Here are the guidelines:
- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
- From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, choose Anonymous, then click "Publish."
- Reading responses are due by midnight on Wednesdays, no exceptions.
In my opinion chapter four is probably one of the most important components in the process of short story composition. LaPlante offers very crucial information about how a short story can be efficiently constructed and shaped. Personally as a fictional writer I feel the definition in itself allows one, such as us in this field, the freedom to create whatever it is we feel we want; the options are limitless. With great power in personal creativity comes a great responsibility as an author to ensure we are devising a story that executes satisfactory material and that meets all the right criteria in effective narration. I feel after reading chapter four that the way we shape our story is relative to comparing it to the back bone of the whole. Up until this point I have yet to be knowledgeable on the construct narrative of my work. Often times when I write the last thing I think about is the way the story is constructed narratively but after reading this chapter a lot of my confusion for lack of organization and construction is very clear. The story of Fiesta, 1980 exhibits a great correlating objective by displaying some of the most fitting examples of the various ways we can form our story and in this one the author gives a scenario of only one scene while also giving the reader a back story in the over all-conflict, then leaves the audience with an open interpretation of what happens next after being left with an indication that his mother finds out his father is cheating.
ReplyDelete-Clarissa Cardenas
One thing that I liked about LaPlantes chapter was the way she defined what a short story is. Sometimes I have difficulties writing something that I have no idea how to write. For example, my short story I don’t feel like is good enough but that’s something that I know I could fix or at least fixed as of now after reading this chapter. I really liked how she was able to use a variety of different experienced writers definitions of what a short story is and how she was able to take all the different definitions and create a single definition for what a short story is. “A short story is short work or prose… the only three requirements we will put on it ahead of time are that it be interesting, resist paraphrase, and end up providing some unit of satisfaction, or sense of completeness, to the reader” (98) I think having a basic definition of what a short story will be beneficial to me and to other writers who are trying to write a short story who need to know what exactly it is that they are writing. I feel like that is most important part to this chapter.
ReplyDelete-Marco Garza
LaPlante in chapter 4 brings up something I never really put much thought in which is probably bad but I feel works for me, she brings in set story structures, I’ve never really thought about, at most I’ve thought about beginning, middle, and end. Reading Chapter 4 I think I have a better understanding of all these different ways of setting up a story. An idea touched upon in this chapter that I really liked was the idea that characters don’t really have to change after going through something, it’s something that stories usually do, but why do they. Fiction is sometimes an escape from reality, but at times it is a reflection of it, this is where the idea about characters not changing after something becomes more of an interesting way of structuring a story. This choice to have someone stay the same is one I find more interesting than the epiphany route, I feel the epiphany way is just too out there for me when writing, and might make my story fall into a boring tell were everything works out tin the end, I’d rather my character be the exact same than luck out and get a deus ex machina in the form of a dream sequence or something along the lines of that.
ReplyDelete~Eduardo Castellanos
Like some of the other readings ‘Fiesta, 1980’ by Junot Díaz, doesn’t have italics when there is dialogue, but is still set up so the reader is able to understand who said what. Similar to Sandra Cisneros’s story, Hispanic or Latino cultural elements are explored with Yunior’s family. Compared to Cisneros’s story, the point of view is of a younger character which affects the tone and style of the writing (more formal vs. informal). While Yunior is cheeky and rebellious, keeping onto his father’s secret, Cleófilas, given by her family, is miserable and abused by her husband giving the reader the confined and frustrated feeling while with Yunior the reader is given this false unity of a family. A line that stuck out to me which sums up this personality Yunior has is, “It was like my God-given duty to piss him off, to do everything the way he hated.” For Alice LaPlante’s chapter 4, she discussed about short stories and the Freitag triangle (which I never knew the fancy term name for this triangle before), and how short stories don’t always follow this formula. She further states, “It may impede you, if you feel you have to write by some formula” as advice not to structure your story to fit the Freitag model as it won’t always produce the best story. For me, I never thought about the Freitag model when writing, I usually write what comes to mind, so I can agree with what LaPlante says. Overall, the Freitag triangle can provide a guideline by helping the writer set up a conflict or conflicts, but doesn’t always have to followed in the usual sense.
