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I think that the ignorance displayed by the people of Clare’s town towards the destruction of their precious environment reflects his town’s social ignorance. This parallel stood out to me at the end of chapter two. Initially, I did not see the connection between the destruction of Clare’s calming environment and of Clare’s feelings of social isolation, but then I perceived it to represent his terror of exile.
When I first started reading, I was confused as to why Clare was talking about the environment of his hometown, the mountain as a metaphor, and his experience climbing the real mountain. Then, as I read further, I realized that he connects all aspects of his life to his definition of home and then exile. He eloquenty connects his sexuality, class, physical ability, education, and location to his home and exile from home. I didn't think it was possible to combine all of these different characteristics into one idenity, but he does.
When I first started reading, I was confused as to why Clare was talking about the environment of his hometown, the mountain as a metaphor, and his experience climbing the real mountain. Then, as I read further, I realized that he connects all aspects of his life to his definition of home and then exile. He eloquenty connects his sexuality, class, physical ability, education, and location to his home and exile from home. I didn't think it was possible to combine all of these different characteristics into one idenity, but he does.
Is it possible to feel simultaneously more settled and more anxious about this upcoming trip to Camphill? After interacting (briefly) with residents at Camphill, I'm feeling better about working with them to create a portrait of themselves. I was excited by the facilities and the beauty of the place; I wasn't really sure what to expect regarding how it would look, and I didn't know how much farmland and forest the area would include. I appreciated Mimi's honesty about how Camphill navigates the dueling pressures to serve the residents and balance the budget.
At first, I was shocked by how Eli Clare could get so many ideas from one single word. He kept on making examples about himself, the torture and pain that he experienced. I feel really sympathetic towards him, his description makes me feel like I have experienced the same thing, too.
I’ve been struggling unnecessarily to write these posts for class, and so I’m going to try to do a little writing on why that might be.
From the first few lines, you can see that the author is not just opening up a story but opening up their life to the reader. Without inhibition, the first part of the author we are introduced to is their place of heritage and the drastic change it has undergone. To display the change a place can go through due to destructive activities can only be seen as a paralell to how the human spirit can evolve within us after much is experienced. As revealed by later reading Eli has had many life experiences that could have brought about a similar destruction.
When people asked me what my 360 was about, I said something along the lines of, “It’s called Identity Matters. It’s about the intersectionality of identities. Over fall break we’re going to an intentional community for people with developmental disabilities and we’re going to tell their stories through writing and visual art.” People had a lot of questions, the majority of which I couldn’t answer.
I thought Eli Clare's Exile and Pride was a very interesting read. I loved how he interweaved his experiences growing up in a rural town with his experiences as an adult living in a city. I found that I really connected with Clare when he described his half-truth school experiences. As a child, I grew up in a more affluent and white area of Los Angeles. My school only had a handful of minorities and I usually found myself to be the only minority in the classroom. As the years past, diversity definitely grew; however, during my first couple years of schooling, I was taught many half-truths--usually pro white half-truths. For example, when I was taught about Thanksgiving, I was taught that the Plymouth settlers were only a positive influence on the Native Americans.
When reading the first chapter – mountains, describing the tough times the writer had, all the disabilities and sexual abuse, I thought the topic of the book would focus on the difficulties the writer had gone through and the process of gaining self-respect. However, starting to read the first part, I doubt that I was reading another person’s story, totally different from the previous content.