English 10A

I may have only been writing on a daily basis since the Beijing 2008 Olympics (mostly because of boredom) but now I have most recently been focusing on practicing with writing fan fiction. At first I thought that fan fiction was simply a lower form of literature that was driven by writers who simply wanted to get out their idea about a show, movie, novel or manga. Since February I have realized that writing fan fiction is serious business. If one takes writing fan fiction serious, there can be an incredible amount of skill and talent involved. The obvious challenge with writing fan fiction is to make it believable and giving the reader a similar feeling to the original (e.g. if one is writing a fan fiction about ‘Lost’ then he or should try to give the reader a similar feeling of the show through his/her writing). Not only is the challenge to give a similar (preferably identical though) feeling through a completely different form of media, but simply crafting that feeling and making your story fit ‘logically’ can be extremely difficult to beginner writers. Of course, like any other form of entertainment and literature, the main purpose of fan fiction is to entertain. Since February, I feel that I have gained quite some experience in the fan fiction ‘business’ and here are my rules to cranking out a quality 2300 word chapter every week.

The first and possibly most important person rule that I have for my fan fiction is to keep characters in character. Nothing is more annoying to a reader than a fan fiction were the characters don’t act like what they should act like. If you’re writing a fan fiction about a certain television series, have some of your favorite episodes constantly ready in case you need to refresh your feel on that character. If you’re writing about a manga, keep scans of your favorite pages, and looks at the frequently to refresh your feel on that particular character. Of course, it is literally impossible to keep characters in characters, or else it wouldn’t be a fan fiction. The best you can do is to simply try to imitate the character as much as possible. Read other authors’ fan fiction about the same character to see how they handle him/her, what words they use for certain scenes that keep the character in shape. One of the most effective ways to keep a character in shape is to ask yourself ‘How would he react in this situation?’ instead of ‘How do I want him to react’. This way you will be constantly pushing yourself to getting that character right. If the story requires you to make one of the characters act out of character, then it would be seriously advised to revise and rework your plot.

The second most important rule is to avoid a Mary Sue at all costs! I cannot stress this enough: avoid a Mary Sue at all costs. No matter what has to be sacrificed, avoid this kind of character at all costs. Nearly every fan fiction includes at least one original character (most commonly known as an OC in the fan fiction community). The possibly biggest mistake any fan fiction author can make is to make one if his OC a Mary Sue. As some of you will know; Mary Sue is a character that is literally perfect. Everyone in the story likes him, he is charming, the girl instantly falls for him, and he never fails at anything and has mastered 199 fighting techniques. His personality has no flaws and he is simply perfect no matter how you look at it. Many novice writers on the net make this kind of mistake (I smartly designed my OC beforehand and worked some flaws into him) and in the end their fan fiction simply ends up being bad. The problem is that the reader simply can’t connect with the OC, as such a Mary Sue character does not exist in reality. One of the most important to writing any story be it original or fan fiction, is to make readers connect with the characters in the story, hence making the story enjoyable. Of course, this could relate to the infamous Oedipus Complex, but that’s another story.

My third rule to is to keep OCs to an absolute minimum. The reader reads your fan fiction because he wants to read about the characters he knows from the novel/show/comic, not about your OC who expands the plot. Keeping OCs to a minimum is the fastest way to gain maximum readers in a short amount of time. Besides increasing your story traffic, keeping the OCs to one (or two at the maximum) also will help you to develop this particular character and make him appeal to the reader. Again, avoid Mary Sue! If one of your OC is a Mary Sue, you might as well start from scratch again. I cannot stress this enough: avoid making a Mary Sue with your OCs. Every character needs a flaw to be perfect.

And my last rule is to not to over expand the universe. I have found numerous fan fictions where I personally feel that the author has over expanded the universe and has changed it too much in order to make his story work with the characters. Unless it’s really clever and original, please try not to change the country your fan fiction is in. Best would be to keep it in the same place where the original story ended and work from there. If the original story was in Tokyo, don’t involve the characters in a cross continental nuclear war. If the original story was a romance in the hills of Japan, don’t make the characters attend a university in Paris. Creating a universe too big would also contradict my rule to give the story a similar feel to the original story. The reader needs to able to connect with your fan fiction based on the universe and ending of the original story. Build on that and SLOWLY expand the universe. Slowly let the reader sink into the story and start off with scenes on sites that appeared in the original story. Introduce the reader to new sites and characters later on. Again; keep OCs to a minimum. Unless the plot requires it, try to keep the number of OC around two, preferably one. If a third one comes, cut the second one. Plan your story well and let the words flow.

