The Other Side.

Meeting with authors is always interesting to me. As a book lover, I find myself asking many questions about the stories I read. How did so-and-so come up with such an interesting idea? How can some small idea spark such a big story? and so on. I've taken writing classes. . . some in high school, some in college. . . lets just say I'm more of a reader than a writer, at this point anyway. I've always thought it would be incredible to have my name on the by-line or on the cover of a novel but. . we'll just stick with the I'm more of a reader thing for now.

I think what I found most interesting, with all of the authors we got to speak to, was their obvious passion for what they do. That idea of mine that it would be incredible to have my name on a by-line, well you could see that feeling in them as each of them were speaking. I wasn't surprised by this in the least bit because, why would you spend all of this time writing something if its not something you're passionate about? 

I also found it interesting that, although they are all writers, they all do things and think about things differently. Not that I thought they were all going to feel the same way about all of our questions, but sometime it was interesting to hear that one writer can think of something in one way and another the complete opposite. Even though, ultimately they are doing the same thing-- trying to get published. 

Lastly, the thing I found most interesting is that in the publishing process, the writer doesn't really have the "final say" or all of the power to make his or her work exactly the way they want it. As each of the writers spoke about this it made more and more sense as to why others had the ability to change the writers work, but I never really thought that the writer would have to give up rights on his or her own work. But hey, if they got to make all the decisions, all these other people in the process would be pointless and out of a job. 

Are Writers Relevant?

Last week in class I was asked if I thought writers were relevant when analyzing a story, essay, novel, ect. I can tell you in all honesty that I had never really thought about this. . . is the writer relevant? I came up with an answer that.. kind of lacks if you're wanting a straight answer. I think it depends. It depends on the writer, it depends on what the person is writing. . . it just depends.

We have read quite a bit this semester and we did look at the writers background when analyzing these stories. This made me first think, well duh, it must be important. With many of the writers we looked at you could see a connection with events in their life and their stories. An example of this is Kate Chopin-- in both of the stories of hers that we read, we could see connection of her life throughout. But it's not always like that. Sometimes a writer just thinks of something about goes from there. An example I have of this (not one from our class) is the writer of the bestseller Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn. I was watching an interview with her the other day and she was asked if her marriage or if any of her relationships inspired her story and she said that it in no way was based on her life-- she is very happily married (unlike the characters in the story).

I think this coming week, we will be able to see differences like this in the authors we talk to. I think some of them will be able to tell us that the stories they write come from events in their lives a lot of the time. Others might say the opposite.

Along with this, I have many other questions I might bring up to these others:
-What/Whom inspires you?
-Are their any particular writers that inspire you?
-When did you realize you wanted to become a writer?
-How long did it take you to become a published writer and what are some struggles that came with that?

Suffering and "The Veil"

“We all suffer alone in the real world; true empathy’s impossible. But if a piece of fiction can allow us imaginatively to identify with a character’s pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with our own” (Charters 1082).

~

I found that this quote is extremely relevant when thinking about "The Veil (the excerpt from Persepolis that we read last week). The whole story of "The Veil" is a true story based on the life of the writer, Marjane Strapis. Strapis told her story of how her life got completely turned around after a war which ended up changing her whole life as she knew it. Not only did she and her friends get separated (boys and girl were moved to separate schools), and the girls were now forced to wear veils, but life in her community changed as people were torn apart--fighting over religious and political issues that she as a ten-year-old girl did not understand. She also saw change in her own home when her mother was seen fighting for freedom and then feared of what could happen to her and her family, causing her to change her appearance. 

Because we know this story is based on the authors childhood we start to sympathize with the character. We try to understand what she went through at such a young age and we try to connect what she went through with the troubles of our lives--much like what was said in the chosen quote. No matter how many people we have in our lives that we can turn to with our problems, nobody can completely understand exactly how the other person is feeling or going through. As much as we try to connect with someone else's pain, it is not possible to 100% understand or feel what that person went through. Even though Strapis was not the only one going through these changes in her life, she had her own worries and her own feelings that only she could understand (ex. her wanted to be a prophet to help change the bad in the world), which cause her, in some way, to suffer alone.


Charters, Ann. "The Elements of Fiction." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 1082. Print.

Magical Realism and Children's Literature

Last week we read two short magical realism stories. I kind of had an idea of what that meant from other stories we had read this semester (Moths, Metamorphosis), but it still kind of surprised me. I'll be completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of this particular genre, but it was nice to have the experience and learn about the genre itself.

