I can write about me
and you
and you and me
Homan.
If only
one day
I can find the words
Lord of the Rings is cool.
As a ruler:
Would you leave the land you love, to see it prosper under another's rule?
OR
Remain loyal to your people, and attempt to keep buggerin' on?
Thinkin'.
???
~.~
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Lit1 Close Reading #1
Darlene McCoy
Madeline McDonald Lane
LIT1
7 October 2010
At the opening of the short story, Anders is standing in a too large for reason line behind two women having a "loud, stupid conversation," and it puts him in a rather snotty mood. When the teller attending the giant line closes her position, one of the women turns around and makes a comment about it, looking for Anders' approval. Being the amazingly sarcastic person he is, Anders responds, "Damned unfair. Tragic, really. If they're not chopping off the wrong leg, or bombing your ancestral village, they're closing off their positions" (190). The woman turns around to look at her friend for her approval of her displeasure with Anders, but her friend’s attention is on others in the room. These others, men in blue suits and ski masks, approach the bank’s guard and put a pistol to his neck. The man holding the pistol yells across the room, "One of you tellers hits the alarm, you're all dead meat. Got it?" (191). Anders, once again, replies as any gutsy, snappy, sardonic book critic in the situation would, "Oh bravo," he says, "Dead meat,” and then turning to his already insulted lady-aquaintance from earlier, “Great script, eh? The stern, brass-knuckled poetry of the dangerous classes” (191).
As the robbery scence progresses, Anders continues to make his backhanded bitter comments, and they finally draw the attention of the man with the pistol. The man pushes the weapon into Anders’ stomach, which Anders notes because it tickles him, and instead of laughing, he fixes his gaze on the man’s eyes because he figures that laughing in front of a rather batty man with a loaded gun is not an idea that would be beneficial to the prolonging of his life. Because staring contests are somewhat awkward, the criminal asks Anders, in quite the vulgar manner, to stop. Anders looks down then, to the man’s shoes, which he also apparently does not approve of, since he then uses the gun to prop up Anders’ chin, forcing him to stare at the ceiling of the bank.
Anders, once again, on instinct, begins to criticize the art adorning the ceiling. He describes it as, “Even worse than he remembered, and [that] all of it [was] executed with utmost gravity” (192). He especially takes note of a scene in which Zeus and Europa are portrayed as a bull eying a rather scandalous cow. The cow’s “canted hips” and “long, droopy eyelashes” create quite the ruckus in Anders’ brain, and his amusement annihilates his attempts at a serious demeanor. The criminal detects Anders’ breaking of face, and demands of him, “What’s so funny, bright boy?” to which Anders replies, “Nothing.” The robber then adds, “You fuck with me again, you’re history. Capiche?” (192).
Anders cannot help himself. The poor man’s attempts to hold back his laughter finally prove to be futile. He bursts out laughing, and the criminal replies by raising the gun, and shooting the satirical best-seller slaughterer in the head. Ironically, Anders’ life flashes before his eyes - but he does not see his first love, his wife, or his daughter before the bullet exits his brain - he recounts only a memory from his childhood. He remembers the intense heat of a summer day on a baseball field, the local neighborhood boys chatting about something he perceived as so trivial it was oppressive, and a certain boy’s words. These words, these grammatically incorrect, piercing words, “They is. They is. They is,” echo throughout Anders’ brain during the last milliseconds of his life. He recalls his feelings toward them - how he was roused and elated by their total unexpectedness; how that unexpectedness was music to his ears. The bullet bids farewell to its delicate jelly-like obstruction, taking with it, its “comet tail of memory and hope and talent and love” (193). Then his life ends. Anders is no more.
Authors, writers, and poets do not always simply write for pleasure. While the wit written into this short tale is quite entertaining all on its own - “Bullet in the Brain” does have an actual meaning behind its creation. This man - this Anders - is presented as a grumbling, ill-tempered, querulous person who has worked in such a quantity, and with such quality that the joy he used to receive from doing so is naught but a childhood memory. He can no longer appreciate the one thing in the world he loved more than any other; he can no longer appreciate the power of words, and because he cannot, he cannot be genuinely content with any other aspect of his life. Even on the threshold of death, he is incapable of remembering certain points in his life that one would think to be significant - nothing but the misguided phrase “They is.” “They is” - the simple, mindless, alluring phrase spoken by a bumbling boy on a summer’s day - the unexpected and beautiful incorrectness that Anders could never tire of; the odd bliss he felt in the core of his mind: “They is” is all he could remember, because it was one thing in the world that had the ability to entrance him. He extracts this memory of happiness from some corner of his mind, and then the bullet snatches it from him. Anders’ happiness, the echoing words, leave him in the “comet tail of memory and hope and talent and love” (193). At this point in the time, the reader feels some sort of remorse for this misery of a once man, now corpse. But why? Why does the reader feel anything for this antagonizing man? Anders never lived his life the way Tobias Wolff implies that he should have. And what is Wolff implying? Live life to its fullest, because life sometimes ends abruptly and unexpectedly. Do not get caught up in the solemn seriousness of life, because the not-so-serious experiences in life will be missed, and honestly, what else is there to do in life but live, and let live?
Madeline McDonald Lane
LIT1
7 October 2010
Attitude in the Anders
Anders, the protaganist in Tobais Wolff’s short story, “Bullet in the Brain”, is a broken man. The loves of his life - simple words, phrases, passages - no longer bring him the joy they once used to. Anders is a book critic, and he does not take his job lightly. He is a man to be feared and abhorred in the literary world, for he, "dispatches almost everything he reviews with a weary, elegant savagrey" (190). Yet, even feared critics need to visit the local bank from time to time to take care of ordinary matters - it's just a shame that poor Anders had no idea that it would be his last.At the opening of the short story, Anders is standing in a too large for reason line behind two women having a "loud, stupid conversation," and it puts him in a rather snotty mood. When the teller attending the giant line closes her position, one of the women turns around and makes a comment about it, looking for Anders' approval. Being the amazingly sarcastic person he is, Anders responds, "Damned unfair. Tragic, really. If they're not chopping off the wrong leg, or bombing your ancestral village, they're closing off their positions" (190). The woman turns around to look at her friend for her approval of her displeasure with Anders, but her friend’s attention is on others in the room. These others, men in blue suits and ski masks, approach the bank’s guard and put a pistol to his neck. The man holding the pistol yells across the room, "One of you tellers hits the alarm, you're all dead meat. Got it?" (191). Anders, once again, replies as any gutsy, snappy, sardonic book critic in the situation would, "Oh bravo," he says, "Dead meat,” and then turning to his already insulted lady-aquaintance from earlier, “Great script, eh? The stern, brass-knuckled poetry of the dangerous classes” (191).
