6/17/08
3/20/08
The Real Deal
My short story is turning out to be not so short. I feel like I am writing a full length novel! It's difficult sometimes to keep at it; I definitely need to work on condensing parts of it. Wondering what it is exactly I'm writing about? The story was originally something I intended to submit to IMAGES, but didn't have the time to finish. Now is the perfect opportunity. There are two main characters who I have yet to name-- I dislike putting a label on their identity. Unlike naming a child at birth, these characters' personalities and traits are already formed and developed, so I feel their names must fit them perfectly. Moving on, the story is based around the life of a teenage girl from the early twenty-first century living in Canada. One night, she is robbed and left for dead. Her body is used in scientific experimentation with the concept of absolute zero, and by some miracle, her body and soul are completely conserved for over one hundred years. My story begins when she is taken out of her comma like state and awakens...
What Happens?
In preparing for writing my short story, I perused other free writes on my computer which I began in my spare time. Creative writing is my favorite part about english class, and so though this assignment can be tiring, it is also fun and rewarding. Anyway, I found this on my lap top a few days ago. I believe I wrote it after finishing the Blue is for Nightmares series by Laurie Faria Stolarz and was itching to write an intriguing, romantic mystery novel of my own. I did not get very far however-- in fact I barely it past the first paragraph! But this introduction really caught my attention when I reread it, and I wish I had kept writing because I found myself dying to know what happened next! Here it is, feel free to comment and tell me what you think: "I feel like I’m going to be sick. My head is spinning, my thoughts tumbling around my brain, making my head throb with pain. I try to relax my mind by massage my temples, but my head still feels like it weighs a million pounds. I slowly stand up, lifting myself from the sticky girl’s bathroom floor, my wobbly knees shaking from fear. I unlock the stall I’ve been hiding in and stare at myself in the mirror that stands on the counter directly in front of me. I look horrible, even for 3:00 in the morning. My thick black hair is in clumps, making it look like I’ve matted it with hairspray. My eyes have dark circles around them because of not washing my mascara off before going to bed. And one of my earrings is missing. I’m scared to go outside, and walk a quarter of a mile by myself in the dark back to my cabin, but I know I can’t stay here the rest of the night, my little campers are waiting for their counselor to come back and protect them from the big bad wolves that live in the Virginia woods. But, how can I protect them, make them feel safe, when I have my own wolves to be afraid of?" (Unknown, Kerwin). It would be cool if anyone had ideas of their own as to who this character is and what she is afraid of. Use your bright minds and creativity people!
3/19/08
The Lif of Pi: Memorable and Important Quotes
1) “I notice something else: his cupboards are jam-packed. Behind every door, on every shelf, stand mountains of neatly stacked cans and packages. A reserve of food to last the siege of Leningrad” (Martel 25). Early in the novel, there are chapters narrated by a reporter who interviews Pi later in life, after having survived his terrible ordeal on the Pacific. Visiting Pi’s home, the narrator notices Pi’s abundance of organized food. This, I believe, foreshadows how Pi will run out of staples during his voyage and hence teaches him to always be prepared. Looking back at this quote after finishing the novel, it can be inferred that Pi’s life, as expected, was changed permanently afterwards, effecting his actions and habits. Could it be that Pi now has a fear of disaster and therefore is always on alert, always ready for tragedy to strike?
2) “He turned to Babu and nodded. Babu left. Mahisha’s eye followed him and did not move from the door he disappeared through. He returned a few seconds later carrying a goat with its legs tied. Mother gripped me from behind. Mahisha’s snarls turned into a growl deep in the throat” (Martel 34). Before leaving for Canada, Pi’s father owned a zoo in Pondicherry, India. Pi lived here with his family, growing up among the various exotic animals. However, his father feared for the safety of his children around the wild animals and decides upon the importance of educating them in this aspect. One day, he brings them around to see what these animals will do if they sense danger, and as an example, throws a live goat into the cage of a hungry tiger. The result is obvious and gruesome. This sight chills Pi to the bones, but is effective—Pi learns to stay his distance from the cages. I think this lesson helped Pi with his situation on the lifeboat: staying as far away from Richard Parker (the Bengal tiger) as possible and training him slowly as it proved absolutely necessary.
