Ghosts and Empties – Lauren Groff
Choice Reflection
I felt that “Ghosts and Empties” by Lauren Groff impacted me the most as a writer. Her use of imagery as this narrator jogs through rural Florida made this dreamscape come to life in my mind. I saw her troubles through her perception of others. I also liked how Groff tackled the movement of time, where the landscape and the people changed in many ways around the narrator. Something about this reminded me of the time when I felt others were moving on while I stated the same until I broke free. In this sense, I relate to the narrator’s troubles, though I do not have kids or a cheating husband. This story stuck with me in sentence structure as well. When I write, I find my thoughts unending, leading to lengthy sentences and paragraphs. Groff reminds me that sometimes, this can be utilized as a tool rather than a drawback. The part of the text I chose to represent in my book is only one sentence, but it uses the word “and” six times. I find that my brain is held back by how quickly I can type words, and this sentence, in particular, brings up so much imagery in a short time, again reminding me that this format can be successful if used correctly.
Bookmaking Reflection
I wanted to experiment with string. I knew that from the beginning, but I found it incredibly difficult. Hot glue is a fickle thing. Groff’s words put a specific image in my head of a darkened street where the people the narrator encounters are ghostly. This image was the intention for the string creation. Somehow, I felt that threads signified an undoing is possible as this narrator battles her issues in her home life. I wanted to reflect this unbecoming of the narrator by means of strings. As for the other drawings, I felt inclined to directly address the different parts of this singular sentence, as it is loaded with imagery and movement. With the frog, I wanted to illustrate their hindered voices by the depth of the water. The second clause brings in the element of time, where dawn battles dusk, and the seasons change. Using the sun as a clock felt appropriate for bringing this portion to life, as Groff’s words do in print. I planned the front and back covers to play off the title, the front being ghosts and the back being empties. The font of the title on the original sheet is almost eerie in the same way that this text is, and I wanted to incorporate it as part of the dialogue from the start.
