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Rona Maynard's avatar

Your student has the confidence and fire to make a bold assertion that takes you by surprise and requires your considered response. This is rare and admirable in a young writer, especially a woman. Perhaps (I hope) her position will moderate over time. Jeanette Winterson says in her memoir of a mother’s war on her spirit, “I cannot remember a time when I was not setting my version of the story against hers” (I’m paraphrasing from memory). You could call this memoir an act of revenge, but I doubt if this description applies to all of Winterson’s work. In a mature writer, I look for nuance. I think most mature readers do. Winterson’s “revenge” memoir is also a tribute to reading, which saved her. I didn’t intend to go on and on, but the proposition is so interesting.

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Leslie Pietrzyk's avatar

Provocative. I might agree with your student in the sense of why are we even writing the book if one part of us isn't inherently thinking, I want them all to listen to ME. But I have to ponder a bit more.

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