Co-Creator of Project: HANASU. So many reblogs. Especially food when I'm hungry. Social activism. Black (girl) magic. Art. TV shows. Anime. History. Things that make my day better. She/Her.
idk who needs to hear this but when your english teacher asks you to explain why an author chose to use a specific metaphor or literary device, itās not because you wonāt be able to function in real-world society without the essential knowledge of gatsbyās green light or whatever, itās because that process develops your abilities to parse a text for meaning and fill in gaps in information by yourself, and if youāre wondering what happens when you DONāT develop an adult level of reading comprehension, look no further than the dizzying array of examples right here on tumblr dot com
this post went from 600 to 2400 notes in the time it took me to write 3 emails. iām already terrified for whatās going to happen in there
k but also, as an addendum, the reason we study literary analysis is because everything an author writes has meaning, whether it was intentional or not, and their biases and agendas are often reflected in their choice of language and literary devices and so forth! and that ties directly into being able to identify, for example, the racist and antisemitic dogwhistles often employed by the right wing, or the subconscious word choices that can unintentionally illustrate someoneās bias or blind spot. LANGUAGE HAS WEIGHT AND MEANING! the way we communicate is a reflection of our inner selves, and thatās true regardless of whether itās a short story or a novel or a blog post or a tweet. instead of taking a piece of writing at face value and stopping there, assuming that there is no deeper meaning or thought behind the words on the page, ask yourself these two questions instead:
1. what is the author trying to say?
2. what does the author maybe not realize theyāre saying?
because the most interesting reading of any piece of literature, imho, usually occupies the space in between those questions.
Also, sometimes it has hidden meaning relating to how art was funded. For example, Dickens never met an adjective he didnāt like because he was paid by the word. Dumas included long and pointless dialogue because he was paid by the line. Even stuff that was purposely included for dumbass reasons can teach us about the world the author lived in.
If u want to write a story about a character thatās just you but hotter with a dark twisted backstory and magical powers and a pet falcon or something, I think u should just go ahead and do that. Whoās gonna stop you? The government?? Fuck the police.
What if someone barges in, points at said character and scream, āMary Sue!ā
Tell them to come back with a warrant
This post came across my dash again and now I am having an absolute blast with self insert hotter me that gets the girls and guys everywhere.
My family likes to vacation in Topsail, North Carolina, which is a little barrier island mostly covered in vacation homes. We rent a huge house in their off season, when most people consider it too cold to be at the beach, and we, with our icewater blood, consider it quite pleasantly deserted.
I love going for walks at night, especially when thereās a clear sky, so I, age sixteen, would go a few miles up the beach around midnight most nights. One night, while still about a mile from our house, I saw something rolling in the surf.
āThatās either a plastic bag caught on a log,ā I thought, āOr a four foot shark.ā
I jogged over. It was not a plastic bag caught on a log.
The shark was moving and didnāt appear to be hurt, but was caught in water only an inch or so deep, being pushed higher with every wave. I was by myself, and didnāt own a cell phone, and couldnāt see a house with lights on in either direction. There was nobody around. Leaving to go get help would probably take long enough for him to suffocate. The best thing I could do for this shark, I figured, would be to get him back in the ocean.
I have no idea how he wound up so high on the beach, because it was a very shallow slope. Iād have to carry him a good fifteen or so feet to get him into water deep enough to swim. It was nearly a full moon, so I could sort of see what I was doing. I got a grip on the shark, careful not to squeeze too hard, in case he was hurt, and picked him up. He didnāt like that at all.
I started walking into the water. Hereās a thing I didnāt know about sharks: Theyāre pretty damn flexible. I got a couple steps with this shark, looked down, and realized there were a hell of a lot of teeth coming directly at my forearm.
It occurred to me that I had not thought this through very well.
Iām not proud of what I did. It seemed like the best way to get this shark back in deep enough water and avoid dropping thirty pounds of very bitey animal directly on my own toes. So.
I yote the shark with as much force as I could muster.
He curved through the air like a thing of beauty, all angry and toothsome in the moonlight, and splashed wonderfully into the deeper waters. I caught a glimpse of fin diving away shortly after.
And thatās the last I saw of him.
my name Hellen,
i walk the sand,
i lift the shark
stuk on the land.
before the teeth
can find their mark,
i thro the fish,
i yote the shark.
I want to write a book called āyour character dies in the woodsā that details all the pitfalls and dangers of being out on the road & in the wild for people without outdoors/wilderness experience bc I cannot keep reading narratives brush over life threatening conditions like nothing is happening.
I just read a book by one of my favorite authors whose plots are essentially airtight, but the MC was walking on a country road on a cold winter night and she was knocked down and fell into a drainage ditch covered in ice, broke through and got covered in icy mud and water.
Then she had a āmiserableā 3 more miles to walk to the inn.
Babes she would not MAKE it to that inn.
Are there any other particularly egregious examples?
This book already exists, sort of! Or at least, itās a biology textbook but I bought it for writing purposes:
It starts with a chapter about freezing to death, and it is without a doubt the scariest thing Iāve read in years (and I read a lot of horror fiction).
This book can be downloaded for free on Researchgate, posted there by the author himself:
