Tuesday, October 2, 2018

RR#5: Excerpts from "Scores"

Post your reading response to the required reading below. 

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  1. Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
  2. Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
  3. From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, choose Anonymous, then click "Publish."
  4. Reading responses are due Thursdays at midnight, no exceptions.

14 comments:

  1. Robert Moreira’s short short story, “Tunguska”, is about a youth who’s mesmerized and amused by these captions that appear on the screen along with the bright and colorful pictures or footage on the television. In my opinion, I didn’t quite understand the story overall, because when I was reading the descriptive writing, the imagery just confused me to the point of “what am I reading” and “what does it mean”. It was interesting and unique nonetheless. I certainly wish to read it over again if I only the luxury this semester, to understand it better.
    Robert Moreira’s short story, “Shoes”, is about a conflict between family, between Cynthia Marie and her mother, to sign over documents to provide her with a type of support when her husband’s inevitably dies. However, she refuses to sign those papers due to what happened between her and her father in the past. Something unforgivable. First of all, I didn’t really like the negativity of story in the middle then end. It just stifled my reading. Additionally, the, in my opinion, overuse of descriptive writing and imagery really didn’t help me picture the situation all too well which also stifled my reading as well.
    For this last, I’m guessing, play, I couldn’t understand the whole thing at all. Everything flew right past me. I didn’t know what I was reading or even that it could make sense. Although, this is the first time that I’m reading something like this, yet I feel like I couldn’t make sense of the descriptions and dialogue. Overall, I just don’t like the way it was written and the format it was in since it dramatically inhibited my understanding.
    Jose Contreras | 279 words

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  2. The first short story is “Tunguska” which is about a boy who seems to like reading the close caption on the tv. Almost as if that’s how he learns to say words or read them. Because in parts of the story there’s a moment where he starts trying to pronounce a word like in Pg 1 it says “E-VER-EST. MAN-O-WAR. THE GA-LA-PA-GOS.” And I know from my own personal life I can relate to that. My brother and I sometimes have hard time saying certain words either in English and Spanish its something we grew up with. But I can remember how if I’m reading and come across a word I haven’t seen I try to pronounce it the same way like the character of this story. But other than that I couldn’t really see what was the main idea of this story. But I like how visual this story is. The second story is “Shoes”. Which starts off with a husband and wife eating a burrito and watching the news. About a murder of a young woman that had her feet cut off. But the overall story is about a family problem. About how Cyn’s mother came to the house to have her sign some papers. But Cyn will only sign if her mother will put on some shoes. I honestly believe Cyn and her husband killed the young lady they mention in the news. Because its weird how Cyn picked some shoes she had a box. I mean if it were her own she would have gotten them from her closet but that’s what I think. But also maybe the shoes could symbolize how uneasy the mother and daughter relationship is. How the mother stands up and struggles to maintain her balance and she falls down. Almost as if that’s how their relationship is. I honestly liked this story more than the first one. Yeah the third short story is “Hollywood Ends” I didn’t know what was it about. I mean when it came down to how it was written its very much a script and bunch of movies being mention to emphases it being very Hollywood. But overall I have no idea what this story was about. Was it about a two friend picking movies or what?
    Juan Carlos Guerra

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  3. All three of these stories were unique in their own way, but I did have slight trouble reading all three. My favorite where the first two stories, “Tunguska” and “Shoes.” In the story “Tunguska,” I had to read twice to fully get the meaning behind the story. Certain traits pertaining to the boy told me that he may have a mental illness, such as, the fingernail biting, seeing shadows, fascination with the closed captioning, and cutting a cat’s tail. These actions by the character show me there is not normal within the boy. However, I was confused by the ending. I feel like I’m missing the true concept of the last paragraph where there is an explosion. I feel like it may be symbolic for the mom having a miscarriage.
    Onward to “Shoes,” This short story was very compelling. I feel serial killers are always an interesting subject and always draw in a wide audience. I feel that Brudos is a serial killer because a stereotypical serial killer usually like to keep a secret memento of their prey to remind them of the adrenalin rush that they had during the moment. I found it fascinating that the wife knew and used him as a tool to get revenge on the mother. Almost like he was under mind control in a way.
    -ValerieValentin

