The Robber Bridegroom

In the short story The Robber Bridegroom by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm the main character,a young bride discovers that her groom is a killer! A cannibal to be exact. He takes women and cuts up their bodies to eat with a dash of salt. Overall I like that the book includes the use of fictional things such as talking birds! This is an interesting story to read and I like the ending; how she exposed him for being the killer he is!

In this short story there is an obvious use of symbolism that helps to convey the theme of the story. One of my favorite uses of symbolism is the talking bird. A talking bird is obviously fictional and the authors use personification. The birds symbolize the bride’s conscience telling her that marrying him would be a mistake. I like that this symbol also correlates with the whole “fairy tale” theme and it fits together nicely.

Overall this symbol helps to prove that your conscience is usually always right and you should listen to it!

Blue Beard?

I'm pretty sure everyone has heard the saying "curiosity killed the cat" but in the short story Blue Beard it takes a whole new form. 

We see that saying put in a whole new, semi modern situation. When the wife opened the door her husband specifically told her not to look into, she disobeyed because her curiosity was greater than her self-control. And she realized when she finally opened the door she wasn't pleased with the result. Her regret came immediately!

We learn that sometimes when people tell us not to do something, it’s for our own benefit. And sometimes, ignorance is bliss. But in this case the blue bearded man was a psychopath and it was a good thing that she discovered this!

Overall this short story gives us another perspective to the quote and it shows us the repercussions of doing something your told not to do. Sometimes we regret it, like the wife. And sometimes it’s a good thing, also like the wife!

What Makes a Story?

What makes a story? Many people have asked this question before. But, the truth is there is no set answer.

The “making” of a story varies for every person. What one person feels “makes” a story might not be the same for someone else. For example, some people feel a relatable and genuine character makes a story whereas some people feel a powerful plot makes a story.

In my opinion what really makes the story isn’t something specific, it’s the book in general. My favorite book is The Fault in our Stars by John Green. This book is my favorite because it is a book about cancer yet it takes a comedic form. Despite the fact that the book is about something as sad as cancer, it still never fails to make me laugh with its sarcastic and witty humor.

I also like that in the book John Green has the ability to create quotes. I love when I read a part of a book and I can find a quote that I really like. Some of my favorite quotes from the book are, “That’s part of what I like about the book in some ways. It portrays death truthfully. You die in the middle of your life, in the middle of a sentence” and “As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” The way an author writes a novel obviously has a lot to do with the making of it. If a novel has a great plot but it’s written awfully then, it’s a wasted plot, in my opinion.

In books I feel having a strong character makes the book that much better. When the character is relatable or has a strong personality it’s much more interesting to read. In the book, Hazel was a teenage girl with a terminal cancer but you would forget that when reading because she is so sarcastic and sassy! The fact that she is not the cliche "cancer kid" makes her interesting.

Overall to me, what “makes” a story isn’t something specific. It’s the combination of everything; the plot, the characters, how well it’s written, everything has some part in the “making” of a book. When someone likes a book they like everything about it and sometimes there is nothing specific. But a “good” book fluctuates from person to person. Finding your favorite book is something special. No matter how many times you read it, you always discover something new! And re reading it, never gets old.

Book Review: Into the Beautiful North

The novel Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea is a modern day quest story. Urrea takes a serious topic, the Mexican border crossing and he makes it a comedic and light read. He creates characters that everyone can relate to, a nerd, a Goth, a gay man and many more! With his mixture of Spanish and English he leaves you feeling like you know the characters personally. The novel has a variety of situations that make the book complex and interesting. There are heart-wrenching moments where you feel empathetically for characters such as when the gay man Tacho gets sexually abused and contrastingly where you feel happy for characters like when the heroine Nayeli saves everyone from the rapist. Overall the novel provides insight to the troubles regarding the Mexican border crossing while still making the book interesting, moving and informative.

Image Inspired Short Story

B&W

He rushed to work when something grabbed his attention. He stared. This simple thing captivated him.

Black and white. Vague. Simple.

This is our world, one big black and white wall. We are the stripes. Each and every one of us are the same. Same distance apart same color same size same everything. Everything in our society, our world is one big standard set.

Although we preach diversity and embracing what makes us unique, we are all still the same.

We loathe one who expresses himself. We disown and judge and look down upon him until he is no longer a black strip in our colorless world.

But we are not to blame. We were brought up to be the way we are. Boys act one way  girls act another. Dad goes to work while mom stays home. But we have the ability to change this. We have the ability to create ourselves to be any geometric shape we desire to be. We have the ability to not be just one long strip in the black and white society that is our world. 

 

Reaction

     Recently I read an article titled Why Writers are the Worst Procrastinators by Megan McArdle. While reading this I found myself relating to many points being brought up. Especially the point about being a good student but when it came to doing something out of your comfort zone we froze up. Partly because as writers we are afraid of being judged and not being good at something.
     I also liked how she talked about our education system being wrong due to their trying to teach everyone the same and not conforming to each individual students unique needs.
     Another point was how we as aspiring writers never get to see the "rough drafts" of novel. We are only exposed to the final perfect copy so we began to think that writers write great on the first time. It would be interesting for the final copies of a bestselling book to be exposed to the public just so we can see the stages of drafts a work goes through before publication.
     Overall I think this article opens peoples mind to the vulnerability of writers especially when publishing something new.  This would be a great and informative article for everyone to read