Thick England and It's Lesser Known Library

1. Of the selected readings from Writing and Place, which piece used thick description effectively? How? Be sure to incorporate a few quotes from the piece in your blog entry.

Out of the four picks for effective thick description, I believe they are all adequate, but find the piece about England to contain the most visual experience. Jamaica Kincaid tells us of her childhood and how important England was to her youth. She comments on how most of the things in her life were "Made in England" (101). Kincaid explains how adament the education of England was when she compares "This is England" to "This Jerusalem, the place you will go to when you die but only if you have been good" (101).

Kincaid notices some patterns about her life in her childhood. Her breakfast is English, her manners are English, and yet she has never been to England. The English way of life affects all that her family does. Her father was one who held the English way of life dear, that she believed a picture of an Englishman "caused him to wear the wrong hate for a hot climate most of his long life (102).

Eventually Jamaica Kincaid made it to England, and she did not like it a bit! England had been so scarred into her being that she did the best she could to reject it. When she visits with a friend, she finds everyone rude, but she says "I liked the conductor being rude; his behavior seemed quite appropriate" (107). Her vision of England is painted in the people. How everyone seems rude, is likely related to her bias against the country. And I think that the mention of people, helps further her dislike of the country, as she portrays them in a negative manner. She really wants nothing to do with it. Finally Kincaid visits the Cliffs of Dover, but only her to her disappointment. "And so there they were, the white cliffs, but they were not that pearly majestic thing I used to sing about..." (109). And finally she ends with how all her views of England "...should jump and die and disappear forever" (109).

The thick description on this piece is not so much the tangible world, but the description of her emotions and life. Throughout this piece I find it easy to envision her as a small child, and easier still to imagine within the loathing she feels of what was once supposed to be where she belonged

2. Comment on effective (or ineffective) techniques employed in either "The Church Uptown" or "Lane Library: A Living Learning Community."

After having read the piece about Lane Library, I felt as though I myself belonged to the small refuge. The place which offers it's joy to anyone of any age group. The piece makes use of thick description to the fullest extent. Kara Dailey details some parts of the library so well, I could make a decent attempt to map out the building. Between it's rays of light and it's hidden chairs for young adults; the paper really wants to let you know about the library. Dailey also shies away from restricting the library's visitors to any specific individual. It brings in adults, high schoolers, college students, and children, all of whom come to enjoy what this small place has to offer. It appears that the library may be somewhat of a cultural ritual. Those in the area, who find themselves visiting throughout their lives, and growing up in this library, are graduating from the children's section to young adults, and so on into adulthood.