Adeus!

The second semester of the course Literature in the Human Condition challenges you to use a different technique. I had to put more effort in my works since we had to use multi-genre with the topics discussed in class. As my writing improved I was able to choose the work I would publish and made a few corrections. In my entries I analyzed the material while expressing my opinion towards it. Having this type of blog helps you, like in my case, to achieve the confidence in order to give the world your point of view using the social media.

Reading the entries of my classmates was interesting since each have their opinions and see things from another perspective. Most of them gave me feedback in order for me to improve my entries. You can see how everyone has the opportunity to have fun and be creative since you personalize your work. 

In addition to the interaction I had with my classmate’s blog, I noticed how the blog is an excellent learning tool. Blogs make topics interesting since it combines critical thinking and multimedia. You are able to discuss a topic while connecting it with current events we see in our society. Furthermore, it gives the readers an idea of the author’s personality and writing style.

In conclusion, I was already familiarized with the concept of a blog but this spring semester I have enjoyed the process more than the last. This project helped me with my writing skills and how to become a better blogger. My level of creativity increased as I got out of my comfort zone while using multiple techniques. Everybody can see your work so therefore gave my best in every entry, not only in the discussion but also using the correct media in order to make it interesting for the readers. 

I can say that the blog was one of my favorite assignments of this semester. All the knowledge I acquired will be useful in my future. The blog has come to an end.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close: book vs. film

  

  Writing has always helped authors to cope with tragedy. The way I see it, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, is a novel about grief and how to deal with tragedy in general. The message behind the novel is that tragedy can happen to anyone at any time. We have to be grateful for the people we love and let them know this before it is too late. The thought of losing someone is morbid but it is a reminder to give thanks for what we sometimes take for granted. 

  Let's refresh our minds with this brief summary. Oskar Schell is an extremely smart nine-year old who had recently lost his father in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. He believes his father left him a final puzzle to solve, a message, that was somewhere in the city. He finds a key in his father's closet which gives him an idea to where to start and what lock it opened. He disconnects from his mother because she would only delay him if she knew of his agenda. His active mind led him to an incredible journey which solved the mystery and made him understand the complexity of the world he lived in, since he's been traumatized by his father's death and was afraid of everything.

 

Apart from reading the book, I also saw the film and I liked it. The director made sure to portray what was going on in Oskar's mind quite well. He kept Thomas Schell alive in Oskar's mind throughout the entire movie just as the author did. 

  The first difference, and in my opinion one of the most important one, is that throughout the film we only see things from Oskar's point of view whereas in the novel we have three first-person narrations: Oskar and his grandparents. Nonetheless, the storyline belongs to Oskar who tells us every thought he has. His grandparents have also their stories that are set in different time frames and consequently are not related to Oskar's narrative. We see the importance of these at the end of the book. In the movie, the director integrated the three stories as if it was one. This, the presence of letters, and the flipbook presented at the end on the book are what causes this book to have a unique writing style. In other words, the use of multi-genre in one work.

As can be see, we see more details about the characters in the book than in the film. The novel has wide-ranging details regarding the characters and their biographies.It is because of the projection of the storyline that many details are not included in the film. The movie focused only in Oskar's life and not the complex history that his grandparents have, diminishing the plot. This makes the audience focus more on the impact that this attack had on the victim's families and how each tried to find desperately closure with their loved ones. Both, the film and the novel, demonstrated how the World Trade Center attack is probably one of the most horrible national catastrophe of our generation since it profoundly changed innumerable things in our country.

This video reminded me of Oskar's Flipbook

Oskar Schell Timeline & Summary

*Referring to the novel "Incredibly Loud and Incredibly Close"*

Dear Oskar,

I took the liberty of creating this timeline which sums up your epic adventure. Save it so that one day you can share it with your children. 

***

Ø  A year after your father’s death you found a key in his closet. You wanted to know which lock it opened.

·      The key was in an envelope with the name “Black” scrawled on it. You decided to visit everyone in New York City, in alphabetical order, who had Black as a last name.

Ø  You met several Blacks but none of them knew what was the key for.

·      In your school, you performed as Yorick in the play Hamlet.

Ø  You met Mr. A.R Black in the building you lived and he helped you in your quest.

·      You met all the Blacks until Ruth who lived at the top of the Empire State Building.

Ø  Mr. Black stopped the search of that day and you met the mysterious old man who lived in your grandmother’s apartment. He was your grandfather but you didn’t know it yet.

·      Abby Black left you a message in which she said that her husband, William, knew what the key opened. She said that it was of a safe-deposit box that belonged to her husband’s father.

Ø  After receiving the message, you gave the key to William.

·      You finally decided to admit that your father called and left six messages, one of them being right before the tower fell. The reason you didn’t picked up the phone was because you were too scared to do so.

Ø  An idea popped into your head. You wanted to dig up your father’s empty grave and you brought your grandfather to do this.

·      Oskar, you couldn’t had the proper closure you wanted, so instead you made a flipbook of a man falling upward into the sky and pretended your father was safe.