Short Story Thoughts

     Another assignment for Creative Writing; we were supposed to talk about short stories in general.

I’m thrilled that it’s time for short stories; grateful that I’ve learned a lot about poetry, but ready to dive into something I’m more familiar with. The ones I’ve previously written tend to sprawl out a little farther than is typical publishing distance, so hopefully while studying what Mooring Against the Tide says I’ll learn to be more efficient with the amount of words used while still getting all the relevant points of the story covered. I am a little disappointed that only one story will be required, but we’re just learning about the process of creative writing here, so I understand why. Besides, writing fiction is hard enough as it is, and especially while school is in full swing.

            I’m fairly familiar with short stories, but since they can be hard to find on library shelves, mostly they’re told nowadays over the radio airwaves: singer/songwriters whose work I especially enjoy could include Brad Paisley(“Letter To Me”, “Part II”, “Waitin’ On a Woman”), Kenny Chesney(“Don’t Blink”, “There Goes My Life”, “The Boys of Fall”), Garth Brooks(“Unanswered Prayers”, “Beaches of Cheyenne”, “Ireland”), Taylor Swift(“The Story of Us”, “Mean”, “Never Grow Up”, “Long Live”) and Miranda Lambert(“New Strings”, “The House That Built Me”, “Over You”). And others like Keith Urban, Jon Bon Jovi, Avril Lavigne and Bryan Adams. I could really go on practically forever, but who would want to read that?

            So back to the more traditional printed form of short stories, I really love the descriptions and style of O. Henry; the way he could paint either the concrete jungle of New York City or the Texas prairies to where we’d know the locals and the important landmarks. And his endings are amazing. I know it sounds cliché to say that “The Gift of the Magi” is my favorite, but it’s so wonderful. Who can’t relate to the cash-strapped but affectionate pair of Jim and Della Young? You hope to be able to love someone like that someday. Only William Sydney Porter could take the plot of “A Retrieved Reformation” and make it believable. First, that a career criminal like Jimmy Valentine could move to a small Arkansas town and become a leading citizen as a shoemaker. Second, that when Ben Price the detective tracks him down; that he would leave Jimmy alone. And third, that the reader would be okay with Ben’s decision. In “The Last Leaf”, you feel the desperation in the lives of Sue, Johnsy and Behrman, and the magnitude of Behrman’s masterpiece, understanding what it cost to paint. “After Twenty Years” is painfully honest about faded friendships and divergent life pathways while emphasizing the value of loyalty and keeping one’s word.

            Along those same O. Henry-like lines, another favorite is “The Man Upstairs” by P.G. Wodehouse. The look at the behind-the-scenes life of those in the creative fields is part of what makes it great, as well as the playful phrasing and frequent cat mentions. “The Worst Christmas Story”, by Christopher Morley, is similar in tone with a painfully realistic but appropriate ending, surprising in its obvious-ness.

            Another nontraditional outlet for short stories is those told through comic strips. For being considered so lighthearted and happy, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts dives quite deeply into depression, loneliness, alienation and the trials of being in love. It also showcases unbounded joy in Snoopy’s suppertime dances, the irrational yet vital Gatsby-like hope Charlie Brown has that he can be a baseball hero someday, the importance of loyalty in his pals sticking around the team while they know they’ll be slaughtered, and Charlie Brown’s persistence in getting that kite to finally fly correctly or kicking Lucy’s football this time, surely. We also get the wisdom (and sometimes spacey-ness) of Linus, and Lucy means well most of the time, even if her methods of bossing everyone around can be hard to deal with. Snoopy is amazingly imaginative; aren’t we all part beagle, vulture, Olympian or a WWI fighter ace? Sometimes, at least? Schroeder’s dedication to his music is another virtue we can learn from. Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes gives us really great insights into the life we live, and what the things we take for granted in society say about us. (TV, junk mail and the boundaries of art are the first examples that spring to mind.) Snoopy has the only imagination that comes close to Calvin’s – we frequently see long, intricately-detailed space explorations or bizarre situations(T-rexes flying F-15’s, deer hunting humans, snowmen committing suicide) in his daydreams or free time. He also has a Linus-like quality of getting right to the real points of life adults like to gloss over. Hobbes is the much-needed voice of reason to counter Calvin’s exuberance, but that doesn’t mean he’s without his endearing flaws; that kill instinct in football, exalting tigers above humans, or napping when there’s work to be done.

            Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is brilliant in its subtlety; as well as near-perfection in capturing dialogue and journalistically telling exactly what happened on several levels. Willa Cather’s work “The Enchanted Bluff” illustrates the power and fragility of dreams and friendships. Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s “In Memory of L.H.W.” shows us how to persevere through adversity and just do the best you can. This theme of perseverance is continued in Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, and the death of “The Little Match Girl” tears your heart out, but we would be much poorer without that experience. I’ve always loved the dialogue and the characters in “The Hiltons’ Holiday”, written by Sarah Orne Jewett.   

Of Agatha Christie’s short stories, one of her best(in my opinion) was “Philomel Cottage”, proving that while she may have failed when trying to write suspense-thriller novels, she still was quite good at building tension in shorter form. “Three Blind Mice” and “Witness For the Prosecution” both have been overshadowed by the play and film, respectively, but are other examples of good Christie short fiction.

            Another format short stories exist in, which is quite likely their most powerful form, is children’s picture books. Cynthia Rylant has a way of telling what happened with childlike straightforwardness, which I appreciate, especially in her story “Retired”. In that same vein, Laurie Keller’s picture books Open Wide and The Scrambled States of America teach basic oral care and geography in easy-to-remember terms. Munro Leaf’s The Story of Ferdinand is another that has always been a favorite; Ferdinand is just…different. Aren’t we all in some way? It’s not necessarily bad that he sees fighting as dangerous and uninteresting; and though smelling flowers under his favorite cork tree is an odd way to spend one’s time, he was happy and it didn’t bother anyone else, so…just let him be. Similar to Ferdinand is The Crippled Lamb in Max Lucado’s book. Joshua is lame and lonely because of that, but for that same reason, he gets to be the lamb in the manger when Jesus was born. What a privilege. The Giving Tree in Shel Silverstein’s book shows us what sacrificial love looks like.

            This is probably longer than expected, but the directions said not to hold back. If I would have truly not held back, this assignment would likely be 50,000 words and climbing…anyway, I love literature, in whatever form I may find it in. And so these are some of my favorites. 

Mayday

      One of the poems for the Creative Writing portfolio included a current-events poem. This was the first draft.

What IS going on in the world, anyway?

What shape is this messed-up world in?

Spinning merrily into disaster; someone call a Mayday.

Politicians praying we’ll swallow whatever they say,

Every direction you look, someone screaming their opinion

Still makes you wonder: What IS going on in the world, anyway?

From TV to sports to books to movies, everything is going grey,

“Global warming-!” “Terrorists-!” “Gays-!” “Save the penguin!”

As we merrily spin into disaster, someone needs to call a Mayday.

Mockingbird sequel on the way; it’s important, but – is that okay?

Can the literary significance throw the author’s wishes into the dustbin?

Makes you wonder: What IS going on in the world, anyway?

Scandals in football and racing, movies in the theater repacking old clichés,

Communal experiences not what they were; cheaper now to stay in

Meanwhile, world spins merrily into disaster; need to call a Mayday.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” It’s frozen into our memory.

Why aren’t there more people like Uncle Ben?

What IS going on the world, anyway?

We’re spinning merrily into disaster; someone call a Mayday.

Thoughts on a Poem - "If"

      This was an assignment for my Creative Writing class, to analyze and report on a poem.

     The poem I chose is Rudyard Kipling’s “If”, which can be found in almost any poetry collection; I found it on page 108 of a 1958 paperback called One Hundred and One Famous Poems. On a most basic level, I love it because it’s so incredibly inspirational. And patriotic, almost; by inference. It gives the reader a framework to evaluate the way they live and say, “Now, that was a life well lived.” We all probably have at least one person who exhibits the qualities expounded in this poem, and so we strive as best we can to emulate them. In so doing, we cultivate these qualities in ourselves.