(have I inspired anyone? Share your thoughts in the commentsJ)

Over the summer I will also be building my own blog using Wordpress and this will probably be one of my first posts.

. . . is here: http://www.ericmacknight.com/wordpress/?p=167.

Diction plays a central role in accentuating the disapproving tone towards war of Five Ways to Kill a Man. The juxtaposition of words, with symbolic representations of certain eras in human history, closely supports the satirical images of war.  The crucifying of Jesus in the first stanza, the medieval joust  in the second, trench warfare in the third, and World War Two in the fourth are reinforced by each of their characteristic elements. “Men with bows and arrows” represent the medieval times, while “two systems of governments, a nation’s scientists, several factories” symbolize the era of the Second World War. These words are specifically chosen to represent these key events in our history that are infamous for death and destruction. The nonchalant diction employed in each of the five dominating images of war strongly contrast with the depicted solemn content, creating a sense of irony that pokes fun at the idea of war. One can, “if the wind allows, blow gas at him. But then you need a mile of mud sliced through with ditches, not to mention black boots, bomb craters, more mud, a plague of rats, a dozen songs and some round hats made of steel.” Clearly, the poet describes the methods to kill a man as if reciting a cake recipe, by listing down the important features of World War One as a series of steps to kill a man. The use of colloquial words and a familiar form of expression creates the irony in which the poet expresses his disapproval of war. The last stanza stands out in highlighting the tone of the poem. Building on the irony of the previous stanzas, it sardonically criticizes the political atmosphere of the Cold War. With its simplicity in employing words such as “simpler, direct and much more neat”, it compares the first four methods with the last; just leaving a man “in the middle of the twentieth century” would suffice. Such chilling connotations, coupled with satirical irony, deeply imprint the antiwar atmosphere in the readers’  minds. Therefore, diction plays a fundamental role in emphasizing the author’s pacifist tone. 

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Pages: 447

This story if of the life of the main character Jane Eyre, as well as her love affair with Mr. Rochester. “Jane Eyre” starts with the tale of her horrid childhood. Her childhood was dreadfully terrible because she was orphaned at a young age and brought up by her Aunt Reed who despised her. When she was ten she was sent away to Lowood School, a strict charity school that she attended until she was eighteen years old. After this she gets a job as a governess for Mr. Rochester’s ward, Adele. Jane then falls in love with Mr. Rochester and they plan to get married. Though on their wedding day Jane learns that Mr. Rochester already has a wife, who is living in his attic. Although Mr. Rochester still wants to marry Jane, and explains that his wife is crazy, Jane refuses. She wants to be more than Mr. Rochester’s mistress. Jane then leaves Thornfield Hall and sets into a poverty styled life. St. John Rivers, Diana, and Marry take in Jane where she develops a new life style. After a series of complicated events Jane goes back to Mr. Rochester, who is blinded and missing a hand. His wife is now dead and he and Jane soon wed, making for a happy ending. There are many reasons why I like this story. But the main ones are the character of Jane Eyre as well as the love affair she has with Mr. Rochester.

      I love the character of Jane Eyre. Jane was very modest, she never thought highly of herself. In the portrait that she drew of herself she wrote under it ‘Portrait of a Governess, disconnected, poor, and plain’, because that is how she viewed herself. As well as being modest, she was constantly compassionate. She was able to visit her aunt and the two cousins who had been terrible to her as a child and put their needs before her own. Self confidence was simply another virtue that Jane possessed. Throughout the book she wouldn’t change her ways. An example of this is even once her and Mr. Rochester were engaged and he was willing to buy her whatever she wanted, Jane refused because she believed she didn’t need to change just because she could. There are many wonderful qualities to Jane Eyre’s personality that made her a wonderful heroine.

      “Jane Eyre” is regarded as a love story, and with good reason. Although the hero, Mr. Rochester wasn’t present for the whole of the novel, her need for love was prominent before his arrival, and her love for him continued even after she left him. Jane had never been truly loved while growing up. She thought of herself as plain, and even once meeting Mr. Rochester believed she was not good enough for him to love. Regardless to if she was or not, Mr. Rochester loved her. Though when they were to be married Jane still felt below Mr. Rochester, and once she found out that she would be his mistress and not his wife refused the marriage. But once that Jane no longer felt she wasn’t good enough for Mr. Rochester and he was without a wife then she married him. Though even while they were apart it was obvious that Jane never stopped loving Mr. Rochester.