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  4. “Tunguska” took me more than one read to begin building up what happened. At first it seemed to be a story about a child’s fascination with television, but it starts to become twisted when it is mentioned that he cut of the cat’s tail. The story is told through the child’s eyes and it seems that he has a fascination, not only with the closed captioned words on the tv screen but with violence. Or perhaps he is so young that he doesn’t know what he’s doing but then again, his actions are one to bring concern. I did like how Dr. Moreira let the reader know that the mother was pregnant by saying “down to her belly that punched from the inside.”, meaning the baby’s kicks. Also it seemed that the mother either had a miscarriage or gave birth right on the spot, with the mention of blood coming from between the mother’s thighs. “Shoes” has to be my favorite of the readings, with its attention to details, such as near exact shapes and colors. With such attention, I could feel the passion that Brudos has for his craft of repairing broken things. The story mentions the killings of girls that have all had their feet cut off when they were discovered. By the end, after Cynthia’s mother falls from wearing the shoes she asked her to wear, I thought it was going to be revealed that Brudo’s was the killer. But I believe this was to continue the use of feet in the story, that they are what support us to stand up both physically and mentally. It was one of the first things we learned to use in our adolescence. “Hollywood Ends” is a man who is a major film buff and applies it to his daily life to help make it bearable. It was clever of Dr.Moreira to use the classic Stalag 17, a movie that takes place in a German POW camp where American airforce men are being held. The office is viewed as the camp, the place where people go to work until they quit or retire, but to some it could be viewed as working their lives away at their desk. I suppose the story says that it doesn't hurt to step away from reality for a bit, especially when reality itself is kind of crazy. Other than that, I didn't get anything else from it. It felt as though it was all over the place.
    -Michael Lucio

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  5. Through the three short short stories by Robert Moreira, the first titled “Tunguska” started off pretty interesting. A young boy seems to find enjoyment with the closed captions the TV is able to provide, but soon the story shifts in a way that while descriptive, led me back to having to reread several times because I wasn’t too sure what was going on exactly. And in the end, I’m still not sure what was happening but maybe because it is about a young boy that the structure is all over the place similar to a child’s own thoughts? “Shoes” right from the beginning gave me the interpretation that the husband was some with a shoe fetish and the scene of him and his wife watching the local news report about another woman having her feet cut off did not help to make me wonder if that’s where the story was going. Instead, it centered on the wife, Cyn, and her mother visiting and trying to have her daughter sign some documents, the two argue and it is implied that the father had abused Cyn years ago. Once again this story’s ending has me very…confused? Or even disturbed with how the couple react to having the mother wear these random stilettos and then fall. Lastly, we have “Hollywood Ends” where the structure reminds me of a script to a play, but the style also presented is different as well with the random placements of dialogue and description throughout. Overall I felt like all three short short stories had moments that could have built off of something but then took a dive into another direction.
    Savannah Lopez

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  6. I didn't really understand what was going on in "Tunguska", though i did enjoy the imagery and description Robert Moreira used in it. Though, i did get lost sometimes due to that imagery, maybe because it was too overwhelming for me to handle. I did google the word Tunguska to try and get some context and i found out it was an event that happened in Russia where an explosion occurred. So that kind of helped me gain some understanding, not really. "Shoes" by Moreira was by far the best reading out of the three assigned, and id say, for me, the best out of all the readings we've read so far. I just really enjoyed the concept and specifically the character of "Cyn". The way Moreira develops her to be this twisted evil character in cahoots with her husband towards the end of the story was really fascinating for me. As for the final reading, "Hollywood Ends", I flat out had no clue what happened in that story. Completely lost, from beginning to end. The way the structure for the story was and the actual content really went over my head. I'm assuming this is meant to be a play or a movie, either way, didn't get what was going on.
    Adrian Martinez

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  7. “Tunguska” was most likely my favorite story of this week’s readings. Firstly, the point of view was told from that of a child, and not any child but a mentally challenged one. In one instance, he mentions how a cat had snipped its own tail off on some scissors. As the reader, of course we know it must've been the boy who unintentionally caused harm to the cat, later evidenced by how the mother washes the boy’s hands from blood. But that the boy says it was the cat who hurt itself carries with it the thinking of a child, a child who sometimes doesn't know what he does and is too innocent to understand the severity of his mistakes. I also really liked the imagery and the ambiguous feel, as well as the morbid plot twist. “Shoes” was the second favorite for being very distinct and new in terms of the psychological murder mystery scene, in my book. I hadn't before seen a character fleshed out in such a way, with subtle quirks and mannerisms and strange fixations. The unveiling of the story also really sold it for me. “Hollywood Ends” was confusing, to me, and not as enjoyable. I tried to follow the flow but just couldn't. Also, there was a lot of context I felt was missing to truly piece the work together. I also only gets bits and snippets of how Frank is like as a person, much less as an actor. The message was muddled, except for the paragraph about “we are all rotting.” I couldn't draw much interest to this piece.

