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appleinducedsleep · 3 years ago

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In the town of Wall, on the border between the 'real' world and the magical Faerie, there lives young Tristran Thorn, who makes a rash promise to retrieve a fallen star for the woman he loves. Soon he finds himself on a quest, and unwittingly enters into a dangerous competition.

@readerbookclub

⭐️⭐️/5

A fairytale ‘for adults’, that didn’t exactly mix the darker themes with the unnuanced characters.

Here be spoilers:

General Questions:

What were your expectations before reading the book? Did it meet them?

I expected a mash-up of the fairytale genre, and it delivered in that regard. I also heard it was a fairytale for adults, and that was true in some ways... though it had the charm of simplistic storytelling (despite the language being rich and descriptive) and simple dialogue, the gratuitous violence and some sexual content (which was there why?) did not stop the story from being somewhat superficial, and the characters Tristran from being flat.

How did you feel about the romantic relationships in this book? Did you find them well-written?

For the most part, no. I didn’t think they were very romantic at all. And yes, fairytales are generally more about tell, not show -- we were told fairy-tale style that Dunstan and Lady Uma had this ‘heart desire’ thing going on, Tristran was pining after Victoria and went on his misguided quest for love, and the most fleshed out thing was between Tristran and Yvaine (and that felt really rushed at the market). I found Dunstan much more interesting than his son, and there seemed more depth to his story, I cared more for him and Daisy Hempstock. Their love story was the only one that was believable.

I have also seen Stardust mentioned as an enemies to lover story, but I don’t think Tristran and Yvaine have that dynamic. Yvaine was described as having a temper, even in the epilogue, though she forgave both Tristran and the Witch. And Tristran seemed almost oblivious to the way she hated him, or at least not bothered enough, not to make her return with him to Wall. And while Yvaine never got tired of giving him snarky replies (bless her), I didn’t think their relationship was that romantic. Tristran even was a dormouse for some part of their journey. @adhyayana-v send me an ask about Tristran and I replied:

the story structure was more about getting from A to B, and less about actual character development.

At what point in the book (if any) did you start to feel immersed in the story? Their are several side plots that accompany the main story of Tristan Thorn. What did you think of them? Does any one in particular stand out to you? Throughout Tristan’s journey, he comes across many odd and colourful characters. Which of these did you like the most and why?

Much of the dialogue was simplistic in nature, which was at odds with the darker themes happening in the background. Tristran, our hero character, had a childish entitlement throughout the book, but he is framed as sympathetic, because he showed kindness to the creatures of Faerie.

Despite all of that, I was immersed. I love fairytales, I really liked the writing style, because it was pretty. I already shared the bit about Charles Vess, who made some wonderful illustrations:

Stardust was originally conceived by Gaiman and Vess as a "story book with pictures"

and I liked the part that Tristran and the little, hairy man got stuck in the serewood, I loved the plot-line about the power of nursery rhymes (the Unicorn and the Lion), and travelling by candlelight, and I absolutely loved Dishwater Sal. I loved this whole subplot from start to finish; from her first introduction at the market with Dunstan, to her meeting with the Witch queen, and turning Tristran into a mouse. She was consistent, she was mean, she would totally cheat you if she could-- I loved her. She was my favourite character.

Despite liking the writing style, I got tired of the random sounds the ghost brothers made; I didn’t care about the sounds of leaves, or gurgling brooks or whatever. To be honest, I just didn’t care much about this subplot anyway, and was reminded of A Heart So Fierce and Broken and how I didn’t like this whole ‘kill to have the right to rule’... but that’s more of a personal thing.

If you had to describe this book in three words, what would they be?

Atmospheric, predictable, (yet) engaging.

Is this a book you would have otherwise read? If not, are you more open to similar books in the future? Would you consider re-reading it in the future?

I never outgrew fairytales, and I’m always curious to what a retelling will bring to the table. And while I did love certain things about it, I didn’t really love the characters, and the ending left me even more disillusioned.

I have seen several reviews claiming that the movie was better than than than the book, so I would watch the movie before rereading this book.

#apple reviews #stardust #book review #readerbookclub #this was so difficult to write somehow #I'm not really happy with it xD

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goddamnelsa · 4 years ago

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Liz’s Top Books of 2020

blatantly stolen from @alamorn but also i wanted to feel accomplished that i did in fact read published books this year before descending entirely into mdzs/the untamed fanfiction :) :) :) :)

In two parts! Books I read that actually came out in 2020, and then honorable mentions of books I read in 2020 that were published in previous years. Enjoy!