Author: Mark Haddon
Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Number of Pages: 271

The main character in this book is the fifteen year-old Christopher who is a genius. His life is all about logic and the truth. He never lies to people and he is a genius in physics and math’s. On the other hand Christopher has difficulties understanding the human emotions: thoughts and feelings. This is because he suffers from Asperger Syndrome. When he discovered the dead dog he decided to write a book and to solve the mystery, which makes him the narrator of the book. He doesn’t like people touching him not even his own parents. He likes animals a lot and has his own rat pet, Toby. Christopher is a very special person but in an interesting way. We learn a lot about him throughout the whole book.

The book is written in the first person and through Christopher’s eyes. It is written in a very ordinary way as it goes into the unique mind of the boy. It makes the book very outstanding. The tone is very childlike since it is written through Christopher’s perspective. The diction the author has used is simple and everyday language which makes it easy to understand. There are lots of swear words used in the dialogs especially from his father and English accents since it is set in England. The book takes place in Swindon then in London and then it goes back to Swindon. The style the author has chosen is not just normal writing it includes pictures, descriptions, math problems and all sorts of things which make the book even more unique.

There is no book like ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’. I very much enjoyed reading it; it is entertaining, funny but yet sad as well. I like Christopher even though his actions are strange to me sometimes. I don’t understand some of the things he does or likes. For example he can solve hard math problems in his head which I could never do. Although I did find it confusing how he changes his topics constantly. In one chapter it’s about finding the murderer then the next is about his Math and how he is going to take the level A test.

To conclude I would recommend reading this book for everyone but it is not something to read more than once in my opinion.

Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Author: Mark Haddon

Pages: 272

This book was narrated by Christopher, a fifteen year old with Aspeger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s Syndrome is a form of Autism where the affected person is unable to adapt normal socially but exceeds in certain aspects of academics, it is usually associated with geniuses. In this book Christopher is attempting to tell about a real life murder mystery involving a dog, hence the title, but the main topic soon changes to focus on Christopher and his life. While reading this book I did enjoy the plot of the story as well as how the story was able to show the thought process of someone who has Asperger’s Syndrome. But overall it was not a story that I enjoyed reading due to the way it was written. The tone, as well as the structure, of the story simply annoyed me. It was as though I was reading a book written for someone in primary.

      The tone of this book was very childlike. Although there was an obvious point to this, to illustrate a person with Asperger’s Syndrome, it made reading the book frustrating. The diction in this novel added to its childlike tone. The majority of the words used were very simply and basic. Almost every paragraph within this book began with the word ‘and.’ If it was not ‘and’ then it was ‘then’ or ‘so.’ As well as this, numerous sentences ran on for entire paragraphs, using various conjunctions to hold it all together. Since this was a story read out loud in English class it was extremely irritating to listen to various members of the class ramble on with little punctuation. All of this merely added to the immature tone of this novel.

      There was a very adolescent and informal way that this novel was structured. For starters the chapters were listed in prime number, because Christopher apparently likes prime numbers. Although it was in away informative, it was also confusing and like so much else about this book, annoying. Another thing I didn’t like was all of the pictures within the book. There were numerous pictures about how objects in the story looked like or diagrams of how to work out math problems. I did not take pleasure in looking at the various pictures and diagrams in the book, but I instead speculated on how a book with such a juvenile form could possibly qualify as a novel.

      Another reason that I didn’t enjoy reading this so called novel was because of the switch in topics. In the book Christopher, the narrator, discussed the murder of Mrs. Shears’ dog. Then he discussed how he was writing a book about the murder of Mrs. Shears’ dog. This moved on to converse about how his father had taken away the book he was writing about the murder of Mrs. Shear’s dog. After the story moved on and the mystery of Mrs. Shears’ murdered dog had been solved, he discussed a series of events and often speculated on what he should include in the book that he is writing, or why Siobhan thought he shouldn’t include certain things that had happened to him in the book.  I found all of this very confusing and like everything else in the book, incredibly annoying.

