Show CM S r oo CM 00 an ox woxd± E d) x: U Author sees diaries as treasure of simple writing The long and the short of it is that Annie Ray wrote ta journal and 116 years afterwards her E 0 moments” However Annie Ray’s quotidian descriptions of her daily life did serve a larger purpose She needed them to maintain any life at all in die face of ha personal difficulties posited Sinor “With Annie" said Sinor “I think she is absolutely aware of what a diary has to offer for her I can see her using the containment of the form to contain some of the scarier things in her life that might well out of control” Sinor offered a striking example ofher theory “There’s tins entry where she’s talking about what she did during the day baked some bread washed some clothes very typical And then in the middle of great-grea- great niece read it And was captivated Jennifer Sinor that three-tim- e great niece is a pro- fessor in the Utah State University English depart-menL When she was a graduate student her meat-aunt Billie Schuneman gave her four years of Annie Pringle Ray’s diaries What caught Sinor’s attention was the remarkable way Annie Ray’s “ordinary” writ- ing encapsulated the life she led in the Dakota Territory in the 1880s While diary scholars have usually paid attention to journals with dramatic stories to tell Sinorwas struck by the“barebones” quality of Annie Ray’s writing Annie said Sinor recorded the “dailiness” ofher life: the bread baked the socks mended the peas planted or shelled And yet there was plenty of fodder for drama in Annie Ray’s life It was a difficult life Newly married she was left solitary as her husband Charley Ray often traveled in his work as a blacksmith Annie’s health waspoor too “She suffers from rheumatism cancer as well as uterine difficulties — she’s barren she doesn’t have any children’’ Sinor outlined And her relationship with her husband was calamitous Sinor discovered “I came upon family letters and talked with my great aunt — I find out that not only is Charley absent a lot of the time he’s also Unfaithful It’s unclear when it starts how she knows A figure appears later in the diaries maybe the third year — MH” As if that were not enough for Annie to live with Sinor learned from letters and family stories “Later after the diaries he has a long long affair with her : 'IT 'X o "I 2 2 a x 0) £: jrt a ao Q- - A family photo taken Just before Annie died circa 1931 Annie stands in the middle in black and Billie is ihe youngest girt in the front The other names were not available Jennifer great-au- Start nt niece” Annie Ray’s situation could be material for grand open Instead reading her diary Sinorwas surprised by the “sparseness of her entries” Sinor began to ask herselfif Annie was not narrating the escapades and endeavors of her life what was she doing? “As soon as I started saying Annie is not telling a story she’s doing something different What do we i do when we’re not telling a story?" Besides leading her further into the mystery of Annie Ray’s consciousness this question directed Sinor toward an unexplored area of diary scholarship rv “People weren't looking at diaries like him They were very interested in literary features of diaries: If they were beautiful if they fold dramatic stories if the writer was famous” ' But most people maintained Sinor do not write such diaries One of die one (purposes) that is most important1: thitfmakes the diary a diary and not a memoir an A" atypical page in Annie Ray's diary shows a drawing of her homeetewL Under the drawing are the word 'home sweet y : autobiography or a novel is its inscriptioQ of daili- Uess its ability to capture all die home' Most of the pages in the djaiy contarinedbrfef descriptions of daily events Urithout drawings y'-'- - retry “One winter she’s trapped in Mitchell There’s a in 1881 It’s actually one of the biggest blizblizzardI in zards in the 19th century She’s trapped in Mitchell and she can’t get home Every entry for the next five weeks is when am I gonna get home when am I !: i ‘ ’ ' ' J a ‘ ' ' 'J - ’j y ( : T think she’s a complicated writer at work Annie is able to extend the attributes of the diary form She uses them to limit die emotional impact feat her life' delivers I dunk you have to see her as more strategic than simply writing her day" ' Sinor will talk about her book “The Extraordinary Work of Ordinary Writing: Annie Ray's Diary” Wednesday March 13 at 12:30 in die Haight Alumni Center on the USU campus - StOfy by P&t BohlTl TfOStle PhotOS SinOf (jiaiy pages provided by jsnnifer ' ' ' k y ' wv- A portrait of Annie Pringle Ray - Mitch MaacanVHarald Journal Star has written a book about her greaHjreaHjreat-aunt’-s diary written in the 19th century Jennifer '' " ft |