As the robbery scence progresses, Anders continues to make his backhanded bitter comments, and they finally draw the attention of the man with the pistol. The man pushes the weapon into Anders’ stomach, which Anders notes because it tickles him, and instead of laughing, he fixes his gaze on the man’s eyes because he figures that laughing in front of a rather batty man with a loaded gun is not an idea that would be beneficial to the prolonging of his life. Because staring contests are somewhat awkward, the criminal asks Anders, in quite the vulgar manner, to stop. Anders looks down then, to the man’s shoes, which he also apparently does not approve of, since he then uses the gun to prop up Anders’ chin, forcing him to stare at the ceiling of the bank.
Anders, once again, on instinct, begins to criticize the art adorning the ceiling. He describes it as, “Even worse than he remembered, and [that] all of it [was] executed with utmost gravity” (192). He especially takes note of a scene in which Zeus and Europa are portrayed as a bull eying a rather scandalous cow. The cow’s “canted hips” and “long, droopy eyelashes” create quite the ruckus in Anders’ brain, and his amusement annihilates his attempts at a serious demeanor. The criminal detects Anders’ breaking of face, and demands of him, “What’s so funny, bright boy?” to which Anders replies, “Nothing.” The robber then adds, “You fuck with me again, you’re history. Capiche?” (192).
Anders cannot help himself. The poor man’s attempts to hold back his laughter finally prove to be futile. He bursts out laughing, and the criminal replies by raising the gun, and shooting the satirical best-seller slaughterer in the head. Ironically, Anders’ life flashes before his eyes - but he does not see his first love, his wife, or his daughter before the bullet exits his brain - he recounts only a memory from his childhood. He remembers the intense heat of a summer day on a baseball field, the local neighborhood boys chatting about something he perceived as so trivial it was oppressive, and a certain boy’s words. These words, these grammatically incorrect, piercing words, “They is. They is. They is,” echo throughout Anders’ brain during the last milliseconds of his life. He recalls his feelings toward them - how he was roused and elated by their total unexpectedness; how that unexpectedness was music to his ears. The bullet bids farewell to its delicate jelly-like obstruction, taking with it, its “comet tail of memory and hope and talent and love” (193). Then his life ends. Anders is no more.
Authors, writers, and poets do not always simply write for pleasure. While the wit written into this short tale is quite entertaining all on its own - “Bullet in the Brain” does have an actual meaning behind its creation. This man - this Anders - is presented as a grumbling, ill-tempered, querulous person who has worked in such a quantity, and with such quality that the joy he used to receive from doing so is naught but a childhood memory. He can no longer appreciate the one thing in the world he loved more than any other; he can no longer appreciate the power of words, and because he cannot, he cannot be genuinely content with any other aspect of his life. Even on the threshold of death, he is incapable of remembering certain points in his life that one would think to be significant - nothing but the misguided phrase “They is.” “They is” - the simple, mindless, alluring phrase spoken by a bumbling boy on a summer’s day - the unexpected and beautiful incorrectness that Anders could never tire of; the odd bliss he felt in the core of his mind: “They is” is all he could remember, because it was one thing in the world that had the ability to entrance him. He extracts this memory of happiness from some corner of his mind, and then the bullet snatches it from him. Anders’ happiness, the echoing words, leave him in the “comet tail of memory and hope and talent and love” (193). At this point in the time, the reader feels some sort of remorse for this misery of a once man, now corpse. But why? Why does the reader feel anything for this antagonizing man? Anders never lived his life the way Tobias Wolff implies that he should have. And what is Wolff implying? Live life to its fullest, because life sometimes ends abruptly and unexpectedly. Do not get caught up in the solemn seriousness of life, because the not-so-serious experiences in life will be missed, and honestly, what else is there to do in life but live, and let live?
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Bad Paper #2 - Draft #3
not really different - think I'm only going to turn in two drafts
Lisette Mulvey would be a typical middle school student if she didn't have have to worry about getting prescription eye drops, about her scars, or the dead nerves in her face. She would be a typical middle school student if her father hadn't have broken her eye socket, nose, and mentally damaged her for life. She'd be normal if she didn't have to wear dark-purple tinted prescription glasses, and if her vision wasn't horribly clouded and blurred. She'd be just like everyone else at her tender age of thirteen years if she realized that her life is horribly void of a responsible, sane, parental figure. But, Lisette Mulvey is not a typical middle school student - she is the protagonist of Joyce Carol Oates' short story, ID.
Among her other issues, her parents are divorced, her mother goes out with whoever, whenever, and does whatever, without telling her daughter when or even if she will be returning, and her father is a figure existent only in her thoughts, because as far as she knows, he is a sergeant in the Army. Yet, somehow, this girl thinks that her life is not so terrible. She's more concerned about boys, her friends, and being "mature." In the story, these issues are the only ones that Lisette actually acknowledges. This poor being has far more problems than she cares to see, and Joyce litters her work with clues alluding to Lisette's additional unmentioned issues.
The first issue not directly addressed by Lisette is her rather lacking ability in determining character. Lisette is interested in a boy by the name of JC - a boy who has been held back for multiple years, so he is significantly older than the other students and therefore more likely to exploit a younger girl, a boy when asked if he had ever shot a person who just just shrugs and laughs, and a boy who the other students know as a person that “you didn't trifle with.” Lisette doesn't see the problems that could arise by trusting this boy - she only sees his "silky black hair falling across his forehead," but because Oates implements the other, more negative details, the reader is clued in on Lisette's fault.
The second issue that Lisette does not see, but the reader does, is the fact that her father has some severe problems with controlling his anger. She cannot see that the fact that her father "[was] shouting behind her, swiping with his fists - not meaning to hit her" as a complication in her life. She loves her father, and thinks that, "Daddy didn't mean to hurt me." Oates' descriptions of the event once again, clue the reader in on the true conditions of Lisette's life.
Lisette's mother is the central issue the entire story. She tells her daughter that she is a blackjack dealer at the Casino Royale. There are many clues that inform the reader that Lisette is not being told the truth about her mother's profession. Her mother has never given a direct answer to Lisette's questions about what she does for a living, and furthermore, her mother does not want her to wear lipstick, a common symbol of the desire to be sexual. Now - these two clues don't seem to be too significant in determining what Lisette's mother does for a living, but additional clues revealed at the climax of the story tie everything together. A dead woman is found in a drainage ditch outside of a sleazy motel -- not an uncommon place for a freshly slain hooker -- and Lisette is brought to a morgue to identify this woman. Lisette is shown a red jacket and a handbag, in which there is a wallet, in which there is an ID. The jacket, handbag, and wallet resemble garments owned by Lisette's mother, and the ID is revealed to be Yevette Muvley's. Lisette's mother is a dead prostitute. Yet, when even presented with her mother's dead mangled corpse, she cannot see that her life is horrible.
