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.

Midnight in Paris

After watching the movie Midnight in Paris, I understand why we were required to watch this film. The movie is about a struggling writer who goes to Paris with his fiance and her parents to relax on a nice vacation. On the first night however they went wine tasting with some friends and Gil the main character decides to wander around Paris by himself. Consequently he gets lost and an old car from the twenties appears before him with all of its passengers urging him to join them. He proceeds to do so and he is meet upon the company of the two Fitzgeralds and Ernest Hemingway. He is amazed that he has found these people because they were around in the 1920's and he of course is not. He spends the evening with them and even gets Hemingway to offer to send Gil's novel to see Gertrude Stein for corrections.
When he leaves their company he comes back upon reality and believes he was merely drunk. He makes up a story for his fiance to believe and he proceeds to attempt to go back to this time in the 20's to continue his journey. Now when he goes back, Gertrude has given him ideas for his novel and he meets a lovely mistress whom he ventures through the twenties with. He continues to do this every night, escaping reality and venturing into the past. He meets famous artists as well such as Salvador Dali and Gil is in a near bliss state in the past.
In the present things are not going smoothly. His fiance is sick of his midnight strolling and why he doesn't spend time with her anymore. His soon to be father in law even tries to follow him using a private detective. This does not work at all because the detective ends up missing from the present.
In the end of this movie, Gil decides to stay in Paris and leave his fiance. He then meets the woman from the music stand and they walk in the rain to end the movie. Personally I found this movie very confusing to follow because things in the past and present would happen when he changes time. The time flow still progressed and he did not enter the same part when he returned as when he left. I also did not catch at all how they ended up in the 1890's. This just seemed completely random to me. Also he continued to tell people that he was from the future and no one ever question him or called him crazy. They merely accepted it.

Hemingway

After reading this Hemingway piece, I felt he was a good writer. He wrote about what it was like being a writer and what to write about and how he feels doing it. The first scene was him at a coffee shop with his story writing itself in his own mind when this woman walks into the shop. Hemingway pauses and looks at the beauty of this girl and wishes he can get her into the story.
A big thing that stood out to me in this was when he was talking about writing a true sentence. A sentence that you can always start your writing off of. Simply think of the truest sentence you can possibly think of and write it down. From there he claims you can write an entire paper, and if you ever do get stuck simply backtrack. Go back to the last true sentence you wrote and continue from there until your piece is down.
In this story Hemingway was always talking with Miss Stein. I did not care about her very much. She seemed very pretentious and I don't enjoy reading about how she is better then people or how they are inferior people. She was very particular in what she liked, or what she suggested to have Hemingway read. His work was also almost never good enough for her always saying his work was "inaccrochable". I understood that she was more experienced at writing then him, but the fact she assumed she was some superior person simply bothered me. Also i found it strangely convenient that the authors she supported were  the ones who had supported or backed up her own career in some way. It could be a professional understanding where they keep each other afloat in their careers but i simply feel that it is just a pretentious woman saying only those who have helped her are good writers. The only other person she would mention that was a good writer was Sherwood Anderson and that was simply because of his glowing, warm Italian eyes.
I also would like to continue about how I do not like miss Stein in the story because she truly thought she was better then people. "That's what you are. That's what you all are,' Miss Stein said. 'All of you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation.'". "'You drink yourselves to death...'". She had no proof of this claim, was proved wrong but still had her bitter opinion till the end the of story. I simply did not like her in the story, and wished Hemingway would have continued about how he was writing in coffee shops and some of his tricks that he used to write with.

George Foreman Grill

The returning year when we arrived back again to visit my mother, we were welcomed at the door with hugs and kisses. She immediately started asking us whether or not we had had enough to eat and if we were hungry. She then began to fire up the george foreman grill until my newly married husband told her he would cook. She was not too pleased with the idea but she let him do it anyway. He was a good cook and always spoiled me with a delicious dinner. All throughout dinner my mother kept pestering us about how she wanted us to take the grill for ourselves. We started making up excuses as always about how we don't have room for it and that she needs it for herself, and also how we would never use it. She was not too pleased with our answer.
After supper we decided to return to our bedroom for some peace and quiet. My husband wrapped his legs around me and made a hissing noise, george foreman grill, george foreman grill. I giggled about our joke. I asked him, "maybe we should take the grill this time"? With his response of, "that's not what you said last year when I proposed the idea". I had changed mind mine since last year, I figured it was time to make my mother happy and take the grill away from her. I fully understood it had been our joke for years but sometimes it's more important to make someone else happy. My mother had always been trying to give us that silly grill because my husband is such a good cook.
The next morning at breakfast, what else should I have been expecting but my mother had the grill out and began pestering us about how we should take it. Then my husband looks at her and says alright. My mother's eyes opened wide and let out a big "really?", as if she was an eight year old girl being told she could have a pony. "Yes really, we will take it from you". She couldn't believe all that we had just said. When the words finally hit her, she ran up and started wrapping the grill as if it were a Christmas present. "Mom, you don't need to wrap it", as she was just adding the finishing touches. She was too caught up in her own world to even hear what I was saying. My mother always remember that year when we came over, because she finally got us to take the grill that we will be joking about for years to come.

