Style Academy

I really like Style Academy. :) That sounds a bit funny, because it's an assignment, but I really do.  I think it's interesting and that it could really help my writing.  One of the trickiest bits of writing is varying my sentences.  If they're too short, the paper sounds choppy, but if they're too long, then people get lost. From what I've seen thus far, Style Academy will really help with that issue.

I also think it's cool that they focus just on the sentence aspect of writing.  A lot of what I learned about writing in high school was either structural or grammatical, and I like that Style Academy really picks up where that left off.  It takes skill to create a good sentence and hopefully Style Academy will help me develop that skill.

GASCAP Assignment

Okay, firstly, I hope I’ve done this right. J

A Government in Thrall to Religion

G – Assuming that if religion has triumphed in some areas, it must have triumphed in all areas

A- Likening modern times to the Holy Roman Inquisition

S – If science continues to fail (in a very specific way), we will relapse into the dark ages.

C – The government has not done anything about environmental issues because of religion.  Okay, there’s a lot of this.  Relating a lot of potentially bad choices to one choice that sort of involved religion.

A – Thomas Jefferson has some authority.

P – Ignorance is the worst crime.

Stream of Consciousness for the Opinion-Editorial

What am I passionate about?  The first thing that comes to mind is women’s rights.  I’ve become quite the feminist since I got to college. I was sort of always that way, but I’ve become more passionate about it and more aware of what the word “feminist” means.   But I don’t know how I would write about that.  One of the things I dislike and would like to change the most is rape culture.  I hate that.  But I don’t know that I feel qualified to write about it.  I’ll keep it in mind, though.

What else am I passionate about?  That stupid pizza joke comes to mind.  It goes something like this: “What’s the difference between a pepperoni pizza and an art major?  A pepperoni pizza can feed a family of four.”  If you laughed, I gave you a look.  As an illustration major, that hurts.  It hits way too close to home.  One of the very worst, most terrifying things about being an artist is the idea that I won’t be able to support myself or my family if I have to.  It’s scary to realize that what I love, what I dedicate countless hours of my life to, may not have any financial benefit for me in the end.  Somehow, it seems more pure that way.  But I’d prefer if it didn’t affect the people I love as well as me.  I also struggle with feeling selfish.  If I wanted to, I could be a pretty good doctor.  It would take a different part of myself, but I could handle it.  But I’d never be happy the way I am studying illustration.  It feeds a part of my soul that I can’t live without.  But sometimes I wonder if that’s worth the opportunities I may give up for my family.   Is it selfish to pursue what I love if something else would probably be better for my kids?  And what about my future husband?  He might not feel able to do something he loves, because he feels a need to support a family.  If I were a doctor, or something like that, maybe he wouldn’t have to worry.  I don’t mind confronting these problems.  They’re important and the answers I find will determine a large part of the person I become.  But I don’t feel like it’s anyone else’s place to decide for me and I don’t think it’s anyone else’s place to joke about it.  These are serious issues that have great personal significance for me and that joke trivializes my entire education and all the sacrifices that I make to do what I love.  That really bothers me.

"The Worst Movie (or musical) Ever."

 As a child, I liked adventure stories.  I read about Harry Potter, Frodo, and Percy Jackson so much that my parents began insisting that I read a “real book” between every “potato-chip novel” I devoured.  As I got a bit older and started reading more classic adventure stories, I learned that the journeys of Odysseus and Harry weren’t really all that different.  Both followed something called the “Hero Cycle.”  This is a plot pattern in which a character leaves their home (or the “known”), journeys into the unknown, learns something, and then returns home, applying their new knowledge to their old life. This relatively simple journey is present in almost every form of fictional literature.  It allows a character to grow and change and gives a feeling of catharsis as the adventure resolves.  A book or a movie with an incomplete Hero Cycle leaves the reader/viewer feeling antsy and unsettled.  In Damn Yankees, for instance, which just so happens to be the worst musical ever, the Hero Cycle is completely disregarded, leaving the viewer looking for a conclusion that will never come.