ReplyDeleteSylvia Lopez
In Chapter 4 of Method and Madness, “The Short Story: Defining and Shaping,” LaPlante describes what a short story can be. She mentions how most of the time, the structure of different stories and how there are ways other than beginning, middle, and end that can be used to build a story. She takes the definitions of what a short story should be from different people and shortens it into something concise and impactful. If anything, I like how she emphasized that there was no specific way to write a short story, though. I think that part of what makes a short story is that there is no set rule to make it anything other than a piece of someone’s imagination written or typed out on paper. Fiction is what one reads in order to escape reality, after all, so the emphasis on the lack of rules was a breath of fresh air throughout the chapter. I liked reading the chapter and coming to realize that not everything needs to be set in stone, no matter how much that was something a teacher might have wanted to imprint into your brain. If anything, LaPlante opened my eyes to the different possibilities there are with structure and that the sky is the limit when writing a short story. I really enjoyed reading the chapter because I felt it was more informative than others have been.
ReplyDelete-Angélica De La Cruz
I would have to say that Chapter Four has to be my favorite section of the reading so far. I was expecting to go into this reading and have another series of attributes that make a short story. At least, that’s how I would argue that we have generally been taught to approach writing. However, LaPlante actually gave some very basic definitions, the emphasis here being definitions and not a single definitive belief, and then continued to call attention to what is commonly thought to be the “formula” of a short story by disputing them on some level. My favorite theories on the short story are from Prose and Oates, that the one basic requirement is length and other than that it is only defined by the inability to summarize it - “it contains some irreducible germ”. Second is the idea that there is no obligation for our character to change by the end of our story. Even an absence of action can be seen as the “crisis” of the piece, since by allowing a moment of significance the character is likewise moving into a phrase where things can no longer be the same.
ReplyDeleteYunior in Fiesta, 1980 is actually a great example of this. He chooses not to mention the affair to his mother and in doing so is left to ponder what might have happened had he done so. Things cannot be the same moving forward because he is left with that burden. Though I suppose you still have the common “crisis” caused by a characters actions; Yunior eats some pastelitos and we end the story with what we can only guess is another vomiting incident.
-Joaquin Castillo
I really liked chapter 4 because it showed me that you don’t have to follow a specific formula to make a short story. When I write, I follow the standard “formula” where you introduce your characters and back story, build up tension and create the climax and then have the resolution. I don’t mind doing this (maybe because I’m used to it), but it’s good to know there is no particular formula you have to follow when creating a short story. I really liked Fiesta, 1980, I see that it followed the Modular way, where all the bits of the story are interrupted with something else, but still make sense in the story, and rather than feeling like it’s all over the place, it feels like a smooth work roller-coaster the kids ride in the carnival. Another reason why I love this chapter is because in throughout elementary to high school, you are told to write stories in a linear way. Specifically, to not add any unnecessary details. I find that to be a bad thing because, there really isn’t a formula to a short story. There were many, many times where my teachers would tell me to take stuff out because it was not relevant to the story. Even simple things like a short description of a memory was a big no no and was automatically classified as irrelevant information to the main story. They just wanted you to get to the point. However, the only excuse for this is that, you are limited to in what you write on state test, usually some 3 or 4 pages. They teach you how to write for a test.
ReplyDelete-Alexis Perez
LaPlante’s discussion in Chapter 4 on what defines a short story was interesting. As she describes the various conventions, formulas, and methods that have been taught and used in writing stories, it was great to learn that we don’t need to adhere to any of these conventions because “there are no rules in fiction” (106). However, as a novice writer who is learning the craft, I can see how some of these conventions can be useful and helpful in the beginning. Some of my writing is just all over the place, so I wonder if following some method at first will help put some coherent structure to my writing. The excerpt from Flannery O’Connor, in which she says, “the more you write, the more you will realize that the form is organic,” gives me hope that my writing can improve with practice (105).
