Things I Know to Be True: A List Story Angelique Lokeni 1. Cyanide smells like almonds. 2. About 40% of the population does not have the gene that allows them to be able to detect the smell of cyanide. 3. I only know #1 and #2 because someone else told me and ever since then I haven't known what to do with that information so I cope by telling everyone else I know this same information. 4. Most people who stage crime scenes and try to clean it up forget to clean door knobs, sinks, and faucets. 5. I know #4 because my forensic science teacher senior year told my class that those are the first places that crime scene investigators look after a murder scene has been cleaned up. 6. Rigor mortis isn't permanent and usually goes away after 24-36 hours. 7. Crime scene investigators can tell when a body's been moved because of a thing called lividity. 8. Lividity is basically when all the blood in a person's body pools on one side depending on the position th...
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Issue Discussion - Angelique Lokeni
I think a big reason why YA Lit features so many more alternative formats than other genres is because for a lot of readers, the format sort of adapts with the reader. If we assume that most YA Lit readers are actually young adults (which we know isn't exactly the case, and we also know that there isn't really a specific age for YA readers, but for our purposes let's narrow the age group down to people roughly ages 12-26), then it would be pretty safe to say that anyone reading right now in that age range grew up during the time when we quickly transitioned out of dial-up internet and into the age of smart phones, myself included. For a lot of people in that generation, the transition for the changes in technology was easy because we grew up with them, whereas people who were part of an older generation had a harder time with it. Why does this matter? I mean, technology and literature aren't exactly the same category. But the effect that one has on our brains and...
Graphic Novel Examples - Mark Blocker
All images created by Mark Blocker unless otherwise specified. (Bottom Image: Property of Mirage studios,Nickelodeon, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, 1984.)
Another List (Issue Discussion)
Why Alternative Format Books are Great: They aren’t boring They are easier to read and understand They are a great “gateway drug” to liking reading They come in many different formats They have just as much of an impact (maybe more) as traditional novels There’s one for everyone All of them are relatable on some level They capture the attention of even the most distracted person Most of them are a quicker read, which works well with the busy lives of the reader For me, I have always struggled with reading (which is a tad bit ironic since I'm and English major) because investing in the traditional novel format is hard work. I get distracted and lose interest quickly because novels seem boring, and frankly, I'd rather be doing something else. Trying to read on the same level as my peers make me feel illiterate, and that sucks. But I love alternative format books! As the list mentions, they're easier for me to read, and engage me for longer as a reader. As a...
Issue Discussion - Mark Blocker
I think the purpose of writing graphic novels is the fact of what the source is: comic books for lack of a general term. This can lead to demoralize hardcore readers, thinking comics are nothing more than a childish past time and never meant for something of a more broader term. And yet, comics still exist. Why is that? Yes, in the 'silver age' of comics, the plots could be childish and silly, perhaps even dark considering where some comics have started. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began as a very dark comic book with violence and blood out the wazoo. Yet now the characters have changed for better or worse as a more prolific novel, invoking ideals and themes most ninja turtle comics don't see back then. I myself am working on my own graphic novel, see below, and wanted to have start as such. The reason why is a matter of perspective. Simply saying that someone is going to break their car accidentally and then go to sulk about it in a story would take time and ef...
Issue Discussion - Elise Curtis
I found myself asking why the story had to be written as a graphic novel or as verse. Why did the creators decide to go that route instead of just writing the novel? I think that's the wrong question to ask. I think we should be asking: what we would lose if the story was told in any other medium? If we can't say that it would be any different, then that's when the issue arises for me. Like with Saving Red by Sonya Sones , I really struggled to see why it was written in verse compared to a regular novel. Really good story, but was the format just a ruse in order to get more (or less) people to read? On the other hand, if the mode actually accentuates the story it's telling, if it really uses the syntax to its advantage like Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe, then of course we should use alternate formats to tell the story.
List Story - Elise Curtis
Number of pages read in my lifetime: 5,170,101. Number of books read in my lifetime: 502. Number of books on the “favorite” shelf: 39. Number of ideas sorted through before picking: 8. Number of times I imagined the short story being published: 46,152. Number of pages in story: 24. Number of sections in story: 5. Number of words in story: 7,692. Number of characters with lines: 6. Number of female characters with lines: 2. Number of living janitor characters: 4. Number of dead janitor characters: 2. Number of ghosts: 3. Number of times used “it”: 209. Number of times used “was”: 239. Number of times read over the manuscript: 6. Number of minutes per read through: 120. Number of credits taking in current semester: 16. Number of English classes: 5. Number of times the professor mentioned we would be workshopping: probably 29. Number of times I emotionally prepared for mine: 0. Number of times panicked while thinking about workshopping: 642. Number of nails bitten to the quick: 10. Number...