-Write 1 paragraph on something you learned about writing’s relationship to social change—perhaps using a favorite text as a guide, with the wisdom of hindsight.

A couple texts that especially inspired my understanding of writing and social change were: Anne Boyer’s “The Undying,” Nick Drnaso’s “Sabrina,” and finally Layli Long Soldier’s poem “38” in her collection “Whereas.” Every single one of these works reshaped how I perceived an aspect of society — or more actually, had failed to perceive, previously. In doing so, these works alerted me to the way I understand happenings in society, and how I am often apathetic without realizing it. For example, in “The Undying,” for the first time in my life I realized how the cancer survivor is always the Other — the mother, sister, lover, etc. Never is the person affected the center of the story, and in that, an inherent injustice is committed against the pain and suffering of the affected individual. Especially being someone who wants to pursue a career in health, I was both astonished and disappointed in myself for my failure to realize this earlier. “Sabrina” juxtaposed the banality of everyday life with the horror of senseless violence, presenting society’s reconciliation of these cosmically different entities through their exposition in media. When horrible things happen, rarely is my first thought the aspect of temporality in the lives of the side characters (Sabrina’s boyfriend, her sister, etc.). How they digest what has happened over time, and how that changes them gradually, is never emphasized. Rather, the projected immediate pain of what has transpired is all the mind paid to these side characters. “Sabrina” not only drew my attention to this temporal aspect, but also highlighted the devastating effect of social media and online anonymity on the grief processes of horrible occurrences in the modern day. Again, Drnaso made me rethink what I had originally not even thought to think about. Finally, the poem “38” touched me in a way that stimulated feelings of both shame and determination. On one hand, I grew up learning about the crimes committed against the Native Americans for the entirety of my education — however, indigenous people were always portrayed as victims, those reeling from the blow of ignorant white men. Never were they depicted as layered individuals whose actions could serve as deliberate poetry, whose experiences not only created great pain but also engendered profundity. Again, the poem exposed a layer of my ignorance to things so obvious they should have been ringing in my mind at the slightest prompting — but somehow escaped even the slightest notice. My experiences with these three outstanding pieces have led me to the understanding that writing allows the author to draw attention to aspects of social change that may seem obviously necessary, but nonetheless are met with apathy or unknowing. 

-Write 1 question you have about writing and social change that emerges from your work in the course.

What is the most common form of writing that authors discussing social change have used? Why? Is that form actually the most effective, or the most easy, or the most palatable?