King Of Shadows

As I was reading Shurin's book I couldn't help but constantly think of my teaching.  I wasn't a huge fan of his work because of the distorted nature of the writing, but I felt that he could be used as a teaching tool for my students.  Stealing his fantastic way with words and the visualizations that he creates is something that I strive for in teaching writing to my students.  Too often they are only concerned with the easiest or quickest way out of the assignment and the overall substance can quickly dilute their writing. 

The perfect example of this visualization came on the beginning of "Morning in the Valley."  Shurin states, "An overstuffed white and yellow cat that belongs to the resort met me at the door to my room as I returned with morning coffee.  He nudged his head between my feet and he screen door to get in, but my allergy  rebuffed him.  His eyes were completely communicative- I have to say they spoke- with that balance and intellect that equals intimate conversation" (59).  He gives an accurate and complete picture of this seemingly simple cat and makes for a very intriguing piece of writing.  I use writing activities such as free writes and word webs to help encourage creativity in my students' writing, but it doesn't always work well.  Although some of his writing is inappropriate to use in the middle school level I think it would be a solid starting point for descriptive and creative writing. 

Although it was somewhat disturbing, I found "Three Scenes from the Sauna at the YMCA" to be a very unique piece of writing.  Shurin is very open with his writing and does it as though he doesn't care what his audience will think.  A gay man having nude encounters with three very different people and the observations that he speaks of is a rather novel idea.  Conveying his ideas as bluntly as possible is the best way for him to work.  Within my own writing I struggle with that bluntness because I feel like my audience may get too caught up in the concept I am conveying and the bigger picture of my writing may be weakened.  Hopefully using Shurin's uncanny methods can make me grow as a writer.