What Is a Short Story

    What can be classified as a short story? By definition a short story is "an in invented prose narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and aiming at unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot". This basically states that is it a written tale that happens to be shorter than a novel. I can't truly argue with this but i feel that a short story goes deeper then. A real short story will leave you thinking at the end about what you just read. Hemingway once wrote a short story that was only 6 lines long. "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn." This indeed does fit the description of being shorter then a novel but as I mentioned, it makes you wonder what you just read. It isn't 100% complete but that is what makes it a good short story. It is open for interpretation. Did the baby die? Was there an abortion? Were they girl shoes and it was a baby boy? No one will ever know, but it makes you sit there and think about it. 

     Short stories take an idea and craft something around it. For example we had read the story deep in the heart which was about a child around the age of 10 who was dying of a severe illness. The boy was granted a wish by the make a wish foundation and his wish was to go hunting. They didn't advise it but he still wanted to do it anyway. One night his father saw a deer in the yard and grabbed his gun, and his son to take him to shoot the deer. The son shot the deer, but then proceeded to take a second shot and kill his own father. This leaves you speechless at the end of everything. Simply wondering what just happened. There was an idea placed within this story, what the story was based completely around. It was about how this 10 year old boy who was dying, did not want to die alone. He was afraid to be alone so he took his father with him. The author took the idea of not wanting to die alone, and turned it into a short story. This is what I feel a short story is about. Taking an idea and letting the reader figure out what the meaning is to them. 

    Short stories tend to be like novels because they have the basic elements of a story such as things like a plot, setting, and characterization; though they do not need to have those elements. Some short stories can succeed without a few elements. The story we read earlier this year with the fish tank is proof of this. That story did not have a plot and merely just talked about perspective of the fish against the human being. Short stories can be almost anything that in some ways captivates a reader and makes them think about an idea. Whether that idea is something simple as how a fish feels before being taken out of the tank, or as deep as not wanting to die alone. A short story is a narrative that conveys a indirect message to the reader.

How To Escape From a Leper Colony

The plot that was for the story "The Saving Work" truly disturbed me. I had no clue what was going on at first, the church was burning yet two people were just standing there and they didn't know who started it or why of all things to light aflame the church. Then the story started continually flashing back from between the children of Deidre and Violet. The children's names were Thomas and Jasmine and Thomas has been harboring a crush on Jasmine while she has always figured him a brother-like figure. It starts off with them starting off in college going to the same state but not the same school. Jasmine didn't make any friends at school with her being shy. Her roommate was very sexually active with her boyfriend and Jasmine found herself being sexiled frequently. Jasmine meets a nice girl down from the hall one day while she is lying on the floor in the hallway and enjoys a nice cup of tea with her. Jasmine enjoys this but doesn't do it often due to her being uncomfortable around the girl's roommate. The next time Jasmine is locked out of her room, she decides to meet up with Thomas at the small cafe that they have met once previous. They talked about whether they feel black or white while away from home due to both of them being mixed, and it ended with Thomas holding Jasmine's hand walking back to Thomas' dorm. Jasmine ends up staying the night there and sleeping in Thomas' bed. Thomas having the crush on Jasmine makes a simple move by kissing her on the forehead and this launches them off into making out. Thomas leading and Jasmine going along with it. This continues until Thomas prematurely ejaculates in the bed while he was rubbing up against her. He was incredibly embarrassed. She crept out of his room the next morning and ended up going to her old crush's college to meet him without telling him. She showed up at his door with the intent of having sex with him. Then the story jumps to Thomas calling his mother telling her that he is marrying Jasmine. This event that occurs absolutely blew my mind. When Thomas says he is marrying Jasmine I honestly thought it was some kind of hoax or that the poor kid was just delusional. One night in bed with a girl, and all they did was kiss and there he was telling his mother that he was going to marry the girl. Then the story continues on and she calls her mother to say that she is pregnant. Then I realized that the marriage was for real. She was marrying him because she was pregnant, but not with his baby. That was the lie she told everyone, that it was his. Truly the baby belong to her crush Moby who she had spent that one night with. While all of this had been being flashed back, the church was still on fire with Deidre and Violet observing, thinking that the other had set this fire and wondering if their kids were alright. Deidre returned home and saw that her son and husband were ready for the wedding all in their tuxedos without knowing that the wedding was canceled.
This is just a feeling but I think that Jasmine started the fire to prevent her from getting married. She didn't want to marry Thomas, nor did she want the baby. Using her words; not now and not in 7 months.

