Summary Of Every Trip Is A Quest
Chapter 1: Every trip is a quest (Except when it’s not)
Paragraphs:
There is five main reasons that authors use to tell why a character goes a quest. There’s the actual person, the destination, a purpose, challenges that will come with going on the quest and a reason for the person to actually go on the quest.
Authors never say the reason why the character goes on the quest and usually the character fails. The way the author grabs the attention is by stating a task and making us and the character believe thats the actual quest when really the quest is suppose to help the character find themselves.
As a story goes on the first task stops being brought up and the character starts to realize the hidden meaning behind the task. The readers stop caring about the task and start caring about the characters growth.
Quotes:
“‘Always’ and ‘Never’ are not true words that have meaning in literary study.” pg.3
Example:
Text example; Beatrice from Divergent. …show more content…
When she turns 16 she is forced to choose a faction (life style) and she chooses Dauntless, she trains and now goes by Tris. She is actually Divergent which is banned and she must hide who she really is. She figures out the government is trying to overthrow another faction and she destroys their plan and accepts that she is Divergent.
Chapter 2. Nice to eat with you: Acts of Communion
Paragraphs
Sometimes in literature eating and drinking together is just that but, usually its not. Whenever people eat and drink together it is a communion, while this would usually make you think of religion it actually is almost never religious.
These communions actually represent sharing and peace. In literature a meal scene is very uninteresting which is why there needs to be a reason to make meal scene interesting and that reason is how the characters act and how well the do or don’t get along.
Depending on how the characters act and get along is what sets the tone for the dinner scene. If the dinner scene goes well and the characters get along then the dinner scene leaves behind a positive feeling and if the dinner goes wrong or if the characters don’t get along then there is a negative feeling left behind.
Quotes:
“Now the only reason to give a character a serious hang-up is to give him the chance to get over it.” pg.4
Example:
Text example; in The Great Gatsby Nick visits Daisy and they have dinner with Tom and Jordan and we are able to see how the dinner is tense and all characters are gossiping and lying. We know that the dinner or communion is going to fail and it carries a negative feeling.
Chapter 3. Nice to eat you: Acts of Vampires
Paragraphs
There is the typical vampire which is called Literal which depicts vampires as selfish, exploiting humans, etc. This also applies to ghosts and dopplegangers, ghost usually do something for others and dopplegangers are ghost doubles or an evil twin.
Vampires aren’t always the typical vampires with fangs and capes, the usual vampire story is when an older man is evil with bad intentions who finds a young virgin woman and take everything from them like their energy and virginity, they use this to sustain their own lives and kill or destroy the woman.
The 19th century was filled with authors who wrote about ordinary and evil, they used these stories to make sexual references which was very popular at the time. They used this type of writing style to talk about sex and sexual acts without actually stating it.
Quotes:
“Ghost and vampires are never only about ghost and vampires.” pg.9
“Older figures representing corrupt, outworn values…”pg.9
“To remain dead, I must steal the life force of someone whose fate matters less to me than my own.” pg. 10-11
Example:
Text example; In the Twilight Series Edward is the attractive, mysterious and older figure while Bella is the young, naive and virginal girl. Throughout the books she is chased by evil vampires who try to kill and corrupt her. The basic plot of the book represents what a vampire story needs.
Chapter 4. If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet
Paragraphs
The sonnet is the only poetic form that most readers need to know, sonnets are very common and have been written in every Era since the English Renaissance and still very popular with readers and writers today.
There are many ways that a poem can keep an interest in readers, images, music, content and how crafty or clever the wordplay is. Since poems are so short at only fourteen lines you can’t have an epic tale, or subplots and it doesn’t carry an amazing narrative effect but, at the same time you have a sonnet that are split in two with difference yet a shared meaning.
When you first look at a poem it doesn’t look like square but, it is. Lines and stanzas are essential in poetry. There is a basic meaning in a single sentence which is why if you stop every line and read it doesn’t make sense. Poems are arranged in line but, they are written in sentences.
Quotes:
“The basic pattern is 8/6.” pg.13
“Sonnets are like that, short poems that take far more time, because everything has to be perfect, than long ones.” pg.14
Example:
Text example; An echo from Willow-Wood you are able to see the tension and emotion in just this small number of lines.
