Book Review: The Snow Child

The Snow Child
by Eowyn Ivey

I really enjoyed this book. I would give it a 4.7/5 because it was beautifully written with figurative language. The effect of her language caused me to get into the scene and be in the book as an omniscient character that did not say anything and was not seen by anyone, but was there. Every single part of it was enjoyed. Especially the growth in the Jack and Mable's relationship, that was at the beginning not going anywhere, but because of Faina, it matured. I loved the way that Ivey played around with Faina and when Faina spoke, the way that she did not use quotation marks, allowing us to know and understand that she is not real. 
My favorite character was Mabel. She is such a strong woman because she had a child and lost it. She was a strong wife, because Jack acted like he did not hear her, but she knew that he was just sad and alone. When she met Faina, she was like the protective mother that Faina never had. When Garret and Esther came to help her with the farm, she learned skills in farming to show Jack that he wasn't alone doing all the work. She worried a lot, and that's what showed that she cared about everything. My favorite characteristic from Mabel was that she was a woman that believed. Even though Esther never believed her about Faina or the others, and Jack wouldn't help her make others believe in Faina, she did. She believed and everyone saw Faina with their own eyes. The ending was sad and a little confusing about the disappearance of Faina, but we could see each character mature in their lives and relationship with loved ones.

Recommendation: I recommend everyone to read this book, especially magical realism lovers. You would love it just like I did and would not stop reading if you get caught in the scene to become another character.

My Favorite Website for Myths/Legends/Folktales

American Stories

Prompt:

Use any of these legend/myths/folktale stories and modernize it to the 21st century (change the setting, characters, etc. but make sure to keep the theme and/or symbol).

Different Ways to Look at Things

Eleven Ways to Look at a Water Bottle

I

In the left corner of a student's desk,

The only thing that distracts me from inches away,

Is a blue water bottle filled half way.

II

When I go around it,

to make my paper get in contact with the teacher,

It stays still.

Sweating as if it worked out seconds ago.

III

It doesn’t look left or right.

It is not allowed to be touched by anyone.

Only moves when it is in the hands of it’s Master.

IV

It is allowed in school.

Not in all classrooms.

Not at all times.

V

It is always there when you need it.

Even when it feels looked down upon its preferred neighbors.

Soda, Juice, Milk, Smoothie

VI

It’s not the water bottle.

It’s what inside of it that matters.

I don’t care how it looks in the outside.

You lifesaver is what is in the inside.

VII

Water is healthy for the body.

Water allows your dry tongue to become moist in seconds.

Water makes you lose weight.

Water makes your mood better.

IX

In a dry desert,

It’s the only thing that you will need.

In a lifetime,

It’s the only things that you will need.

X

The container is important.

Important to carry what really is important.

XI

Different needs in a human life that need water,

But what is water without something to carry it to its destination?

Water would fall on the ground like rain,

It evaporates up or gets contaminated and-

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King Review

This was a very interesting novel. I did not finish it all because I was asked to read five stories and write my own using Stephen King's work as an inspiration. Even though I was asked to read it and at the beginning I thought that the book would be good, I did not like his stories. They were very weird and used lots of creepy, malicious and words that can not be described. I hate this genre. Especially when it includes so much fantasy in it. I did not like the book, but that's my opinion. Maybe you read and it might enjoy it, but it was not my favorite and will never be. Sorry Mr. King. It's not you, it's that I don't like those creepy things you write about, but I did like Misery on the bright side.

The stories I read:


Suffer the Little Children
This was the first story that I read and at the beginning it caught my attention because it was interesting and sounded realistic, but then when one of the students of the teacher started transforming, it was becoming very creepy. The teacher in this story is named Miss Sidley and she is an elder age. She scares her students because she is one of the tough ones. She asked one of her students, Robert, to answer the following question. Her students normally are ashamed and/or humiliated by her because she is the scary type of teacher. Robert on the other hand, acted normal and did not seem afraid. This made her angry because he smiled at her constantly, and that was something that none of the kid's did. Robert turns into an alien/weird creature and Miss Sidley finds out that all of her students can do that, so she calls them into a separate room. That day she brings her brother's gun and shoots them.

Popsy
When I read the title of this story, I checked the definition for 'popsy'. Popsy means an attractive young woman. I thought that it would be about people falling in love, but it is not. There is a little boy who says that he is lost in the mall and he cries/looks like he wants to cry because he lost his 'Popsy'. The narrator wants the kid because he would turn him in as a pay for his debt, since the narrator is obsess with playing dice games. He tries to take the kid to were he needs to without allowing anyone to notice him stealing this child. The child describes his 'Popsy' and tells the narrator that his 'Popsy' left to get him some water. 'Popsy' is a vampire and the kid is too, and at last 'Popsy' finds the kid.