Documentary vs Film

After watching the documentary Being Elmo, I must say that there are some very noticeable differences between the two styles of story telling. First off, a movie or novel/short story create a fictional world where you know nothing about. They involve you in this world and let you know everything about it and show you the wonder of this mysterious world. Then from there they sit down and show you a story that has been created in that world. It is happening right before your eyes, whether it is watching the avengers on the big screen; watching how the heroes battle villains with unique powers and shown using special effects. Or perhaps it could be sitting down and reading Fantastic Mr. Fox and how he fights to save all of the animals because of his huge blunder with the three farmers. No matter what you watch/read, you're incorporated into this fascinating fictional world of wonder.
On the other hand a documentary takes you to a different place. One that actually exists and it shows you that wonder. For example in Being Elmo, it takes you through the life of the man Kevin Clash who is the puppeteer for Elmo. It shows you the beginning of his passion for becoming a puppeteer started at age 10 while watching Captain Kangaroo and then Sesame Street. Kevin loved how puppets could bring a smile on people's facing and allowed him to create different characters. This is all portrayed in this documentary about his life. It brings you into his life and shows you the passion he has for puppets. It shows you the hard work and dedication it took for him to get where he is now, and it shows you the love he has for his job.
Documentaries are quite different from movies and novels because they show you a non-fictional world about someone or a specific topic and enlighten you. Movies are there to capture your attention and immerse you into a fictional realm. Both have their own purposes to the audience. The documentary is there to educate you about a subject that you may not know about and show you many things about it. They try to intrigue the mind into wanting to know everything. The novel, or movie on the other hand is for more entertain purposes, they allow you to forget the real world and immerse yourself into theirs. Both documentaries and novels/movies have things you can take from them. Possibly some sort of lesson, such as good triumphing over evil or to always follow your dreams.

The End of the Straight and Narrow

I read the story consequences of knowledge which was all about the main character Rowdy who had a huge secret that he had to keep to himself. This being that his father was having an affair. Rowdy knew this was because his parents were no longer close and his mother was now blind. He mentioned many times throughout the story that he was the reason she was blind but he never said truly what had happened. So living with this secret effected Rowdy day 1. He was out on a bike ride with his sister and she knew something was off about him and she pestered him all about it. He said nothing was wrong and she knew he was lying 100%. Rowdy had the immediate reaction to kick his sister off he bike which had a dire consequence. She broke her arm, and he knew it was all his fault. He had regret for what he had done instantly and tried to help her out but she wouldn't take any of his help. He brought her home to his mother and told her that she hit a rock on her bike and fell. She didn't believe him for a second but still had to bring her daughter to the hospital. Arriving at the hospital the doctors said it wouldn't be too bad to fix up and all she had to do was wear a cast for a while, or as the doctor called it "a brother bonker". When alone Rowdy was talking with his sister and to his amazement, she already knew about her father's affair. Rowdy was very surprised and his sister informed him about how long it took him to realize. She also enlightened him about the fact that their mother already knew about it yet they had no idea what would happen with their parnet relationship. Rowdy then immediately went to the nearest phone and called his dad to let him know that the entire family knows and has always known about his secret.
Rowdy's mother still did not believe the bike accident story and had Rowdy talk to a police officer which he told the same bike accident. His sister hit a rock while riding her bike and fell; breaking her arm. The officer did not believe Rowdy for a second either and brought him outside and took him to the backseat of his car and informed him that he was going to be spending the night down at the station. Rowdy was so nervous he ended up wetting himself in the back seat of the car and broke down telling the officer everything; him breaking his sisters arm, covering up for it, and even about his father's affair. The officer told him to tell the truth the first time and let him go. Rowdy met up with his mom and sister and they left the hospital together.

Consequences of Knowledge

    I strolled into money management class several minutes late as I normally do. I have no care about this class and especially none for the professor. Mrs. Murray was one of those absurdly happy people about everything for no reason, and at a turn of the dime could start yelling at you for the littlest of things. The strangest thing about her though was her fondness of me. She always acted like I cared so much about her class because I scored well. In reality, it was merely because it was a joke of a class and I was on the more intelligent side. It may have been arrogant of me, but I felt that I was better than most people in the class. They took it and felt that the class was impossible. Me on the other hand simply took it to fill in some credits as a blow away class for senior year in high school.
    I continued my way to my seat when I noticed that everyone was getting up and moving outward. They all began to sit on the outside of the room where there were computers lined up against 3 out of the 4 walls in the room. I quickly grabbed one of the remaining stations and started zoning out.
    "today we will take a test and the highest score will get a special prize, but the scores won't affect your grade blah blah blah."
    I really didn't care after I found out it wouldn't count towards my grade. I still obediently booted up my computer and went to take this assessment. It was three different tests and they covered general knowledge of each individual. I finished rather quickly because I normally do and they were also all multiple choice. I look at my grade at the final which was out of 60, and I had scored a 44. I quickly think hmm a 44/60 is about a 73-74. In my mind this isn't a great score but it didn't count so I didn't care much. Then I start hearing people say, "I can't believe that I only got a 35" and "that was such a hard test". I didn't think twice about it until 2 weeks to the day.
    I arrive to class and she calls out 4 names in the class, mine being one of them and she tells us to go to room 215. I have no idea what anyone could have done but we all stroll in together and see Mrs. Mitchell sitting at her desk with a sheet of paper in her hands. She says that the exam we all took was a test to see who would be on the team this year. What team my friend brad asked, with the reply of "the life smarts team". I immediately regret even trying on the exam because I knew where this was going. She calls out my name, I say hello and she congratulates me on being the person who scored the highest in the entire school and appoints me captain. She begins her spiel about how it is such a great honor to be part of the team, yet I feel the complete opposite of that.
   I could not believe what I had gotten myself into. All I simply wanted to do was sit in the back of the class and take my free A. It was a space filling class that I only took because it would be easy. Never would I have thought that my intelligence would ever get me into this kind of mess. Going to a fancy jeopardy contest with a bunch of kids who try to hard is not my idea of fun but I had to suffer the consequences of my own Knowledge.

