I was most fascinated with Trina and Trina. It was a longer piece, which provided a nice
change of pace versus the shorter pieces that we write or have seen. I think
that the aspect of the story that most affected me was the strength of Trina’s
voice. There wasn’t a terrible amount of dialogue, but LeBlanc describes Trina’s
actions and behaviors so well, that, although there isn’t much of her actual
voice that shows, her character is prominently displayed. For an extended
profile, I guess that the length suits it. The story of Trina takes place over
a few years, and so it would be expected that her story would be a little
longer than what we’ve been expecting.
Stylistically, I loved LeBlanc’s writing. She manages to
inject her own thoughts and feelings into her profile without being needlessly
verbose, and she still conveys a coherent and resonant story. I also think her
sparing use of dialogue only improves the ending, which lists a few of the
voicemails that Trina leaves LeBlanc after their time together. This style of
ending creates an unsettling lack of resolution which rings true to LeBlanc’s
manner of storytelling throughout the piece.
Jon,
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated LeBlanc's characterization of Trina. She kept such consistent language throughout the piece, every time she described Trina's behavior. And she pulled off these descriptions without saying it directly. As opposed to describing Trina directly--Trina was like . . .--she described action. This has a huge effect on the reader, whether or not it was noticed.
I also wrote, in my own reflection, about the ending LeBlanc gives the piece. Powerful. I think it was my favorite part of both readings.
Colin
Thanks for noting LeBlanc's careful and sparing use of quotes. A good rule of thumb is that the quote must do more than deliver information; it must communicate character.
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