Proposal

I'm interested in writing about why Junot Diaz muddies basic details in the story, like characters names, backgrounds, and other parts of their identity. This leads me to the question, why does Junot Diaz not give basic details of his characters identity when these are intimate stories about them? One way to consider this is that he tries to avert our attention away from maybe the individual, and wants to put his focus on the group of people he is trying to reflect.

Rough Draft

Cale Houghton

Rough Draft 5/10

Yard Sale:

A few hours earlier, I had been screaming at my parents, yelling “You can’t take it away! I hate you! YOU CAN’T TAKE IT AWAY!” This was 5 year old logic of course. They could, and they did, take away my train table, and the box of toys I had kept next to my bed.

Now I sat in my driveway, hating my parents, hating New York. Tears streamed down my face, because I was only 5 and didn’t know about self control yet. Most of the toys in the box had been sold, and another little boy was standing in my backyard at his dads ankles, about to buy my Thomas the Tank Engine train table. His dad talked to my dad, I saw him hand him some money, and my dad nodded and smiled.

I ran up to my mom. “Don’t let him take it away!” I wailed.

“I’m sorry honey, but we all have to make sacrifices here, so we can get to New York,” she said.

“I don’t want to move. I hate moving!”

“C’mon, let's get inside,” she said, while picking me up. While she carried me inside, I caught a glimpse of the man loading my train table onto his pickup, his son grinning. It’s all their fault I thought to myself.

Finding Out:

I sat in my kitchen, having dinner with my mom and my brother. My brother was telling her about how his day in 2nd grade had gone. I was silent. I still am silent when I eat with my parents, there’s nothing to talk about I guess. Anyway, while we ate dinner, my dad came in the front door, closing it with a slam. He walked through the foyer and into the kitchen, greeting my mom and us. After taking off his jacket, he pulled up a chair and ate dinner with us. My silence continued.

About midway through dinner, he whispered something in my moms ear and she nodded.

He spoke up to me and my brother, telling us, “Your mother and I have some big news,” or something diplomatic like that. “My job is moving to New York, and we decided that we want to go with it.” For a few seconds, I was confused about what that meant.

I caught on though, when my mom said, “And were selling the house, unfortunately, so that we can afford an apartment in New York.” My brother acted surprised, and started asking questions about when we would go, did we know when we were going to move.

I can’t say that it hadn’t been hinted at. My dad had been taking week-long business trips to New York for a while, and my mom had dropped little hints, like telling us we might be spending more time in New York. I hadn’t caught on though. I guess even after hearing this though, I still didn’t believe it. I imagined that in a few days, my parents would tell me to unpack anything I had packed, to take the toys in the box out, and to tell my friends I didn’t have to leave after all. I imagined this because I knew that they would never make the decision to leave Arlington without me, because they respected my opinion.

How to Talk to Your Parents

If they start giving you advice or instructions, just agree to it, even if you really don't agree with it or you know that you won't follow their instructions.

If they won't stop giving you instructions just stare at their nose and nod, while trying to remember what I need to know for the next latin test.

You should make eye contact with them, even though you don't really care about what they are saying, and don't yawn or sigh unless you want to piss them off. Also, don't go on your phone while they are talking, no matter how little you care. They’ll just take it.

If you have to ask for something, make sure you have done most of the regular chores, and anything your parents have been nagging you about. You know they will ask about that when you want something, so just be prepared and do it before hand. Also, try to make what you are asking for related to school, even if you didn't think it was related to school. It will help your chances a lot. If you are asking for something over the weekend, make sure you are not in your pajamas, and haven't been on your phone all day.

If you actually want to make a conversation, then talk about your grades and the lack of trouble you have been in. That’s all they really care about.

If they start yelling at you, don’t say anything you would regret saying later. But call them out on bullshit they give you, so they don’t think they can walk all over you. If they are yelling at you about the instructions they gave but you didn't follow, take the same steps you did when they were giving the advice and repeat. Don't worry about it - what ever they are trying to advise or instruct you to do they will eventually forget about.

New York, Nine Years Later

“Cale, pass the salt please,” my dad says.

I look up, mumble a complaint, and pass it to him. That lazy-ass could have gotten it himself, but he just wanted me to pick my head up off the table. The reason my head was on the table was because they had dragged me to some Italian restaurant when I had been trying to finish some assignment. And I knew that they would complain about how late I stay up later. After passing the salt, I put my head back on the table.

“You know, you should be a lot more grateful about getting to go to nice restaurants,” my dad says.

I look around.

“I didn’t ask to come here,” I said.

“It’s called spending time with your family,” he responded. “I’m sure you would never ask to do it, but some of us like being around each other.

“Whatever,” I said, letting it go. This happened almost every time I went anywhere with them. Sometimes I let it go, sometimes I didn’t. My head dropped again. They made conversation with my brother, talking with him about colleges, and where he wanted to apply. It did sound like they liked talking to each other.