Top Books Published in 2020 (which are not in any kind of order because I can’t like rank stuff, I’m not that kind of person)

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

What can I say except it’s N.K. Jemisin who wrote my favorite high fantasy series (The Inheritance Trilogy), won three consecutive Hugo Awards for her The Broken Earth trilogy, and she’s writing urban fantasy with Lovecraftian and superhero team flavor. I mean....obviously I was at the top of the wait list for this once my library ordered it. And it lived up to the hype!! Because of course!! It’s fabulously fast-paced with amazingly smart and interesting characters of diverse backgrounds. I kept thinking one of them was my favorite, and then another would have a great line and I would change my mind. It’s fine, they’re all technically one entity with several parts, so I can love them all and not choose (but it’s probably Bronca, let’s be real). And it’s the first of a series! And I’m counting down the days til there is more!

Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

I definitely picked this up simply because Lindsay Ellis, one of my favorite video essayists, wrote it, and then ended up loving everything about it. I’m not usually one for First Contact stories, but I appreciate the very human-focused approach here, sticking solely to an ordinary girl’s perspective as she navigates being the person first in contact with a very alien alien. Cora’s attempts to humanize Ampersand are relatable, but I appreciate Ellis reminding us at almost every turn that Ampersand is super Not Human, no matter how much Cora reads into his actions. Ellis doesn’t gloss over the Science part either, especially when it comes to the race of aliens Ampersand belongs to. Again, the first of a series, and you will absolutely be screaming for the next book when this one is over.

You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria

Insert my obligatory “I don’t usually read romances blah blah blah.” Though, during lockdown, I attempted to branch out beyond my usual genres when I was attending a ton of publisher webinars about upcoming books. This one stood out to me because of its Latinx cast and the whole behind-the-scenes of a Jane The Virgin-esque show, based on a telenovela (of course). It is fantastic, a quick read with instantly likable and fun characters. And the tropes! We’re playing love interests but we have insane chemistry! A sensitive, traumatized male lead who learns to open up again! A sassy but insecure female lead who learns to let loose and love again! Hooking up, but we have to keep on the DL or else scandal! And of course, the extended families add to every scene they are in--I loved every interaction Ashton and Jasmine had with their families, it was the cherry on top of a fantastic read. Also the sex scenes are steamy.

Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

I got this graphic novel as an advanced reader copy well before it came out, and after reading it, I was sCREAMING because I couldn’t tell all my graphic novel, queer coming-of-age-with-magic loving friends to immediately pick up a copy!! So thankfully, it’s out now, so I can scream to the heavens to please read this!!! It is such a sweet story with beautiful full-color art and fantastic world-building. It has the same silly, referential humor you see in a lot of kids/YA graphic novels these days, but Beetle packs in a lot of heart as well.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Like many people in May/June of this year, I was reading, reading, reading a lot of books about racism from as many Black authors as I could get my hands on. There were many not published this year that should definitely be read (So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo being among the top), but this book really stuck with me because it is written specifically for a younger audience, and Jason Reynolds knows how to talk to kids about tough subjects. Stamped gets across difficult concepts like assimilationists and segregationists in an easy-to-understand, conversational style that doesn’t take away from any of the important history and nuance. This certainly is not The Book of antiracism studies, but it is a good starting point if you are daunted by lengthy title lists and aren’t sure where to begin. I highly recommend the audiobook as well, read by Reynolds himself.

(Side note: I watched this keynote address with Reynolds and Kendi which is an excellent primer into the background of how this book came to be. Reynolds is also just very interesting to listen to)

Honorable Mentions aka Books I read in 2020 that were published in previous years again, not ranked because I CAN’T, OKAY

White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

I read this book and then wanted to go back and read it immediately again, not necessarily because it was so amazing, but because I felt like I would get it even more if I did. This is a haunting little book that took turns I was not expecting, even with the book synopsis I read. It is disturbing and features descriptions of an eating disorder, so proceed with caution. However, if you like Gothic tales of haunted houses and the trauma inflicted on us by those who came before, I can’t recommend this one enough.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My last book club read before the pandemic D: We didn’t actually get to meet to discuss this book, but my club (all librarians) were working at our emergency call center at the same time and all reading it, so we KINDA got to discuss it, if not in a formal book club setting. ANYWAY, it’s a thrilling jaunt through 1920s Mexico, following a fantastic Cinderella-esque heroine who makes a deal with a Mayan god to retrieve his body. If you are a fan of the Percy Jackson-brand of mythological adventures, this is definitely one to add to your list, especially if you are looking for something a little bit more Adult.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

Okay, I know it’s a young readers/middle grade book, but HEAR ME OUT. This is whimsical and haunting tale about seven little fox kits who set out to scare themselves shitless by hearing scary tales. Only one kit will remain when the night is over, but the one who does will get to hear a surprisingly sweet, and well-earned, happy ending. If you are a Neil Gaiman-esque horror fan, I recommend picking this up. Its scares are fairly scary, especially for its audience, but it’s an engaging story about the lengths we will go for the ones we love.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Did someone say Navajo monster-hunting heroine with magic powers navigating a post-apocalyptic world, oh and also saving it??? Look, Maggie is My Kind of Hero, in that she’s damaged, she drinks too much, she’s surly, but she has a seriously gooey heart of gold underneath all that armor. Navajo mythology is woven into this tale of monster-hunting, surviving. If you’re in Supernatural-disappointment-land, maybe give this a try! It has that Western-y, road trip feel to it, and again, I love the lead character. (It also has a currently published sequel and a soon-to-be-released third book as well!)

