Week Fourteen: Writing Assignment

Sadly this class is coming to a close, but I'd like to think it goes out like a bang. Just like Earth in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For the final week, the assignment was the listen to the radio version of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. At first I was really skeptical. I am a very visual person, so radio plays seem to really freak me out. It's really sad because it's almost impossible for me to focus on just talking. When I am listening to something my mind will wander and I'll lose my focus and then I'll hone back into the radio cast after a while, but I'll have lost my place and will have ended up very confused because of it. It takes me forever to get through something because I'll have to rewind and replay a certain section a thousand times to understand it. When I am watching television, if I don't catch something I at least have visual clues to fall back on to understand what was said. And even then I don't trust myself, and when available I always have subtitles on so I can listen, read, and view what is happening. I like reading or at least reading along better because I can "pause" it and come back to it. And I was excited to see a radio script listened under the resource page, but it seemed to just lead to a version of the book, which was nice in it's own right, but it didn't match up with the radio cast so it was useless in this case. 

After about forty minutes I was able to get the hang of it and listen into it just a little bit better. I really liked the intro and outro to the different sections of the show. I can imagine that this radio cast was played episodically on different radio stations across the country. I was somehow surprised that it played for 20 to 25 minute intervals. I guess I forget that a normal consumer wouldn't sit in front of their radio for three plus hours to listen to a radio version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The only thing that I could never seem to grasp was when the different voice actors were talking. Arthur and Ford's voices were too similar that I would lose track of which one was speaking and then end up confused after the end of a piece of dialogue.

It was also really nice to see this work in another light. I have read most of this book and seen the movie many times. They all tell the story a bit different by they weave themselves together really nicely to create this small universe that just revolves around Adams' writings. There were things that enriched both the viewing and reading of the novel. It's like the trifecta of senses that when appreciated together just heighten the consumer's love for the work. When you read, everything is stuck up in your mind. You are able to imagine things very well, but you can only read in your voice. Everything starts to take on bits of your character and you imagine things only within the breadth of your normal aesthetic. When you watch a movie, everything is done for you. There is not a lot for you to imagine up on your own. But, a radio play allows you to imagine everything with the help on an audio track. Everything is supplied for you, you just have to lay back and imagine the gross Vogons.

All in all, it was very pleasant. I enjoyed the voice and the folly acting was very good. It was nice to experience a novel in a not so typical way. 

Week Thirteen: Writing Assignment

As this course comes to a close, we start exploring speculative fiction. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood is a perfect example of this not-genre genre. Speculative fiction is not bound by a singular genre, instead it pulls and shares from many aspects of other fiction. In this particular case, Oryx and Crake shares many of its elements with science fiction. Atwood herself even addresses the fact that even though a lot of Oryx and Crake shares science fiction attributes, Atwood says it's speculative fiction because this novel hasn't addressed "anything that wasn't been produced at the time." It's seems like we've stumbled upon a similar problem that we faced during Cyberpunk. Although Neuromancer was very indicative of that genre, it didn't reveal anything that wasn't already being explored in real time. All of the technologies in Oryx and Crake, the genetic modifications, the organ farming, etc. are all being developed now. However, not being pigeonholed into a genre is sometimes a really good time. 

Genre is a very important distinction. However, genre can sometimes turn off a reader who has had a bad experience with that category before. The way you experience a novel can be highly affected by what genre it's in. Therefore, when you read something without putting it into a genre, you can read it for what it is. The reader isn't necessarily hung up on whether or not they are reading science fiction or fantasy. Because of this they are more free to pay attention to what is happening on the pages. When we read a book in class under a specific genre, I already assume something about the work before I begin to read it. Especially when it's a genre that I don't necessarily care for. All that is going through my mind is that I am not looking forward to reading the space opera book. Without a specific distinction of what I am getting into, I can potentially like the story better. And in this case, I did. I began to really read the story and I got into it.