The Fifth Quarter
The setting is at a house in Castle Town. The house was filled with awful events that happened in the life of two men who were molested by the house owner's wife.

Home Delivery
The main character is Maddie Pace, a timid and indecisive young woman who lives on a small island named Jenny. Maddie is pregnant and her husband left her as a widow because he died in a boat accident. She sees large amounts of bodies dead. The people living in Jenny and her see this mass killing with their own eyes. They want to attack against the zombies that will rise from the cemetery. Maddie's husband comes back to life as a zombie from the sea and Maddie defeats him.

Rainy Season
A husband and wife rent a house in a small town called Willow on summer being warned to leave by the local citizens. Every seven years a husband and wife will go there from outside and will stay in Willow, not mattering anything, to become sacrifices during the rainy season. When the "rain" starts, the couple learns the nature of the precipitation: an army of grotesque black toads the size of footballs, armed with needle-sharp teeth and able to chew through doors and walls.

A Poem Made by a Picture

Reading

It takes you to sit without anyone distracting you.
Reading is a new world without anyone around.
You enter a new perspective and look at things from a different view.
The pages stare at you and look how beautiful you are while you read.

It takes you to build up hope.
The protagonist makes you excited.
Even when they struggle, you encourage them to move forward.
You tell them to not do something because you know that they would be in danger if they do.
You enter as a new omnipresent survivor and take care of the character all the way.

It takes you to leave the place that you are to become omnipresent in another person's life.
You don’t want to change the plot, but you want to change the danger.
You fear the antagonist will rule over the protagonist.

It takes courage to read the tough parts.
You need to be strong all throughout.
Even if there isn’t a Prince Charming with a slipper to save the day,
Or a Spider-man to risk his life for a girl.

It takes you to go far way.
A secret place where no one knows you.
A place of green pastures as quiet as the deserts.
The grass gives a massage to your feet, while the little ants crawl up on top of your book and read along.

It takes you time, but you would enjoy it.
You analyze the text closely and when you find the symbol,
“Oh, that’s why this happened?”
You begin to see a different way of life without judging.

It takes you to change your mood and bad habits.
You become as calm as the ocean.
Thoughts come to your mind as a cheetah trying to get his prey.
You mood changes as a thermometer.
You begin to develop new skill and a new way of life as you learn a different lifestyle that you want to be like.

It takes an open mind.
Your mind is loud.
It speaks to you things that you might not want to hear.
It takes of your hat and let’s you understand that there is no shade in a sunshine.

Reading is a practice of life
Have you tried being present in an important person’s life?
Have you tried warning about danger?
Have you tried not judging others?

It takes love to live life the way you read.
With reading you do what you don’t do with life.

An Inspirational Quote #2

First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!
– Ray Bradbury

As a writer, I can relate to this quote because it explains that you don't need to do anything or get frustrated about anything. The character is the one that does the actions and the talking. The only thing that the writer has to do is write what it is doing. When you are writing and you start getting frustrated, that means that you are not allowing the characters to do the work. That is because you want to do everything yourself. You shouldn't do that. The characters like to develop by themselves, you just do what they tell you to do. It's just like a human-being when it starts to grow and it learns to do things, like walking. It does not want you to carry it anymore because it already knows how to walk. If you carry it, the baby will start crying and you can’t hear anything with all that crying. When you allow the baby to keep practicing, the baby will walk perfectly and not fall. That is just like a character, once it starts doing its actions and decision and you want to control it, the character stops because you want to take control and that's why you get a writer’s block because you can’t hear anything. When you allow the character to take its position, it will walk fluently through your mind for you to write. You should allow them to make decisions. Your story will turn out great if you listen to them because they know what’s going on.

An Observation Poem

Gate

Gate.

A vast gate,

like a magical kingdom,

with ebony gates.

Divulging your path of entrance and exit.

Twain gate doors.

Two paths.

One way.

Zero labor.

Vehicles authorized as one side of the gate.

You shouldn't wander through the sod,

Nor litter,

Nor leap over the gate.

With unlocked gates,

a path to discover.

Entering the other side,

is like entering a new world,

alone with peace and privacy.

Reaction to McCloud's Stages

McCloud's Path for Arts Steps

1. Idea/Purpose
2. Form
3. Idiom
4. Structure
5. Craft
6. Surface

The first step gives a motivation to the ideas, emotions, philosophies, and purpose of the content of the work.

The second step will take you to decide what it will be like.
Ex. A Book? A chalk? A folder? A pencil? A picture frame?

The third step is to check your vocabulary styles, gestures or subjects matter. Also the genre that your work will be placed in.

The fourth step is putting it all together. Cutting out the unnecessary and adding the necessary. The arrangement and composition is also important for the structure of  your work.

The fifth step is constructing the work, applying skills, practical knowledge, invention, problem-solving and getting the job done.
 