Chapter 5. Now, Where have I seen her before?
No book or poem is original, there is always a connection from one story to the next whether it be looks or personality. This is actually a good thing and we are sometimes meant to see these similarities because it makes us appreciate the novel more.
There is only one original story and thats humanity and human nature that is just constantly repeated over and over again. Just because a story is based off another work doesn’t mean that it can save a bad story because characters have to work and have something original to them.
Dialogue between old and new work is spoken intertextually, this deepens the dialogue and helps make the reading experience greater because the reader is given multiple layers to work with and read from. Sometimes readers don’t even notice these layers but, the more that we realize these layers the more we appreciate the text, story and characters.
Quotes:
“If a story is no good, being based off Hamlet won’t save.” pg.18
“If we don’t see a reference , it means nothing, right?” pg.17
Example:
Text example; Fifty Shades of Grey is based off of the Twilight Saga, you are able to see this through the character descriptions and personalities. Anastasia Steele is described as a shy, pale girl with chocolate brown hair where Bella Swan is also described the same way. They are both clumsy and stubborn. Christian Grey is described as having copper hair with a slim yet muscular build and is a very brooding character. This description matches Edward Cullen exactly and the author has even stated she used the Twilight books to create the base of her characters.
Chapter 6. When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare
Paragraphs:
Many writers use a technique called shorthand that is very reminiscent to Shakespeare's way of writing. Many writers use Shakespeare's writing styles and stories as examples to create new text and they use him and his works as inspiration for their own.
If you look at the literature released between the eighteenth and twenty-first century you will see theres a lot of Bard. He is never the same and he is everywhere, authors always change him and makes their own Shakespeare. Many adaptations of Shakespeare id from movies/tv and plays but, there is also many novels that recreate and make their own versions of Shakespeare's classics.
The reason so many authors take inspiration from is because of his compelling characters, interesting storylines and his language. The best way this works is when writers take their own original dialogue while working it into Shakespeare's work; this way they are able to create a new surrounding and message while having the iconic dialogue.
Quotes:
“-few writers slavishly copy bits of Shakespeare’s work into their own.” pg.23
“Shakespeare also provides a figure against whom writers can struggle.” pg.22
Example:
Text example; Enter Three WItches by Caroline B. Cooney is. This story is almost a retelling of Macbeth but, instead of being seen through Macbeth, Lady Macbeth or the Witches POV we instead see the story through the eyes of a new character Lady Mary who is being fostered by Macbeth. The author uses the old characters from the original story and plot but, we are introduced to new characters and we are able to see the story progress through the eyes of Lady Mary and even Fleance.
Chapter 7. ...Or the Bible
Paragraphs:
Before the 20th century many authors could write about Biblical figures and events and not worry if the readers could make the connection since most everyone knew of the stories and people. Many writers would write about the Bible and the events that occurred because they would use it to connect with people.
Whenever you see a name that is also a Biblical name then the author has created a connection to the bible and if you are familiar to the bible figures you will often feel/find connections between the Biblical figure and the character. Usually the author will make similar personalities and for the characters sometimes they will have more modernized versions of the Biblical characters struggles and life.
The allusions in the bible aren’t always straightforward; the details change but, the concept and ideas are the same. Something you will also find is that the bible is filled with patterns, such as gardens, betrayal, falling from grace, the circle of life and more. Every story that relates to loss of innocence is from Adam, Eve, and The Garden of Eden.
Quotes:
“Modern and postmodern texts are essentially ironic.” pg.27
“...naming of a character is a serious piece of business in a novel.” pg.27
Example:
In the Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle most of the book is compared to the book of Revelation in The New Testament. The Revelation in The New Testament talks about the anti-Christ and his false prophet and the last battle of good vs evil. In CoN: The Last Battle Tash represents the Devil and Calormene chief represents the false prophet.
Chapter 8. Hanseldee and Greteldum
Paragraphs:
As stated in previous chapters all literature comes from other literature. But modern writers can’t just say that everyone will understand the reference they are trying to make since you don’t know for sure who's read this book or seen that movie. Today what people do and don’t know varies so much than it did about 10-20 years ago.
