Hi Everyone: In the comment section, please let me know how things are going with your research. Try to articulate your main argument, as best you can, and how things are coming together in your work. Thanks, Mr. Telles.
My research paper relies on my analyzing of the books structure and the time period regarding other books. With The Picture of Dorian Gray I will be taking into account other Bildungsroman books of the time period and the same with The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Fun Home. All have varying book structures such as divisions of the books into parts, different points of views and other factors. And while these books all seem different because of the individual authors unique ways of presenting the Bildungsroman novel, they are all similar in their coming of age stories. Factors such as a climactic event of the characters, official coming of age, their preceding lives in stages (sometimes not defined by the author but definitely heavily hinted at by them), and usually initially bad living conditions that improve by the end of the book, if not in physical health than in mental health, all contribute to the similarities of the books. All of these factors are strong structural supports for the Bildungsroman genre. In my paper, I have been focusing on finding keen examples of these sorts of factors that define the bildungsroman books but are changed to help the author give their individual insight.
My goal for this project is to focus on how the author Neil Gaiman ties the fantasy and human realms together. My thesis as of yet is lacking. As I continue to write and discover what my paper is truly about it will develop. I need to figure out why it all matters and how Neil Gaiman gets his point across. I have read a couple books by Neil Gaiman, “Neverwhere” and “American Gods”. These books are completely different from each other, but they share a central theme: the mixing of two worlds that don’t belong together. For my third source I plan on utilizing a book of short stories that were collected by Neil Gaiman (not sure if he wrote any yet) and using the introduction he wrote. I think that this book will help show that he is consistent with writing about fantasy/real life.
Katie Manning Well, my final project has been going alright, except for the fact that I can’t get started writing. I have read all my books, almost a total of 2,000 pages, and I have analyzed the writing well enough to write about the books. My thesis is still waiting to be discovered, but I know I am writing about how the ideal horror story has changed within the past thirty years. This topic doesn’t really have a lot to give to be able to write ten pages, but there are other sub topics and ideas that I can include. I am planning on exploring the structure of the text itself and focusing on the key concepts that work together to build a horror story. What makes horror horror? I am also comparing authors to show how not only time changes the definition of horror. Again, I am not sure how long my essay will turn out, so I am including a creative portion, which I am starting this weekend. I think I will make two dioramas of what I believe the settings look like in my books, so displaying the effect of time change.
I am using "Wicked" (both the novel and the musical) and "The Wizard of Oz" movie to illustrate how adaptations transform underlying messages within a story. The majority of the project is centered on Gregory Maguire's book as it is the most powerful of the three works and is in the center of the two aspects ways that messages go: it creates a message not previously established in the movie and has the message limited (and bordering on being stripped completely) in its own musical adaptation. I plan on breaking things down into primary aspects of all stories and how their shifts affect the undertones of the work. These pieces are: setting (which will break down into political and religious sub-analyses), characters and their development (and as it contains the most differences between the three works may pan out to be the largest and most in depth section), and finally the conclusion (in order to fully look into the aftermath I may bring reference into the book's sequel, "Son of a Witch"). As the essay progresses I may discover a need to change my approach but for now I feel I am on track and have plenty of information to go into the depth that I need for this project.
My research project is based on an author study of Charlotte Bronte. I am using several of her earlier juvenilia works, "Jane Eyre", "Shirley", and the unfinished manuscript "Emma". These books collectively represent her writing's youth to maturity. After reading and taking notes, I am confident that I can narrow this author study down to focusing solely on her growth as a feminist author in the 19th century. Though Bronte's tangible life was very short, just reaching middle age at her death of 38 years, Bronte's writing did show a distinct youth, middle age, and complete maturity of her feminist views throughout her works. I have found that her earlier juvenilia works portray women as what was routine in the 19th century. They relied on their husbands, and though at some points had outbursts, were always realigned with their position. In her middle age, Bronte's characters showed more independence. Yet, they still weren't completely confident with it, and still kept a reliance on men. In her last work, "Emma", Bronte painted a completely independent woman whose focus was on much else than men. I have more than enough content within my books to provide these statements with concrete examples, and have analyzed most of them within my notes already. I believe that my essay will be hefty enough to stand on its own without a creative portion because of all of the examples and angles that I can hit my topic at. I need to make sure to stay honed in on my narrower thesis without bringing in the dozens of other topics that I could make of Charlotte Bronte to create the most powerful and effective paper.