Lisette is blind, and Oates even alludes to her blindness in multiple ways. Glasses are a common symbol for needing aid with seeing correctly, and Lisette dons her glasses everyday, all day. Lisette also identifies people by their features, race, and sex. She does not once mention that she knows a person in her life by their personality. She is blind to characteristics that make people who they truly are. Additionally, Oates employs the color purple to identify negative things in Lisette's life. Lisette's lipstick is a luscious purple color, and Lisette's mother, in a flash back, leaves purple kiss marks all over her then husband, and even Lisette's glasses' lenses' are tinted purple.
Because this girl is so blind to the terrible circumstances of her life, she has the ability to deny her reality. And she does not deny this reality because she is a young girl, and therefore immature, she denies it because the denial of things that are detrimental in life was actively practiced by her mother. Lisette's mother knew who and what she was - but she told her daughter otherwise. She never admitted that she was a prostitute. She was a "blackjack dealer" at a "casino."
In the end, when Lisette is confronted with her mother's dead body, she cannot cope with the truth. She denies the truth again and again, telling herself that it is not possible, because her mother just simply cannot be the "thing" on the steel table. She instantaneously is taken to a bathroom, where she almost throws up. Almost - Lisette catches herself. That corpse was not her mother. She then demands to be taken back to her school, so she can continue living her life. She wants to see JC, and eat lunch. When she arrives, Lisette's friend Keisha inquires if she is “O.K.” to which she replies, while laughing into the “bright buzzing blur,” “Sure I'm O.K. Hell, why not?” She returns to the girl who knows only what she has seen, and she had not seen her mother earlier that morning. She continues to live in a daze, in denial, and blindly. She refuses to cope with the reality of her life. And that's the end of Joyce Carol Oates' tale.
Now, every work is created for a reason - whether for simple pleasure, or to teach a lesson, or some other reason. This work, ID, was written to make its readers think. It was written to make its readers think about the true circumstances of their own lives, and how they deal with them. Lisette's story is simply the means in which Oates uses to begin the train of thought.
Oates, Joyce Carol. "ID." The New Yorker 29 Mar. 2010: 80-88. Print.
Self-Assessment Questions:
What are the strengths of your writing? Which parts work well, and which parts work best?
-- Once again I feel as if my voice is my strong point. I also feel like this essay is a little more clear than the last I wrote. I don't really know, but I also feel like the fact that my character's life is so screwed up helps keep the reader interested. I also like my introduction, I feel that it would grab interest well.
What heights did you reach for? How much did you challenge yourself in this writing?
-- Again, I tried my best. I think I challenged myself to a degree that I am content with, considering ID was not very simple to analyze.
Which elements, devices, punctuation, or rhetorical effects from Gorrell did you use?
-- I feel like this paper again, uses dashes a lot, and alliteration (not nearly as much as the last!), and all the common things I do...
Which parts did you have trouble developing?
-- I had crazy amounts of trouble structuring this paper, and keeping my focus. I find it difficult to make and follow my own prompts. Hopefully the paper makes more sense now. :)
Which mental processes did you sue during the drafting?
-- I did a few outlines for this paper. One on paper, and another on my laptop, per draft.
How many hours did you spend on it? How did you allocate your time?
-- I spent a hefty amount of time on this paper because my second draft is almost a complete rewrite. I feel like the times when I worked the hardest were when I was figuring out what to write about and how to write about it. Once I had my structure and idea down it wasn't so bad.
Is there anything in particular you'd like me to attend to as I read?
-- I really like the phrase "freshly slain hooker." It makes me happy.
Whom would you acknowledge as helpers? Sources? Someone who gave you an idea? Peer edited?
-- This time, I wrote some of my paper in Porter's 5th floor lounge (which is full of my friends, among other people) and asked those who were present from time to time if what I was saying made sense, and I somewhat used them as a thesaurus. My peer editors also helped me quite a bit this time by simply telling me, "I don't get it. Can you explain this more?"
Lisette Mulvey would be a typical middle school student if she didn't have have to worry about getting prescription eye drops, about her scars, or the dead nerves in her face. She would be a typical middle school student if her father hadn't have broken her eye socket, nose, and mentally damaged her for life. She'd be normal if she didn't have to wear dark-purple tinted prescription glasses, and if her vision wasn't horribly clouded and blurred. She'd be just like everyone else at her tender age of thirteen years if she realized that her life is horribly void of a responsible, sane, parental figure. But, Lisette Mulvey is not a typical middle school student - she is the protagonist of Joyce Carol Oates' short story, ID.
Among her other issues, her parents are divorced, her mother goes out with whoever, whenever, and does whatever, without telling her daughter when or even if she will be returning, and her father is a figure existent only in her thoughts, because as far as she knows, he is a sergeant in the Army. Yet, somehow, this girl thinks that her life is not so terrible. She's more concerned about boys, her friends, and being "mature." In the story, these issues are the only ones that Lisette actually acknowledges. This poor being has far more problems than she cares to see, and Joyce litters her work with clues alluding to Lisette's additional unmentioned issues.
The first issue not directly addressed by Lisette is her rather lacking ability in determining character. Lisette is interested in a boy by the name of JC - a boy who has been held back for multiple years, so he is significantly older than the other students and therefore more likely to exploit a younger girl, a boy when asked if he had ever shot a person who just just shrugs and laughs, and a boy who the other students know as a person that “you didn't trifle with.” Lisette doesn't see the problems that could arise by trusting this boy - she only sees his "silky black hair falling across his forehead," but because Oates implements the other, more negative details, the reader is clued in on Lisette's fault.
The second issue that Lisette does not see, but the reader does, is the fact that her father has some severe problems with controlling his anger. She cannot see that the fact that her father "[was] shouting behind her, swiping with his fists - not meaning to hit her" as a complication in her life. She loves her father, and thinks that, "Daddy didn't mean to hurt me." Oates' descriptions of the event once again, clue the reader in on the true conditions of Lisette's life.
