Girl in Landscape

            Going into reading Girl in Landscape, I had never heard anything about it, or even knew was it was about. Right away, we are submerged into the story, with Pella’s mom, Caitlin, giving us all of the background information we needed to know before sending us on our way in this strange novel through space. I assume the author did not want to spoon feed us information the entire way through the novel, and shortly into the book after setting up the basic premise, Caitlin suddenly passes from a stroke. This was an interesting choice, because right after this traumatic event, Pella’s family is still sent to the far away ‘Planet of the Archbuilders’, a planet that Caitlin was excited to set up home in. However, from a story telling standpoint it makes sense, because now as readers we know just as much about this mysterious planet as the main characters do.  From this point on we have no idea what is right or wrong, and become observers just like Pella. Using this technique, the author really puts the reader into Pella’s shoes, as a confused and uncomfortable newcomer.

            Lethem manages to make us feel uncomfortable throughout the story, because we are on a completely unfamiliar and strange planet, where there aren’t any real rules or leaders. A big example of how I felt uncomfortable in this story was how Pella, only thirteen, was seen as much older, and asked if she was her father’s new wife. Because this new town only had about twenty people in it, there were very few females, so this could very well have been a normal accusation for a citizen that has lived there longer. Another similar example I read was when Pella found her father with another woman. As basic human instinct, we find mates or lovers, and because her father lost his, he was able to find another rather quickly on this new planet, only choosing from a very small variety. 

Although this story is set in the future, the author still has to connect with the reader and his present day thoughts, and he does so in several different ways. Lethem adds real- life places, such as Brooklyn and Coney Island, but describes how much they’ve changed over time. This brings a certain nostalgia to the reader, as most everyone can relate to their favorite childhood escape losing its charm and becoming decrepit as they grow older.  Lethem also brings real-world problems into future-Earth. For example, the reason that Pella and her family are moving is because Earth is becoming unlivable due to climate change. Right now climate change is a big issue for our planet, and we don’t see the big picture enough to realize that it’s slowly destroying Earth, and could make it unlivable one day. Because we are only on Earth for one or two chapters, we don’t get much more information, but Lethem gives us enough for us to realize what is slowly becoming of it.

Nothing More than Murder, A Radio Play

http://megan-rehsif.tumblr.com/post/61315996314

Slapstick, Comics, Film, and Dance - Mickey Mouse Adventures

Far different from reading a book or watching a movie, the act of reading a comic strip is an experience in itself. When watching a movie, it’s spelled out for you on the screen how a scene will play out along with all of the mannerisms of its characters, and in a book, you’re giving almost free rain to determine how or what the characters and scenes look like. As for reading a comic strip, it’s somewhere between the two.  An artist has already depicted the scene and the author the story, but it’s up to the reader to imagine the little things such as voices, sounds, and colors, or what happens between the panels.

            The author and artist are able to bring their strip even more to life by using sound words, or ridiculous words made up in order to heighten the experience for the reader. For example, on page 34 of “Mickey Mouse’s Race to Death Valley”, Pete and Shyster are making their getaway when their tire pops. A “BANG” is written in all caps next to the deflating tire with smoke and dirt flying around. In this particular scene, it probably would have been enough for the artist to leave the image with Pete and Shyster looking shocked and confused with the tire popping. However, I do feel that by adding the onomatopoeia makes it much more dramatic, and brings the reader into the story, as if they themselves were hearing the bang as well.

            Not only is this aspect true for all of the onomatopoeias in the story, but I believe that if you were to take away most of the word bubbles, the reader would still have a good hold on what is happening in the story. For the most part, the speech bubbles that the characters fill are just obvious statements to reinforce what the audience might not have gotten in the panel, or the characters making witty statements to themselves to entertain the audience. Because these strips were supposed to appeal to all ages, I think it enhances the story. These witty statements that the characters make give them personality, and make it appealing for everyone. For example, throughout the strip, Mickey is constantly saying the phrase "durn it". Everyone usually has something they say when they're in a pickle, and knowing Mickey does too makes him more relatable as a character, because we get to know him a little better. In my opinion, without the type in these comic strips the characters would seem very flat, and even though they do a lot of outrageous actions, their dialect is part of what makes them special and brings them to life for all readers.  

The Great Gatsby, A Literary Work

                    Unsure of what the specific definition of literary work could be, I decided to look it up. Aside from basically being a “written work” the other thing mentioned was a work of imaginative or creative thinking. Going off of this, I agree that Gatsby can be defined as a literary work. One of the things Fitzgerald does in Gatsby that makes him such an excellent writer is that he is able to lead us through the characters, and can manipulate how we feel about them at any different time. Throughout the novel, we never learn more than we need to about the characters, and are constantly only finding out small bits of information, just enough to give us an opinion on them and add somewhat of a backstory.   

