Looking through the Madness of Roland. It was interesting to see the story told from a variety of perspective. Each one of them were incredibly different in both what was told and how the content was portrayed despite all the sides being about the same story. It was interesting to hear the story told from both sides of the battle as well as a couple from neither side.
For me, one of the old man was a bit more entertaining to me just from how less serious the tone was compared to the others with all the sidetracking into their youth and misunderstanding some of the basic facts. There was another that seemed told from the side of the sword. This was an interesting perspective to see and I know I did not see it coming until I started playing it. Even though this story was told by the view point of a metallic object it surprisingly had one of the darkest tones out of all the different versions of this story. It was interesting to hear that the sword claim to gave the solider the evil to fight and the craving for blood.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Understanding Metaphors
In our last class we have discussed metaphors. Thinking about metaphors outside of class, an example I can think of would include how emotions can be expressed as landscapes. A common example of this would be the phrase, "cry me a river". Technically, one can not cry out a river, it would be impossible to cry enough water to even fill a creek. Even if you could literally "cry a river", rivers are naturally formed so it's impossible to make a river. However, this doesn't stop us from making this analogy. The fact that a river flows with a lot of water and that tears are also water is enough of a correlation between the two for the saying to make sense to the people around us.
Beyond actual sayings, you can "erupt" from anger or with rage, or your emotions can "explode". In a literal sense this impossible because people are not an actual volcano. When we "explode" our bodies don't burn nor do we break into pieces literally in the process. However, it still makes sense in our society to use these phrases. In fact, even if you were to say that you burned up or are broken into pieces, people would still understand what you were talking about even if it did not literally happen. In fact, it not only makes sense to use these phrases, sometimes we use them without even thinking about it. There is that much of a correlation to us between a literal and an emotional explosion that it gets used like it is an accepted alteration of the standard definition.
Beyond actual sayings, you can "erupt" from anger or with rage, or your emotions can "explode". In a literal sense this impossible because people are not an actual volcano. When we "explode" our bodies don't burn nor do we break into pieces literally in the process. However, it still makes sense in our society to use these phrases. In fact, even if you were to say that you burned up or are broken into pieces, people would still understand what you were talking about even if it did not literally happen. In fact, it not only makes sense to use these phrases, sometimes we use them without even thinking about it. There is that much of a correlation to us between a literal and an emotional explosion that it gets used like it is an accepted alteration of the standard definition.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Framing in Story-Telling
In the story of the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I think the central frame would be the corruption of money. Though the way the story was framed it focused on the misfortunes of Gatsby through the money he had and despite it all, he still couldn't achieve the dream he wished to achieve. The story was framed in a way that actually made me as a reader feel bad for Gatsby, despite how I would normally not take pity on the rich.
If the story's framing focused more on the wrongs that he did to gain his money instead of on the misinformation and problems he faced, I would probably have the exact opposite point of view towards Gatsby. He has done shady business to gain the money he has, yet I think more of how unfortunate he is rather than how bad of a person he is, due to the way the story is framed. The story could easily make someone like Gatsby be a character no one would show remorse and sorrow for if there was no framing on the problems he went through and instead the framing was all focused on his flaws and his wrong-doings with no justification towards what he has done.
If the story's framing focused more on the wrongs that he did to gain his money instead of on the misinformation and problems he faced, I would probably have the exact opposite point of view towards Gatsby. He has done shady business to gain the money he has, yet I think more of how unfortunate he is rather than how bad of a person he is, due to the way the story is framed. The story could easily make someone like Gatsby be a character no one would show remorse and sorrow for if there was no framing on the problems he went through and instead the framing was all focused on his flaws and his wrong-doings with no justification towards what he has done.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A Hero Myth disscussion
While the hero's myth is claimed to be a commonly used archetype in in story-telling. I feel that is slightly exaggerated. I am not really a huge fan of movies, from what I can remember of the ones I watched growing up, it does not seem like that commonly used of an archetype.
The hero's myth is something I often seen done in the Role Playing games(RPG) genre. Many times the protagonist begins the story as an ordinary villager. A series of events forces a hero to take on a journey, even if they aren't prepared for it or don't want to be involved in it. The stories of these games often end with the protagonist defeating a great source of evil and being honored as a hero because of that victory.
An example I can think of includes a game known as Golden Sun. In it, the protagonist Isaac and his friend Garret being the game living a normal life, at least in sense to the rest of the village where elemental powers are normal to them. Early on in the game they are tasked to retrieve valuable stones stolen from deep within the sacrum hidden in the village, since in the wrong hands the power from these stones could destroy the world. Garret has so much hesitation about the role is given that he leaves it to Issac whether to accept or decline the task. This all reminds me greatly of departure in a hero's myth as we discussed in class.
The hero's myth is something I often seen done in the Role Playing games(RPG) genre. Many times the protagonist begins the story as an ordinary villager. A series of events forces a hero to take on a journey, even if they aren't prepared for it or don't want to be involved in it. The stories of these games often end with the protagonist defeating a great source of evil and being honored as a hero because of that victory.
An example I can think of includes a game known as Golden Sun. In it, the protagonist Isaac and his friend Garret being the game living a normal life, at least in sense to the rest of the village where elemental powers are normal to them. Early on in the game they are tasked to retrieve valuable stones stolen from deep within the sacrum hidden in the village, since in the wrong hands the power from these stones could destroy the world. Garret has so much hesitation about the role is given that he leaves it to Issac whether to accept or decline the task. This all reminds me greatly of departure in a hero's myth as we discussed in class.
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