      Although I did enjoy the concept and how unique this book was, overall I found the book irritating, confusing, and annoying childlike. It was worth reading once, but not something I would ever consider reading again.

title: Jane Eyre

author: Charlotte Bronte

pages: 523

Jane Eyre was an orphan growing up in feeling alienated from her aunt and cousins. Feeling exiled and treated unfairly, Jane developed dear for not being able to find the true sense of home and family. Without love, Jane feels the need, the desire to belong somewhere, where ‘kindred spirits’ are found, where she can be treated equally, and this desire pushed her into the need of freedom. As the novel progress, Jane is searching for her long desired freedom but struggles at what type of freedom she is really looking for. Through other characters and incidents such as, Rochester and St. John Rivers, where Jane found out that freedom can be meant of different matter. Jane realised that freedom can be in the form of enslavement, when Jane was Rochester’s mistress, where she sacrificed her dignity in pursue of her feelings. She also realised that freedom can also be in the form or imprisonment when Jane was living with St. John Rivers in India, where she would be forced to keep her true feelings and passion inside.

The tone of the author is in close relation with the major themes that the story surrounds. The theme of social inequality reflects the author’s dissaproval of the social hierarchy of Victorian period. The protagonist, Jane Eyre in many ways are somewhat like a shadow of the author, reflecting the author’s personal views and tone toward the theme. The protagonist’s dissapproval of the inequalities and in search for gender and social equalities mirrors the author’s own quest of searching and desiring the same equality and freedom from being enslave or imprison by society and culture. These perspectives are being brought throught the unique diction the author chosen. Edward Rochester talk about his past and his affairs with are tinted in harsh words, with such negative tone, it reflects the author’s dissaproval towards the actions of the aristocracy of the Victorian society. Jane’s tone in the novel changes as the novel progresses. When she found out about the latter wife of Edward Rochester and rejects when he force her to stay with a harsh tone, is contrasted with the tone when she accepts Mr.Rochester with much more profound tone when he is blind and had lost his fortune. This change is due to the sudden change in Edaward Rochester’s social status, and this clearly reflects the desire of equality for all members of the society of the author.

When I finish reading the novel, a gentle sigh came out of my mouth. It was truly a great novel, a novel that raised questions on the issues that we have in our society. The journey that the protagonist in the novel went through was very inspiring and interesting. Her thoughts and perspective, her actions as emotions were shocking and yet comforting. While reading, it is as if thoughts of ours as readers are merged or influenced by the protagonist, we start to think like Jane, to feel her emotions, to feel her desires, and we start to believe in her desires. Her bravery to accept new challenges is what that inspires me the most. Her bravery and her strong thoughts and beliefs kept her ‘alive’, despiting when she was once lost in searching for what she wanted. One thins for sure is that the novel have thought me to trust and and preserve our own beliefs and thoughts. No one should be able to change what you truly believe in, no one will and you will make no one change your opinions and thoughts. Like Jane, we should follow our own desires, our desires deep in out hearts.

Author: Alan Paton
Title: Cry, the Beloved Country
Pages read: 312

“Cry, the Beloved Country” is set against the backdrop of 1940s South Africa, where racial inequality between blacks and whites was prevalent, even though apartheid was only officially established in 1948. Characterised by racial inequality and injustice, this internationally acclaimed novel with its touching plot serves as a symbol of hope within morally-oppressed Africa.

Hand in hand with racial inequality and injustice, the theme of reconciliation between fathers and sons is particularly striking. At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist Stephen Kumalo leaves his home in Ndotsheni and undertakes a physical search for his son Absalom in Johannesburg. He starts his search clueless as to the person his son has become; however, his travels in the slums of Johannesburg help illustrate a constantly changing picture of Absalom, and culminates in his discovery that his son is a killer. The awkward reunion between Kumalo and his son is filled with uncertainty; Absalom has become completely estranged from him. It is only after the trial that Kumalo begins to understand Absalom and the latter’s true repentance. This reconciliation between father and son is paralleled by that between Jarvis and his son Arthur. Jarvis’s search for his son, however, is not physical – Arthur was shot dead by Absalom even before Jarvis begins his search. Rather, Jarvis seeks to understand his son better. Through Arthur’s writings, Jarvis finds out that his son was a radical supporter of the blacks and pushed tirelessly for their rights. It is also through Arthur’s writings that the theme of Christian injustice emerges. Arthur denounced some people’s perception that blacks should be denied improvement or educational opportunities because God meant for blacks to be unskilled laborers. This shows that some whites go to the extent of manipulating religion for material self-gain. Although Jarvis and Arthur may not necessarily agree with each other on this subject of racial injustice, the reconciliation between father and son in this case is evident when Jarvis shows his acceptance of his son’s convictions by helping the black people in Ndotsheni survive the harsh reality of Africa at that time. Even though Kumalo and his son are blacks, and Jarvis and his son whites, both father-son relationships undergo both the pain and gratification of reconciliation. This provides hope in the racially-prejudiced Africa as portrayed in the novel and as is present in real life.

