Professor incognito apologizes

1. One of the biggest symbols in this story is the idea of  “secret identity”. In this story, it is a real secret identity (one of a super villain trying to be a normal guy) but what it symbolizes is something everyone can relate to. It’s having two very separate personalities, the one you are when you’re alone, and the one you are when you’re with a loved one. What this story hints at is in order to have a healthy relationship you must let your significant other see both sides of you.  Another thing this story symbolizes is how tiny arguments and disagreements can add up and make relationships fail. These are exaggerated for this story “Okay, elephant-in-the-room time. I, for one, choose to welcome our new Martian

friends and overlords, and this is a personal choice I hope you'll be able to respect.”

Because the tone of the story is humorous, it takes a normal “political” controversy between a couple and blows it up to be about Martians, even though this is symbolic for a very real relationship problem.

2.  The biggest connection I made with this story was actually a connection with the hinted feelings that the fiancé was having. I’ve met people who are very personal and don’t like to talk about themselves. They are “closed books” so to speak. You have to try very hard to get to know them, and feel like no matter how many of your questions they answer or don’t answer, something is missing in your relationship or personal connection. Dating a person like this can be difficult and leads to miscommunications.

 It was also very easy to connect with all the feelings described in this story regarding relationships in general. Personally, I can’t say I’ve ever discovered that I was dating my secret arch nemesis, but the aspects of relationships are all totally there and very real. Especially when you have a busy life full of projects that you need to work on and a significant other is trying to introduce you to a friend of theirs you don’t like. It’s all very real. 

3.  If I were going to make this story, I would really think of an exact situation that the characters have been in. In the story it seems to jump around a lot and he seems to have multiple different plans for his girlfriend at the end. IS he going to make it up to her? Put her on an asteroid? Make her mine salt? Dress her in alien clothing? All of the above? It also seems like there’s no EXACT sequence of events that occur between the characters it just jumps around from different incidences, and not much of it really correlates. I’d love to see more of his relationship with his “mortal enemy” hinted at in the beginning. I really love this piece as a short story but if I were going to change it’s medium I’d probably make it an animated film or video game. I could see it working really well as a film with each story part going back into another flashback taken from the woman’s perspective of him and her memories of the stories he’s telling. I can almost see it shot by shot. It would be really really cool. Reminds me of Megamind a little bit.  I love the idea that they were both dating each others secret identities and in the end even though he’s found out who she is he still wants to make it work. How fun.

Graphic novels

For this assignment I read "Bone Volume 1"
not because the other graphic novel was boring or anything but simply because I couldn't stop looking at this one. I loved everything about it. The beautiful clear style of it, that appealing adorable characters, the simple but effective dialogue. Everything. Perfect.

I even went so far as to rent volume2 from the library. Thanks for this. How have I not reads these before??
Anyways, in graphic novels I think the authors voice is also shown through their drawing style. This one is whimsical to say the least. The world that the author has created has taken a lot of creativity and dreaming and the characters each have their own very distinct personalities

An interesting thing that the author has done in this graphic novel, unlike many others has made the main characters the simplest possible designs, while all the side characters along with the environment designs are far more complex. Its a funny thing. The author shows that he can draw complex things, yet he chooses to design his characters simple. This causes a vast contrast and makes the characters easily like-able (they're all simple and round and easy to adore) and makes showing personality just a bit more difficult as it must be all done with body language. This is something this particular author, never seems to struggle with, and is so unbelievably admirable for it.
His voice is magical, Whimsical, childlike, with a hint of mystery that keeps readers on their toes wanting to read more(I would know).

I read Karen Russell's wonderful, Swamplandia.
When I head we were reading Karens work, I immediately thought of this book because it had been recommended to me awhile ago and had been on my reading list for ages because I love florida, all it's wilderness and reptiles of course.

