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The first impression on reading the title “An Angel” is that it’s going to be about an angel who guides you or has saved one from a harrowing event. Then getting to the first sentence it captures your attention, intriguing you with a bold statement. The author shows a vivid image of what she (the angel) looks like as if she’s standing right in front of you waiting for your time to come. Reading the Short-short story it entices you to read more not knowing what the author might say next. While reading “Loser” it gave the aura of a soft superhero story, I say soft as in no action-packed fight scenes, no plot twists just a mellow superhero story. He has the tragic past, then proving his ability and finally proving the skeptics wrong by finding the boy. What got me the most was the type of ability he had, it was something useful. Instead of the normal “cool” powers like laser eyes he got something that can be used in everyday life which is refreshing. “The Hit Man” gave the impression of a teen hit man. Going into it thinking it’s going to be a regular story but getting a surprise when Cerberus was mentioned gave the story a whole new feeling. It wasn’t about a teen hitman it was about death and an inside look on his life.
ReplyDeleteKendra Lara
In Magaret Atwood’s short short story, “An Angel”, she basically described the angel that she saw “several times”, the angel of suicide. Atwood describes this so-called angel of death as a being “dense, heavy with antimatter, a dark star” yet she does describe some characteristic that are similar to the others which is that “all angels are messengers”. I felt that this story had such a negative atmosphere that was, in my opinion, disturbing.
ReplyDeleteIn Aimee Bender’s short short story, “Loser”, it’s about an orphan that has an extraordinary ability to find lost and misplaced things like if it was a natural thing like breathing. One day, the neighbor, Mrs. Allen, received news that her son was kidnapped, and it was up to the young misfortune boy to find Mrs. Allen’s son. Again, most of the readings I’ve read are on negative topics and subjects and I really don’t like it, but what can you do? At least, it ended well for all characters in the story.
In T. Coraghessan Boyle’s short short story, “The Hit Man”, it’s about a life story of a man that’s been giving the name, “Hit Man” and how his son taken the same path as he did when he passed from the Earth. Overall, it had a sad and negative tone, which, as I mentioned before, don’t really like.
Jose Contreras | 225 Words
“An Angel” is a very interesting piece because she opens with a direct and slightly ambiguous sentence about an angel of suicide and I think it's this marks the change from creative nonfiction to a short short: every sentence is crucial and necessary. A creative nonfiction is a work based on truth, whereas a short short leaves it up to the writer from which fictitious genre to work with. This limits our writer to only focus on the necessary details for the short work rather than to provide a full in-depth backstory. Magaret Atwood gives us only as much as we need to understand what her subject is and this works to give more impact to the story. I enjoyed reading the way she used angels as harbingers of bad or good fortune, her own mythology of the world. She changes her point of view toward the end of the story, from “I” to a more direct “you,” and this makes me think deeper on the text than I normally would. Her use of imagery is also startling and I especially liked how she illustrated the angels “falling through the atmosphere to the surface.”
ReplyDeleteMy favorite of the three was “Loser” by Aimee Bender. Not only because it had a boy with a supernatural gift, but because it was the only one with a straight forward, flowing, chronological structure with a well rounded protagonist and the ability to make me feel for this hero. The title of “Loser” is in itself irony because the boy is known for finding things but has lost the two people who mean the world to him: his parents. We get conflict in man vs. man (skeptics vs. believers) as well as the kidnapping of the boy, Leonard (suspense). I was with him as he saved the boy, every step, and feeling relief when he found him. I was mesmerized by the use of his power as being a connection to objects in a level of transcendence and beauty “I could feel the trees...their confusion...this isn't winter.” And i loved her use of parallel of saving the boy and wanting to be found and saved himself.
The last work, “The Hit Man” was a near miss. It was quite convoluted and the style of narration gave the impression that the writer was writing from the head of the killer himself. Brisk, rash, and to the point. The imagery was splendid and simple but the flippant way they're given adds to the lack of compassion or heart found in the killer himself. The structure was a bit interesting and gave me the impression that we were reading an autobiography, with all important dates and events noted for easy access. Almost as if he's proud of his life and wants everyone to know it. All throughout, I was struggling to identity what the message of the work was. If the Hit Man represented death as a grim reaper or perhaps the natural onset of violence that can be found within us all? The Hood was clearly another symbol but it's exact meaning is also lost on me. All in all, I was a bit confused but entertained; it was my second favorite.
