ENGL 1080 Lecture 9: _A Father’s Faith_ By Mariam Toews
20 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Non-fiction prose personal essay, but it draws heavily on prose fiction techniques; shows the importance of the story/the narrator. We tell stories to understand our experiences, to find pattern/meaning in life, and to pass on knowledge. Mennonite context: essay explores her/her father"s relationship to this community. Author is trying to understand certain facets of her life. Personal history of the father/narrator, personal history of the family, history of the community, history of a mennonite town in the prairies. Goes from determined to uncertain sentences, did to would . She knows certain things for sure from witnesses (ex: stuff he did in the caf is certain because the waitress was a witness) She is unsure of other things, so has to infer what happened. The essay is her trying to piece things together in her father"s story/history. Answers many of our initial questions but introduces a whole set of new ones.
