Week Two: A River Runs Through It
We begin our readings this term for what some might think an odd book for a nonfiction study: Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It. While technically a "novella," the work is a narrative meditation on Maclean's relationship with his family, and with his brother in particular, set against the backdrop of Montana fly-fishing wilderness.
Maclean began writing and published A River Runs Through It when he was in his 70s. The work is certainly both memoir and fiction (as the lines at the top of page 104 allude), but our study of this work will focus on Maclean's craft and the way that he weaves tales formed over many years into one, longer, melodic piece. The stories that make up A River Runs Through It began as family lore told to his children. As Maclean writes in the acknowledgements, "As is known to any teller of stories who eventually tires to put a few of them down in writing, the act of writing changes them greatly, so none of these stories closely resembles any story I ever told my children" (xvii). This note is important, particularly as we begin the process of looking back at the stories that we would like to tell in this class, and the ways that telling our own stories will shape the ways we remember the events we recall. |
2.1 Discussion Board
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We will discuss each book over two weeks, but your first post regarding the book should be no later than Week Two.
For our first book discussion, I would like us to consider how in particular Maclean deals with the individuals in the book. How does he develop the characters? What details do we see and hear about these individuals? How do we know what we know about them? Include the following in your discussions:
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2.2 Cinema of the Mind Organizer
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If you haven't yet read the chapter "Cinema of the Mind" from Butlers From Where You Dream, do so now (the pdf is linked into the course schedule).
If anything, A River Runs Through It is a study in just the cinematic effects that Butler discusses (which is why the book in itself is cinematic above and beyond the somewhat shoddy adaptation that is the film by the same name...but I digress....). Maclean uses the space of Montana, the Blackfoot River, and the surrounding landscapes to serve as the setting for his story and as metaphors for the larger themes of the novella. So read for the kinds of effects of space and time that Butler describes. To help you connect the concepts in Butler to passages in Maclean, use this graphic organizer. Because I want to make sure that everyone understands the concepts in Butler's writing, even if you don't discuss all of those concepts in the discussion board, I would like you to fill out the organizer and share it with me. To use the graphic organizer:
Next week, we will work on an activity that applies these concepts to our writing. |