More on Our Girl Zippy

Thursday Assignment:
I. For Zippy, read the following and analyze two rhetorical strategies per chapter:
1. Blood of the Lamb
2. Unexpected Injuries
3. The Kindness of Strangers
II. Take annotations!
III. Friday reading!

Some notes about the theme of religion:

We didn't get to discuss this in class today, so I hope some of these examples will help guide you for when we reunite. Kimmel does a fantastic job of explaining her confusion about her religious beliefs in "Blood of the Lamb." Do you think Zippy's father is a positive or negative influence on her religious beliefs? He doesn't hide the fact that he hates church, but he doesn't support Zippy when she agrees with him.

p. 53: "I not only had to spend countless hours of my life worshipping a God I didn't believe in, I could even complain about it, whereas Dad just sat down in his chair and called it like he saw it."

p. 53 - 55: The anecdote about Kimmel's tricks ("I Can't Find My Other Shoe" and "I've Lost My Little Pink New Testament") to avoid church and her father's assertion that she still go.

p. 55: "When I think of getting up for church, it is always winter, but when I think of the actual walk...it is always a perfect summer day that will wither in my absence." Think about the contrast here between the symbolism of the seasons.

p. 60: The entire page provides an insight into the way Zippy views religion. What seem to be her chief complaints at this point? Is this a natural child reaction?

I love the way Kimmel uses diction and syntax to capture her childlike point of view. Consider these examples from "Unexpected Injuries":

p. 63: "...off we'd go, driving less than an hour to the campground, with me flying around in the back like a little wayward piece of popcorn."

p. 63: Kimmel's description of Petey immediately resonates with the audience--this is an evil child (she even acknowledges that the visual of Petey is a cliché). My favorite line in this paragraph is the one about Petey's bicycle being made of the Devil's own parts.

Other things to notice about this chapter:

1. Zippy's anecdote about the frogs (p. 62) offers a brief comment on her religious views.
2. Zippy's father, Bob, once again takes justice into his own hands when it comes to his daughter's pets.
3. Zippy's father's reaction to the Scroggs men killing the rabbits while Zippy watched. (How was this different than when Zippy watched Minnie kill her chickens?)

In "The Kindness of Strangers," what does Zippy learn about her father? How does this essay serve as a nice companion for "Favors For Friends," the essay that follows?

I love the way Kimmel describes Andy Hicks (p. 84): "There are people in this world so perfect that the fact of them feels like a personal gift, and Andy was one of those people." Did you pick up the juxtaposition between her view of Petey Scroggs and her view of Andy Hicks? We also gain some insight into the way Zippy's dad "gets" his daughter (p. 89) "I knew Dad would never mention Jiggers again, no her life or her death or her grave."


Friday Assignment:

I. For Zippy, read the following and analyze two rhetorical strategies per chapter:
1. Favors for Friends
2. Haunted Houses
3. Professionals
4. Chance
5. A Short List of Things My Father Lost Gambling/Won Gambling (You DO NOT need to analyze rhetorical strategies for these...just read).
6. The World of Ideas
II. Take annotations!
NOTE: "Haunted Houses" is a loooooong chapter, I know, but the theme of life and death (and religion) was obvious. What did you all think of Zippy's dad letting her watch the dogs and cats pulled out of Edythe's house? Why do you think Kimmel dedicated such a lengthy amount of essay space to Edythe? What do you think of the exchange between Zippy and her dad on p. 104-105 concerning Christianity?
III. Read Barbara Taylor Aldrich's "Why I Live in a Small Town." Aldrich describes different sort of small town life than Capote's portrayal of small town Holcolmb and Haven Kimmel's description of small town Moreland, Indiana, there are similarities between the citizens and the culture of these places. Think about that as you read.

Questions for the Aldrich essay:
1. TAP. Include two examples of evidence from the essay to support each part of TAP.
2. Aldrich arranges her essay into several sections. What is the purpose of this arrangement and how to these sections connect with one another?
3. Aldrich wrote this essay in 1933. Cite three words or phrases from the essay that hint at this era. For each word or phrase, explain its meaning in Aldrich’s time and contrast its meaning today.
4. Contrast Aldrich's ideas about small town life with city life.