3) “A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day” (Martel, 47). There are many chapters in this book where Pi explains the importance of religion in his life; his view on religions of the world and how they affect his personal life. It is thus learned that Pi is a very religious boy who simply wants to find God and have a relationship with him. Pi learns more about himself and meets new people by practicing three religions: Hinduism, Muslim, and Christianity. Alas, he majors in this subject at college later in life.
4) “There are many examples of animals coming to surprising living arrangements. All are instances of that animal equivalent of anthropomorphism: zoomorphism, where an animal takes a human being or another animal, to be one of its kind” (Martel 84). This quote also foreshadows the plot which is yet to come—aka, Pi stuck in the lifeboat with Richard Parker. Not only did I find this an interesting quote, but important as well since Pi and Richard Parker certainly come to live together in an interesting circumstance. There were different points during their Pacific journey which showed how they adapted to one another, and it seems that Pi learned many survival skills from Richard Parker.
5) “I tried to hold him back. Alas, it was too late. Before I could say the word alone, I was alone again. I heard the merest clicking of claws against the bottom of the boat. No more than the sound of a pair of spectacles falling to the floor, and the next moment my dear brother shrieked in my face like I’ve never heard a man shriek before. He let go of me” (Martel 255). At this point in the story, Pi has become blind. The reason is not specifically stated but is most like caused by his poor living conditions in the life boat. During this period, he comes across another lifeboat with yet another man in it who too claims to be blind. The stranger pretends to be Pi’s friend, but then attempts to kill him. Therefore, Richard Parker kills the stranger, saving Pi’s life. Pi later refers to this event as something he will never forget, but what is the likelihood that in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he stumbled upon another man in his exact same situation? (See quote below.)
6) “Then we fought and I killed him. He had no expression on his face, neither of despair nor anger, neither of fear nor pain. He gave up. He let himself be killed, though it was still a struggle. He knew he had gone too far, even by his bestial standards. He had gone too far and now he didn’t want to go on living any more. But he never said ‘I’m sorry.’ Why do we cling to our evil ways?” (Martel 310). After Pi lands on the shores of Mexico and begins his recovery process in a hospital in Tomatlán, two Japanese representatives from the Ministry of Transport go visit him to investigate the reason for the Tsimtsum (the boat Pi traveled on from India) ship’s sinking. Pi recounts them the whole story which we as the reader have just finished, but the men decide they do not believe Pi could have survived on a boat with so many wild animals. Thus, Pi tells them a tale where he replaces the animals with other survivors from the boat, one being his own mother. It was horrific enough to think of what the animals did to each other, but to think people could have done those same things (kill each other brutally, etc.)? The idea is simply disgusting. In this quote, Pi describes the story from the “people” perspective, where he really killed the stranger, not Richard Parker. Now the question is: which story is true?
7) “At night, by some chemical process unknown to me but obviously inhibited by sunlight, the predatory algae turned highly acidic and the ponds became vats of acid that digested the fish. This was why Richard Parker returned to the boat every night. This was why the meerkats slept in the trees. This was why I had never seen anything but algae on the island” (Martel 282). An important and interesting part of this novel comes during the middle of Pi’s journey when he discovers a mysterious island in the Pacific. Here he regains his strength—walking around the island and eating the great abundance of algae the island seems to be made up of. Pi tells us that during the day, Richard Parker roams the island on his own—he disappears from Pi’s view. However he comes back at the end of the day to sleep on the boat with Pi. Again the question surfaces of whether or not this should be taken figuratively or literally. Figuratively, it could be interpreted that when Pi enters this new found haven, he does not need his disguise of Richard Parker, except when he returns to the vulnerability of the boat at night, or when Richard Parker shows up to slaughter meerkats for food. Regardless, Pi finds that the algae turns very acidic at night, and feels forced to leave the island and once again search for land with Richard Parker.
8) “Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life” (Martel 285). When Pi reaches land, he describes Richard Parker departing into the forest off the beach and never returning again. But was the tiger, Richard Parker, really Pi? Did Pi only refer to himself as such a beast and to his previous boat mates as animals because it was easier to comprehend and survive that way? Nonetheless, Richard Parker was only something that stayed with Pi during his frightful trip through the Pacific, and without him—weather he was an inner force inside Pi or an actual companion—Pi would most likely have died like the rest of the passengers on the Tsimtsum.