To me, it's just odd. I get fantasy novels, like the Harry Potter series-- where the whole setting and all of the characters have some what of a magical being. But, throwing aspects of that into a setting like the one I'm living in was weird. I think I feel this way because I know how I would react to situations like an old man with wings and it would be COMPLETELY different than the reaction of these stories. I feel like magical realism is trying to mix fantasy and real life too much, to the point that its weird and sometimes uncomfortable.  

I also wanted to touch on one of the discussions we had in class over "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" and how it is known as a children's story. We kind of debated whether it should be or not. I completely see both sides of what was said in class. Yes, these people treated this old man very poorly, pretty much stole from him and then celebrated the day he disappeared. It seems awful, indeed, but there were lessons to be learned from the story. All I wanted to add was that many children's stories have cruel aspects in order to teach the children a lesson. If you really look into those stories you were told as a kid, you might be surprised at what really happened in them-- you were probably too lost in the magical aspects of the story to even see the horrible things going on. My example of this will be Disney's Beauty and the Beast-- do you remember how the beast locked Belle up? How about how he reacted to her going the West Wing? And do I even need to mention Gaston?... the way he lusted over Belle was gross and not very kid friendly. That was just to name a few,

Just go through those stories you loved as a child. . .  you might be surprised.  

"The Heart of Darkness" and Racism

After reading Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" there was that one lingering question that I asked, our class asked, and many scholars have asked and that is, was Joseph Conrad/The Heart of Darkness Racist?

Well, nobody really knows. Conrad himself isn't around to answer our questions, but many have their opinions. Was he really racist or was he just pointing out social issues of his time? Maybe these issues of his time are what make Conrad have racist views. . . Who knows?

In my opinion, Conrad is racist- not because he is an awful person- but because of the time period that he was around, The description of African people in Heart of Darkness is horrible. They are seen and referred to as savages. The narrator says this about the natives in Africa, "It [Africa] was unearthly and the men [Africans] were-- no, they were not inhuman. Well, you know that was the worst of it-- this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They [Africans] howled and leaped and spun and made horrid faces but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity-- like yours-- the thought of your remote kinship with the wild and passionate uproar." From this description, you can see how questions could be brought up about racism and this is only one of the many many things that point toward that belief.

The title itself can also be seen as racist. "Heart of Darkness" is set in the "Heart of Africa". Why must Conrad describe the heart of Africa as "dark". This is somethiing that some point out to be racist from the get-go. Others argue that it is simply describing the setting of the story because it literally was dark. . . the natives just happen to be dark as well.

These are only two simple examples of possible racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". There are many more arguments on the matter out there and they are extremely interesting. As I said before, you can interpret the story however you'd like-- there can't be a wrong answer without Conrad around to tell us otherwise!

What I've learned in "Intro to Fiction" So Far. . .

This class has really surprised me so far. I really had no idea what to expect, but it was a class that interested me by the title. I love reading fiction, so how could I not like the class, right? I figured It would be more like English classes in high school where we would read a book for a couple of weeks, write a paper about it and move on. I would have been fine with this, I mean, I did sign up for the class thinking that that's what I had gotten myself into. I can say that, although it's not what I expected, I really enjoy it. I like what we have done so far much more than I would have liked what I imagined us doing and I think what we do in class is a lot more productive. (And I can't even pretend that I'm not excited about not having to write a paper after everything we read--I'm a reader, not a writer.)

Reading a book and then writing about the themes or the writing style or the symbolism can be pointless if you don't know how to really read between the lines pull out the important factors in a story. This is something huge that I have learned in this course. If you are simply reading a story, like most of us would read a novel for pleasure, you're probably not reading deeply enough to really analyze a piece. This is something that would have been very nice to understand throughout those years of making up stuff to add to the papers in high school. This being the focus of the course has helped me grow as a reader which will help me not only in this class, but all of my classes to come and in all of my reading in general.

I also like the fact that we aren't just reading a few fiction novels this semester, we are reading short stories or excerpts from longer novels. Most of the stories we read are popular stories that I had heard of before the class, but never actually got the chance to read. So, now I can say that I've read popular stories like; Oliver Twist, Candide, Heart of Darkness, ect.