            Enjambment is used throughout; the entire poem consists of two sentences, which is a remarkable feat of writing in itself, attained by the use of frequent semicolons keeping the sentence aloft. But the ideas are really what makes it special: advocating perseverance, reasonable self-confidence, patience, hard work, imagination and care for fellow creatures. In short, it’s a sermon delivered without preaching, taking the form of a talk with your father or grandfather. As far as rhyme scheme goes, it seems to be ABABCDCD, and there are frequent pauses(caesura) skillfully woven throughout, to force the reader to consider the arguments Kipling is making. Also, all these images are highly concrete; making it easy to see and understand his argument. Besides the rhyme scheme, “if” is repeated thirteen times throughout the poem, and these “if” statements are quickly flipped so we see the contrast with the negative behavior implied. The strength of the poem lies in its simplicity.

            “Triumph” and “Disaster” are both metaphorically personified as “impostors”; which is likely true. The common tools used to rebuild your life’s work are likewise called “worn-out”, simply because they’re in use almost every day; these qualities of honesty, patience, diligence, etc. When those structures are built with these worn-out tools, they draw from a much more stable inner core of strength. As Kipling continues, if we can do all this and fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, then “Yours is the Earth and everything that is in it.” This is obviously hyperbole; but we get the point. If all this advice and caution is followed(not perfectly, that would be impossible), then the son can become a Man, and in our common lives, his readers can become leaders. 

Tarnished Strings - Revised Version

     After several drafts, this is what the "Tarnished Strings" poem looks like. After this one, I was tired of messing with it.

Ice skating rink is where they first met,

Time goes by – so many stories you could tell…

Flip through the songbook, this one they’d sing as a duet,

The guitars were shields; their coats of mail…

She was a West Coast wild spirit, pocket sized with dye streaks and a big grin

He was a dream-filled neighborhood stray, doggone loyal, barbed-wire thin

There’s still photos from the days of point-and-shoot cameras

Of them talking at the bonfire as the elm tree dropped samaras…

Her painted fingers pick melody on the strings, bead by bead,

Like the jewelry in her spare time she would fix

While his hand played the rhythm, thumb then palm he’d strum,

And together – their music mixed…

Stress channeled over the frets, tension by degrees warps the neck

Environmental changes, untuned preparation and other things

Over time can mess with the sounds of the heartstrings

The rift probably started on a trip back home

Root cause isn’t spoken of, so still largely unknown…

Steve doesn’t get out much these days;

While Abby Lee, she now sings alone

Today she no longer plays,

He feels lost in a desert, wondering at his silent phone…

Those guitars have been well-used,

To their owners’ personal histories they’ve become fused;

Runners by nature, driven to roam,

Hoping to find a not-so-temporary home….

The kids grew up; they’re doing well,

Give their parents news by the occasional email

Shields may be broken now, but they’re mostly in one piece

Ice skating rink is where they first fell…

Joyce Character Study

     This was the first major essay for the Study of the Novel that I took at Rogers State University during the Spring 2015 semester. 

      The protagonist of James Joyce's A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus, has much in common with one of the protagonists of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Marianne Dashwood, as well as with the main character of Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Edna Pontellier. Like Marianne, his sensibility hates commonplace expressions passing for witticisms(Austen 38, Joyce 200-06), they each scorn cultural expectations(Austen 124, Joyce 268-69), and they both launch into detailed explanations of their life philosophies at the slightest notice(Austen 31-33, Joyce 211-33). Like Edna, who lives "her own small life within herself" as a child into adulthood, Stephen also externally follows his society's rules, secretly questioning why they exist and what they could mean(Chopin 26, Joyce 88). 