This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This was rec’ed to me by a librarian friend, with the words, “Oh, Liz, you’ll really like this.” And she was RIGHT. Red and Blue are on opposite sides of a war waged across time and decide to send letters to each other, at first, to taunt, but then, to understand, to learn, and to love. The details of the war don’t matter much, but what does matter is the achingly beautiful poetry with which Red and Blue reveal themselves to each other. I was told to listen to this one, but I’m glad I read it myself instead. The prose is very purple at times, and I appreciated being able to go back to passages to reread again and again. Oh, and it’s queer (Red and Blue are both female), and SPOILERS SPOILERS has a happy ending.

(also there is a wangxian remix for my mdzs buds. and also a semi-officially sanctioned fanfic sequel???? at least amal el-mohtar linked it from goodreads so whoo! also also it’s very funny)

And that’s my Year in Books 2020! Seeing it laid out like this, I had a surprisingly good year for book reading even though I felt like I barely read anything. For awhile, reading was Hard, and I just wanted to consume fluffy, sweet fanfiction, but I’m getting back into it. Oh, and please let me know if you check any of these out!

Here’s to a good year for books in 2021! ✨

#books #book recs #2020 #book reviews #personal #liz reads

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writing-prompts-for-friends · 5 years ago

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Notes from Robert McKee’s “Story” 13: Premise, Theme, and How to Discover Both

Heads up: we’re in for a long but absolutely essential post for any writer or creator anywhere. This post summarizes a section of Robert McKee’s book Story, specifically the section that tells you how to determine the core message of your story. Not the plot, but what you want the plot to mean to your audience.

All stories need a premise and a controlling idea to guide them. Without one or the other, you will have a meandering mess that will leave readers asking themselves afterwards, “What did I just read and why did I bother to read it?”

Premise

Simply put, “premise” is whatever inspired you to create your story.

Quite often we start writing a story based on a “what if...?” premise. When I was in junior high, my parents went to a Marilyn Manson concert (Why are they cooler than me?) and I thought to myself, “What if they never came back? How would my life change?” Not that I wanted them not to come back lol. But that was the impetus for the first novel I ever wrote and finished.

Premise doesn’t only have to come from “What if” questions. It can come from anything. An intriguing commercial, a daydream, a nightmare, something that happened to you or a friend, a line in a poem. Doesn’t matter. Whatever creates that initial spark--that’s your Premise.

Once you have your Premise, you can begin writing. But realize that whatever inspired you to write in the first place does not have to be kept in the final product. A Premise is not precious. It is the kindling that starts the fire, and if the path of the story veers away from the Premise, then so be it.

“The problem is not to start writing, but to keep writing and renewing inspiration. We rarely know where were going; writing is discovery.”

☝ Probably one of my favorite quotes from this book so far.

In the example of that horrid novel I wrote in junior high, the story started out with the protagonist’s parents going out for dinner and passing away in an accident on the way home. But upon their death she learned that she was actually a government experiment and there’s a big magical phenomenon her secret government agent parents were trying to solve and now the task has fallen to her.... Ugh I was 13 and at the height of my 3edgy5me phase so please don’t judge me lol. What I’m trying to say is that the premise of “What would happen if my parents never came home?” quickly evolved into something else, and that was okay.

Structure as Rhetoric

“Make no mistake: While a story’s inspiration may be a dream and its final effect aesthetic emotion, a work moves from an open premise to a fulfilling climax only when the writer is possessed by serious thought. For an artist must have not only ideas to express, but ideas to prove. Expressing an idea, in the sense of exposing it, is never enough. The audience must not just understand; it must believe.

Storytelling is the creative demonstration of truth. A story is the living proof of an idea, the conversion of idea to action. A story’s event structure is the means by which you first express, then prove your idea...without explanation.”

Honestly, McKee says things so well sometimes I feel that i have no choice but to simply quote him. My apologies.

McKee believes that master storytellers never rely on cheap exposition or dialogue that explicitly explains their idea. If you need to have a paragraph of prose explaining how good always triumphs over evil, or if you need to bad guy to say, “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you nosy kids!” then you need to refine your storytelling.

The reader should be able to feel your idea being built brick by brick, act by act, until it all becomes crystallized in the emotional climax.

