"To be? Or not to be? That is the question." Can you remember who made these words? YUP! It was Shakespeare. Still, looking at things like this make me wonder if he had a life beyond writing excellent Literature...guess not. I mean, do you wake up every morning and ask yourself that question...I would hope not. Well, with the exception of saying some wierd yet extraordinary phrases, Shakespeare also made some extraordinary plays. Let's take Romeo & Juliet; the two lovers who died due to their rash decisions and Family Conflict. Let's take a short re-cap: After a night of passion and sex, Romeo runs off(He was definitely a "Player") becuase he is exiled from his city. Juliet wants to free herself from her family and find Romeo, so she takes a potion that will make them think she is dead when she is really under a deep sleep.(Good idea girl, your just lucky they didn't throw your dumb ass in the furnace and put your ashes in a jar) Romeo comes back and finds his true love dead in the tomb, so he kills himself (Can you say "Moron!"). Five seconds after he dies, Juliet wakes up and finds her true love dead, so she kills herself (Stupid...). This whole scene at the end of the play is...Dramatically Ironic...
irony (i-RAH-nee): a literary term referring to how a person, situation, statement, or circumstance is not as it would actually seem. Many times it is the exact opposite of what it appears to be. There are many types of irony, the three most common being verbal irony, dramatic irony, and cosmic irony. Verbal irony occurs when either the speaker means something totally different than what he is saying or the audience realizes, because of their knowledge of the particular situation to which the speaker is referring, that the opposite of what a character is saying is true. Verbal irony also occurs when a character says something in jest that, in actuality, is true. In Julius Caesar, Marc Antony’s reference to Brutus being an honorable man is an example of verbal irony. Marc Antony notes all of the good deeds Julius Caesar did for his people while, more than once, he asks the rhetorical question, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” Antony uses this rhetorical question to try to convince his audience that Caesar is not ambitious, presenting Brutus as a dishonorable man because of his claim that Caesar was ambitious. Dramatic irony occurs when facts are not known to the characters in a work of literature but are known by the audience. In The Gospel According to St. John, the Pharisees say of Jesus, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” This is dramatic irony for the reader already knows, according to the author, that Jesus is the Savior of the world and has already done much good for the people by forgiving their sins and healing the sick and oppressed. The Pharisees are too blinded to see what good actually has come out of Nazareth. Cosmic irony suggests that some unknown force brings about dire and dreadful events. Cosmic irony can be seen in Shakespeare’s Othello.
31 January 2008
29 January 2008
No longer a difference between YA books and sleazy T.V shows?
A big issue in the literary world has been the recent flood of Young Adult books that seem to have content that is surely aimed at the wrong age group. Although Young Adult books are meant to be aimed at all teens, there’s no doubt that books like the Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar are read by preteens as young as 12 years old. Books like the "A-List" and "Clique" series look nice with colorful covers and catchy titles; they even come in nice boxed sets for parents to give their kids as gifts.
What has been causing the news about these kind of novels, are the “mature content” within the pages. Naomi Wolfe expressed her extreme dislike for these books in an article in The New York Times, calling the books "corruption with a cute overlay,”. NBC news also calls these books “dangerous” and says that lately YA books are more “Sex and the City” than “Nancy Drew.” However, not all adults and parents seem to agree that these books aren’t appropriate reads. Pam Spencer Holley of the American Library Association (ALA) supports these books, supposedly she’s "happy to see teen girls reading." Her feeble argument is that "Unless you read stuff that's perhaps not the most literary, you'll never understand what good works are." It seems to me that she is saying teens should read books with no good or decent content just for the sake of reading and realizing that there’s a difference between trash and good literature.
The narration and plot in books like “A-List”, and “Clique” seem to support judging young girls only on a physical and materialistic basis, as the protagonists in the these novels enjoy the seventh grade with their Prada bags. While the majority of complaints seem to be warning the parents of the content, I think it’s the authors who are at fault and the readers. And of course these authors will write more such stories, as a thirteen year-old said “It’s fun to read about people doing that stuff and having sex,” It’s a shame to see literature in such states, and even sadder to see teens yearning a new novel filled with sleazy content.
