Writer Contrast Between Ada Limón and Wesley Morris

“In That Dark Room” is a writing by Ada Limón that tells the story of how she and other struggling ladies find comfort in performing karaoke in a New York city bar. She passionately speaks of the influences great artists have had over her throughout her life and describes that her original ambitions before becoming a writer, were actually to sing. “The Videos That Rocked America. The Song That Knows Our Rage” by Wesley Morris speaks about racism in the United States. The author tells us about recent events that have shocked the nation and how African Americans have taken to recording the hateful actions taken towards them on video, most commonly using their phones. Both writings take a different approach to draw the reader in and try to set a mood for the reader. They are based on a different subject but share a particular theme in that music influences the emotions of the writers and helps them through the process of expelling them. In the case of Ada Limón, singing is used as a therapeutic tool. She is able to find a song that suits her current mood and sing it out to make herself feel better. With Wesley Morris music invokes emotion and allows him to process deep feelings of grief.

Ada Limón has an interesting way to draw the reader in when she begins “In That Dark Room”. Unlike how Wesley Morris jumps into his topic and the reader immediately knows what they are reading about, Ada Limón starts by describing a group of ladies and how they are as their moods and personalities differ when they are sitting at a table and when they are singing. This shows a contrast in the writing style of the two authors, but more importantly shows a contrast in the severity of the subjects that are being written about and why they are being published. Ada Limón is sharing her experience and offering a note of inspiration in her work. She is sharing with aspiring artists that they are not alone and with fans of her work how she got through her early life struggles. Wesley Morris however is describing a current and horrible “plague” as he calls it. He is speaking about the recent events of racism against African American people in the United States and how they are able to alert the public by making videos. He, as well as many people are angry about what has been happening and is attempting to immediately invoke emotion from the reader in a less relaxed way than Ada Limón. Both writers however seem to have a style they share in wanting the reader to share the experience in feeling they are having. Ada Limón, a more relaxed and “cool” approach and Wesley Morris a combination of anger, disgust and sorrow.

Wesley Morris gives many details about different situations that have occurred and been recorded regarding racist acts on African Americans. On page 6 of his article however he takes the reader into a more personal space and speaks about a Patti LaBelle song, her influence and how it triggered his emotions listening to her at one point while eating. Ada Limón also speaks of music and famous African American artists from the era of Patti LaBelle and before. When she speaks of the music however it is providing comfort in a different way. Ada Limón and her crew use music as an outlet to expel emotion by singing and it helps them get over how they feel where Wesley Morris is describing how music helped him get in touch with how he felt and allow his emotions to come out. Both writers are using music to connect with their feelings and by telling the reader about this they are allowing for a chance to share in that emotion. Although the reader can read the description of how these writers feel, they can also sample the music and get a broader idea of that emotional range. Music is a great way to express and share emotion and even though the readers can never actually know exactly how the authors feel they can certainly relate to the feelings performed by musicians and artists. This adds an additional dimension to the writings and gives the reader an opportunity to have a more complete experience in sharing with how the writer felt at that moment.

Wesley Morris is clearly disgusted by the situation regarding racism towards African Americans and other ethnicities that he simply refers to as ‘Blacks’ in his article. He jumps in to the article in an almost shocking manner with a very heated approach. Ada Limón comes off much more relaxed in her descriptions of her situation and surroundings. We know Ada Limón is speaking about her own personal experiences because she tells us that in her writing several times. Wesley Morris does not tell us of his racial background until later in his article and it would be safe to assume he is not only reporting on what is happening around the United States but also about what he has experienced. By jumping into his article as he does, Wesley Morris draws the reader in immediately. He is showing us he feels passionately about what he is writing and ensuring we read on without telling us that it is personal to him and possibly causing some readers to dismiss what is said. Ada Limón takes a much cooler and relaxed approach to her writings and keeps us interested by being vague at first and wanting to know more. Both techniques serve a good purpose for keeping readers interested. Ada Limón and her more relaxed style is more suitable for a book or publication where the reader wants to know more about the writer or the situation that she is in. The style of Wesley Morris is more suitable for his publication The New York Times because it catches the attention of a broader audience and keeps them wanting to read.

“In That Dark Room” and “The Videos That Rocked America. The Song That Knows Our Rage” are 2 very different writings that manage to share some similarities in style and method. The authors tell us about events that occurred in their lives, one personal the other national. They use different techniques to draw the reader in and keep them reading and attempt to convey the mood of the author. They both talk about how music influenced the authors in different ways and share a perspective on how the authors dealt with the subjects they talk about.

Sources

Limón, Ada. In That Dark Room: Aretha, Loretta and a Microphone.

Morris, Wesley. The Videos That Rocked America.

The Song That Knows Our Rage. The New York Times 2020.

Cover Image

Pixabay. (2017, May 19). Clear eyeglasses with black frames on opened book · Free stock photo. Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/photo/book-data-education-eyeglasses-267495/