ENCW 202 Spring 2022
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 10th, 2022
Steven Millhauser’s “The Dome” tells a story about a few wealthy Americans who begin to put up domes over their homes. This causes problems and challenges how things are solved and reviewed. The building of domes starts to spread across towns, neighborhoods, and eventually the whole country. At first, the story does not seem to have […]
Posted in Writing about Writing on Feb 10th, 2022
After having read Steven Millhauser’s “In The Reign of Harad IV” multiple times, I’ve come to the conclusion that even renowned authors skilled within the concepts of fantastical fiction, will ultimately write what they know, or at least, a version of what they know. And what do writers know best? Writing. Yet, to write about a […]
Posted in Fairy Tale, The Artist on Feb 10th, 2022
“In The Reign of Harad IV” is a fantastical short story that alludes to ideas of craftsmanship, artistry, and the trials that come with these pursuits. Despite the title, the story is focused on a charming, lonely old miniaturist. The third-person point of view has a logical voice that resists forthright connotation; this, alongside the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 8th, 2022
This week’s readings “History of Disturbance” and “In the reign of Harad IV” were stories that I think follow the slow downward spiral of the narrator’s sanity and their gradual self-inflicted isolation. In “History of disturbance “ The narrator is writing or talking to his wife explaining how he stopped talking. In the beginning the […]
Posted in Language on Feb 8th, 2022
“History of a Disturbance” is a story that takes shape into a long message to the narrator’s wife. In the message he clarifies his “vow” of silence, a vow to do without speaking completely and remain in the world of perception. Throughout the text, the narrator gradually becomes aggravated by the uncertainty of thoughtfulness, such […]
This week the story that I have decided to write about is “The Dome” by Steven Millhauser. This story takes place in what I began to think was a normal world, but since this is a class about the fantastic, I knew that would soon change. A company has been producing dome structures that can […]
Posted in Documentary on Feb 8th, 2022
Millhauser’s “Dome” is told by an anonymous narrator who is reflecting on the biggest advancement done within civilization (in this story). The point of view in which the story takes place is very interesting. The only thing we know about the narrator is that they have lived and experienced the evolution of the Dome. The narrator refers to […]
Posted in Language on Feb 8th, 2022
Steven Millhauser’s “History of a Disturbance” was an interesting read. I found the format of the story to be interesting, as it is the first that has been formatted as a letter. It also indicates that the story has already taken place and that the narrator already knows how the circumstance has ended. I believe […]
Posted in Dystopia, Uncategorized on Feb 7th, 2022
In Steven Millhauser’s “The Dome” the narrator retells the events that have led up to being encased inside of a giant dome, as well as the effects it is starting to have on the people living inside of them. At first, domes were only for the most wealthy and elite to have and are assumed to […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 5th, 2022
Millhauser’s “History of a Disturbance” takes the form of a letter from a man to his wife, and is therefore written in the first and second person. The purpose of the letter is to explain to Elena, the narrator’s wife, why he has been acting differently. It tracks the events within the narrator’s psyche which […]
“Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax” is a story about Mona and the crew of women who work for a rock girl group. Throughout the story, we hear about the strange happenings when the band is around. At first, we see this when the teenage girls leave the concerts and go out and perform acts of violence, such […]
Posted in Myths on Feb 3rd, 2022
In Julia Armfield’s “Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax,” we are introduced to the effects of mob mentality; how easily molded the minds of young adults truly are. The story begins from the perspective of Mona, a woman hired to film on tour for a band whose fans, only girls, are outright fanatical. Through the use of subtly […]
Posted in Myths on Feb 3rd, 2022
In the short story “Granite” by Julia Armfield, a woman who is almost in her thirties finally finds love. She lives alone in the building with a landlady who lives downstairs of her apartment. In the end, the man turns to granite and falls apart in her hands. This story reminds me of Medusa and […]
“Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax” by Julia Armfield is a story that definitely surprised me to say the least. In my opinion it seems like an alternate coming-of-age story with dark twists throughout. The band, who seem to be sirens, are able to evoke a reaction out of young women. These young women seem […]
Julia Armfield is a master at threading subtle tension all throughout her story “Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax.” I think that this tension starts with the ingenious title — not only because it alludes to the sirens, but by how it turns the music in the story into a monstrous call for (and by) […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 3rd, 2022
“Stop Your Women’s Ears With Wax” had an interesting format. Each stop in the tour for the band seemed to be numbered, reminding me of the list in “Inventory.” The point of view was in third person instead of first person, which seemed to offer more specific details for the story. The fact that the story […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 3rd, 2022
The short story “The Great Awake” follows the reality of sleep anxiety. The story talks about “Sleeps,” shadow-like figures that prevent characters from receiving the rest that they need. Characters who don’t need to sleep at first enjoy new things, but those who don’t have a change in their sleeping patterns become increasingly restless, clinging to the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 3rd, 2022
At first I had trouble understanding the purpose of “Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax,” by Julia Armfield. Although, eerie in its tone there was nothing at first that stood out to me representing the fantastic. It seemed like a story of a young woman who followed a band around their tour. There were times in […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 3rd, 2022
“Granite” by Julia Armfield is full of possible metaphors, all of them presenting themselves in different characters and events. The main character tells her story of loving a man who gradually becomes ill before turning into brittle stone, and mentions her friends, neighbor, and mother on the side. The man she loves curiously remains unnamed, perhaps […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 2nd, 2022
Julia Armfield’s Granite on the surface seems like a cut case of a woman’s boyfriend slowly turning to stone of their relationship. And the way she writes it makes it almost sound so ordinary instead of the fantastical element that it is. Upon re-reading it, the subtle hints of what I perceived as an emotionally […]
Posted in Alternative Worlds on Feb 1st, 2022
“The Great Awake” explores the idea of anxiety through their Sleeps. Sleeps are shadow-like figures who escape from the characters’ bodies, allowing them to remain awake without needing to go to sleep. The Sleeps remain only a few steps behind their bodies. Some characters who no longer need to sleep come across a new privilege, while […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 1st, 2022
As a reader: Julia Armfield’s “The Great Awake” follows a narrator who lives through a mass phenomenon of Sleep leaving people’s bodies and taking the form of shadowy, humanoid specters. When one’s Sleep leaves their body, they are no longer able to Sleep and are left in a resulting state of perpetual weariness. The phenomenon […]