work post #6

Well, I have managed to really push myself this week.  As I dove into the story, I soon found myself unable to come up with a compelling plot for the skeleton of the narrative, and I spent quite a bit of time unable to figure out why.  Studying my various guides for plot writing yielded no avail, and I was really struggling until I realized exactly what was going on;  a fundamental mistake in the set up of my story.

While I know what the story will be about, I realized that I don't really have a central antagonist to tie all of the themes together.  Without a real central force driving against the ideals of the protagonists, coming up with a plot that really feels driven and fast paced is almost completely impossible, and certainly above my skill level. 

As such, I've been re-examining my  cast to see who really stands for what, and how their ideals clash.  If I can figure out who the most interesting foil is/could potentially be, then I can really build up the narrative with more of a purpose.  The kind of plot that best serves the kind of story I am writing is one that allows the protagonists to start with a goal, and make sure that every action they take can be in service of them trying to achieve that goal. 

The challenging part, of course, is my own self imposed challenge to try and really make sure I introduce as many side characters and potential future conflicts as possible, simply because I have dozens of stories I'd like to tell using this setting and characters, and I want this story to serve as a solid beginning for the characters and their world, a sort of "book one".

Hopefully, I can really focus in on what this story is about, and restructure it so that it has the antagonist that it truly deserves.

The Poethical Wager Response

            Reading The Poethical Wager, Joan Retallack makes a variety of interesting points about the artificial binaries that tend to exist within the genres of today.  While these binaries come up in most of the essays, the one that I found interesting was the binary she explains as existing in feminism, starting on page 90.  The first thing she does is explain that the way she sees it, when comparing the feminine and the masculine, the feminine simply encompasses all of the things that the masculine does not, and that the problems feminism faces today are derived from this problematic distinction. 

            Secondly, she seems to draw a connection that since the experimental in art today is seen as an “other,” that these experiments are lumped into the feminine sphere since that sphere happens to encompass all “others” that aren’t part of the patriarchal masculine sphere.  So, as a result of the rejection of “others” from the dominant patriarchal sphere, not only do things seen as feminine suffer, but all others suffer, and are lumped in together as being feminine even if that definition doesn’t make sense, since there is so little information on what really makes something feminine in the first place. 

            Personally, I must admit that I can understand where she is coming from.  There really is a degree to which when something is rejected as not being masculine, a whole host of other traits are thrown upon it.  That said, I’m unsure if all experimental art is rejected by society because it is seen as feminine.  I say this because I feel that as feminism slowly continues to grow stringer and make more of an impact on mainstream society, I feel like experimental art will continue to be rejected just as it always has.  If we reach a point at which something being considered as feminine could be seen as something instead of a negative trait, won’t experimental art continue to be rejected?  In fact, couldn’t experimental art simply shift from one incorrect grouping to another?  For example, perhaps the experimental art of the future would be seen as anti-capitalist, rather than anti masculine.  While I understand that the connection between feminine and experimental exists, I am unsure of exactly how much of this connection is based in real concrete similarities.  It seems more like a connection society draws as a result of convenience, given the current similarities they share. 

            Overall, it is a very interesting way to look at how definitions shift over time.  It has definitely caused me to wonder how feminism will change as it continues to grow stronger.  The essay also makes it incredibly obvious how obsolete binaries are as way of viewing the world.  If feminine and masculine were viewed not as one being good and the other being bad, but as simply each being unique in its own way, then neither would have to be associated with “others” that they are in no other way related to. 

work post #5

After quite a bit of work, I believe I have finally decided the specifics of what my Capstone project will be.  I will be creating a Space Adventure Novel, and I will try and create as much of it as humanly possible between now and April.  I have worked out most of the story by now, and I have enough ideas for it to make sure I won't run out of material.  If it turns out the way I expect it to, I'll be able to explore a a lot of my favorite genre tropes and put my own spin on them, the way I personally want to.

The story will take place an undetermined amount of time in our future, in a much more chaotic galaxy.  In it, I plan to focus on a small group of space pirates.  In a Galaxy growing more dangerous every day, Captain Harris and his partner Claire are forced into hunting down an ancient alien artifact by the pirate guild they recently joined.  Will they be able to survive the mission when dozens of other cutthroats are after the same prize?  Harris and Claire will be pushed into learning the price of freedom, and the reasons others try to limit it, as well as the battling philosophies of individualism vs collectivism.

More specifically, I want to challenge Harris's love of freedom by slowly forcing him to accept more  and more outside control of his life.  The story starts with Harris explaining that the Galaxy has become so dangerous, he decided that the only way he could keep his ship safe was to give in and join a pirate guild, accepting that he will have to serve them to some degree, while benefiting from their full protection against other powerful galactic cutthroats.  As the story goes on, I have other similar compromises he may have to make in order to continue to insure his crews safety; perhaps there are some dangers that one just cannot face alone.

