Tuesday, September 02, 2014
"On Going Home"
Read Joan Didion's piece "On Going Home" After you have finished reading the article, write a short reflection (1-2 paragraphs) on what makes the article work (why is it interesting, entertaining, or enlightening). Focus on the way the article is written, not on what it is written about. Post your responses in the comments section below.
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Joan Didion speaks in the first person in order to depict the experience of returning home. Besides the actual context of the essay, Didion's feelings have a tone of nostalgia, as she explores mementos from her past. Despite the slight disapproval Didion's husband has for her family, she continues to reminisce and bond with her family members, as she tries to hold onto memories from her adolescence. The text portrays a feeling of regret as Didion wants to have her daughter gain familial memories, but knows that the two of them and Didion's husband will just end up moving back to Los Angeles once the birthday festivities end. It seems that Didion's husband is dragging Didion away from her family passive aggressively, and she just lets it happen, practically ignoring the instinct she has to keep her daughter close to family. The story shows a broken family.
I think what makes "On Going Home" work is the honesty in re-defining what a home truly is. A home is known to be the place where an individual currently has lived for a while. Joan Didion redefines the word as "...the place where family is...filled with mementos" (1). Home isn't the place you live, it's the place you love. A major part of Didion's love for her home is how it ties her to the past, particularly her childhood. Leaving her home was like leaving her childhood memories behind, as she explains that she "was almost thirty years old before [she] could talk to [her] family on the telephone without crying after [she] had hung up" (1). Moreover, Didion writes that "marriage is the classic betrayal" (1). She feels guilty because her marriage disconnects her from her home. In fact she feels so guilty she is scared she cannot provide a "home" for her daughter, one with "a sense of her cousins and rivers and her great-grandmother's teacups" (3). This literary work works because it forces the reader to realize what a home actually is: a place you love filled with people you love. So even if you have a house, it doesn't mean you have a home.
I think that "On Going Home" is Joan Didion’s personal reflection of her past and how it now affects her. Given the sad tone of the story, there seems to be some emotionally tragic event that has affected her deeply and has made her uneasy when returning to her original home. Sad events that include mental hospitals, graveyards, and rejection surrounds her life and affects the way that she presents herself and the things she converses about with other people. I was able to make this assumption when she states, "Paralyzed by the neurotic lassitude engendered by meeting one's past at every turn, around every corner, inside every cupboard…I decide to meet i head-on and clean out a drawer.” This line gives off the idea that she is scared to look back, face, and analyze her past, but she has only now gained the strength to face her past. Her "home" and the fact that she doesn't have the feeling of warmth and safety in her home has affected her personality so much to the point that she starts to remind her aunts of their children who have died. I think that this reflects the idea that she is probably dead inside because she doesn't have a place where she feels completely comfortable in. The dust references throughout the story all suggest she isn't able to move on. Normally dust starts to collect on furniture when someone doesn't have the care to clean it up and I think that is the same for Joan and her inability to clean up a simple drawer in her bedroom filled with things of the past. All she wants for her daughter is a place where she can feel safe but she doesn't know if she can give her that because she has never experienced one.
What makes "On Going Home" work is the strategic placement of details, words, rhetorical questions, and examples the author used to help prove her point and keep the reader interested. She starts off the essay by telling the reader about her home-life. She gets us to see through her eyes, but then, right when we think we understand her and begin to agree with her, she questions the point she just made, forcing us rethink what we just accepted (like she did in the first sentence of the second paragraph.) This kind of realignment of though catches the reader off guard and even makes them more aware of the following information—the reader wants to know what caused this change in perspective.
The author also purposefully used strange, harsh, even disarming words to describe things that we would not think to describe in that way. For example, she calls marriage a "betrayal" and describes family-life as ambushing. This makes the reader look at the subject (which he had thought he understood) in a whole new way—the reader becomes putty in the author's hands. She also used one particularly interesting technique to come to her message: she would first talk about seemingly simple things in a seemingly simple way, only to make a point at the end that not only makes sense, but also hits your heart. Like when she appears to go off on a nostalgic tangent about her old things (her swimsuit, tea cups, pictures, and letters) but connects it to her mother and their healed relationship after a presumably anxiety past, or when she talks about her great-aunt's baby, being sure to mention the "white cake with strawberry-marshmallow ice cream," but really makes the point about how she wishes that she could promise the infant a happy upbringing.
I think "On Going Home" works because it's unusual; it's be a new and unexpected way of thinking. It offers a different perspective on something basically everyone has: a home. She is descriptive and uses highly charged language--"ambushes of family life," "betrayal," "paralyzed by neurotic lassitude." She mentions mental hospitals and graveyards. A reader would not usually expect these words to be used in an article titled "On Going Home." She draws the reader in with her openness and detail about her broken and unusual family and home, which objectively seem very happy and normal. The author is very honest with her feelings and opinions. There's nothing for her to hide. This article is like the author's way of venting to the reader and explaining what worries her. Some readers may worry about the same thing; some may have never thought about it until reading this article.
