week 11

I found this week's choice very interesting. The piece I chose to read was Snow Crash which was really interesting to me because it was surrounded by the advancement of technology and the entire universe even the characters were run by it. I also loved the movie choice this week, the visuals were so awesome and I love the transition of the worlds or situations. It was so inventive how the artists and the director came up with such beautiful alternate universes and even though they are beautiful it's almost like they are scary as well, like when the man is in the elevator with the young girl and then he gets stuck on the 17th floor, or the dolls on the parade float or even the fairy almost getting caught by the tree limbs. It's just a really awesome balance I think and really innovative.

week 10

I feel like week 9 and week 10 have a lot of similarities as far as the type of style this topic is. I decided to focus on Dune this week which as I have just stated I find very similar rather than different than last week. I found a lot of anthropological type fiction. It is very in-depth as far as worlds, governments and economics go. for example the spice planet where people gather up the spice needed to uphold the economy and the people who live there adapt with the environment and one of those ways is their eyes change. I think of it as a very advanced version of the world today in the setting of other worlds.

Week 9

I read Stars by Destination for this weeks assignment and I find a somewhat common theme to these science fiction novels about space life and futuristic realities. One of which is political and economic governments of different planets or ships which I make a connection with the differences in the economics and politics of the world we live in now. It's almost like an anthropological advancement in the species, taking knowledge of present time and pushing the boundaries to evolve it in a way where it could happen that universe. Another thing that is very aware in these stories are good verses evil. Especially in Star Wars where Luke spends a lot of his life being good and learning the right way of things and wanting to defeat "the dark side" then come to find out he is of the dark side. In this particular example good and evil are defined by color especially in their weapons. I guess in a way they are trying to condition people to choose a side and know the consequences weather good or bad that come with that decision, which a lot of people might find helpful in their moral compassing strategies.

Mythic Fiction

This week I read Ananzi Boys by Neil Gaiman and I have also read the Sandman graphic novels too. I love his writing style because he has such a sense of humor that's subtle but noticeable. I find myself laughing throughout his books that I read. Any way I liked Ananzi Boys however I wish that I would have picked a different story to read for this week because this book was taking place in the real world and I guess I wanted to read something a little less familiar. Since I have read the Sandman books I would rather talk about that because I thought it was so unique to recreate the mythological stand points of several different myths. There was some Greek mythos and I also recognized Thor and Loki being in the midst of this series which is Norse mythos. One example of recreating a myth is the Thor and Loki example. Loki is portrayed in this story as a bad guy I mean it's stated that he is a trickster but the way he talks and what he does goes beyond basic trickery. I also found it really interesting the way they were drawn and designed for this project. I think next year or maybe in a year further down the road you should offer that as a reading choice for one of the weeks.

Spiritual Education

I was never really read books like this however I did watch a few of the Harry Potter movies and I see how magical this type of book is. First of in books like Harry Potter or The Night Circus you go into this fanciful world where really crazy and awesome things happen and kids totally dig it because authors who write this genre I feel are bringing out their inner child and just as an example with the Harry Potter books when you in a way grow with Harry Potter through the books you can go back to that magical childhood moment you experienced with him in the first book. As far as the book for this week Night Circus it has a few of the same components as Harry Potter like the girl Celia has an abusive upbringing but I see a big difference in the magic of this book. It isn't so much like witchcraft but an advanced illusion. I guess that would be my best way of explaining it. But regardless this genre of books appeals to children (even inner children) and gives us all a chance to experience magic.

Heroic Journey

Tolkien's stories The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings is perfect for this segment of class. I have been a huge fan of his work for many years and the thing I like most about his stories is that even though there is a main character who is a hero that hero doesn't succeed without a support system or a group of friends to help guide the hero through (in this case) his adventure. What I really like about this series of his is that it is so in depth and it focuses on relationships between characters. For example the relationship between the dwarfs at the dinner scene and they are all just gathering together and having a good time and then as they are making fun of Bilbow they are all singing about destroying his house and it just goes to show how loyal they are to each other and their friendship can withstand distance and   time to pull through for each other and that is how it is with all relationships built through his books so I think that speaks a lot about his character and that is why I enjoy his work.

Witches

I found this story very interesting, and in response to weather I see any stereotypes I did see a few however I feel like this story is way different than I had expected. I think the fact it's a group of old women is a stereotype but at the same time these women were completely average everyday old bitties. Something I thought was an interesting twist was the all the animal morphing. I can see how that is connected with witches and witches produce magic but I wasn't expecting that as a witchcraft. This is definitely kid friendly the witches aren't particularly scary like in the movie we watched Suspiria where there was a clan and the witch was scary and ugly. In fact most witches in the older films were portrayed as old, ugly and scary and I feel like movie makers made a point of that because back then witchcraft was something feared and unaccepted and now there are all kinds of different witches. Men, women, young, old and in all actuality anyone can practice witchcraft.