Brady: This is the story of an AI starting to understand what it means to be human (at least a facet of humanity). I really liked the world that was built, it felt very much like our own but just a few years in the future. The story felt really well paced and balanced, and I felt that the characters were really distinguishable. The dialogue did a lot of the heavy lifting with characterization and I felt like it was…
Sophie: This story struck me as the tale of a cautious girl learning what it means to be brave in the face of danger. The description in the first few paragraphs of the apprehension of Alice was really well done, and I thought the analogy was really clever. Another thing I really liked was the approach to Alice’s mentality on life; Her experiences and people she’s encountered in the past clearly impact the future, which is really important for setting…
This chapter was focused on theme, or the subject of your story. I liked how the author described the theme in general as a container for your story. It’s the way to convey the story while keeping it along a cohesive line. The goal of a story is to make the reader think about what they read, to turn your writing into something that a reader will continue to ponder on their own. Themes are important so that readers do…
I recently went home to help my parents with some things and I took a picture of the front yard and the backyard as seen through my window. I thought the front yard looked so serene with the snow dusting the trees. It made me feel very calm to look at this picture again; The mix of nostalgia and also the coldness of winter was really interesting to me. I really like looking at the front yard and driveway of…
This story was an interesting read for me. I found myself often torn because the writing was good and I appreciated the skill of it, but the content was hard to get through and frankly, I had to put it down and try to read it again later. The way the story ended was really interesting; We’ve been spending a lot of time in class on stories with ending right before the big lead up of an event comes to…
Something that I really liked throughout this story was the use of dialogue. The author uses a unique approach to dialogue, never actually having quotations but rather choosing to have the characters interectations viewed through the lens of the woman who is experiencing them. We learn a lot about how this character interprets interactions this way, and it makes me consider the effects an unreliable narrator could have on this. Particularly since we covered dialogue last class, I’ve been a…
I thought this chapter on voice was pretty interesting. Something I took note of was the section on the difference between style and voice. I’d never thought of these two terms as different things, but it gave me a new perspective on how you can describe an object, location, person, anything with details that reveal both the characteristics of the item/person and the conventions of your writing. I also thought the paragraphs section was interesting. I’ve never really thought of…
This chapter was all about setting the scene, whether that involved the environment, time, and mood. The part I found most useful when considering applications to my own writing difficulties. I struggle to keep the story moving sometimes, so then I rush and skip over details. It was interesting to think of pacing in a story from the context of how the character is experiencing the scene I’m trying to write. Maybe a good event is intentionally fast paced to…
I really liked a few sections in this chapter. I thought it was really helpful when the author explained how even though you could opt to summarize an interaction, it’s a much more immersive experience if you show the interaction instead. How the characters react during a conversation tells you a lot about their personality. I often feel like I’m repeating myself in dialogue with all the “I said, she said” type of interactions. It was really helpful to see…
I really liked this short story! “Annunciation” presents itself as a retelling of the past of a troubled recent college graduate who is struggling to keep herself afloat. The most compelling part of this story is the description. By the end, I felt like the characters in this story were all real, that this story was actualyl a retelling of a true one. Each character is both flawed and meritorious, has shortcomings and strengths. We see the narrator meet Anais,…