I think that Didion does an excellent job of interesting the reader by writing about home, a topic we are all extremely familiar with. She makes her article interesting by reflecting on what her home is to her, which is not her actual house but rather the place she grew up. This gave me an interesting perspective on her feelings towards what a home is for her. Perhaps for some, home is not their house but rather a place that is filled with things we look for in a home such as love and family. It seems as though Didion's home in Los Angeles is not filled with the same love as her family's house in central California. We instead see through Didion's perspective the negative parts of her house in Los Angeles when she describes herself as having a remote life and when she speaks about her daughter not getting to experience a family life like she did when she grew up. This shows her unhappiness with her husband, who is for some reason not with her on their daughter's birthday. This article registers with readers who have felt the love and joy of having an active family life while also relating to readers who are unhappy in their homes and look for escapes, such as Didion in the story. I think that Didion did a great job at interesting the reader by telling a story that many can relate to and by evoking questions in the reader's mind about their own home life and whether their hometown or current city they live in is their true home.
"On Going Home" proved to be a very unique piece of writing due to its honest and genuine nature. Didion sets everything out on the table and does not shy away from the truth. She is able to expose the reader to her so called "flaws" solely because she is so accepting of them. Didion writes about her home, but instead of grouping the author to her family, I saw her more as an individual. She reveals that even the closest people in our lives can disagree, or in her husbands case, disapprove of the ways in which we live. It is through Didion's acceptance and open mindedness that she can look past disagreements. She can differ from her family and "their ways" or her husband and "his ways". This information has a very vulnerable feeling to it. Didion opens up with a vulnerable side and than leads into her opinions. I found this to be very effective as she gains the reader's trust through personal experience, allowing the reader to better understand Didion's perspective.
"On Going Home" proved to be a very unique piece of writing due to its honest and genuine nature. Didion sets everything out on the table and does not shy away from the truth. She is able to expose the reader to her so called "flaws" solely because she is so accepting of them. Didion writes about her home, but instead of grouping the author to her family, I saw her more as an individual. She reveals that even the closest people in our lives can disagree, or in her husbands case, disapprove of the ways in which we live. It is through Didion's acceptance and open mindedness that she can look past disagreements. She can differ from her family and "their ways" or her husband and "his ways". This information has a very vulnerable feeling to it. Didion opens up with a vulnerable side and than leads into her opinions. I found this to be very effective as she gains the reader's trust through personal experience, allowing the reader to better understand Didion's perspective.
I really enjoyed this piece, and I think what really makes Joan Didion's "On Going Home" works is how personal it is. She speaks in the first person, which really opens up her emotions to the reader. The entire work holds a deep sense of nostalgia, yet startles you with it's language - from stories of dusty houses and morbid gossip exchanges to the portrayal of marriage as a "classic betrayal." She really makes the reader question and reflect on their sense of what a home truly is We are forced to think about the tough questions: Where is our home? Is home a physical place? Is it a person? In the end, we realize that a home is anywhere you love, anytime you're with people you love. I think what really makes this work is how open and raw Didion is about her family life. We are expected to love our families no matter what, because they are our blood, and Didion shocks us out of that mindset when she describes family life as an "ambush." She is able to get inside the reader's head, say the things we are afraid to say, and it's comforting, in all honesty. I also really like the symbolism of the dust and the pointless items in her drawers. They symbolize holding onto the past. Her family is almost unwilling to let go of anything, something I think a lot of readers can connect with. Most of all, I think 'On Going Home' works because it shows a stark difference between what it means to be at home and to be in a house through the comparison of the central California home and her description of her Los Angeles home with her husband.
When you hear the word “home,” I’m sure you have many images that comes into your mind, I know I do. Each individual has a different understanding of and definition of “home.” Joan Didion, by speaking so informally to the reader in 1st person, is giving us glimpses of several of the images that come into her mind when she thinks of “home.” Then when Didion states that “marriage is the classic betrayal,” I believe she is saying that when you get married, your ideal image of home— the one you grew up with your whole life— has to be compromised to fit with your partners idea of what home is. This idea of home has been with you and has been apart of you and when you get married you have to compromise to fit the needs of your partner and by doing so, you end up betraying some of your ideals and wants. The way Didion expresses these two very different ideas/images of home leads me to believe that although her family is quite new (assuming this because it is her daughter’s 1st birthday) her family is broken. The way she talks about her husband and her life makes it seem miserable. “I was almost thirty years old before I could talk to my family on the telephone without crying after I hung up,” is just an example of how Didion is missing something in her life, in her home— something that she possibly had when she lived back at her home in the Central Valley of California. Didion’s husband does not understand her view of home which can complicate a marriage. “My husband likes my family, but is uneasy in their house.” Didion’s husband likes her family members but doesn’t like her home, and her idea of home. Didion seems to be trapped by her husbands version of an ideal home and reluctantly gives into his wants. She seems unhappy in her marriage and that’s mainly due to the fact that she is dismissive toward the fact that she is letting her husband control her. She shows the reader that she misses her house and longs to be there but is submissive towards her husband.
