also a bit shocked when I finished because this man just killed people if they wanted his job or wanted to expose something bad about the park.

3 Questions

1. Was what Alison Slusarczyk wrote in her paper true or was it a made up story?
2. Was the story written by Michael Melhorn inspired by true events or was it completely made up?
3. Did Frank Mathias ever regret being in the Army or did he love it the entire time?