Since “Cry, the Beloved Country” is set in Africa, it is natural that the diction of the novel includes colloquial African language. It is clear that in the African culture there are specific ways of addressing people of different ranks or occupations. For instance, Kumalo is usually addressed by his fellow Zulus as ‘umfundisi’, which means ‘parson’ in Zulu (an African language). The African blacks also have unique greetings or farewells; they usually end their conversations with ‘go well’ or ‘stay well’. The author’s aim is probably to reflect the native African culture, and perhaps more significantly, shed light on the cultural gap between the whites and the blacks in the novel. After all, on several occasions Kumalo did mention that the whites do not follow the ‘custom’ that he is used to; for example, some white people – like the lawyer for Absalom – address him as ‘mister’ instead of ‘umfundisi’. However, this perceived cultural gap is narrowed when Jarvis’s grandson (Author’s son) becomes acquaintances with Kumalo and learns Zulu from the latter. This harmonization of the English and African language allows the novel to take on a hopeful tone, whereby despite all odds it may be possible that racial injustice be eradicated and mutual understanding inaugurated.

I like “Cry, the Beloved Country” for its reflection of the racially tense and crime-ridden atmosphere in mid-twentieth-century South Africa, as well as its proposals as to how such racial injustice and moral/tribal decadence could be stamped out. Although this novel does not provide any concrete solutions, it does offer moral teachings and hence a source of hope. For instance, repentance is presented in this novel as a way to atone for past mistakes as well as mend severed social relationships; Absalom repents his murder of Arthur and reconciles with his father, while Kumalo repents his argument with his brother and reconciles with him. The presence of promising characters such as Jarvis also paves the way for mutual understanding between the blacks and the whites in Africa. I admire Jarvis in that he is able to put aside his personal feelings and selflessly help the villagers of Ndotsheni, the parish where the parson is the father of the person who killed his son Arthur. Such characters certainly endow Africa with hope that its racial injustice and moral decadence can be eradicated with the goodness of humankind.

Title: Calchas speaks over the Body of Ajax (p. 241)

Author: James Shirley

The sound effects collaborate with the structure to set tone of the poem. Throughout the poem, sharp consonants are used. Instead of using soft consonants that lull the reader into security, Shirley uses sharp consonants, which give the reader an unsettling feeling, keeping them agitated and alert to the speaker’s words. This effect is most prominent in the bottom half of the first stanza; the last verse says, “With the poor crooked scythe and spade.” Shirley uses an ABABCCDD rhyme scheme in each of the three stanzas, with each verse in iambic tetrameter except for the CC verses, which consist of a trochee followed by an iamb. This musicality gives the poem an old ballad-like feel, which is in part attributed to the content, but without this musical structure would not be present. Together with the sharp sound effects, this collaboration sets the tone of the poem.

Poem: Upon the Snail (p. 59)

Author: John Bunyan

The poem is very short but its vivid imagery is outstanding. Although it has a very neat and clear structure, with four lines in each stanza, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB, the imagery is surely the single most important aspect. In the first stanza, the snail is compared to creatures which are much faster and stronger than her. Yet she is able to reach her destination safely and endure more. In the second stanza she is compared to animals which hunt for their prey, and yet have difficulty finding one, while she, with her calmness and patience always finds some grass to feed on. In the last stanza the speaker praises the snail for her attitudes. She doesn’t go fast, but she surely will reach her goal and what she is aiming for she will always achieve. I think that the speaker is reflecting upon the snail’s life, and yet we can relate to it. It is almost as if the speaker is giving us a suggestion, telling us to go slow, and learn from the snail. Don’t just jump into life, but with calmness and peacefulness everything can be done.