Dropping In The Nude Bowl

Desert Garden Ranch, Nude Bowl, mobster Hideout and skater bowl have all been used to describe a place where people from different time periods have gone to seek refuge, have fun and discover more of themselves. Bret Johnston, author of dropping in uses nonfiction elements of issues, arrangement and style in “Dropping in” to enlighten readers of the history and culture behind Desert Garden Ranch and to inspire the audience to look beyond the person they have always been.

Within issues and information Johnston uses descriptive writing to inspire and inform people about the evolution of the Nude Bowl and the culture of its visitors. By using attention to detail and creativity, the author continuously invites imagination of the nudist pool

“there is some sort of conscious or subconscious association...between image[s] and [one’s] mental bank of…visual memories” (Thien). In “Dropping In” Johnston includes images of different angles and perspective of the Nude Bowl to show traces of the skating culture. More of the images taken by others impacted culture by appearing in magazines. For example, image 5 in “dropping in” is taken at an angle with a skater in the middle showing he is the focus of this image. The angle of the photo can provoke certain emotions from different people. At the peak of photo 5 the skaters foot is at the rim of the pool and in the paragraph below the author says, “think of how when you do reach the peak, you’re so off balance and terrified that you spend much of the day falling.” This photo enhances the reading experiences beyond imagination because it shows exactly what he is describing. This allows the reader to insert themselves into the terror and thrill of skating. He describes his images by saying “every surface was graffitied.” (Johnston 15). He creates an image in people’s mind even without using the photos. He talks about different phrases that are on the wall. The things people have graffitied on the wall show just what kind of people have visited. A few assumptions the reader might make of the culture of people are rebels,

According to Thomas C. Foster, the reading experience is more rewarding when a person can take a step back from the work and look at both patterns and symbols that could spur imagination. This confirms that writers leave room for people to make a conscious effort to look deeper into the writing and to have more of an interaction with the story. In Dropping in the author primarily repeats the phrase “think of” so the reader will continue to imagine their personal experience. For example, the author includes the phrases, “Think of the relentless sun, the expansive silence between attempts, the vertigo-inducing landscape.” And “Think of how so few people have ever actually been here, and how, whether they came to hide or skate, they came in exile.” (Johnston 14). The sensory language describing the warmth of the sun and vertigo inducing landscape helps the reader to imagine the more physical aspect of the Nude Bowl. This repetition at the beginning of the sentence in addition to the details Johnston uses creates a discontented mood. The authors words imply that the type of people who come to The Nude Bowl most likely feel they have been rejected from society. He not only talks about the people that have been there and will go, but he uses sensory language to take others there and to persuade people to go out in the world and discover something they could have