     Similarly, all three lose the love of their lives, whether that's based on reality's appearance or mere fantasy; as Willoughby callously deserts Marianne, Edna leaves Mr. Pontellier and is in turn left by Robert, and Stephen loses Emma. Here, however, a difference emerges. Marianne, after her near-death experience, realizes what a fool she has been and is remorseful about it. She forgives him as much as possible and then moves on with the next chapter of her life, accepting the role she is to play in the world (Austen 300-05). Stephen explicitly states that in his rejected state he will not serve what he does not believe in (Joyce 260, 268). He then exiles himself, leaving his old world full of disappointments behind, letting down all those who have placed their expectations on him (Joyce 267). Edna takes Stephen's position even farther; once her world crumbles, she gives up, stating that she will give up the unessential in her life as a mother, even her life, but not sacrifice herself, later on becoming even clearer in her sentiments: "I don't want anything other than my own way. That is wanting a great deal, of course, when you have to trample upon the hearts, the lives, the prejudices of others - but no matter" (Chopin 88, 184). Edna shortly thereafter commits suicide, just to prove her point (Chopin 188-90).

     In Portrait, Joyce creates a character that is an outsider among everyone, standing on the fringes of everything. As a child, "he thought he was sick in his heart, if you could be sick in that place" and as a teen, his heart is again sick as he thinks about his place in the world: "A leader afraid of his own authority, proud and sensitive and suspicious, battling against the squalor of his life and the riot of his mind" (Joyce 10, 96). Even his name is confounding; "Stephen" was the name of the first Christian martyr, who gave up his earthly life for a more eternal reward, juxtaposed with "Dedalus", as Daedalus was the brilliant Greek engineer who created the Labyrinth and escaped Minos' tower; keeping himself alive while indirectly responsible for the deaths of his son, Icarus, and numerous Athenian youths. 

     When Stephen is unjustly beaten by the unfair, cruel world in the form of Father Dolan's pandybat, he then courageously goes to the rector and complains(Joyce 56-60). Like most of his time at Clongowes, this was an early formative experience, but this time he found out for the first time that priests were not infallible; neither was he helpless. By writing his father quickly for a new pair of glasses, and then speaking to the rector shortly after the humiliating punishment, he could to some small extent control what life throws in his way in order to improve his journey. 

     At Belvedere during the play, another important realization occurs: Priests are just men. As men, they can be just as coarse and stupid as his father(Joyce 89). Almost more memorable; in losing himself to the character he plays, Stephen finds himself "clothed for a moment in the real apparel of boyhood", proving that he can truly live in the same world as his fellow creatures(Joyce 90). While he seems to have forgotten this by his time at the university(Joyce 204), it is important for us as readers for the purposes of dramatic irony. 

     Perhaps, though, Stephen does remember the lost exquisite joy of the play, as by the novel's end he is seeking to recapture that feeling through hesitant stumbling attempts at journaling(Joyce 270-76). This act of creation has the status quo of his thought process's dreamlike non-reality; in writing his poem he seeks to adapt the trappings of the priesthood he rejected(Joyce 174-79) to fit into a shape more becoming to the first steps of artistic adventurings(Joyce 235-43). We don't ever fully (or even mostly) understand ourselves and why we do the things we do, but that doesn't stop us from searching. By switching to first-person at the end, Joyce provides a hint that Stephen is beginning a new epiphany; that he might use his imagination and peculiar outlook on life to provide a public good through his writings, whether that be in the form of stories or the form of essays. 

     Joyce used a radical form of stream-of-consciousness style in writing this novel, which while a nightmare to read, opened the doors to an entirely new class of possible nonlinear narrative styles and demolished the walls currently holding novels in place. It works amazingly well at capturing the thinking of a child or of someone extremely ill. We could argue that Stephen is often both childish(Joyce 8-14, 62-74, 188-89, 200-10) and sick(Joyce 8-11, 18-24, 96-98, 146-52) throughout his lifetime. 

     While there could certainly be more written expounding on these and other themes in much more depth, as Lucy Steele wrote in one of her letters, 'my paper now reminds me to conclude" (Austen 242). 

WORKS CITED

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. 1811. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. New York: Avon Books, 1972. Print. 

Joyce, James. A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. 1914. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. Print.