Week Twelve: Writing Assignment

Majoritarian culture is defined as a culture resulting from the influence majority. Unfortunately, it doesn't always mean the majority. Societal concepts define what majorities and minorities are, especially when it's considering race. Therefore, there tends to be an overarching lack of minority voice in majoritarian culture because of majority overshadowing. Thankfully, we got mostly a nice reprieve this week while reading Dawn by Octavia Butler. This book begins by introducing us to the main character, Lilith, isolated in a room for what seems like years on end. We find out that after nuclear fallout, Earth as we know it has been destroyed and the remaining human race has been "collected" by an alien race called the Oankali. Lilith has been chosen to teach and integrate the remaining humans back into their new surroundings on the Oankali space craft. Lilith lives with an Oankali family for a while and learn about their culture and finds out why they've brought humans onto the ship. The Oankali seem to be gelatinous, humanoid creatures covered in thousands of small flagella like tentacles. Although humanoid, their appearance takes Lilith quite some time to get used to so they seal Lilith in with the people she is going to usher into their new life so as not to cause a revolt. The Oankali's end goal is to mix genes with humans and repopulate an earth with an Oankali-Human hybrid.

In Dawn, Lilith is a strong and confident woman. She is entrusted with the Oankali's plans and they believe that she is the best candidate to lead the humans into a new future. She is also black. Sadly, it's not often that we see a strong, black character represented in today's media. Society is slowly getting better about race representation in books, television, and movies but it's really far too slow. 

Conversely, this book does tend to package everything as far as gender relations and sexuality under the same guise as the majoritarian culture today. The book really does categorize everything as male and female. Even those the Oankali have a third gender called the ooloi, why would an alien race be male or female anyways? It's just seems a little gender normative for something that is literally not from this world. Especially with how they gene trade. I feel like over time they would have evolved into something completely different. And how do they even fit in those roles? The Oankali don't really have sex organs so how does one distinguish male from female. Also, once the humans are together along with Lilith in the "desensitizing" room, they begin to "pair" off together. One man and one woman immediately begin shacking up in the area. After nuclear war and as many years as humans seems to have existed on the Oankali ship, it's hard to believe that all of the humans that they recused were straight. 

So, although this book breaks some majoritarian values, it still aligns itself with other ones. All in all, it was an interesting book, but that I am not likely to come back to again.

Week Eleven: Writing Assignment

This week is all about Cyberpunk. For this genre I decided to explore Neuromancer by William Gibson. I'd heard a lot about this title in the past and decided to give it a try. Cyberpunk is a genre that deals almost exclusively in virtual, and augmented realities. Neuromancer is no different. It follows Henry Case slumming it in Japan. At one point he was a talented computer hacker, but he ruined it all by stealing from the client. To punish him, the client poisoned him with a specific toxin that damaged his nerves and halted him from ever entering cyberspace again. He is offered a job working with an ex-military man and a street mercenary. They repair the damage done to him so he can ride the waves of cyberspace once again. As Case and the mercenary Molly hack through their new jobs, it leads them to the family of Tessier-Ashpool family and the A.I. Neuromancer.

Cyberpunk, although really cool, is somehow really behind today's reality. Cyberpunk does not age well. In Neuromancer, everything is about the matrix, some sort of cybernetic space way where one can enter and become "one" with the code. It's a little too unbelievable and relies heavily upon the same outdated framework that Tron does, for example. Everything that Case and Molly are doing in the novel has already kind of been caught up with. Basic smart phones can do almost everything that our protagonists are doing. The things they are describing in Neuromancer are here today or at the very least in the not so distant future. The biggest reality bender in Neuromancer was called the simstim. It allowed Case to experience not just an imagined virtual reality, but the reality of someone else. Case used the simstim to experience Molly's reality. However, we already have brain-to-brain connections being worked on today. These reality-bending technologies are here now. And although they seem monumental and crazy sounding in the novel, everything seems to be leading up to it in real life. It's possible that because we are living in such a technologically advanced era that what fits in this novel doesn't seem all that surprising. The familiar landscapes are not that far-fetched. I think everything in this book might mean just so much more if I had read it maybe ten or even five years earlier. The real and virtual are just getting increasingly closer each and every day. 

