Lorene Cary’s Writing Style
After reading the first 6 chapters of “Black Ice” by Lorene Cary we start to get a strong grasp of her unique writing style, and how she wants us to view her story. Cary’s autobiography seems to focus a lot of the presence of racism at her boarding school. A huge part of her writing seems to be focused on emotion, both coming from her, her friends, her family and the generic people she comes in contact with. She also tries to make the reader create a connection between themselves, and her. Meaning, we all went through similar emotions as her when we went to College, or High school for the first time. She’s able to stir up memories in the reader that we normally don’t think about everyday. One example, “I found myself chattering on, very gaily, about where I would put my things” (Cary 49). Personally, this brings back memories of moving into college. It was a simple task of unpacking and deciding where I would put my belongings, but the excitement of something new seemed to add more magic to the task. Another example that brings back memories is when Cary’s mother is telling the story about the science fair. “She started with the winning- the long, white staircase of the Franklin Institute, and how the announcer called my name twice because we were way at the back and it took me so long to get down those steps” (Cary 15). Instantly I imagined myself in my grade school’s gym standing by a table showing off my white poster board and my stuffed animals (can’t remember what they were in my experiment for) to anyone or any judge that walked by and looked at my work. I believe Cary takes pride in her past. While it seems while she will have a tough time at this school she has an immense amount of pride for herself and her friends. I also believe she take pride in creating emotions in the reader and allowing them the chance to relate to her.
Another writing style that stands out in Cary’s writing is her descriptive writing of both people and the surrounding area. She really allows us to visualize what she’s writing about. It feels like we’re there next to her looking at what she’s seeing. For example when she meets Jimmy Hill, “one of the skinniest boys I had ever seen, had arrived that morning from Brooklyn. He had extravagant brown eyes. His black satin jacket, emblazoned on the back with a red-and-yellow dragon, hung open to reveal a fishnet T-shirt that cast tiny shadows on his chest” (Cary 56). I truly believe that Lorene Cary wants her readers to be there with her, and fully experience what she did. She does a miraculous job of describing the people and places, and creating the emotions that she feels in us. I really feel like I’m there, experiencing everything she is.
