Creative writing- interview between the narrator and John

N(Narrator): Why do you like magic?

J(John Wade): I don’t know. Probably it makes feel good and relief. In a world of magic, everything is possible for me. Everything is within reach as long as I concentrate.

N: It seems a little vague to me, though. What specific magic trick you like best?

J: When I was small, my father called me Little Houdini. I guess I am good at escaping from a certain circumstance to another one  with some small tricks.

N: If you got a chance to choose live in the magic world or the reality, which would you choose and why?

J: The magic world for sure. There I don’t need to hide and pretend, because things there themselves are not real. I can use my tricks to make my life better.

N: I understand the good point to be in the magic world, but don’t you think it is scaring on the other hand? Everything is not real…

J: Well, as long as you have your own magic to stay forever, then you won’t concerned at all. But the condition is you have to stay there all the time.

N: So you mean, the fact that you switch between the reality and magic makes you scared?

J: Well, sort of.

N: What do you mean by saying sort of?

J: I don’t know. When I feel scared, I will immediately go back to my magic world. So the fright feeling is pretty short.

N: Do you find it is hard to communicate with others or sharing your own feelings?

J: That’s a tough question. I never share my feelings with others. So I don’t know. In my Magician’s Handbook, it says “You will never explain your tricks to an audience, for on matter how clever the means.” I am following the directions.

N: But that’s merely magic tricks, not your personal feelings?

J: The same. I am a strict magician.

Blog 11 – Dialogue between Ragtime and In the Lake of the Woods

The writing style of Ragtime and In the Lake of Woods are totally different, especially about the dialogue.

In the Lake of Woods, author uses more direct and short dialogue between charaters.For instance,

“You know, maybe I’m way off,” she’d say, “but I get this creepy feeling. Like you’re always there. Always worming around inside me.”

John would smile this candidate’s smile.”Very true. Not worming, though. Snaking.”

“You didn’t go out today?”

“Out where?”

“I don’t know know where. It just seemed –”

Personally, it is a very natural and daily dialogue. Very straightforward and short. It helps readers follow the story thread more clearly.

On the other hand, the dialogue in Ragtime is much longer and fewer. For example,

In front of the sergeant’s desk at police headquarters on Centre Street, she made a statement to reporters as she was booked for conspiracy. I am sorry for the firemen in Westchester. I wish they had not been killed. But the Negro was tormented into action, so I understand, by the cruel death of this fiancee, an innocent young woman. As an anarchist, I applaud his appropriation of the Morgan property. Mr. Morgan has done some appropriating of his own. At this the reporters shouted questions. Is he a follower of yours, Emma? Do you know him? Did you have anything to do with this? Goldman smiled and shook her head. The oppressor is wealth, my friends. Wealth is the oppressor. Coalhouse Walker did not need Red Emma to learn that. He needed only to suffer.

Without any quotation mark, Doctorow switched the speakers succeefully. I feel one of the distinguishing characteristics is this kind of dialogue is more close to narration. Unlike the former one, it feel more rational and narrative.

Experimenting with Dialogue and Intertextuality

I chose to compare two video news: one is “Aunts and Stepdads line up for this year hottest gift: The electric Tea Kettle” from The Onion and the other is “Cooking to cut costs” from CNN.

The similarities about these two news is the constructions of the narration.  Both of them first state what happens generally in this news to give the audience an overall idea. Then it goes to details to describe the story with vivid pictures as well as interviews with experts or authorities. This tries to build more credibility for this news.

But these two news have a major difference. The Onion news uses satirical tone to re veil some reality now, though the news there is “fake”. Specially, this video news is to describe how insane and crazy customers buy a product, but in reality for such a bad economy, customers will definitely control themselves to cut unnecessary expense. Personally, I think The Onion wants the audience to reflect their own consuming behaviors.

On the other hand, CNN news is more rational to the audience. Every sentence used is more serious and cautious. By a straighforward way to tell the audience that people now prefer cooking at home to cut cost, CNN conveys the message that what is the people’s response to the bad economy now.

Blog 10 – Peer Review

Overall, I think the peer review for the Ragtime paper went well last Thursday.

Frankly, at first, I didn’t think highly of peer review, because last semester for my ENG111, this process didn’t went well. However, this time, I think I had some useful suggestions and ideas from my peer reviewers, which helped my improve my paper.

The most important part that I have learned from this reviewing process is that as I read others’ paper, I gradually realized how can I come up the thesis statement and how to organize the paper. Before the last class, my draft was merely about the ideas that I came up with, but it wasn’t a paper. As the review process, I could learn from my peers and tried to think about my own paper. I feel after that my mind is much clearer to form my ideas into a paper.

Hopefully, my paper is “readable” when I turn it in this Tuesday!