Writing Assignment 1: Defining Freedom

Dictionary definitions describe freedom as liberty, autonomy, and independence; the power of unlimited action.  Freedom in texts carry different weights based on their interpretations, therefore freedom can mean something beyond the dictionary portrayals.  William Andrews identified in his argument that freedom existed outside of the plot and inside the writing itself.  I am inclined to agree with him and find great significance of freedom’s existence as something more than a physical sense. With reading the autobiographies of Tobias Wolff and Frederick Douglass, I am able to see their interpretation of freedom existing not only in a physical sense, but in a spiritual and mental sense as well.

            As a former slave, Frederick Douglass had every reason to write about freedom because most of his life was restricted by the shackles of slavery.  Douglass and freedom correspond in different ways throughout his narrative. The obvious relation is when Douglass obtains his freedom when he escapes to the north. This type of freedom is the element of the plot that Andrews sees as the unmistakable theme of freedom, rather than the narrative performance of freedom. Douglass exemplifies the performance of freedom after his altercation with Mr. Covey and he remarks, “My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact” (Andrews/Douglass, pg.290). Even if he appeared a slave on the exterior, he was no longer a slave in his heart.  In his mind’s eye, he took the form of free man. He gained his spiritual freedom.  Douglass’ “pathway from slavery to freedom” was more than his escape to the north (Andrews/Douglass pg. 263).  It was freeing himself from his own slave-like hold on himself, which he makes evident throughout his entire narrative.

Tobias Wolff’s memoir, This Boy’s Life, paints a picture of his childhood in which freedom presents itself in both obvious and complicated aspects.  As a typical trouble-making boy, he finds himself in many situations where he wishes for freedom from his oppressive stepfather.  For instance, when Dwight hits Toby when he said the mustard jar was empty is a point when Toby reacts with a desire to escape and calls his brother.  This exemplifies the physical freedom that Toby wants from Dwight, which Andrews describes as just part of the plot.  The performance of freedom that Andrews and I see is more than the plot it is the spiritual and mental freedom that Toby attempts to attain.  Spiritual freedom, as expressed in Wolff’s memoir, was that Toby’s heart longed to get away from Dwight and every other unpleasant element of his life.  This longing of freedom would cause Toby to create fantasies and falsehoods whenever he was close to getting away.  With the opportunity to enroll in prep school in his sight, Toby forged recommendation letters that were not exactly factual, but they were accurate to how he perceived himself.  Upon concluding the letters, Toby notices that “on the boy who lived in their letters, the splendid phantom who carried all my hopes, it seemed to me [he] saw, at last, my [his] face” (Wolff pg. 214).  Toby’s interpretation of what he thought of himself freed elements of his true identity for his own viewing.  Toby gained his spiritual freedom from his craft in writing.

Although Toby eventually escapes Dwight’s tyrannical reign with his acceptance to Hill, Toby’s future remains unclear.  Toby, as the man remarks in his narration of how ignorant the boy was of what lay in store for him: “If he had seen the fissures in my character he might have know what he was in for. He might have known that he was headed for all kinds of trouble, and, knowing this, he might have lost heart before the game even got started” (Wolff pg. 276).  Toby as the boy sees no faults in the figure he observes in the mirror.  He only sees hope for a better life and his nonchalance reflects in the mirror when “he stuck his hands in his pockets, threw back his shoulders and cocked his head…[with] a dash of swagger in his pose” (Wolff pg.276).  Once again, Toby’s desire for freedom and imagination perform a false portrayal of what reality has in store. Toby gains his freedom from Dwight, as he desired throughout most of the narrative, but he never truly gains that spiritual freedom he saw contained in his reflection in the mirror.

