Book Reviews
On Mystic Lake: A Review
by Shanea Patterson Kristin Hannah's On Mystic Lake is a heart-warming love story that takes you on a journey of heartbreak, pain and self-discovery. Set in the logging town of Forks, Washington, the author sets the perfect backdrop for the initial heartbreak that heroine, Annie, experiences when her husband of fifteen years coldly ends their nearly two-decade marriage. On her journey, Annie Colwater discovers she has no idea who she is in the midst of her horrible ordeal of going through a divorce at 39. The story is riveting, pulling at your heart strings from many angles, including when Annie reunites with a laid-back old friend of hers from high school, whom she develops intense feelings for while trying to get over the heartbreak husband, Blake, has subjected her to. But when Blake wants Annie back, she must choose between her old life of going through the motions with Blake--pretending she's happy--and her sizzling affair with handsome town cop--and her first love--Nick Delacroix. The story propels Annie forward, though she's desperate to cling to any delusion of reconciliation between she and her husband. But in the end, Annie finally discovers just who she is and who she has yet to become. |
In the Time of the Butterflies: A Review
by Shanea Patterson In the Time of the Butterflies portrays the fictional narratives of four sisters, the Mirabal sisters, three of whom became actively involved in the Trujillo opposition movement, challenging their subservient role as women in a patriarchal society, which expects women to be passive and subservient to men. Minerva, Mate and Patria Mirabal challenged traditional female roles, but Dede did not. Julia Alvarez used Minerva, Mate and Patria as symbols for women fighting against injustices. The Mirabal sisters were strong and often aggressive when it came to fighting for justice, despite the time period they lived in—one in which men were the dominant gender. Julia Alvarez used her novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, to symbolize the power of women in any nationalist cause. She used Patria, Mate and Minerva to break the mold of the traditional female roles and instead portrayed them as independent, rule-breaking, courageous and fearless women who had the strength and the prowess to stand up to the very powerful dictator of the Dominican Republic. Despite the hardships they faced--such as their father's imprisonment, their husbands' imprisonment and their own imprisonment—they continued fighting for their country's freedom. Julia Alvarez wanted to make a point that womens' contributions to nationalist causes should not and would not be ignored. The Mirabal sisters showed bravery and dedication to the cause, as well as loyalty to their father and husbands, proving that women don't have to choose one or the other. If women can to stand together as a community, they can face and conquer anything. And with their deaths, they accomplished just that. |
Professional Writing and Rhetoric: A Review
by Shanea Patterson Professional Writing and Rhetoric delves right into the heart of what rhetoric means in the world of professional writing. To some, the book concludes, it may simply mean a sarcastic statement or talk without action; empty words with no substance; or flowery, ornamental speech. However, author, Tim Peeples, using readings from the field of professional writing and rhetoric, discusses some of the oldest ideas about rhetoric since Aristotle and Plato. In fact, these are the very examples introduced in the first chapter of the book. Peeples starts by trying to define the field of professional writing and where rhetoric plays a role in that, then goes on to introduce the origins of rhetoric as coming from Corax of Syracuse (a Greek colony on the island of Sicily) in 465 B.C. He goes on to point out the relationship between rhetoric and professional writing, showing that they are intertwined in multiple ways. He then presents a series of essays that help to further prove his points about rhetoric and professional writing, which include essays from Sonja K. Foss, Karen A. Foss, Robert Trapp, Aristotle, and Cicero. The author delves deep into rhetoric, breaking it up into tiny pieces and examining each part carefully and with multiple sets of eyes. He leaves no stone unturned. Peeples goes further into detail by highlighting the importance of how writing is understood through a rhetorical set of eyes. He asks questions such as, “How is professional writing affected when writing is understood as socially situated or contexualized?” and “How is professional writing affected when the writer is understood to be a rhetor and an author?” He asks deep questions to make you think and then goes ahead and explores those questions with the help of guest essays from authors like Lester Faigley of the University of Texas at Austin, Carolyn R. Miller, Susan Harkness Regli of Carnegie Mellon University, among other specialists in the field. Professional Writing and Rhetoric is more of an aid for thinking than an actual technical manual for how to incorporate rhetoric into professional writing. Peeples believes it a tool, a stepping stone for understanding your audience, knowing the purpose of your writing and using your author voice to full advantage when using rhetoric in professional writing, no matter what field. Peeples also covers topics such as understanding the writing context in organizations, professional writing as ethical action, user-centered documents, and introducing your own writing into the world of professional writing and rhetoric. He touches on how writers can assume more active ethical stances, what sorts of ethical issues writers might face in professional contexts, what it means to be reader- or user-centered, what writers can do to develop user-centered practices, and what ways professional writers might participate in producing social space. The book is also replete with chapter projects, each designed to give the reader an active approach to understanding professional writing and rhetoric in a hands-on approach. These chapter projects encourage readers to engage and collaborate with others to produce documents, develop technical instructions, identify helpful tasks to employ on-the-job, and interact with classmates to recreate real-life, on-the-job situations professional writers might face. Peeples not only pulls writings from his own field, but from a variety of other fields to bring in a wide variety of perspective on the art of professional writing and rhetoric. He draws from scientific professionals, the technical writing field, the communications field, ancient Greek philosophy, and more. Collaboratively, he brings in almost every perspective on rhetoric and writing together in this book to allow readers to draw their own conclusions about writing and rhetoric. Is it an art? A science? What is the true definition of rhetoric? Aristotle’s view on rhetoric being “the means by which to persuade,” or the more modern definition, “the art of persuasions?” Peeples lets the reader decide in this thought-provoking, outstandingly put-together anthology of essays. Professional Writing and Rhetoric is a tool for practicing professional writers and soon-to-be professional writers to allow them to join the conversation on rhetoric, giving it a reason to be packed with both conflicting and intriguing information and ideas. The purpose, Peeples states in the Introduction, is to help writers “approach professional writing with greater rhetorical awareness, sensitivity, and effectiveness,” which Peeples has certainly succeeded in doing. The book is a refreshing take on the world of rhetoric and professional writing, not just telling emerging professional writers what to do, but how to do it (a first in the field). It shows you how to think rhetorically, asking not the who, what when, why, where, but the how? Professional Writing and Rhetoric not only feeds you both old and new ideas about the meaning of rhetoric, but teaches you how to put them into practice and develop a better understanding of what it means to be a professional writer and how to use rhetoric to the best of your advantage in the field. “Professional Writing and Rhetoric” leaves you with a sense of satisfaction, but also a desire to learn more about how to use rhetoric effectively in your chosen field. It also leaves you buzzing with your own ideas about the practice and wondering where you stand on your effective use of rhetoric. |