Controlling Idea (a.k.a. “Theme”)

McKee dislikes the word “theme,” as the so-called themes of “war,” “love,” “poverty,” etc. are too vague. Instead he likes to use the term “controlling idea,” and defines it thus:

“ A Controlling Idea may be expressed in a single sentence describing how and why life undergoes change from one condition of existence at the beginning to another at the end.

A true theme is not a word but a sentence--one clear, coherent sentence that expresses a story’s irreducible meaning. The Controlling Idea shapes the writer’s strategic choices. It will serve as a tool to guide your aesthetic choices toward what is appropriate or inappropriate in your story, toward what is expressive of your Controlling Idea and may be kept versus what is irrelevant to it and must be cut.

The more beautifully you shape your work around one clear idea, the more meanings audiences will discover in your film as they take your idea and follow its implications into every aspect of their lives. Conversely, the more ideas you try to pack into a story, the more they implode upon themselves, until the work collapses into a rubble of tangential notions, saying nothing.”

So what is the “equation” of the Controlling Idea?

Value + Cause

To recap, values are the universal qualities of human experience that may shift from positive to negative, or negative to positive, from one moment to the next. Some examples of values are justice/injustice, alive/dead, happy/sad, courage/cowardice, etc.

Cause is what makes that value shift from one pole to the other. It is the primary reason that the life or world of the protagonist has changed to its positive or negative value.

McKee shows the Controlling Idea for various famous films and I will write them out here.

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (an up-ending Crime Story) Value: Justice is restored... Cause: ...because a perceptive black outsider sees the truth of white perversion.

MISSING (a down-ending Political Thriller) Value: Tyranny prevails... Cause: ...because it’s supported by a corrupt CIA.

GROUNDHOG DAY (a positive-ending Education Plot) Value: Happiness fills our lives... Cause: ...when we learn to love unconditionally.

DANGEROUS LIAISONS (a negative-ending Love Story) Value: Hatred destroys... Cause: ...us when we fear the opposite sex.

How to Find Your Work’s Controlling Idea

I’m going to preface this by saying that i have some personal misgivings on McKee’s statements, but I’ll voice my opinion after I’ve summarized his.

McKee tells us that we find the controlling idea by doing the following:

“Looking at your ending, ask: As a result of this climatic action, what value, positively or negatively charged, is brought into the world of my protagonist?

Next, tracing backward from this climax, digging to the bedrock, ask: What is the chief cause, force, or means by which this value is brought into his world?

The sentence you compose from the answers to those two questions becomes your Controlling Idea.

In other words, the story tells you its meaning; you do not dictate meaning to the story. You do not draw action from idea, rather idea from action. For no matter your inspiration, ultimately the story embeds its Controlling Idea within the final climax, and when this event speaks its meaning, you will experience one of the most powerful moments in the writing life--Self-Recognition: The Story Climax mirrors your inner self, and if your story is from the very best sources within you, more often than not you’ll be shocked by what you see reflected in it.”

I have mixed feelings about McKee’s opinion here. It feels like he’s telling us to leave the Controlling Idea up to our subconscious, that it is wrong to start out knowing the Controlling Idea and plotting out a story that aligns with it. But is it bad to do so?

For example, Neil Gaiman has stated that when he set out to write Coraline, he did so with the specific intention to tell children that “When you’re scared but you still do it anyways, that’s brave.” In other words, he had the Controlling Idea in place from the start. And it’s a great work.

On the other hand, a couple years ago I wrote a fanfiction on a whim. It was something that came into my head and I churned out all 200,000 words in about two months with no particular Controlling Idea. But later on, when I re-read it, I realized that the whole thing had been me working through the duality I feel as a white foreigner living in Japan who is fluent in Japanese and has adopted Japanese culture, as well as the frustration and isolation at the xenophobia/othering I encounter on a daily basis. Judging by the climax of the story, the Controlling Idea was, “You will be accepted...when you learn to show each persona (Japanese and American) at the right time every time.”

This Controlling Idea does match my true feelings on the matter. However, I really wrote this story with absolutely zero direction, and i feel that perhaps I could have turned this story into something better if I had had an awareness of the Controlling Idea as I wrote it.

McKee adds one more important note to discovering the Controlling Idea:

“If a plot works out exactly as you first planned, you’re not working loosely enough to give room to your imagination and instincts. Your story should surprise you again and again. Beautiful story design is a combination of the subject found, the imagination at work, and the mind loosely but wisely executing the craft.”

So, in other words...

Your Controlling Idea is like the Pirate Code. It exists and it is honored, but not always in the ways that you expect/intend.