Later though, when we got out of the restaurant, my mom said to me, “The way you acted in there was really embarrassing,  you know.”

“Oh did I embarrass you?” I responded. “Get over it.” And as we walked home, I stayed as far behind them as possible, telling myself I didn’t give a shit about them.

Raw Draft

Story 1:

I was 5, and I sat in my driveway. Around me in our front yard, were piles of random crap, things like lawn chairs and coffee tables. I was crying though, because what kind of 5 year old wants to see their toys being sold. Despite my bawling though, my parents kept getting rid of my things. For a 5 year old, it kind of sucked.

The worst part though, was when this other little kid came by with his father, and bought my Thomas the Tank Engine Train Table. His dad came over to my dad, asked if it was for sale, my dad nodded, he paid for it, and then loaded it into his truck. For me, that Train Table was the shit. I yelled at my parents to get it back, get it back! But the man, drove his truck away, and my parents paid no attention to me, because I was just a 5 year old.

After this experience, I knew everything I needed to about moving: It sucked. But my parents had made up their mind, and I couldn't do anything.

Story 2:

This is another story of when I was moving to New York. It happens when I found out we were leaving.  I was eating dinner in the kitchen with my mom and my brother, when my dad walked over. He had been finishing work previously.

He gave us some spiel about having big news, and told us that his work was moving out of Arlington to New York. I didn’t really understand what this meant at first, but my brother acted like it was a big deal so I went along.

I caught on though, when my dad said, “And were selling the house, unfortunately, so that we can afford an apartment in New York. This explained to me, why he had been taking so many business trips to New York, and why he had not been around much lately, but I was shocked. I guess I thought my parents would consult with me before making the decision to move, but they didn’t. I was kind of hurt that they didn’t value what I wanted.

My prompts:

Prompt 5: One way I could change my story is like this...

I came home one day and realized my Thomas the Tank Engine train table was gone. At first, I thought my parents had just moved it, so I searched around the house. After I couldn't find it in the

Prompt 2: One of the major things I associate with when I moved was that it happened very suddenly and that I didn't get much of a say in it. I think that this might be something that I want to focus on later in my story. It seems like it wasn't as much about the moving as it was about my relationship with my parents.

Prompt 1: In this story I was kind of like one of those birds that fluffs up its feathers and plumage to get the attention of other birds. I think this simile works because these stories were a lot about me wanting to get on my parents radar, and to have a relationship with them where they wanted my opinion. In this story though, they didn't really value my input so I guess it didn't work.

Letter to Junot Diaz

Dear Junot Diaz,
In the story Aguantando, Junior pictures New York as the type of place that will transform his dad into a suited man, that loves and cares for him. He later finds out though, that his dad is still a cheater in New York, still is abusive, and generally is not a changed person.
When I first moved to New York from Virginia when I was 5 (which is obviously not nearly as much of a culture shock as moving from the Dominican Republic), I also had warped expectations of what it would be like. I didn't think that there was any natural things in New York, I thought that it was just buildings upon buildings. I was used to a lot of nature, so I thought that I would hate it. In the end though I realized that there was still nature in New York, and also that it wasn't as bad as I thought. So my experience was kind of the opposite of Juniors. He expected that New York would change his family and make his dad more of a dad, but it didn't. I expected New York to take any some of my favorite things, but it actually added new ones.

Freewrites for 5/5

Notes on the Remaining stories

Sorry I didn't realize we had to post all of these

How to have a conversation with you parents

If they start giving you advice or instructions, just agree to it, even if you really don't agree with it or you know that you won't follow their instructions.
If they won't stop giving you instructions just stare at their nose and nod, while trying to remember what the dative plural ending is for 2nd declension neuter.
You should make eye contact with them, even though you don't really care about what they are saying, and don't yawn or sigh because they get pissed off. Also, don't go on your phone while they are talking, unless you are sure they won't see. Otherwise, they will take it and claim that
If your relatives are over, greet them with a hug. It had better not be a half hearted hug or your mom will yell at you for not being welcoming. Then talk with them about The Redskins or whatever they want to talk about.
If you have to ask for something, make sure you have done most of the regular chores, and anything your parents have been nagging you about. You know they will ask about that when you want something, so just be prepared and do it before hand. Also, try to make what you are asking for related to school, even if you didn't think it was related to school. It will help your chances a lot. If you are asking for something over the weekend, make sure you are not in your pajamas, and haven't been on your phone all day.
If you actually want to make a conversation, then talk about your grades and the lack of trouble you have been in. This is all they really care about, just like all you care is if they agree to what you asked for.
If they start yelling at you, think of things you will regret not saying later and say them, and think of things you will regret saying later and stop yourself from saying them. Don't walk away from them while they are talking (which is a strategy for defusing a situation we learned in health), because they will get more angry and yell at you more (thanks health class). If they are yelling at you about the instructions they gave but you didn't follow, take the same steps you did when they were giving the advice and repeat. Don't worry about it - what ever they are trying to advise or instruct you to do they will eventually do themselves.