In the book Burned by Ellen Hopkins, the way the pages are set up are not conventional, which in my opinion makes the book a very interesting, edgy read. They are written almost set up as poems, and as I read this book I found myself reading the pages in my head with breaks like a normal poem. On the particular page 301, the verses are written looking identical to stairs going downward. On this page the main character, Pattyn, is talking about how her family back home are doing, around the time of her birthday. Her sentence length ranges on this page, matching up to the feeling of this page. The pages in each paragraph or "stanza" if you will are normal but shorten as the point becomes more relevant. Her use of fragments also is a creative way of showing her short, concise thoughts. At the end of the page her writing starts to look like a list, and to me this shows the detachment growing between her and her family and the lack of excitement of her house back where she has spent most of her life. I'd say this page shows a major turning point in the book and the syntax just adds to the emotion.
This article is about how most men date people similar to their own mother, and enjoy the feeling of being taken care of. Frazier takes this idea a little farther than normal by asking the controversial question of, why not just date your mom? You love her and you have spent all your life getting to know her, so going ahead and dating her would make sense. It takes away the work of going out and dating many women, when you're bound to date someone similar to your mother in the end.
I'd say this article is funny because it takes an odd idea and treats it like a normal thing, making it almost understandable in a comedic way, though the topic itself is funny enough. Frazier uses many key elements to create a successful comedy, there's a juxtaposition right there in the title! Normally we don't see the words "dating" and "mom" together in this context, or any context for that matter. This title is full of euphemisms for the idea of dating the women who gave birth to you. In the first paragraph, when Frazier initially introduces the main idea of his writing, he says, " There are hundreds of times when you and your mother are thrown together naturally", as a reader I interpreted this as a way of making fun of the fact that, of course you are thrown together, she is the woman that gave birth to you and tended to your every need for the first years of your life, and possibly longer if you're that much of a momma's boy. I would say this is satirical because as opposed to other types of comedy, such as slapstick, there is a purpose to this comedic piece. I'd say the purpose to this comedy is to say that many more grown men today are relying on their mothers while they should be out making a life for themselves. Though most men who live at home are not as extreme as this article states and do not wish to be a baby, that is how satire is written. Satire is meant to be sarcastic and exaggerated, and push the boundaries. Under other circumstances, claiming that dating your mother is okay, even a good idea would be ghastly, but in this comedic sense, it is accepted. #8: What is Mrs. Shears opinion of Christopher?
Mrs.Shears does not like Christopher and how he does not understand boundaries. She thinks he came into her backyard and killed her dog, which does not sit very well with her, also after the incident of the dog in the night-time he keeps coming around and asking questions about Wellington, acting as though it is a big mystery he is in charge of solving. It seemed in the past Mrs. Shears had a different opinion of Christopher because she helped him and his father out after his mother died. Her change in opinion only seems to be coming from the thought of him killing her dog, which he is not responsible for. #10: Christopher makes many points to show his behavioral problems. I say Christopher as the narrator because it is him who is telling the story, explaining how he sees things occurring. There are many things Christopher does that would not seem normal to us. For one thing, Christopher does not like anything that is brown and yellow. He does not like when people touch him, he will have a mental breakdown. These sorts of problems hold him back from going to a normal school. At the school he goes to her has many counselors and just now at 15 he can take a normal math class. The thing he likes about math is there is a definite answer unlike other things in his life. #20: People who read this book learn a lot about the human mind an dhow it works differently. How Christopher, who suffers from behavioral problems. He does not comprehend things like other people so explaining things to him is harder than it would be to other people. An example is when he finds out his mother has not been dead and that his father lied he does not understand why or how his father would do that if he knew it was wrong. He does not understand the thought of sparing someones feelings or not knowing what to do since he has never been head to head with a situation like that in his life until now. His father has tried to keep his life simple but it has meant not being completely honest with him all the time. The one thing Esquirel and Marquez have in common is their use of Magical Realism in writing. In both Like Water for Chocolate and A very old man with enormous wings. magical realism plays a role in the plot and conclusion of the story. It is said that Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the father of magical realism and I can tell why. In my opinion, A very old man with emormous wings by Gabriel Marquez used magical realism more efficiently than Esquirel did in Like Water for Chocolate.
Marque used magical realism as a main theme of his story, as did Esquirel but I would say that it was executed more appropriately in Marquez's writing. As the man with the enormous wings is an angel, you expect the story will be magically enhanced. Though this is a more trite example of a story using magical realism Marquez does a good job of making the story his own. His diction and sensory details bring the story to life. For instance, while reading I began to picture the man with the enormous wings and the chicken coup, almost as if I had seen it before. I did not have this same experience with Esquirel, as in my opinion the book did not have a lot of introduction to the scenery or characters for that matter. Like Water for Chocolate had the potential to be a great story, but the magical realism was brought up at random times and you never got to know much about the characters, also the vocab itself could have been more authentic to what people would have said at that time, almost how Khaled Hosseini used words real afgani people would have in A thousand Splendid Suns. Though Marquez had more sensory details, Esquirel did do a good job of taking advantage of figurative language, though that is not normally my favorite type of writing I cannot dispute her talent in that sector of writing, as I cannot in her creative ideas of ways to make this story different than ones before it, such as her use of Magical Realism. Esquirel could have used more influence from Marquez, and really used her magical realism to make the book an icon of how you can bring magical realism into romance, and even realistic fiction. Oh bay leaf
your aroma tickles my nose as I walk through the trees you help me find a happy place a moment of peace your sweet and chilled smell intoxicates me as cocktails do to men and women your leaves are comforting and simple like my bed when it is deep in the night you are a subtle plant like mice in the street at night, not drawing any attention your warmth reminds me of a summer night people surrounding a bonfire of dancing flames your color reminds me of a park where i spent my childhood years, riding through the sky on plastic dinosaurs your texture reminds me of a rough road bumpyand uncontrollable, like life itself you are a good representation of life and the world simple but complex rough but smooth warm but chilled as i am transported to my open meadow with tall, swaying grass I thank you, bay leaf, for brightening my day |