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| Democracy, Respect, and basic Manners
So, this is my new shirt.
It says, "Once you go Barack, you never go back"
I wore it out tonight, with my black cargo capris and black chucks.
I was cute, I thought!
The boys and I went to Burger King before we went to see Narnia.
(Paper #2 is due Thursday, and I am writing mine on Prince Caspian)
After we ordered, I was getting my drink, the boys were in the play area.
As I put the lid on, the couple who order before us
were waiting across the ketchp bar from me.
The guy said,
"that girl has an Obama shirt on, and I am about to slap the shit out of her."
I was petrified.
I didn't look up.
I just grabbed a few napkins and headed back for the play area.
Thank God they just got their order and left.
It was so scary.
Wow. What hate. I don't even know what to think.
It makes me sad, but most of all, it makes me worry for the woman he was with.
If he wants to slap the shit out of a total stranger, well...
I just don't get anger like that.
Toward anyone.
I can't count many humans I dislike more than our current president,
but I would never even say, "I hate him." in front of strangers,
much less ones wearing a shirt with his face on it!
Always pray for peace,
and for the angry and ignorant to be enlightened.
~Jenn.
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| :)Just so you all know, I got the paper below back from my professor today.... Yes, I got an A..... actually it was a 100!!!!! My first 100 from Dr. Fields! | | |
| My first English paper for my Jr. Level class!I was asked to take a Jr. level English class last semester. It is a study of Young Adult Fantasy. In five weeks we are required to read, discuss, and write about themes in the following books:
Harry Potter #6, Twilight, Children of Hurin, Prince Caspian, Eyes of the Dragon, Golden Compass and Spiderwick.
It is very intense, very challenging, and I flippin' LOVE it!!!
Oh, just so you know, 'protagonist' means 'main character'.
I didn't know that until a few months ago!
Here is my first paper.
Collectively, it took about 12 hours. 
Spiderwick and the Protagonist of Young Adult Fantasy
In The Field Guide, DiTerlizzi and Black offer an example of the ideal protagonist in Young Adult Fantasy. The protagonist in this genre must represent the broken pieces of an epistemology that devalues the human agent. It is crucial that the protagonist be at the bottom of a class system, an outsider, or a loser. The authors use children because, in our reality, children are robbed of their options and responsibilities. In a world where an adult’s decisions make no difference, a young person’s actions seem especially unimportant. This makes the protagonist’s struggle even harder, and their accomplishments even greater. Modern man’s epistemology can not work for this character. Subsequently, they do not work well in this reality either. Most importantly, this child’s very existence must be proof that the accepted reality does not work. The protagonist is marked, or chosen in some way to overcome the world that has disenfranchised them. Jared Grace is an excellent example of the protagonist in Young Adult Fantasy. He is a troubled boy from a broken home, which makes him living proof that our belief system has failed. He does not fit in at school, at home, but most of all, in the accepted realm of reality:
“The kitchen was a mess. Mallory had a broom and was sweeping up the broken
pieces of a porcelain bowl. The walls were painted with chocolate syrup and orange
juice. Raw eggs oozed down the window panes.
Simon was sitting at the kitchen table. His arm was covered with the same bruises
Mallory had been wearing only a day before, and his eyes were red-rimmed like he’d
been crying.
“Well,” his mother asked expectantly.
“I - I didn’t do this,” Jared said, looking around at them. They couldn’t really believe
he would do something like this, could they?”
And there, on the floor of the kitchen, next to drifts of cereal and scattered pieces of
orange peel, Jared saw the small tracks in in the flour. They were the size of his little
finger, and he could clearly see the imprint of the heel of a foot and a feathering in the
front that might have been from toes.
“Look,” Jared said, pointing. “See. Little footprints.”
Mallory looked up at him, and her eyes were narrowed with fury. “Just shut up,
Jared.”
Jared is the problem child of the family. He acts out by getting into fights at school. He is the suspect of blame, regardless of what he claims is true. When Simon is hurt, and the kitchen has been destroyed, the family assumes it must be Jared. In Spiderwick, the Grace children’s father has left the family. Jared’s sister, Mallory, uses the sport of fencing as an outlet for her frustrations. His brother, Simon, learns about animals to occupy his time. Jared, however, has nothing to help him escape a life that he did not want. This allows him to be more open and eager to acceptant a fantastic reality where his actions matter. While Jared’s mother and siblings see a filthy kitchen, Jared sees the footprints of a boggart, and proof of another world.
