Oct. 27 Class Discussion

In Monday’s class we have a discussion of Martel’s “Manners of Dying” and talked about how we understand the story, and how to understand these different versions of the same event.

There are several possibilities to this question. Firstly, the author just wants to compare how one person but with different characters would behave when facing the same event happen to him. It is an interesting but also challenging practice because sometime it is difficult that we creates many characters in one story, and they both have distinctive image features so we need to describe them differently since they must not behave the same even in the same plots. I think the author did very well that he writes a same story with the same protagonists Kevin who shows different characters in nine versions. Another possibility is that these nine letters are separate templates that the warden Harry Parlington keeps in his office and just filling out the name of the individual when necessary. It is a reasonable way to understand if we related it with story plots. The third understanding to this question is that we consider these 9 situations that are all equally real or possible, the just happen in parallel universes. Therefore, Kevin is a person really exists and is going to face up his execution. In one universe he is timid, and shows extreme fear before his death. But in other parallel worlds, Kevin can be clam, humorous, spiritual, or thoughtful which reflect in different letters. 

Response to “Manners of Dying” by Yan Martel

“Manners of Dying” is a epistolary fiction composed with 9 letters written from Harry Parlington, who is a warden of Cantos Correctional Institution to Mrs. Barlow, whose son Kevin Barlow faced up to his execution by hanging for the crimes which he was convicted. The letters record and tell about all the things happened to Kevin during the last twelve hours before his death. And the letters are written with objective and official tones without much personal emotions.

However, what makes this fiction particular is the way that the author writes 9 different letters just with the same protagonist whose name is Kevin and the same events happened to him. I think it is a very interesting fiction to read, although the generally same plots just like to make fun. In these nine letters, the protagonists and story plots are not changed, but in every version, Kevin has different characters and he has very different behaviors when facing execution every time. It is interesting to see one thing repeated happen to the same person but different characters, and how he would behaves with every different character. I think it is a good fiction, because the general fiction creates a protagonist with specific character, and describes and enriches it with the story plots goes on. But it is more difficult when we create a character but changes his characters and describes what would he behave differently when facing the same event happen to him. It is also a good way to practice for describing various different persons created in fictions.

Response to “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood

This is an interesting fiction written by Atwood with very creative writing techniques. It contains six different short pieces of stories labeled from A to F which all related to the protagonists John and Mary, and all the stories finally return to the same ending as the story A.

Except the structure, the main idea this fiction tells about is “happy ending.” However, from the contents, we can find every piece of story is end with death. This is kind of weird to call “death” a happy ending, but I think this is not what the author real wants to express since she puts a quotation mark to the title, it is however to suggest her satire to the happy ending of other fictions. As she writes in the conclusion, the only authentic ending is “John and Mary die. John and Mary die.” Therefore, it is more important to pay attention to the description of reasons, which is “how and why” the things happen that lead to the ending, rather than simply tells the plots which is “a what and a what and a what.” The author also proves this idea in this fiction. We can find that all the following stories are more interesting than the A story, since they all tell with detailed description about the reasons that cause the end of death, which shows the importance of “how and why” to a “happy ending”.

Position Choice for the Journal

I would like to choose the position as an art editor for our journal, for the reasons that first of all, I am interested in the visual design and layout for site page, such as the design and edit of headline, fonts, and photographs or other visual contents for the articles. Also I like looking for and collecting good images when I was reading a website at ordinary times. And I think I have some skills of page design and layout since I have designed the blackboard newspaper during high school times, and I have learnt to use Photoshop and Illustrator for picture processing and web design in the visual art course. 

Review of the Short Film “10 Minutes”

“10 Minutes” is a short film by Ahmed Imamovic. The film uses the frame narrative technique to shows two different stories that have strong contrast. It begins with the frame which is about an Asian tourist in Rome who wants to develop his photographs in a photo shop, and he is waiting under a clock for 10 minutes. Then the scene changes to a family in Sarajevo has the same time of Rome, a mother who is busy with taking care of her baby and cooking asks her elder son Memo to go out and get some water and bread. Memo walks a long way to get food. In his way, he meets a soldier and asks to have a look at his gun. This place is in a war and the situation of Memo looks very dangerous. Finally, he gets home in a hurry but sees the horrible sight that all his families are killed in the firefight.

The sense changes back into the clock. It is 10 minutes after, and the Asian tourist gets his photos which are taken with his family in scenic spots. 10 minutes is a short and leisurely waiting time for the tourist, but for Memo in Sarajevo, 10 minutes changes everything in his life. The film ends with a family photo and relaxing music, but it only emphasize the contrast between two stories and the different fates of protagonists. I think it is really a good way to use frame narrative technique that makes this film more impressive and have enlightenment meanings.

My Thoughts about the Short Films

Last Saturday we watched three great short films in the class. By comparing these short films with the long films, I think there are many differences. Firstly, the short film tells the story plots and main points in a very brief way. It draws the audience into the story very fast, and audience can catch the styles of film at very beginning. Because of the length of short film, the audience may not understand the whole story until the last moment of it, but also it is a good way that gives audience a sudden feeling and makes them feel inspired or impressive. As for the long film, the audience is able to be familiar with the main characters and knows more details about the story plots, so that they can have a better understanding to the meaning of this film. But also, the long films may waste some times to tell about something unimportant to the main idea that make audience feel tired and abstracted. Anyway, in general, both short films and long films have their advantages, and a good film is no matter short or long that will make audience feel impressive and inspired. 

Response to “No One is Here Except All of Us”

The fiction begins with telling the history of a group of people who live on a remote island. They are ancestors who first build their houses, tilled the fields, and raises children. However, as the narrator says, they are also migrating people even in the beginning. The tribes traveled a lot, when their homeland was destroyed and they were cast out of it, they had to leave and begin again. With so many years, the tribes becomes the forgotten people who across the face of the earth, begin again and again to find the place where is peaceful.

It is a good fiction for the reasons that at the beginning, the endless escape and re-begin make people feel tired and hopeless. The tribes are scared when there comes the war that force them to leave, and they worry about their future. Like the narrator indicates: “All the while, they told the story back: In the beginning there was a beautiful garden, and we were cast out of it, and we began again.” However, in the endless loop of stories of wandering, being lost, and starting again, what makes this repeat meaningful is the faith of re-beginning. The tribes want to recreate their world where is safe, peaceful, and full of love. When there is nowhere else to go, the world begins again. The darkness foreshadows the dawn, and the tribes realize that when menace approaches, then there is the time to create their own perfect world that without fear and death. Therefore, the ending of the fiction is full of brightness and hope that makes the audiences’ heart soars.