The Aquatic Uncle

1. Are these any prominent symbols in this story?

The Aquatic Uncle does not use symbols. If anything, it uses allegories to add depth to the work. There are many qualities in this story that the reader can find in their own life. The Uncle could represent the old curmudgeon who is set in their ways. Although the world is moving around them, they won't "evolve". Also, in the end of this story, it is implied that although others can be "better" than you, it is better to be yourself. Qfwfq watched as others become something else and developed qualities superior to himself, but he "wouldn't have traded places with any of them."

2. What connections did you make with the story?

To be honest, there were not a lot of elements in this story that I could connect to. Fortunately, I have never been in a relationship where my significant other runs away with a very old relative of mine. This story isn't really about finding yourself and it's not about coming away from a situation better than you started. The main character didn't really learn anything from this experience and as the world continued to move, he didn't seem to better himself. If I were to stretch, I guess I could connect with being embarrassed of your elders, sometimes. Qfwfq felt the need to apologize about his uncles actions and sometimes I feel the need to do that to. But what is family if they are not embarrassing sometimes? But, other than that there were not very many parallels that I could find.

3. What changes would you make to adapt it to another medium?

In order to adapt this story to another medium, you'd have to take into account which medium it would be applied to. If it were to be a movie, the "script" would have to be beefed up and it would have to be more spectacular, probably with a lot of emphasis on the evolution from sea to land. There would be a lot of romance between the two main characters with the ultimate climax of her leaving happening with only thirty minutes to spare. There would probably be explosions. Conversely, if it was a T.V. show it would be segmented more. Each part would be a different episode. Qfwfq introduced, back story on how his family evolved would just be episode 1. Episodes 2 to 9 would be about him finding himself and loving Lll. Episodes 10 to 12 would be him introducing her to his Uncle and Episode 13 would be her leaving. There would be cliffhangers, there would be betrayal, and it would come with an amazing opening sequence. But for either medium, there would have to be more intrigue and more drama. Qfwfq and Lll would have to fight about her going back to water and Qfwfq would have to be devastated. There would have to be some coming of age moral and other classic tropes that consumers heavily rely on.

Week Ten: Writing Assignment

For this week, we are learning about Psci-fi. I read Accelerando by Charles Stross. It tells the story of the different generations of a family all connected by a specific technological point. In the beginning we follow Manfred Macx. He's in Amsterdam when he receives a phone call from some very distressed lobsters. The government has begun to upload lobster consciousness into the web. He then teams them up with an old colleague to try and fight for their artificial intelligence. As all of this is going on, his controlling ex-wife forces him to get back with her and they have a daughter together. A little while later, he is mugged and his memories are stolen. He is than forced to rediscover who he is. At this point my reading petered out and I wasn't able to continue. 

This book reads like 1984 with too many scientific descriptions that I really couldn't keep up.
However, I'm sensing that I'm supposed to be confused, somehow caught up in all of the jargon makes it easier to overwhelm me and push the technology down my throat somehow easier to change everything without me noticing because I am still three steps behind trying to figure out what "nanolithography" means.

Also, the realities that were shown in this book don't seem very far off from the future. It seems like the primary technologies that the book keeps referring to are metacortices and exocortices. Apparently, an exocortex is something that humans use to make themselves smarter, like a computer or the glasses that all of the people wore, or the A.I.s. A metacortex is a "superior brain" made from combining something else, so technically what the government was attempting to do with the lobsters. The exocortices are something we are living with today. Smart phones, google glass, etc. Metacortices are something that I haven't heard of yet, but that doesn't mean it doesn't loom on the horizon, especially with the cloud.

All of the technology mentioned in the book makes you think about your own reality. What we are doing and how it could all potentially go wrong. Books like this always seem like a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence. In some way or another is always surpasses human intelligence. And when you think about it, it seems like a no-brainer. How smart is a computer? Way smarter than me, for starters.

