Final Project

When we started delving farther into Little, Big, the idea for my final project became more and more clear.  The concept of destiny and fate has always intrigued me, and being able to explore it through the texts in this class will be quite a lot of fun.

I want to examine the difference between destiny and fate, what makes them such strong ideals, how completely different cultures at completely different times can understand and apply them to their stories.  Why do people believe in destiny or fate?  Why is it an idea that we find either comforting or overbearing?  The role of destiny throughout history and literature will be a focus of my project.

I don't know if I simply want to write a paper, or if I want to create a model.  My model would be something like an obstacle course that a marble falls through.  The idea behind it would be that no matter how much momentum or desire the marble has to go one direction, something comes along to change its course, and it will end up where it is "supposed" to be at the very end.  This model would be a bit complicated to build, for I am having trouble even visualizing it, but sketching it out may help.  Then again, writing papers isn't soooo hard...

The Intonation of Storytelling

-->

When asked to map out some discoveries made while reading the Manuscript found at Saragossa, I couldn’t help but find similarities between its structure and The Nights.  I was hoping Little, Big would fit in with this structure, and it does slightly, but not nearly as well as the Nights.  These nested stories do not have to end for another to begin, in fact overlap tends to occur quite often.  This idea brought vocal intonation to mind, or how one speaks, because the way some cultures speak aloud reminded me of the structure of these nested stories.  Jennifer was discussing (way back when) being frustrated that the story of the sisters in The Arabian Nights would not END, and she had no closure.  This brought the above visual to mind, which in turn reminded me of something I learned in my French phonetics class, as well as when I wrote my blog on “reading aloud.”

The French speak in a similar way to children.  What I mean by this is that their sentences continue to go up and up and up until the very last period, when the intonation goes down.  To illustrate this, I have recorded myself reading this paragraph:

See?  I just keep going and going and going until I get to the end.  This reminded me of the way the stories in the Manuscript go, because the overarching story keeps going up and up and dangling until you get to the very end, and the stories in between do not help to assuage the desire for closure.  The structure of the written story reflects the structure of spoken word.

Questions and Thoughts on Little, Big

I've only read through the first book (I'm trying to hurry! And will have it ALL read by my time to present the Sixth Book :))  But my questions are therefore a bit limited...

1. Why would Auberon think that having a unibrow somehow made you more likely to communicate with the other world?  Was there any other societal significance at the time?
2. Auberon's photos have "holes" in the story, and he has trouble putting them in sequential order.  Would Daily Alice or Sophie be able to do a better job because they "see" what he can't?  Is the sequential order really necessary for comprehension?
3. Why do the fairies want Lilac at all? And will Sophie realize she's a changeling and get her back?
4. Daily Alice makes Smoky more solid, less anonymous.  Is he that way only around her? Or would he keep his solidity back in The City?
5. If Smoky believes it is all make believe, but he tries anyway to understand, is he fully comprehending?  Can someone who can't "see" truly respect and appreciate what Daily Alice has experienced?  Or is experiencing it in the first person the only way to truly believe?

6. This one is not so much a question as a comment.  My friend tonight asked me what I was reading, and I found it hear impossible to give a synopsis of Little, Big.  I told him it was about a family who lived in a house, and about the different generational stories tied to teh family.  I said it was about people who could see fairies.  He was interested and asked me what kind of fairies.  Not knowing quite how to answer, I read for him from Theodore Bramble's speech on pages 42 and 43.  But I told him the academic explanation of the fairies wasn't really the point of the story, it was more about the magic of the whole thing.  He commented on "No I understand, the explanation is just word fluff for the book."  I balked.  I balked because I had yet to read a single chapter, a single sentence, a single word that was not absolutely necessary for the story in this book.  There was no "word fluff" and he very clearly did not "understand."  But who was I to explain it to him? He needs to read it for himself.

The Ballad of the Golf Ball

My life is pretty boring.  I am a small thing, and I don’t get out much.  Most of the time I am sitting in a dark bag bucket full of my brethren, until I get taken out and FINALLY, I get to FLYYYYY.  As I sit upon my little peg, I am full of glee that now it is my turn to soar through the air.  I take a deep breath and WOOOSH.  Here I go! I get so high in the air, but I hear shouts behind me “Go right, go right, settle, settle, GO RIGHT, DAMMIT.”  I don’t know what he’s so upset about; I thought I went pretty far!  As I settle into my nice dark cubby of very tall grass, I spot a creature even smaller than I.