Both Douglass and Wolff leave the ending of their autobiographies with the readers questioning the exclusion of certain details.  Wolff gave us a vague view of his future at Hill, his life in the war, and of his future family, but he didn’t include those thorough details for a reason.  What held him down and kept him captive in his childhood were the memories he put into his autobiography.  He included only his restrictions because they are what he wanted freedom from. In a sense, he acquired mental freedom from transcribing his memories into his memoir.  Similarly, I see that Douglass’ final act of freeing himself was relinquishing the memories he possessed into his narrative: “It was a severe cross, and I took it up reluctantly. The truth was, I felt myself a slave, and the idea of speaking to white people weighed me down. I spoke but a few moments, when I felt a degree of freedom, and said what I desired with considerable ease” (Andrews/Douglass, pg.321).  Once he told what he desired, he felt free. What he desired. He was finally able to say whatever he wanted, and his desires were portrayed in this narrative. His control to say what he wanted freed him in more ways than before.  This is the mental freedom that allowed both Wolff and Douglass to move beyond their past experiences and share their lives to all who listened.  They possessed the power to do and say what they wanted, the power which they lacked much of their lives.  They did not need to include the extensive details to their future because it was not the freedom that was intended to be displayed in their work; the intent was to show so much more.

Douglass and Wolff exposed some of their most precious, distorted and tantalizing memories in their writings.  They revealed the true nature of their adversaries and gave harsh truths about the lives they endured.  Douglass suffered in agony from physical and mental brutality from his slave owners.  Wolff was subjected to the malicious actions of his unreasonable stepfather.  Both authors persisted through hardships and did not necessarily emerge victorious.  Instead, they found themselves in situations that warranted more liberty than their previous circumstances had.  Their freedom allowed them possibilities they might not have considered ever possible until that time.  Douglass and Wolff defined their freedom through their lives and the lessons they learned, rather than defining freedom through the plot in their autobiographies.

 

Works Cited

Andrews, William. Classic American Autobiographies.New York: Signet Classic, 1992.

Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life. Grove Press,New York, 1989.

Freedom

Freedom. The word itself inspires a certain excitement and thrill of a hope outside the norm. When I think of freedom, sometimes I think of Hollywood interpretations on it. For instance, I think of Braveheart starring Mel Gibson. That epic tale of William Wallace and his leadership in the battles of Scottish independence gives me goose bumps every time I watch the ending and Wallace’s last word is the cry, “Freedom!” But it came with a cost, his life. I never truly looked at freedom as something that wasn’t so cut and dry. I always thought, if you have it, you have it; if you don’t, then you don’t.  But it’s really not that simple. At least for Douglass it wasn’t. And I now, am beginning to understand “the pathway from slavery to freedom”(page263) as Douglass began to understand it.

What I hear in this narrative is different than the usual story of a slave seeking freedom. Douglass does not dwell on the means of his escape, rather than the life he endured as a piece of property. He tells not only his story, but other’s as well. He told us of other slaves and the cruelty that the faced for the slightest of wrongs. He also told us of the harshness his owners bestowed on him and onto other slaves.  He seemed to focus on this more, as if to show how much they tried to break apart any sense of hope and spirit that the slaves possessed, so that they may have utter control and absolute power over them. When he describes his kind mistress, Sophia Auld, and how she was consumed by the power that slavery yields after her husband told her of the dangers of teaching a slave to read, it became more obvious of the influence that slavery had on everyone at that time.

“Under its influence, the tender heart became stone and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (page266).

Freedom to Douglass was sometimes torturous. Once he learned to read, he also learned more about slavery from documents he found lying around his master’s house. He began to hate everything that slavery was about and envied his fellow slaves for their ignorance to the matter. He did not want to understand it anymore, but it writhed in him, tortured his heart with the freedom that he longed for and saw little hope for.  Yet he still aspired to learn, and after a long time, he learned how to write as well. He taught himself certain liberties and gain senses of freedom, which proved useful and important to his future.

Another point in the narrative that I find a particular importance in when Douglass stands up against Mr. Covey and gains a new sense of power in himself.

“The gratification afforded by the triumph was a full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death itself. He only can understand the deep satisfaction which I experienced, who has himself repelled by force the bloody arm of slavery” (page 290).

He fought for what he wanted and I think gained it right there. He knew that from that moment on that he may appear as a slave on his exterior, but in his heart, he knew he was free.

