Look at the photos in this chapter and write three things that might be true about Jon Brown.
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Write three things you know about Jon Brown from his writing.
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In “Ten Hours in the Valley,” Jon Brown describes his transfer from one institution to another. Although the events occur in a relatively short period time, the writer describes them in vivid detail – touching on all the sense (sight, sound, touch, taste, hearing).
After you’ve read the piece, go back through it, and try to group the descriptions by the sense or
senses they bring to mind. (For example, he hears the “persistent hum of the fluorescent overhead
lighting,” the loudspeaker booming, metal grinding metal.) Although he doesn’t say anything about
the sound, you can also almost “hear” the sound of the “new set of jewelry … belly chains” and also
“hear” guards and inmates, sirens and buzzers in the background throughout the story.
Now write your own description – of a meal, of a visit, of an ordinary morning (or whatever else you’d
like to write about) – paying attention to sound, sight, smell, touch and taste as you write.
Do these elements make your writing more vivid and interesting? Try writing a ‘flat’ description of
your cell or your room; then try to write that same description paying attention to all five senses.
After you’ve done this writing, go back one more time and think about how you were feeling when you
wrote – do your feelings come through in the choices you make about how you describe things?
Now read “Grape Jelly” – aloud, if you can. What feelings and senses come through?