YES! Finally finished the book, and I'm super happy! :)
The last few chapters of the book discussed a few things I would normally have overlooked in a story, considering it as something not important. After reading the last few chapters, I've realized that these factors actually are a big piece of understanding a story, if not the most important piece to understanding a story.
Chapter 21 discussed how abnormalities of characters are a big sign to show how important they are. While reading this chapter, so many characters came up in my head, whether they were in books, tv shows/ movies, or games. These characters did have abnormalities that set them apart from the rest of society, however, made them obvious as the main character and hero/heroine of the story. So, when I read this chapter, I actually had an "aha!" moment. I like how the author stated that a certain abnormality may be just that- a certain abnormality. But, apply that abnormality to a character, especially in literature, and you get a unique hero/heroine who'll make an amazing impact on the story. I also found it ironic how characters of stories with abnormalties are discriminated against in the story, yet they end up being the hero/heroine of the story. Also, in the real world, we'd feel sorry for these people, sympathize, or even evade them, viewing them as different, and maybe even discriminate against them (meaniieeess!). We would never think them of heroes/heroines or view them as someone great like we do with characters in literature.
Chapter 22 went over characters who were blind. I always found blind characters interesting though. I actually favor blind characters, only because they seem more intelligent, clever, and overall, better than the regular people/characters of the book. I was always fascinated by blind characters because their other senses were more heightened and trained then anyone else's, and that made them better. True, they had the disability of not seeing, but they used their other sense, like listening to sense things around them. I always found that interesting. Anyways, I like what the author said when he stated to mention your character's disability early on in the story. Its more convenient that way because it lays out the rest of the story for the reader. It allows the reader to wonder: "what'll happen now?" "how will this change the story?" It doesn't have to be mentioned right away in the beginning of the story, but at least the first few chapters, that way, the plot will run much more smoothly. It makes it more interesting.
Chapter 23 and 24 talked about illnesses. These two stories were actually a little boring for me. I haven't read too many books where the character died of heart attacks/heart problems, or had any sort of connection with heart problems. That's probably one reason why I wasn't so interested in the chapters. Actually, thinking about it now, the only story that comes to mind where I read about the characters having an illness would be the story called Fever 1987 (at least I think that was the year...I don't even remember the book all too great so I'm not going to discuss it too much.) Basically, these chapters did help, but since I haven't had much resources to fall back on and reanalyze with the tips of these chapters, I can't really comment on these chapters as much.
Chapter 25 was actually fun to read. I'm glad the author put this chapter into the book. Sure, having an opinion about topics are helpful in analyzing a book, but I agree that sometimes, you have to put yourself in the character's shoes, or even the author's shoes, to fully understand the situation. Getting information about the time period/situation helps so much. I think, when you read literature, you should be unbiased, and put you're opinion aside. If you're just straight up stuck on you're own opinion, it'll just prevent you from fully enjoying the book.
Chapter 26 dealt with irony. Irony is hard to understand, even for me. I have the basis for it, and with that knowledge, I think irony is great with stories. I like stories with irony in it because it throws everything off, and catches the reader off guard. It adds more wonder to the story, more anticipation, and makes everything that much better to read. I like to think of it as the " oh what the _ _ _ _!" factor (all those reading, theres more than one word to put into those blanks! =P) Its something you don't expect to happen, and it makes you want to keep reading, because now everything has just changed. Whatever the reader had in mind, it's all out the window because now something new just came up. I like surprises in books, much more enjoyable to read.
Chapter 27: the test case
First off, "The Garden Party" was an good story. I wouldn't say it was satisfying, but i wouldn't say it was disatisfying to read. It was plainly ok. When I analyzed the story, I did get the hint of class differentiation. I thought of it as Laura being torn with her class and the lower class, sympathizing one of the families of the lower class because of the death. She sympathized and felt bad so much to the point that she wanted to cancel the garden party, while everyone else thought she was being absurd and ridiculous. I thought of it as Laura trying to find her place in society. As much as she would like to help the lower class, she just doesn't belong there. She finally realizes this one she has to deliver the food to the house down the hill and she feels uncomfortable and just wants to get out. That was the basis of my interpretation.
I would have never thought of the whole Persephone myth, unless the author mentioned it. Once he brought up the name, I began to see the resemblance, and my thoughts after that matched that of the author. I was surprised to see those connections because, like I said, Persephone didn't even cross my mind at all. But when the author mentioned it, only then did I see all the connections and everything. It was interesting to get that analysis. I also found the analysis of the birds surprising too because, although I did see a lot of reference to birds and flight, I actually didn't connect it to anything, at least, I didn't interpret it the same way.
I guess I'm not as good at analyzation as I should be. Sometimes for me "a hawk is just a hawk", things in stories are just what they are for me. I suppose I do need a lot more work on analyzation, and I'll be sure to refer to this book to help me with that (even though i didn't quite enjoy reading it). However, I think the one thing I'll have to disagree with the author is this: I don't think every book, every story, every poem has to be so detailed and analyzed, unless, yes, it is for school purposes. Besides that, I don't think I'm going to analyze every book so rigorously and so meticulously as the author does. Sure, every now and then I'll have an "AHA!" moment, or remember a few of the tips I learned in this book, but I think the best way to understand a book, is to just read it and enjoy it (or dislike it if it happens to be that way.) :)
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