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blog #4

3. In As I Lay Dying , Faulkner’s experiments with interior monologue and mobile perspective allow us to see the Bundren family from multiple perspectives, including their own, their neighbors’, and outsiders’. Citing evidence from the text, make an argument for the dignity and/or absurdity of these characters. Are they (or any one of them) heroes? Or are they clownish goobers? To be completely honest, I don’t know if any of them are truly bad characters (or good for that matter), aside from Anse. Anse clearly is incredibly selfish and takes advantage of others which makes him a rather dislikable character. I would argue the next in line for two most disliked characters would be Darl and Addie. Addie because of her hatred for her own children and Darl because he burned down the barn knowing the coffin was inside. While I can understand why many people would dislike him for that, I understand his attempt to be heroic in the scenario. In his mind, his mother had suffered enough and he wa...
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The Lego Movie and the first steps of the hero’s journey:

For the first step of the hero’s journey, the lego movie has two different scenes applicable to two different versions of the hero’s journey template. The first version is our learned 17-step journey in which the first step is Call to Action. Call to action is defined as “setting the story rolling” by disrupting the hero’s ordinary world by “presenting a challenge” the hero is intrigued to take. For this version, the call to action would be when Emmett sees a person at the construction site where he works. She has purple and blue hair and her name is Lucy. Emmett becomes intrigued by this girl. She is searching for something when Emmett decides to go investigate. In doing so, he falls down a giant hole in the ground and finds a special object. This lego block that he finds is called The Piece of Resistance. When he touches this piece he sees a vision that tells him he is “special.” Despite not feeling very special this experience forces Emmett to start his journey in order to save the ...
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Legally Blonde and the First Four Steps of the Heroine's Journey

Legally Blonde opens with the Chris Lord Alge Mix of “Perfect Day” by Hoku. The lyrics in this song consist of things like “nothing’s standing in my way. On this perfect day, nothing can go wrong.” Later lyrics consist of lines like, “I’m in the race but I already won” and excessive repetition of the chorus, “perfect day!!!” This opener quintessentially fits the first step of the heroine's journey: Illusion of the perfect world. According to Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s version of the heroine’s journey this step involves “t he heroine believing that the world she lives in is perfect” and that she is either delusional or in denial of the reality that things can and will go wrong. In Elle’s case, she thinks everything is going her way with Warner, her boyfriend, and her expectations of her future are high. She thinks her life is set in stone and is falling perfectly into place as planned. In this phase you find Elle saying things like, “dreams really do come true” and “you never have to c...
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Critically reflect on the 17 steps of the hero's journey:

While the hero’s journey may be the simplest way to project character growth and has the clearest story structure, I would argue that the hero’s journey doesn’t necessarily make the most compelling stories. In a sense, it’s so recognizable that it makes every story you read predictable even if the plot and events are new, creative, and thrilling. Ultimately you still know the ending. The hero’s journey is very specific to one narrative and doesn’t leave room for different types of protagonists or plot lines. For example, a hero’s journey leaves no room to learn about the villain, observer, sidekick, etc. I was reading people’s comments on a website about this topic and someone said something that I found particularly insightful. They said, “it reduces the world to simple binaries: good and evil, victory and failure. If all stories followed the hero’s journey writers wouldn’t be able to express a nuanced perspective of the world.” Another thing that I find interesting about the hero’s j...
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Have You Ever Taken Something You Weren't Supposed To?

The other day I accidentally walked out of a store wearing the shirt I tried on and didn’t pay for. I only realized after I got home but I went back later and paid for it. I’m sure we have all done something similar. I have left stores numerous times after forgetting to pay (which is pretty stupid actually) but I always go back and pay. There are countless things I have taken without realizing it. But the question entails, what have I purposefully taken? In that case… It all began when I was in the first grade…Mrs. Henry’s class (cue dreamy harp music and transitioning ripples across your imaginary TV screen).   We were practicing counting. Our task was to take an empty paper towel roll and tape sheets of paper to it that we wrote numbers on. That way when you unrolled your “paper towels” this huge roll of numbered paper would unroll. Ultimately, the bigger the fake paper towel roll, the more numbers you managed to write down. Grace Delancy. She was the smartest girl in the ...
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What Would You Wait in Line For?

            My family calls me Tinky. Tinky is short for stinky which I was called as a baby because of my diapers, but that’s beside the point. There is a song and everything that goes along with the nickname. Some of the lyrics include “Tinky gets what Tinky wants.”            My mom and I like to play this game, there isn’t a name for it, but the object is to see who can embarrass the other person in public more. From eating food impolitely in front of my friends to burping loudly in stores to making personal introductions to the boys she knew I liked, she was always there to try to embarrass me. I was insistent that I couldn’t be embarrassed by anything, and boy, did I want to win. According to my family’s legendary song, that’s what was in store for the future of this game because “when Tinky wants something, she gets it.”Game or no game, my family knows that when I really want something, I will go the distance ...
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How Often Do You Leave Your Comfort Zone?

  I leave my comfort zone every morning when I take the cat litter out. It is by far the most revolting thing I have ever done. We have an evil cat who likes to flip the litter over just for the fun of it, a fat three-legged cat who hasn’t quite mastered his aim, and two kittens that prefer using the litter box as a play pin. I also have a dog who thinks the kitty litter is an all-you-can-eat buffet. Yes, the litter box has become quite the party location. My parents are clean freaks and want this done three times a day, and I happen to need extra money to support my Starbucks addiction. Thus, I agreed to be the designated cat shit box attendee. I am sure that changing the kitty litter would fall outside nearly everyone’s comfort zone. You would think I’d get used to it by now, right? Not at all. Never gets less disgusting. Beyond picking up feces, my comfort zone is rather expansive.  In junior high, I used to come home complaining to my mom daily about how boring school wa...
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