Margaret Atwood “Happy Endings” Reading Response

          I enjoyed this reading because it gives six different endings to the story “John and Mary meet”, all of which are radically different from the one before them. The only particularly happy ending is A, yet readers are still slightly dissatisfied because the ending was “too simple”.

          This reading helped me with endings because it showed me that even though as a writer I want to give the characters a happy ending, there are much more interesting stories to be told from those that do not have the simple happy ending. Each ending gets progressively darker, but they become so interesting. Atwood does a fantastic job at showing readers how many different possibilities for endings there can be.

          At the end, Atwood claims that “the only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.” Then she proceeds to say that it’s more of the beginning that matters instead of the end. This leaves me with the idea that beginnings are what really count, because in the end all of the characters will “die”. However according to Atwood, the plot is the most difficult, and only the most talented writers can make it important. Overall this reading was very helpful since it put into context how important the entire story is. 

Mimi Schwartz “Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the line?” Reading Response

I particularly enjoyed this reading because it helped me with the issue of memoir stories, where do we draw the line? I missed class the day we talked about this, so I found it interesting to discover the line on my own. Schwartz discusses how our memories can sometimes (or often) fail us, so we need to be careful when writing memoir as to what is really true or what is made up. She also points out that we must be especially careful since we cannot know when we don’t truly remember something the way it was, and asking someone else who shared the experience doesn’t really matter since they will have the same memory dilemma. Schwartz cleverly solves this dilemma by saying that perhaps you remember the situation or person in a specific way, and that you should describe it/them the way you remember so that other people can picture them the same way.

          I loved the quote from Pam Houston, “I write fiction to tell the truth” because I believe that there is always some hint of truth behind works of fiction.  However this also blurs the line between memoir and fiction and the writer must decide where to draw the line if they are trying to write memoir.

          I also enjoyed when Schwartz discussed how to use fiction to protect certain people who do not particularly want to be included in the story. Another quote that was helpful was “the story is 90 percent factual; the rest is made up to protect those who didn’t as to be in this book”. I think it is necessary to do this because sometimes you need the characters to be in the story to fully capture it, but the person may not want to be in the story. This way you can create a fictional character that does similar things but protects the person’s identity.

          Overall this reading was very helpful, especially since I missed the class where this topic was discussed. 

Point of View Exercise (Tense Situation)

1) First person

"Honey, what's wrong?" Ian asks me as he reaches his hand across the table at our booth in the diner. 

I pull my hand away and cross my arms, not wanting to hold his hand because it will just make everything harder. I’ve rehearsed this moment so many times in my head over the past two days, but it’s much easier to imagine our breakup than actually verbalizing it to Ian. But why should I care what he thinks? He doesn’t really have feelings for me, he’s only pretending to. And that’s why we have to break up; I love him and he’s only leading me on. “Well…” I start, “it’s nothing.” I trail off, losing my nerve.

“Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know that you can talk to me.” Ian replies.

I try to look into his eyes as I’m about to tell him that we can’t see each other anymore. His dark blue eyes gaze back at me and I lose my courage yet again.

“Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because knew it is your favorite place, so… well here it goes.”

I fidget underneath the table, unable to anticipate what he is about to say.

“These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you. I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

I stare back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely took me by surprise.

“I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

2) Third limited omniscient

          “Honey, what’s wrong?” Ian asks his girlfriend Julie as he reaches for her hand across the table at their booth in the diner.

          Julie pulls her hand away quickly; she is uncomfortable by the physical contact since it will make breaking up with Ian so much harder. Julie thought about all of the times she had rehearsed this exact moment over the last two days, but breaking up with Ian in person was probing to be much harder. But then again, she thought, why should I care how Ian will feel about breaking up since he’s only leading me on? She couldn’t figure out why it took her even this long to break it off with him.

          “Well,” Julie starts “it’s  nothing…” she trails off, losing her nerve.

          “Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know that you can talk to me.” Ian replies.

          Julie tries to look into Ian’s eyes as she tries to start the uncomfortable conversation. His dark blue eyes gaze deeply into her pale brown ones, causing her to lose her nerve yet again.