Love Boundaries & Flower Sunday

To start off, neither of these stories were really that enjoyable to me. They were both really well written and gave great detail of each situation but I am not a huge fan of reading about love stories.
In the Love Boundaries, it was all about Anthony and Carrie's complicated relationship. Carrie lived in Bolivia and Anthony had come to stay. The story started off with Carrie really wanting to have a nice day in the sun. She wanted to go to a fancy resort and sit by the pool and go for a swim in the sun, which Anthony agreed too. When they arrived there, it was as if it were a ghost town. No one was at the pool and it was not this nice fancy resort that she had pictured but merely a cheap hotel with a pool. They went out for a swim and all Carrie could think about is how she wanted to talk with Anthony and how she wanted their relationship to grow. She felt Anthony had wanted the same thing but when they began talking she began getting very upset with him and immediately regrets it. They go back inside and realize that she is extremely burnt and that this is not at all how she imagined. Anthony attempts to ease her stress which is reassuring to her because it means hes not upset with her. Although his sincerity is clear, Carrie does not feel better. They then proceed to go out for a walk to see the animals. It was a calm walk where they continued talking and Carrie said "I think it's hard to be alone." Anthony responds to this by holding her hand and attempting to learn more Spanish while they're out for their walk.
In Flower Sunday Celia and Andrew have been married for many years and the stories begins with them about to go to church for the annual Flower Sunday. This brings back memories for Celia about the roses she had once gotten. She loved those roses more then most people could believe. Throughout the story, the reader comes to learn the Celia is not happy with her marriage. She however can not leave his husband because widows are looked down upon when they have children and she has four kids. The story progresses to where Celia is trimming the roses and nothing is going right, the roses are a mess and shes feeling exhausted and miserable. She is disappointed in her roses and she expects her husband to say anything, but he does not. All she wants in her relationship is for him to watch her, praise her, share her sadness or even hold her hand. She doesn't get any of this but takes comfort in her roses, although they look terrible this year, she remembers a time when they were beautiful.

Maus and the Fun Home

After reading some excerpts from these two stories, I do have to say that there was some very strong emotions in both of them. I would first like to talk about the first chapter in the Fun Home and about how awful it must be to live like that. Being at fear for each and every action you might do and also having no control over anything? The father practically told them how everything was going to be and if they did not like it, then it was too bad for them. Also he beat them when they messed something up or also when they criticized him. He was a perfectionist, not a father.
One particular line that stood out to me was that he treated the furniture like children and the children like furniture. This one line stands out to me because it described the entire 20 page excerpt in one line. The father was so caught up in having his perfect house that he wasn't a father to his children. He used them as free labor, and also seemed like he didn't love them. They were an extension of himself. This must be a terrible situation for the children to be in and I can't understand how or why the father does not realize what he is doing to his family.
The other except was from the story Maus. This was all about a flash back of a man who was in the war in Germany. It turned out he was Jewish and was going from bad situation to bad situation. He was enlisted in the war even though his father tried to cheat the system and get him out of it. Then he was capture by German soldiers and forced into a POW. There he was forced to work and suffer because he was Jewish. He however may be one of the luckiest people out there. He signs up for a German work program where he gets food and a bed to perform manual labor. This isn't the best possible thing to happen but it was a step up from the freezing cold he was in before. Then from there he is actually released from the work program which seems amazing until word gets out that the Germans are actually just going to kill him and everyone else that was released. Again staying with the luck theme, he ends up not getting killed. He is smuggled out by pretending he is a relative of someone else and he safely makes it to his home.