Monday, January 30, 2017

Mental Library: Lenses: Feminism

Hello, Friends!

Today, we are starting a new series. I may still add to the postmodernism series, but, well, this is an exciting topic. I came across it as one of my ideas in my blog journal I had forgotten about.

Critical lenses are lenses literature can be viewed through. Lenses are kind of like putting on a pair of glasses, for example, a green-tinted pair of glasses would make everything look green, a pink pair of glasses would make everything look pink, and so on. Postmodernism is actually also a critical lens. Remember, also like a pair of glasses, just because we are analyzing a piece of literature through this lens does not mean that that is the main message of the book, or even that that is the correct (if there is a correct) interpretation of the book. Just like wearing green tinted glasses doesn't make everything actually green, it just makes everything look green, like Dorothy finds out. :)

The feminist critical lens looks for the balance of power and role of women, particularly highlighting the oppression of women. Many princess fairy tales can be viewed through this lens. Now, I'm not attacking fairy tales, or saying this is absolutely how they have to be seen all the time. This is just one way to look at them. For example, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella are all rescued by men. They seemingly have no power to control their own destiny, and can only be saved by men. This is just a very simple feminist critique of these fairy tales. Someone posted an article on Twitter arguing why Cinderella shouldn't be seen like this, which. . .well, I can see both sides. Lands Uncharted first brought my attention to it. If you want to read it, click here. (BEWARE: Swearing is used in this article.)

On the other hand, Scarlet, the second book in the Lunar Chronicles, features Scarlet, an amazingly strong woman. Go read it. Analyzing Scarlet through the feminist lens portrays the main character to stand up for herself and not just let men come in and save her.

Another example of a woman saving a man is also in fairy tales. In many fairy tales, the woman has to somehow free her beloved. The most commonly known fairy tale of this is the "Frog Prince."

Try analyzing something through the feminist lens, then post about your experience in the comments!





Spruce Nogard
Attributions:
 

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Genre of the Month: Dystopian Fiction

Hello, Friends.

This month's genre is dystopian fiction. I do not like dystopian fiction, so I don't read it. Well, I guess you could call Cinder and the Lunar Chronicles dystopian fiction. . .

What dystopian fiction books do you like?

Spruce Nogard

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Creative Complex: Character Constructing: Hair

I feel like I'm just going to start saying: "sorry this post is up late" for every post.

Anyways, hair.

With imagining characters' hair, you need to consider a few things:

Length:
How long is your character's hair? Do you know in precise units (inches, etc.) or do you know more in relation to the rest of your character (part-way down his/her back)?

Consistency:
How curly is your character's hair? Is it completely straight? Do they have mermaid curls? Big ringlets? A million tiny curls? Is their hair bushy and wild? Is it tame?

Color:
What color is your character's hair? It doesn't have to be specifically one color, and always remember colors like copper, raven, and mousy are more descriptive and specific than red, black, and brown. Are there other ways you could describe hair color, ways that no one has used, like the color of oak wood? Does the color of their hair change depending on the lighting? Is it shiny, or dull (I don't mean dull as in not pretty, I mean dull as in opposite of shiny.)


Thickness: 
How thick is your character's hair?

Feel:
How does your character's hair feel? Is it soft and downy, like baby hair? Is it coarse and rough? Is it smooth and silky? Is it somewhere in-between? Does it depend on the time, or when the hair was last washed? What else can you think of?

Smell:
How does your character's hair smell? Does it smell like their shampoo, or a perfume/cologne they use? Does their hair have a distinct smell of it's own? How would you describe that smell?

Hairdos:
Does your character wear their hair in a certain style all the time? Do they like to change what they do to their hair? Do they have a favorite style? Do they always brush their hair?

Spruce Nogard

Monday, January 23, 2017

On My Mind: Theatre

Hello, dear Friends.

By this point, you must all be very annoyed at me. I say I post three times a week, but I forget half the time. Besides, on Monday, to tell the truth, I frankly did not want to write a post. I didn't know what to write it about, and, well, I decided not to. I know it's a responsibility that I have, and that it's different when I actually forget, but I did not mean to write it this late. Sorry.


You may wonder why you're only seeing this post on Thursday when it says it went up on Monday. I can schedule it in the past (on Monday) so it will show up as having been posted since Monday, when it's really not. I do this for my own records and keeping posts straight.

Anyways, theatre. I love theatre. I don't like being in plays, but I love watching them. There's just something about theatre that is magical, mystical, and wonderful. I get so attached to the characters, and every time a play gets done, I get a little bit sad because I know I'll never see anything quite the same again, even if I see the exact same play later. And that makes me sad, because I know I'll never see that exact kind of wonderful ever again. But, I still love going to plays and being in pit for musicals, because pit is extremely fun. I guess my joy and love for and excitement about plays outweighs the sadness.

Do you like plays?

What is your favorite play you've seen?

Post in the comments!

Spruce Nogard
Attributions:

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Recipe: Banana Bread

Here is a banana bread recipe that's been in our family for a while. I'm sorry for this post being late.

Ingredients:

2-3 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon water-warm
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mash the bananas and add the sugar. Let stand for 15 minutes.

3) Add shortening, and beat. Add eggs, and beat again.

4) In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients EXCEPT baking soda.

5) Add to the banana mixture.

6) Mix the baking soda and warm water together. Don't over mix.

7) Add to the other ingredients.

8) Grease two loaf pans and pour in the mixture.Bake for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Spruce Nogard

Attributions:

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Creative Complex: How to Make

Good Day, Friends!

Today, think of something a character has to learn how to do in a story. It could be an activity, a skill. . .

Share in the comments!

Spruce Nogard
Attributions:

Monday, January 16, 2017

Dragons: Dragon Wings

Hello, Riders.

When I was young(er), I used to draw diagrams of dragon wings. I kept a journal of all my dragon ideas, including starts of stories, descriptions of dragon species, diagrams of dragon parts. I made my own language, made a map, and even made charts of different eclipses. I still have the journal, and here are some copies of my drawings for dragon wings:

In each picture, the dragon's back is represented by the strip of blue.
















Sorry, but the dragon's back for this one would be at a tilted line, but I couldn't format it correctly.


For this picture, the head would be toward the top.





For this picture, the dragon's head would be to the left.

Of course, there are variations on each of the wings, but these are the main ones.


Which way do you imagine dragon wings? Are there types of wings you haven't thought of before?

Spruce Nogard

 Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/amazing-beautiful-beauty-blue-736882/