Post #7 Silver Linings Playbook Trailer

Blog #6 Readicide

Gallagher's discussion in "Readicide" is very interesting and I believe that he brings up many valid ideas. One of the many questions that arises from his argument is whether or not genre fiction is "less worthy" than Literary Fiction, and therefore whether or not it should play a role in school. In my opinion, looking at things from a purely artistic standpoint, genre is fiction is less worthy in terms of skill and craft. Not to say that genre fiction writers are not talented; Dan Brown, Stephen King, Michael Crichton, etc. are genre writers and are still considered among many to be great. However, genre writing in general is more about storytelling talent than it is about writing talent; an important distinction to note. If schools want to teach their students how to be good writers, how to read and interpret skillful writing, and expose them to skillful writing in a general sense, then Literary Fiction should definitely be the focus.

Gallagher suggested as a possible solution to "Readicide" that schools should teach Literary and Genre Fiction is a 50/50 manner. I believe that Gallagher is correct in suggesting more Genre Fiction in school curriculums; however 50% seems to be heavy-handed. A 2/3 split in favor of Literary Fiction would be better in my mind because it would allow the focus of the learning to still be geared towards the more skilled and intelligent writing, and it would also prevent schools from having to entirely overhaul their current English curriculums. However, schools definitely need to be more inclusive of Genre Writing. As Mr. Coates said in class, can you actually name a school book that would be considered Genre Fiction? Something such as Lord of the Flies or Life of Pi probably could be considered Genre Fiction, although they both still contain many literary merits. The point is that when schools only incorporate the "proper tasting", "Thumbs up from the historians' literature, students are missing out on an entire part of the literary spectrum. By offering both Literary and Genre Fiction, schools can teach the sophisticated writing/reading crafts, but also provide students with the popular culture that is needed to thrive in the modern world.

Post #3

So far Silver Linings Playbook has been a very pleasant surprise. I thought that the book would be incredibly sappy, along the lines of a Nicholas Sparks novel, but so far it has been fun to read. The book's short chapters help to keep the story moving at a fast pace and the book is a quick read as a result. I really like Pat's character because he is dynamic and unpredictable in his actions. We know that he has been mentally damaged by events from his past so it makes his outbursts very surprising and melancholy, but it also makes his moments of happiness and morality really shine. Tiffany is an interesting character as well. We don't know much about her besides that she has psychiatric issues similar to Pat. There is something definitely "off" about her, but that also makes her character fun to read about. The reader can assume from the beginning that she will end up playing a larger role in Pat's life, but this makes her crude behaviors and straightforward attitude before her significance to Pat even more engaging. I'm about halfway though the book right now and I would give it a B rating.

Movie Adaptation of Silver Linings Playbook

The biggest challenge in adapting Silver Linings Playbook into a movie is that the adaptors would have to find a way to create or portray a single/main issue to the audience. The novel is more focused on Pat's day-to-day journeys and experiences after being released from a psychiatric institution, and thus lacks a central element of conflict to focus on (a common theme among most movies). Another challenge that a filmaker wold have in adapting Silver Linings Playbook is that all of the book is told from Pat's point of view, in a very personal and cerebral manner (think a milder form of Holden Caulfield). It might prove very daunting for a filmaker to accurately convey Pat's feelings and inner emotions while still maintaining outside action in the film. In order to make these challenges surmountable, the filmakers would need to take either Nikki (Pat's obsession) or Kenny G (Pat's Arch-Nemisis) and make them more central to the story. In the story both of these characters are intermittenly mentioned, however they are never consistent characters. By making them more consistent, the filmmakers could create a focal point for the audience to get hooked on. Also, be simply adding more dialouge, it would help bring out Pat's internal feeling and relay them to the audience.

One essential scene of Silver Linings Playbook is the dance competition towards the end of the book. Pat and Nikki dance together after countless hours of practice and the dance competition, and the success that comes from it, symbolize their coming together and moving on from their damaged pasts. It also serves as somewhat of a climax to the story (as far as action goes) so it definitely needs to be included.