The Tell-Tale Heart: Close Reading

"No doubt I now grew very pale;—but I talked more 

fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound 

increased—and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick 

sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when 

enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath—and yet the officers 

heard it not. I talked more quickly—more vehemently; but 

the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, 

in a high key and with violent gesticulations, but the noise 

steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the 

floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by 

the observation of the men—but the noise steadily increased. 

Oh God! what could I do? I foamed—I raved—I swore! I

swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it 

upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually 

increased. It grew louder—louder—louder! And still the 

men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they 

heard not? Almighty God!—no, no! They heard!—they 

suspected!—they knew!—they were making a mockery of 

my horror!—this I thought, and this I think. But any thing 

was better than this agony! Any thing was more tolerable 

than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no 

longer! I felt that I must scream or die!—and now—again!—

hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!— "

(paragraph 17)

In the first sentence "very" is italicized which obviously is meant to emphasize the word; the narrator turned not just pale but very pale. Poe uses a lot of "--" to pause on thoughts; this shows that the narrator's thought's are kind of all over the place and he loses train of thought as he tells his story often. He starts talking about a sound he hears and goes into great detail about how this sound increases and gets to him, After the detail of this sound he hears he gasps and (pause). The sound is obviously getting to him as he says he starts to talk more quickly (pause) more vehemently (word choice: meaning very emotional). The noise is ever growing and he is becoming more and more paranoid; his thoughts seem  to be getting even harder to put together (pauses).

"Was it possible they heard not?" (Poe 730) showing us, as the reader that the man is mad. . . he is hearing something and it is very obvious that it is getting to him and these other men in the scene don't seem to hear a thing. Then, the man goes on to say that he thinks the men do hear this noise and they are just messing with him; that they knew of what he had done. "--they were making a mockery of my horror!--"(Poe 731) paranoia growing.

"I felt I must scream or die!-- and now-- again!-- hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!-- "(Poe 731) Again, many pauses showing he is having trouble forming full thoughts, also we see that he is not only crazy but seemingly going even more insane and about to completely break. ( At this point I am picturing him standing up, pacing, hands firm on his head like he is going to rip is hair out because these noises are making him so crazy).

The word "sound" is seen a lot throughout this paragraph, as well as the word "loud"/"louder". This makes me think that these words obviously have a very important meaning (otherwise Poe would not have used them so much). This paragraph describes the noises he is hearing in his head and how it eventually causes him to break, so the repetition of these words makes a lot of sense.


Works Cited:
Poe, Edgar A. "The Tell-Tale Heart".1843. The Story and It's Writer: An Introduction to Fiction. Ann Charters. Boston:
                         Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2011. 727-731. Print.

The Moths: Thoughts and Themes

"The Moths" by Helena Viramontes traces the path of a girl's journey into a woman, day to night and birth into death (and rebirth again). The story shows themes of female adolescence in a girl pained by her family who points out all of her flaws. It goes through the (verbal) abuse of this young girl and how it affects the three generations of woman.

Love and the power to heal is another theme. This is displayed through the grandmother's relationship with the pained granddaughter.

To be completely honest, my first thoughts on this story were. . . not good. I honestly found a lot of Viramontes' symbols odd and a bit creepy. After we talked about them in class I got a better understanding of why she used these symbols in her story (but I still think parts were really weird; ie. the moths and the bath scene).

After getting a better grip on why she used these odd symbols I got to focus more on the story and the themes I mentioned before. I got to thinking on my own life and I can really connect with this story. I'm not gonna go into much detail (I mean, this is the internet after all-I don't need the whole world to know my business). But, I have always looked to my Mawmaw for help. She's been a best friend to me for as long as I can remember- if my family had not had it's problems that it has I probably wouldn't be as close to her, I can't even imagine a life without that closeness; I really don' t know what I would do if I didn't have that relationship with her and I can see that in the granddaughter-grandmother relationship in "The Moths" as well.

Because of this overall I find "The Moths" to be an interesting story. The connections between my life and the main character's life almost outweigh the creepiness of the odd symbolism. I think it would be more effective if Viramontes had used "more normal" symbols because parts of her story were so distracting (to me, at least) that it almost took something away from the story.

Symbolism and Theme(s) in Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"

"Hills Like White Elephants" is a story that is very difficult to understand, especially the first time through. I had to read this story three times before I even had a sense of what was going on and even then I had to do some side research to fully understand what was happening.

