Hi everyone,
Grades are going to be later than I'd planned and hoped because I had an injury yesterday when I fell into the river (I am fine, just in a lot of pain which makes long periods at the computer difficult).
Thanks for your patience!
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Book Recommendations from Durbin
Book Recommendations
If you are interested in reading more horror novels, below are a few I recommend:
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
I am not the world's biggest Stephen King fan, simply because his writing isn't very strong at the sentence level and his story lines tend to falter into silly cliches mid-way through his books, but this book is really strong and creepy. It's a zombie story, but not your typical zombie apocalypse as it is much more intimate. If you like it, you could give The Shining a try as well. It's not as good as the film by Kubrick, which is a masterpiece, but it's still pretty fun and the first half is really, really good.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Vampire-zombie apocalypse goodness here. Last man on earth. Nothing like the film, either, so don't expect them to be the same.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
One of my favorite novels of any genre. This is a psychological horror novel that set the standard for haunted house novels. If you like it, check out her other masterpiece, We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
A great and spooky ghost story; much better than the film.
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
One of my favorite novels of all time; this is an existential and gorgeous meditation on the meaning of human existence, told through the eyes of a vampire. It's scary, too.
Under the Skin by Michael Faber
There is a good film by the same name, but the novel is even better. It's a sci-fi horror narrative, about a woman who picks up hitchhikers and does something horrible to them. I don't want to tell you what because you'll want to discover it yourself. I strongly recommend NOT reading any spoilers about this book and letting yourself discover it as you read.
Battle Royale by Kousahun Takami
Also a cult classic film (that is extremely gory, so you've been forewarned) this is a tale of high schoolers who have to fight each other to the death. This book came out long before the Hunger Games, and is much more violent (also, their deaths are not televised). A classic in Japanese horror literature.
If you are interested in reading more horror novels, below are a few I recommend:
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
I am not the world's biggest Stephen King fan, simply because his writing isn't very strong at the sentence level and his story lines tend to falter into silly cliches mid-way through his books, but this book is really strong and creepy. It's a zombie story, but not your typical zombie apocalypse as it is much more intimate. If you like it, you could give The Shining a try as well. It's not as good as the film by Kubrick, which is a masterpiece, but it's still pretty fun and the first half is really, really good.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Vampire-zombie apocalypse goodness here. Last man on earth. Nothing like the film, either, so don't expect them to be the same.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
One of my favorite novels of any genre. This is a psychological horror novel that set the standard for haunted house novels. If you like it, check out her other masterpiece, We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
A great and spooky ghost story; much better than the film.
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
One of my favorite novels of all time; this is an existential and gorgeous meditation on the meaning of human existence, told through the eyes of a vampire. It's scary, too.
Under the Skin by Michael Faber
There is a good film by the same name, but the novel is even better. It's a sci-fi horror narrative, about a woman who picks up hitchhikers and does something horrible to them. I don't want to tell you what because you'll want to discover it yourself. I strongly recommend NOT reading any spoilers about this book and letting yourself discover it as you read.
Battle Royale by Kousahun Takami
Also a cult classic film (that is extremely gory, so you've been forewarned) this is a tale of high schoolers who have to fight each other to the death. This book came out long before the Hunger Games, and is much more violent (also, their deaths are not televised). A classic in Japanese horror literature.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Class Survey
1)
What was your overall experience like in the course?
What surprised you and what interested you?
2)
What was your favorite book we read and why?
3)
What was your least favorite book we read and
why?
4)
What was your favorite film we watched and why?
5)
What was your least favorite film we watched and
why?
6)
What did you learn through the process of making
the Twine project? Ultimately, how did you feel about this assignment? Was it
something you found worthwhile?
7)
What were your favorite in-class activities?
8)
Anything you’d like to see more or less of? This
could apply to activities, or horror sub-genres. Please keep in mind that I do
teach already teach a monsters class so I don’t repeat that class here. Also
keep in mind that anything “added” will necessarily “remove” something else,
due to time constraints.
9)
Anything else you’d like me to know?
Friday, January 20, 2017
Twine Formatting Tips
Hello all,
Here are the promised tips. If you are re-submitting your story from Friday (today), please re-submit it no later than the start of class on Monday and send me the link via email.
As for everyone else, you are expected to have all of these formatting elements incorporated naturally into your stories prior to your presentation and will not be permitted to make any changes after.
1) As mentioned in the guidelines, typos and spelling errors need to be eliminated. Check these in advance. Then, check and double-check your story for errors before submitting.
2) When using dialogue, you need to use what are called dialogue tags. This is not net-speak; rather, a dialogue tag is simply a means of letting the reader know who is talking at a given moment. Every time a character speaks, clarify who is talking. For example:
"I am coming," yells Johnny. (The tag is "yells Johnny." Note as well the comma preceding "yells.")
You say to Johnny, "Great!"
Mom says, "Nope."
"Whatever," you say.
This is standard dialogue formatting in books. If you are confused, open the novel OUT, and look the dialogue tags. You need to do this in your story. Every time anyone talks, whether it is "you" or someone else, you need to include a dialogue tag.
3) Make sure your choices are stated as phrases, not one word choices, for the most part. I know it's sometimes hard to know when this applies and when it doesn't. The trick is to look at the question leading up to the choice. For example:
Do you run down stairs or do you go up in to the attic?