Week Nine: Writing Assignment

To be honest, I was expecting this book to be awful. The cover art is jarring and completely off putting. But once I started to read it it really wasn't that awful. It was a quick read and it was fairly enjoyable.

This book is about a young rabbit named David. His father is an engineer on a spaceship and suddenly calls David into work one day. He requests David's help as an invading starship is threatening their planet. Just as their starship takes off, the encroaching invaders destroy their home planet and leave nothing behind. They then fight for their lives and unfortunately no one survives but David and two of the royal family aboard the ship. They are rescued and the King is so thankful to David that he declares him a free bunny, just as he passes away from injuries sustained in the crash. The rescuers then attempt to set a course for safety when they are halted by another invading ship. David and the crew are then set into a battle to fight for home.

I didn't mind this book. All in all, I just wish that it had taken more time to introduce the characters in the beginning, because I felt like I was just thrown in. It read more like a fanfiction. It really read like I was already supposed to know everything about this universe, and because of that it was all a little confusing. And somethings just got more confusing. Like why are there anthropomorphic rabbits? And why are they slaves? I think at one point there was a dog mentioned? Are there anthropomorphic dogs thrown in with the rabbits? Are there just a bunch of talking animals running around in this universe? And the youngest lord boy said that his family had invented them? How? Why? None of this is answered and it's odd, but I had read Watership Down so it did at least seem a little familiar in the rabbit respect. 

Also, it ended abruptly. There is a second book and I would also like to read that one to put this one in a little more context. It felt as if the author had a set page limit and he had too much stuff to try and fit into the pages and he just didn't have enough space. Overall, I have a feeling that I am going to forget about this book actually existing but still remember passages and imagery about this and wonder if it was all a weird fever dream.

Week Eight: Writing Assignment

The Graveyard Book was probably the most riveting story I've read so far in class. I'm a huge fan of Gaiman's work and have been ever since I read Neverwhere way back when. Interestingly enough, I had never picked up The Graveyard Book and I jumped at the chance to read it this week. Gaiman's worlds are always wonderful and fantastical. He confidently rights about mystical lands and fairy tales placed into modern times. They are urban fantasies that allow you to cross right into the land of make believe along with the main characters. 

In The Graveyard Book, the narrative opens on a grisly scene. A man has just broken into a house and slaughtered the small family inside. On his way to deal with the baby upstairs, he discovers that the child is missing. Luckily enough, the child has wandered away from the house and up the hill into a nearby cemetery. The man pursues, intending to finish off the child. When the young boy arrives in the cemetery, all of the ghostly residents join around him to figure out what to do. The ghost of the boy's mother briefly appears as a desperate last act and pleads with the ghosts to shelter her son and protect him from the man. One of the ghosts quickly agrees and the boy is ushered into the graveyard and disappears from view of the murderer. Unable to find the boy, the murder stumbles upon the caretaker and is ushered out of the graveyard. In this way, the young boy, given the name Nobody or Bod for short, grows up into a young man. He learns from all of the residents of the graveyard and his caretaker Silas. 

The Graveyard Book tells more than a creepy account of a boy's time in a graveyard, but also a tale of family and growth. Gaiman takes all we know about ghosts and flips that on his head. The ghosts in his writing are full of love and character and retain thoughts after going through the great beyond. He also takes all of the abilities that one would associate with ghosts, walking through walls, disappearing, chills, etc. and turns them into abilities that Bod learns as he grows. The "myth" of ghosts is visited in such an innovative way in this story that I feel like I can just keep coming back to it.

Week Seven: Writing Assignment

I will jump at any excuse to read Harry Potter again, so this week I re-read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The series is comforting and it's always a nice read. The writing assignment this week asked us to talk about the moral issues and spiritual complexities found within the source material we read this week. I could talk about the complex moral issues and spiritual challenges that Harry faces throughout the entirety of the series, but I'll stick to the first book for the time being.

