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Literature, Class 5: Period 3, Thursday, February 5

Miss Elizabeth Bennet was having a particularly unpleasant morning. She had found herself wearing a festive hat, this morning, and it had proved impossible to remove. Or, to be more precise, she could remove it, but it would place itself on her head once more the moment she looked away.

Therefore, Miss Bennet was cross as she arrived at the classroom, try though she might to focus on her lecture.

"Good morning," she said wearily, noticing that she was not the only individual prsent wearing that same hat. "Today, we are going to be discussing identity, and how one's identity --" She stopped, brushing the bow out of her field of vision. It was a terribly impractical hat, in that manner. "How one's identity can change one's perspective on a work, both from --"

She frowned at the bow. It was as though it was mocking her. "Forgive me," she said with a forced smile. "Identity can change one's perspective on a work, both from the reader's perspective and the author's. There is a formal critical theory devoted to this. Does anyone else find these hats to be distracting to the point of infuriation?"

Miss Bennet seated herself on the desk and sighed heavily. "Let us ignore identity for this week," she decided. "It will wait, and I do not believe I can have a productive discussion on the matter while wishing this bow would somehow catch fire."

This called for improvisation. One could hardly dismiss class for the day because one had an unfortunate hat.

"Distractions," she announced, instead. "Let us discuss them. Have you ever found yourself immersed in a work, only to be pulled out of it once more by a false note? Improper characterization, perhaps, or the author imagining himself too clever by half. It might be as large as a plot hole, or as small as a typographical error on a page. The author might have stretched one's suspension of disbelief further than can be tolerated. Or the author may have broken what is called the fourth wall, and reminded the audience that this is simply a book, or a play. Sometimes, that method is useful, but the wall, once broken, may be difficult to reconstruct."

"How does one overcome these distractions? Is it even possible to do so? If the reader himself finds a convenient explanation to cover the author's misstep, how does that change the dynamic of the story? How can one, as an author, avoid this problem?"

She offered her students a very wry smile. "I do hope you will all excuse me, for the change in class direction. And I do promise to be patient if you find it difficult to respond."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Tell Aretha to bring it and rock your fierce hat.

Take notes. Pass them (discreetly). Stare at each other's hats?

Has this happened to you, personally, within a work? What was the distraction? What would distract you from a work? What sorts of problems might suspend your disbelief, or otherwise pull you away from the constructed reality of the text?

As readers, how can we resolve issues of distractions, so that we may continue to enjoy the work? Are some distractions insurmountable?

How can one avoid these pitfalls, when writing? Is there a way to minimize them, or eliminate them entirely?

Who may or may not be rocking the hat.

She is quite cross at the hat, but not at any of you.

I seem to have the plaaaaaaaaaaaaaague, which is distracting me from being coherent. Hence the weird class. Sorry if it is, in fact, incoherent. Pings back will be slow, with my apologies, but I will ping back. SP while I nap, though.

Edited 2009-02-05 18:37 (UTC)

Angela Montenegro

Hyuuga Hinata

Warren Peace

Hinata wasn't sure she was 'rocking' the hat, but she wore it and tried not to make faces about it.

She was... mostly successful about it.

"S-Something completely incompatible with everything that a c-character has been shown to be before that is j-jarring," she offered. "If s-someone is showed to have, say, a s-strong aversion to violence and then g-goes about attacking s-someone without provocation it is c-confusing to keep up."

"It d-depends," she said thoughtfully. "If i-it's just a turn of phrase that grates, then if it d-does not show up that often it should not be insurmountable. But i-if it is something most persistent t-than that, I would s-suggest just leaving the book."

Lee Adama

Harper Finkle

Angela only had to consider that question a moment. "The worst distraction for me is when you think you've got to know a character through an entire book or even series of books, and then the author makes them do something, so far out of that character, that just doesn't fit," she decided.

"Like making a nice guy turn out into a serial killer, or something."

Temari

*sends a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup*

"There was a book about a teenage detective (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixie_Belden) where the heroine started talking about how she really needed to use the right toothpaste," said Harper. "It was so jarring because that line about toothpaste just did not fit with the mystery she was trying to solve and it didn't flow with the rest of the prose. It totally took my attention away from the plot. That was the moment when I realized that getting published doesn't mean you're a good writer."