Sandra Martinez
My favorite of the three is ‘An Angel’. I have always loved reading about the different types of angels. The way she describes the fallen angel is both inspiring and captivating. It captured my interest right away. She doesn’t generally give a direction on who she is writing this for, herself or her audience? I guess that was for the reader to decide. I think she was pointing it in the direction of the outcasts in this world. Maybe the essence of what she really wanted to state that those who decide to rebel against society are still good people (angels) at heart.
ReplyDeleteLoser happened to be my second favorite. There was a somber ending that makes you feel sorry for the main character. There was also a conclusion in the end that was up to the reader to decide. What I got from the context was that his special gift of being able to find lost items was a coping mechanism for losing his parents because they are forever gone. However, being able to find items gives a short reward from micro focusing on his anxiety for lost items.
The Hit man, was my least favorite out of the bunch. It was written in a very different style that I can appreciate.
-Valerie Valentin
After writing my nonfiction paper, it was really fun I didn’t find it difficult. Fiction story will hard for me because I never like reading fiction books or watch fiction movies, for me it unreal and everything is dramatize. You have to think about the structure, design, character, dialogue, setting and point of view which include tone, and style. I think also that you have to choose your audience; are you targeting young age, middle age or adults. Your story have to be fascinated. Also you have known which model you have to follow either novel, novella, short story or short-short story.
ReplyDeleteAfter ready the short story of Margaret Atwood, “An Angel” I really like it. I find it so funny; when she said that there are different type of angels in page 145: the angel of blindness, the angel of lung cancer, the angel of seizures, the destroying angel and the snow angel. Loser by Aimee Bender is also fun. I never saw in my life a person that can find lost things or a missing person. I could not stop reading it because it was hilarious. The one I did not like was the Hit Man by T. Coraghessan Boyle, maybe read it a third time will make me change my mind.
Fatimata Traore
The intriguing thing about short stories is how they can show what little you need to make an eye-catching, gear-turning piece of writing. The first story up is, “An Angel” by Magaret Atwood, which is a misleading title as soon as you read the first line. Atwood takes the concept of angels to show that there are more types than the ones you see in churches. She brings out that there are angels who bring messages of misfortune and evil. I liked how Atwood named these angels with common real life problems, “ the angel of blindness, for instance, the angel of lung cancer, the angel of seizures, the destroying angel.” (pg. 145). I was also intrigued with Atwood using symbolism to the destroying angel, comparing it to the mushroom cloud that is made from the detonation of the atomic bomb. She also points out the what we should notice when standing on the ledge and the angel of suicide speaks it’s message; they’re the one with wings. Aimee Bender’s “The Loser”, is a simple, warm story about a boy with a unique gift of finding things, probably a Hufflepuff. It’s a boy who, besides looking for what others ask for him and locating them, I feel as though he is looking for his parents, in a way. Bender personifies the young man’s abilities “All he knew was the feeling of a tug, light but insistent, like a child at his sleeve,” (pg. 147). It’s a nice trip into the world of a boy with a gift. “The Hit Man” by T. Coraghessan Boyle is an evolutionary tale that has an unexpected twist. When I first read it, I thought it was about a troubled boy, who always hides under the black hood of his jacket. You think that he becomes what the title is, a hit man. But by the end, it is realized that he did become a hitman. The boy became death; the untraceable and unpredictable hitman. He seemed to be human until they brought in Cerberus, the three-headed hound of hades (pg.152). It also ends with death dying in a hospital while his son is in the other side of town, putting on his first hood. The cycle starts once again.
ReplyDelete-Michael Lucio (370 words)
I turned the page so fast reading An Angel thinking there was going to be more in-depth description about the wings of the suicide angel & I was so sad there wasn’t! I loved reading this short piece! It’s almost as if I was being prepared to see an angel myself! I felt like this related to the same kind of mood for my creative non-fiction moment (that we’re all still revising in our class) I feel as if this reminds me to paint something with my words rather than leave a brief description of Who What When Where Why. This piece is getting me going!
