Journal examples: “Everything about our session pleased me: the smallness of the room; the noise of the janitor’s broom hitting the edge of the long hallway outside the door; the green of the sun, lighting the wall; and the old woman’s face blurred white with a beard. Most of the time we took turns, I began with my elementary text. Sentences of astonishing simplicity seemed to me lifeless and drab: “The boy ran from the rain…She wanted to sing…The kite rose in the blue.’ Then the old nun would read from her favorite books, usually biographies of early American presidents. Playfully she ran through complex, calling the words alive with her voice, making it seem that the author somehow was speaking directly to me. I smiled just to listen to her. I sat there and sensed for the very first time some possibility of fellowship between a reader and a writer, a communication, never intimate like that I heard spoken words at home convey, but nonetheless personal.” 64 Rodriguez, here, relies primarily on syntax and imagery to accurately convey this important moment. He takes the time to list in series the positive things about the session. This listing of various details with active diction helps the reader to conjure a real life image of the author’s perception. He even takes the time to convey the exact sentence of simplicity he read. The active diction of the sentences evoking various images seems “drab” to him. While the “blurred white” faced woman evokes a “ fellowship between the reader and writer”. The exchange between his words and the woman is a parallel to the transformation he feels with different literature. The sentence structure gets more complex as the author struggles internally to come to the realization of the “personal” fellowship he experiences. To mark the clarity in his thoughts toward the end of the passage makes a distinction between the “intimate” and “personal”. The italics here emphasize the clarity and confidence of the inner thoughts of the character at this point.
“Throughout college and graduate school, I thought of myself as an orthodox Catholic. I was a liberal Catholic. In all things save the liturgy I was a liberal. From the start I despised the liturgical reformation. In college chapels I would listen to folk singing and see plain altars draped with bright appliqué banners: JOY! GOD IS LOVE. One Sunday I would watch dancers in leotards perform some kind of ballet in front of the altar; one Sunday there would be a rock mass; one Sunday the priest encouraged us to spend several minutes before the Offertory introducing ourselves, while a small bad jazzy combo punched out a cocktail mix. I longed for the Latin mass. Incense. Music of Bach. Ceremonies of candles and acolytes.” 112 Here we have a few ideas that seem contradictory, but upon careful inspection reveal the true nature of the author’s thoughts. The seeming contradictions are indicative of the fine lines that the authors draws to differentiate his belief as an individual. First contradiction image and idea is that of an orthodox and liberal. The dual personality of the author is visible here as he thinks of himself as an orthodox but is a liberal. Although this sounds like a impossible paradox. The author draws the distinction describing that his attraction comes from affinity for orthodox liturgy. He gains no peace from the various reformed liturgies he experiences. Everything about these liturgies he describes as unceremonious and plain and unpleasing. The altars are “plain”, the banners are “bright”. Everything he feels is too loud. Utilizing loud capital letters to convey their messages carries out this image and idea. The capital letters do not evoke peace despite the message. The church has “some type of dancers”, “rock mass”, “bad jazzy combo”. All of these creating unharmonious images. His frustration reaches a high and towards the end he refers to the peace he longs for. The syntax and diction here becomes very simple. He is simply punctuating ideas and memories, things he craves. He defines the music and ceremonies, rather than describing it as “some type” of music. He craves “Bach, Incense.” Therefore, using diction, syntax, and imagery elements, he creates the picture of his internal restless chaos.