Telling Week 3 part 1

1.When she goes to the doctor after the rape Patricia Francisco was told she shouldn't bath because it would erraticate any evidence from the rape. This information was very disheartening because after such a horrific experience she couldnt even go home and clean herself up. Before she was raped she decided to take defense classes which she thought would never help her in life but in the time that those would come to use she couldnt use them because she use what she had learned. If walking around at night wasn't scary enough for Patricia she was also scared to even walk alone or in daylight and even just in open spaces she feared for her life. She tells a story about how her and her friend went on a walk around a lake in Minneapolis and it began to rain out so they ran to a shelter. Although she was with her friend she suddenly became terrified by a man that seeked shelter just like them. This rape has clearly affected her deeper than I originally thought, because she is afraid of every man she sees. She makes it clear in this section that many women dont think that it is necessary to tell anyone that they were raped and think that no one cares where as it is actually the complete opposite. She writes about a poem that she found that gave her confidence and bravery. It talked about women walking confidently, strongly, and as a big, strong, confident woman. Patricia is jealous of children who are so innocent and dont know about the world yet so they dont fear many things or people until one day they are hurt and then learn to be scared and more reserved and she hates that that must happened to them. Another thing she finds empowerment from a movie which shows a radical portrayal of rape. It is about a women that is raped for political reasons and uses it to empower herself and other women to help her people. Patricia Francisco describes this woman as neither a victim or a survivor but as a leader. Gradually Patricia is coming around now, she wants to live with men and is not as afraid of them. She begins to lose sexuality in her marriage though and this hurts husband very much because he feels that he just contributes to the memory of the rape every time he and his wife have sex, and doesnt want to be associated to rape. Finally the anger that builds in patricia after the rape contributes to the becoming more distanced form her husband.

2. Patricia Weaver Francisco was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan and recieved a bachelors degree in journalism. She has been living in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 1974. She recieved the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1997. She also recieved the Loft-McKnight Award of Distinction and grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She was the associate editor of Minnesota Monthly magazine and teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Hamline University. Other books she wrote are Cold Feet, Village Without Mirrors, and Lunacy.