I notice that Douglass does not focus on the details of his escape, but rather everything else. He tells of the differing lifestyles for slaves (city life vs. plantation life) and he tells of the hardships that he and others faced in their lives. This all makes me wonder what kind of writing this is then. Is he giving us historical accounts of slavery, or is he giving us something else? I can’t help but wonder what the true reasoning behind his writing his life down, without the escape information; what was the purpose of this? What did he have to gain from this? The only answer I have for understanding his publishing this information was that it helped free him from his own shackles. He was freed from slavery’s chains, but what about his own? The very ending sentences of the narrative tell us how he still felt:

“The truth was, I felt myself a slave, and the idea of speaking to white people weighed me down. I spoke but a few moments, when I felt a degree of freedom, and said what I desired with considerable ease” (page 321).

So much was said in those small sentences. He clearly still struggled with the ideas of freedom years after his captivity ended.  The only freedom he felt was relinquishing all that weighed him down. Once he told what he  desired, he felt free. That says so much to me. What he desired. He finally was able to say whatever he wanted, and he told us in this narrative. His control to say what he wanted freed him in more ways than before. This may not be a ground breaking discovery, but it said so much to me. Freedom is something that is different for everyone. Douglass’ freedom came from his ability to tell. His purpose of writing was to free himself, and thus he did.

I do however wonder if Douglass had included a detailed account of his escape in the original version of the narrative, how it would have affected my interpreted meaning of his freedom. Or how it would alter his purpose for writing the narrative. I also wonder what similar definitions of freedom exist in This Boy’s Life that are shared in Douglass’ narrative. How do they compare or differ in their achieving freedom? This also gets me thinking on what was Toby’s true idea of freedom? Did he ever obtain freedom like Douglass had?

Finale

What I hear: 

“Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of experience, a consolation gift for knowing that we ourselves are coming to an end.  Before we get it we live in continuous present, and imagine the future as more of that present.  Happiness is endless, innocent of its own sure passing.  Pain is endless pain. ” (page 230)

The ending of the novel leaves us wondering more about Toby and where he is headed for the future.  We get a brief description of his life at Hill, but barely enough to understand him anymore.  The book ends almost the same as it had started, on the road with someplace behind him that he is leaving and will not be returning the same.

Toby obviously had desires doing good and making his mother proud, however, he never truly did such.  In his struggle to find his identity, he never allowed a consistency to show us his true nature.  He only leaves us wondering more about him in the finale of the memoir.   This work of art seems incomplete, yet fulfilled in the very last sentence:

“It was a good night to sing and we sang for all we were worth, as if we’d been saved.” (page 288)

Toby and Chuck had been saved.  They both escaped the problems they faced.  Chuck not having to marry Tina and Toby getting away from Dwight and going to Hill after the summer was done.  Toby had the chance to prove himself, leave all that was behind him with Dwight, and change things for a better future with Hill.  In a small glimpse, we find out that Toby has done no better.  Yet, I still find myself wanting more out of Toby, wanting to know more about what happened at Hill.  Wanting to know what life was like during the war, how he met his wife, all of that.  But he leaves us with the moment in his life when things seem just right all around with potential in the headlights.  But as the first quote posted above states, “happiness is endless, innocent of its own sure passing.”  He knew it would not last, but he still sang with the hope it would.

What I Notice:

I have begun to see that Wolff writes about himself, at times, with a desire for difference.  For instance, when Mr. Howard takes him to the tailor to get all the clothes for him and he puts him in the final suit with the overcoat and scarf, this is what Wolff sees:

“The elegant stranger in the glass regarded me with a doubtful, almost haunted expression. Now that he had been called into existence, he seemed to be looking for some sign of what lay in store for him. He studied me as if I held the answer.” (page276)

Toby sees the boy he created so that he would get in to one of the prep schools.  He does not see himself, but for that time, he took the role of that boy and struck a pose as if he were him.  Then Wolff speaks and wishes he had known what he was getting into and chosen another route.  Seeing where Toby was at that time, wishing for things to work out perfectly with everything, I would have done the same as he did.  There was not room for other options; he found a way out and took it.

In contemplating my own autobiography, I find myself in Toby’s shoes with a desire to escape a family-life that is not so perfect.  Having many arguments and fights with my own family, I have conjured up many plans to leave my home and live away from them. Only until college came did I find true freedom, yet pure sadness upon the thoughts of having to keep going back to my home.  I feel like I am a game piece that keeps landing on the spot on the board that reads “go back to start, do not pass go, do not collect $200.  Only one day I hope that I will be driving away with it all in the review mirror being able to sing with a freedom that I have never yet felt.

