"The Site of Memory," by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison’s essay “The Site of Memory” reminded me of the paragraph in Ray Carver’s essay in which he defends his use of poetic license in the poem he writes about his Dad. In “The Site of Memory,” Morrison walks us through the thought process that she employs when writing fiction, tracking “an image from picture to meaning to text.” She starts off by announcing her intention to create a piece of writing that conveys the kinds of emotions and memories that stem from her idea of corn on the cob. For Morrison, corn on the cob represents something much larger than just its surface existence. She describes how corn on the cob reminds her of her childhood home, her parent’s relationship, afternoon naps and being too young to distinguish weed from crop. After walking us through these associations, she describes how she intends to write in testament to all that corn on the cob represents to her. Much as Carver did in his piece, Morrison asserts her right to convey a certain kind of truth—one that will surely evoke a strong emotional response from readers—over a more “pedestrian” kind of fact-truth. I really enjoyed reading Morrison’s ideas about writing—I think that it is the human condition to feel and experience multiple kinds of truth, but I think we are often encouraged, especially in school, to only explore and articulate straightforward, “pedestrian” fact-truths in our writing. I am excited to negotiate multiple kinds of truths and employ Morrison and Carver’s techniques when writing for this class.