Th essay begins by elaborating on the connotations of the word "home." "Home" has a completely different connotation than "house," even though the two words have very similar denotation. This distinction is made clear in the beginning of the essay when the author clarifies that when she refers to her home she is talking about where her family is, not where she lives. The place where she lives is her house, but where her family is, is her home. Even though she did not have the conventional perfect childhood, her home is so important to her, as our homes are to many of us. Her attachment to her childhood home, her true home, is apparent when she talks about how it took thirty years for her to be able to call home without crying. I would say that the relatability is what really makes the essay work. The home and everything in it is tied to countless childhood memories, provoking an emotional response when roams the house and rummages through drawers. The nostalgia she feels is something many people to relate to. Many adults have a strong emotional connection to their childhood home and have likely had a similar experience to her where they relived childhood memories while going through the house. The essay is captivating because adults can relate to it and it makes younger people reflect on their current homes and the extent to which they will be attached to it and how upset they will be when they leave it.
What make "On Going Home" work are the author's subtle use of language and the structure of the essay. Looking at the title, we generally think about a physical movement of going home; however, the author immediately denied the typical thoughts at the beginning stating that "by 'home, I do not mean the house...but the place where my family is". The structure of the essay in very significant to me because it captured my attention by presenting a different perspective at the beginning of the essay, and then keeps the readers entertained by explaining what contributed to the perspective with a series of flashbacks. And through these flashbacks the author conveys her emotions that can evoke empathy from the readers, thus, making more connection with the readers. For example, when she looked at the things in the drawer, we feel a sense of nostalgia through the way she remember things, and when she goes to the graveyard, we feel a sense of bleakness as she sees the broken monuments. And at the end, the author brings the conclusion back to her daughter’s birthday and expresses her wishes of giving her child a home that she did not have. Another major component that the author used to keep the readers intrigued is that the essay was written from a subjective point of view that almost seems like a journal the author keeps for herself (just think about why it is always more exciting to read someone’s diary than to read a school paper), with her stream of consciousness being the guiding material. And the paradoxes the author presents such as marriage, which is supposed form bonds, means betrayal to her, also raised the readers’ curiosity about her point of view.
So much of what made Joan Didion’s “On Going Home” unique lay in the way it was structured and written. The way she contrasted sentence structures, abruptly transitioning from short to long, and her rather unbalanced, unparalleled structure in detail and length of sentences and topics contributed to the actual content and message of the essay: a haunting memory of what home and family used to mean to a small, rural family amidst the ever-advancing, ever-quickening, ever-unsociable society which one finds in the modern city. It is hard, while reading this, not to be thrown off by the quick changes in thought and subject that Didion presents throughout the work. One moment she is writing on her present life, the next she is relating it to or reminiscing about the old. For example, when she becomes “paralyzed by the neurotic lassitude engendered by meeting [her] past at every turn” (Didion, 2) she confronts it by pulling out old mementos. She slips in and out of examining old memories to comparing them to her daily life—looking in her grandfather’s face from a photo and “not see[ing her] own” (Didion, 2), looking for a “final solution” or “any answer” (Didion, 2) to the memories she holds. The author keeps the reader in a constant trance throughout the work by her ambiguity of thought—never divulging full details, but merely referencing things like the fact that “so many people [one] hears about in [her] father’s house have…been committed to mental hospitals” (Didion, 1) or that she was thirty before she could talk to her family on the phone “without crying after [she] had hung up” even though “nothing was wrong” (Didion, 1). In order to conclude anything about the piece, the reader has to read deeply and make inference after inference—much like the writer going through a process of discovery and inference in her own life. The piece comes to no conclusion; by the end the author makes it clear that she “would like to give her [daughter] home for her birthday” (Didion, 3)—the home she knew growing up and craves—but at the same time has made several marks regarding the negativity of family life and home, implying one must prepare for the “ambushes of family life” (Didion, 3) and that she had “to carry the burden of ‘home,’ [finding] in family life the source of all tension and drama” (Didion, 1). There is no clear answer, and that is the beauty of this piece. It truly gives the reader a ‘snipit’ of a real life experience: experiences which have a good deal of both the good and bad and do not point toward, or often have, a clear answer or correct opinion. Through word choice, and structure, constant questioning and ambiguity Joan Didion creates for the reader a very real, yet undefinable conflict of the family, home, and individual.