Lisette's mother is the central issue the entire story. She tells her daughter that she is a blackjack dealer at the Casino Royale. There are many clues that inform the reader that Lisette is not being told the truth about her mother's profession. Her mother has never given a direct answer to Lisette's questions about what she does for a living, and furthermore, her mother does not want her to wear lipstick, a common symbol of the desire to be sexual. Now - these two clues don't seem to be too significant in determining what Lisette's mother does for a living, but additional clues revealed at the climax of the story tie everything together. A dead woman is found in a drainage ditch outside of a sleazy motel -- not an uncommon place for a freshly slain hooker -- and Lisette is brought to a morgue to identify this woman. Lisette is shown a red jacket and a handbag, in which there is a wallet, in which there is an ID. The jacket, handbag, and wallet resemble garments owned by Lisette's mother, and the ID is revealed to be Yevette Muvley's. Lisette's mother is a dead prostitute. Yet, when even presented with her mother's dead mangled corpse, she cannot see that her life is horrible.
Lisette is blind, and Oates even alludes to her blindness in multiple ways. Glasses are a common symbol for needing aid with seeing correctly, and Lisette dons her glasses everyday, all day. Lisette also identifies people by their features, race, and sex. She does not once mention that she knows a person in her life by their personality. She is blind to characteristics that make people who they truly are. Additionally, Oates employs the color purple to identify negative things in Lisette's life. Lisette's lipstick is a luscious purple color, and Lisette's mother, in a flash back, leaves purple kiss marks all over her then husband, and even Lisette's glasses' lenses' are tinted purple.
Because this girl is so blind to the terrible circumstances of her life, she has the ability to deny her reality. And she does not deny this reality because she is a young girl, and therefore immature, she denies it because the denial of things that are detrimental in life was actively practiced by her mother. Lisette's mother knew who and what she was - but she told her daughter otherwise. She never admitted that she was a prostitute. She was a "blackjack dealer" at a "casino."
In the end, when Lisette is confronted with her mother's dead body, she cannot cope with the truth. She denies the truth again and again, telling herself that it is not possible, because her mother just simply cannot be the "thing" on the steel table. She instantaneously is taken to a bathroom, where she almost throws up. Almost - Lisette catches herself. That corpse was not her mother. She then demands to be taken back to her school, so she can continue living her life. She wants to see JC, and eat lunch. When she arrives, Lisette's friend Keisha inquires if she is “O.K.” to which she replies, while laughing into the “bright buzzing blur,” “Sure I'm O.K. Hell, why not?” She returns to the girl who knows only what she has seen, and she had not seen her mother earlier that morning. She continues to live in a daze, in denial, and blindly. She refuses to cope with the reality of her life. And that's the end of Joyce Carol Oates' tale.
Now, every work is created for a reason - whether for simple pleasure, or to teach a lesson, or some other reason. This work, ID, was written to make its readers think. It was written to make its readers think about the true circumstances of their own lives, and how they deal with them. Lisette's story is simply the means in which Oates uses to begin the train of thought.
Oates, Joyce Carol. "ID." The New Yorker 29 Mar. 2010: 80-88. Print.
Self-Assessment Questions:
What are the strengths of your writing? Which parts work well, and which parts work best?
-- Once again I feel as if my voice is my strong point. I also feel like this essay is a little more clear than the last I wrote. I don't really know, but I also feel like the fact that my character's life is so screwed up helps keep the reader interested. I also like my introduction, I feel that it would grab interest well.
What heights did you reach for? How much did you challenge yourself in this writing?
-- Again, I tried my best. I think I challenged myself to a degree that I am content with, considering ID was not very simple to analyze.
Which elements, devices, punctuation, or rhetorical effects from Gorrell did you use?
-- I feel like this paper again, uses dashes a lot, and alliteration (not nearly as much as the last!), and all the common things I do...
Which parts did you have trouble developing?
-- I had crazy amounts of trouble structuring this paper, and keeping my focus. I find it difficult to make and follow my own prompts. Hopefully the paper makes more sense now. :)
Which mental processes did you sue during the drafting?
-- I did a few outlines for this paper. One on paper, and another on my laptop, per draft.
How many hours did you spend on it? How did you allocate your time?
-- I spent a hefty amount of time on this paper because my second draft is almost a complete rewrite. I feel like the times when I worked the hardest were when I was figuring out what to write about and how to write about it. Once I had my structure and idea down it wasn't so bad.
Is there anything in particular you'd like me to attend to as I read?
-- I really like the phrase "freshly slain hooker." It makes me happy.
Whom would you acknowledge as helpers? Sources? Someone who gave you an idea? Peer edited?
-- This time, I wrote some of my paper in Porter's 5th floor lounge (which is full of my friends, among other people) and asked those who were present from time to time if what I was saying made sense, and I somewhat used them as a thesaurus. My peer editors also helped me quite a bit this time by simply telling me, "I don't get it. Can you explain this more?"
Bad Paper #2 - Draft #2
Lisette Mulvey would be a typical middle school student if she didn't have have to worry about getting prescription eye drops, about her scars, or the dead nerves in her face. She would be a typical middle school student if her father hadn't have broken her eye socket, nose, and mentally damaged her for life. She'd be normal if she didn't have to wear dark-purple tinted prescription glasses, and if her vision wasn't horribly clouded and blurred. She'd be just like everyone else at her tender age of thirteen years if she realized that her life is horribly void of a responsible, sane, parental figure. But, Lisette Mulvey is not a typical middle school student - she is the protagonist of Joyce Carol Oates' short story, ID.
Among her other issues, her parents are divorced, her mother goes out with whoever, whenever, and does whatever, without telling her daughter when or even if she will be returning, and her father is a figure existent only in her thoughts, because as far as she knows, he is a sergeant in the Army. Yet, somehow, this girl thinks that her life is not so terrible. She's more concerned about boys, her friends, and being "mature." In the story, these are the only things that Lisette actually acknowledges. This poor being has far more problems than she cares to see, and Joyce litters her work with clues alluding to Lisette's additional not mentioned issues.
The first issue not directly addressed by Lisette is her rather lacking ability in determining character. Lisette is interested in a boy by the name of JC - a boy who has been held back for multiple years, so he is significantly older than the other students and therefore more likely to exploit a younger girl, a boy when asked if he had ever shot a person who just just shrugs and laughs, and a boy who the other students know as a person that “you didn't trifle with.” Lisette doesn't see the issues with this boy - she only sees his "silky black hair falling across his forehead," but because Oates implements the other, more negative details, the reader is clued in on Lisette's fault.
The second issue that Lisette does not see, but the reader does, is the fact that her father has some problems with controlling his anger. She cannot see that the fact that her father "[was] shouting behind her, swiping with his fists - not meaning to hit her" as a complication in her life. She loves her father, and thinks that, "Daddy didn't mean to hurt me." Oates' descriptions of the event once again, clue the reader in on the true conditions of Lisette's life.