          “Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because I knew it is your favorite, so… well here it goes” Ian pauses.

          Julie fidgets underneath the booth table, unable to anticipate what Ian is trying to say.

          Ian took a large breath as the words rush out of his mouth, “These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you… I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

          Julie stares back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely shocked her and took her by surprise. “I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

3) Third objective

          “Honey, what’s wrong?” Ian asks his girlfriend Julie as he reaches his hand across the booth at their table at the diner.

          Julie immediately pulls her hand away and crosses her arms, avoiding the physical contact that Ian offered her. Julie openly frowns and appears to be very conflicted. “Well,” she starts. “It’s nothing” she trails off, losing the nerve to say what she was about to say.

          “Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know you can talk to me.”

          Julie looks up to make eye contact with Ian but she quickly loses her nerve and looks back down at the table.

“Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because I knew it is your favorite, so… well here it goes” Ian pauses.

          Julie fidgets underneath the booth table, unable to anticipate what Ian is trying to say.

          Ian took a large breath as the words rush out of his mouth, “These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you… I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

          Julie stares back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely shocked her and took her by surprise. “I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

4) Third omniscient

          “Honey, what’s wrong?” Ian asks his girlfriend Julie as he reaches for her hand across the table at their booth in the diner. Ian is concerned because Julie has hardly made eye contact all lunch, and he thinks there is something wrong with her.

          Julie pulls her hand away quickly; she is uncomfortable by the physical contact since it will make breaking up with Ian so much harder. Julie thought about all of the times she had rehearsed this exact moment over the last two days, but breaking up with Ian in person was probing to be much harder. But then again, she thought, why should I care how Ian will feel about breaking up since he’s only leading me on? She couldn’t figure out why it took her even this long to break it off with him.

          “Well,” Julie starts “it’s  nothing…” she trails off, losing her nerve, making Ian even more worried.

          “Honey, it’s clearly something. Come on, you know that you can talk to me.” Ian replies, thinking of all the times he has supported Julie.

          Julie tries to look into Ian’s eyes as she tries to start the uncomfortable conversation. His dark blue eyes gaze deeply into her pale brown ones trying to encourage her, but instead causes her to lose her nerve yet again.

          “Well, why don’t I start?” Ian suggests. “I invited you here because I wanted to tell you something important, and I chose this place because I knew it is your favorite, so… well here it goes” Ian pauses, getting nervous.

          Julie fidgets underneath the booth table, unable to anticipate what Ian is trying to say.

          Ian took a large breath as the words rush out of his mouth, “These last few months have been amazing, and I never thought I would have such strong feelings for you… I guess what I have to say is that I love you, Julie.”

          Julie stares back at Ian, unable to figure out what to say. He completely shocked her and took her by surprise. “I guess that wasn’t going where I thought it was… I don’t know how to respond.”

Personally I like the third person omniscient view because it was easiest to write, but the third person objective is more effective because it forces the writer to show instead of tell the reader what is going on. 

Rewrite of “Three Little Pigs” as a romance, starting at the second pig

          Mr. Wolf was walking down the street, feeling dejected from his failed attempt to impress Milly. He was fast approaching the house of Lilly, the smartest pig in all the land. Her house was made of sticks, and resided in a small yet thick group of trees.

          Since Lilly was the smartest pig, Mr. Wolf wanted to impress her with his voice by serenading her. He quickly rehearsed a song in his head, Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend”. Surely all girls would swoon at hearing that song sung to her, he thought.

          Mr. Wolf knocked on Lilly’s door and awaited her fast approaching footsteps.

          “Who is it?” She called out.

          “It’s Mr. Wolf, let me in please!” He replied.

          “Not unless you manage to impress me,” she said.

          “Okay.”

          Mr. Wolf cleared his throat and re-adjusted his feet to sing, but tripped over a fallen branch and crashed into Lilly’s house and knocked it over. Not again, Mr. Wolf thought as he walked away from Lilly’s house and towards Tilly, the last bachelorette pig.