Source: McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. York: Methuen, 1998. Print

#creative writing #writeblr #writing #write #writing inspriation #writing inspo #creative writing methodology #creative writing theory #writing resources #writing reference #robert mckee #writing novels #writing fiction #writing fantasy #writing theme #determining theme #writing prompts for friends notes on story #long post

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mortuarybees · 5 years ago

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What books do you recommend me to read?

I’m not sure what your tastes are but I’ll tell you some of my favorites! To be quite honest, I mainly return to the same books over and over again so the list is rather short and I doubt I have anything to recommend that you won’t have heard of already. I’ll recommend my favorites. It consists mainly of my usual rotation of things i read over and over or books that left an impression on me and I refer back to them often.

When it comes to the non-fiction section just like��.keep in mind that most academic texts have many, many problems and I’m not presenting any of the texts I list as The Quintessential Must Read Best Flawless Overview of a topic, I’m mainly listing the books I have found to be approachable and reasonable introductions to topics. Read everything critically, always (and that includes everything else on this list, not just the non-fiction).

Plays:

An Oresteia, translated by Anne Carson (Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Elektra, Euripides’ Orestes)

Iphigenia in Tauris by Euripides

I mean like. Shakespeare, obviously; my personal favorites are Hamlet, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth; recently, thanks to the productions starring David Tennant, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard II have been added to the list

Doctor Faustus, Edward II, and Dido by Christopher Marlowe

Antigone, particularly Anne Carson’s translation, and after you’ve read Antigone, I’d recommend reading Antigonick, but not before

Lysistrata by Aristophanes

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (I feel like Lady Windermere’s Fan is also kind of necessary reading and I do love it of course but I’ve only read it the once, for the sake of it, whereas I’ve come back to the Importance of Being Earnest a million times and the 2002 movie is one of the things I watch when I’m down)

Novels (and Epics)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett if you haven’t yet, obviously

Maurice by E. M. Forster

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

VIRGINIA WOOLF. everything but particularly the Waves, Orlando, and Mrs. Dalloway. The Waves is my favorite, followed closely by Orlando, but I’d start with the Mrs. Dalloway because it gets you accustomed to Woolf’s writing style and the way she approaches her characters if you haven’t read her before.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (If you haven’t read it yet and you have seen 2005 P&P and love it and you’re opening the novel with the expectation that it’s similar to the 2005 film in tone and feel, you’ll be disappointed. If you’ve seen the 1995 miniseries, that reflects it very well. So just approach it with an open mind with 2005 on the back burner and you’ll find it an amazing and very repressed love story)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Iliad (the translation I own is Lombardo. It’s extremely approachable and colloquial and I enjoy it, and if you’ve never read the Iliad and you find it intimidating, I would very much recommend it, but my high opinion is not universal. Fagles and Lattimore are very popular translations and I like them both well enough)

I’m dying to get a copy of Emily Wilson’s Odyssey translation. I don’t love the Odyssey personally but I am a big fan of Wilson and from what I’ve read about her translation and what she’s said about it, if anything could make me enjoy the Odyssey, it would be that translation.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I would personally recommend reading the Iliad first just because Miller takes…….liberties with it, but I also don’t think there’s a problem with that at all, so if you’re not interested in the Iliad, or you think tsoa would get you interested in it, there’s nothing at all wrong with reading it on its own or reading it first. I just think it’s a genuinely more enjoyable experience to read the Iliad first and then see what Miller does with it. And regardless of what order you read them in, if you read them both you will understand how very different tsoa and the Iliad are from one another and you will not be one of those people who talks about the Iliad when what they mean is tsoa. Again, there’s nothing wrong with tsoa, it’s one of my favorite novels, but it’s just a very separate thing and it gets just a little maddening.

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson. It’s both poetry and a novel but it’s got to go somewhere so

When I was 14 I got very into Les Mis and i will recommend it. I genuinely love it and it will always have a special place in my heart. I have read the entire brick only once however because as much as i love it. as much as i Relate to the infamous off-topic tangents. there is a limit to my patience.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is just like. extremely good. I really don’t know enough about it to recommend any specific translations; in high school I was given a stapled copy of the whole thing and I read that til I lost it and now if I want to reread it or refer back I just look it up online. I’m a fake fan.