Lisette's mother is the central issue the entire story. She tells her daughter that she is a blackjack dealer at the Casino Royale. There are many clues that inform the reader that Lisette is not being told the truth about her mother's profession. Her mother has never given a direct answer to Lisette's questions about what she does for a living, and furthermore, her mother does not want her to wear lipstick, a common symbol of the desire to be sexual. Now - these two clues don't seem to be too significant in determining what Lisette's mother does for a living, but additional clues revealed at the climax of the story tie everything together. A dead woman is found in a drainage ditch outside of a sleazy motel -- not an uncommon place for a freshly slain hooker -- and Lisette is brought to a morgue to identify this woman. Lisette is shown a red jacket and a handbag, in which there is a wallet, in which there is an ID. The jacket, handbag, and wallet resemble garments owned by Lisette's mother, and the ID is revealed to be Yevette Muvley's. Lisette's mother is a dead prostitute. Yet, when even presented with her mother's dead mangled corpse, she cannot see that her life is horrible.
Lisette is blind, and Oates even alludes to her blindness in multiple ways. Glasses are a common symbol for needing aid with seeing correctly, and Lisette wears her glasses everyday, all day. Lisette also identifies people by their features, race, and sex. She does not once mention that she knows a person in her life by their personality. She is blind to characteristics that make people who they truly are. Additionally, Oates employs the color purple to identify negative things in Lisette's life. Lisette's lipstick is a luscious purple color, and Lisette's mother, in a flash back, leaves purple kiss marks all over her then husband, and even Lisette's glasses' lenses' are tinted purple.
Because this girl is so blind to the terrible circumstances of her life, she can deny her reality. And she does not deny this reality because she is a young girl, and therefore immature, she denies it because the denial of things that are detrimental in life was actively practiced by her mother. Lisette's mother knew who and what she was - but she told her daughter otherwise. She never admitted that she was a prostitute. She was a "blackjack dealer" at a "casino."
In the end, when Lisette is confronted with her mother's dead body, she cannot cope with the truth. She denies the truth again and again, telling herself that it is not possible, because her mother just simply cannot be the "thing" on the steel table. She instantaneously is taken to a bathroom, where she almost throws up. Almost - Lisette catches herself. That corpse was not her mother. She then demands to be taken back to her school, so she can continue living her life. She wants to see JC, and eat lunch. When she arrives, Lisette's friend Keisha inquires if she is “O.K.” to which she replies, while laughing into the “bright buzzing blur,” “Sure I'm O.K. Hell, why not?” She returns to the girl who knows only what she has seen, and she had not seen her mother earlier that morning. She continues to live in a daze. She refuses to cope with the reality of her life. And that's the end of Joyce Carol Oates' tale.
Every work is created for a reason - whether for simple pleasure, or to teach a lesson, or some other reason. This work, ID, was written to make its readers think. It was written to make its readers think about the true circumstances of their own lives, and how they deal with them. Lisette's story is simply the means in which Oates uses to begin the train of thought.
Oates, Joyce Carol. "ID." The New Yorker 29 Mar. 2010: 80-88. Print.
Among her other issues, her parents are divorced, her mother goes out with whoever, whenever, and does whatever, without telling her daughter when or even if she will be returning, and her father is a figure existent only in her thoughts, because as far as she knows, he is a sergeant in the Army. Yet, somehow, this girl thinks that her life is not so terrible. She's more concerned about boys, her friends, and being "mature." In the story, these are the only things that Lisette actually acknowledges. This poor being has far more problems than she cares to see, and Joyce litters her work with clues alluding to Lisette's additional not mentioned issues.
The first issue not directly addressed by Lisette is her rather lacking ability in determining character. Lisette is interested in a boy by the name of JC - a boy who has been held back for multiple years, so he is significantly older than the other students and therefore more likely to exploit a younger girl, a boy when asked if he had ever shot a person who just just shrugs and laughs, and a boy who the other students know as a person that “you didn't trifle with.” Lisette doesn't see the issues with this boy - she only sees his "silky black hair falling across his forehead," but because Oates implements the other, more negative details, the reader is clued in on Lisette's fault.
The second issue that Lisette does not see, but the reader does, is the fact that her father has some problems with controlling his anger. She cannot see that the fact that her father "[was] shouting behind her, swiping with his fists - not meaning to hit her" as a complication in her life. She loves her father, and thinks that, "Daddy didn't mean to hurt me." Oates' descriptions of the event once again, clue the reader in on the true conditions of Lisette's life.
Lisette's mother is the central issue the entire story. She tells her daughter that she is a blackjack dealer at the Casino Royale. There are many clues that inform the reader that Lisette is not being told the truth about her mother's profession. Her mother has never given a direct answer to Lisette's questions about what she does for a living, and furthermore, her mother does not want her to wear lipstick, a common symbol of the desire to be sexual. Now - these two clues don't seem to be too significant in determining what Lisette's mother does for a living, but additional clues revealed at the climax of the story tie everything together. A dead woman is found in a drainage ditch outside of a sleazy motel -- not an uncommon place for a freshly slain hooker -- and Lisette is brought to a morgue to identify this woman. Lisette is shown a red jacket and a handbag, in which there is a wallet, in which there is an ID. The jacket, handbag, and wallet resemble garments owned by Lisette's mother, and the ID is revealed to be Yevette Muvley's. Lisette's mother is a dead prostitute. Yet, when even presented with her mother's dead mangled corpse, she cannot see that her life is horrible.
Lisette is blind, and Oates even alludes to her blindness in multiple ways. Glasses are a common symbol for needing aid with seeing correctly, and Lisette wears her glasses everyday, all day. Lisette also identifies people by their features, race, and sex. She does not once mention that she knows a person in her life by their personality. She is blind to characteristics that make people who they truly are. Additionally, Oates employs the color purple to identify negative things in Lisette's life. Lisette's lipstick is a luscious purple color, and Lisette's mother, in a flash back, leaves purple kiss marks all over her then husband, and even Lisette's glasses' lenses' are tinted purple.
Because this girl is so blind to the terrible circumstances of her life, she can deny her reality. And she does not deny this reality because she is a young girl, and therefore immature, she denies it because the denial of things that are detrimental in life was actively practiced by her mother. Lisette's mother knew who and what she was - but she told her daughter otherwise. She never admitted that she was a prostitute. She was a "blackjack dealer" at a "casino."
