Jana's Journal # 3

One thing everyone will notice reading The Triggering Town By Richard Hugo is that he is a storyteller. Throughout his book he has told numerous stories and has many poems in it too. Hugo is a passionate writer, and honest one too. You can see what he says throughout his book its all honesty from his point of view. The two promotes I have decided to talk about are 1 and 2.
 

1. Their is plenty of stories that caught my attention in this story but theirs this one story that I found to be very important to the story. Which is "I've been seriously advised to take drugs, to avoid drugs, to eat only seafood, to live on welfare, to stop drinking (good advice it turned out), to drink more (at one time an impossibility), to avoid sex, to pursue sex, to read philosophy, to avoid philosophy. Once someone told me I should master every verse form known to man. A poet is seldom hard up for advice. The worst part of it all is that sometimes the advice is coming from other poets, who should know better." (P100)

This story affected me the most its because I was shocked that Richard Hugo was being that open and honest when writing this story. Most would never talk about the things he have said. He has told us what other poets and none poets tell him to do to get inspired to write a well and he just acts like they should know better to not do those things. However some poets and other famous people do very well in a different state of mind. I think Hugo wants us, his readers to know more about him through his reading that's why he tells very personal stories.

3. "McKensie broke the silence with applause. She raved approval, and we realized we had just heard a special moment in a person's life, offered in honesty and generosity, and we better damn well appreciate it. It may have been the most important lesson one can teach. You are someone and you have a right to your life. Too simple? Already covered by the Constitution? Try to find someone who teaches it. Try to find a student who knows it so well he or she doesn't need it confirmed." (p65)
 

Hugo once again is telling a story that happened to him when he was younger. There is a few things i seen in this story that I learned where it could be put under like one it can be under honest and idea. Idea because " you are someone and you have a right to your life" that to means you don't have to take nothing from anyone because you run your own life. It follows under honesty because its a real honest story and he shares his point of view in it too.