Another essential scene would be the tailgating incident that occurs at the Giants v. Eagles football game. This is a great scene because it shows Pat in a happy environment, but when trouble is presented, it demonstrates just how much work Pat still needs to do on his road to recovery. The fight between Pat and the Giants fan shows off Pat's phisical strength as well as his vunerability, aspects that make him a dynamic and unique character.

Lastly, another scene that would be essential in a movie adaptation would be the opening scene showing Pat in the psychiatric institution. This is an important moment because it informs the audience that Pat is a damaged person, and is probably off-the-mark in some way. When Pat talks about his obsession with Nikki and his desire to get her back, it introduces the reader to Pat's persona.

When Pat and his brother are tailgating before an Eagles game and the meet up with Cliff's (Pat's Therapist) tailgating group. It is a fun scene and shows Pat bonding with normal people and enjoying himself, however it doesn't do much to advance the story. There are several football game scenes in the novel and this one is probably the least noteworthy, so cutting it may be wise to keep the story focused on more important scenes.

Another section of the book that should be cut would be all of the running and working out that Pat and Tiffany do when they first meet. The meet up together daily and run ten miles without ever saying anything to one another, and then Pat goes home and lifts for hours on his own. This demonstrates a strange bond developing between the two, but it is very repetitive and there are other scenes that could be shown to viewers that are more exciting.

Book 1 Project

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Fan Experience

            Ladies and gentlemen! Come one come all! Carnival Toys is proud to announce the latest must-have in the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children craze: Orphanage Action-Figures! Through a partnership with author Ransom Riggs, Carnival Toys has developed authentic, peculiar action figures of each of the children at the orphanage house, as envisioned by the author himself! We have the fiery Emma, the brutal Bronwyn, invisible Millard and our hero himself, the courageous Jacob! But wait, it gets even better; each action figure comes with their own creepy collector’s photograph, depicting them in all of their peculiar glory. A 12”x12” replica of the orphanage will also be sold separately. Fans of the book both young and old will finally be able to experience the world of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children on their own as they explore the orphanage and experiment with each of the action figures unique powers.

           

           Based on Jacob’s remarkable adventure in the novel, the action figures, photographs, and replica orphanage will be sure to satisfy all your dire cravings. As all fans know, the main focus of the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in Jacob’s unlikely journey to Wales where he discovers an orphanage full of extraordinary children, children with powers beyond your wildest imagination! All of the peculiar children live in the orphanage, and therefore the orphanage is the symbol for everything magical and fascinating in the novel. Ransom Riggs describes it as “A bright, happy place –big and rambling…full of light and laughter (Riggs 79). The orphanage is such a key place and symbol in the book that Carnival Toys had no choice but to offer it to its multitude of adoring fans! The main focus of the story though, is obviously the peculiar children themselves. The peculiar children are “peculiar” because they possess what can only be best described as super powers. The idea for the action figures is that it will allow fans everywhere to see and explore with the powers they heard about in the novel. For example, Jacob describes Emma as “The Girl…held a flickering light, which seemed to be a ball of raw flame, attended by nothing more than her bare skin” (Riggs 117). The Emma action figure will feature young Emma holding a ball of fire in her hand! The other action figures will follow this pattern; models of the characters depicting their special abilities. Lastly, the idea for the collectable photographs comes from the fact that antique photographs are intertwined in the book itself! Creepy, eerie, and unsettling images lie around the turn of every page in the novel, and Carnival Toys is here to pass that creepiness onto you! Take this photograph for example, described in the book as “My dad was in this ridiculous pink bunny costume…Grandma took a picture of my Dad crying in the street so she could show my grandfather” (Riggs 85).   