Poetry

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson

The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson

Devotions, Felicity, and Winter Hours by Mary Oliver. Those are the anthologies that I have read and I adore them. I imagine that all of her anthologies are also amazing and all of them are on my to-read list. I don’t think you could possibly go wrong

I do not have the singular published collection of Elizabeth Siddal’s poetry (My Ladys Soul) but I have read all of her poetry and she is an amazing poet and I hold her very near and dear to my heart

Crush by Richard Siken

Useless Magic by Florence Welch……..yall knew what you came here for

Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake

Non-fiction and Essay Collections (again. None of these are recommended as the definitive, end all, be all, all-you-need book on any given subject, they’re just some of my favorites). I have limited myself to collection specifically because this is long enough already and if I start just adding essays it’ll never end. All of these were either purchased online for under $10, are available somewhere on the internet as pdfs, or were at my library, so if you look, you can probably find them somewhere (I say this bc while trying to find the authors of some of these I have been stunned by their retail prices and I’m assuring you, don’t be scared off by your initial search bc I sure as fuck did not pay $30):

Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama

Marie Antoinette: the Journey by Antonia Fraser (controversial but well-researched and approachable and I love it. I would recommend reading like. almost anything else first because Fraser does obviously focus on Marie Antoinette and her life and experiences; and while she does talk about the revolution, it isn’t the focus of this biography, and you won’t understand why it was necessary if you don’t come to it with a good grasp on the broader events outside Marie Antoinette).

A Day with Marie Antoinette by Hélène Delalex

Robespierre: a Revolutionary Life and Liberty or Death: the French Revolution by Peter McPhee

The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James

If you’re at all interested in 18th century art, I recommend Rococo to Revolution:Major Trends in Eighteenth-Century Painting by Michael Levey

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn is controversial. But it’s approachable and well-researched and if you don’t know a lot about American history, I recommend it highly (especially for Americans).

Eros, the Bittersweet by Anne Carson (okay literally everything by Anne Carson. All her essays, her poetry, her translations, her weird mashups, all of it. There are a few things I haven’t read yet but. I very much doubt you’re going to be able to go wrong, so just take what I’ve listed as my favorites)

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate and the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: and Other Lessons from the Crematory and From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty (also the illustrations by Landis Blair are absolutely phenomenal. Look at this. I love it so much I pulled it out of the book to hang in my momento mori corner because it’s so beautiful.)

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

Alexander of Macedon by Peter Green is. okay we have a love-hate relationship, me and this biography; me, and peter green, but I have major issues with every single Alexander biography I’ve read and this was the first so if you want to start somewhere, I guess go for it.

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison

The Honey Bee by James L. Gould. It’s out of date in some respects but a good, simple introduction into honeybee biology and behavior

Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s by Otto Friedrich

Vanishing Bees: Science, Politics, and Honeybee Health by Sainath Suryanarayanan and Daniel Kleinman

Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present by Neil Miller

Holy Madness by Adam Zamoyski isn’t by any means perfect, but it’s a alright introduction to the Age of Revolution. Just don’t let it be the only thing you read. It’s here because it has a special place in my heart as my introduction to it.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Erotic Exchanges: the World of Elite Prostitution in 18th Century Paris by Nina Kushner

Radical Love: Introduction to Queer Theology by Patrick S. Cheng

Our Lives Matter: A Womanist queer Theology by Pamela R. Lightsey

Our Native Bees: North America’s Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them by Paige Embry

At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell (I really do not know that much about philosophy or existentialism specifically or this subject generally, so I have no idea where the faults of this book are, but I really enjoyed reading it and it made me think a lot. I have a feeling it’s very simplified so take it with a grain of salt as I did?)

Walden by Henry David Thoreau (just. just. it’s enjoyable but don’t get too into it please for the love of God). My copy (and I think most copies?) includes his essay Civil Disobedience as well which is very good.

Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave by Ona Judge

The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells

The Diaries of Virginia Woolf: I’m currently in the midst of volume 2 (1920-1924). They’re very enjoyable, but they’re something of an undertaking as all diaries are if you aren’t already very familiar with the biography of the person in question, so like. If you find yourself moving slowly don’t worry about it.

Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity by Robert Beachy

To Be Broken and Tender: A Quaker Theology for Today by Margery Post Abbott

The New Jim Crow byMichelle Alexander

The Environmental Case: Translating Values into Policy by Judith A. Layzer is a textbook that was assigned to me in my Enviornmental Policy class last semester and I really fkcing enjoyed it. It’s a book of case studies in environmental policy and it’s dense at times, but really interesting and enjoyable.

The Second Amendment: a Biography by Michael Waldman

Michelangelo’s Notebooks: the Poetry, Letters, and Art of the Great Master by Carolyn Vaughan. Just like. Genuinely. Genuinely. unintentionally hilarious. but also sometimes very sad, and very gay. I just adore Michelangelo. Just a shy foul-tempered repressed disaster. Jesus Christ.

#my next read is going to be richard ellmann's biography of oscar wilde #i'm v excited #henry speaks #vocallsama

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english-ext-2 · 6 years ago

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Hi Sophie! Based on your experiences, how hard do you think it is to get a perfect 50/50 both internally and externally for a short story in Extension 2? What kinds of stories and approaches to writing do you think/know get full marks? Additionally, if you were a marker, what features of your piece and others' pieces do you think made/would make them worthy of a 50? Thanks for all your wisdom!