2) “He turned to Babu and nodded. Babu left. Mahisha’s eye followed him and did not move from the door he disappeared through. He returned a few seconds later carrying a goat with its legs tied. Mother gripped me from behind. Mahisha’s snarls turned into a growl deep in the throat” (Martel 34). Before leaving for Canada, Pi’s father owned a zoo in Pondicherry, India. Pi lived here with his family, growing up among the various exotic animals. However, his father feared for the safety of his children around the wild animals and decides upon the importance of educating them in this aspect. One day, he brings them around to see what these animals will do if they sense danger, and as an example, throws a live goat into the cage of a hungry tiger. The result is obvious and gruesome. This sight chills Pi to the bones, but is effective—Pi learns to stay his distance from the cages. I think this lesson helped Pi with his situation on the lifeboat: staying as far away from Richard Parker (the Bengal tiger) as possible and training him slowly as it proved absolutely necessary.
3) “A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day” (Martel, 47). There are many chapters in this book where Pi explains the importance of religion in his life; his view on religions of the world and how they affect his personal life. It is thus learned that Pi is a very religious boy who simply wants to find God and have a relationship with him. Pi learns more about himself and meets new people by practicing three religions: Hinduism, Muslim, and Christianity. Alas, he majors in this subject at college later in life.
4) “There are many examples of animals coming to surprising living arrangements. All are instances of that animal equivalent of anthropomorphism: zoomorphism, where an animal takes a human being or another animal, to be one of its kind” (Martel 84). This quote also foreshadows the plot which is yet to come—aka, Pi stuck in the lifeboat with Richard Parker. Not only did I find this an interesting quote, but important as well since Pi and Richard Parker certainly come to live together in an interesting circumstance. There were different points during their Pacific journey which showed how they adapted to one another, and it seems that Pi learned many survival skills from Richard Parker.
5) “I tried to hold him back. Alas, it was too late. Before I could say the word alone, I was alone again. I heard the merest clicking of claws against the bottom of the boat. No more than the sound of a pair of spectacles falling to the floor, and the next moment my dear brother shrieked in my face like I’ve never heard a man shriek before. He let go of me” (Martel 255). At this point in the story, Pi has become blind. The reason is not specifically stated but is most like caused by his poor living conditions in the life boat. During this period, he comes across another lifeboat with yet another man in it who too claims to be blind. The stranger pretends to be Pi’s friend, but then attempts to kill him. Therefore, Richard Parker kills the stranger, saving Pi’s life. Pi later refers to this event as something he will never forget, but what is the likelihood that in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he stumbled upon another man in his exact same situation? (See quote below.)
6) “Then we fought and I killed him. He had no expression on his face, neither of despair nor anger, neither of fear nor pain. He gave up. He let himself be killed, though it was still a struggle. He knew he had gone too far, even by his bestial standards. He had gone too far and now he didn’t want to go on living any more. But he never said ‘I’m sorry.’ Why do we cling to our evil ways?” (Martel 310). After Pi lands on the shores of Mexico and begins his recovery process in a hospital in Tomatlán, two Japanese representatives from the Ministry of Transport go visit him to investigate the reason for the Tsimtsum (the boat Pi traveled on from India) ship’s sinking. Pi recounts them the whole story which we as the reader have just finished, but the men decide they do not believe Pi could have survived on a boat with so many wild animals. Thus, Pi tells them a tale where he replaces the animals with other survivors from the boat, one being his own mother. It was horrific enough to think of what the animals did to each other, but to think people could have done those same things (kill each other brutally, etc.)? The idea is simply disgusting. In this quote, Pi describes the story from the “people” perspective, where he really killed the stranger, not Richard Parker. Now the question is: which story is true?
7) “At night, by some chemical process unknown to me but obviously inhibited by sunlight, the predatory algae turned highly acidic and the ponds became vats of acid that digested the fish. This was why Richard Parker returned to the boat every night. This was why the meerkats slept in the trees. This was why I had never seen anything but algae on the island” (Martel 282). An important and interesting part of this novel comes during the middle of Pi’s journey when he discovers a mysterious island in the Pacific. Here he regains his strength—walking around the island and eating the great abundance of algae the island seems to be made up of. Pi tells us that during the day, Richard Parker roams the island on his own—he disappears from Pi’s view. However he comes back at the end of the day to sleep on the boat with Pi. Again the question surfaces of whether or not this should be taken figuratively or literally. Figuratively, it could be interpreted that when Pi enters this new found haven, he does not need his disguise of Richard Parker, except when he returns to the vulnerability of the boat at night, or when Richard Parker shows up to slaughter meerkats for food. Regardless, Pi finds that the algae turns very acidic at night, and feels forced to leave the island and once again search for land with Richard Parker.