In Young Adult Fantasy, unusual knowledge is required for the protagonist to achieve mastery and have accountability, because they do not seem to have the opportunities for this in the real world. However, access to the Field Guide does not automatically make Jared our protagonist. It is what Jared does with this unusual knowledge that makes the difference. Jared longs for more than the unfair hand life has dealt him. He is able to see things differently than other children, because he is in a position to look for them. As the family discovers the condition of the home they must live in, Mallory is acceptant, Simon decides it will accommodate many pet animals, but Jared reserves his opinion. Instead, he attempts to change his perception. He squints his eyes and comments, "Maybe it would look better blurry” (2). He has a desire to see something better, or at least different that his world allows. Jared wants to change things he knows he can not change. As he explores Arthur Spiderwick's room, he finds a riddle in the form of a poem. Jared felt, "it was as though a message had been left here just for him” (34). It is as if the author wants the reader to recognize that Jared is Chosen. The poem leads him to the chest where he finds The Field Guide. Jared shares his knowledge of "real faeries" (61) with Simon and Mallory, but they do not believe him. Through the Field Guide, Jared learns that sprinkling sugar on the floor will help attract a boggart, and help him prove their existence to his family. The footprints are swept away before anyone else can see them. Rather than using this knowledge to attempt, again, to prove he is right, he chooses to become accountable for his actions. As he looks over the ruins that were part of the boggarts home, he wonders if making a new house for the creature “would matter” (83). Jared wants to hurt the boggart for causing so much trouble in their home, but he also feels empathy towards the creature. He realizes that the boggart is "a little like us" and possibly it is angry because "it doesn't even want to be here” (92). Jared uses his unusual knowledge to rebuild a home for the boggart. He enlists the help of his unconvinced brother and sister. Although Mallory doesn't believe, Jared’s sincerity and conviction is enough to convince her to work the dumbwaiter for him. Jared's possession of The Field Guide, and more importantly, the decisions he is making involving the Guide turn the loser of the family into the leader.
At first glance, it may seem that the disturbing material in The Field Guide is less troublesome in relation to the majority of Young Adult Fantasy literature. Upon deeper inspection, this story is filled with physical and emotions elements that disturb the reader. Some readers may find it disturbing that all three children have bruises on their bodies within the first few chapters. Jared is introduced to the story with a black eye, and the first morning in the new house began with Mallory’s screams. “Her hair had been knotted to the brass headboard. Her face was red, but the worst part was the strange pattern of bruises that decorated her arms” (43). Creatures are coming out of the walls and harming the children. The youngest of the children, Simon, woke the second day “covered with the same bruises Mallory had been wearing” (78). Disturbing elements like these illustrate the level of danger and power the protagonist’s adversary possesses. The other area of disturbing material is within the family’s dynamics. Jared’s mother is blaming him, before he is even out of bed, when awful things occur in the home. When he seems unclear about the mess that had been made the night before, his mother accuses him of “pretending” (77). When Simon claims he believes a boggart was guilty of wrecking the kitchen, their mother said nothing. Jared, however, feels his mother’s face says “manipulating Simon was the worst thing Jared had done” (82). It is disturbing that Jared’s mother is so confident that he is awful enough to be capable of doing these things. Even more disturbing is the fact that Jared knows his mother feels this way about him. A missing father, followed by the loss of home or stability are key disturbing elements in Young Adult Fantasy. The family’s collapse effects Jared greatly, causing him to act-out in disturbing ways, like “getting into all those fights at school” (62). Once the Grace children’s father left, “everything had gone bad” (6). The children were uprooted from their home, and forced to move into a dilapidated , and seemingly haunted house. The broken family in The Field Guide could be represented by the broke-down “shack” (2) they have to live in.
The removal of parental figures seems to be a key for our chosen one to achieve mastery. A child who has a strong, protective, and wise father has a wealth of knowledge and security at his disposal. The children who do not have a father to guide them must seek protection, strength, and knowledge elsewhere. Without a strong parent figure, the protagonist ideally looks to a source that is much larger than themselves. The Grace children had a father, but he left the family. This is important for Jared to become disturbed, broken and marked. The father leaving triggers a series of unpleasant events that lead Jared to The Field Guide. Some other works of Young Adult Fantasy destroy or demote what should be a healthy, strong parent. In Steven King’s The Eyes of the Dragon, the mother, Queen Sasha, is removed by dying while birthing her second son, leaving him and her five year old son behind. Rather than the father, King Roland, abandoning the boys, King portrays him as weak, easily swayed ,and sexually impotent. King Roland is described as short and “balding” with a” big belly” (53). Beyond his physical appearance, he is also weak in his mind and vitality. I believe Stephen King used King Roland’s “flaccid penis” (10) to convey his lack of manhood. Without a “special drink Flagg had given him” (10), Kind Roland was unable to procreate. This immediately lets the reader know that this is not a virile, lusty, and assertive King. It also demonstrates that Flagg is the one who controls the King. This point is further demonstrated in King Roland’s dialogue and relationship with his magician: “Flagg was King in all but name” (28), because of the true King’s weak nature and ability to be manipulated (29). King Roland was placid in mind, and not very intelligent: “Thinking well had always been very hard work” (28). The role of Flagg, as he assumes the position of a father for Thomas, interferes between the brothers. Peter is locked away, and Thomas becomes Flagg’s puppet, like his father. Neither brother has an opportunity to achieve true mastery, which causes the story to fail in producing a clear protagonist. In The Field Guide, Jared can shine through because he has no one making the important decisions for him. He is totally responsible, and totally accountable for the choices that shape the fantastic world he discovers.