I Wonder: 

Where am I going at the end of the novel as the reader?  I am left wondering what will happen next, only to see that throughout the novel, Wolff has told me that things will be alright for him.  He will have a family, children, a wife, write novels.  I am left to put the puzzle pieces together, but I am wanting to know more.  I suppose I wonder why he leaves us with so much left to discover about him, just as he was left to discover so much about himself.

A Cinderella Story…sort of

During my reading of This Boy’s Life, I found myself intrigued in many different ways.  I have some knowledge of step-father and step-son relationships from what my own father has told me and from movies, but Dwight and Toby’s relationship is not one I expected.  Toby is a trouble maker, which is expected of every ten year old boy, but Dwight never lets him forget it, even if he hasn’t done anything wrong.  His methods of punishing Toby are harsh and at times, ineffective.  Toby’s mother doesn’t believe in punishing her child physically because of how her father reprimanded her no matter what happened.

When Toby wrote to his uncle inPariswithout his mother knowing was probably one of the most interesting parts of the book so far to me.  It was a comical letter that was taken quite seriously by his uncle and his family.  Their offer of aid provided for interesting decisions on Toby’s part that surprised me.

I could never imagine leaving my family and life in this country to live with a family I hardly know inParisfor 5 years.  Sounds like an adventure, but it also sounds horrifying.  Toby’s uncle will only allow him to come live him on the condition that they be able to legally adopt him, so that at a legal standpoint he has to obey them (since he is a troublemaker).  But Toby eventually denies on the reasoning that he does not want to change his name.  This is a symbolic element since he wanted to change his name in the beginning of the book, but now he does not want a different last name.  I guess he wants to keep the name that belonged to his own father, instead of taking the name of another man he barely knows.

With Dwight and Toby’s relationship, I would find myself becoming upset and angered in my reading.  I hated the way he treated Toby and wondered how anyone can treat a child like that.  It was like he was toying with him just to get to his mother, like the other men did before him.  Only this time, Dwight actually got married to Toby’s mother and was stuck with him.  I think that is what frustrated him most and what caused problems in the house more than anything.  The only time Dwight was happy for Toby was when he got into a fight (something I suspect that his own son, Skipper, was not likely to ever do).  Then the excitement dulled and things went back to “normal,” whatever that was for them.  It seemed like they had a Cinderella type relation, except in the male sense.  Dwight made Toby do all the work and chores, pointed out anything he did incorrectly, and instead of being covered in cinder soot, Toby was covered in horse chestnut juice.  The fairy god mother of a sort came in the form of his mother, for she protected him and made things more tolerable when she finally moved to the house.  The prince charming, or in this case, the “princess charming” was Nora.  Though hardly mentioned, Toby had a fascination with her, and once her realized what she and her boyfriend, Bobby, were up to, he was crushed and his vision of her tainted.  “I sat rigid and mute, punching her, slapping her, calling her names. I took away the blue convertible I was going to give her, the furs and filmy clothes” (pg. 130).  This quote was making me laugh at how much he was attracted to her, even though she became his step-sister.

I am interested in continuing to relate his life to that of a Cinderella story.  I am wondering what “happy ending” I will discover at the end of the novel for Toby.  I guess the only questions I have are related to Toby’s mother.  I am curious as to her issues with men.  She never tells Toby what happened withRoy, with the man that promised him a bike.  But she keeps running, until she finds Dwight, which in my opinion isn’t much better than her previous choices.

Reflection

In this final paper for this class, I feel I attempted to reach a bit further in my thoughts than I have with most of our work. When thinking about what I was going to do, I began toying with the idea that I was not so different from the monster in early years education. We faced difficulties and had many things stand in our way.  But that was not enough. I keep reaching further into myself and into ideals that society presents. And I came to discover something during my writing.  I longed not to be seen as stupid or dumb just cause I could not read or write as well as others, and the creature from Shelley’s novel just longed to not be along or seen as a hideous monster. And I thought to myself “Does the desire to fit in or not be different create monsters in ourselves?” And I answered to myself “Yes!” Everyone wants to fit in and not be seen as something different. For we all see different as something frightening, when it really is just something we do not understand. So when I recalled De Lacey’s meeting the creature, he was the perfect example of a judgement free man, for he was blind. He did not judge based on looks (or disabilities), but by what he could interpret and see as character. All in all, I just kept finding more similarities between parts of the creature’s tale and my own life. Of course not exact matches, but similar struggles and disappointments. 

But that is life. It is all one huge struggle, with many disappointments. But I see so much more out of that, more room to grow, to go after things that seem impossible, to just have a chance to live all that should be lived and not weighed down by what may seem like an unbearable burden.

So I see my to-do-list with a bit brighter of eyes, knowing that, yes, I am not good at writing, I am not a very strong reader, and I am not the best at all areas of English, but I do know I can do the best I can. And also striving to become better with each task set before me. To out do myself, grow stronger with each struggle I overcome, and eliminate the monster I found inside myself.

Final Writing Project…Odi et Amo With a Twist

Odi et Amo With a Twist

            Pain can be described in many forms: pain can be the result of physical or emotional injuries, and pain can also be the result of particular hardships.  These hardships have been a major part of my life when reading and writing were the tasks.  Reading and writing are supposed to be an educational and even fun event to partake in, however, in my view, they were neither.  My opinions on reading and writing are deeply rooted in the hindrences I faced in the beginning of my education civilization.  However, I am not the only one who faced hindrences in the beginning of “civilization.”  Mary Shelley’s creature in Frankenstein faced many issues when attempting to simply gain more knowledge.  The creature in the novel reveals the monster that I have contained inside myself, with many related and unrelated issues corresponding to our development into “civilization.”

            As long as I can remember, I have hated reading and writing.  There are many things in life that I dislike, but nothing as much as having to read or write.  You would think that this hatred is because I was a typical child that wanted to go play outside and do anything but what my parents told me to do; however, this is not quite the case in my situation.  I struggle with reading and writing due to a disorder called dyslexia.  Dyslexia is a learning disorder in which words are easily mixed up and even syllables in words are mixed up, for example aminal instead of animal.  Now in the case of the creature, well, he did not have a reading disablity like mine, but he did have to teach himself how to read.  I can only imagine the struggle it would have taken him to learn such a complex language all alone.  The creature and I share a common characteristic inside our struggles beginning to learn.  The creature taught himself everything and once he knew all that he needed to know, he became an intellectual being; however, he was still held back by something he could never escape, his appearance.  I am not going to be vain and say that I am really good looking, but I feel that I do not possess the same physical features that the creature did, but I do possess a related quality inside my disorder.  Once I was able to read and write, I struggled greatly in my learning.  The creature had such ease once he gained knowledge, but I, like him, remained detered. 

            Thinking back on certain situations now, I can remember my mom helping me to read but I hated having to try.  I honestly wanted to give up, but everywhere I looked, reading was a necessity.  I think I had it easier than the creature for I was not visably different looking, but I do believe that we both retained a fear of what others would think.  His fear derived itself from looking different, my fear came from not wanting to look/sound different.  And there I found it, I found my own personal monster…myself.  Now this is not a monster in that I attack innocent random people, but a monster in that I never fully cared about all that I received.     

            In the novel, the creature began to tell Victor Frankenstein of all that he experienced from his creation up until their meeting.  Of how he came across a village and attempted to get food but found himself unaccepted by the villagers.  And of how he observed De Lacey’s family in the cottage, learning emotions, and language, and reading.  However, he had a definite interest in all of that, I most certainly did not.  .  I never did the work that was assigned, I never read the books we were given to read, and I blocked out the world of reading and writing from my care.  I feel almost guilty when I look back to what I had in my educational development.  I had so many people there for me, helping me along, and the creature had no one there to help him. Though the creature is a fictional character, I still feel guilty for never really appreiciating what I had.

Even through the guilt and hardships faced, there exists a time when things change.  For me, that was high school.  The reasons things changed were because my parents threatened to take away sports, they warned me that college would not be an option if I kept going down this path, and lastly, I met my best friend my freshman year.  You may find the last reason strange, but it is the most significant of all the reasons listed.  Laura Myers (that would be my best friend) is an extraordinary person who changed my life.  She was a reader.  Everytime I saw her, she had a book in her hands.  After she would finish a book, she would tell me about it and then ask if I wanted to borrow it to read.  Numerous times I refused, but one day, I accepted her offer.  Our junior year had just started, and as embarrassed as I am to say this, she had just finished reading the book Twilight.  This became the first book I read simply for the purpose of just reading a book; this book made me fall in love with reading.  It was not the story contained in the book, but the representation that the book had for me.  This book was the gateway into an entirely different world I never knew existed because I was never willing to look.  On the other hand, the creature thrived for any oportunity to learn and discover more.  For instance, when he discovered the bag of books and clothing in the woods near the cottage, his excitement upon this discovery gave him extreme joy.  A joy which finally, I understood after such a long battle.  Laura was to me what De Lacey was to the creature when they had first met.  De Lacey’s blindness prevented him from seeing the creature for his exterier, and Laura did not care to see me for my disablities, but simply gave me a chance to grow.  However, the ending of my story is much happier than the creature’s ending.

I have since faced fewer and fewer issues with reading and writing.  All it took was that one time, and that one person to cause a serious change in my life.  The same goes for the creature, except that his change was most definately not for the better.  De Lacey’s family did not accept him for anything but his hideous appearance, causing him to long even more greatly for companionship; something which he never found.  And yet again, I find myself feeling guilty; for I, never desiring more from an education on account of my disability, got all that the creature himself desired with all that he had.  I received an education, I found companions like myself.  But in all that I had I still found it.  I found that I am, myself, indeed a monster.

Writing Assignment #4

Once Upon a Text

            Once upon a time there was a little girl that all who lived in the village adored.  Since she wore a red riding cloak all the time, she was called by the name of Red.  One day her mother told her to take a basket of items to her sick grandmother.  All she had to do was follow the path and not wander off.  As you may very well know, she ran into the wolf on her journey there and told him her destination.  The wolf raced onward to the grandmother’s house, gobbled her up, and waited for Red to arrive.  And in the end she became dinner for the wolf.  Depending on the version of the tale you read, Red and her grandmother live because the huntsman saves them or they die in the belly of the wolf.  The End.  Oh wait, there is more, isn’t there?  There is so much more to the tale of Little Red Riding Hood than that because there are many other versions and insights to the tale in the world, such as the one on the site RedRidingHood.  Some would not consider this site a legitimate form of text, but through the feminist meaning and many references towards a few of the written versions of the fairy tale (by Charles Perrault and the Grimm Brothers), this site is an appropriate literary text.

            Now I know what you are thinking, “What is an appropriate literary text?”  A literary text does not require words or a tangible printed book to hold in your hands and read.  A literary text can possess many forms when depicting a story or tale.  The site RedRidingHood is the perfect example.  RedRidingHood depicts a feminist perspective on the classic tale with many different, yet relevant elements from the original.  For example, Red does not wear the traditional girly dress and red silk cape with the attached hood.  She wears a red sleeveless shirt accompanied by black pants.  This is clearly a feminist touch on the tale.  There are also many more elements to the site that are quite different than the tale, for instance Red’s dreams.  The dreams reflect the author’s ideas that the wolf already existed in Red’s life, that he was “pre-existing as a picture in her diary, as a dealer at the ‘flesh market,’ an angel which does not stop to rescue her” (Leishman).  Basically, none of this previously existed in the original tales written by Charles Perrault and the Grimm Brothers.  But remember, that is almost the point of this site; to display a different perspective but maintain the connection to the written works. 

Almost certainly, Sven Birkerts would disagree that this site is at all a text with or without the connections to the original tale.  “I would have to say good-bye to a certain way of looking at the world because that way is bound up with a set of assumptions about history and distance, and difficulty and solitude and the slow work of self-making—all of which go against the premises of instantaneousness, interactivity, sensory stimulation and ease” (Birkerts 213).  Birkerts simply does not view the technological world with much fancy and he most certainly would argue that this is not a text at all.

            Birkerts would have good reasoning to argue that this is not a text too.  For one, there are only a few times in the progression of the site that there are actual printed words to be read (or selected).  “How can this be a text if there are basically no words for reading?” he would ask.  Well, it is not necessary for words to be present to obtain a full experience in the literary sense from this site.  In his novel, he talks of how when reading printed works, the reader enters the novel and the world it has contained inside it.  Is that not the same with this site?  Can we not become consumed by the world created inside the site?  Birkerts describes the “miracle” of reading taking place due to one thing, one “shared medium, language” (Birkerts 82).   “We bring the words…into ourselves.  We engulf them in our consciousness and then allow ourselves to be affected by them” (Birkerts 82).  So language is the connection he finds when reading.  If this connection exists through language, then this proves the site RedRidingHood possesses literary merit as a text.  Language is perceived in many different ways, such as sign language (a visual language) and written languages.  The site contains a language that is comprehensible through just simple observation.  So, an experience like Birkerts’ reading experience can happen when observing this site.  You can experience a “miracle” similar to reading and allow yourself to be affected. 

            Once again, once upon a time there was a little girl named Red.  She had many written tales, oral stories, and electronic sites created about her.  The arguments against some of the electronic sites, like RedRidingHood, about not being legitimate forms of text appear foolish given the amount of credibility they possess in correlation to many of the original written works of Little Red Riding Hood.

Compost Writing Project #4

The site that I plan to evaluate is RedRidingHood: http://collection.eliterature.org/1/works/leishman__redridinghood.html 

I plan to explain how this site has relevance as a literary text. Though it does lack certain properties of an acutal text, i.e. words, it still possesses certain elements that I find to be approriate. In Birkerts conclusion he explains how the magazine Wired is designed to draw people in with the ideal that “That was then and this is now.” And how “unbroken columns of print suddenly seem like visual molasses.” I find this statement relevant in that since this site lacks visual words and presents a new view on the original tale, that this is not “visual molasses” but rather another approach towards literary texts.

This site does present an extremely feminist view towards the original tale with a few twists. The feminism that exists in this tale has been explored in much depth since the tale came about. I plan to explore a few of the feminist approaches including this site inside my paper.

But the counter argument that I forsee would possibly even come from Birkerts himself, for this site is not exactly a text at all. It does lack words and also the fact that one cannot control the directionality of the site except when wanting to continue forward (not backward). Therefore the fact that there is the possibility that RedRidingHood is not a text lies in the lacking elements the site has. However, the elements that are present that relate to the original fairy tale, in my opinion, give the site credibility as a text.

RedRidingHood

The fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood is one of the most famous tales in cultures throughout the world. Though this site from the Electronic Text archive does not have a large portion of “text”, i still find this site specifically interesting. The fairy tale itself has many morals and meanings that have been derived over many years. One being that young girls should not wonder alone with the risk of being the prey of a “predator.” The site’s version of this tale is a bit altered.  First off, there is no dialogue whatsoever. The characters do move their lips as if speaking, but the only sound to be heard is the music that is constantly played in the background. This is very interesting to me (for I studied this tale in my GRW) because the points at which the characters speak, they speak lines from the tale that are commonly known. For instance, the mother telling Red to take the basket of food to her grandmother, and the wolf asking Red where she is headed. However, i find it a good point to note that the scene where the wolf is disguised as the grandmother and the famous lines about teeth, and hair, etc. was completely skipped. And then it seems like Red got mad at the wolf, and appears to either have eaten the wolf..or even more strange: gotten pregnant! So confusing!!! And then there was a point when Red went off the path to pick flowers and fell asleep and we are given the option to let her dream or wake her up. Waking her up continues the tale along on the normal path. But letting her dream, well that is one of the most puzzling parts of this site to me. Her dreams are so weird! I do not understand them at all, and each time I viewed the site, her dreams would change. I wish I could make more of a connection to her dreams, but I honestly do not understand them at all. 

All of this reminded me vagely of a portion of Birkerts’ text when he is talking about his daughter and her fascination with Beauty and the Beast. Though Little Red Riding Hood is not a Disney tale, it does however remind me of how the tale itself has been altered by the media. This site does alter the tale, but it also enforces interesting points of feminism (for instance Red wears pants).  Though I question what the end of the tale means in terms of a moral or even an ending in general. Why is her stomach so large, and inside of it appearing to be an infant versin of the wolf? Also, is the man in the end with the gun supposed to be the hunter? If so, why does he want to kill Red? Is that another feminist view of how men must have the upper hand, and women remain subservient? I do not know!