    Sandra Martinez

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  8. In Tunguska, A vivid but unclear period of events of a boy entertained by captions on the T.V is described, with undertones of malice. While the true plot of the piece is uncertain to me, I understand that the boy cut a cats tail with scissors, and later, seems to interfere with his pregnant mother’s baby, if not carefully alluded to. I believe that the mother is dead at the end, or incapacitated. The story reeked of chaotic mystery, and that’s very respectable, as its easy to write confusing stories, but entertaining to write dramatic confusing stories. “Shoes” has an excellent narrative sense and pacing compared to “Tunguska”, as it does not feel rushed or rapidly paced (which is not a flaw in “Tunguska”, but is slightly jarring). In this piece, I believe the exposition between Cynthia and her mother was somewhat forced and too deliberate, but the conversation felt natural, and as in previous assignments, I particularly enjoyed seeing an antagonist. The mother had goals, was self-absorbed, and believed she was in the right about her situation with her parents. The story stuck out more because I hated the antagonist, and those feelings got me to think more on the pieces. A strong antagonist should invoke that to keep readers interested. “Hollywood Ends” was the most confusing of the pieces, I understood the events of this deranged, chaotic main character doing wrong, losing his jobs and going off on an odd tangent, but I see it as a string of events with an unclear underlying theme. I believe the piece may require more context or direction to understand. Still, the feelings of the diction emitted a vulgar, chaotic tone, suiting for the material.
    Kedrick Wyatt

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  9. The two short stories “Tunguska” and “Hollywood End” by Robert Moreira are written differently than the previous stories we have seen, and I really like the stylistic choice. Dr Moreira uses to convey the stories. These two stories are very different from each other, and I preferred reading “Hollywood Ends” because it was easier to interpret. The first reading, “Tunguska” was difficult to understand so I had to read over it a couple of times to fully understand what the meaning of the story was. I felt like the little boy in this story has a mental illness disease; because of the way he is drooling and wiping it from himself of his fascination with the closed caption. These are actions that are coming from a young boy and this is unusual which gives me the idea that something could be wrong with this child. The imagery used within this story gives us an idea that the mom may be pregnant with the description of her belly being bulged out and the punch that comes from her stomach when she is lying down. I like the style of the Hollywood Ends and the way that each scene has its own idea. It is like a piece of theater.
    Fatimata Traore

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  10. There’s this slow build up by the literal captioned letters forming on the television screen in our reading of Tunguska by Moreira and I loved the mention of “…Tiny, broadcast bones…” in reference to the captions, it’s great description which made me think about it in a newer way. In the end, the captioning relates more than just an incoming destruction, but also the eerie sense of something going critically wrong, I think the boy has done something in relation to his mother and I can’t ignore how the words, “JONES. CHURCH. DRUGS.” Appears right in front of the boy’s father as he is sleeping on the couch. Also, I don’t think the ‘cat’ that the boy’s seeing creep into his parent’s room is really a cat… His mother dies either accidentally or she was murdered? This read was a bit challenging for me, it is definitely more than it appears and a lot of reading in between the lines needs to be focused on, I'm going to assume this is the boy’s perspective, so what he’s seeing and experiencing is what we’re trying to understand as what’s really happening.
    Shoes is my favorite because there’s a dialogue exchange happening between Brudos, his wife, and his wife’s mother. There’s suggestion that Cyn either knew the entire time Brudos was a killer, or she found out recently(the black box of shoes that Brudos was surprised she found) and she’s using his ‘skills’ to her advantage in the moment of the situation. Her mother clearly has ignored her daughter’s cry for help before when Cyn was younger, and now Cyn is with a serial killer who may just carry out the justice that she’s been needing for so long. I think Cyn snapped when her mother only came to visit her about signing an important document, so then we see Cyn finally just pulls out the shoes in both acknowledgment of her mother’s ‘turning a blind eye’ behavior after so many years and also her husband’s killer obsession with shoes & dead feet. When Cyn walks away, it was the perfect ending. I think we’ve all been at a point in our lives too where we finally realize things aren’t good for us and all we can do is walk away to let sweet karma do its thing. Of course this is an extreme example of that, but I enjoyed this thrilling story. Tis the season!
    -Naissa J. Acosta

