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January 26, 2006
Please Ask Where and How Warm.
Intro to Lit Study--EL150
Foster, How to Read...,Section 19&20
"Let go on vacation. You say okay and then ask your first question, which is... Who's paying? Which month? Can we get time off? No none of those.
Where?"
Foster hit the jackpot when he says that "Geography Matters". And to me,it really does. Whether it is falling in love with a beautiful woman in a summer home in Georgia or fleeing from a werewolf in a small Vermont town in January. It creates a certain tension that the entices reader to keep turning the pages. When a scene changes in a story it changes expectations in where the story could possible go. So the the seasons and the whether. If every night was a dark nd gloomy night, than what the hell is a dark and gloomy night? There has to be some variety in the environment in order for a sucessful story to work.
Posted by KevinHinton at 3:40 PM | Comments (6)
January 25, 2006
From Cool and Classy to Trashy and Vain
Fitzgerald, Bernice Bobs Her Hair
"There's some excuse for an ugly girl whining. If I'd been irretrievably ugly I'd never have forgiven my parents for bringing me into the world. But you're starting life without any handicap--" Marjorie's little fist clinched. "If you expect me to weep with you you'll be disappointed. Go or stay, just as you like."
Marjorie, to me, is the kind of woman who put looks above and beyond everything imaginable. This answers Dr. Jerz's question on where do Marjorie get her strength. This seducteress based her well being on how many men can she court. Majorie even takes Bernice under her wing as a "black widow" (without death) but I could sense some resistance with her. She just wanted to be herself through out this story. Marjorie's thoughts on life isn't exactly foriegn to her time frame or this one. Basically, society is teaching us to always rely on the outer beauty of things even though the inside is completely rotten. Vanity can't be the solution to solving problems, so why do so many people rely on it?
Posted by KevinHinton at 9:00 PM | Comments (4)
January 24, 2006
Easing Down the Road
Intro to Lit Study EL 150
Foster, How to Read... Section 1-3,5
Is it simple to say that if we go on the quest that we will not answer the question that we originally asked? Instead, we answer another question that we inevitably have to solve. I agree with Foster when he say that the real reason why a character go on a quest is due to self knowledge.
"The real reason never involves the stated reason"
That character will learn he real potential after he or she goes through trial and error. The old grrek myth of Hercules come to mind when I read this particular chapter. He does 12 deeds that seem to be impossible, but by him facing it down....he recieved a spot on Mt. Olympius. This is a simple rags to riches story, in fact simliar stories follow the same criteria of self-knowledge. You only know untill you try, right?
Posted by KevinHinton at 8:28 PM | Comments (2)