            The Orphanage Action Figures, collectable photographs, and replica orphanage will all be extremely successful because they contain aspects that appeal to both genders and cover a majority of the novel’s target age range (11-18). It’s a well-known truth that children love toys, and at the peak of that love for toys lays a perpetual love for action-figures. Throw in the fact that the Orphanage Action Figures have unique powers and children will flock to the toys. Children who have no experience with the novel will be introduced to it through to toys, broadening the story’s audience. Current fans of the book will be delighted as well. Finally there will be a visual representation of the story for its reader to interact with and enjoy. The hands on experience that the Orphanage replica and the action figures will provide will serve to deepen the fans interest in the story and keep them engaged for as long as possible. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is also inundated with eerie old photographs depicting the peculiar children, and there isn’t a fan alive that would die to get their hands on those photographs! However the greatest reason for the success of the toys lies completely outside of the toys themselves. As luck would have it, the Miss Peregrine sequel, Hollow City, is released on January 2014 and a movie for the first book is being planned for fall 2014, completely the trifecta – toys, movie, and book. Demand will skyrocket, and the world will become a little more peculiar.

Visual Ideas of Fan Experience

The top image is an idea of what Emma's action figure would look like, but obviously it would be in action figure form. The bottom two images represent what the replica orphanage would look like: a large and eerie building in a small and interactive form.

What is a book?

A book is a house. The covers are the roof. The spine is the internal structure that holds the house together. A book is a physical structure, technically speaking. However, if a book is a house, then it can also be a home. The characters roam throughout the book like inhabitants throughout a home. A house is a physical object, but a home is a living, breathing idea. In a book, characters can do anything, they live their lives on the pages in between the covers of the book. Likewise, the members of a family in any particular home fulfill their own personal adventures while living out of their house.

There is something to be said about the physical structure that is a book. The coarse fibers of a page running against your thumb as you flip the page, the weight of the book in your hand as you level it onto an adjacent nightstand, a book's physical presence cannot be understated, and is therefore necessary to take in the story in completion. An author does not type hundreds of pages only to see them condensed into a mere drop of data floating in an infinite cyberspace. An illustrator does not spend hours tediously stenciling out a perfect design only to see it simplified into a basic geometric image, whose quality rivals that of the Paint program. E-Readers, while convenient, destroys the very passion that allows a book to breathe and become a living symbol. Would Gatsby have become a cultural phenomenon had it been confined to applications of a digital device? How clearly could we understand the statements of racism and prejudice present in To Kill A Mockingbird had we read it on computerized screen. Surely the effect would have been lost. Without the physical facets, a story cannot become house. And without a house one cannot have a proper home. The ideas of the text are weakened and experienced only in a diluted and forgettable fashion.

In "Scribble" by Victor LaValle, he makes the argument that books are like toasters: mass produced and therefore void of individual beauty and divinity. My belief that books are like houses both agrees and disagrees with this perspective. Yes, books are mass-produced (as are homes) and therefore there exist a countless number of copies. Housing developers often use the same design and/or structure when building houses, however, each house (and book) will never be exactly the same. How is this possible, you ask? Simple. While the physical aspects are the same, each object goes through a different journey. Identical houses lived in by different families will inherently become very different homes. Just as books owned by different people will become different. There is an endearing and vitalizing power to the footnotes on the pages, the slight wrinkles where the book has been bent, and the loving note from a family member if the book as given as a gift. These countless iterations give each book a unique identity, an identity that can never be achieved by the artificial interface of an E-Reader.







   

Post #1: Why I Read

I read books because it provides me with a fantastical, albeit brief, escape from reality. Day to day life, especially during the high school years, can be very stressful and it wears me down both physically and mentally. After a long day of notes and tests there is nothing more relaxing than being able to jump into the pages of some grand tale or adventure. In a matter of minutes I can become anything: a student at Hogwarts, a teenager fighting for my life during a Japanese Battle Royale, or even one of Miss Peregrine's peculiar children. Throughout my life I have always found reading to be a fun activity. No other activity utilizes the imagination so thoroughly or effectively as reading.

Besides reading for fun, I also read to learn. I am a true believer that reading is the most direct gateway to knowledge. Not only is there a limitless amount of information to be gained from the books themselves, but I have found that even the act of reading helps me learn. The night before a big test, be it anything from Math to Chemistry, I will typically pick up a book and try to crank out a few chapters before bed. It could be that this only works for me, but I've found that I almost always perform better on tests if I had an opportunity to read the night before.