ReplyDeleteLoser by Aimee Bender is interesting to me, I took it as a gifted boy still trying to cope with his parent’s death & finding himself through testing his powers. Yet still his power was limited to objects. It makes me compare me to certain emotions thinking yes you could be talented and living life okay and still be conflicted with things from the past and how that kind of shapes who you are today. There is even a question of a trade-off between the boy’s power & his parents. Maybe he is wondering if he could’ve had one or the other since it seems his situation is unique and no one else in this world has powers? So there is this magical correlation between his parents drowning in the ocean and his ‘gift’. I’m not sure about any other meaning I’m missing here?? I liked this short but I’m sensing I might not be seeing something… hmm..
Phew okay I had to go back and re-read a few times for The Hit Man by T. Coraghessan Boyle. So in this world, this character became a murderer and was glorified for it? The black bag or ‘hood’ he wears constantly is to represent conceal of true emotion? An erasing of self identity to present a new one? And the peas? To mean he focuses on the tiniest of detail? He definitely has a troubled past as we see his father mistreats him & his mother is sick in the hospital, (which is not specific on which serious ailment it is). Later the hit man’s first job became is life long career and what was the meaning of sneaking a 20 dollar bill into the palm of Cynthia’s father? A sort of bribery? I liked this short but I’m going to read other people’s interpretations because again I feel as if I’m missing a bigger picture.
-Naissa J. Acosta
I studied Hemingway extensively my senior year of high school, so this section was a nice little throwback for me. I think I need to get back into the mind frame of reading short fiction again though, because I foolishly found myself expecting what I’d find in a novel with most of these stories. I admittedly liked the stories Starkey provided in his discussion of the genre of short fiction more than the stories provided in the anthology, just because they felt a little more “conventional” to me. Even still, however, I’m impressed with how much can be done with short fiction. I thought the structure of “The Hit Man” to be especially creative with its use of subtitles, and I was amazed with how well Boyle was still able to advance the story and develop The Hit Man; it makes me re-realize that all power ultimately lies in the author’s hands and any work is only as good as its writer’s abilities. I expected “An Angel” would take a much darker turn with its immediate mention of “the angel of suicide” but I was actually a little amused by the image it created of an egg-faced, “noncommittal” angel. As I was reading the story though I was also struck with this nagging feeling that there something is something much darker to it. I took the ending as being a little ominous, and it makes me feel almost guilty for previously being entertained. Reading “Loser” felt odd, partially because it does have a very odd premise and main character (an orphan who can sniff out lost things?), but also because the speaker seems so carefully removed. There were no quotation marks around the dialogue so it felt like the dialogue wasn’t even happening. (Maybe it’s to help reinforce just how “odd” the main character really is? I can only wonder.) I was struck also by the title. Here we have a character who’s practically famous for his ability to find lost things, and even lost people, yet the title seems to be implying that he’s also a “loser” (re: someone who’s lost something/someone, not so much that he’s “lame”). I think the ending helped the justify/explain it though, as I think it reinforced the idea of him being “lost” himself or having lost someone by seemingly referring to his dead parents.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Garza
After reading nonfiction for the first part of the class finally we got some fiction to read. I personality like fiction its easier to imagine things like the first essay which was one of my favorites readings was “Angels” and I like how the author gave an angel to things. Like the angel of blindness or the angel of cancer. Or the Loser essay by Aimee Bender which starts a orphan with supernatural so that’s just interesting. Hit man was another one that quite unique in its used of subtitles. Which made it stand out from the rest.