Since there so much variation theres always one type of story that writers can use for parallels, references and analogies. That would be kids literature mainly fairy tales since almost everyone from many generations has heard a version of the classic fairy tales. This is why so many authors use fairy tales to make references and parallels, this is the one type of writing that most anyone would be able to spot if they read.
Theres common things you will find in almost every fairy tale and that’s a lost and young couple, put into a dangerous situation not by their own doing, temptation, children having to protect themselves. Also many people want a new and different story but, they want something familiar too. We like seeing familiar text, characters or situations because it allows us to make sense of the work we are reading.
Quotes:
“We’re not trying to re-create the fairy tale here.” pg.32
“...we’re trying to make use of details or patterns, portions of some prior story.” pg.32
“...harmonies are where a sense of depth, solidity, resonance comes from.” pg.33
Example:
In The Gingerbread House by Robert Coover tells the story of two kids not called Hansel and Gretel . The story takes advantage of our prior knowledge of the original story and the author uses his own story and techniques to make this story almost more frightening and disturbing than the original. INstead of just tricking the kids and throwing them in the oven; Robert’s story instead takes away the childrens only way of getting home away and when the children finally arrive at the house we see the ‘witch’ who has transformed into black rags.
Chapter 9. It’s Greek to Me
Paragraphs:
A myth is a story and we use this story to explain ourselves. Myths are some of the most common things to find in a society and they are so known that some have even shaped the way we think and act. Myths are a way that we are able to read the world and ourselves, simply a myth is a story that matters greatly to us.
Greek and Roman myths all around us even if we don’t realize, if there is a town with schools and other locations with names such as Troy, Athens, Sparta or Ithaca then theres a strong chance that Greek myths in these areas are pretty strong.
In today's writing you will see a lot of parallels that use irony to older pieces of works mainly from Greek and Roman culture. Usually in stories if something is ironic then that's actually what makes it's parallel.
Quotes:
“Greek myth has had pretty good staying power.” pg.35
“...situations match up more closely than we expect.” pg.36
Example:
In the Percy Jackson series the author Rick Riordan uses Ancient Greek Mythology to spin a more modern tale and to interest the young reader. Some examples of Mythology used is that Percy himself is the son of Poseidon and his mother is kidnapped and trapped in the Underworld much like the story of Hades and Persephone.
Chapter 10. It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow
Paragraphs:
Rain and lots of water speaks to humans since it’s always played a very important role in literature. Another reason rain stands out so much is that it usually set the mood and atmosphere for the story and it is usually a very dark and gloomy mood which usually means something bad will happen. Rain is also used for plot devices like in The Three Strangers where the rain forces the main characters together. Rain also provides a more mysterious factor to stories. Rain can also symbolize a re-birth or a new beginning.
On the flip side rain also represent clean, so when an author is trying to show a character almost being ‘reborn’ or ‘healed’ they use rain to show them being cleansed of evil and dirt. That’s why in many stories if you have a troubled character who is walking or leaving somewhere and it begins to rain, the author uses this to show that the character is going to be changed and transformed from this experience.
Theres other types of weather that is used very often in writing such as fog which is used for confusion and authors can use fog to show that people can’t see or think clearly. Another type of weather authors use is snow, snow is used to represent clean or purity. Snow is also used to represent masked evil, false innocence and death.
Quotes:
“You can do just about anything you want with the snow.” pg.41
“Rain can bring the world back to life, to new growth…” pg.40
Examples:
In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen there is a rain storm which forces Jane to stay longer than planned at Bingley’s place and this causes her to develop a relationship with Bingley.
Chapter 11. ...More Than It’s Going To Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Violence is the most personal and intimate act between humans, violence can also have social and cultural implications and it can be symbolic, thematic and biblical, etc. While violence in real life is usually/basically aggression but, in writing it’s completely different. In writing violence it usually a metaphor.
Violence is everywhere in literature and it falls under two categories, the actual injury that one character causes another and narrative writing.
Violence between two character includes the usual stuff like starvation, shooting, stabbings, etc. While narrative is death and suffering that the author creates to add to the plot and theme development and most important none of the authors characters are responsible for the death and suffering.
Violence is used throughout mystery novels greatly and one of the main reasons is because it adds a certain layering and ‘weight’ to the story. Readers love when stories have layers to them because it allows the readers to be misdirected and confused with plot twists. Another reason mystery novels are so loved is because the problem is solved, the guilty are punished and the victims are avenged.
