In Jamaica Kincaid's "Biography of a Dress" she continously while telling the story of her dress, tells the reader what knowledge she had when she was a child to what she knows now as a adult. As she tells her story you see she uses the tool of reflection. This teaches the reader that when you look back on things from your past you may realize things that may have had a different perception to you at that present moment. As I read Kincaid's essay I could picture her as a child going through the events leading up to and the day of her birthday all the confusion and curiosity she was feeling, but when she as she retells the events with her more mature knowledge, you can see how she understands the things she didn't as a child. None of the other readings used this technique of going back in forth it was like she was using a reflective "time traveling" effect.
Lott's essay actually opened my eyes greatly to what my definition was to creative non fiction. In the second paragraph he has a line, which im going to use as my own defintion. He states "Creative nonfiction is, in one form or another, for better and worse, in triumph and failure, the attempt to keep from passing altogether away the lives we have lived."(p.270,Winding Roads). I agree with that entirely and believe that is a very powerful statment. Also Lott opened my eyes to seeing that creative nonfiction can take place in any form. My understanding was the creative nonfiction was only seen in newspapers or journal type literature, but now I know differently. I also really enjoyed the concept of writing about oneself in relation to the subject at hand.
Both essays help add to my growing understanding of what creative nonfiction truly is and the types of forms it takes. Also they showed me tools and techniques I could possibly use when creating my own works of creative nonfiction.
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