This article works because it is very personal, but at the same time it is relatable. Obviously, I am not thirty years old with a family of my own and a child, but somehow I still related to a lot of what she wrote about. Many of the memories she described reminded me of memories of my own that are very similar, like when she visited her great-aunts. I definitely have memories of going to hospitals and visiting old relatives that sometimes know me but sometimes have forgotten that I even exist. Also, when Didion described her family members’ talking about people only they know reminds me of talking with my family. We talk about people that no one outside the family would know about. I also understand that kind of sad, nostalgic feeling she got when she looked through that old drawer.
Didion’s writing also works because it is casual. It uses a strong vocabulary, yet is easy to understand because it is almost like she is talking directly to me in a conversation. It is like she is simply just writing what she is thinking and the reader gets to briefly see inside her mind. Again, I can relate to feeling the urge to just write down my thinking process. The reader can also clearly detect the mood of the article. She is a little sad and definitely nostalgic. It seems like she is missing something, but she does not know what that is. She wants a better future for her daughter, but at the same time she doesn’t seem very hopeful. Her feelings seem a little conflicted, but she is definitely nostalgic. It seems she is longing for a home that she does not have.
"On Going Home" is a very enjoyable and interesting piece. She decides to discuss the way she sees her home, which is always interesting because a home is different for every person. Often the saying, "The home is where the heart is" is said, and proves to be true because Didion explains that people she is close to don't quite understand things that other people are familiar with. She wonders whether or not she will ever be able to give her child "home," which is interesting because while she can give her child a home, she can't discern for her daughter what or where her daughter's home is. Didion goes through some of her memories and things from her past, as if she is trying to discover what exactly her home is, what it's comprised of, and what is means to her. She speaks in the first person, it seems, to make the essay more personal and to make the reader feel where she's coming from. Being able to connect with someone who is finding out about his/herself really gives readers more insight regarding what the essay is really about. Overall, I really enjoyed the piece.
In the essay “On Going Home,” the author Joan Didon uniquely describes her definition of “home” in a fluid manner similar to the way in which she wanders “aimlessly from room to room.” Detailing how the objects around the house are seemingly unimportant to her husband, she continues, showing how each provides its own story and reveals highlights and significant events from her past. Her writing reveals, through images rather than straight facts, how “home” is not simply a building or location, but more of a sentiment or reminiscence. By stating how she wishes a “home” upon her daughter, the author reinforces this idea of a greater definition of “home,” but also one that she may be unable to provide for her daughter possibly because of their location in Los Angeles. Didon’s method makes the essay more interesting and effective because readers are able to step into her shoes and experience the emotions almost first-handedly that her family conversations and odd, miscellaneous objects bring forward.
In Joan Didion’s “On Going Home”, she offers a new and different perspective of home to her readers. She speaks in a negative way of home and family life stating the following: “marriage is a classic betrayal”, “the burden of home”, and “ambushes in family life”. These lines depict Didion’s feelings of isolation and uneasiness within herself and her home. The author opens the third paragraph with an inverted sentence, in order to subtly show the “backwardness” in her life. Although home typically serves as a place of shelter and security, it makes Didion feel “trapped in this particular irrelevancy.” Additionally, in the fifth paragraph she uses a series of short, choppy sentences along with absolute phrases. She may have used this writing style to show that she is an outsider within her family. Didion does not seem to want or attempt to have a meaningful conversation with relatives, but rather keeps it factually based. Overall, I think the sad tone carried throughout this essay does a good job in revealing Didion’s feeling of insignificance.
In Joan Dideon's essay "On Going Home", she illustrates new perspectives on what "home" is. Her ideas of home are not the traditional ideas of what most come to think of when they hear the word "home". She describes home as carrying "the Burden of 'home'", "marriage is the classic betrayal", and the being "unaccustomed to the ambushes of family life". Most people view home as a place where one's identity is built and protected. Identities are defined by the people and morals that surround them, but Dideon states otherwise when she writes about "home" as though its a bad thing. Dideon opens up her third paragraph with the inverted sentence: "that I am trapped in this particular irrelevancy is never more apparent to me than when I am home". Just like the sentence structure, the idea is also backwards. One should not feel irrelevant in their own home; home is where one typically resides when in need of help or in pain because it is their shelter from the rest of the world. Lastly, in the final paragraph, Dideon says she "would like to give her home". I think it is interesting how she didn't treat it as a noun and say "give her a home". This could be because she talks about home as if it were her identity in the essay so I would connect this to her continuous theme of isolation and finding herself. Altogether, Joan Dideon's essay structure shows how she feels unimportant in her home with her use of different sentence structures and word choices.