In the end, when Lisette is confronted with her mother's dead body, she cannot cope with the truth. She denies the truth again and again, telling herself that it is not possible, because her mother just simply cannot be the "thing" on the steel table. She instantaneously is taken to a bathroom, where she almost throws up. Almost - Lisette catches herself. That corpse was not her mother. She then demands to be taken back to her school, so she can continue living her life. She wants to see JC, and eat lunch. When she arrives, Lisette's friend Keisha inquires if she is “O.K.” to which she replies, while laughing into the “bright buzzing blur,” “Sure I'm O.K. Hell, why not?” She returns to the girl who knows only what she has seen, and she had not seen her mother earlier that morning. She continues to live in a daze. She refuses to cope with the reality of her life. And that's the end of Joyce Carol Oates' tale.
Every work is created for a reason - whether for simple pleasure, or to teach a lesson, or some other reason. This work, ID, was written to make its readers think. It was written to make its readers think about the true circumstances of their own lives, and how they deal with them. Lisette's story is simply the means in which Oates uses to begin the train of thought.
Oates, Joyce Carol. "ID." The New Yorker 29 Mar. 2010: 80-88. Print.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Bad Paper #2
Darlene McCoy
Margaret Amis
Writing 2
6 May 2010
Dear Reality, You've Been Denied!
As the story ID, by Joyce Carol Oates opens, readers are taken to a 7th grade math class where they find a mildly buzzed protagonist working hard to pass a lusciously purple kiss imprinted on a Kleenex to a boy “you didn't trifle with” who went by the name of JC. When there is a knock at the classroom door her teacher, Ms. Nowicki, goes to open it, and this protagonist, Lisette, takes her chance. The boy receives the note, crumples it, and shoves it in his pocket. She then hears her name called by the figures at the door - two police officers. The officers take Lisette to the local hospital, and proceed downstairs to the morgue. Lisette is asked to identify a woman's body - potentially her mother's. When she observes the body, Lisette instantaneously denies that it could even possibly be her mother. Lisette cannot see - she cannot even begin to think that her mother is the mangled corpse sprawled out on the steel bed.
Lisette Mulvey would be a typical middle schooler if she didn't have have to worry about getting prescription eye drops, didn't have to worry about her scars, or the dead nerves in her face. Lisette Mulvey would be a typical middle schooler if her father hadn't have broken her eye socket, nose, and mentally damaged her for life. She wouldn't have to wear dark-purple tinted prescription glasses. Her vision wouldn't be horribly clouded. She'd be just like everyone else - infatuated with her looks, and what the boys thought when they looked at her.
The glasses and injury that set her apart are a symbol of Lisette's inability to conscientiously identify her world. She cannot see that JC will exploit or potentially hurt her in the future. She cannot see that her father has anger issues. She cannot see that her mother is dead, even when her corpse is thrust before her eyes. She only sees what she wants, and anything else, well, just does not exist. She does not accept anything that is potentially detrimental to her life. She simply lives, day by day, not even caring for which day it is, dazed by her own actions, and sometimes, other forms of intoxication. How do we, then, as readers know that these terrible things are true?
Oates guides us to these conclusions by adding tidbits of information to her story. In the case of JC, Oates includes one sentence that undoubtedly lets us know who he is: "A girl had asked JC if he'd ever shot anybody and JC had just shrugged and laughed." Most 7th graders don't shoot people, or even know how to use a gun, or for that matter, own guns. Lisette's own description of how she came across her injuries reveals her father's issues, and even more so, her inability to realize those issues. "Daddy [was] shouting behind her, swiping with his fists - not meaning to hit her." There are many clues sprinkled into the entire short story that lead to the conclusion that the dead woman in the morgue is Lisette's mother. The fact that she disappears randomly for unknown numbers of days, the fact that she finds ways to weasel out of answering direct questions about her profession, and the fact that Lisette's mother doesn't want her to wear lipstick are all subtle clues to her prostitution. And this dead woman was found in a drainage ditch behind a sleazy motel -- not an uncommon resting place for a freshly slain hooker. Mentioning that the wallet found near the corpse carried the ID of Yvette Mulvey could even be considered a not-so-subtle hint, yet Lisette still refuses to see any connections between any of the aforementioned ideas.
When Lisette is finally confronted with the issues surrounding her parents, she cannot cope with the ideas presented to her. Officer Molina, the cop that is most focused on in the story, tells Lisette that her father is not, in fact, a sergeant in the army anymore, but that he has been AWOL from his position for a year. She is so shocked that she begins to shiver furiously. She cannot control the truth. Next, the officer leads her over to the corpse. Lisette looks over the body, thinking that, “This was not a woman, but a thing – you could not really believe that it had ever been a woman. Some sad, pathetic, broken female, like debris washed up on the shore.” She begins gagging, and the officer leads her to a restroom in case of vomiting. Lisette demands to be taken back to school, taken back to JC. The officers comply, and when she arrives, Lisette's friend Keisha inquires if she is “O.K.” to which Lisette replies, while laughing into the “bright buzzing blur,” “Sure I'm O.K. Hell, why not?” She returns to the girl who knows only what she has seen, and she had not seen her mother earlier that morning. She continues to live in a daze. She refuses to cope with the reality of her life.
And who could blame her? Her mother was a prostitute, found dead in a ditch, her father was a raging lunatic with anger issues, and from the way her life is going, she herself will possibly follow in her mother's footsteps, her first client being JC. She has nobody, no one, not one person in the world to turn to. Nobody to take her to get her prescription eye drops, nobody to tell her to care enough about herself to wash, nobody to tell her what's right from wrong. Is it okay for this girl to just deny reality, because hers is so horrid, or should she try to confront it and conquer it?
Lisette Mulvey is used as the protagonist in Joyce Carol Oates' short story, ID, to explore how this grimy, grungy girl copes when the true circumstances of her life are shoved in her face, like a plate of freshly prepared worms, still squirming. And through her experience -- readers are forced to attempt to identify their own "true circumstances,” and ponder the idea of denying reality.
Margaret Amis
Writing 2
6 May 2010
Dear Reality, You've Been Denied!
As the story ID, by Joyce Carol Oates opens, readers are taken to a 7th grade math class where they find a mildly buzzed protagonist working hard to pass a lusciously purple kiss imprinted on a Kleenex to a boy “you didn't trifle with” who went by the name of JC. When there is a knock at the classroom door her teacher, Ms. Nowicki, goes to open it, and this protagonist, Lisette, takes her chance. The boy receives the note, crumples it, and shoves it in his pocket. She then hears her name called by the figures at the door - two police officers. The officers take Lisette to the local hospital, and proceed downstairs to the morgue. Lisette is asked to identify a woman's body - potentially her mother's. When she observes the body, Lisette instantaneously denies that it could even possibly be her mother. Lisette cannot see - she cannot even begin to think that her mother is the mangled corpse sprawled out on the steel bed.
