Blog Post #6

Story from Feb. 18th: Describe a noun in one sentence and then make a story surrounding that particular noun

    The building stood modern and loud with its familiar logo and fluorescent color scheme standing proud for all to see.  Although we've received complaint after complaint the line never ends-- we must be doing something right. The soldiers march in tired, fed up, and ready to assume position. The lieutenants drag themselves in hoping that this war will end better than the last. As the clock-in button is clicked, smiles are forced, hair is brushed back and shoulders too.

       The enemy attacks with order after order, and we fight the good fight with spatulas in hand ready for the rush to end.  It is now 16:22 and one of our soldiers has ran off leaving us down a member, but alas we cannot disappoint so we march on. Some of our men are losing sight of the goal, cries can be heard, prayers are being made, orders are being taken. This is typical of a Friday rush.

        We came here with the hopes of living more, now we just want to go home. The enemy now wants peace so they walk in with their heads held high, receipt in one hand, wife in the other. They complain about the price, they complain about the portions, they complain about the atmosphere. I listen, for it is my job to console them with free food and apologies.

        Men double my size and age talk blindly at me. Disregarding the fact that I am young enough to be their child, tiny enough to fit into their wives purses, and fragile enough to break down at any moment. All they see is a badge, it doesn't represent power- I am worse than a figure head. At least they start off with good reputations. I am responsible for the mistakes of my team. I am in charge of the yelling, the refunds, I receive the write ups, I take the sass, I welcome the drunks. I am a manager.
       With my shoulders slouch, my gaze finds something in the background close enough to his head so that he thinks I'm looking at him. After he is satisfied he leaves victorious and I am left to pick up the pieces.  The wives and girlfriends always leave me with apologetic smirks and body language that tell a tale of despair. I feel sorry for them, but I must return back to my station.

   Wrappers fly, wages are at stake, the American dream is joke, and the orders keep coming.

Blog Post #5

While reading the Fiction packet I must admit I fell completely in love with it. It takes readers on a journey as to what one should and should not do when writing fiction. There were so many things that I already knew of such as character development that the author gave a new twist to in order to give a new perspective on how to do them. With this being said it would be pretty obvious to see why the character section of the packet was my favorite.
   I've attempting writing short stories where the characters don't really grow or tend to act out in stereotypical ways with resolutions that can be seen a mile away. I never thought that developing a character would take time for both the writer and the reader. Thinking of a character of more of a polaroid makes my job as the writer a lot easier. Learning to go with the flow and do what YOU think the character would actually do instead of what they SHOULD do is what makes a character grow.
    This "letting the chips fall where they may" approach really opened my eyes and will definitely be incorporated into whatever type of writing I decide to do next. Another technique that I liked was how the characters can have traits or certain characteristics of people that we already know. This is something that I tend to do already; I never thought that this was a actually thing that many others did as well. Our characters help to set the plot of our story and the events that occur to them. Everything falls to place once the character is developed and without a strong character that readers are fond of, the story will go no where. This is what I've learned from the fiction packet.

Blog Post #4

    I've completed reading Tocqueville. There are many things I personally enjoyed about this book from the intense drama to the vast amount of metaphors and literary devices used to help the author get his point across to readers. For example, in the very first poem that I read, "Lyric" Mattawa uses different types sounds and instruments commonly found in music as a way to demonstrate the trouble that takes place during 9/11. His approach is refreshing and acts as a great way to draw readers in. 

     Another poem that I enjoyed was "Terrorist" (p 17). Although I may have gotten the wrong interpretation, I enjoyed how raw it was, it failed to hold back on emotion giving readers to opportunity to try to feel everything the protagonist is feeling. 

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading Tocqueville. Even though I had a difficult time understanding a lot of it, I was still able to feel the tone and overall theme that Mattawa wanted to get across. It has also helped me with my poetry skills, guiding me in the right direction as far as what to look for in a good quality poem. 

Tocqueville Blog Post #3

Tocqueville is a very interesting and new way to tell a story. It takes on poetry and rhythmic patterns to develop a story that most would not take the time to read due to its serious tone and subject matter. This new form of writing really drew me in and made it a lot easier to read this piece. I really enjoy the first poem lyric since it was the poem that initially drew me in to begin with. I love the metaphors and personification he puts on earth and music and how he somehow finds a creative way to relate the two elements into a beautiful piece of poetry.