“On Going Home”, an essay by Joan Didion is colloquial and in first person, which works because it is intended to be relatable and informal. With an informal tone, Joan Didion applies her essay to merely any individual who struggles with family issues--disconnection with his or her family or loss of identity. Joan Didion also elaborates on her unhappiness with the present-day family life and how homes today no longer feel like “home”. Didion's essay italicized and quoted the word “home” to stress that her idea of a home is related to the 1950’s version, when family values were different, and that her present perception of a home is simply the term “home”.
Style wise, Joan Didion incorporates multiple short narratives discussing past family events in a colloquial, yet still formal, writing manner. Linguistically, Joan uses intense diction to express her strong emotions towards family life and her transforming view of “home”. She also expresses her thoughts in short and blunt sentences like “Marriage is the classic betrayal” to emphasize her statement and make it clear for the reader. All in all Joan Didion’s writing style makes her essay relatable for the reader, while still expressing Didion’s strong emotions.
The essay “On going home” was a very personal reflection that captivated the reader through Joan Didions open and truthful expression of her life. She wrote on such an intimate level that allowed people to relate her experiences to their own. Whenever people think of the term “home” they immediately think of wherever they are currently living, however, the way Didion speaks of her yearning to go back home where her family and her past dwell sparked the question of where our home truly is. Is it where we end up living and beginning our own family or is it where we grew up as little girls with our family roots? It was intriguing to me how Didion shared her utmost personal thoughts and feelings. She never tried to sugar-coat what she felt but rather said it as it was. We were able to see into every feeling and sense of emotion pertaining to her desire of going “home” which possibly not even her husband had known about. She forms an intimate relationship with the reader built on her honesty. In addition, the way in which Didion wrote the essay was not formal but instead similar to a reflection or diary where she is recounting and channeling her inner thoughts and emotions. It allowed us to capture a picture of how her experiences in life have created this realization of where her “home" is and further made me question where my “home” would be if I was in her situation.
“On Going Home” by Joan Didion proves to be an interesting piece and it works because it is both unexpected and interesting. When you read the title, you typically think about the reminiscing on your home or perhaps the journey home. However, this essay immediately offers a new and interesting perspective on the idea of a home. Didion uses varied sentences to let her ideas run free as she talks about the present and reminisces on the past. This constant change in her thoughts forces the reader to note every word. Her ambiguity keeps the reader on his or her toes as well as keeps the reader thinking about his or her own life. Through her powerful language she is able to convey her own perspective on the “ambushes of family life,” (Didion, 3) the “burden of ‘home,’” (Didion, 1) and marriage as “the classic betrayal.” (Didion, 1). Through the mention of graveyards and mental hospitals, she sets a tone for her family’s story and home that is somewhat sad, yet this tone forces the reader to rethink the classic fixed ideas about what a home really is. These phrases are not normally used to describe a home but they allow Didion to be honest and personal in her own experience about her own home. This essay begins in the middle of a thought and ends with no conclusion, which is just enough for the reader to get a sense of her life and to reflect on the events in the reader’s own life that may be similar. This essay is more of a “thinking out loud” type of paper that ends with a decision to want to give her daughter a “home for her birthday” (Didion, 3). Through the language, tone, and structure, Didion is able to create an essay that reveals the struggle an individual has in finding a home when set out on his or her own.
Joan Didion writes On Going Home through a dynamic perspective to give a personal feeling to the work. Readers are able to tag along on the unpredictable roller coaster of emotions that Didion cycles through, clearly demonstrated from the author’s choice to write the piece in first-person. The tone of the work fluctuates. In the beginning, the author describes the deep connection she has with her family, talking about their ability to understand each other. However, in the very next paragraph she describes this connection with her home as a “burden” that came with a “nameless anxiety”. I believe Didion chose to write in this way because the unorganized feeling of the work allows the reader to feel as if they are ‘inside’ of Didion’s head, seeing firsthand her inner struggles. There is no guesswork involved in deciphering how Didion feels, she states it through strong word choice that gives the reader a very clear picture. However, it is the seesawing of her opinion that makes the work complex but also adds a feeling of intimacy. This feeling of intimacy stems from Didion’s choice of writing in this wavering perspective because it makes the work feel “unedited” and honest.
Joan Didion’s piece “On Going Home” is written in the first person, offering a more personal atmosphere and tone than a typical essay. Through this and several other methods, the author is able to convey to readers a unique perspective on what a “home”—particularly her own—is. To her, home is where her family is, and her family is by no means unflawed. Readers learn this detail through Didion’s plain to see candor, which is another aspect that makes this work so interesting. It is not what one would expect, and the unanticipated is always more absorbing. The shown features of her relationships with her husband, mother, brother, and great-aunts are not the monotonous “normal” interactions a “normal” family would have. Moreover, the descriptive words chosen by the author to describe marriage, her family, and one’s past are just as captivating. At the end of the essay, Joan Didion’s wishes for her daughter have readers questioning if family and its ideals have really changed over time, or if it is just the new house, the new city, and the new life which the author lives in that gives her doubt.