He is a tiny thing with 6 legs but is carrying an object almost twice his size upon his back.  As he pauses to catch his breath, I inquire as to what he is.  “Why I am an ant!  And this here is a potato chip!.  I follow up with a question of how he obtained such a large potato chip and the tale he tells is one of heroics and bravery:

 I was in line with all my brothers and we were headed to a spot we knew well.  There is a giant moving object that carries all kinds of delicious snacks.  It stops in the same spot every day and hands out bags of these objects (points to potato chip on his back).  They are delicious!  Most of the time, the light colored ape beings drop many pieces and my brothers and I stock up.  This piece is especially large and I won it from my older brother! Oh no, here he comes now.  Don’t listen to a word he says!

 I witnessed another ant approach, and he seemed quite grumpy.  He began to shout, “That’s my food piece! That’s mine!”  The first ant scoffs and said “uh no, I got it, it’s mine!”  I request to know why this second ant believes the food is his, and then the second ant sets out to tell his story of woe:

There I was, in line with my brothers to get my food pieces, and all of a sudden a gigantic food piece falls from the heavens and hits me squarely on the head! I am dazed but I remember putting all 6 of my legs on this piece here, claiming it! I fell into a restless unconsciousness where I dreamed of being stepped on or run over by a moving object, it was terrifying.  But I held onto the thought of this giant potato chip whilst in my dark reverie.  It was my only solace.  Alas, when I awoke, it was gone! All I saw was my brother’s backside as he made off into the wilderness with MY piece of food!  I gave chase at once and finally caught up as he sits here to catch his breath.

 I feel very badly for this second ant, and implore the first to split the food piece with his brother, for it is quite large.  But he becomes emphatic that the second ant does not deserve even a nibble of the chip.  He then weaves a story of backstabbing brothers and treachery:

Yesterday, while working on a new tunnel in the southern quadrant of our vast home, my older brother here came running and said that the Almighty Queen required my presence immediately.  I rushed to my ladies side, and received confidential and top secret instructions from her for a mission solely for me.  I cannot speak of it.  But as I returned to my tunnel, there was no tunnel! My treacherous older brother had caused a cave in!  His motives were immediately clear: he wanted my top-secret mission! But even such a set back would not loosen my lips as to my task.  I re-dug the tunnel, as well as accomplished my top-secret mission, and got home in time for dinner.  So as you can see, giant white ball, I deserve this food piece over my brother here.

I stared down at these two miniscule and insignificant creatures and found their quarrel intriguing; alas I wished I could have stayed and heard about the top secret mission, but quite suddenly they both got up and ran away with their potato chip.  As they make their speedy way back to their home, I wonder idly when I will be able to soar again.  Then all of a sudden I hear “I FOUND IT! It’s over here!”  Hope flows across my dimpled surface as my striker approaches.  But I am not soaring yet, I am being picked up and put down on less thick grass.  My hope comes again and suddenly I am again IN THE AIR! Hopefully I will soon reach my home, my cozy cup.

Oral Traditions

Sometimes when reading texts for this class, I wish I were always at home, for I feel the need to read them aloud in order to fully absorb the full tone of a section.  This is especially true for when we read Shakespeare.  However, other works I have read that require an out loud reading include Descartes, Sir Francis Bacon, The Illiad, and 1,001 Nights.  Strangely enough, I do not feel the need to read aloud when indulging in Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey.  The lack of poetry and depth in some of today's bestsellers is heartbreaking, and yet I can get immersed in a good trashy romance novel.

The idea of reading aloud is not brand new in this world.  Oral traditions came far earlier than the written word, and in some opinions, is far superior.  According to Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows, about how the Internet has diluted our manner of learning:

"Even as the technology of the book sped ahead, the legacy of the oral world continued to shape the way words on pages were written and read.  Silent reading was largely unknown in the ancient world.  The new codices, like the tablets and scrolls that preceded them, were almost always read aloud, whether the reader was in a group or alone... It's hard for us to imagine today, but no spaces separated words in early writing.  The lack of word separation reflected language's origins in speech.  When we talk, we don't insert pauses between each word -- long stretches of syllables flow unbroken from our lips."

After reading The Shallows I felt much more comfortable with my desire to read The Arabian Nights aloud.  I feel connected to a tradition that helped bring about the written word, and which has not diminished in significance throughout the centuries.  With the nature of The Arabian Nights being stories being told within stories, the oral quality (snigger) holds fast.

The choice to sit down and immerse oneself into a story such as the The Arabian Nights should not be taken lightly, especially if you have the inclination like me to let everyone around you hear what you are reading.  I have to be in the right mood, and the right environment.  But when the mood hits, I will continue to read aloud with pride.

Original Thought

                                        CAPTION: An artist drawing an artist being interpreted by an artist drawing him.
                                                                     WHO STARTED IT?