In another book by Holly Black, we meet sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch. Kaye meets many of the requirements of a protagonist in a Young Adult Fantasy book. She has no father to speak of, and her mother is an irresponsible alcoholic. She is introduced to the story sitting next to her drunk mother in a trashy bar. The bartender asks Kaye, “Drink on the house?” and she responded, “Milk” (1). We are reminded that she is still a young girl in a place she should be protected from rather than participating in. As Kaye watches, her mother “takes a deep swallow of beer before spilling it out all over the counter” (2). At the beginning of the book, we see the diminished, weak, and mentally absent role of the protagonist’s parent. Just like Jared Grace whose father is not interested in raising him, Kaye’s mother is too busy singing in a rock band to be a healthy parent. Kaye begins “testing” how drunk her mother is by “putting [cigarette] butts in her beer bottle” (1) to see if she is drunk enough to still drink it. This also points out the element of anger and resentment that can often drive the protagonist to achieve their mastery. Because of Kaye’s mother’s problems, Kaye is forced to move in with her grandmother. Kaye lacks choices, and has little control over her situation. The literal broken home appears in the first chapter of Tithe. The grandmother lives in a “big, old house caked with dust and mothballs” (8). Just as in Spiderwick, our protagonist must endure, without choice, a broken home, and a move into a broken house. The Young Adult Fantasy writer’s repeatedly chose this scenario for the protagonists to begin their journey. The least loved loser at the very bottom of the rubble has no where to turn. Rather than continue to fight a reality that keeps falling apart at the seams, they become champions in a world where their decisions matter, and their choices can actually change their life.
By the end of DiTerlizzi and Black’s Spiderwick, The Field Guide, Jared has become the leader of the three children. His silly book becomes a wealth of insight into another world. He has the tools and abilities to develop mastery. Jared can not rebuild his family, or change his lot in this life. But, by rebuilding the boggart’s home he realizes his actions matter. He finds an opportunity to participate in a larger world than the one that had discounted him. Young Adult Fantasy uses the broken pieces of society’s failure, such as Jared Grace, to conquer not only an enemy, but an entire accepted reality.
Works Sited
Black, Holly. Tithe a Modern Faerie Tale. Simon Pulse, 2002
DiTerlizzi, Tony, and Holly Black. The Spiderwick Chronicles Book One The Field
Guide. New York, NY. Simon & Schuster, 2003
King, Stephen. The Eyes of the Dragon. New York, NY. New American Library,
1987
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| Cave-PeopleI am at school. I just got in a HEATED discussion (not an argument, because it was all 'proposed' thoughts) in my Young Adult Fantasy Genre class. I had my professor actually put his finger in my face and say, "Jesus doesn't matter to you!" He, of course, meant 'me' as a typical modern-man in a culture that no longer has values (I hate that word, it sounds to Republican!). I said, "Well, Jesus does matter to me, but right now I get the feeling we are ALL going to Hell!" It was funny, disturbing, and enlightening at the same time. His argument made me feel very confused, as well as feeling more conservative than I am comfortable with. Needless to say, College is my spouse. And I do LOVE it!!! Now, to the Cave-People part... the boys and I have a virus on our laptop. Well, it is not really ours, which stresses me out a little. Never the less, I will only be online here and there when I have time at school. And I really don't have time right now, but I had to share. Oh, one happy thing, I got a free, private 'Autovaughn' concert last night. It ROCKED. I have pictures to upload, SOME DAY, and I will blog about it at some point. Hopefully! I will say, I would have loved to switch bodies with Tracie last night. She would have really enjoyed the show, the laughter and getting sang to by a cute boy. Well, you know what I mean. Sometimes the best gifts, like experiences and time, just can't be given. Okay, off to get the boys and go home. I will have to say No, again, when Kaden asks to check his email. Ugh, I really miss having internet at the house! Pray I can afford to get it fixed. Plus, pray for Donovan. His need for a dad is more and more obvious, and painful, every day. We will leave it at that for now. Love and Blessings, Jenn. | | |
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