The sixth step is producing values and finishing the aspects most apparent on first superficial exposure to work.                                      

A goal that I would like to achieve as an artist is the fourth step, structure. I need to work on this step because I need to learn how to cut out the unnecessary parts of my writing pieces. I need to learn to not add words and sentences that do not have a symbol or meaning to the story/poem. When I kill the extra words, I change them into necessary ones. The necessary ones add  description and necessity because it catches the readers attention. That's what I need to do! Add the words that catch the readers attention and take out the ones that are just there taking space and have no meaning.

Ex. Katrina was soon going to get married with Bobby. Her mother had bought and planned everything ahead of time, so everything was already ready. Even though there were only two weeks left, her blue eyes had feelings for someone else.

This seems like a great story, but why do I care if she has blue eyes? Good to know that, but is it really necessary. When you add words that shouldn't be part of the story, it makes the story basic and simple. Sometimes it is great to add what the characters look like, but most of the time I like the readers to make up their own movie while they are reading and for them to pick how the character looks because it will make them like my story more since they are being part of building it up. Let's try this better version of the story!   

Ex. Katrina was soon going to get married with Bobby. Her mother had bought and planned everything ahead of time, so everything was already ready. Even though there were only two weeks left, Katrina did not feel ready because she was in love with someone else.

This new example made the story sound a more interesting. Many thought came to me while I even read it myself. Who does Katrina still love? Will she still be getting married? Will Bobby find out? How will her mother react to this? As you can see, this creates a story because it is saying something interesting that catches the readers attention. It also doesn't have simple words blocking the path of the story to build something with greater imagination.

I will be achieving this goal by revising my work with more than two drafts. I will also need to take Stephen King's advice: after you are done with a writing piece, leave it alone for at least six weeks and don't worry about it. Then, come back to the writing piece and read/revise it. You will see what you should add and what you should take out. The school teachers could help me reach this goal by setting time after a long time, to revise work and give me some questions of what else they would like to know about a part of the writing piece because it will help me know what should I press the 'delete' button and/or continuing typing.

I am hoping that this new writing program helps me put details step by step and how to know which words are needed and which are not. Sometimes I have so many ideas, but I make them into one boring part of the story because I want the process to go fast since I want to get rid of it and get going on with a new idea for the story. I want to learn to be patient and write things descriptively with structure. If I lose the thought, it means that it did not belong there. I just want to handle my ideas in a patient way in order for the character to fluently express itself instead of me pressuring the character.

Small Word Poem

A Fruitful Flag

How should I not love this flag?

This flag gave me a right.

This flag gave me liberty.

This flag gave me hope.

Where were you when we won independence?

My great, great, great grandparents were not yet born,

but I was destined to live in a land of freedom.

I was free ever since I was born.

Thanks to my old folks who were brave to fight.

Where were you when we almost divided into the Separate States of America?

God didn't allow for us to separate.

We are called for peace, not a split.

All these years,

ever since we gain independence from Britain.

As a united country, we went through a lot.

We have gone through peril, grief, woe, and ire.

But since we have eachother’s back,

we also have lived glee.

This flag is a badge.

We have achieved many things in this country,

but unitedly.

Twenty Little Poetry Project

Rough Seas

1. The sea waters are a universe.
2. The waves come near me and wave at my feet.
3. Sand mixes all over my feet. The wind that blows my hair goes inside of my nose and smells as salty as last night's dinner. The color of the waves change the color of my eyes. The seas creatures make noises, but I understand their language. They call for me to join them in an adventure. I couldn’t because I can’t breathe with neither my nose or mouth. I tried to get in and all I tasted was green seaweed that tasted like lettuce and broccoli.
4. The sky turned dark enough to not be able to see the waters natural color the way that you swallow something solid as if you were dying.
5. a sudden blow in my face when I woke up by Carlos Rivera on the little house on top of the sand in Guanica, Puerto Rico because I was a sleep for two long that day in 2001.
6. I didn’t sleep all day long in 2001.
7. My brother was small and annoying, but most times I enjoyed his company.
8. I wondered if he wanted to join the chorus to sing. Easy Peasy for her.
9. She had the highest voice because of her high heels.
10. A quiet place where a sea breeze sings the song.
11. The fancy human of skill that is afraid to pass the sea shore.
12. I am as peaceful as the tsunami that’s gates been open to flood.
13. I am given natural gills to be able to breath under water.
14. Why couldn’t Karla just swim with all that talent that she received.
15. They will all see me tonight swim as fast as the sailfish and be surprised.
16. The flippers that move me like a lazy body because it is natural.
17. I need to remember this because it never happened.
18. Necesito aprender y parar de tener miedo.
19. The peebles smiled at me because they believed.
20. I am the swimmer who swims the seas that cover the land.