Thanks for such interesting questions! My answers grew rather long, so I’ve thrown them under the cut.

50/50 internal and external

The 50/50 external mark is certainly harder than a 50/50 internal. It may as well be in the hands of the gods for all the influence you have. Unlike your teachers, the markers haven’t seen the blood, sweat and tears you poured into your major. They don’t even know your name. Conversely, you don’t know who they are either, or what their preferences are. Your major arrives at the marking centre as a product that has to stand on its own merits against the entire state EE2 cohort - about which you know nothing - not the forms they’ve chosen, not their concepts, absolutely zip. You’re blind to the competition. This is of course without even mentioning the small but no less insignificant 10% weighting of the Reflection Statement, which needs to be outstanding too. (Scaling also plays a part, but I’m not sufficiently well-versed in that to offer anything beyond this advice: if you want that perfect external, make sure you’re ranked first internally.)

The perfect internal mark is comparatively easier (which I suppose doesn’t say much considering how high I set the bar for the perfect external lol). But keep in mind that a 50/50 internal doesn’t make a 50/50 external any more likely. Some of my peers who did very well internally, with high E4s, were disappointed with their low E4s and sometimes high E3 external marks. Hard as it may be to swallow, it can end up being sheer luck that gets you over the line.

Doing well in the internal assessments comes down to a number of factors, including but not limited to your teachers’ marking preferences, your school cohort, and the effort you put in.

I was quite fortunate that one of the teachers who marked my draft in progress (the third assessment) historically liked my writing style. If possible, get to know the things your English teachers prioritise in their marking beyond what’s listed on the rubrics, and it may (or may not) make a difference in your final mark. As for your EE2 cohort, the better the competition, the harder you have to work. The quality of my cohort was extremely high, and the margins between students were tiny. To give you an idea: I got 9.5/10 on my Viva, full marks on the next two assessments, and squeaked into first in EE2 by 1 to 1.5 marks. It was a struggle the entire way to do my best for the second and third assessments, and I had to get the time management just right. Because yes, a lot boils down to the effort you’re willing to invest into a perfect mark. There’s no need to make a hard process even harder for yourself by not keeping on top of your writing and research.

Stories and approaches that score well

People have all sorts of (sometimes cynical) opinions and hot takes on what stories appeal to markers, e.g. feminist, postmodern, counter-cultural, what have you. I don’t want to speculate on subjects that do or don’t do well, since that’s way out of my league. What I will say is that if you’re sincere and earnest in your approach, whatever the subject, you should be rewarded for it. (Not that you will, but writing in good faith speaks far better for you than cynically selecting a type of story in the belief it’ll maximise your marks.)

For actual evidence of things that markers like, you can’t go wrong with the HSC marking feedback (formerly known as the notes from the marking centre). Two examples from the 2017 cohort:

“Students should avoid the overuse of adjectives and clunky visual descriptions”

Better responses “had a strong and authentic character voice that built and developed throughout the narrative”.

As for approaches:

Originality

Around my time, I think convention had it that outrageously experimental postmodern stories were in vogue and tended to do well with external markers. That belief came in part from the short stories that made it into Showcase, which is a good time to reiterate that Showcase majors aren’t selected on quality alone; they’re a cross-sectional representation of what can be done in EE2. If anything, the postmodernity was not an end in itself but a good way of encapsulating the innovation, originality and “thinking outside the box” that markers like. It probably goes without saying, but clichés in the mould of teenage romances don’t play well. Markers are looking for fresh, interesting perspectives that ideally challenge, interrogate or otherwise question received wisdom. (Caveat: there’s nothing wrong with telling an old story well, though it would have to be technically mind-blowing to get you full marks.)

Complexity

Your concept (and writing) should be complex, nuanced; something you could spend days unpacking. I’ve explained this before as developing a concept that’s deep enough to explore in detail, but not so broad as to be unmanageable. To use my major as an example - the umbrella concept was translation, but under it I explored a) the idea of translating reality into fiction, b) the translator/author relationship, and c) the value of translation in contemporary literature.

As for nuance: black/white approaches to your subject matter aren’t going to get you full marks. To say “war is bad” through your major is fine, but if you’re going to hit your audience over the head with ham-fisted, heavy-handed metaphors and one-dimensional characters who suffer for suffering’s sake to make the point, then you’re not exactly endearing yourself to the markers. Didacticism in fiction can and will come off as condescending, and that’s the last thing you want. Nobody likes being talked down to, or having their intelligence insulted. It’s entirely possible to tell a nuanced story about the various horrors of war, from the immediate impact on civilians to the inter-generational trauma, without throwing characters into a stereotypical war zone and expecting the setting to speak for itself. You want depth and detail, because war is terrible in so many different ways. Don’t use your story as a megaphone to yell the same line over and over at people. Yell a series of images, characters and events that will move them to tears. (Anyway, this is treading onto the grounds of fiction-as-activism, which is another thing altogether.)