Quotes:
“...I mean the death and suffering authors introduce.” pg.46
“Different: no guilty party exists in the narrative.” pg.46
“What does misfortune really tell us?” pg.49
Example:
In the Hunger Games series the author Suzanne Collins uses actual injury. President Snow and the rest of the Capitol officials gather up 24 underage children and put them in a death match. Each one having to murder to try and survive till the end where they will be crowned winner. Other than that there is other slightly smaller violent acts such as President Snow locking Seneca Crane in a room with poisonous berries he must eat since he let both main characters live.
Chapter 12. Is That a Symbol?
Everything is a symbol. You need to ask yourself two questions, what does it mean and what does it stand for? Once you’ve asked yourself these questions there is a lot you need to understand about symbols. Symbolism isn’t the same all the time and can be found in different places and they could be your own symbol as long as you are able to support your interpretations.
An allegory is different from a symbol, allegories use different elements of the story to represent different things. The difference in a nutshell is a symbol is one thing represent an idea while allegory is many symbols combined that each represent different and various ideas. Allegories are generally more easier to find and they only mean one message.
Something that you should keep in mind is that things like caves, rivers and even something as simple as mowing the lawn can be great examples of symbolism. Caves representing security and shelter, caves in writings usually force characters to connect with their fears and death. While rivers represent death, escape, safety and division. You also need to keep in mind that actions can also be symbols hence mowing the lawn.
Quotes:
“...a symbol can’t be reduced to standing for only one thing.” pg.50
“Allegories have one mission-to convey a certain message.” pg.50
Example:
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the Mississippi River represents freedom. For Jim it’s freedom from slave states while for Huck it’s a chance to get away from his abusive dad. Huck and Jim see the river as a paradise that will lead them to their dreams but, as the story continues the river stops looking like paradise as more bad events happen and instead is just a short escape that eventual just leads Huck and Jim towards more danger.
Chapter 13. It’s All Political
Political writing can often be one-dimensonal, simpistic, preachy and dull. One type of political writing called programmatic is pushing a single cause, concern, party or it’s tied to a topic/situation that doesn’t connect very well into its own type of place.
Paragraphs:
There is five main reasons that authors use to tell why a character goes a quest. There’s the actual person, the destination, a purpose, challenges that will come with going on the quest and a reason for the person to actually go on the quest.
Authors never say the reason why the character goes on the quest and usually the character fails. The way the author grabs the attention is by stating a task and making us and the character believe thats the actual quest when really the quest is suppose to help the character find themselves.
As a story goes on the first task stops being brought up and the character starts to realize the hidden meaning behind the task. The readers stop caring about the task and start caring about the characters growth.
Quotes:
“‘Always’ and ‘Never’ are not true words that have meaning in literary study.” pg.3
Example:
Text example; Beatrice from Divergent. …show more content…
When she turns 16 she is forced to choose a faction (life style) and she chooses Dauntless, she trains and now goes by Tris. She is actually Divergent which is banned and she must hide who she really is. She figures out the government is trying to overthrow another faction and she destroys their plan and accepts that she is Divergent.
Chapter 2. Nice to eat with you: Acts of Communion
Paragraphs
Sometimes in literature eating and drinking together is just that but, usually its not. Whenever people eat and drink together it is a communion, while this would usually make you think of religion it actually is almost never religious.
These communions actually represent sharing and peace. In literature a meal scene is very uninteresting which is why there needs to be a reason to make meal scene interesting and that reason is how the characters act and how well the do or don’t get along.
Depending on how the characters act and get along is what sets the tone for the dinner scene. If the dinner scene goes well and the characters get along then the dinner scene leaves behind a positive feeling and if the dinner goes wrong or if the characters don’t get along then there is a negative feeling left behind.
Quotes:
“Now the only reason to give a character a serious hang-up is to give him the chance to get over it.” pg.4
Example:
Text example; in The Great Gatsby Nick visits Daisy and they have dinner with Tom and Jordan and we are able to see how the dinner is tense and all characters are gossiping and lying. We know that the dinner or communion is going to fail and it carries a negative feeling.