The theme that stood out the most to me was lack of communication. Sure, the whole story is a man and a woman talking about a pretty serious issue. . . but through out the story I didn't get a sense of them truly communicating. They were both saying things that the other didn't want to hear and it didn't seem like they were really trying to hear each other out. For example, the American man tries and tries to convince the woman to have the "operation". He tells her that he loves her and that she can make the decision, but then goes on to say that things will be easy and back to the way they used to be if she would just have the "operation",  The woman goes back and forth, indecisively, but obviously upset because she doesn't want the operation, but also wants the man to be happy. She gets to the point where she agrees to a\have the operation just to get him to stop trying to convince her. "Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?" (Hemingway 371). And with that the conversation was over and nobody is going to get what they want. The woman is going to get the operation and likely, things will still never go back to normal.

The hills like white elephants is the huge symbol in the story. These hills symbolize something nobody ever wants-- In this particular story, the unborn child. At the beginning of the story, the woman says, " They look like white elephants." (Hemingway 368), referring to the line of hills she was looking at. You think at this point that it is just a casual remark, but later realize it is the beginning of the conversation about possibly aborting their unborn child. Later in the story she takes back her comment and says that the hills don't really look like white elephants-- this seems like a hint towards the fact that she actually wants to keep the baby. Because of their communication issues that I mentioned before, the man doesn't seem to understand that she changed her mind about the abortion. Actually, she even says that the hills only seemed to look like white elephants at first glance, and that they're actually quite lovely. This is a clear metaphor, comparing the hills to the baby. . . saying, at first finding out that she was pregnant seemed like a tragedy, but then it seemed like a blessing. You might also say that Hemingway chose to use elephants referring to the common idea of a "huge elephant in the room" known as something no one whats to talk about.

"Hills Like White Elephants" is truly a sad story once you finally understand what is going on. This poor woman is baring and child and she knows her baby daddy wants her to abort the child. The man doesn't even try to understand the other side of things and try to see that she wants to keep her child. I think the part that saddens me most is that I know things like this happen more often than you'd think. . .


Works Cited:

Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants". 1927. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St, Martin's, 2011. (368-371). Print.

Desiree's Baby

As I was reading "Desiree's Baby" I couldn't help but think about how I would've felt if this had happened to me. If my handsome neighbor confessed his love for me and asked for my hand in marriage I would not be so quick to say yes. . . but IF I did say yes and marry this man who loved me so and then he suddenly banished me because he thought my blood was tainted I would be outraged!

First off, what kind of man loves a woman oh so much and then can't swallow his pride enough to even try to make things work with his wife and child. I know things are different nowadays but still-- He says he doesn't care about where she came from and then BAM! Nope, not anymore. 

I love love loved the ending (well, besides Desiree deciding to kill herself and her child instead of going home to the people who truly loved her). I can't say it was a huge surprise with all the hints toward Armand's dark skin, but it was a nice little twist of karma slapping Mr.Pride in the face. 

I kind of wish she had gone on further to tell us how Armand felt when he found out about his background. I wonder if things would have been different if Desiree hadn't been so quick to let go of it all. If she had gone home, would he have gone after her to try to fight for her love? Or would he burn all the proof of this African American background and go on to start a new life in denial?

An academic article I found is The Infernal Desire Machines in Anne Thackeray Ritchie’s Bluebeard’s Keys and Angela Carter’s  “The Bloody Chamber”  and it is based on "Bluebeard's Keys" and "The Bloody Chamber". I think the article sounds interesting because it is comparing the two tales, much like we did in class after reading the two stories (Although, this is a different version of Bluebeard). I really enjoyed reading the two tales and think it would be interesting to see others views and comparisons of similar stories, 

Find the article here:http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.pegleg.park.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=20835c96-0925-4554-b97f-b8ca45814368%40sessionmgr4004&vid=3&hid=4208

Oliver Twist & Annie

I know I'm not the only one that immediately thought of "Annie" while reading "Oliver Twist". Think about it. . .  Both feature lovable middle-class orphans, plagued by the absence of parents, surrounded by lower-class orphans. Both groups of orphans have an evil caretaker (Fagin in Oliver's case, Miss Hannigan in Annie's). And both main characters have saviors from a broken system (Nancy for Oliver, Daddy Warbucks for Annie).