In "On Going Home," Joan Didion gives a lot of examples of things in her house that make is hard for her to come home. All of these things contribute to a tone that is sad throughout the essay. She talks in first person which, I think, connects more with the readers. It makes it seem like a personal conversation is going on. If she wrote this as more of a formal essay, she would lose that connection with her readers. The words her husband used to describe her home are harsh. She uses harsh words to really emphasize how hard it is for her to go home. She also uses descriptive words that make things seem old. She does this to emphasize her point about all of the memories she has in that house.
Joan Didion’s essay, “On Going Home”, works primarily because it is very personal. The story is told in the first person, which allows me to read into her mind and real thoughts. She portrays her feelings of her family with a nostalgic tone. Because of her family, she seems to be very familiar with and tolerable of “mental hospitals”, “drunk-driving charges”, and “graveyards”. This essay represents Didion’s interpretation of “home”, which is a term that we are all familiar with. She causes me as the reader to question what I believe a home is. I personally believe in the idea that a house is not a home. In the writing, the author puts words such as “normal”, “happy”, and “home” in quotation marks because those words are false allegations in relation to her life .She is a different type of mother and wife; she says, “Marriage is the classic betrayal”. Didion is open about her disheartenment that derives from the fact that her marriage disengages her from her home. She wanted her daughter to have mementos of her own, but Didion knew that her daughter would not create memories in a place that wasn’t home. Though Didion seemed to be afraid to look back at her past, she still had a sense of appreciation for her memories. This story presents the author’s viewpoint of the idea of “home”.
What makes Joan Didion’s essay “On Going Home” such a captivating read is the way she presents an interesting perspective of the idea of a home. By tactfully contrasting “the house in Los Angeles” to “the place where [her] family is,” she portrays two completely different worlds that both share the connotation of what she calls her home. What’s really interesting is how most of the things she writes about are in the negative and aren’t things that one would normally associate with an ideal family or home, for example highlighting on the fact that her family consists of people “who have been committed to metal hospitals and… who have been booked on drunk-driving charges.” She talks about being “paralyzed by the neurotic lassitude engendered by meeting [her] past” as she explores her old lodging and uncovers memories so deep that waves of nostalgia wash over her continuously as she trudges through her past and into the present, possibly portraying that her childhood was not all bright and optimistic. The way she shares her anecdote really invokes emotion that draws readers in to empathize her situation, but because of the way her writing is set up, Didion prepares for a very pivotal plot twist in which she defines that despite the fact that she grew up in a broken household, her family is what makes her home still her home.
She uses a somber and pessimistic tone consistently through the whole story, and this is evident even through happier times like her daughters birthday, and because Didion constantly reminds us of the distinct gap between her generation and her daughters, it can be inferred that the reason why Didion doesn’t sound too happy about the birthday is because simply that she cannot give her daughter the idealistic home most people would like, as “[they] live differently now and [she] can promise her nothing like that.” Joan Didion is stuck between two opposing worlds, and from her essay, it is as if she is momentarily floating through time slowly as she pauses to reminisce about her past and her present. She talks about her past as if it’s a war or an ambush, but contradicts it in the end to say that she wishes the joys of her past for her child, although that it is ultimately not possible to obtain in the circumstances. This leads me to think that maybe in submerging in her past she begins to realize the hostility of her present. The openness and candor of this essay is what really captures a readers attention and along with that, the plethora of context questions that come tumbling after it, leaves an aura of mystery for the reader to divulge in.
I think “On Going Home” was obviously a very personal piece because Didion written in first person, allowing the reader to easily relate to her anecdotal style of writing. Also I believe this is quite a personal piece because she spoke about intimate details about her life including her husband’s inability to understand her “home” and precious mementos of her childhood. Didion redefined the word “home” not only in the sense that it isn’t just somewhere one resides for many years, but it is something that encompasses the reasons why someone is the way the are and defines their identity. And according to Didion, Los Angeles doesn’t seem to do that for her, but in fact cause her to identify with her former self that used to live in Central Valley.
On the surface, the text exposes her feeling of that “sweet” nostalgia one feels when looking back at old pictures or symbols of memories past, but it also exposes her feeling of regret because her daughter won’t be able to experience the type of childhood and family relations Didion did when she was a child. I think this piece worked because it allowed the reader to get into Didion’s life and to relate and empathize with her as to why she feels so lost and out of touch with her identity back in Los Angeles.