What has been causing the news about these kind of novels, are the “mature content” within the pages. Naomi Wolfe expressed her extreme dislike for these books in an article in The New York Times, calling the books "corruption with a cute overlay,”. NBC news also calls these books “dangerous” and says that lately YA books are more “Sex and the City” than “Nancy Drew.” However, not all adults and parents seem to agree that these books aren’t appropriate reads. Pam Spencer Holley of the American Library Association (ALA) supports these books, supposedly she’s "happy to see teen girls reading." Her feeble argument is that "Unless you read stuff that's perhaps not the most literary, you'll never understand what good works are." It seems to me that she is saying teens should read books with no good or decent content just for the sake of reading and realizing that there’s a difference between trash and good literature.
The narration and plot in books like “A-List”, and “Clique” seem to support judging young girls only on a physical and materialistic basis, as the protagonists in the these novels enjoy the seventh grade with their Prada bags. While the majority of complaints seem to be warning the parents of the content, I think it’s the authors who are at fault and the readers. And of course these authors will write more such stories, as a thirteen year-old said “It’s fun to read about people doing that stuff and having sex,” It’s a shame to see literature in such states, and even sadder to see teens yearning a new novel filled with sleazy content.
The Save Button Is Your Friend
The title says it is. The save button is a writer's best friend. Perhaps you don't realize that it is the one thing that can save you from a world of irritation. If not, perhaps a little story should help you get a clear picture:
Once upon a time a curious little writer, but the glorious age of twenty-four, was writing a little tale on his magical box of clickity goodness. His tiny fingers pushed down upon the mystical keys, producing the great parchments of his thinking mind. Words flowed like a river: one hundred, two hundred, and then three hundred.
But all was not well in the Kingdom of Writingswall. For there amongst the evil timbers of Hardware lay the Blockernauts, a wicked race of invisible beings bent on the destruction of all creative endeavors. They, in their disgusting ways, were prone to cause problems for the poor people of Writingswall, and it was this day that the Blockernauts had found a new victim. They flew fast through the air and no man or woman could see them. When they reached the writer, seeing his glorious progress on a great novel that would one day be revered for its literary merit, they came up with a wicked plan: overheat the magical box of clickity goodness.
So it was the heat built up, unbeknown to the little writer. Then, as the little writer leaned back ever so slightly to smile at his wondrous progress, the magical box of clickity goodness shut off. The little writer was frantic, pushing buttons, trying to figure out why his poor magical box of clickity goodness had turned off. He looked down at the magical connection to the powers of Writingswall, but all was well and no failure of power was a fault. Then, he managed to get it to turn back on, but when he looked again at his progress, he found it had disappeared, and the great writings of his minutes past were lost, never to be seen again.
The little writer learned a valuable lesson that day: save your work every thirty seconds.
This should be a magical rule for everyone. Laptops overheat, computers lock up, shut off, etc. Every computer has a problem, and it could happen to you. Don't let yourself get in a position like the little writer where your writing is permanently lost. It doesn't matter what type of computer you are on. Something can happen and Murphy's Law says it will happen. Don't get caught with your metaphorical pants down.
Once upon a time a curious little writer, but the glorious age of twenty-four, was writing a little tale on his magical box of clickity goodness. His tiny fingers pushed down upon the mystical keys, producing the great parchments of his thinking mind. Words flowed like a river: one hundred, two hundred, and then three hundred.
But all was not well in the Kingdom of Writingswall. For there amongst the evil timbers of Hardware lay the Blockernauts, a wicked race of invisible beings bent on the destruction of all creative endeavors. They, in their disgusting ways, were prone to cause problems for the poor people of Writingswall, and it was this day that the Blockernauts had found a new victim. They flew fast through the air and no man or woman could see them. When they reached the writer, seeing his glorious progress on a great novel that would one day be revered for its literary merit, they came up with a wicked plan: overheat the magical box of clickity goodness.
So it was the heat built up, unbeknown to the little writer. Then, as the little writer leaned back ever so slightly to smile at his wondrous progress, the magical box of clickity goodness shut off. The little writer was frantic, pushing buttons, trying to figure out why his poor magical box of clickity goodness had turned off. He looked down at the magical connection to the powers of Writingswall, but all was well and no failure of power was a fault. Then, he managed to get it to turn back on, but when he looked again at his progress, he found it had disappeared, and the great writings of his minutes past were lost, never to be seen again.
The little writer learned a valuable lesson that day: save your work every thirty seconds.