Chapter 3. Nice to eat you: Acts of Vampires
Paragraphs
There is the typical vampire which is called Literal which depicts vampires as selfish, exploiting humans, etc. This also applies to ghosts and dopplegangers, ghost usually do something for others and dopplegangers are ghost doubles or an evil twin.
Vampires aren’t always the typical vampires with fangs and capes, the usual vampire story is when an older man is evil with bad intentions who finds a young virgin woman and take everything from them like their energy and virginity, they use this to sustain their own lives and kill or destroy the woman.
The 19th century was filled with authors who wrote about ordinary and evil, they used these stories to make sexual references which was very popular at the time. They used this type of writing style to talk about sex and sexual acts without actually stating it.
Quotes:
“Ghost and vampires are never only about ghost and vampires.” pg.9
“Older figures representing corrupt, outworn values…”pg.9
“To remain dead, I must steal the life force of someone whose fate matters less to me than my own.” pg. 10-11
Example:
Text example; In the Twilight Series Edward is the attractive, mysterious and older figure while Bella is the young, naive and virginal girl. Throughout the books she is chased by evil vampires who try to kill and corrupt her. The basic plot of the book represents what a vampire story needs.
Chapter 4. If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet
Paragraphs
The sonnet is the only poetic form that most readers need to know, sonnets are very common and have been written in every Era since the English Renaissance and still very popular with readers and writers today.
There are many ways that a poem can keep an interest in readers, images, music, content and how crafty or clever the wordplay is. Since poems are so short at only fourteen lines you can’t have an epic tale, or subplots and it doesn’t carry an amazing narrative effect but, at the same time you have a sonnet that are split in two with difference yet a shared meaning.
When you first look at a poem it doesn’t look like square but, it is. Lines and stanzas are essential in poetry. There is a basic meaning in a single sentence which is why if you stop every line and read it doesn’t make sense. Poems are arranged in line but, they are written in sentences.
Quotes:
“The basic pattern is 8/6.” pg.13
“Sonnets are like that, short poems that take far more time, because everything has to be perfect, than long ones.” pg.14
Example:
Text example; An echo from Willow-Wood you are able to see the tension and emotion in just this small number of lines.
Chapter 5. Now, Where have I seen her before?
No book or poem is original, there is always a connection from one story to the next whether it be looks or personality. This is actually a good thing and we are sometimes meant to see these similarities because it makes us appreciate the novel more.
There is only one original story and thats humanity and human nature that is just constantly repeated over and over again. Just because a story is based off another work doesn’t mean that it can save a bad story because characters have to work and have something original to them.
Dialogue between old and new work is spoken intertextually, this deepens the dialogue and helps make the reading experience greater because the reader is given multiple layers to work with and read from. Sometimes readers don’t even notice these layers but, the more that we realize these layers the more we appreciate the text, story and characters.
Quotes:
“If a story is no good, being based off Hamlet won’t save.” pg.18
“If we don’t see a reference , it means nothing, right?” pg.17
Example:
Text example; Fifty Shades of Grey is based off of the Twilight Saga, you are able to see this through the character descriptions and personalities. Anastasia Steele is described as a shy, pale girl with chocolate brown hair where Bella Swan is also described the same way. They are both clumsy and stubborn. Christian Grey is described as having copper hair with a slim yet muscular build and is a very brooding character. This description matches Edward Cullen exactly and the author has even stated she used the Twilight books to create the base of her characters.
Chapter 6. When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare
Paragraphs:
Many writers use a technique called shorthand that is very reminiscent to Shakespeare's way of writing. Many writers use Shakespeare's writing styles and stories as examples to create new text and they use him and his works as inspiration for their own.
If you look at the literature released between the eighteenth and twenty-first century you will see theres a lot of Bard. He is never the same and he is everywhere, authors always change him and makes their own Shakespeare. Many adaptations of Shakespeare id from movies/tv and plays but, there is also many novels that recreate and make their own versions of Shakespeare's classics.
The reason so many authors take inspiration from is because of his compelling characters, interesting storylines and his language. The best way this works is when writers take their own original dialogue while working it into Shakespeare's work; this way they are able to create a new surrounding and message while having the iconic dialogue.