                     The one character we learn the least about is Gatsby, and most everything what we’ve been told about him as been a lie, even by the end of the book we’re still unsure. This makes Gatsby the most complex of all the characters, because we aren’t able to tell if he’s good or bad. For example, we’re able to tell right off the bat that Tom Buchanan is a bad man, for cheating on his wife and constantly abusing the people around him. With this knowledge, we’re more unlikely to feel sorry for Tom. On the other hand, we never learn enough about Gatsby that towards the end of the story, we’re feeling sorry for him. We feel sorry that he’s up waiting for Daisy who doesn’t come, and for unsuspectingly getting shot by Wilson. Of course, we’re experiencing all of this through Nick, who we still don’t know too much about. 

                          Nick is constantly acting as if he doesn’t understand the lifestyle of the people on West and East Egg, but being Daisy’s cousin must mean he knows a thing or two about that way of living. The fact that Nick himself refuses to party, puts us in more of an understanding perspective, because us being the reader, cannot understand why all these characters would want to act as ridiculous as they do. And because we aren’t exposed to much about Nick, other than he is probably the only character the reader can somewhat relate to, by being not fabulously wealthy, and is a hard worker, we are able to go into the book with more of our own opinions, rather than having to constantly view through Nick’s feelings to help influence our thoughts. For example, when Tom is trying to get Nick to party, with Myrtle and her friends, I know that I certainly felt uncomfortable for Nick, and especially when Tom slaps Myrtle for bringing up Daisy. Fitzgerald was clever in making Nick such an average, working class man, because I think it really helped us as readers along when making opinions and having emotions for the characters. 

The Wizard of Oz and the Hunger Games

                   Although you wouldn’t exactly consider them twins when in comes to literature, the Wizard of Oz and the Hunger Games actually have similarities when we look at their written and movie forms. Both Katniss Everdeen and Dorothy Gale call home to some of the most dismal and unappealing places that could be described. When the movies start off in these homelands, the color palate is significantly greyed out and not pleasant to look at at all, but when their journeys take them to places more colorful and tasteful, there truly is no place like home for them.  For example, when Dorothy arrives in Oz there is instantly color overflowing from the screen, and you’re overwhelmed by how beautiful Oz is supposed to look, and when Katniss arrives in the Captiol, the buildings are shown much taller and brighter. However no matter how much better these foreign places look, we are constantly reminded of the homes they left behind, and how badly these characters wish to return home to them.
         Their ties to these depressing places lie in their families, for Katniss, it’s her sister, Prim, and for Dorothy it’s her Aunt Em. Because they were forced into places much different then their homes, they were instantly alienated in these huge, strange cities. Because they are not used to the lifestyles of the people of Oz and the Captiol, they must adapt, in order to avoid alienation. They are both able to adapt  and unwillingly have people from these cities dress them up to fit in.  The main characters of these stories are so unwilling to change their appearances because they aren’t ashamed of where they come from, and even though they don’t wear fancy costumes, they’re both proud to call District 12 and Kansas, home. For example, Katniss is constantly braiding her hair similar to how her mother would for her back in her District, and wearing the Mockingjay pin that was given to her by her sister Prim, as constant reminders and symbols of them. As for Dorothy, she always has ToTo with her, and proves in the book and movie that she’ll do anything to protect him by her side. 
   
ASSUMPTIONS:
A major assumption that I had prior to reading both of these books was that, of course Katniss would be victorious in the Hunger Games somehow, and that Dorothy would eventually find her way back to her home of Kansas. It was unclear to me yet how they'd manage these unlikely tasks, but in my mind, it was bound to happen. These assumptions are most likely based on being raised by Disney movies, where in the end, good always wins over evil. Also, while reading, Katniss had been so against the Capitol from the very beginning, I had the assumption that she would remain true to her morals, however in order to win the games and return to her home, she would have to play to the Capitol and win their sympathy. It was interesting to see how Katniss manipulated the people of the Capitol's emotions for her own benefit, and how she would win the games by doing so.

AS A READER:
As a reader, I am constantly pulling for the protagonist to succeed, especially when the characters, like in Oz and Hunger Games, are fighting for their way back home to their families. Unfortunately, what makes for a good story is if the antagonist starts to win, even if for a short period in the story. Also, as a reader, if I hear bad things about a book before I start reading, I go into with a closed mind usually. When this happens, I don't focus on getting to know the main characters more, or fight for them as much as I would if I were going into it blindly or with a positive opinion. However, in some cases, the characters will pull through and make me invest in them.