Run downstairs
Go up into the attic
In this instance, it's fine to have short phrases, because the question that leads to the choice is clear.
The following, however, doesn't work:
You walk into the living room.
Attic
Upstairs
See how in this example there is not enough information for your reader to know what is going on?
4) Make sure you have paragraph breaks in your story. These should essentially match the paragraph breaks I am making here on this blog post. I am not indenting as a standard book would do, but when I end this paragraph as I am about to do in this sentence, there will be a one space break before the next paragraph.
See, here is the beginning of the next paragraph, and above it is a space break. Notice how the space break is just one space break, not several spaces.
5) Do not bold or italicize things. If you want to clarify that something is a reader's thought, just write something like:
Damn, I thought. That's a really stupid idea.
6) I already said this, but please proofread for strange typos and be consistent in your punctuation, especially with choices. Either use periods for them, or don't.
7) Make sure your verb tense is all present tense unless you are talking about the past. Don't switch verb tenses throughout your story.
That's it. Let me know if you have any questions. Loved your stories!
Here are the promised tips. If you are re-submitting your story from Friday (today), please re-submit it no later than the start of class on Monday and send me the link via email.
As for everyone else, you are expected to have all of these formatting elements incorporated naturally into your stories prior to your presentation and will not be permitted to make any changes after.
1) As mentioned in the guidelines, typos and spelling errors need to be eliminated. Check these in advance. Then, check and double-check your story for errors before submitting.
2) When using dialogue, you need to use what are called dialogue tags. This is not net-speak; rather, a dialogue tag is simply a means of letting the reader know who is talking at a given moment. Every time a character speaks, clarify who is talking. For example:
"I am coming," yells Johnny. (The tag is "yells Johnny." Note as well the comma preceding "yells.")
You say to Johnny, "Great!"
Mom says, "Nope."
"Whatever," you say.
This is standard dialogue formatting in books. If you are confused, open the novel OUT, and look the dialogue tags. You need to do this in your story. Every time anyone talks, whether it is "you" or someone else, you need to include a dialogue tag.
3) Make sure your choices are stated as phrases, not one word choices, for the most part. I know it's sometimes hard to know when this applies and when it doesn't. The trick is to look at the question leading up to the choice. For example:
Do you run down stairs or do you go up in to the attic?
Run downstairs
Go up into the attic
In this instance, it's fine to have short phrases, because the question that leads to the choice is clear.
The following, however, doesn't work:
You walk into the living room.
Attic
Upstairs
See how in this example there is not enough information for your reader to know what is going on?
4) Make sure you have paragraph breaks in your story. These should essentially match the paragraph breaks I am making here on this blog post. I am not indenting as a standard book would do, but when I end this paragraph as I am about to do in this sentence, there will be a one space break before the next paragraph.
See, here is the beginning of the next paragraph, and above it is a space break. Notice how the space break is just one space break, not several spaces.
5) Do not bold or italicize things. If you want to clarify that something is a reader's thought, just write something like:
Damn, I thought. That's a really stupid idea.
6) I already said this, but please proofread for strange typos and be consistent in your punctuation, especially with choices. Either use periods for them, or don't.
7) Make sure your verb tense is all present tense unless you are talking about the past. Don't switch verb tenses throughout your story.
That's it. Let me know if you have any questions. Loved your stories!
Journal Make-Up
If you are unhappy with one of your journal scores, you may write a new one to replace it (but not re-write the original--pick a different film if it's a film journal, and pick another book if it's a book journal, etc).
This can only be done once throughout the term, and must be uploaded with a reference in the header that it is a "make-up" entry so I know to recognize it.
This can only be done once throughout the term, and must be uploaded with a reference in the header that it is a "make-up" entry so I know to recognize it.
American Psycho Discussion Q's
American Psycho Discussion Questions
1) How would you describe Patrick Bateman's character? He is hyperbolic, which means he is an exaggeration of aspects of real people that already exist. What qualities of toxic masculinity does he exacerbate?
2) How is this novel a critique of Wall Street culture?
3) Analyze the title. What does it represent? What is an American Psycho?
4) While this novel was written in the 80's, many aspects of it can be linked to current problems in our world. What are those problems?
5) What role do the brand name references serve in the book? Why is there so many of them?
1) How would you describe Patrick Bateman's character? He is hyperbolic, which means he is an exaggeration of aspects of real people that already exist. What qualities of toxic masculinity does he exacerbate?
2) How is this novel a critique of Wall Street culture?
3) Analyze the title. What does it represent? What is an American Psycho?
4) While this novel was written in the 80's, many aspects of it can be linked to current problems in our world. What are those problems?
5) What role do the brand name references serve in the book? Why is there so many of them?
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Dumplings and The Blair Witch Project
Hi everyone,
Just for the fun of it, I've decided that if you still have to finish any of your film journal entries and you don't want to write about The Host &/or Paranormal Activity, you are welcome to write instead about Dumplings (you'll have to watch the full film version as the shorter version doesn't have good picture quality) or The Blair Witch Project.
You could also write about one of these as an extra credit option if you like.
Best,
Prof D
Just for the fun of it, I've decided that if you still have to finish any of your film journal entries and you don't want to write about The Host &/or Paranormal Activity, you are welcome to write instead about Dumplings (you'll have to watch the full film version as the shorter version doesn't have good picture quality) or The Blair Witch Project.
You could also write about one of these as an extra credit option if you like.
Best,
Prof D
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