The worst part of Damn Yankees is that, for the most part, the musical is really enjoyable.  Songs like “Heart” provide upbeat comic relief, while the love between elderly Mr. and Mrs. Boyd is sweet and constant.  Joe Boyd learns from his time as Joe Hardy, and returns to his wife a better man.  All of this makes for pretty good entertainment.  Until Lola is considered.

The second she walked in and started to sing, I knew she was my favorite character.  For those unfamiliar with the plot, Lola is enslaved to the devil, forced to do his bidding and seduce men.  Sort of like Meg in the Disney movie Hercules. She doesn’t really mind, until she meets Joe.  Unable to seduce him, she decides to befriend him and proceeds to help him get out of his deal with the devil.  My favorite song, “Two Lost Souls,” comes when it looks like Joe has failed, and lost his soul to Mr. Applegate (the devil’s human incarnation).  Lola and Joe sing about how, although they’ve both lost everything and are “drifting in a boat without a rudder,” at least they have “each-udder.”  It’s silly and cute, and it’s easy to see how they’ve both grown as characters.

Lola then proceeds to betray Applegate and drug him so that Joe can at least help his team win their last game before he becomes completely subject to Applegate’s will.  She risks everything to do this and Applegate threatens her and then forces her to the stadium to watch Joe’s “demise.”  My point in outlining all of this is to show how Lola grows as a character.  She becomes bigger than the place she filled before.  However, as soon as she is dragged back to the stadium, she disappears.  We never hear about her again.  The only clue is Applegate’s threat that she “will regret what [she’s] done.” While Joe Hardy again becomes Joe Boyd (with Lola’s assistance) and returns to his loving wife, a better man, Lola returns to the devil to serve him for the rest of eternity. 

Damn Yankees is a retelling of the Faust legend.  In the original version, the protagonist, Faust, loses.  When his deal is up, he is dragged down to hell by the devil.  Although depressing, the moral of this story makes sense.  Don’t make deals with the devil.  He’s smarter than you are.  The moral of Damn Yankees, however, is unclear.  Don’t make deals with the devil . . . unless you’re the main character.  Love will beat the devil . . . unless it’s platonic love, then it’s no good.  This discrepancy frustrates me endlessly.  Lola was the best character, but because she wasn’t the main character, she got a raw deal.  Joe made the exact same mistakes, but he got off scot-free, and in the euphoria of his triumph, I’m supposed to forget about the rest of Lola’s miserable existence.  It’s like she existed just for the purpose of Joe’s happy ending. I think that’s tragic.  And it really makes for the worst musical ever.  

Introduction

My name is Abby.  This feels a little odd, because I'm not much of a blogger.  I'm an illustration major, and I generally feel more comfortable communicating with people I don't know through images.

I do like to write, but not because I think I'm good at it.  (I don't.) It's a good way to help myself figure out what I'm thinking.  And I like to find poetic justice in things.  I'm a bit of an optimistic idealist (which is sort of funny, because I can also be really sarcastic) and I like the idea that beauty, a good metaphor, or irony can give an object or a situation value.

I like words, too.  Even though English is a complicated language and can be really obnoxious, I think it's wonderful how it lets me express one thing in so many different ways.  Words have an incredible variety of connotations and implications and there are always interesting words to discover.

Let's see.  I'm a bit of a dork and a little odd. But I think everyone is, on some level.  I'm chronically late and not very tidy. :)  My roommate fondly calls me a "mess-and-a-half." I love to quote movies, particularly the Disney variety, though I'm also a fan of Avatar (the tv show), Phineas and Ferb, Psych, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter.  So really, a dork and a geek. :)

I'm from Utah, I'm LDS, I'm 5'10" (the weather up here is just fine, thanks) and I think that's probably enough of an introduction for the moment. :)