Response to the Class on 10.27

       In today's class, we focused on the story Manners of Dying and had a deep analysis of it. Following are the characters: the warden as the narrator, Mr. Barlow as the recipient, Kevin as the prisoner, Father Preston and the doctor who provides the medicine assistance. The genre of the story is the epistle letter, which is conveyed to inform the manners of Kevin and to comfort the mother. The story includes different versions of how Kevin face his execution in the last 12 hours.
       The story reflects the emotional truth rather than the actual truth. Actual truth is talking about why and how the actual event really happens, while the emotional truth is talk about the same events but arouse various feelings of the audience. Fo example, as we discussed in the class, when someone is throwing a mark to you, you make have different responses such as happiness, depression, and surprise. Also, the story Manners of Dying makes us feel in different ways of Kevin's different manners. Kevin is a jerk; he is calm; he has a sense of humor; he is thoughtful, spiritual; he is also timid, nervous and afraid.
      If you asked me whether or not I believe that one person has so many personalities in the same time, I will say "No". What I mean is that these version are parallel  universe or stories instead of different templates. Each of them is true and is from the reality in our life. The author attempts to gathers the various manners of dying into one person to make us have deep thinking about the reality.

Response to the Class on 10.20

       In October 20th's class, we discuss the importance of plot and how it function well in a story.   In a story, complex characters are the most important thing, which is closely related to the plot. Some people may think a story is driven by the characters, which is not correct. The fact is that a story is drive by the plot. Plot motivates characters to affect the story. It seems that plot has communication with characters' minds and leads them to do actions. In addition, the plot concentrates on the lives of characters, pushing the development of story from beginning, middle part, climax to the end. 
        From my perspectives, a good plot should show a series conflict to provide characters' motions. Audience can be attracted by the plot. When they read the story, the plot may arouse their feelings like they actually have the same experience as the story. Many good plot will eventually lead audience to a "new world", which means audience get something they have never seen before. The ending make be a kind of surprise with making the conflicts done. 
       Our discussion is based on the story "A Happy Ending" which is a metafiction. The author created the story without the traditional ways, and create the good plot to attract people. The six parts of the story are like hypertext and make us revise again and again. 

Response to “Manners of Dying”

Manners of Dying are composed of many letters from Ms. Harry Parlington, a warden at the Cantos Correctional Institution, to Mrs. Barlow, the mother of the criminal Kevin. In the letters, the warden describes how Kevin faces his execution of death in the last 12 hours. All the letters are just similar versions that include Kevin’s last dinner, Father Preston’s services, Periodic checks, another Father Preston’s services, the judgment reading, process of corridor, last words, and the type of death. The difference places are Kevin’s manners and feelings.

I don’t think it’s a good fiction. The reason is that the fiction does not make my heart sink or soar. The letters are showed with ambiguity. There are so many versions filled with too many possibilities. Is he very calm, anger or sad? I don’t know what’s the real manner of Kevin when he faces his death and which one the warden sends to Kevin’s mother. I just feel nothing of the stories because it lacks of a turning point to a “new world”. The common people take granted that people do the bad things should be punished, which is the reason of the existence of the law. Kevin does the crime, so he has to confess his sins and pay for it.

Maybe the author wants to show us the reality of how different people face the punishment by the different versions of Kevin.

Response to Atwood’s “Happy Endings”

The story “Happy Endings” contains six different small stories from version A to version F. The protagonists in the stories are John and Mary, and other two characters are Madge and Fred. Four flat characters with four flat names, and they are repeated throughout the stories. All the six stories are described quickly and concisely, and are ended up with death. Besides, all the stories are closely related to the version A as “everything continues as in A”, which attracts me so much.

I think this is a good fiction because it makes my heart sink. There is a strong contrast between the title “Happy Ending” and the content of six stories. It seems that Atwood do not use any happy or optimistic words in the stories even in the version A. The endings are all the same, the death. “The only authentic ending is the one presented here: John and Mary dies. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.” The sentence actually delivers the deep meaning of the “happy endings”, which brutally reflects the result of people’s life: We will die eventually, whoever we are, whatever we have, however we live and wherever we are.

       In addition, I can feel a sense of gender inequality from six stories, especially the second story. Atwood use the tone of satire to express how women are vulnerable and stand in a low position in front of man. Although the stories have no specific descriptions, they make me have deep thoughts of the philosophy of the life. 

The Position of Our Own Journal

       I would like to be the editorial assistant in our own journal. 