This should be a magical rule for everyone. Laptops overheat, computers lock up, shut off, etc. Every computer has a problem, and it could happen to you. Don't let yourself get in a position like the little writer where your writing is permanently lost. It doesn't matter what type of computer you are on. Something can happen and Murphy's Law says it will happen. Don't get caught with your metaphorical pants down.
26 January 2008
Azrael Domination’s guide to: NOT WRITING CHEESE
(Disclaimer: Cheesy (or corny, sappy, flowery, melodramatic, pretentious, try-hard) work may vary with the reader. A ten-year-old might enjoy the attack names screamed out by characters as they fight in a graphic novel. An older teen may not. Boys (might) cringe at one of those soap opera-style love scenes, but his mom might be moved to tears. A hero taking a bullet for a loved one could be powerful to one audience, while another says “what an idiot.” It all depends on your target audience. If someone else other than whom you originally had in mind comes along and reads your work, and disses it for being too cheesy in THEIR opinion, acknowledge their opinion graciously, and then take it with a grain of salt.
Also, comments would be useful for this blog to progress.)
Tips (I’ll be posting new tips under each heading every so-often)...
1) Happy scenes that make you puke.
2) To name the attack, or not to name the attack?
3) Boot-worthy dialogue
4) Crap fights
5) Love scenes that inspire hate
6) When Heroes turn into Half-wits
7) When Antagonists turn into Addle-pates
8) (More to come)
Also, comments would be useful for this blog to progress.)
Tips (I’ll be posting new tips under each heading every so-often)...
1) Happy scenes that make you puke.
2) To name the attack, or not to name the attack?
3) Boot-worthy dialogue
4) Crap fights
5) Love scenes that inspire hate
6) When Heroes turn into Half-wits
7) When Antagonists turn into Addle-pates
8) (More to come)
21 January 2008
Who's the bad guy?
Hey! Hey! Hey! What's up everybody? This is your lovely, Literary man, Zaphkiel speaking, and I've got the first Literary word for the week! However, before we get to that, let's talk about something that relates to our word. So, how many of you have heard of The Joker? You know, that crazy villain from Batman that will put a smile on your face whether you like it or not. He really got on Batman's nerves, didn't he? I mean, always escaping from prison and causing terror in Gotham City. You'd think after so many villains escaped from jail somebody would have enough sense to say: "Hey, maybe we should stop walking so close the cells. That way, the prisoner won't trick us, knock us out, or do any other harmful things that will allow them to get our keys." SORRY, NOT GONNA HAPPEN! You know why? It's because if those guards did wise up and learn how to defend themselves, from The Joker's slyness, Poison Ivy's sex appeal, or the Riddler's tricks, then Batman would have no one to fight, which leads to no conflict/problems. Of course, not all books need to have a bad guy, in fact, there are a lot of famous books that don't have one, like Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. So can you guess what our literary term is? TIME'S UP!
Antagonist (an-TAG-uh-nist): a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works against the main character, or protagonist, in some way. The antagonist doesn’t necessarily have to be a person. It could be death, the devil, an illness, or any challenge that prevents the main character from living “happily ever after." In fact, the antagonist could be a character of virtue in a literary work where the protagonist represents evil. An antagonist in the story of Genesis is the serpent. He convinces Eve to disobey God, setting off a chain of events that leads to Adam and Eve being banished from paradise. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, the antagonist is Iago. Throughout the play, he instigates conflicts and sows distrust among the main characters, Othello and Desdemona, two lovers who have risked their livelihood in order to elope. Iago is determined to break up their marriage due to his suspicions that Othello has taken certain liberties with his wife. See Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. Victoria Henderson, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Antagonist (an-TAG-uh-nist): a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works against the main character, or protagonist, in some way. The antagonist doesn’t necessarily have to be a person. It could be death, the devil, an illness, or any challenge that prevents the main character from living “happily ever after." In fact, the antagonist could be a character of virtue in a literary work where the protagonist represents evil. An antagonist in the story of Genesis is the serpent. He convinces Eve to disobey God, setting off a chain of events that leads to Adam and Eve being banished from paradise. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, the antagonist is Iago. Throughout the play, he instigates conflicts and sows distrust among the main characters, Othello and Desdemona, two lovers who have risked their livelihood in order to elope. Iago is determined to break up their marriage due to his suspicions that Othello has taken certain liberties with his wife. See Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. Victoria Henderson, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
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