Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Final Blog Entry

During this class, I really learned how to really interpret books in a differemt way. I can understand better of the monomythic procedure of stories. Things I never noticed, I can now see. I think out of all the symbolisms, the stories, and special presentations from the professor's wife, I really did love learning about the Hero's Journey.

My favorite blog that i did was the Hero's Journey on my favorite books. Since I am a big fan of True Blood, what better way to do the project than on one of the books. Although it was difficult since it's a monomyth and not a "duomyth", much time was needed to differentiate the two different stories in the book. I was able to re-read and notice these points of when the Hero goes through her changes. It was also a lot of fun to see just the journey instead of just the plot.

The most interesting blog during this semester was the Professor's archetype. The fact that he was a Magician and an Orphan seems very fascinating to me. His blag had inspired me to do much more research on myself to figure out why my archetypes were what they were. His explanation of why he didn't believe he was an orphan made me think why i had the archetype of being a dark magician. The magician had described himself perfectly while me being the altruist was really on point of myself.

This semester was an interesting all the way through, and  I am thankful I had such a great professor to teach me.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

✖True Blood ✖

Dead To The World: Sookie Stackhouse Series #4

         Dead to the World is the fourth installment in the Sookie Stackhouse Series, or is the fourth series in the HBO Original Series, True Blood. If you are a fan of True Blod and have not read the books or want to know what's going to happed next, you may want to stop reading now. This book has two plots in which in one part, Eric is cursed and can't remember who he is, and the other where Jason goes missing and no one knows where he is. I will discuss the plot of Eric and the curse.



    This book has the Hero with a THousand Faces, or the hero's journey within the book in a huge way. We first will start with the Departure, the Initiation then finally the Return.

    The Call to Adventure begins when Sookie is driving home from the bar, Merlotte's on New Year's Day and sees a naked man running down the road. That naked man, turns out to be Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5. What surprises Sookie mmore is that he doesnt remember who he is. The Refusal of the Call is when Sookie tries to call Pam, his second-in-command to come and get him. She says she will have to come tomorrow night to see him. For the night, Eric spends the night at Sookie's in the "hidey-hole" she'd built for Bill when they were still together. The Supernatral Aid is when Pam arrives and tries to explain what might've happened to Eric which is he is cursed by witches. Jason is around to ask that they pay Sookie for keeping Eric. The Crossing of the First Threshold is when Sookie goes to Holly, another barmaid from Merlotte's because although she is not a witch, she is a Wiccan. She helps Sookie by telling her there was a small coven located near Shreveport, which is the area where Eric's bar, Fangtasia, is located. Sh also finds out the same day that her brother has gone missing. His truck  Sookie then walks in the Belly of the Whale by going into Fangtasia, and notices something is off. She steps inside and sees the fangbanger, Belinda inside on the floor bleeding. Sookie runs up to her and says that everyone fought to the death. The witches put a spell on Belinda to where her leg muscle had expanded to be longer than what it was so that she would recieve a horrible, horrible cramp. The same was done for another fangbanger, Ginger, but she hit her head on the lip of the sink and died. Sookie then is told it was a witch named Hallow who broke in and set the curses. She explained how she was as strong as a vampire and proved it by taking a dolly and bending it to a u-shape. 

    We then get into the second part of the journey which is the Initiation. The Initiation is where, in my opinion, where all the biggest events happen.
    The Road of Trials begins when she call Alcide Herveaux to ask for his help and she goes with him to meet with the pack leader to gain some support and help. They go to a woman named Addabelle who is the "vice-president" of the pack, worried that she wasn't around the night before, to ask for some help but they see in front of her bridal shop her mother's car. When they step to the door, they find Addabelle's dead body with blood splattered all over a dress. When the cops come tp investigate, Alcide and Sookie have to lie and say they were engaged so that way, they had a legitimate reason to be at the bridal shop instead  of what the real reason was. As Sookie heads home, she meets with the "Goddess", whom that is Eric, and she then deals with the Goddess as the Temptress. Sookie explains to Eric that she had a bad day and needed a shower. As she showers, Eric joins her and continues on by washing her. The night goes on with the two of them having sex. The Atonement with the father is when Hallow walks into the bar while Sookie is working, and cannot deny this is her. Hallow proceeds to put up posters of Eric in the bar to have anyone contact her if someone sees him. Sam has a meeting with Hallow who speaks to Sookie, and she makes up a story like she has seen him before, but he was just another pretty face.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Blog Entry 3.5: Coraline

         In every book, there is a process that the protagonist must go through. They are almost the same in every story, if not switched around a little bit. The Hero’s Quest, an interpretation written by Joseph Campbell, is said to identify the hero goes through in a story. In the text, Coraline, many of the different parts of the Hero’s Quest are identified. Some are small parts of the quest, while others can be very big. The Hero’s Quest is broken up into 3 parts being the Departure, the Initiation and the Return.