Lisette Mulvey would be a typical middle schooler if she didn't have have to worry about getting prescription eye drops, didn't have to worry about her scars, or the dead nerves in her face. Lisette Mulvey would be a typical middle schooler if her father hadn't have broken her eye socket, nose, and mentally damaged her for life. She wouldn't have to wear dark-purple tinted prescription glasses. Her vision wouldn't be horribly clouded. She'd be just like everyone else - infatuated with her looks, and what the boys thought when they looked at her.
The glasses and injury that set her apart are a symbol of Lisette's inability to conscientiously identify her world. She cannot see that JC will exploit or potentially hurt her in the future. She cannot see that her father has anger issues. She cannot see that her mother is dead, even when her corpse is thrust before her eyes. She only sees what she wants, and anything else, well, just does not exist. She does not accept anything that is potentially detrimental to her life. She simply lives, day by day, not even caring for which day it is, dazed by her own actions, and sometimes, other forms of intoxication. How do we, then, as readers know that these terrible things are true?
Oates guides us to these conclusions by adding tidbits of information to her story. In the case of JC, Oates includes one sentence that undoubtedly lets us know who he is: "A girl had asked JC if he'd ever shot anybody and JC had just shrugged and laughed." Most 7th graders don't shoot people, or even know how to use a gun, or for that matter, own guns. Lisette's own description of how she came across her injuries reveals her father's issues, and even more so, her inability to realize those issues. "Daddy [was] shouting behind her, swiping with his fists - not meaning to hit her." There are many clues sprinkled into the entire short story that lead to the conclusion that the dead woman in the morgue is Lisette's mother. The fact that she disappears randomly for unknown numbers of days, the fact that she finds ways to weasel out of answering direct questions about her profession, and the fact that Lisette's mother doesn't want her to wear lipstick are all subtle clues to her prostitution. And this dead woman was found in a drainage ditch behind a sleazy motel -- not an uncommon resting place for a freshly slain hooker. Mentioning that the wallet found near the corpse carried the ID of Yvette Mulvey could even be considered a not-so-subtle hint, yet Lisette still refuses to see any connections between any of the aforementioned ideas.
When Lisette is finally confronted with the issues surrounding her parents, she cannot cope with the ideas presented to her. Officer Molina, the cop that is most focused on in the story, tells Lisette that her father is not, in fact, a sergeant in the army anymore, but that he has been AWOL from his position for a year. She is so shocked that she begins to shiver furiously. She cannot control the truth. Next, the officer leads her over to the corpse. Lisette looks over the body, thinking that, “This was not a woman, but a thing – you could not really believe that it had ever been a woman. Some sad, pathetic, broken female, like debris washed up on the shore.” She begins gagging, and the officer leads her to a restroom in case of vomiting. Lisette demands to be taken back to school, taken back to JC. The officers comply, and when she arrives, Lisette's friend Keisha inquires if she is “O.K.” to which Lisette replies, while laughing into the “bright buzzing blur,” “Sure I'm O.K. Hell, why not?” She returns to the girl who knows only what she has seen, and she had not seen her mother earlier that morning. She continues to live in a daze. She refuses to cope with the reality of her life.
And who could blame her? Her mother was a prostitute, found dead in a ditch, her father was a raging lunatic with anger issues, and from the way her life is going, she herself will possibly follow in her mother's footsteps, her first client being JC. She has nobody, no one, not one person in the world to turn to. Nobody to take her to get her prescription eye drops, nobody to tell her to care enough about herself to wash, nobody to tell her what's right from wrong. Is it okay for this girl to just deny reality, because hers is so horrid, or should she try to confront it and conquer it?
Lisette Mulvey is used as the protagonist in Joyce Carol Oates' short story, ID, to explore how this grimy, grungy girl copes when the true circumstances of her life are shoved in her face, like a plate of freshly prepared worms, still squirming. And through her experience -- readers are forced to attempt to identify their own "true circumstances,” and ponder the idea of denying reality.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Femme de Lumière Outline Part 1
3rd person limited
parents were royalty
describe mom
describe dad
Instant Targets
hide from world
trying to live life normally
invasion of city
introduction to the haggers
called out for who you are
sentenced to death
hidden child
1st person
that was me
watch execution - beheading
running the fuck away
starving
cold
nasty smelling
miserable
homeless
alone
day-to-day
a cat
a back door
a warm glow
a family
observing happiness
a stranger
startled
wide eyes
my figure - skinny
wonder
being taken in
given affection
- food / drink
- a bath
- clothes
cat comes to play
a good night's sleep
warm blankets
soft skin
experiences- happy times w/rescuers
bliss to build a relationship
school
class mostly boring
interest in military
elementary friends
military games
telling of interest
but you're a girl
ok, if it makes you happy
off to school
a girl at a military school?
showin the bastards up
ms independent
want to get some food sometime?
a boy
what are boys
why do i feel like this?
new emotions
a hug
a kiss
a lot of kisses
confusion
really showin the boys up
getting attention
developing
do you know what sex is?
could be called rape
top of the class
graduation
separation
off to the military
boot camp
guns
swords
losing half my sight
artillery
fun stuff.
http://www.militaryschoolalternatives.com/index.html - for research
parents were royalty
describe mom
describe dad
Instant Targets
hide from world
trying to live life normally
invasion of city
introduction to the haggers
called out for who you are
sentenced to death
hidden child
1st person
that was me
watch execution - beheading
running the fuck away
starving
cold
nasty smelling
miserable
homeless
alone
day-to-day
a cat
a back door
a warm glow
a family
observing happiness
a stranger
startled
wide eyes
my figure - skinny
wonder
being taken in
given affection
- food / drink
- a bath
- clothes
cat comes to play
a good night's sleep
warm blankets
soft skin
experiences- happy times w/rescuers
bliss to build a relationship
school
class mostly boring
interest in military
elementary friends
military games
telling of interest
but you're a girl
ok, if it makes you happy
off to school
a girl at a military school?
showin the bastards up
ms independent
want to get some food sometime?
a boy
what are boys
why do i feel like this?
new emotions
a hug
a kiss
a lot of kisses
confusion
really showin the boys up
getting attention
developing
do you know what sex is?
could be called rape
top of the class
graduation
separation
off to the military
boot camp
guns
swords
losing half my sight
artillery
fun stuff.
http://www.militaryschoolalternatives.com/index.html - for research
Outline of "Are You Scared Yet?"