  For those who haven't read it it's basically about a swamp themed tourist trap with a family that wrestles alligators. The mother who is the main attraction of the park, dies so the park struggles. In the meantime, the oldest daughter has discovered that she can summon ghosts and runs off to marry one, so her little sister (also the narrator of the story) must take her secret albino alligator, and a gypsy birdman into the "underworld" to retrieve her sister before she kills herself.
So. Freaking. Interesting.
Russells voice, from the works of hers I have read, is a seamless merging of supernatural and natural. Just like vampires in the Lemon Grove, Swamplandia depicts a normal (but interesting on its own) situation, with some supernatural element thrown in and the characters respond to these supernatualities in the exact way I think real people would respond to such things.
Her voice is playful, yet with a darker undertone. Very dark things seem to happen very causally in both of the stories of hers that I have read. In "Vampires in the Lemon Grove" a girl is murdered when the vampire gives into temptation and drinks her blood. But this is hardly treated as a big part of the story, nor was anything leading up to that. In swamplandia, a young girl is raped and her sister tries to hang herself but these things do not take over the story. They just kind of happen.
Another thing I can tell Russell is very good at is metaphors.
She often times in swamplandia, compares things to alligators. she describes an old man as wrinkled and cold hearted, with an ugly gnarled face like an alligator, looking at you with glossy eyes. Not only does this type of description give us an immediate picture of the man in question, it also brings the theme and focus of the story back into place, even if the characters are no longer in the swamp.

It was really quite a good book. I would recommend it. Mostly because of Karen Russell's writing but also because alligators are so cool.

A POINT OF VIEW SHOT FADES IN FROM A STARRY BLACKNESS. THE LANDSCAPE IS DULL AND GRAY WITH LOTS OF FOG AND LARGE GRASSY HILLS STRETCHED OUT IN FRONT OF THE CHARACTERS HANDS WHICH ARE STUCK OUT AS IF HOLDING HORSE REINS BUT NONE ARE THERE. THE SOUND OF HORSE HOOVES CLACKING CAN BE HEARD, SO THE CAMERA POINTS AT UNFAMILIAR FEET THAT SEEM TO BE ATTACHED TO HIS BODY.

WADE

"Huh?"

He stops walking and the hoof sounds cease. As he starts walking again he hears them and the camera turns to an over the shoulder shot where we see the clearly iconic "Patsy" of "Monty python and the holy grail"

WADE

"Ohh!"

Wade begins to laugh

A RED "-100" APPEARS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA BEFORE FADING AWAY.

A WIDE CAMERA VIEW SHOWS THEY ARE APPROACHING A CASTLE

ARTIMIS

You're in Monty Python and the Holy Grail! Do you know all the dialogue?

A CLOSEUP ON WADE/KING ARTHUR'S EYES SHOWS THAT HE'S LOOKING TO THE LEFT

IN A POV SHOT WE SEE THAT HE HAS PULLED A CHAT WINDOW INTO THE LEFT CORNER OF HIS DISPLAY

WADE

(typing)

No shit sherlock! Of course I know the dialogue, I've only seen this movie 100 times!

(in king arthurs voice)

HOLD!

VIDEOGAME SIMILATED CASTLE GAURD

Who goes there?!

WADE/KING ARTHUR

It is I, Arthur, son of User Pendragon from the castle of Camelot!

ARTIMIS

Giggling uncontrolably

A POV SHOT REVEALS THAT A GREEN "+100" HAS APPEARED ON WADE'S DISPLAY

MIT world building

What are the primary features of this world--spatial, cultural, biological, fantastic, cosmological? 

In this story, we are placed in a very realistic portrayal of cheesy tourist Florida. The palm fronds, trees, and dry looking, but plentiful shrubbery that we (as florida residents know) is very true and close to home. The only real fantastical part of this story is just the one in a million chance this girl has to sell her sculpture to a celebrity.

What is the world’s ethos (the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize the world)? 

It is hot and humid and everybody seems slow and lazy, even during their heated moments. The police don’t seem urgent, and even the daughter just sits home and smokes while her father is missing.

What are the precise strategies that are used by its creator to convey the world to us and us to the world? 

Her writing is slow and drawn out and the details of the environment seem dull. She uses really average sounding adjectives to describe the places they go. This gives it the hot and slow moving feel that the story has. This is exactly what the environment is so it works perfectly in her favor.

How are our characters connected to the world? 

This world is new to the characters so they find it fascinating.

And how are we the viewer or reader or player connected to the world?

We specifically are connected to the world the most because we live here but others may feel connected from a visit there where they can remember what it was like or if they have visited a similar kind of place.