“On Going Home” by Joan Didion, is told in first person allowing the reader to see a more personal side to the story. Joan begins by emphasizing that “home” is not simply the place where you live, but home is where your heart is, and for Joan, her heart is where her family is. Joan considers her home to be where her family is, but not back in Los Angeles, where her husband and children are. Joan includes her own thoughts and questions within the text, often in parenthesis, making for a more interesting read because it only exposes one perspective on the situation. However, Joan’s perspective gives the piece an interesting and honest tone. Joan writes so the reader does not have to figure out her mood, but rather makes it easy for the reader to understand exactly how she feels. Joan’s use of shorter sentence structure gets straight to the point in introducing a new topic within the essay. The repetition of the phrase “I would like” emphasizes everything Joan cannot do for her daughter because they “live differently now” and she “can promise her nothing like that.” Joan wants to expose her daughter to what family life really is—in Joan’s opinion—and although she cannot promise to give any of these things to her daughter she promises to tell her daughter “a funny story.” After a long list of things Joan cannot do for her daughter but would like to, she presents the reader with the few simple things she can promise her daughter. Thus, leaving the reader satisfied but still wondering in the end if she will be able to do any of those things for her daughter, other than to tell her a funny story.
Didion contrasts the two types of homes she has in this story: the one she was born into and grew up in, and the one she chose for herself. The way she describes her family life and her old home is in a bleak tone. She revisits this side of her as if it were haunting her. This essay rips apart the traditional views of home and family life; not only does Didion reflect on her home with a hopeless narrative, she ends it by saying that she can’t promise she can provide anything better for her daughter. The toxic nature of her home life renders Didion incapable of even a promise to try to do better for her daughter. I think this reflects more on the way she feels about family as a whole rather than what her parents did, or rather didn’t do, for her. She knows that living with a group of people under one roof comes with uncertainty and the occasional, inevitable upheaval. There are struggles that come along being born into a life you didn’t choose. There are also expectations, like visiting the family graveyard out of respect even though you’d rather stay in the car or visiting great-aunts that have no idea who you are. Or like having to come “home” even though you’ve never really felt at home there in the first place.
The simpleness and abruptness of Joan Didion's sentences is attractive to the readers of "On Going Home". Her writing style mimics the way in which readers actually speak. Rather than elongated, complex sentences, which authors typically use to portray underlying themes and broad ideas, Didion uses short sentences. Each word in every sentence she uses has a purpose. There is no "fluff" in her writing style. She skillfully communicates her underlying ideas as directly and completely as possible within shorter sentences. This is an attractive writing style for readers because it assures the readers that reading this essay is worth their time. A simple style of writing is intriguing because it is more tenacious; the simpleness of the writing makes it easier for readers to grasp the content of the essay.
Didion's usage of quotation marks to offset particular phrases is appealing to readers. Phrases that are off set with quotation marks are meant to be read with a peculiar connotation. The quotation marks put emphasis on the phrases. A reader will understand the meaning of the phrase in a different way than if the phrase were not off set by quotation marks. There is this underlying understanding that phrases in quotation marks are meant to be understood in a rather ironic way. People speak with this ironic style that Didion chooses to write with. Didion uses anaphora in her essay as she repeats the phrase "I would like" (3) when expressing what she would like to give her daughter for her birthday. She uses this specific phrase repeatedly to emphasize the passion and desire behind her simple words. This anaphora is appealing to readers because it is similar to the way in which readers speak.
Joan Didion's essay "On Going Home" is written in the first person with an informal tone, which gives you the sense that you are having more of an intimate conversation rather than reading an essay. This keeps the reader engaged because the personal diction is intriguing and thought-provoking: it makes the reader think about his or her own "home" and whether that home is more like the literal definition, more like Didion's definition, or more like a completely new definition. She includes personal details and nostalgic observations, allowing the reader to see more clearly how she is feeling. She is not too proud to expose her family's quirks: the dust-filled house or the multitude of people they know committed to mental hospitals or charged with drunk driving. Additionally, the first few lines present a new definition of the word "home" and provide you with a new perspective to think about. All in all, Didion's unabashed honesty and redefining of the word "home" are the things that make the essay enjoyable.
The essay “On Going Home” written by Joan Didion expresses itself to be a personal essay because it is written in first person and because it magnifies one’s personal life, one’s home. Didion is quick to explain the difference between home and house; to her, a house is just a place but home is where the heart is. Early on, I realized that Didion’s heart is not with her husband but with her family back home. To distinguish the difference of feelings towards her husband and her family, Didion uses certain language that exemplifies that her heart is with her family and not with her husband. When Didion is with her family, she speaks “excessively about people” her husband does not know and when Didion’s husband calls from home while she is at her childhood home, she “dreads her husband’s evening call” because it is a snapshot back to reality; a reality she does not want to belong to. The language Didion uses to express her love for her husband suggests that she does not even try to make her husband feel welcome and that she does not look forward to his calls and the reality she was supposed to be living. Didion staying at her parent’s house to celebrate her daughter’s first birthday was Didion’s way of escaping her reality; a reality she no longer wants. A child’s first birthday should be celebrated with both parents not just one, therefore suggesting a broken family. Didion not only uses language to express her feelings of love but she also expresses her different forms of love through her experiences and stories. Through the stories and experiences Didion explains to her audience, a picture is painted in one’s mind. The picture painted in my mind leads me to a clear understanding of how Didion felt around her husband and how she felt around her family because her family stories were more positive and greater in number than the stories and memories of her and her husband.