Harry Potter is a book rife with moral issues and spiritual complexities. Right off the bat, Harry is being thrown into this new and unknown world and he's dealing with some unpleasant things. First of all, he has to deal with classism. He is introduced to how certain people are treated socially based on their heritage. He stumbles upon the great moral dilemma in the wizarding world around wizards and witches who are "pure and not pure". It's somehow seen as right that these people should be viewed as wrong in some way. But, Harry finds a home with these outsiders. The person he first meets from this new world and the person who ultimately brings him over the threshold and into his new life is a half-giant, a misfit. His empathy allows him to look over what the wizarding world tells others is right. 

Also, Harry fights with his own morality and his decision making. His moral center puts saving people and stopping Voldemort at a higher priority than not risking being expelled. This is a huge things for someone who lives under the stairs. He risks everything, his new home and friends, over what he thinks is right even though others are telling him he is wrong.

His morals also allow him to deal with his new found popularity. Everyone in the wizarding world loves Harry. They all know who he is and place him on a pedestal as the Chosen One. His own convictions stop all of this from going to his head. When you've been kicked your whole life and suddenly wake up one day as the king, you are still going to empathize with others who have been kicked.

As for spiritual challenges, the biggest one is Harry's self-doubt. He did not grow up in the wizarding world so most of the people that he meets know so much more about the aspects of the world than he does. They even know more about himself than even he knows. He doubts himself and his abilities. He almost seems to lose himself, but finds his way again by the end of the book.

Harry Potter is an incredibly important series in modern literature. It has so many powerful metaphors and messages that has probably helped many a person who has read them. As Harry grew up, my generation grew up with him. His moral and spiritual challenges were ours as well. It was nice to relive these things again.

Week Six: Writing Assignment

At first, when I heard that we were reading The Hobbit in class I was not thrilled. I'm not a huge fan of fantasy to begin with and having read The Hobbit in seventh grade I was a little leery to delve into it again. However, thinking back to how awful a pre-teen I was, I decided to give The Hobbit a second try instead of picking something off our alternative reading list.

To begin with, the reading experience was better this time. The Annotated Hobbit, which was the version I read this time, gave me a better idea of the adventure and the entirety of Middle Earth. The commentary and the added illustrations gave me a better understanding of what I was reading. This allowed me to focus on the characters a little bit more this time around. However, every time a chapter opened up with a description of the scene I still felt the almost impossible urge to skip it because I knew that it would continue on forever. This time, I had a new-found respect for the dwarves and even Bilbo himself. Bilbo is a lot more likeable this time around. I really appreciate how he grows in his adventure. He starts off in the story being complacent in his little hobbit hole in Bag End, and he ends it as a brave and courageous little hobbit. I also seemed to forget that once Smaug was defeated, and the Battle of the Five Armies was was won, Bilbo rejected a substantial amount of treasure. I always really like when characters recognize who they are and what they need and stay true to their values. He wasn't greedy when the moment was presented to him. Instead he returned home and lived a peaceful life, even though he was shunned by his neighbors and and other hobbits. I think I responded to Bilbo better this time around, probably because I wasn't a pissy little teenager. 

However, Bilbo's personality was one of the only things that I really enjoyed. Everything else was similarly lackluster as the last time I read it. I just really don't enjoy books like this. I could appreciate how good of a book and how well it was written this time, but it just isn't the genre for me.

Week Five: Writing Assignment

Witches are an integral part of American lore. Stories about witches date back centuries. This week the class read Aunt Mariah by Diana Wynne Jones. In this story, witches are portrayed as older women who work their magic through talking. This is a very archetypal view of witches. 

Historically, witches are portrayed as someone who influenced another's mind, will, or body against their will. This can be completed in any number of ways. Witches can use words and rituals to carry out their "spells". In Aunt Mariah, the witches used words to influence how people saw and interacted with the world. 