Hi Mr. Telles. I started out trying to formulate a thesis revolving around Greek Mythology in ancient times versus modern day writing. I figured the different styles would be distinct because of the time setting, audience, and culture. It turns out I was right. Josh D. actually helped me extend my thesis to a more specific point. Now I am analyzing how the different elements of writing, in both settings, are directly related to the way that Greek Mythology is regarded in that time setting. My theory was that the works of Homer and those like him would be less opinionated, and would only idolize the Gods because the authors would not want to offend the Gods. However, I got the feeling that the Gods were respected, but also mocked a lot, especially in The Iliad. I had to abandon the Iliad because it became so redundant. The other books I used included a young adult novel from Rick Riordan's series, and a couple encyclopedia-like books. They all had different attitudes, and I hope to investigate their differences in my essay. For my creative portion, I am going to reverse roles and become an author of sorts. I am going to try to create a presentation that characterizes mythology in the way that Riordan does through oil paint. This way I can explore the ways that certain authors choose details and descriptions that will best benefit their picture of Greek Mythology.
Hannah Ellis My final project includes Greek Mythology and focuses on how many of the characters can be considered false heroes. In many of the stories characters that are considered “heroes” are being helped along in a major way by someone else. For example, in the Odyssey by Homer Odysseus is considered a hero by many of the people he encounters, but the goddess Athena helped him by transforming herself or telling him what to do. He didn’t think do many of the things he is considered a hero for by himself. In the story of Achilles, Achilles is considered a hero, but he would not have obtained many of his victories without his mother immortalizing him as a child. There are just a few of the many characters in Greek Mythology that are helped along by the gods without the knowledge of others.
My final project is about how the disillusion experienced during the Jazz Age has come back in today's society, creating a second lost generation. In the 1920s, people felt detached because of the horrors observed during the First World War. Today, the advancement of technology allows us to hear about world catastrophes instantly, but we are unable to do anything to help. This sense of helplessness has created a sense of carelessness. We are much more concerned with having fun in the present than planning for the future, something very different from generations past.
My project is coming along nicely. I've been researching more about why World War I was so devastating, and what life in the Jazz Age was like. I have also begun a series of photographs depicting disillusion and carelessness in the modern age, which I think is going to turn out kind of cool-looking. Hopefully.
I have chosen to research and create an argument based on David Sedaris' writing and style. I have chosen to recreate a short story from one of his novels in order to show the importance of seeing his work, rather than just reading it. Many critics argue that Sedaris is not a memoir writer like he claims, but rather a fiction writer. I disagree with these critics, and am arguing that while memoir writing holds truth, it can never be retold the exact way that it happened. Sedaris uses fictional tools in his writing, but he only does this to keep the reader interested.
James King Watching the famous Western movie” The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” one late night I found myself wondering why society created these archetypes of good and evil their deeds where glorified, they were beyond human and became legends. Looking for answer I began reading a combination of Western legends and tall tales along with books depicting the actual history of West. Through my reading I determined that the biggest reason legends were created was to provide entertainment and going deeper commercializing the conflict between them. Society craved entertainment and nobody wanted to hear about the fairly average life of men such as William McCarty and so Hawkeye was born. These men found themselves becoming commodities and eventual icons and as they became larger than life the public’s interest in them grew. While the made purpose of Western Legends was to sell all of them epitomized a fundamental American ideal; Freedom, justice, and courage to name a few. They are also all made common in the manner that they try to control the public whether it is through hearing of the terror of Jessie James or the courage of Davy Crocket by exaggerating the deeds they had a greater impact on our reactions.