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  11. I admit that I had a considerable amount of difficulty comprehending these stories as I read them, but I still thoroughly enjoyed them. Even though I found the subject material to be a little disturbing, I think “Shoes” was my favorite of the three. The idea of a serial killer with a foot (or maybe shoe?) fetish who keeps his victims’ feet and whose wife seems to be in on it as well is absolutely revolting, but reading about it felt like looking at a car crash: it’s so gruesome and gut-wrenching but you just can’t look away. I honestly felt like I was reading the plot of some voyeuristic horror movie like “Psycho” or “Peeping Tom”—absolutely thrilling! As for “Tunguska,” I found it fascinating reading about this little boy who seems to have some sort of mental ailment and how he lives, but I found myself mostly confused as I read the story. I barely realized that the mother hangs herself at the end and I still find myself unable to figure what’s the deal with the father. Is he abusive? Does he hate his son? What is that the boy is doing to his mother when she’s asleep with the tailless cat? More importantly, what exactly is wrong with the boy? Very unnerving story, and not quite in the way that “Shoes” was. I found myself feeling a little more uneasy than I did reading the other stories because of how confused I was. I can’t say I was able to follow “Hollywood Ends” very easily either, but it felt easier to have an approximate understanding of. As a film buff myself I was able to understand most of the movie references. I especially liked Scene 4 as there was this sort of rotten, cynical air hanging over it, a sense of decaying disgust that seems to grow more prominent as we see how unhappy Frank is with whatever his job is.

    Elizabeth Garza

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  12. While reading the first short story “Tunguska” I felt as if the scene was happening right in front of me, that touching the boy was a possibility. Feeling the mother's hot breath, or the drool on his chin. Yet I couldn’t understand the story. What was the purpose behind it, the conflict. What was the reason he was hit at the end? When reading “Shoes” it reminded me of a Criminal Minds episode, the couple Brudos and Cynthia could have been a murder team. The feeling I got from them and the cliffhanger ending gave the aura of danger. The girls with the missing feet and wanting her mother to wear the shoes it can only be implied that they had some murderous tendencies and that cutting off the feet was their signature. It was my favorite. For “Hollywood Ends” I tried to understand I really did but the way they spoke and how everything was displayed was very confusing. I didn’t know what was going on or where the scene was taking place. Maybe someone was having a stroke or was just breaking down. It was just very complicated in general.

    Kendra Lara

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  13. Although all of the stories each held their own interesting qualities, I was rather intrigued by the story "Shoes" by Robert Paul Moreira. I can't say that I have the most clear and exact understanding of the story; however, I did really enjoy the character development of Cynthia's mother. I liked how the dialogue reveals her personality in a way of connecting how Cynthia speaks to her mother to the relationship between them. For example, towards the ending when her mother falls after Cynthia insisted that she try on a pair of stilettos, the mother yelps, “What are you waiting for, Cynthia Marie. I told you I would fall. I’m hurt. Help me.
    Please!” and Cynthia's response is to tell Brudos to help her mother instead and then leave the situation. This reaction adds, if not proves, that their relationship is pretty messed up and that there's something more than not right between the two. Especially after the part when Cynthia refreshes her mothers memory of why she felt the desire to kill her own father. Aside from this striking intensity that exists within the story, I'm curious as to what the correct interpretation of the ending is, if there is one. My understanding is that Cynthia intended to hurt, if not kill, her mother and then after was left on the hunt to kill again, making her a murderer. It left me with an impression that was quite gripping. I also liked "Tunguska" by Robert Paul Moreira but I couldn't seem to make sense of the ending or much of what was going on for that matter. Also in "Hollywood Ends" by Robert Paul Moreira, I came back to that similar feeling of not really getting the idea; although, I did particularly enjoy the authors use of imagery.
    Kimberly Cervantes

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  14. The short stories by Robert P. Moreira were all very descriptive in the setting part, in my opinion. I also felt that “Tunguska” and “shoe very similar in a horrifying way. In “Tunguska” I feel that the boy is somehow sick, being that he is always wiping drool from his chin. What I also get from this short story is that he bites his nails or fingers a lot. Both of those signs can mean that he may be abnormal mentally. In this story I feel like his mom also dies. The scene seems to be described as everything being all over the place as if the house was bombed. It’s still a little confusing to me but that’s what I was able to think of as soon as I read “Tunguska.” In the short story “Shoes”, I got that it was horrifying from the beginning as what seems as someone os being raped? I feel like that is what is being sdescribed in the beginning. As the story goes on it starts mentioning numbers of girls gone missing and bodies being found without no feet. Towards the end I feel as if Brudos is the murder, being that the daughter made the mother put on a pair of black heels and left them two alone after the mother fell on the floor and got hurt. To me these two stories gave me a weird feeling as I was reading them. I had to read them a couple of times just comprehend what I was reading. And the third story “Hollywood Ends”, I just didn’t understand at all.
    Victoria Gonzalez

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