Sing Soft, Sing Loud - Patricia McConnel

 Hi Shannon - 

Below are some of my thoughts on the first chapter of this book. I look forward to hearing your ideas as you read! As usual, I give some ideas below on how the text might be used so curious your reactions to those. And, should we read the whole book? 

I read the whole book a number of years ago but it is the first chapter that has always stuck in my mind. Iva has a striking relationship with the window and tree – she looks out/at it each morning, she doesn’t want to leave the block because of it and she doesn’t tell people about the view (she mentions this twice). This view out her window isn’t just of something pretty to look at – it is a symbol of punishment and the control others have over her; it is a symbol of both the limits and possibilities of freedom, both institutional and personal; and it is a secret that she guards dearly for fear of the consequences. What she positions herself to see each day simultaneously confines and frees.

I look out many windows each day and, most of the time, they are just windows with views to the outside. I have rarely, if ever, considered the deep meaning that windows or their views hold. Yes, research suggests that views have the potential to impact people’s lives and relationships – e.g., views of trees out apartment windows can reduce aggressive behavior, views of nature out of hospital windows reduces the time it takes to heal from medical procedures, and views of nature out of prison cell windows can reduce the number of sick calls an incarcerated person requests. But Iva is suggesting something deeper. It is one thing to say I feel good when I look out a window (which Iva also says). It is another to link it to punishment, confinement, freedom and secrets (and humanization, hope, discouragement, etc.). With this deeper meaning, it is not surprising Iva keeps silent about the window and tree. To speak of it is to potentially put her humanity in jeopardy. Her comment at the end about how it makes no difference where she spends her time so clearly communicates that it does.

The “difference it makes you where sit” is not just physical, not just about whether one can see the tree or not. Iva’s conversation with Rupert also hints at the different vantage points that shape how the world is understood – whether and how one understands the importance of window/tree or whether and how one understands why someone women are in jail and others are not. These different vantage points are based on institutional status (prisoner or “screw”), street hustler or $500 call girl with an escort service madam. One could wonder if she is also implying differences related to race and other forms of socioeconomic status.

The fact that Iva remains silent on what she sees in the physical world of the institution stands in stark contrast to what she gives voice to, that is the pathways into the institution.  She sees distinctions between people and their experiences and these “sights” need to be spoken about.

There is also something there that I haven’t yet put my finger on. She opens the chapter with her eyes open, describing her block, the window and the tree. In B tank, she wants her eyes open and it seems to “open” her (feels good, links to freedom). She ends the chapter closing her eyes, to block out Rupert. In A tank (which has no window), she doesn’t want to see or has nothing to see. She has closed down.

This chapter gets me wondering:

-       What do we see in our daily lives that is symbolic of or communicate messages about who we are individuals, our place within an institution or society, the degree to which we have control or are controlled and the limits and possibilities for our futures?

-       What are the sights that we intentionally or unintentionally hold secret and why?

-       How do we choose when to open our eyes to see and when to close our eyes to shut out? What does this say about what we choose to see and what we choose to not see? How do these choices influence how we understand the world? How are these influenced by the differences in where we sit?

I also like McConnel’s writing style- it “gritty” and descriptive. When I read, I can visualize the jail, the window, the tree and hear and feel the chaos.

This reading could be used in a few different ways:

-       Reading for the very first campus-based class as it introduces the idea of needing to pay attention to those things we take for granted, serves as in introduction to course themes and gives a first glimpse at institutional life

-       Shared reading for the first class at FDC for the reasons above with the added benefit of conversation with FDC women. It could also serve as the jumping off place for activities (in-class or for the following week) related to, for instance, what we see and the meaning those things hold for us, who is in prison and who isn’t, things we talk about and things we don’t, etc.

-       Shared reading for the second unit in the FDC that focuses specifically on daily life in the institution. It could serve as the basis for in-class discussion as well as serve as the backdrop for a between-session assignment of paying to what we see and the meaning those things hold for us, ways in which find privacy, what sights we keep to ourselves and what we share, etc.