Hamilton, Weems, and Walker

To start off Ann Hamilton had some different pieces. Her artwork was creations of random objects using different materials. It all seemed really weird to me. She made some extensive devices such as the human carriage which doesn't have any real purpose but to catch the human eye for a few minutes. Isn't that what art is supposed to do? Intrigue someone to want to see what the artist had created.
The next artist I reviewed was Carrie Weems. She was a photographer mainly who liked to focus on the issue of racism and an attempt with her to aid in the progression of eliminating racism. Her first work that she created was called family pictures and stories. This work told stories about her own family and she had also mentioned that it was about black families moving up north. Most of her later works also included the common theme of racism.
The final artist that I reviewed was Kara Walker. She had wanted to be an artist ever since she was a little girl followed her dream to where she is now. She is most famous for her room sized black paper silhouettes. Each one of her silhouettes tells a different story from many different topics; things like racism or history. She also tended to attacked the topics directly with very grotesque pictures and not being afraid to put it how it really is.
After viewing all of these three artist's work I must admit that my opinion has not changed at all about how I feel about art. It can be nice to look at or decorate your home but I fail to see the importance of it and why it must be analyzed. This could very well just be the engineer in me, but I am not a fan of this type of art.

diaz and moore

After reading the story written by diaz, I wonder about what I just read. This story was literally just how this one guy picks up girls. What he does when expecting them, what things he says and how he expects them all to respond depending on what race they are. It was very open about what went on and seemed like a more modern read. This story was not enjoyable to me; I did not want to hear about this guy moving the cheese out of the fridge because it offends certain types of girls.
Anyway this story puts a lot of detail into what this guy does for a first date and every possible situation that could arise. He determines what will happen based on where they are from, what color skin they have, and who he meets along the way. He even goes on to explain how he expects each one to take his advances and even how their parents will react to him and what he must do in order to not have any complications. Though as detailed as he was in this story, I still did not find enjoyment while reading it.
The other story we were required to read was a bit more interesting in my opinion. It was written in what I find a unique style. It was short posts, each one signifying a year and important things that have happened in each one. The interesting part was the fact that these did not go chronologically, they went in reverse time.
This style of writing really makes the reader think about what he or she has just read. For example, in one post from 1960 she states about how she received money from her fathers will and then in 1959 she is talking about a funeral and you start piecing things together as you progress through the story. This continues all the way to her beginning. It goes through both of her parents dying, her grandmother passing away, a midlife crisis and even childhood memories. I also thought it was unique that in these posts, she always talked about what was important to her then. As if it was a journal kept the entire time. It obviously was not but it gives it a slight impression that it was written at that time.
One major thing I noticed while reading this was that this woman was pregnant at least four different occasions and I don't recall he ever mentioning having children. Did she really get abortions for all of them, or were there some other cause for her never having a child.

Fairy Tale in Today's Words

A fairy tale that I would personally like to throw a modern twist on is jack and the bean stalk. The main plot of the story with jack getting the magic bean and planting it would stay the same. The big change that I would like to make is after the stalk has grown, he climbs it and his story would continue but what about everyone else in the world. With the power of technology and the media in today's world, this beanstalk would never be able to be kept a secret. Someone would find out about it, and post to facebook, or twitter and news teams from all over the country would be coming to see this magic stalk. They would all wonder, where did this come from, why was it planted, where does it go. There would be helicopters and planes circling the stalk unable to understand how high it actually goes. The media would likely twist this phenomena as an act of god or even possibly some form of alien technology. They would put fear into people. Crowds would gather around the stalk for miles wanted to see this enormous plant. The government would get involved and quarantine it from the public. The government would think a long time to as if they should destroy this abomination or find out where it leads for science. Jack would finally end up climbing down the stalk and he would immediately be brought in for questioning.
He would be interrogated harshly by the government but he would tell them everything that is up there. They would climb the stalk to see the giants in person and the media would report that there are monsters above the sky. A representative would be sent up to first to see if the giants would come in peace but after a day had passed they had all feared the worst. The giant had killed the messenger. The army would be sent up to the top of the stalk to wage war on the giants. It would be construed that the giants declared war on america and that we have to defend our freedom. The giants were just minding their own business but the army was sent up to deal with this impending threat against our society.
They waged an awful war, the giants could crush twenty men with just their bare hands. The army equipped with just mobile weapons that they could take with them climbing the stalk. They had no artillery or tanks. Just guns and numbers against the vicious giants. Our army overwhelmed the giants by sheer numbers. They had never stood a chance against a war that they did not start. Even with their immense strength over humans, they were no match for us invading their home. We then proceeded to burn all of their home and make sure nothing was left.
Our army was victorious over the enemy who was never prepared for a war. The media presented that our soldiers were heroic and that we were proud they all defeated this new enemy. The stalk was then chopped down to make sure there was no connection left between our world and whatever remained of their own. A statue was raised and stalk day became a holiday. It was for the few men who died risking their life against the impending doom that was always there from the giants, whom no one knew existed until jack planted the bean stalk.
And for what happened to our original character Jack? He was sentenced to life imprisonment due to him being a conspirator and aiding the giants. He was the one who created the link from their world to ours. Jack the rest of his life in a cell all because he traded the cow for the beanstalk instead of at the market for money like his mother had wanted him to the entire time.
 If there would be a moral or motive of this story it would probably be to be obedient. Listen to your parents and respectable adults. Also don't talk to strangers and especially don't take things from them because it will most likely not turn out well.

