Tutoring

“Kids, think about your public?” I continuously hear in class. “Every single article you have read, every text has a specific purpose.” “Would you write the same way to an adult than to a K-4 child?”

Yes, I know. It’s a pretty boring idea to here over and over in every single class, at least twice a week. However, I must recognize it is a pretty good advice, though it’s not that easy to apply it and yet sound natural. Like now, I’m sitting trying to write the most honest, natural and practical piece I’ve written, and yet I can hear my teacher saying, “Sara…you should consider proofreading this. Remember proof reading is the most important part of writing.” But yet I’m not going to change. This is my first attempt to write a contemporary piece, and I will use Kurt Vonnecut’s first chapter of “Slaughterhouse-Five” as my tutor.

My first lesson: know how to arrive to the public. Kurt used a relaxed tone throughout the chapter saying “So it goes” (Kurt Vonnecut. Slaughterhouse-Five. Pg. 6, 9, 21, 22) five times, “Mr. So-and-So” (Kurt Vonnecut. Slaughterhouse-Five. Pg 7) once, and starting countless paragraphs with the word “So” as we see in page 9, 13, 15 and 22. Later, the reader had to pass through several pages of text and ideas from other authors on the serious matter of “Children’s Crusades” (Kurt Vonnecut. Slaughterhouse-Five. Pg. 15.) So my tutor used the contrast between the words and the matter to leave the massage instilled in the reader for a pretty long time.

Second Lesson: play with the reader so he breaks the rule of order. I have no idea whatsoever how Vonnecut was able to pull this off, but he did. First, he gave us small insights of the future and when he arrived to the moment when the scene actually happened, Kurt repeated the scene as if he hadn’t said a word about it. For example, in the beginning he wrote: “ And I’m reminded, too, of the song that goes:
My name is Yon Yonson,
I work in Wisconsin,
I work in a lumbermill there.
The people I meet when I walk down the street,
They say, “What’s your name?”
And I say,
“My name us Yon Yonson,
I work in Wisconsin…”(Kurt Vonnecut. Slaughterhouse-Five. Pg.3) Later, in page 7, out of the wild the sentence comes reminding us of the song, saying, “My name is Yon Yonson, I work in Wisconsin, I work in the lumbermill there.” These fascinating games Kurt plays with the reader catch the attention, especially when he does many similar moves like this one.

Finally, what really impressed me is that I couldn’t resist the temptation of skipping the entire book until the last page, after reading, “This is a failure, and had to be, since it was written by a pillar of salt. It begins like this:
Listen:
Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.
It ends like this:
Poo-tee-weet?” (Kurt Vonnecut. Slaughterhouse-Five. Pg. 22) And the bittersweet part is…it does end like that.

“Yes Mr. Vonnecut, Slaughterhouse-Five chapter one. I think I achieved today’s goal.” I say.

“Well, what is the goal, Sara?” He says.

“For contemporary writing breaking the rules is a luxury, and feel free to play with the reader, as long as you highlight the importance of the theme with contrast.” I reply.

“Bravo. Now you may go to chapter two.” He responds.