In "This Side of Paradise", Amory Blaine experiences two primary inner conflicts, the first being a struggle to understand and fit into society, and the second being a struggle to motivate one's self and see the reason in such motivation. Classes at Princeton, for him, are misdirected and tired and useless, as he takes more pleasure in his literary magazine or in walks through the quad at sunrise and in silent ponderings to himself. Amory’s problem throughout the novel is that he wants to fit in with society and be accepted, and yet he has his own strong opinions, values, and ideas. This sort of character is a repetitive motif throughout Fitzgerald's novels, and my thesis is forming itself into the suggestion that using all of his literary works as a single movement, Fitzgerald was speaking to society when he wrote about his protagonists’ solidarity and confusion towards society. Each character struggles with their individual interests, as well as their blinding self-interest, alongside their need to fit into a failing social structure. Fitzgerald questions the importance of social rules and challenges the reader to answer for their resultant lack of passion. Fitzgerald brought a new angle in each of his novels; in “The Great Gatsby” he presents an elicit love affair that is abruptly forgotten when needed. In “The Beautiful and Damned” Fitzgerald discusses the desperate grasp for beauty and the whirlwind of destruction as well as the abduction of adulthood by the escape through alcohol.
So far, I’ve decided to basically stick with my original thesis, where I examine the different cultures and time periods that each individual antihero lives in and how that affects them as a character. I wanted to add more to this thesis though, so I’ve also included the fact that each of these characters had a desire to be different from the rest of society. Despite their different personalities and lifestyles, all of these characters share this one thing in common, and so I want to explore and analyze what this means. While I’ve come up with this thesis, I’m expecting to refine it once I’ve finished the essay, just in case I want to add or take away from a part of it. I’ve read Madame Bovary, American Psycho, Lolita, and Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman so far. In my essay, I’ve begun with Madame Bovary. Right now, I’ve decided to set up my essay by examining each book individually, but I’m hoping to incorporate the other books I’ve read into these sections. The main thing I’m struggling with is summarizing too much. I’m having trouble getting the major parts of the books across without feeling like I’m over-summarizing.
For my project i'm doing an author study on George Orwell using the books Animal Farm, Down and Out, and 1984. I'm looking into how he presented the lower class, and showing the darkest side of poverty and how it affects those involved. I really want to analyze how Orwell uses things like politics, economic queues, and social issues to create a fully developed fictional novel, using fact of Orwell's actual time period. So far I have gone over my notes and read a couple different articles about Orwell himself in preparation for the paper. I have started my paper and have the introduction and a general outline for my writing done.
Throughout the last century, as science fiction began to fluorish, some novels chose to explore a greater amount of fantasy than others. Authors such as H.G. Wells sacrificed realism for a greater cause, and his stories benefitted from it. In all forms of literature, artistic license has been the greatest ally of theme and the provocation of thought. Science fiction, whether it is 19th century or 21st, needs to take a break from plausibility in order to ever convey its message while also doing justice to its genre.
My essay, with the help of novels such as "First Men in the Moon", "From the Earth to the Moon", "A Trip to the Moon", and "Slaughterhouse Five", will explore the insignificance of realism in the science fiction genre, along with the importance of crazy ideas to the innovation of the human race. The artistic piece will be a display of a world without these thoughts; one where stagnant minds contribute to an ultimately overencumbered and impractical world.
Throughout the past few centuries, fairy tales have gone through different stages of development. Despite this, they have played a large role in our cultural narrative. My thesis is that fairy tales are a narrative reflection of the social values of the time and its audience. Throughout the years, fairy tales go through a cycle of focusing on entertainment, morality, and engagement. Pre-Grimm fairy tales have a focus on entertainment, Grimm and Perrault era fairy tales focus on morality, while modern fairy tales tend to have more diverse topics. Modern adaptations are no longer aimed just at children, so the focus of modern fairy tales differs from audience to audience.
With writing fairy tales, there tends to be a unique pattern among writers. There is little world building, leaving the audience to assume that the setting is a fantasy setting unless otherwise stated. Original fairy tales are used mostly as plot outlines by modern authors. They are mostly molded to the writers own ideas, parodied, or deconstructed. Adherence to the exact tale is generally reserved for children’s media or when the work is poorly written.
For my creative element, I will illustrate an adaption from each era and style in a way that epitomizes the style and focus of the work. The works I have chosen to illustrate are Deerskin, Disney’s Cinderella, RWBY, Beastley, Grimm’s Snow White, and Allerleirauh.