Fantastic Mr Fox (Movie vs Book)

     After reading both the book for Fantastic Mr. fox and the movie, I have noticed some major differences in the general plot. First off the movie started off with the foxes moving into the tree when in the book they had always lived there. The next difference was that Mr. fox and Mrs. fox used to both steal food together and he was asked to stop by Mrs. fox after they were caught once. Also when they had finally moved into the tree Mr. fox had one idea and that was to steal from the three farmers. Another big difference was the cider scene. Mr. fox stole the cider and was almost caught by Bean's assistant due to him hiding behind the cider. This happened in both but two key facts really made this different. The first thing is that in the movie Mr fox had to fight the rat in the cellar in hand to hand combat. The next difference is that this entire scene happened before the farmers were out to kill the foxes. In the book this scene was toward the end.
     Other major differences were at the end of the movie. The book simply ended when the foxes had found a way into the farms without ever going above ground and the farmers were said to have still been waiting outside the fox holes. In the movie, when they had figured out a way into the farms, the farmers found out and decided to flood them all out with cider. Then Mr fox decides its time to give himself in, in order to save all of the other animals.
     This is a scene I would like to talk about in depth. Things seem to be at their darkest. The animals are not winning the battle. The farmers have gotten the best out of them. Their home has been destroyed, and they have no real source of food. All because Mr fox had decided that he wanted to steal from the farmers. This scene is gloomy, the music portrays it perfectly. All of the animals are sad and Mr fox knows what he must do. This takes a brave person. He is sacrificing himself for the greater good. When he gives himself up to the farmers, he will save all of the other animals. Though what makes it even braver is the fact that it will not be a heroic death. It will be embarrassing. He will go above the ground and he will be shot on sight. His head will be placed above the fireplace. His tail will be continued to be worn as a necktie and his fur will likely make a nice jacket. It will be humiliating. It is something he must do, though he is not forced into it; it is necessary.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

     The story starts out describing the scenery. There are three farmers of different goods, one with chickens, one with geese and ducks, and the other raises turkeys and has an apple orchard with which he makes cider. There were a family of foxes who lived nearby under a hill beneath a giant tree. Mr. fox would ask his wife Mrs. fox what she would like for dinner and every night he would go out and get whatever she desired from the farmers, whether it be chicken, duck, or even turkey. Mr fox was very clever though and was able to avoid the farmers who were very upset with him stealing their farm goods. "Mr. Fox would smell him out from fifty yards off and quickly change direction, heading for chicken house Number Four at the other end of the farm." 

     Mr fox was careful not to be caught but the farmers were getting fed up with him. They had the great idea of hiding out right outside Mr fox's home and wait for him to come out the next night and shoot him. the wind was blowing the other direction that day and Mr fox could not smell them, when he peaked his head out he heard rustling in the bushes. He decided it wasn't anything and walked out further until he saw the farmers next to him with guns. He then dashed right back into his whole but in the process his tail was shot off. That is most unfortunate for poor Mr fox. The farmers had another idea to take care of the fox, dig him out. 

     They began digging and the family of foxes heard what was going on and began to dig for their lives. "A fox can dig quicker then a man!" The foxes dug deeper and deeper until they had believed they were safe. The farmers then had their next brilliant idea where they would dig out the foxes with tractors. Their ideas have not been bad in the slightest but the execution is what is lacking for them. Also Mr. fox keeps outsmarting them.

     The farmers then proceed to dig out the foxes with the tractors and they gain on the foxes, but days have passed and the farmers decide that it is best for them to wait outside the hole with their guns. They were even smart enough to have all of their workers come out and wait at any possible escape for the foxes.

