Week 7: Reading Response

I liked "The Road is Unfair" much better than "Access."

Both articles brought up ethical issues, but I feel like Conover did a much better job of navigating a different culture. His writing does not come across as judgemental - he just says it the way it happens. Somehow, I think this gives the reader a sense of power - there isn't an interpretation already glossed onto the story. The reader is able to think whatever they think.

One example of this is Conover's treatment of Bradford as a character. The frustrating thing about Bradford is that he KNOWS how AIDS is spread - he totally gets it. But he sleeps with prostitutes anyway...BUT Conover doesn't describe the scene where this happens with judgment. It just happens. I decided on my own that Bradford is a frustrating character, and I like having that power as a reader. In a way, it makes the point that *presumably* Conover is making more palatable - I don't feel like I am being spoon fed something that already seems biased.

This is different Kramer's story. From the first sentence of "Access" the narrative is rife with his own judgments. I lost interest in the story MUCH more quickly, in part because I felt like the answer to what these people, this culture, was about at the time was already given to me - and it wasn't my answer, it was Kramers.

That said, both pieces relate to the chapter on Ethics. Obviously, it is an ethical issue how you paint the characters in the book. This is something I struggle with as a writer - I need to get over feeling guilty when I write what I see...the way I see it. I think I need more of Conover's "What I see" and less of Kramer's "How I see it." Although I DID like Tracy Kidder's comparison of an interview, and the need to convey what the consequences of an interview might be, to Miranda rights. I need to figure out how to word my own version of "Miranda rights" before an interview. I think that might help the guilt factor I feel in writing. That, and keeping a boundary between me and my interviewee...there is ALWAYS the temptation to start think they are your friend...