ReplyDelete“Fiesta, 1980” by Junot Diaz, seems to follow the Aristotle definition that a story must have a beginning (getting ready for the party), a middle (the party), and an end (going home after the party) (97). But Diaz doesn’t employ the linear conflict-crisis-resolution model in this story to great effect. The interwoven backstory about Papi’s affair with the Puerto Rican woman, and Yunior’s description of Papi’s volatile temperament, create ongoing tension, providing a crisis in the story that ends without resolution.
-Dorie Garza
In Chapter Four, LaPlante discussed the definition of a short story She included how writers interpreted short story writing by offering their thoughts on the matter. LaPlante also mentioned the importance of the story through these models and explained how each author thought differently about fiction. I found this important since this influenced the way writers wrote their fiction and impacted the way the story was formed. It is especially important since it seems to be a reflection of composition and writing we might have learned if not already know it. It’s interesting to see how others experienced in this craft thought about fiction and the structure of a story. I knew there was a method to writing fiction together, but I didn’t know about the other models. It made sense how some stories were written differently from the simple Conflict-Crisis-Resolution model as it would be impossible to tell certain stories in the manner they are written. It would also hamper the writer’s creativity to remain disciplined in one single model rather than enhance and improve your craft.
ReplyDeleteAs for ‘Fiesta, 1980,’ I thought the story was a great example of the modular design. The whole story seemed to be everywhere much like Yunior’s carsickness. It introduced the problem but then continued to reveal hints about the conflict as if someone was about to reveal the affair. Though, it never happened as small moments of conflict and rising action increase the tension at certain points of the story. This hyped the conflict while the tension rose and fell until the end, the pivotal moment where everything seems to finally come together in one final moment. The fact that it ended off a cliffhanger brings it to a whole other level where it’s not stated but implied that the truth has finally come out.
- Joseph Gonzalez
What is a short story? It’s a very broad question. There is not necessarily a definition that can be applied to it, and LaPlante makes her case against trying to define a short story in chapter 4. The world of short fiction feels like the natural, standard way of storytelling. LaPlante challenges the idea behind the basic structure of short stories with a conflict, crisis, and solution. The fun thing about writing is that there aren’t any definitive rules. Writing is subjective. As LaPlante lists things other authors found important in a short story, she condenses it into three specifics. It should be interesting, have no paraphrasing, and must feel complete. There’s no obligation that the character must change by the end of the story. I like to keep that in mind when writing my own pieces. I tend to stick with humor, and I’ve found that some of the funniest characters feel no need to change who they are. Defining a short story is an impossible task. There are no rules which is what drew me into writing in the first place. Following models like Freitag’s triangle convinced me in my younger years that I would never be a good writer. Yet, as we take a look at “Fiesta 1980”, its modular design is a great example of not taking a story step-by-step.
ReplyDelete-Gabriela Urbano
In Chapter 4, LaPlante mentions the different types of requirements that are said to be needed for a short story. As mentioned, "And the only three requirements we will put on it ahead of time are that it be interesting, resist paraphrase, and end up providing some unit of satisfaction, or sense of completeness, to the reader." This to me holds a lot of meaning because I feel like this is what most of us think about when we are writing our rough draft. Besides this interesting information about the specific points that make up a good short story, we are also informed about Freitag's pyramid. This is something that has been talked about since middle school if I can remember correctly and it might have not looked identical to the one that is illustrated for us in this book but the same concept was taught to me since then. Along with the concepts of Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, and Man vs. Himself. This is something that we were also taught and after LaPlante's informative analysis I can see how we can use this knowledge within our own writing.