       Editorial assistants are supposed to perform a range of editorial work and administration. The position is regarded as a liaison among the people in the process of the publication, especially from selecting submissions to handing them to the publication staff. 

       There are three reasons for me to be interested in the position of editorial assistant. 

       The first one and the most important one is that I like reading various books, articles and stories. In fact, I am not good at writing stories so much, but I'm very happy to assess manuscripts and do some research. I would like to come up with new ideas to the publication.

       The second reason is that I have the good communication skills and get along well with others.  I am able to source authors to provide new submissions. Besides, I can discuss with the editors and other staffs frequently and give some recommendations.

       The third reason is that I have the good organizational skills. I can picture the research and organize the items well. 

       All in all, I believe that I will be responsible for this position and try my best to do the good job. 

Response to Movie "10 Minutes"

       The third short movie we see is 10 Minutes.

       At the beginning of the movie, a Japanese tourist plays in Rome and takes many photos along his travel. He goes to a photo studio to develop photos. The next scene changes in sudden, which shows the life of a Bosnian family. A young boy Memo was sent to find the food by his mother. He has a long way to pass through neighbors and trenches of the war zone. Sometimes he stops to play with kids and greets with neighbors. He talks with soldiers and is acquired to get some bread and water. Unfortunately, the fire is open. When the boy runs to his home, his family members are all dead. A neighbor we see before attempts to pretend Memo from the destroyed house. At the end of the movie, the scene is back to the Japanese tourist who gets the photos.

       The director uses a strong contrast between the life of Japanese tourist and the Bosnian people in the same 10 minutes. The background of the tourist is filled with European luxury architectures. The tourist has much leisure time, and he just can get things he wants by money. He may symbolize a privileged people in the world. However, Eastern Europe is not what the common people think about the Europe. We can feel the darkness, danger, destruction and poverty in that area. Although Bosnian people live in the terrible condition, they may get used to them. The movie conveys the warmness among those neighborhoods.

       All in all, the movie reflects the brutal reality that life can different among different people in the meantime. We should cherish our life and the peaceful time.

Response to "Vincent"

      The second movie is Vincent that was created by famous director Tim Burton in 1982. The movie is about a 7 year-old boy Vincent Malloy. It seems that Vincent has the delusional disorder because he pretends to be the actor Vincent Price. He imagines that he is the owner of the house, and he has a dead life. Besides, he thinks that her sister’s dog is a zombie, so he conducts some experiments on the dog. He never leaves the house and is separated from his beloved wife. In his imagination world, he regards himself as a real tortured artist, and we can see that he does many horrible things. Finally, his mother tells Vincent that he needs to go outside and has some fun. His mother’s words remind him of the reality, and his delusion reaches its peak. He is afraid that he will be tortured by someone in the world.

       Both real world and mythical world happen together in the movie, and the narrative is strongly conveyed by the songs. From these songs, we can not only feel the nature of a boy, but also experience the isolation and coldness of the horrible scene.

       From this movie, I just shocked by the children’s brain. The power of the imagination is too strong so that sometimes we cannot have the same empathy with them.

Response to The Short Movie "The Gift"

      In today's class, we saw three short movies. 

      The first short movie “The Gift” is a kind of scientific fiction placed in Moscow, Russia. The movie begins with a man who walks alone with fear and holds a box. He goes to a very luxury house that is filled with high technologies, especially the robots. He is available to the house after his saliva is tested, and then meets the master of the house in one room. The master opens the box by his hair, and he says there is a unicorn in the box. The man kills the master and tries to escape holding the box, but unfortunately, a car crashed him. The robot in the house gets the box and has a savage chase with some people. Finally, he throws the box into lake, and a little boy find the box by the lake.

       The screen of the movies is based on the grey instead of various colors, so this movie makes me feel a sense of isolation, coldness and lack of humans. The murder, chase and hunt make the movie a little cruel.

       This short fiction based on movie uses juxtaposition that combines old things and futuristic world together. From the appearance of the box, it seems like a very classical thing, but to my surprise, it is opened by testing the DNA. It’s common to see a servant in one’s house, but it’s very advanced to see robots as servants and guards. Besides, the settings include Moscow and house are very traditional, but they are filled with high technology.

       The box is very mysterious and is likely to be a key to humanity. The unicorn is a metaphor of unreal and mythical world. I cannot help doubting the fate of the little boy. That how the box will change his life is the imagination that this movie leave to me. The ending is just another beginning to the boy’s life.