My original thesis came from using the gender studies-critical lens, specifically it was the study of the role of women in the WWII era and how they were behind all the conniving trickery of the government. Because the book I was going to read, Gravity's Rainbow, is about government conspiracies and the main character has escapades with various female heroes. However, I don't think I can make it in time so please be prepared to be disappointed. Regarding the thesis though there are spies, temptresses and specters-all female that meddle with the (anti)hero of the story. This may say something about the author too because as far as heroines in the book go none of them are all too smart.
My paper focuses on whether or not knowledge is good or evil. I've used several books that all use the biblical story of Adam and Eve to explore the positives and negatives of knowledge. All of the stories tend to sympathize with the devil, as well as with Eve and her desire gain knowledge. For my paper I will use these books to argue that the story of Adam and Eve is used in the literary world as a universal lens through which to explore the good and the bad that comes with knowledge, and ultimately uses them to support learning.
My main thesis is how the inherent weakness of the father character often plays a central role in establishing the main familial conflict in a work of literature. What I was trying to get at was to show how fragile the family system can be. For examples I used fathers from three works of literature that all conveyed different ways of dealing with their family’s issues. First I chose Anse Bundren (William Faulkner: As I Lay Dying), who has a cold distant way of interacting with his family. Even though his wife has passed he does not try to help his children through the issue. He commands them to do his bidding without any remorse. I also used the character Stephen Kumalo (Alan Paton: Cry the Beloved Country) who has to tight a grip on his son, which led his son to run away to the city. This triggers events to transpire that lead to Stephen Kumalo looking for his son in the city and finding out he has been imprisoned for murder. Stephen Kumalo is constantly fighting an uphill battle with his faith, race issues, and family problems. Lastly I chose King Lear as a mid point example father between the previous two. Lear created all of the obstacles in his path with his own hands. He raised two of his eldest two daughters to be evil conniving people who deceive im in thinking they are worthy of his kingdom. He leaves his only good daughter out because she would not bathe her father in indulging words of love. Lear digs his own grave that he can never get out of.
My research paper relies on my analyzing of the books structure and the time period regarding other books. With The Picture of Dorian Gray I will be taking into account other Bildungsroman books of the time period and the same with The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Fun Home. All have varying book structures such as divisions of the books into parts, different points of views and other factors. And while these books all seem different because of the individual authors unique ways of presenting the Bildungsroman novel, they are all similar in their coming of age stories. Factors such as a climactic event of the characters, official coming of age, their preceding lives in stages (sometimes not defined by the author but definitely heavily hinted at by them), and usually initially bad living conditions that improve by the end of the book, if not in physical health than in mental health, all contribute to the similarities of the books. All of these factors are strong structural supports for the Bildungsroman genre. In my paper, I have been focusing on finding keen examples of these sorts of factors that define the bildungsroman books but are changed to help the author give their individual insight.
ReplyDeleteKirsten L. Salo
ReplyDeleteMy goal for this project is to focus on how the author Neil Gaiman ties the fantasy and human realms together. My thesis as of yet is lacking. As I continue to write and discover what my paper is truly about it will develop. I need to figure out why it all matters and how Neil Gaiman gets his point across. I have read a couple books by Neil Gaiman, “Neverwhere” and “American Gods”. These books are completely different from each other, but they share a central theme: the mixing of two worlds that don’t belong together. For my third source I plan on utilizing a book of short stories that were collected by Neil Gaiman (not sure if he wrote any yet) and using the introduction he wrote. I think that this book will help show that he is consistent with writing about fantasy/real life.
Katie Manning
ReplyDeleteWell, my final project has been going alright, except for the fact that I can’t get started writing. I have read all my books, almost a total of 2,000 pages, and I have analyzed the writing well enough to write about the books. My thesis is still waiting to be discovered, but I know I am writing about how the ideal horror story has changed within the past thirty years. This topic doesn’t really have a lot to give to be able to write ten pages, but there are other sub topics and ideas that I can include. I am planning on exploring the structure of the text itself and focusing on the key concepts that work together to build a horror story. What makes horror horror? I am also comparing authors to show how not only time changes the definition of horror. Again, I am not sure how long my essay will turn out, so I am including a creative portion, which I am starting this weekend. I think I will make two dioramas of what I believe the settings look like in my books, so displaying the effect of time change.
