A Convergence of Inauthentic Authenticity

As I shared my story with my wife, Amy, I realized the amount of artistic license that I had taken with the story. She had been with me in the car with my grandparents while most of the events transpired, so she new the story as well as I did.  I had intentionally shifted the timeline on some things, but others I hadn't even realized that I had changed, so it was interesting to talk to her about the changes that I had made and their effect on the story. Overall the feedback I got was that even though she new the timeline and events were not strictly true, it still came across as authentic. That lead us to an interesting discussion of what it actually means to be 'authentic'. Perhaps we want a sort of achieved authenticity in writing, but if writing were strictly about what actually happened it would likely feel somewhat hollow and scattered.

There were also some ideas that Amy had that could refine the topic and help focus it. She was drawn (and repulsed, she wanted to add) by the imagery of my grandma drinking Vanilla Ensure, and said that I could make it more vivid by being more specific about its color (perhaps describing it as off-white or yellowish-white). I found it interesting that she commented on this, because this had been a point that others had focused on when I had read it to them in class as well. 

She also indicated that the end of the story brought up a new character-my sister-that could probably be addressed less specifically. Finally, my wife felt that the most important part of the story was my Grandpa, and that I could introduce him sooner and more specifically. At the same time, she liked the light-hearted intro and conclusion, using my Step-Grandma to lighten the mood. Overall, it was very interesting to have a perspective from someone outside of the class, and it was good to see that it resonated with someone, biased though she may be. 

Mormon's Marathon

Choosing to focus on the timeline and setting  compromising pages 554-568 in The Book of Mormon: A Readers Edition its easy to feel like details are missing. Because Mormon keeps the detail of his historical history at a distance I will keep this analysis from a distance as well. In a matter of 14 pages we cover 64 years of history. It's impressive that by only giving a surface level of detail and insight to the 64 years of trial, wars and heartache as a reader I still feel so involved. 

The timeframe covered from one page carried but, let me provide you with the length of time between each page. Begging at page 554 we have 5 years, 1 year, 4 years, 2, year,  4 years,10 years, 2, years, 1 year, 8 years, 4 years, and then 4 years from page 563-564. And often times these years take place from one sentence to another. 

It is not until the last 4-5 pages that you are brought into detail of Mormon and his account of the last battles that are being prepared for between the Nephites and the Lamanites. Over the course of the rest of the reading however you are just given a sample of information as to why there is conflict between the two parties. Without the clear mention of the time laps it would be very easy to combine all the events into a much shorter period such as a few months or even just a year or two. You could easily miss the fact this was a slow process of war and contention taking 64 years of time. 

Impressive amongst the time laps that quickly occurs is the flow and continuity with which the author has complied the information.