Margaret Atwood “Happy Endings” Reading Response

          I enjoyed this reading because it gives six different endings to the story “John and Mary meet”, all of which are radically different from the one before them. The only particularly happy ending is A, yet readers are still slightly dissatisfied because the ending was “too simple”.

          This reading helped me with endings because it showed me that even though as a writer I want to give the characters a happy ending, there are much more interesting stories to be told from those that do not have the simple happy ending. Each ending gets progressively darker, but they become so interesting. Atwood does a fantastic job at showing readers how many different possibilities for endings there can be.

          At the end, Atwood claims that “the only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.” Then she proceeds to say that it’s more of the beginning that matters instead of the end. This leaves me with the idea that beginnings are what really count, because in the end all of the characters will “die”. However according to Atwood, the plot is the most difficult, and only the most talented writers can make it important. Overall this reading was very helpful since it put into context how important the entire story is. 

Mimi Schwartz “Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the line?” Reading Response

I particularly enjoyed this reading because it helped me with the issue of memoir stories, where do we draw the line? I missed class the day we talked about this, so I found it interesting to discover the line on my own. Schwartz discusses how our memories can sometimes (or often) fail us, so we need to be careful when writing memoir as to what is really true or what is made up. She also points out that we must be especially careful since we cannot know when we don’t truly remember something the way it was, and asking someone else who shared the experience doesn’t really matter since they will have the same memory dilemma. Schwartz cleverly solves this dilemma by saying that perhaps you remember the situation or person in a specific way, and that you should describe it/them the way you remember so that other people can picture them the same way.

          I loved the quote from Pam Houston, “I write fiction to tell the truth” because I believe that there is always some hint of truth behind works of fiction.  However this also blurs the line between memoir and fiction and the writer must decide where to draw the line if they are trying to write memoir.

          I also enjoyed when Schwartz discussed how to use fiction to protect certain people who do not particularly want to be included in the story. Another quote that was helpful was “the story is 90 percent factual; the rest is made up to protect those who didn’t as to be in this book”. I think it is necessary to do this because sometimes you need the characters to be in the story to fully capture it, but the person may not want to be in the story. This way you can create a fictional character that does similar things but protects the person’s identity.

          Overall this reading was very helpful, especially since I missed the class where this topic was discussed. 

Point of View Exercise (Tense Situation)

1) First person

"Honey, what's wrong?" Ian asks me as he reaches his hand across the table at our booth in the diner. 

I pull my hand away and cross my arms, not wanting to hold his hand because it will just make everything harder. I’ve rehearsed this moment so many times in my head over the past two days, but it’s much easier to imagine our breakup than actually verbalizing it to Ian. But why should I care what he thinks? He doesn’t really have feelings for me, he’s only pretending to. And that’s why we have to break up; I love him and he’s only leading me on. “Well…” I start, “it’s nothing.” I trail off, losing my nerve.

“Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know that you can talk to me.” Ian replies.

I try to look into his eyes as I’m about to tell him that we can’t see each other anymore. His dark blue eyes gaze back at me and I lose my courage yet again.

“Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because knew it is your favorite place, so… well here it goes.”

I fidget underneath the table, unable to anticipate what he is about to say.

“These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you. I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

I stare back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely took me by surprise.

“I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

2) Third limited omniscient

          “Honey, what’s wrong?” Ian asks his girlfriend Julie as he reaches for her hand across the table at their booth in the diner.

          Julie pulls her hand away quickly; she is uncomfortable by the physical contact since it will make breaking up with Ian so much harder. Julie thought about all of the times she had rehearsed this exact moment over the last two days, but breaking up with Ian in person was probing to be much harder. But then again, she thought, why should I care how Ian will feel about breaking up since he’s only leading me on? She couldn’t figure out why it took her even this long to break it off with him.

          “Well,” Julie starts “it’s  nothing…” she trails off, losing her nerve.

          “Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know that you can talk to me.” Ian replies.

          Julie tries to look into Ian’s eyes as she tries to start the uncomfortable conversation. His dark blue eyes gaze deeply into her pale brown ones, causing her to lose her nerve yet again.

          “Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because I knew it is your favorite, so… well here it goes” Ian pauses.

          Julie fidgets underneath the booth table, unable to anticipate what Ian is trying to say.

          Ian took a large breath as the words rush out of his mouth, “These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you… I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

          Julie stares back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely shocked her and took her by surprise. “I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

3) Third objective

          “Honey, what’s wrong?” Ian asks his girlfriend Julie as he reaches his hand across the booth at their table at the diner.

          Julie immediately pulls her hand away and crosses her arms, avoiding the physical contact that Ian offered her. Julie openly frowns and appears to be very conflicted. “Well,” she starts. “It’s nothing” she trails off, losing the nerve to say what she was about to say.

          “Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know you can talk to me.”

          Julie looks up to make eye contact with Ian but she quickly loses her nerve and looks back down at the table.

“Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because I knew it is your favorite, so… well here it goes” Ian pauses.

          Julie fidgets underneath the booth table, unable to anticipate what Ian is trying to say.

          Ian took a large breath as the words rush out of his mouth, “These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you… I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

          Julie stares back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely shocked her and took her by surprise. “I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

4) Third omniscient

          “Honey, what’s wrong?” Ian asks his girlfriend Julie as he reaches for her hand across the table at their booth in the diner. Ian is concerned because Julie has hardly made eye contact all lunch, and he thinks there is something wrong with her.

          Julie pulls her hand away quickly; she is uncomfortable by the physical contact since it will make breaking up with Ian so much harder. Julie thought about all of the times she had rehearsed this exact moment over the last two days, but breaking up with Ian in person was probing to be much harder. But then again, she thought, why should I care how Ian will feel about breaking up since he’s only leading me on? She couldn’t figure out why it took her even this long to break it off with him.

          “Well,” Julie starts “it’s  nothing…” she trails off, losing her nerve, making Ian even more worried.

          “Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know that you can talk to me.” Ian replies, thinking of all the times he has supported Julie.

          Julie tries to look into Ian’s eyes as she tries to start the uncomfortable conversation. His dark blue eyes gaze deeply into her pale brown ones trying to encourage her, but instead causes her to lose her nerve yet again.

          “Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because I knew it is your favorite, so… well here it goes” Ian pauses, getting nervous.

          Julie fidgets underneath the booth table, unable to anticipate what Ian is trying to say.

          Ian took a large breath as the words rush out of his mouth, “These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you… I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

          Julie stares back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely shocked her and took her by surprise. “I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

Personally I like the third person omniscient view because it was easiest to write, but the third person objective is more effective because it forces the writer to show instead of tell the reader what is going on. 

Rewrite of “Three Little Pigs” as a romance, starting at the second pig

          Mr. Wolf was walking down the street, feeling dejected from his failed attempt to impress Milly. He was fast approaching the house of Lilly, the smartest pig in all the land. Her house was made of sticks, and resided in a small yet thick group of trees.

          Since Lilly was the smartest pig, Mr. Wolf wanted to impress her with his voice by serenading her. He quickly rehearsed a song in his head, Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend”. Surely all girls would swoon at hearing that song sung to her, he thought.

          Mr. Wolf knocked on Lilly’s door and awaited her fast approaching footsteps.

          “Who is it?” She called out.

          “It’s Mr. Wolf, let me in please!” He replied.

          “Not unless you manage to impress me,” she said.

          “Okay.”

          Mr. Wolf cleared his throat and re-adjusted his feet to sing, but tripped over a fallen branch and crashed into Lilly’s house and knocked it over. Not again, Mr. Wolf thought as he walked away from Lilly’s house and towards Tilly, the last bachelorette pig. 

Make- up blog post

I missed class a couple weeks ago so I decided to make up the blog work by doing two activities this week.

The first activity is called "Bear at the Door". This activity focuses on a character with an external conflict (such as a bear at the door) with an internal conflict at odds with it.

       Ellie is in the kitchen heating up water for tea, a small task to occupy her time while she waited for Veronica to arrive. Ellie hasn't seen her since Veronica left for college last fall in Montana, hours away from their hometown in Washington. Now it was springtime, and it has been the longest time they've spent apart. 

       Ellie taps her bare feet against the smooth wood flooring, glancing outside occasionally in anticipation of Veronica's white VW bug pulling up in the driveway. Ian, Ellie's brother, walks by the front door near the kitchen with a flower vase he was carrying to the kitchen. Ian is going to wash the vase for the flowers his father had purchased for their mother that afternoon. He lets out a quick yelp as the vase falls from his grasp and shatters against the floor. 

       Just at that moment Veronica's car pulls into the driveway, the sun's glare reflecting off of the headlights, which catches Ellie's attention and draws her mind away from the broken shards of glass scattered near the front door. 

       Ellie begins to run for the front door but stops at the broken glass. She sees her best friend walking towards her, but she can't cross through the doorway through the glass because she left her shoes upstairs. She wants to run to Veronica but instead has to wait painstakingly as her friend walks through the front door, eyes smiling and arms wide open for a hug. 

Summary versus Scene Activity

The purpose of this activity is to teach us how to write summaries and scenes, and the difference between them. We were supposed to choose an accident and write a one sentence summary, a one paragraph summary, one scene, and one slowed down scene. I chose to write about my skiing accident.

1 sentence summary:

I was skiing down the worst downhill on the racecourse when my teammate crashed into me.

 

1 paragraph summary:

The cross country ski team’s annual Hoodoo night race was usually the most fun and the most dangerous race to compete in. It was fun because we took over the Alpine skier’s course and therefore extremely dangerous due to the severe angle of the hills. There was one hill in particular we were told to be wary of, the last one. It was the most frightening because it had poor lighting, sharp turns, and it was iced over the night we were skiing on it. Everything was great during my race until I reached the dangerous hill, the one that completed the first of the two laps. I slowed down to prevent myself from crashing when my own teammate failed to go around me and crashed into me.