Zachary Schultz
ReplyDeleteI am using "Wicked" (both the novel and the musical) and "The Wizard of Oz" movie to illustrate how adaptations transform underlying messages within a story. The majority of the project is centered on Gregory Maguire's book as it is the most powerful of the three works and is in the center of the two aspects ways that messages go: it creates a message not previously established in the movie and has the message limited (and bordering on being stripped completely) in its own musical adaptation. I plan on breaking things down into primary aspects of all stories and how their shifts affect the undertones of the work. These pieces are: setting (which will break down into political and religious sub-analyses), characters and their development (and as it contains the most differences between the three works may pan out to be the largest and most in depth section), and finally the conclusion (in order to fully look into the aftermath I may bring reference into the book's sequel, "Son of a Witch"). As the essay progresses I may discover a need to change my approach but for now I feel I am on track and have plenty of information to go into the depth that I need for this project.
Morgan Taylor
ReplyDeleteMy research project is based on an author study of Charlotte Bronte. I am using several of her earlier juvenilia works, "Jane Eyre", "Shirley", and the unfinished manuscript "Emma". These books collectively represent her writing's youth to maturity. After reading and taking notes, I am confident that I can narrow this author study down to focusing solely on her growth as a feminist author in the 19th century. Though Bronte's tangible life was very short, just reaching middle age at her death of 38 years, Bronte's writing did show a distinct youth, middle age, and complete maturity of her feminist views throughout her works. I have found that her earlier juvenilia works portray women as what was routine in the 19th century. They relied on their husbands, and though at some points had outbursts, were always realigned with their position. In her middle age, Bronte's characters showed more independence. Yet, they still weren't completely confident with it, and still kept a reliance on men. In her last work, "Emma", Bronte painted a completely independent woman whose focus was on much else than men. I have more than enough content within my books to provide these statements with concrete examples, and have analyzed most of them within my notes already. I believe that my essay will be hefty enough to stand on its own without a creative portion because of all of the examples and angles that I can hit my topic at. I need to make sure to stay honed in on my narrower thesis without bringing in the dozens of other topics that I could make of Charlotte Bronte to create the most powerful and effective paper.
Cara O'Connell
ReplyDeleteHi Mr. Telles. I started out trying to formulate a thesis revolving around Greek Mythology in ancient times versus modern day writing. I figured the different styles would be distinct because of the time setting, audience, and culture. It turns out I was right. Josh D. actually helped me extend my thesis to a more specific point. Now I am analyzing how the different elements of writing, in both settings, are directly related to the way that Greek Mythology is regarded in that time setting. My theory was that the works of Homer and those like him would be less opinionated, and would only idolize the Gods because the authors would not want to offend the Gods. However, I got the feeling that the Gods were respected, but also mocked a lot, especially in The Iliad. I had to abandon the Iliad because it became so redundant. The other books I used included a young adult novel from Rick Riordan's series, and a couple encyclopedia-like books. They all had different attitudes, and I hope to investigate their differences in my essay. For my creative portion, I am going to reverse roles and become an author of sorts. I am going to try to create a presentation that characterizes mythology in the way that Riordan does through oil paint. This way I can explore the ways that certain authors choose details and descriptions that will best benefit their picture of Greek Mythology.
Hannah Ellis
ReplyDeleteMy final project includes Greek Mythology and focuses on how many of the characters can be considered false heroes. In many of the stories characters that are considered “heroes” are being helped along in a major way by someone else. For example, in the Odyssey by Homer Odysseus is considered a hero by many of the people he encounters, but the goddess Athena helped him by transforming herself or telling him what to do. He didn’t think do many of the things he is considered a hero for by himself. In the story of Achilles, Achilles is considered a hero, but he would not have obtained many of his victories without his mother immortalizing him as a child. There are just a few of the many characters in Greek Mythology that are helped along by the gods without the knowledge of others.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChristina Sargent
ReplyDeleteMy final project is about how the disillusion experienced during the Jazz Age has come back in today's society, creating a second lost generation. In the 1920s, people felt detached because of the horrors observed during the First World War. Today, the advancement of technology allows us to hear about world catastrophes instantly, but we are unable to do anything to help. This sense of helplessness has created a sense of carelessness. We are much more concerned with having fun in the present than planning for the future, something very different from generations past.