8) “Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life” (Martel 285). When Pi reaches land, he describes Richard Parker departing into the forest off the beach and never returning again. But was the tiger, Richard Parker, really Pi? Did Pi only refer to himself as such a beast and to his previous boat mates as animals because it was easier to comprehend and survive that way? Nonetheless, Richard Parker was only something that stayed with Pi during his frightful trip through the Pacific, and without him—weather he was an inner force inside Pi or an actual companion—Pi would most likely have died like the rest of the passengers on the Tsimtsum.
3/16/08
Trudging Along
Much to my annoyance, The Life of Pi is coming along rather slowly. There are about two weeks left until the end of third quarter and I am not even a third of the way through the novel. Don't get me wrong, I like this book, but it does not grip my attention the way my typical romantic mystery books do. And yet, this is why I chose this book-- because I thought it would be different. Well, as of page seventy-eight, the main character Pi has become a practicioner of three religions: muslim, hinduism, and christianity. His parents have a hard time understanding this, as do his local priest, imam, and pandit. Yet when confronted about this, Pi wisely answers " 'Bapu Gandhi said, 'All religions are true.' I just want to love God,' " While the priest, imam, and pandit had been bickering about whose religion was better, Pi's comment ceased their arguments and even made them seem a bit foolish. I admire Pi's maturity at such a young age (about the age I am now) and wonder if more of this book will focus around religion.
3/12/08
Stop Watching, Start Reading
Are authors celebrities? I guess it depends on the popularity of the books they have written-- like J.K. Rowling for instance. Instead of actors and reality TV stars, who build their status through the small and big screens, authors must work hard to write something unique which others will notice and appreciate. Thankfully however, authors are not usually obnoxious extroverts seeking the limelight-- we have enough of those already. But some authors must be prepared for fame, since many times after their books are published they do not know how well it will sell. Yet, if it flies off the shelves, there will be millions of eager fans waiting to meet them for autographs and book discussions. Stephenie Meyer for example, is one of my favorite authors and had no idea her novels would become as famous as they did. Now it seems she is always touring not only the country, but the world! And in only a few short months, she is coming to Minneapolis! The chance to meet the women from whose mind sprang the seductive vampire Edward Cullen and shy, lovable Bella Swan, would be absolutely amazing! Looking around at the many books in my room however, I realize just how many authors I have already met and how lucky I have been to do so. In elementary school, authors would constantly come to speak to us, and at the time, I remained only the slightest bit interested. But I'm not sure if Kate DiCamillo would visit a school full of pesky kids again after her book Because of Winn-Dixie was made into a blockbuster hit starring Annasophia Robb. When I met her though, she seemed to enjoy children, so I'm sure she is still making tours to various schools. Some more authors I met throughout my time in elementary school were Megan McDonald for Judy Moody, Mary Casanova for Cecile, Gates of Gold, and William Durbin for The Broken Blade. I also recall hearing Katherine Patterson speak to my peers and I about her book Bridge to Terabithea. I recall the story she recounted to us about where she got the idea for her book. I cannot remember the details, but it was something along the lines of her son's good friend being electrocuted while swimming in a lightening storm. This sounds tragic to say the least, but if you are familiar with the story, it too is tragic at times. What I'm really trying to say is, authors are some of the best celebrities around!
3/8/08
March Madness
March is turning into quite the busy month, so its nice to sit, slow down, and get lost in a good book. This week we've begun All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. This author has a very distinct style of his own. He uses clear, detailed, and descriptive word choice to create vivid imagery for the reader. His run on sentences and disregarded use of dialogue quotations make a relaxed tone which seems imperfect, just like the main characters in the book who come with their own set of problems: John Grady, Lacey Rawlins, and Jimmy Blevins. They are all young teenage boys, run away from home, and riding their horses down Mexico like the last cowboys in the wild west. They do not begin their journey together however, Jimmy Blevins meets up with them along the way and Grady soon comes to care for him, though his partner Rawlins could care less for the kid. The event when Grady chooses not to leave Blevins behind, despite the risk he will burden upon them by traveling together (he is being looked for), constitutes a turning point in the story.
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