ReplyDeleteJuan Carlos Guerra
I found the short-short story “The Hit Man” by T. Coraghessan Boyle to be really strange but in an intriguing way. The format of the story immediately caught my eye by how the author gives each stage of the Hit Man’s life its own small section. While I was reading it, there were certain things that I found to be sort of confusing. For example on page 150, there is this part where the author includes that "the Hit Man does not like peas" because "they are too difficult to balance on the fork." In my opinion, it almost comes off as kind of comical just because of how random it seems; however, it also makes it sound as if the Hit Man is writing about himself in third person point of view because of these personal quirks that are mentioned. Besides this speculation, I'm not sure if I was supposed to gain some kind of overall understanding or message from the story, although I still very much enjoyed it, especially because of how it ends with the Hit Man's son continuing his legacy. As for the other two short-short stories, I did not like them as much. For some reason, "An Angel" by Margaret Atwood did not feel complete to me or it felt as if it was missing something more that would add to the idea of a compelling "angel of suicide." Also, in "Loser" by Aimee Bender, the story was very interesting however, the ending of the young man unable to find himself was quite saddening.
ReplyDeleteKimberly Cervantes
Each of the three essays a different organization style and a different way of telling short-short stories. “An Angel”, my least favorite, is more of a descriptive essay regarding a fictional character that stands as a metaphor for suicide. It uses clever description and simile, but falls short in the narrative perspective, although I value its briefness. The style of “The Hit Man” was the most new to me, as it was a chronology, divided into sections of events no longer than a paragraph. I believe that a writing style like this would be best to illustrate change or constancy. You can show a characters change and backstory with the events of the narrative be from a characters life to their death, but the lack of change, as seen in the Hitman’s general demeanor and disregard for those not in his family keeps the tone of the essay consistent. I believe I’ll find myself imitating this style of writing at some point, as it seems unique and moldable. Fiction being my subject of preference, I got the most enjoyment out of “Loser”. The beginning briefly sets up the expository knowledge, a direct conflict in the middle and a melancholy conclusion that keeps the mystery of the essay alive. Mystery in fiction is one of my favorite tropes, as new, inhuman traits and abilities can be given to characters with their own set of rules, and an in depth explanation is not required. The world the author created allows something like the power to find lost objects into their canon, and the reader easily accepts it as the reality, no questions asked. Of the essays this one also had my favorite title. The other 2 were nouns, the main character of both stories, but “Loser” throws off the reader by being about someone that can find what people lost, and not an individual that is considered a loser. It is a well thought out title, and it gives me more inspiration as to how to build a title on a character that isn’t just the name or occupation of that individual.
ReplyDelete-Kedrick Wyatt
I believe this section; at least to me is more complex and a bit confusing, one example is the section on creating characters pg. 116-123. First you create the characters just to either combine or eliminate what is not needed are the names appropriate or is a name needed. It seems kind of silly that these steeps are needed. To my understanding was that you thought of an idea or a concept before committing to names and how many characters. Crossing the River Zbrucz pg.103-105 was well described with vided detail; that is how I would like to write vivid details and a nice pacing not too fast and not to slow. There seems to be a lot more to consider when writing fiction pg.115-116,122-123,128,132-133140-141 all pages listed are checklist which I thought would be for the short (5-10 page) story and novel not the short short. I feel the process is a bit intimidating for a 600 – 800-word short story. Maybe I’m over thinking the over all process of this section. Any case I continue to work on my short comings in my writings and strive to write well descriptive and well-paced stories like Isaac babel and Nikolai Gogol.
ReplyDeleteKristopher R. Price
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Margaret Atwood in her short story “Angel” describes a morbid angel. With her lopping dialogue, Atwood spins a story of a character (or a collage of many characters) who trust in the angel’s beckoning. I don’t understand what Atwood means by her last statement. Why would the victim trust in the wings-- and does it imply that the victim believes that the angel might catch them-- or that the angel does honestly offer rebellion, because it could have flown but still chose to fall?
ReplyDelete“Loser,” by Aimee Bender is less depressing than “Angel” even though Bender’s short story tells the events of actual deaths (and shows the desperation during a kidnapping), and “Angel” doesn’t. However, “Loser” is more aloof in its writing style, not giving any sensory details to put the reader into the story, and softens the blows of its fact-given deaths and disappearances.
I don’t understand “The Hit Man” at all. At first, I thought that the hood was a metaphor, and even though everyone addresses the hood and acts as though it’s real, I figured that it was to say something about the character and the story. But now, I am certain that the hood was indeed real and that the story itself is an allegory, with a meaning that whisked over my head.
Raquel Williams