However, Aunt Mariah did use some stereotypical emotions surrounding witchcraft. Society as a whole, fears witches. And it was very apparent in the material we read this week, that the community that the book was set in were terrified of their witchy "queens". The witches were shown as evil, manipulative, and desperate to get what they wanted. The commercialism of Halloween has allowed modern culture to portray witches as the warty, green-skinned woman who brews potions and casts curses. And this was a direct comment on how our society views women in power.

Our society has a stigma on women in power. We often view women at the top as ugly, usually alone, and bitter about her life. Women in power is, unfortunately, inherently negative. Culture will often tell littlle boys to be strong. We commend men as leaders, but condemn women. And the way witches are portrayed can often be a cautionary tale to young girls. In stories about women we're often telling girls, "Dont' be strong or expressive because this is what you will turn into." 

The witches in Aunt Mariah were not good witches, but at least they were handled in a way that didn't overtly depict them as standing over bubbling cauldrons speaking in verse. As older ladies speaking at a tea party, they at least had a little bit more depth than some witches in stories today. 

Week Four: Writing Assignment

The weird is the unexpected and uncanny. Weird Horror has you sitting at the edge of your seat just a little bit differently. In horror, the gore and mystery unfolds in very easily defined ways. Horror is all about rules and when you break the rules, you die. However, weird horror usually turns these rules on their heads. Weird Horror does not follow expected horror conventions. I think that's what makes it so exciting. 
This week I started to read the Monster Island trilogy by David Wellington. It started off as a traditional zombie book. As it evolved, it was revealed that a survivor took it upon himself to join the ranks of the undead and in the process he became a powerful creature who could think even after death. He even had the power to control and drain power from other zombies. In traditional zombie lore, zombies are shambling, mind-less monsters only interested in human flesh. A reader does not expect a sudden appearance of a smart and almost all-powerful zombie to step into the field. This eerie and uncanny turn of events qualifies this trilogy as weird horror. Even the required movie for the week breaks the rules. 
Cabin in the Woods, uses the classic horror tropes to make viewers feel comfortable. It lures the audience into a false security before ripping the rug out from under them. I hope horror continues in this fashion. Weird horror pushes the boundaries of horror conventions. Characters and plots break free of common tropes and allow audiences to be surprised by horror once again. 

Week Three: Writing Assignment

Japanese horror is a whole different animal than American horror and it's a far departure from what I've already touched on in this blog. The authors and directors who create Japanese horror use Japan's history, tradition, and culture to make incredibly effective horror.
This week, I read a book on classical Japanese ghost stories called Kwaidan. In this book, all of the collected stories are otherworldly and very dreamy. Conversely, American horror is shaped around the classic gothic archetype found in Frankenstein and Dracula. In Kwaidan, however, most of the stories I read, the antagonist or the force at work visits the protagonist in their dreams. Everything seems to happen in a dreamscape. And all of the stories operate like a dream. They are all mystical with no explanation as to why they are happening. However, there is always an inevitable reaction to why these things are happening. In the story Oshidori, a hunter kills a duck in a pond. Another duck, a young spirit comes to him in a dream mourning the death of her murdered husband. In the morning, the hunter visits this duck at the pond and because of his previous actions the duck horrifically destroys herself in front of the hunter to make him reflect on what he has done. This story offers no explanation as to what was happening. Oshidori makes no excuses, but if it had been written in America, it would have tried to rationalize all of the supernatural elements and over explain what was happen as to not confuse the audience.
Finally, Japanese horror doesn't seem to operate on good vs. evil. In the Yuki-Onna story, a snow woman comes across two stranded woodsmen and kills the older one. The younger woodsman wakes up to discover what she is doing and she threatens that if he ever tells what he has seen, she will kill him also. He goes about his life and marries a wonderful women and they have many children together. Everyone seems to adore the wife, but when he shares his terrifying experience with his her it is revealed that she was truly the snow woman all along. In American culture, this woman would have been treated as an evil and manipulative creature. But, in this story the creature's motives are a little ambiguous. The two truly seem to care about each other, but when the husband doesn't keep his secret, she must reveal what she is. Japanese horror does not break the world down into two simple sectors, but instead leaves the actions of the characters up to interpretation. In the end, these characteristics are what make Japanese horror so terrifying. 

