In-class writing 10/28/15

1. Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so, what are they and how are they used?

The main character/ mad scientist mentions some of the prominent symbols in the story. Terms like experiments, Martians, and the world are used more often than not. An example would be when the scientist tried to apologize to his girlfriend’s father about his actions (unstated) when they were having a conversation about Martians. He also mentions that the Martians are taking over the world. The scientist also talks a lot about his scientific progress and achievements throughout the reading and mentions his laboratory, all the work he has done and his secret double life (Probably related to the Martians).

2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work, with which you were able to connect.

I connect most with the secrets kept in a relationship when the character mentions about his “evil” side and all the things his girlfriend doesn’t know about him. The predicament of either revealing your true self to somebody or not has a significant impact on the main character’s relationship with his girlfriend.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use?

One thing I find interesting is the information you get from the context of an apology letter. If I were to make this into a film, I would add scenes that would take place before the letter is written. Maybe even have the opening scenes a close-up of the girlfriend holding the letter. I think the voice of the author captured a lost romance that this character is reminiscing about. The choice in words that described their relationship was well written as well as the format of the letter. Because of this, I would choose to have a voice over narrator read certain passages of the letter and have actors portray some of the events that are mentioned. I can imagine a combination of a mad scientist movie like Dr. Strangelove and a romantic chick flick like Dear John.

The voice of an author

Daytripper by Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba had a strong voice that went along well with the art style. The story also translates well into a graphic novel. I think the voice of the author in this depressing because of the reoccurring theme of death throughout the comic. The structure of the dialogue retains the personality of Bras while the purple narration texts explain what Bras is thinking about. For example, when he was having a conversation with his mother on the phone he was trying his best to seem okay but afterwards when he begins to work on his writing, Bras begins to break down as the narration explains what is going on in his mind. The author’s voice makes you think and revaluate your own life, for example during the moment where Genarinho’s nephew came into the bar to take his money, they were discussing about family. Ironically, many bad things happen at the end and I don’t want to spoil it. The comic is short and pretty fast paced as a lot of events happened but feels complete. I think the author’s voice was successful in trying to get the idea across in a short amount of time.

Tone and Voice

When discussing an author’s work, it is important to understand the difference between tone and voice. An author’s tone reflects their attitude towards the topic they are writing about. An author’s voice is their personality expressed in writing. For example, in Karen Russell’s story, Sleep Donation, the Baby A was being harvested for its precious sleep as a resource. So far in the book the main idea is about the lack of sleep in society and the only way to save lives is to siphon sleep from donors. When discovering a baby that can save lives, it has been used everyday to extract sleep for the well being of others.

Russell’s tone can be described as sympathetic towards the issue of people suffering for the sake of other’s well being. This controversy has been a commonly used for other works and I think she is using this story to show the non-biased perspective of the situation. In the story, the main character understands both sides to the sleep-deprived epidemic.

I remembered in class when we discussed men and women writers and how it’s sometimes hard to tell what gender the author is. I can tell Russell was a woman before reading the story (Disregarding the name of course) and it seems evident with the choice of words when new characters, objects and settings are described. There could be parts where the author’s tone and voice are not similar but so far in Sleep Donation, the main character seems to have the right personality to fit the tone of the story.

Ready Player One Scene Script

The scene for this script involves the part where Wade enters the van to access his secret hideout where the OASIS is kept.

Wade walks down the road and then towards tall grass where a pile of cars lay.

He was on an abandoned highway where weeds and grass began to grow on top of it.

Wade looks around making sure no one is around before disappearing from the road.

Deep towards the back of the mess of cars is a rusty van with only the rear door visible and accessible.

Wade unlocks the door with the key around his neck and shines his flashlight inside.

He goes inside.

Darkness. Dust and cobwebs are reflecting from the flashlight.

He turns on a little desk lamp that is duct taped on the top corner of the room in the van.

The inside of the van becomes well lit and looks like a cozy place for Wade.

Queue narration about how he discovered this place 4 years ago…

Details of the space are shown including shots of cardboard, egg carton shells, Styrofoam and pieces of carpeting lining the van.

Wade gets up and begins riding on the exercise bike to charge the OASIS.

Afterwards he opens an old lunchbox that contains his school issued OASIS virtual reality headset…

The Ethos of Oscar Wao

         While reading the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, his Dominican culture is characterized with masculinity and the belief that having lots of sex is a metaphor for success. According to the novel, Oscar is an overweight nerd, who is not the most attractive guy out there. In contrast to Oscar is his roommate, Yunior, who is handsome and constantly narrates about all the girls he has sex with. I noticed that throughout the book, it describes how Oscar would romanticize and have a unique approach towards girls. His ethos for relationships contains all the elements for a healthy relationship but his physical appearance does not look healthy. Yunior’s approach towards girls are often empathetic and misogynistic because of how he treats them as sex partners and also cheated on Oscar’s sister when they were together. 
          He might have a healthy appearance, but his relationships with women are not. There are two ethos that are significant in the book, the first being the context of Dominican culture for masculinity, and the second being Oscar’s ethos, which is to treat girls respectfully because he was unfortunately unable to conform to his culture’s expectations.