Agnes Nitt

Bender

Bender wasn't a fan of the hat. Not the hat exactly, but it kept hiding his antannae.

But whatever anyone said he wasn't feeling unmanbotted about it as he sat in class, legs apart and mouth clamped around a cigar. Nothing to see here, move along, no overcompensation for Little Bender here.

Katina Choovanski

The hat had shown up on Katchoo's way to class, and she'd sworn a blue streak about it all the way there.

Upon realizing that everyone else, just about, was wearing the exact same hat, she slouched down in her chair, arms crossed over her chest, glaring fit to melt a hole through a foot of steel.

Edited 2009-02-05 23:01 (UTC)

Sam Winchester

Agnes took her usual good notes. She also decided that she LIKED the hat, she was KEEPING it, and she was determined as heck -- as HELL -- to wear it better than anyone else.

"I'm... a bit more likely to be distracted than everyone else, I think," Agnes answered. "Because I'm not really as familiar with this world, so sometimes stupid little minor bits of the stories confuse me. That's... not really what you were asking for, I know, but it still pulls me out of the books."

"NO distraction is insurmountable," Agnes answered, "so long as you have the willpower to tune them out. But some might not be worth the effort."

Agnes thought for a bit. "I don't really have any advice for writers," she decided, "because I'm not sure how they do what they do, in the first place. But I imagine that if they read other people's books and figured out what they didn't like about THEM, they could then learn what not to do in their own writing?"

*slurps it in a terribly unlady-like manner, zomg thank you*

"I would agree," Miss Bennet said easily. "Though in matters such as that, one must also grant exceptions for character development. If the move is meant to illustrate that the character has lost his strong aversion to violence, it can be powerful. If it is, indeed, development, and not careless writing."

"That is always jarring," Miss Bennet nodded. "Though at times, the author has saved that information deliberately, and left small, subtle clues to the revelation. Those can be intriguing plot twists, if handled deftly. Otherwise, it seems as though the author is carelessly throwing away all their work in an attempt to 'trick' the reader."

"That sounds quite ridiculous, indeed," Miss Bennet frowned, nodding her agreement. "One would expect such an odd note to have repercussions, later, such as the witness lying about his or her teeth. Even if it were to be redeemed in such a manner, it would be a particularly clumsy way of introducing the concept to the reader."

"It is an important concept to discuss, I feel," Miss Bennet noted. "The ways in which the author makes certain assumptions that he presumes all readers will find familiar. Yours is a particular case in that you aren't from this world, but such matters do apply even to those who live here, I feel. Modern works are difficult for me, because of technological advances; I should imagine that any of you reading works from my time might be confused by some of the social niceties."

Ronan Nolan

"A wise decision," Miss Bennet nodded. "Where would lapses in characterization fall, on that spectrum? I would imagine it's highly subjective to each reader, so I'm largely curious where your personal tastes lie."

"Do you find yourself blessed with willpower?" Miss Bennet smiled. "Such that you can conquer all that falls before you?"

"That is definitely something to consider," Miss Bennet nodded. "One might also ask a friend to read the work, to approach it with a more critical eye than one's own. It is difficult to judge what seems obvious and what is obscure, when one has laid those traps one's self."

"Not in the slightest," Agnes acknowledged with a grin. "I was just mentioning it theoretically."

"For that matter, one might need SEVERAL friends," Agnes replied, continuing the thought. "Because people are all different, so it's best to have as many views as possible."

Jill McTeague

"Typos are the worst," Jill said. "You're reading along, really into the story, and then it's like, 'God, couldn't they hire an editor,' and you remember it's all just words on a page and this whole process went into it and someone slipped up."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Literature, Class 5: Period 3, Thursday, February 5

Sign In [LIT-5]

During the Lecture [LIT-5]

Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Discussion #2: Solving Distractions [LIT-5]

Discussion #3: Authors and Distractions [LIT-5]

Speak to the TA [LIT-5]

Speak to Miss Bennet [LIT-5]

OOC [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Speak to the TA [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #2: Solving Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: OOC [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #2: Solving Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #3: Authors and Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: OOC [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #2: Solving Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #2: Solving Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #3: Authors and Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #2: Solving Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #3: Authors and Distractions [LIT-5]

Re: Sign In [LIT-5]

Re: Discussion #1: Tripping Over Distractions [LIT-5]