Quotes:
“-few writers slavishly copy bits of Shakespeare’s work into their own.” pg.23
“Shakespeare also provides a figure against whom writers can struggle.” pg.22
Example:
Text example; Enter Three WItches by Caroline B. Cooney is. This story is almost a retelling of Macbeth but, instead of being seen through Macbeth, Lady Macbeth or the Witches POV we instead see the story through the eyes of a new character Lady Mary who is being fostered by Macbeth. The author uses the old characters from the original story and plot but, we are introduced to new characters and we are able to see the story progress through the eyes of Lady Mary and even Fleance.
Chapter 7. ...Or the Bible
Paragraphs:
Before the 20th century many authors could write about Biblical figures and events and not worry if the readers could make the connection since most everyone knew of the stories and people. Many writers would write about the Bible and the events that occurred because they would use it to connect with people.
Whenever you see a name that is also a Biblical name then the author has created a connection to the bible and if you are familiar to the bible figures you will often feel/find connections between the Biblical figure and the character. Usually the author will make similar personalities and for the characters sometimes they will have more modernized versions of the Biblical characters struggles and life.
The allusions in the bible aren’t always straightforward; the details change but, the concept and ideas are the same. Something you will also find is that the bible is filled with patterns, such as gardens, betrayal, falling from grace, the circle of life and more. Every story that relates to loss of innocence is from Adam, Eve, and The Garden of Eden.
Quotes:
“Modern and postmodern texts are essentially ironic.” pg.27
“...naming of a character is a serious piece of business in a novel.” pg.27
Example:
In the Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle most of the book is compared to the book of Revelation in The New Testament. The Revelation in The New Testament talks about the anti-Christ and his false prophet and the last battle of good vs evil. In CoN: The Last Battle Tash represents the Devil and Calormene chief represents the false prophet.
Chapter 8. Hanseldee and Greteldum
Paragraphs:
As stated in previous chapters all literature comes from other literature. But modern writers can’t just say that everyone will understand the reference they are trying to make since you don’t know for sure who's read this book or seen that movie. Today what people do and don’t know varies so much than it did about 10-20 years ago.
Since there so much variation theres always one type of story that writers can use for parallels, references and analogies. That would be kids literature mainly fairy tales since almost everyone from many generations has heard a version of the classic fairy tales. This is why so many authors use fairy tales to make references and parallels, this is the one type of writing that most anyone would be able to spot if they read.
Theres common things you will find in almost every fairy tale and that’s a lost and young couple, put into a dangerous situation not by their own doing, temptation, children having to protect themselves. Also many people want a new and different story but, they want something familiar too. We like seeing familiar text, characters or situations because it allows us to make sense of the work we are reading.
Quotes:
“We’re not trying to re-create the fairy tale here.” pg.32
“...we’re trying to make use of details or patterns, portions of some prior story.” pg.32
“...harmonies are where a sense of depth, solidity, resonance comes from.” pg.33
Example:
In The Gingerbread House by Robert Coover tells the story of two kids not called Hansel and Gretel . The story takes advantage of our prior knowledge of the original story and the author uses his own story and techniques to make this story almost more frightening and disturbing than the original. INstead of just tricking the kids and throwing them in the oven; Robert’s story instead takes away the childrens only way of getting home away and when the children finally arrive at the house we see the ‘witch’ who has transformed into black rags.
Chapter 9. It’s Greek to Me
Paragraphs:
A myth is a story and we use this story to explain ourselves. Myths are some of the most common things to find in a society and they are so known that some have even shaped the way we think and act. Myths are a way that we are able to read the world and ourselves, simply a myth is a story that matters greatly to us.
Greek and Roman myths all around us even if we don’t realize, if there is a town with schools and other locations with names such as Troy, Athens, Sparta or Ithaca then theres a strong chance that Greek myths in these areas are pretty strong.
In today's writing you will see a lot of parallels that use irony to older pieces of works mainly from Greek and Roman culture. Usually in stories if something is ironic then that's actually what makes it's parallel.
Quotes:
“Greek myth has had pretty good staying power.” pg.35
“...situations match up more closely than we expect.” pg.36
Example:
In the Percy Jackson series the author Rick Riordan uses Ancient Greek Mythology to spin a more modern tale and to interest the young reader. Some examples of Mythology used is that Percy himself is the son of Poseidon and his mother is kidnapped and trapped in the Underworld much like the story of Hades and Persephone.