     The foxes were starving down in their hole and things were looking bad, but Mr fox had this brilliant idea. He just simply needed to tunnel to a specific location which was the farmer's farmhouses to get their goods and bring them for a nice feast. Mr fox knew the entire farm perfectly and could direct himself even underground which was amazing. I personally couldn't find how to turn the television on in the dark and he can dig his way to a chicken coop yards away from underground. 

     Mr fox, on his way to all of his destinations, found Mr badger who mentioned that his family, rabbit's family and weasel's family were all starving. This is actually all entirely Mr fox's fault. If it weren't for Mr fox stealing from the farmers every single night, they would never have been as upset as they were. Then they wouldn't be waiting all over the country side with weapons ready to kill them all. Although Mr fox was the cause, he also presented the solution. He stole from each of the farmers that night by digging a tunnel system to all of their farms and created a feast for all of the animals that were starving.

     Mr fox then realized that none of them would ever have to leave their burrow again. They could all live happily underground and steal directly from the farmers without ever stepping foot on the soil above ground. They even said the farmers were still waiting for them outside their hole. I find this very amusing because it just proves how arrogant and unintelligent the farmers are.

Almost no memory correspondence

     The letter from correspondence did not interest me very much though I am here now talking about it. These letters were from Henrietta a freshman high school student who had a large interest in South America. She was doing her class assignment of writing letters to a pen pal. Her pen pal never did respond throughout the entire collection of letters.
     There are a few messages I feel I can pull out of this. The first is to always honor your word, why would you say you would do something and then never do it? Manoel, Henrietta's pen pal, had his name on the list of people to send a letter to for her class. He never responded to any of the letters. Many months had passed and he had not written back a single letter even though he said he would. This just shows that not following through with your word can hurt people.
     The other thing that this collection of letters can also show is to not hang onto things you care about forever. Henrietta wrote letter after letter without ever getting one back. She cared greatly about other cultures and this was more than just an assignment to her. She waited months and wrote more letters simply hoped for a response from Manoel; she never got one though. She had to realize that it was not meant to be, even though all of her classmates got letters back and she was the one to actually care about the assignment. She wasn't just writing a letter, she was exploring an interest and she had to reach a point where she had to hang it up.
     The next story that I read was about a woman who wrote a story that no center. She was not a religious woman but wrote a religious story about a hurricane that came toward her village and didn't actually hit it. It was also about a man who was very ill and asked her to stop by but none of these three things were highlighted enough in the story to actually be what the story was about. How i feel about this is that you can not spread yourself too thin, because then you will not be anybody. if there isn't enough of "you" to go around then why would you even be doing it in the first place. You need to define yourself as a person by doing things you enjoy, such as her writing a story about one topic instead of too many things.
     In this story one line really stood out to me "blasphemy proved one's belief in God". This line really caught my eye because blasphemy is the act of disliking, disobeying or even not believing in a spiritual entity. That sentence though disproves the idea of even being able to perform blasphemy. It creates a loophole where as if you don't want to believe in a god, you have to first accept the idea that one exists in order to not believe in it.

Fires and The Remembered

I greatly enjoyed the short story fires. This is probably because I was a runner for a good portion of my life and I know how Glenda feels when she runs. There aren't too many feelings like running. I would personally love to go running through the mountains as she did because it would be so peaceful. Even with someone trailing her, they never talked and I envy her for that privilege. People who run are not always running from some problem they have in their life. They run to better themselves, not just physically but also mentally. When I run like that, my mind wanders. I think about goals and dreams, and I don't have any care in the world. Things are just simpler while I'm running. 

What i took away from fires was that you should love what you have in your life, and don't throw it away. On the last page when Glenda said "please love", I feel she was talking about everything around the narrator. She had set a fire to everything around him to show him he would miss the beauty in his world, and on a deeper level, miss her. It is rare to have a connection with someone without talking to them consistently. Their runs were silent, like their bond. Even though he knew that she was going to leave, they still were connected.

The Remembered was a story unlike any that I have ever read. It was about a woman who had the love of her life devolve from his human form into more primitive forms every day. This was actually very disturbing to think about. Her husband became an ape, and then continued this process and became a salamander. On the bright side of the story she always loved him, no matter what shape or form he became next. True unconditional love as great as hers is rare in today's world.

The thing that I took away from this story is to think about things less. Her lover, before the process happened, always told her to think about things less. He would take her out under the stars and tell her there is no space for anything but dreaming. As the story progressed, she did this more and more. She didn't even think about him turning into an ape. She merely accepted it and continued to love him for he was. She didn't call 911; she sat with him and smoothed his fur. People in today's world do think about some things far too much. Then this leads to worrying which is not normally a good thing.

Together both of these stories have a common theme of letting your mind go. Stop worrying about tomorrow and live your life for today, because there are beautiful things around you and you won't know how long they'll last.