My project is coming along nicely. I've been researching more about why World War I was so devastating, and what life in the Jazz Age was like. I have also begun a series of photographs depicting disillusion and carelessness in the modern age, which I think is going to turn out kind of cool-looking. Hopefully.
Jordan Westling
ReplyDeleteI have chosen to research and create an argument based on David Sedaris' writing and style. I have chosen to recreate a short story from one of his novels in order to show the importance of seeing his work, rather than just reading it. Many critics argue that Sedaris is not a memoir writer like he claims, but rather a fiction writer. I disagree with these critics, and am arguing that while memoir writing holds truth, it can never be retold the exact way that it happened. Sedaris uses fictional tools in his writing, but he only does this to keep the reader interested.
James King
ReplyDeleteWatching the famous Western movie” The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” one late night I found myself wondering why society created these archetypes of good and evil their deeds where glorified, they were beyond human and became legends. Looking for answer I began reading a combination of Western legends and tall tales along with books depicting the actual history of West. Through my reading I determined that the biggest reason legends were created was to provide entertainment and going deeper commercializing the conflict between them. Society craved entertainment and nobody wanted to hear about the fairly average life of men such as William McCarty and so Hawkeye was born. These men found themselves becoming commodities and eventual icons and as they became larger than life the public’s interest in them grew. While the made purpose of Western Legends was to sell all of them epitomized a fundamental American ideal; Freedom, justice, and courage to name a few. They are also all made common in the manner that they try to control the public whether it is through hearing of the terror of Jessie James or the courage of Davy Crocket by exaggerating the deeds they had a greater impact on our reactions.
In "This Side of Paradise", Amory Blaine experiences two primary inner conflicts, the first being a struggle to understand and fit into society, and the second being a struggle to motivate one's self and see the reason in such motivation. Classes at Princeton, for him, are misdirected and tired and useless, as he takes more pleasure in his literary magazine or in walks through the quad at sunrise and in silent ponderings to himself. Amory’s problem throughout the novel is that he wants to fit in with society and be accepted, and yet he has his own strong opinions, values, and ideas. This sort of character is a repetitive motif throughout Fitzgerald's novels, and my thesis is forming itself into the suggestion that using all of his literary works as a single movement, Fitzgerald was speaking to society when he wrote about his protagonists’ solidarity and confusion towards society. Each character struggles with their individual interests, as well as their blinding self-interest, alongside their need to fit into a failing social structure. Fitzgerald questions the importance of social rules and challenges the reader to answer for their resultant lack of passion. Fitzgerald brought a new angle in each of his novels; in “The Great Gatsby” he presents an elicit love affair that is abruptly forgotten when needed. In “The Beautiful and Damned” Fitzgerald discusses the desperate grasp for beauty and the whirlwind of destruction as well as the abduction of adulthood by the escape through alcohol.
ReplyDeleteKacie Quinn
ReplyDeleteSo far, I’ve decided to basically stick with my original thesis, where I examine the different cultures and time periods that each individual antihero lives in and how that affects them as a character. I wanted to add more to this thesis though, so I’ve also included the fact that each of these characters had a desire to be different from the rest of society. Despite their different personalities and lifestyles, all of these characters share this one thing in common, and so I want to explore and analyze what this means. While I’ve come up with this thesis, I’m expecting to refine it once I’ve finished the essay, just in case I want to add or take away from a part of it. I’ve read Madame Bovary, American Psycho, Lolita, and Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman so far. In my essay, I’ve begun with Madame Bovary. Right now, I’ve decided to set up my essay by examining each book individually, but I’m hoping to incorporate the other books I’ve read into these sections. The main thing I’m struggling with is summarizing too much. I’m having trouble getting the major parts of the books across without feeling like I’m over-summarizing.