“On Going Home” was written in first person and contains personal stories in Didion’s life. These two factors make the reader feel more connected and part of the author’s life, which is any author’s goal. Through the use of a personal writing style, the reader is able to connect more easily to the story and fully understand and practically feel as if this story was theirs.
For me, I felt an undeniable brokenness in Joan Didion's language and choice in words throughout her piece "On Going Home". Her introduction of her husband instantly gives the reader a sense of resentment towards her, although beloved, estranged husband who is incapable of sharing a similar mindset of the word "home". She sees "home" not as the location in which she currently lives, but the place where her earliest memories were made--her hometown with her close and extended family. To me, I sensed an wall between her and her family; one that she desperately wants to be broken down. This wall is made with the distractions and current obligations which she and the other characters in the essay cope with. However, the author's focus is on remembering her original sense of home, while those who surround her are more concerned with building their current home. The author intimately shares that she longs for a generation that does not think visiting relatives or hometowns is an obligation or a chore--but rather a rejuvenating experience. She displays a deep sense of remorse for her solitary endeavor. She could not wish for anything more than to see her daughter grow up in an environment that nurtures one's organic, original self and the acceptance to reminisce upon this sense of self and one's roots.
"On Going Home" is a personal essay written by Joan Didion. Didion chooses to use the first person, which immediately makes the reader feel connected to what is being discussed. The subject matter of comparing a home to a house is something nearly everyone can relate to, but her use of first person provides an informal tone that invites the readers to reflect on their own lives. In addition, the author includes some rhetorical questions, which remind the reader that this essay is not written to inform the reader about Didion’s personal experiences but more so written so that each individual can connect her story with their own personal one. The descriptions of her “home” are included to emphasize the general feeling of home, rather than just the physical look. She described the contents of an old drawer at one point, and while this may seem like a boring clean up, she connects the items with a story, one specifically being “a bathing suit I wore the summer I was seventeen.” Readers might recall their experiences as a seventeen year old, evoking that emotional response. Her sentence structure also varies; a combination of short and long sentences. This mirrors more closely how the humans think, rather than perfectly formed, long, eloquent sentences. Overall, Didion chose this specific writing style to convey to the audience her purpose of writing this essay and her emphasis on the readers using this essay as a private contemplation of their life.
Joan Didion, author of “On Going Home,” uses straight-forward words that allow the reader to really connect with what she is saying. Her detailed descriptions make you feel like you are there in her shoes. This essay lets the reader connect with their own home, good or bad, while realizing that not every home is perfect. She uses words like “betrayal”, “burden”, and “ambush” to describe how she sees her family–her home. Home should be a place where you are completely comfortable and in your element and this is not what Didion is describing. This is her family so of course she wants it to be her home, but she is neither happy nor comfortable in this place so it this really her “home”? Every home has a history so what may have been her real “home" a couple decades ago, has now evolved into something different– something that does not scream out “home” as Didion is describing it. Didion write in the first person which allows us to really relate to what she is saying and analyze how different or similar our “home” is to hers.
In Didion’s personal report, On Going Home, she looks back at her trip to her old house for her daughter’s first birthday with a nostalgic tone. Didion uses words like “momentos” and “things we like best” to create a sense of old fondness of a life gone forever. In addition, simply the word, “home” has a connotation to it that is completely different to the word, house. “Home” just sounds cozy, comfortable, and warm while a house is simply a place to stay. Didion continues to create a feeling of nostalgia by setting the scenes in paragraph 1 and in paragraph 3. In the first paragraph, she talks about “the yellow fields and the cottonwoods and the rivers rising and falling and the mountain roads closing when heavy snow comes in.” Each thought evokes a memory and each repetition of the word “and” stresses and separates each memory—making it appear long and drawn out, as though these memories happened a long time ago. In the third paragraph, the author achieves the same sort of distinct and seemingly drawn out affects by listing all of the contents in her old drawer and by separating and describing eat of the contents in individual fragments. In addition, her use of the first person draws the reader in, making it feel as though she is telling her stories to an old acquaintance. In the last paragraph, however, the tone shifts from nostalgia to dissapointment as she starts to talk about the future. She uses the verb phrase “would like” four times while she describes the sort of “home” and memories she wants for her daughter. This shift creates a contrast and suggests that her form of nostalgia cannot be experienced by her daughter’s generation. The “would like” shows that Didion feels it is something she cannot give to her daughter because the times are different, and family is no longer as connected.
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