Seriously, the stories are basically the same! Put Oliver and Fagin in dresses and Nancy in pants and they might as well be Annie, Miss Hannigan and Daddy Warbucks!

Even though these two stories seem so similar, I don't think the writer of "Annie" was trying to steal Dickens' story. These stories come from the times they were written. Oliver Twist was written to expose how children were mistreated during the Industrial Revolution. During these times children were forced into child labor and recruited by criminal gangs.

In the time period Annie was written the situation was different. Annie seemed to be more based on a corrupt system. Annie wasn't thrown into a workhouse (although, Miss Hannigan didn't seem to understand that).

One more similarity is that "Annie" and "Oliver Twist" have been made into movies and musicals! Now there are tons of ways to enjoy "Oliver Twist" and "Annie". So for all you "I'd rather just watch the movie" people, you have that option for both of these great stories (although I would recommend the originals to anyone that asks!)

Drawing of Annie vs. Oliver

P.S. "Annie" was originally written as a comic strip titled "Little Orphan Annie", by Harold Gray just in case you wanted to check out the original!

Works Cited:

Image: http://deathbybacon.deviantart.com/art/Annie-VS-Oliver-Twist-199235144

Voltaire's "Candide" and Satire

Candide was the perfect example of satirical literature. Even just reading the first few chapters you get a glimpse of his humor and sarcasm throughout each phrase.

A very satirical example that Voltaire was trying to show was when one of the sailors on the way to Lisbon had fallen overboard and James saw this and rushed over to help. While helping the sailor up James fell into the water, while the sailor who was just helped up looked at James and didn't care whats so ever. Voltaire in this section was trying to really emphasize a satirical example of how some people really don't appreciate the things other do for them. The example he gives was showing that although James was so nice and kind to his sailor and saved his life some people are just so evil and moronic that a few seconds after someone saved your life and risked their own life by falling in to save you, you have the audacity to let them drown after they just saved you.

I think my favorite point the Voltaire seemed to be making throughout the chapters we read was through Pangloss's idea that everything in life happens for a reason. That idea that has obviously been spread through the years. Its something that we all have been told thousands of times. Voltaire shows us so many things that happen that just seem. . . bad. This leads to Candide doubting Pangloss's optimistic theory. I think this is Voltaire's way of kind of putting that common idea to shame. Bad things happen and sometimes that's that. There doesn't always have to be a reason or explanation. . . sometimes things just suck.

But, I mean, who knows? Maybe syphilis is the reason why the world can love and enjoy chocolate. . .

These were only a couple of many, many examples of satire just throughout the chapters we read. Through all the awful things that happen in these chapters of Candide you see many points Voltaire was trying to throw in peoples faces. From religion to war we clearly see Voltaire's ideas through Candide in a very entertaining way.

-M

Bluebeard vs. The Bloody Chamber

Growing up I was a huge fan of fairy tales (and to be honest, I still am.) Because of this I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault. Just like many fairy tales, this story started with, "Once upon a time. . ." and went on to describe a short tale that in all reality, really made no sense. Besides all the horror and blood, it reminded me of the many fairy tales I was read as a child (the happy Disney versions of course!).

It was nice though, going on to read "The Bloody Chamber" by Angela Carter, because it filled in the many details needed to clear up that confusion that comes with reading classic fairy tales. Carter goes through and describes feelings very clearly from each character throughout and I think that is my favorite part of "The Bloody Chamber". The feeling of fear, yet excitement bleeds through the pages and I started to feel those things with her. It was also nice to see a mother who cared for her daughter, knowing something was wrong throughout the whole story opposed to literally not caring at all, like in "Bluebeard" (which to me, makes a lot more sense). And of course the ending in "The Bloody Chamber" was a favorite of mine because not only did it change this up and show a heroine, but it showed off the strength of a mother-- which to me is way more exciting than the classic random man (or men, in this case).

Ooo and you can't forget the happily ever after in "The Bloody Chamber", that all Disney fairy tale fans crave! :)

Like I said before, the classic set up is a favorite of mine, because it throws me back to when I was a four-year-old, sitting on my Pawpaw's lap being read Disney's "Cinderella", but it is nice to have a "clarity story" that, hopefully, ties up all those loose ends of the classics. Reading these two short stories together was the perfect way to get both, if only they were meshed into one story so I could have my classic set up, but with all the feeling and detail (and less loose ends)!

-M