         This is something important to a reader because sometimes it helps the reader understand the story much better. The steps describe what it is the hero must go through to get to the next step. This also makes identifying each part of the story easier, being that they are mainly used in most stories. This is something to care about because once you understand the parts to the quest, it helps the book make sense and the reader never really has to wonder why the hero, or main character is doing what they are doing.


         The Departure in Coraline is pretty distinct. First, the Call to Adventure is seen. The Call to Adventure is when the hero’s life is going to change, whether they are aware of it, or not. In the story, the Call to Adventure is when Coraline and her family move into the new home. She discovers the door, but is not fully aware of its use to her. The Refusal of the Call is when the call is given but refuses to go on the adventure.  She is sleeping one night and hears a slow “.... kreeee... ...aaaak”.  (pg. 10) She sees a black shape scurrying in the dark into the corner by the door, and she turns on the light. When she sees the door slightly open she doesn’t pay any mind.  Another example is when Coraline speaks to the old man upstairs. The old man says he has a message for her from the mice. the message was, “Don’t go through the door.” Coraline has no idea what it means and continues going about her way. The Supernatural Aid is when the hero is given an artifact, item, or has a physical someone or something to help her with the upcoming quest. When Coraline is visiting with Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, they read her tea leaves, and she is warned that she is in terrible danger. Miss Spink then gives her a small stone with a hole all the way through it.  She is excited about the warning and begins going back home. The Crossing of the First Threshold is when the hero actually crosses into the new world they were called to, and then are in the new world where the rules and limits are unknown to them. This occurs when Coraline is alone in the house, bored, and she grabs the keys to the door. Except when she opens the door, she doesn’t see a brick wall, she sees a long, dark hallway. She travels down the hall, and realizes its her home b ut her mother and father have buttons for eyes. This is when The Belly Of The Whale is presented. This point is when the hero seperates from her real world to the alter world. The hero is wiling to go through a metamorphosis. When Coraline realizes that her other world is better, she has a feeling of not wanting to go back. Her other mother makes a delicious chicken, fried potatoes and peas. She describes it as the best tasting thing she ever ate. She visits the other neighbors and then returns home to her other home.


The Initiation is sort of mixed up in the story but can be very distinct if read deeply. The Road of Trials is when the hero must go through a series of steps to make the transformation. Coraline returns back to the other world noticing that her parents have been kidnapped and she sets out to save them. She realizes that the other mother is quite evil, and wants to keep Coraline forever. The Meeting with the Goddess is shown when the cat explains to her that the other mother just wants something to love and keep. She has nothing in the other world, so she does whatever it takes to make the person stay.The Woman as a Temptress can be described for the other mother. The other mother speaks to Coraline about what they were going to do for the day, and Coraline refuses. The other mother decides that she needs to learn manners, and throws Coraline behind the wall of the mirror. There Coraline meets with the spirits of the other children the other mother consumed. (Consumed meaning she fed on their souls and took their hearts.) The Atonement with the Father is where the hero confronts the person who has the ultimate power in the story that being the Other Mother.


















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

Blog Entry 3.4

          Since i can't make a wiki page for any of the Sookie Stackhouse series, i'm pretty much stumped. I am pretty much stuck doing the monomythic essay for one of the books. Maybe i will be able to do a wiki page for the monomythic essay. Hopefully it hasn't been done yet.

- Research to see if it has been done
- Finish the book before the deadline and break up what i have read so far into the different parts.
- All should be done before the deadline of 12/9

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Blog Entry 3.3

         So far, i have been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. If you are aware, this is also the hit series, True Blood on HBO. I have read the first 6 novels and is working on the 7th; I am also readin the 7th as we speak. Since I have been reading this, i am going to try and base my final project aroungd this.

          I was thinking of a wiki page, but it seems like it will be too overwhelming for me. I was also thinking of doing the default project, but it doesn't seem very challenging and is very boring. Hopefully, I will be able to figure out what to do.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Blog Entry 3.2: Macbeth



          In this video, this is a scene from MacBeth where the witches for see his future of being Thane then King. They also explain that Banquo is also going to become something powerful like Macbeth. He becomes excited to hear the news and asks the witches to tell him some more. One of the witches seduces him a little bit, then disappear from him. He goes to look for them but instead, sees Banquo. Banquo says that maybe he's just seeing things and should forget about it. They are Weird Sisters and shouldn't be believed. A few moments later, someone walks into the scene and says that the Cawdor is to be killed for being untrue. It is then there that Macbeth is pronounced Thane of Cawdor.

          There are some archetypes such as the Fool and the Witches. Macbeth is the fool, for letting himself become drunk with power. Later on in the story, he starts to kill people so that way he can get to the top. This also makes you wonder; if the witches had never said anything , would any of this had ever happened? If he never knew about it, would it still come to be? His mind was overtaken by the Witches to believe what they wanted him to believe. The Witches are the other archetypes, especially since these women are really "witches". They control the events that have not yet-to-come and make it seem as though they are good people by telling their futures. They trick their victims into thinking that they must do these horrible things to become powerful.