Ambitious

As the saying probably doesn’t go, if you aim for the moon you’ll hit a tree, but if you aim just for the tree you’ll never get off the ground. A short story that gets full marks will have vision and ambition. It doesn’t end where the story ends, but opens up a new world of possibility or way of thinking that the reader might never have considered before they read your story. The short of it is: say something!

It’s tempting to believe that ambitious short stories = stories that tackle “heavy” subjects like war, climate change, poverty, inequality, or any one of the social ills afflicting our world today. For what it’s worth, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with writing on those things. Choosing to do so would demonstrate your maturity and willingness to confront difficult issues. But it’s not a golden ticket. Writing about systemic racism alone is not going to get you full marks. It is entirely possible to pick something profound and butcher the execution. When choosing a concept, I would always prioritise things you feel most passionate about rather than their perceived legitimacy on some arbitrary scale of importance.

I wrote about translation, and literary translation at that. It’s not a hot button topic. But it was something very close to my heart; I knew that translation was not just about languages but also reality into fiction, and it was something I wanted to tell the world (or failing that, just the EE2 markers). So I did. A good short story can really be as simple as having something to say.

If I were a marker

Authentic voice

If I were a marker, this would be the most important thing for me. I know voice can be a slippery concept for some, but what I mean here is the distinctness of a student’s style. It goes beyond the words they choose and the order they put them in; it’s the way the student expresses their ideas in their own words, and speaks through their major works. This is why I’m big on students choosing concepts they feel passionately or strongly about, because if you’re writing on something you love with all your heart, the more likely it is that feeling will come through in your particular voice. If you wanted another way to put it, it’s your “brand”, the set of qualities that makes your writing yours. Have you ever read an author enough times to recognise their way of writing? Like, you see a snippet of writing and think, “hm, that sounds a lot like Neil Gaiman.” That’s what you want with your major. Your subject matter might not resonate at all with me, but if through the boldness, clarity and passion of your written voice you can convince me how much you care about it, then I’d be putting you in a higher band.

Originality

To add to what I wrote above on originality, there are several ways to demonstrate original thinking: putting a new spin on or subverting old tropes, choosing to explore a more obscure field, telling historically marginalised and/or overlooked narratives (e.g. I once read part of a major that focused on Dorothy Wordsworth, William Wordsworth’s sister), even stories that resonate with the current social, political and cultural climate.

I think originality was what helped my major stand out. For one, I wrote about literary translation and translators, which wasn’t something that enjoyed much exposure in fiction. Second, most people think poetry when they think translation (the old adage of “lost in translation” most often gets applied to the vagaries of metaphors you commonly find in poetry), so for me to choose the short story form was an interesting subversion. Though tbh, I think people worry disproportionately about how original their stories are at the expense of telling a good story. There’s no need to push yourself into the realm of edginess for the sake of originality. At the end of the day, what you want is essentially a thumping good story. Sometimes it’s easier, and infinitely more fun to rework what you already have in front of you. I like to think of this approach in an Oulipian way - setting yourself restrictions within which you have to work. Surprising, I know, but boundaries can force you to be flexible.

Authorial control

Something that I know markers look out for is authorial control - on the simplest level, they want to see that you’re able to keep your tenses and characterisation consistent; on a higher level, it’s about sustaining your metaphors and ensuring textual integrity. Put another way, your story needs to be coherent and consistent. A character you’ve associated with a crow isn’t suddenly associated with an eagle for no reason.

Another way I’ve heard authorial control described is keeping your story tight, contained. You’re not wasting words, the story progresses logically and smoothly; there’s a sense you know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. If you spend the first ten pages describing the weather and the main character’s appearance without any discernible introduction of a larger theme or concept, that’s a failure of authorial control. (Hot tip: your first draft doesn’t have to be controlled at all, and it’s better to allow yourself to be a hot mess than to get hung up over producing a perfectly poised short story from the get go.)

Evidence of research

EE2 is about research and independent investigation, so naturally I’d want to see evidence of that in a short story that scores full marks. It’s one of those things that’s painfully obvious by its absence, but absolutely scintillating for its presence. For the former: if for example you’ve set your story in modern day Japan and have as your protagonist a typical Tokyo schoolgirl, but provide few, no or incorrect supporting details (e.g. landmarks, street names, the flow of a school day, cultural practices, etc.), then your story wouldn’t hold together and I wouldn’t be inclined to score you well.

Evidence of research usually entails great, sometimes painstaking attention to detail, and a comprehension of the subject matter that’s been fluently integrated into the story. To use my major as an example again, I did a lot of research into how translators related to their translations and to the original author, and incorporated my findings into my main character and how she felt about her translation.