The idea of original thought is one that has often plagued my mind.  Have I ever had an original thought?  Or has every errand belief and judgment been inspired by someone or something else?  Our brains our like sponges, and the way in which we express ourselves differs per individual.  For artists like Van Gogh, they paint, and for authors like Lewis Carroll, they write stories using their gift of vocabulary.  But having seen a painting, or read a story, those persons ideas are now in my head.  How can anything I associate with my experiences be considered my own?

In the case of the The Hunting of the Snark, it can be claimed that Lewis Carroll took inspiration from The Voyage of the Beagle.  But the idea that I expressed in class comes back to me, with question of where Carroll's inspiration ended and his "original thought" ended.  There are clearly differences in the way in which the stories are written, as well as the core concepts meant to be expressed.  So in the case of the Snark, Carroll must have gotten the rest of his themes from his experiences, which inspire the rest of his works as well.  

Experiences create parameters around our ability to conceive.  In his "Methods and Meditations" Descartes presents his Dream Argument asserts that there is little difference reality and a dream.  For how do you know which is which?  We claim to know reality based on our five senses, for they provide us with evidence that what we see and hear, feel and smell, touch, is in fact real.  But in dreams, we also see, we can also smell, we can also touch.  But dreams happen entirely "in our head" without the body doing anything.  So the senses can be deceived, and the only truth we can establish is that we are "thinking" creatures.

"In fine, I am the same being who perceives, that is, who apprehends certain objects as by the organs of sense, since, in truth, I see light, hear a noise, and feel heat. But it will be said that these presentations are false, and that I am dreaming. Let it be so. At all events it is certain that I seem to see light, hear a noise, and feel heat; this cannot be false, and this is what in me is properly called perceiving, which is nothing else than thinking."

My roundabout point is that there are certain things we know as true, which is where I abandon my agreement with Descartes.  For example, I know that this is an ice cream cone, and not a dry erase marker:

I also know and can imagine, although I have never seen one, what a dragon looks like.  I can imagine, although I have never experienced it, what drowning would feel like.  These are all things that I have "experienced" in my life.  I have read about dragons and swallowed water down the wrong tube.  But one cannot imagine something one has never experienced.  If a child has never heard of a dragon, has never had one described, does not know that they exist, it is my thought that they will never have a nightmare of one.

If a child, a fabulous monster, could picture and dream of another fabulous monster, without ever having heard of one, I believe this would be the very first original thought in a long while.

Actors Nested in Characters

I am definitely new to blogging, so please bear with me while I find my groove.  I chose this image because I believe it related to the first topic I wish to discuss.  Instead of having boxes in boxes or reflections in mirrors, I like the idea of a beautiful object containing layers of itself.   

From a young age I wanted to be an actress.  I was never shy and did not suffer from stage fright.  However, it turned out that I was just not very good at it.  Film has stuck with me though as a fantastic form of expression, and I love to sit at home with a movie and a blanket.


What sparked these thoughts and memories was the discussion in class today about the theater in Elizabethan times.  Of course I knew that the female roles were played by men because women were not allowed to be actors in that time.  But I began to imagine what it would be like to play someone of the opposite sex; not because it was some message on gender roles or a parody.  This train of thought lead me straight into thinking of when one character is played by two separate actors or actresses in TV and movies.

Usually this is because one actress can or chooses to no longer play the role, and so someone else must step in.  But the examples that came to my mind were exceptions to this general idea.  The first, being in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  There is a particular scene when Hermione takes Polyjuice Potion and turns into Bellatrix Lestrange.  When filming this particular scene, the film team debated extensively on how to best portray this.  Either put loads of make up on Emma Watson to make her look like the 43 year old Helena Bonham Carter, or let Helena play Hermione.

The production team decided to go with the latter.  They let Emma Watson play through the scene first, acting as Hermione, acting as Bellatrix.  Then Helena Bonham Carter would go through when filming, copying Emma, who was playing Hermione, who was copying Bellatrix.

Another example is during the TV show Supernatural.  They had a character who they knew would have to be played by two different actresses.  Having known one of the actresses from a different show, I was really upset when I heard this because I thought that there would be no way for me "see" her in any other role.  I was pleasantly surprised. 

While these two actresses look nothing alike, they were both able to delve into the character and pull out the same characteristics.  There were obvious idiosyncratic differences between the two, but for the most part the dual characterization was successful.

In my mind, this all comes back to nestings because we are who we are in what we consider to be "reality." And yet, there are those who can so easily slip down into the reality of another.  This begs the question of what IS reality and what part do we have to play in it?  And what happens when there is someone playing a character who is copying another character by an actress who is copying another character?  So many layers!