Week Two: Writing Assignment

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist is both my favorite book and my favorite movie, so it was great to be able to review both of these amazing pieces of media. Let the Right One In is a story about a young boy who is ostracized by his peers. He finds solace in a girl who moves in next door. Their relationship grows quickly and unhealthily. The two become uncomfortably close and use each other to get what they both desire. Oskar, the boy, uses Eli, the girl, to displace the hatred for his classmate aggressors and find a friend. Eli, on the other hand, uses Oskar to escape from her caregiver Håkan. Their relationship buds from intense, but base necessity. Their relationship grows from this point. Eli helps Oskar stand up for himself against the bullies at his school and Oskar eventually begins to care for Eli after the death of Håkan.

The fact that Eli is a vampire is a huge component of her relationship with Oskar. From just the beginning, Oskar is constantly questioning Eli about the difference and alienness he can sense about her. Eli's being quickly becomes apparent as time continues. In the book, when Oskar and Eli kiss she transfers her life memories to him with their touch. In the movie, the two share a piece of candy and Eli becomes violently ill. This added with Oskar's deductions from earlier (her cold skin and the smell of rotting meat surrounding her) adds up to something not quite human. Oskar slowly discovers that Eli is truly a centuries old boy who was castrated and turned into a vampire. After he learns the truth, Oskar battles with what to do with his relationship with Eli. The fact that she was born as a male and a vampire takes him a while to adjust. After questioning her, he slowly begins to accept her again and after Håkan's death in the movie and semi-death in the book, he begins to help and take care of her. The fact that she is a vampire is the base of their relationship in the second half of the book and movie. He protects her, especially in the book where he distracts a man who intends to kill Eli and subsequently allows Eli time to kill him. In the end, it is Eli's vampiric nature that saves Oskar and forces them to run off together. The fact that Eli is a vampire frames the whole story and ultimately decided how her relationship with Oskar developed.

Week One: Writing Assignment

There are many instances where the gothic has pervaded our popular culture. In fashion, film, literature, and music, the gothic has it's niche. In this particular instance, I will be talking about Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. 

This film is an adaptation of Washington Irving's famous gothic story of the same name. Tim Burton has a very distinct style of filmmaking. All of his films have a pervasive gothic tone. His use of color, or lack thereof I should say, focus, lighting, and subject matter all combine to create very gothic films. And Sleepy Hollow is a perfect example of Burton's gothic imagery. 

To begin with, Sleepy Hollow opens as a mystery. The character Ichabod Crane moves to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a string of strange murders. The town itself and the nature of the investigator's visit immediately create a gothic atmosphere. The foggy weather and creepy forest only assist in setting this tone. As Crane begins his investigation, he is warned about the strange myth surrounding the town involving the 'Headless Horsemen'. Omens, curses, and myths are huge components of gothic literature and film. It only helps that the myth that is conveyed to the character is incredibly supernatural. The ghoulish imagery of a headless rider galloping through a dark and stormy night immediately creates a surreal and gothic experience for the audience. The same imagery terrifies the residents of the town. At one point, one of the important townsmen hangs himself in fear of the mysterious rider. As the film continues the characters radiate feelings of the gothic: loneliness, sorrow, tragedy, and distress. Crane is an outsider in a town where his probing investigation is unwelcome. 

To continue, partway through the movie the romantic interest, Katrina, has her mother and father tragically killed by the hands of the horseman, leaving her alone. In the end, it is reveled that Katrina's mother is truly the one that is controlling the horseman and causing the deaths of the townsfolk. This villainous act forces the cunning Crane to confront the horseman and break the curse. The movie ends with the Horseman ushering the villain into the depths of hell. All of these elements and events create a new piece of classic gothic horror. Burton's has a keen eye for the gothic, which allows him to make traditional gothic stories. No modern director can do gothic like Tim Burton.