Writing Assingment 3

Ars Gratia Artis

            Film versions of novels are often below par when it comes to accuracy, detail, and overall quality.  Films are forced to leave out details to fit the time allotted, and also alter events in the novel for more of a theatrical display.  Some films are made with slight elements found inside the original novel or text; these small elements allow the film to become an original story of its own.  Certain elements of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Mel Brooks’ direction reveal themselves inside the classic comical parody Young Frankenstein. 

            When reading a novel, one begins to feel certain ways toward events or characters, but why does this happen?  This happens because the author wrote the novel in such a way as to make these feelings occur.  The same thing goes for movies, only there are many more fundamentals that go into a movie that a novel does not possess.  In the film Young Frankenstein, the main character travels to the home of his grandfather in Transylvania and encounters many new things.  When Frederick Frankenstein, the main character, meets his assistant, Igor, an interesting scene to note begins to take place.   Frederick steps off the train and remains standing on the platform in the darkness surrounded by fog as the train chugs away.  Out of the darkness emerges a strange noise that grows louder as though it approaches Frederick.  The camera pans to different angles, searching for the source of the sound, then closes in on Frederick’s face which is struck with terror.  In the back of the audiences’ mind lingers the thought, “This is a comedy, right?”  However that thought is not forwardly acknowledged until the scene continues into the horror of the moment switching almost immediately to humor.  Let’s dive deeper into what made the particular moment of the film slightly frightening.  The scene begins with Frederick alone on the platform.  Right there in this portion alone lies an element of fear, being alone.  Isolation of a person presents vulnerability, especially in the dark, with lots of fog surrounding him.  Then this noise is coming out of the dark and grows louder and louder and louder as it approaches Frederick.  Again, another kind of fearful set up.  But the noise approaching has a companion in the fear department, the music.  The music inside the film adds to the fear (and other emotions) that the audience feels when watching the film.  For the novel, no such music plays in the background while one reads.  Along side music in a film are other elements that a novel does not possess, elements such as sound effects and the tone of the characters’ voices.  When reading a novel, one does not have these sounds and tones to hear and must create how they sound inside their head, or a reader must use their imagination. 

            Although the novel lacks what the film can provide and vice versa, the novel does have some things in common, for instance references.  “From the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me—a light so brilliant, so wondrous, yet so simple…” (Chapter IV pg. 53).  This quote from the novel took place when Victor Frankenstein discovered that he could give dead tissue life.  In Brooks’ film, Frederick speaks this very same line when reading his grandfather’s journal labeled “How I Did It.”  Coincidence?  No, not at all!  This clearly gives the film an element of ‘intertextuality’ in that it connects the original tale of Frankenstein to Brooks’ parody.  Another reference to note from the film occurs during the few moments before the creature is given life.  When Frederick begins to say aloud, “From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, ‘I am man!’” (Young Frankenstein), there appears to be a reference towards creation, which adds a connection to Shelley’s novel’s intertextuality to the book of Genesis. 

            There is even more intertextuality, or references, in the film Young Frankenstein.  However, these references do not correlate directly with Mary Shelley’s novel, but to other films.  Brooks used specific details to give his film principles of classic horror films.  For example, the film was made in 1974.  This means that Brooks had the capablity of making the film in color, but instead chose to film in black and white, giving it a characteristic of a true hollywood horror film (with his own humorously creative twist of course).  The addition of major characters, such as Igor, in the film derived themselves from the 1931 film Frankenstein, and the 1935 sequel Bride of Frankenstein. 

            The film Young Frankenstein contains many elements related to Mary Shelley’s novel.  The film has lines and scenes that correspond directly to the book, but also aspects of other works.  These components originate from other films and from other genres.  These elements themselves make this film something of an original entity, but with imitative features.  

Works Cited

Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. Maurice Hindle. London: Penguin Books, 2003.

Young Frankenstein. Dir. Mel Brooks. Perf. Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Gene Hackman. Twentieth Century Fox, 1974. Film.