Likewise, Claire's inner struggle is all about her robin hood esque desire to protect the weak from the strong, and the kind of self sacrifice she's willing to go through to protect others, even strangers, from harm.  Throughout the narrative, I want to force her to into situations where she can't necessarily save everyone, and rather has to accept that she does the best she can.

There will also be aspects of trans-humanism, since I want there to be a focus on human cyborg technology.  As humanity begins to feel as though it is losing control to the galaxy's chaos, the kind of cyborg enhancements presented to the readers will become more and more extreme.  This chaos (represented in the forms of various alien predators and dangers that will slowly become more prevalent) is the same chaos that prompts Harris to join the pirate guild for safety.  The story won't be about the end of the frontier, so much as an exploration of its dangers and a celebration of its escapism tropes

Creative work based on Dahlen

A combination of both hellish lyrics and descriptions paraphrased from Dante's Inferno.

Abandon all hope who enter here

Enter the gates, Charon awaits

Abandon all hope who enter here

For this is where all things are left behind

Every doubt and every cowardice must die

Souls of rage and anger whipping in despair

The souls that wail on this plain pray for death

Denial is the reason for their suffering

Forever being stung by wasps and demons breath

The blood and tears that fall serve the maggots need

Mine is pure darkness

It is as blackness is

Damn the light which comes from

You as a moth to flame I burn

The howling winds blow

On this moonlit night

Eyes locked in fear

With a dark embrace

The bitter cold winds

Freeze the tears that fall

Hands held in grace

As we take the final step

In one last breath

You'll feel this damned old soul

You'll see the things I see

For all these years

Of pain and sacrifice

You'll know the pain I know

I walk the Earth another day

The wicked one that comes this way

Savior to my own, devil to some

Mankind falls, something wicked comes

Descention, thrusting to the second plain

Minos judges as his tail twines

Lustful thoughts and greed whip these wretched souls

A hurricane of hate mocks their helpless pleas

Living life in total lies

Judging others

Believe that I say or burn in hell

Bow down your head

You won't feel so bad

Do as I say or burn in hell

Drifting now down deeper, into eternal flames

Awake at the third circle, the cold and filthy rain

Punished for their gluttony, languid for all time

The earth it stinks of corpses, damned for all time

The vicious beast Cerberus, three heads, blooded eyes

Tears his talons through the air, all the sinners cry

As consciousness slips into blackness

I rise to nights warm embrace

And though my blood runs cold

I know my love will be alone

And my mortal heart shall beat again

Like it did ten thousand years ago

Down, be still thy cursed wolf

The master scorns its name

Dive to the next plain

The sullen and the vain

Suffer for their greed

The prodigal they bleed

For all eternity

Plutus holds the key

Damned, the wrathful and the vain

Suffer the fifth plain

Cross the river Styx

Heed your crucifix

The muddied corpses cry

Howling to the sky

Reach the other side

Open wide the gate

Enter the sixth circle of barren land and flames

Passing through the gate of dis the furies scream her name

Belching forth in agony invoking her to rise

The spirit's rage consuming us the evil in their cries

Queen of vipers, queen of serpents

Cast their souls to stone

Spread to wealth of Gorgon's power

Medusa's inner soul

We're drawing ever closer to the seventh hell

They violate their neighbors, their god and themselves

We're sailing slowly through the boiling river of blood

Immersed in the depths below souls scream in agony

The twisted beast he laughs, he draws his arrow back

His sights on anyone exposing of their flesh

He impales their hearts with ease

And shrugs their piercing screams

Pity is they'll never die

They'll suffer here eternally

Imagine a place where every horror comes to life

Where every torture is real and time stands still

Eight fiery steps and we're closer to the end

In a cold and timeless grave buried head first in shit

Praying all the while for a quick and painless death

Scratching furiously at scabbed and oozing wounds

Lucifer ... angel of light

Cast below god of ice

Ruling hell unholy trinity

The traitors freeze for all eternity

Lucifer ... betrayer of god

Tormentor ruthless and cold

Judas' screaming here in agony

The traitors freeze for all eternity

Feb 4th assignment: Response to Poetics reading.

It’s never before occurred to me to connect Gertrude Stein with Emily Dickinson.  While I am not an expert on either, I am still familiar with both, and have read a few pieces from each one.  That said, I am really only familiar with a few of Emily Dickinson’s more popular poems, and I don’t have very much information on what other kinds of writing she did aside from those.  As for Gertrude Stein, I must admit I am not really a fan of her work, and so my exposure to it is rather limited in scope.  However, the texts of hers that I have read were analyzed in depth, so I have always felt like I had a decent idea of what she was about.

Apparently though, the two have a lot more in common than I had originally thought they did.  Reading Susan Howe's My Emily Dickinson revealed a lot of information about her that I did not already know about.  I find it incredibly interesting that she was able to accomplish so much towards exploring the difficulties of the writing of her time, yet this is a very unknown facet to her writing.  I really look forward to learning more.