For my project i'm doing an author study on George Orwell using the books Animal Farm, Down and Out, and 1984. I'm looking into how he presented the lower class, and showing the darkest side of poverty and how it affects those involved. I really want to analyze how Orwell uses things like politics, economic queues, and social issues to create a fully developed fictional novel, using fact of Orwell's actual time period. So far I have gone over my notes and read a couple different articles about Orwell himself in preparation for the paper. I have started my paper and have the introduction and a general outline for my writing done.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the last century, as science fiction began to fluorish, some novels chose to explore a greater amount of fantasy than others. Authors such as H.G. Wells sacrificed realism for a greater cause, and his stories benefitted from it. In all forms of literature, artistic license has been the greatest ally of theme and the provocation of thought. Science fiction, whether it is 19th century or 21st, needs to take a break from plausibility in order to ever convey its message while also doing justice to its genre.
ReplyDeleteMy essay, with the help of novels such as "First Men in the Moon", "From the Earth to the Moon", "A Trip to the Moon", and "Slaughterhouse Five", will explore the insignificance of realism in the science fiction genre, along with the importance of crazy ideas to the innovation of the human race. The artistic piece will be a display of a world without these thoughts; one where stagnant minds contribute to an ultimately overencumbered and impractical world.
Diana D.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the past few centuries, fairy tales have gone through different stages of development. Despite this, they have played a large role in our cultural narrative. My thesis is that fairy tales are a narrative reflection of the social values of the time and its audience. Throughout the years, fairy tales go through a cycle of focusing on entertainment, morality, and engagement. Pre-Grimm fairy tales have a focus on entertainment, Grimm and Perrault era fairy tales focus on morality, while modern fairy tales tend to have more diverse topics. Modern adaptations are no longer aimed just at children, so the focus of modern fairy tales differs from audience to audience.
With writing fairy tales, there tends to be a unique pattern among writers. There is little world building, leaving the audience to assume that the setting is a fantasy setting unless otherwise stated. Original fairy tales are used mostly as plot outlines by modern authors. They are mostly molded to the writers own ideas, parodied, or deconstructed. Adherence to the exact tale is generally reserved for children’s media or when the work is poorly written.
For my creative element, I will illustrate an adaption from each era and style in a way that epitomizes the style and focus of the work. The works I have chosen to illustrate are Deerskin, Disney’s Cinderella, RWBY, Beastley, Grimm’s Snow White, and Allerleirauh.
My original thesis came from using the gender studies-critical lens, specifically it was the study of the role of women in the WWII era and how they were behind all the conniving trickery of the government. Because the book I was going to read, Gravity's Rainbow, is about government conspiracies and the main character has escapades with various female heroes. However, I don't think I can make it in time so please be prepared to be disappointed. Regarding the thesis though there are spies, temptresses and specters-all female that meddle with the (anti)hero of the story. This may say something about the author too because as far as heroines in the book go none of them are all too smart.
ReplyDeleteMy paper focuses on whether or not knowledge is good or evil. I've used several books that all use the biblical story of Adam and Eve to explore the positives and negatives of knowledge. All of the stories tend to sympathize with the devil, as well as with Eve and her desire gain knowledge. For my paper I will use these books to argue that the story of Adam and Eve is used in the literary world as a universal lens through which to explore the good and the bad that comes with knowledge, and ultimately uses them to support learning.
ReplyDeleteMy main thesis is how the inherent weakness of the father character often plays a central role in establishing the main familial conflict in a work of literature. What I was trying to get at was to show how fragile the family system can be. For examples I used fathers from three works of literature that all conveyed different ways of dealing with their family’s issues. First I chose Anse Bundren (William Faulkner: As I Lay Dying), who has a cold distant way of interacting with his family. Even though his wife has passed he does not try to help his children through the issue. He commands them to do his bidding without any remorse. I also used the character Stephen Kumalo (Alan Paton: Cry the Beloved Country) who has to tight a grip on his son, which led his son to run away to the city. This triggers events to transpire that lead to Stephen Kumalo looking for his son in the city and finding out he has been imprisoned for murder. Stephen Kumalo is constantly fighting an uphill battle with his faith, race issues, and family problems. Lastly I chose King Lear as a mid point example father between the previous two. Lear created all of the obstacles in his path with his own hands. He raised two of his eldest two daughters to be evil conniving people who deceive im in thinking they are worthy of his kingdom. He leaves his only good daughter out because she would not bathe her father in indulging words of love. Lear digs his own grave that he can never get out of.
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