 

1 full scene

I steadied my speed, which unfortunately would mean that I would lose my top ten finish that I was aiming for. I didn’t care; however, I’d rather finish this race. As I slowed down I heard my teammate Autumn yelling behind me.

“Don’t slow down!” 

“Go around me!” I yelled back at her.

Suddenly I was on the ground, my head smacking against the ice, and ski equipment of numerous other competitors also tangling up with my limbs. More people piling on me.

It was a while later that I awoke from some sort of sleep to someone obnoxiously screaming at the top of their lungs. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was me.

My friend Peter (who was waiting for the boy’s race to start) heard the commotion and came running up the hill toward me. He scooped me up by my arms and carried me off the course as another girl crashed where I had just been sprawled out.

“Taylor, can you stand?” Peter asked me as tried to gently set me on my feet. I couldn’t respond but by my legs giving out underneath me Peter knew that the answer was no. Peter loosened his grip and set me down on the ground, and ran off to grab my coach, telling the nearby coaches of the other teams to call a snow mobile to take me off the course.

Being the stubborn person that I am, I took that opportunity to struggle to my feet and finish the race.

 

1 scene slowed down:

          I angled my brand new Fischer racing skate skis, removing them from their parallel speed-inviting position. The trail was icier than I originally thought, making slowing down a bumpy and difficult process. I knew that slowing my pace here would mean losing my position in the top ten that I was currently in. But that didn’t matter to me anymore; I just didn’t want to fall on this hill.

          “Don’t slow down!” my teammate Autumn yelled from behind me.

          “Go around me!” I screamed back at her, annoyed that she would criticize my decision to slow down when I had three more years of skiing experience than her.

          Suddenly I was on the ground. My unprotected head smacking ruthlessly against the icy trail. Bodies of other competitors were piling on top of me, banging their poles and skis around trying to regain their footing, not caring that they were harming me in the process. I struggled to look up for a second to catch my breath, only to see Autumn hurrying away.

          But then it was blissfully dark. Quiet. Painless. I was somewhere else entirely, and that made me happy.

          And then I was woken up by someone screaming. A harsh scream louder than I thought someone could make. Then I realized that it was me screaming.

          Two coaches from one of the other competing schools were on the sideline watching, not appearing to care what was happening in front of them since I wasn’t from their school. All they did was yell at me to get off of the course.

          “I can’t move!” I yelled back at them after multiple attempts to move my body. I was trying to get out of the way of oncoming skiiers but it was impossible. One of the coaches walked up to me and grabbed my left hand and began to pull. The only effect this had was me letting loose a stream of impolite words since he had just grabbed my cracked thumb. I instantly felt bad because it wasn’t his fault, I had taken off my cast so I could race so there was no way he could have known.

          This caused the coach to step back as my friend Peter came sprinting up the hill. He yelled at the coach for not getting me off of the field to which he replied, “If we moved her off the course she would have been disqualified.”

          Peter ignored this comment and lifted me into his arms, careful not to touch my left hand or move my neck in case something was wrong with my head. He carried me to the sideline just as I watched a girl crash were I was just helplessly laying.

          He tried to set me on my feet but quickly gripped tightly when my legs buckled- I hadn’t regained control of my legs yet. Peter carefully set me on the ground out of harm’s way, told the coaches for the other team to call a snow mobile that would take me off of the course, and then he ran to get my coach.

          As soon as Peter was gone, I used my arms and poles to put myself back on my feet. If this would be the end to my skiing career, I wanted to at least finish my last race. Little did I know, the only thing that would be unscathed from my crash would be my brand new skis.

Ernest Hemingway, A Clean, Well- Lighted Place (Reading Reaction)

          The first time I read something by Hemingway, I found it difficult because of his writing style. Now that I am older and have more experience with reading and writing, I have come to appreciate his incredible writing style. This appreciation came shortly after when my creative writing class attempted to mimic his writing style and not use adjectives in describing things. I was only able to write one sentence in the five minutes I was given to do the exercise.

          I enjoyed Hemingway’s subtle culture infusions in his writing. He does not state that the story takes place in a Spanish speaking country, but rather reveals it towards the end when the waiters speak party in Spanish, and call each other hombre. I could use these subtle clues in my writing when creating a setting. Instead of stating where the characters are, I could develop clues about where they are, known as showing the readers instead of telling them.

          I enjoyed this reading because I was able to follow the story quite easily but it was still interesting to read. The characters were mysterious and well developed in the short span of the story. However, I was left questioning who the characters were out of context of the café, but maybe Hemingway wanted readers to determine that for themselves.

This story convinced me to start trying to read more of Hemingway’s works, because I have a lot to learn from him.