ReplyDeleteAs for Fiesta, 1980, I can see how Freitag's pyramid was used within this story but in a very weird way. The story seems to be going back and forth from the present back to specific memories that have great meanings. I know we get a lot of information within the story to categorize the type of characters "Mami and Papi" are along with the other family members as well. As for the affair that is happening between the father and that Puerto Rican woman of his; I feel as if he took his children over there on purpose to meet her. I feel like this was done to test maybe loyalty within his children or maybe it might have been to confirm the affair with his wife if he knew she had found our about it. I feel as if the wife already knew this was happening and she just wanted the clarification or confirmation within her children because they would expect the truth from them when it came to something like that. If that wasn't the case then I believe that the affair was having a huge effect on the children and the mother was noticing it rather than having an effect on her even though the father might have been doing things behind her back. As for the ending of this story, I feel as if they might have had a car crash, and that they might have all been unconscious for a moment until he calls his "Mami" and then they turn to look at him but I also feel as if he could have had another incident of vomiting during the ride home and that's when he calls his "Mami". Again the incident could have caused a car accident as well because they were under the influence of alcohol and the descriptions of the headlights of the cars that would pass by once in a while give me that feeling as if something like that happened. Along with the "They weren't slumped back or anything; they were both wide awake, bolted into their seats. I couldn't see either of their faces and no matter how hard I tried I could not imagine their expressions. Neither of them moved."
-Yelitza Saenz
The chapter on short stories was interesting to read. It was cool to see the different definitions for what makes a short story or not. I wasn’t so sure about the story structures they listed off. It was pretty repetitive, since I already knew the different ways to structure a story. I did however, find the distinction between linear and modular stories interesting. I would like to read more other modular stories to get a better understanding of it. I was surprised to find that the classification of short stories was such a contested topic among writers. I thought “Fiesta, 1980” was an interesting story. It was cool to see the parallels between Mexican families and Dominican families. I liked seeing the story unfold through Yunior’s eyes as a kid, how we learn of his father’s cheating and the strain the family goes through. It was a little weird to read it without quotation marks around the dialogue. It was nice see them use a mixture of Spanish and English when talking. It reminded me of how it works in my family.
ReplyDelete-Jose Sias
There are many formulas when it comes to writing a short story. The one thing that I liked about what the chapter said about them is that you should write up your story before you think of a formula I paraphrased of course but it’s on page 105. Some of the formulas include the conflict-crisis resolution model which is mostly in linear stories, modular stories such the Freitag triangle. The conflict-crisis-resolution model is the one that is most used. It’s basically what they taught us all through out high-school, with its rising and falling action. Personally I’d like the earthquake model that shows that characters yearn and desire things and do not always fight physically to cause action in a scene. I also liked what the book says on satisfying the audience and giving them as sense of completeness. LaPlante contradicts her speak of formulas being the only way you can write on page 102 “It may impede you if
ReplyDeleteyou…write by some formula.” The section on not being coming slaves to theory also contradicts actually using them on page 105. LaPlante goes further on this on page 106 when she states ”It is wrong-headed to approach the writing of fiction in an overly formulaic way.”by this I think she means that we need a balance between formula and our own personal writing style. Maybe this just should be taken with a grain of salt or as food for thought.
-Allison Gonzalez
Chapter 4’s The Short Story: Defining and Shaping LaPlante mentions different kinds of theories to writing a story, and definitions of what a short story is. One of the sections that I found inspirable was the section “On Not Becoming Slaves to Theory” which is mostly how I think of any type of art where you are tasked to be creative. In any kind of creative task where what you want to produce is unique and individual it is important to not let the theory, or method, of the task to interrupt the task itself. In Flannery O’Connor’s Writing Short Stories he writes that “the only way, I think, to learn to write short stories is to write them, and then try and discover what you have done.” Using this method young writers can actively participate in their own unique creative process and then learn about theory as the writer critiques their work and asks to learn how to take their creative piece in a certain direction. This enables young writers to understand, not only the methods, but how those methods can actively make their creative works better. LaPlante speaks about a type of modular story that doesn’t conform to the other, more familiar, methods of storytelling. Junot Diaz’s Fiesta, 1980 follows this modular method which uses a type of messy, though more realistic, flow of conflict resolution and plot structure.
ReplyDelete-James Attwood