Some happy family experience... learning to shoot w/dad... going home for noms after... bliss
Attack on village - heroine's father goes down
escape from village
the horse and the carriage
managing to live
the first city - devastation of war
observation of the guild & calvin
the second city - meeting shu (hes lagging behind for some hilarious reason)
traveling with potatoe
pitfall
the cave
the SHIT INSIDE THE CAVE
victory
arrival at the metropolis
meeting vryali & tememn - the bffs
inspiration
meeting classy & looty - the secretary &the absent one who cares
observation of a meeting
wtf is that guy doing?
meeting calvin - the bastard fisherman
admittance to the guild & chat with the JB darlin'
Puddin runs the guild's bar
drinks with KJ - the sweetheart, DP - the bad influence, and Rhae - the kind of crazy guy
Jack is a bard. lol
observation of Az angry in a corner (♥ Az XD)
the next day:
off to breakfast!
Halo runs the bakery in town
observation of Furen being entranced by the pretty cakes in the bakery
observation of Draez purchasing his petit pains
observation of Wiggles and BigAl with their faces stuffed with pie - eating contest!!
On the street:
Humi, Trey, and Amethyst - trey thinks he is a damned pimp, but the girls put him in his place! teehee :3
PT following Calvin around asking "how i mine for fish"
Calvin going to fish market - explaining things to PT while fighting over fish market w/Deme
Meeting w/Leader Vry & JB
noticing Ari behind JB
Mission statement: helping the war effort
but for now, you're still a scrub, so go explore
Ari
departure
travel
observations of nature
sleeping - leaves awakening
do you mind if i tag along?
awkwardness
persistence pays off
some smiles and laughter
arrival
um, wtf are we doing?
oh good god - ominous feelings
ninjaing through
sighting of the goal
fighting
loss
panic
corner
sandwich
sweat, breath
shuuuush
a strike
WHAT?! That's out of character!
tending wounds
going to my new "home"
reunion
Attack on village - heroine's father goes down
escape from village
the horse and the carriage
managing to live
the first city - devastation of war
observation of the guild & calvin
the second city - meeting shu (hes lagging behind for some hilarious reason)
traveling with potatoe
pitfall
the cave
the SHIT INSIDE THE CAVE
victory
arrival at the metropolis
meeting vryali & tememn - the bffs
inspiration
meeting classy & looty - the secretary &the absent one who cares
observation of a meeting
wtf is that guy doing?
meeting calvin - the bastard fisherman
admittance to the guild & chat with the JB darlin'
Puddin runs the guild's bar
drinks with KJ - the sweetheart, DP - the bad influence, and Rhae - the kind of crazy guy
Jack is a bard. lol
observation of Az angry in a corner (♥ Az XD)
the next day:
off to breakfast!
Halo runs the bakery in town
observation of Furen being entranced by the pretty cakes in the bakery
observation of Draez purchasing his petit pains
observation of Wiggles and BigAl with their faces stuffed with pie - eating contest!!
On the street:
Humi, Trey, and Amethyst - trey thinks he is a damned pimp, but the girls put him in his place! teehee :3
PT following Calvin around asking "how i mine for fish"
Calvin going to fish market - explaining things to PT while fighting over fish market w/Deme
Meeting w/Leader Vry & JB
noticing Ari behind JB
Mission statement: helping the war effort
but for now, you're still a scrub, so go explore
Ari
departure
travel
observations of nature
sleeping - leaves awakening
do you mind if i tag along?
awkwardness
persistence pays off
some smiles and laughter
arrival
um, wtf are we doing?
oh good god - ominous feelings
ninjaing through
sighting of the goal
fighting
loss
panic
corner
sandwich
sweat, breath
shuuuush
a strike
WHAT?! That's out of character!
tending wounds
going to my new "home"
reunion
Femme de Lumière Ideas (Woman of Light)
NEED A NAME!
One eye
Dark features, light eye, eye patch
dark horse
Corsair-like garb; thigh high boots, kinda British style
THIS
PLUS THIS
AND THIS
...with some tweaking ...and less cat-girlness
the dress - like this, but purple (purple = royalty)
brown hair - tied like cornelia's
2 rapiers & a gun pew pew bad ass
around napolean's era (weapons, tactics)
on the field: strong, independent, sexy, fucking bad ass, smart
off the field: witty, sweet, loving, beautiful
known for: "the one eyed goodbye" - when the opposing army surrenders, one eye is taken from each man, and the men are told to not return - if a 1 eyed man is caught fighting again, he will be taken prisoner, and tortured until he A) dies during torture B) asks to die (beheading, escorted by a beautiful woman) C) becomes an inquisitor - the inquisitors will not kill intentionally, some mistakes will be made though! all prisoners are given a pen and paper... the system is there to not take life from the opposing team, but to remind them that war is shitty by disabling them a bit... if they come back... then its lights out... don't fuck w/this country lol
dies during childbirth
husband commits suicide when child is 5 or 6, his whole story is finding lumi a home
lumi's story begins ~ bringer of joy
narrative transition:
main (Woman of Light) → her man (Man of Shadow) → her child (Child of Dawn)
"I've been able to withstand the pain of the world because I can only see half of it."
inspired by one of my favorite figures in history:
and this guy:
...the shit I come up with in the shower is ridiculous
One eye
Dark features, light eye, eye patch
dark horse
Corsair-like garb; thigh high boots, kinda British style
THIS
PLUS THIS
AND THIS
...with some tweaking ...and less cat-girlness
the dress - like this, but purple (purple = royalty)
brown hair - tied like cornelia's
2 rapiers & a gun pew pew bad ass
around napolean's era (weapons, tactics)
on the field: strong, independent, sexy, fucking bad ass, smart
off the field: witty, sweet, loving, beautiful
known for: "the one eyed goodbye" - when the opposing army surrenders, one eye is taken from each man, and the men are told to not return - if a 1 eyed man is caught fighting again, he will be taken prisoner, and tortured until he A) dies during torture B) asks to die (beheading, escorted by a beautiful woman) C) becomes an inquisitor - the inquisitors will not kill intentionally, some mistakes will be made though! all prisoners are given a pen and paper... the system is there to not take life from the opposing team, but to remind them that war is shitty by disabling them a bit... if they come back... then its lights out... don't fuck w/this country lol
dies during childbirth
husband commits suicide when child is 5 or 6, his whole story is finding lumi a home
lumi's story begins ~ bringer of joy
narrative transition:
main (Woman of Light) → her man (Man of Shadow) → her child (Child of Dawn)
"I've been able to withstand the pain of the world because I can only see half of it."
inspired by one of my favorite figures in history:
and this guy:
...the shit I come up with in the shower is ridiculous
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