Chapter 10. It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow
Paragraphs:
Rain and lots of water speaks to humans since it’s always played a very important role in literature. Another reason rain stands out so much is that it usually set the mood and atmosphere for the story and it is usually a very dark and gloomy mood which usually means something bad will happen. Rain is also used for plot devices like in The Three Strangers where the rain forces the main characters together. Rain also provides a more mysterious factor to stories. Rain can also symbolize a re-birth or a new beginning.
On the flip side rain also represent clean, so when an author is trying to show a character almost being ‘reborn’ or ‘healed’ they use rain to show them being cleansed of evil and dirt. That’s why in many stories if you have a troubled character who is walking or leaving somewhere and it begins to rain, the author uses this to show that the character is going to be changed and transformed from this experience.
Theres other types of weather that is used very often in writing such as fog which is used for confusion and authors can use fog to show that people can’t see or think clearly. Another type of weather authors use is snow, snow is used to represent clean or purity. Snow is also used to represent masked evil, false innocence and death.
Quotes:
“You can do just about anything you want with the snow.” pg.41
“Rain can bring the world back to life, to new growth…” pg.40
Examples:
In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen there is a rain storm which forces Jane to stay longer than planned at Bingley’s place and this causes her to develop a relationship with Bingley.
Chapter 11. ...More Than It’s Going To Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Violence is the most personal and intimate act between humans, violence can also have social and cultural implications and it can be symbolic, thematic and biblical, etc. While violence in real life is usually/basically aggression but, in writing it’s completely different. In writing violence it usually a metaphor.
Violence is everywhere in literature and it falls under two categories, the actual injury that one character causes another and narrative writing.
Violence between two character includes the usual stuff like starvation, shooting, stabbings, etc. While narrative is death and suffering that the author creates to add to the plot and theme development and most important none of the authors characters are responsible for the death and suffering.
Violence is used throughout mystery novels greatly and one of the main reasons is because it adds a certain layering and ‘weight’ to the story. Readers love when stories have layers to them because it allows the readers to be misdirected and confused with plot twists. Another reason mystery novels are so loved is because the problem is solved, the guilty are punished and the victims are avenged.
Quotes:
“...I mean the death and suffering authors introduce.” pg.46
“Different: no guilty party exists in the narrative.” pg.46
“What does misfortune really tell us?” pg.49
Example:
In the Hunger Games series the author Suzanne Collins uses actual injury. President Snow and the rest of the Capitol officials gather up 24 underage children and put them in a death match. Each one having to murder to try and survive till the end where they will be crowned winner. Other than that there is other slightly smaller violent acts such as President Snow locking Seneca Crane in a room with poisonous berries he must eat since he let both main characters live.
Chapter 12. Is That a Symbol?
Everything is a symbol. You need to ask yourself two questions, what does it mean and what does it stand for? Once you’ve asked yourself these questions there is a lot you need to understand about symbols. Symbolism isn’t the same all the time and can be found in different places and they could be your own symbol as long as you are able to support your interpretations.
An allegory is different from a symbol, allegories use different elements of the story to represent different things. The difference in a nutshell is a symbol is one thing represent an idea while allegory is many symbols combined that each represent different and various ideas. Allegories are generally more easier to find and they only mean one message.
Something that you should keep in mind is that things like caves, rivers and even something as simple as mowing the lawn can be great examples of symbolism. Caves representing security and shelter, caves in writings usually force characters to connect with their fears and death. While rivers represent death, escape, safety and division. You also need to keep in mind that actions can also be symbols hence mowing the lawn.
Quotes:
“...a symbol can’t be reduced to standing for only one thing.” pg.50
“Allegories have one mission-to convey a certain message.” pg.50
Example:
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the Mississippi River represents freedom. For Jim it’s freedom from slave states while for Huck it’s a chance to get away from his abusive dad. Huck and Jim see the river as a paradise that will lead them to their dreams but, as the story continues the river stops looking like paradise as more bad events happen and instead is just a short escape that eventual just leads Huck and Jim towards more danger.
Chapter 13. It’s All Political
Political writing can often be one-dimensonal, simpistic, preachy and dull. One type of political writing called programmatic is pushing a single cause, concern, party or it’s tied to a topic/situation that doesn’t connect very well into its own type of place.