AGENDA:
POETRY CYCLES DUE MONDAY!
Read short articles on writing in second person.
Group #1 Wikipedia on second person narrative:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative
Group #2 Why you should write in 2nd person:
http://thewritepractice.com/second-person/
Group #3 Writing in second person:
http://www.chuffedbuffbooks.com/writing-in-second-person-atwood-to-tolstoy/
READ:
UNTIL GWEN--Dennis Lehane
Click on this link and read (saving paper) or read hard copy on front table. Post a comment on one of the questions.
adlibris.com/se/images/UntilGwen.pdf
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76576
An interview with Dennis Lehane
theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/05/hookers-guns-and-money/3125/
Until Gwen Response
1. What about "Until Gwen" sticks out the most to you? You could focus on a scene, an image, a character, the style, the point of view, a theme--anything really. Write a perfect paragraph of 5-7 sentences in response.
or
2. "Until Gwen"
Use the title "Until Gwen" in a sentence about the main character of this story: "Until Gwen, he ______. During Gwen, he ______. After Gwen, he ______." Do the same with the main character's father: "Until Gwen, his father ______. During Gwen, his father ______. After Gwen, his father ______."
Describe the lasting impact Gwen had on these two men. Are there similarities?
or
3. At the story's end, the main character has all the means to completely re-invent himself. Financially he is secure. On paper he has no past. He is able to completely start somewhere new where no one knows him. If you could write an epilogue to this story, one year later, where would he be?
Post your comments!
The eyes in this picture come from the grave and a man holds a shovel, so perhaps this story will involve the dead and grave digging. (after reading) 3. After discovering Gwen's grave, "Bobby" feels like he has lost the best of him, a melancholy ending as the main character buries Gwen again. Ideally, one year later, the main character would still feel the same way; they should never have another lover again, to honor Gwen's memory, that is the only possible ending. On paper, he has no past, no idea about where he's from. He can live off the grid, away from life, as it seems like a fitting metaphor for one at lost in life.
ReplyDeleteDue to the events that occurred in the ending where Bobby's infatuation with Gwen caused him to kill his own father, I would imagine that he has gotten himself into deeper trouble that will completely undo this stability of his. If I were to write an epilogue, I would write about how Bobby has now been placed into a mental institution where he's been psychologically evaluated after pleading into insanity for his father's murder. Although he acknowledge's that Gwen's dead, he still sees and hears her from time to time which eventually causes him to believe she's alive again. Bobby will then be haunted by the memory of killing his father, even imagining his father. Then will completely spiral into insanity, until it consumes him.
ReplyDeleteI really liked and enjoyed the short story. Especially the first paragraph because the imagery that Lehane uses is just amazing and extraordinary. The introduction of the story is excellent. He does an amazing job describing the setting that “I” am in. Because of this, the second person point of view works really well on the audience and makes me feel like I’m in the story itself; in a car riding with my dad along with a hooker called Mandy. Even as someone who usually doesn’t appreciate second point of view narratives, I really liked “Until Gwen”. The language may be a little vulgar and the dialogue has some curse words, but I think that represents realistic casual conversation which ratifies the second person element of the story. The final scene also intrigued me. The picture can be viewed in two different perspectives; the audience being in the grave and staring at the sky or the audience being the person looking at the grave itself.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Insightful!
DeleteWhat stuck out to me the most was the whole story but to be specific I would say the beginning of the story because he just got out of prison and he had to get in the car to a man (his father) and he had a bunch of things in the car that could've sent him back he then felt lost when he seen the grave of his lover but It took him a while to get over the pain he was in pain for years it caused him to do lots of things like killing his father in my opinion it wasn't a bad Idea because his father came with many problems and it caused him to get a little crazy in the head and imagine his lover back from the dead
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning the narrator was getting out of prison at first I was lost as to why, but later in the story I find out why. The part that stuck out to me was this suspicious part in the beginning. It was about how Gwen doesn't know who he is. Growing up his father was able to take advantage of him and his name and basically slander it. It was confusing too like how you literally grow up not knowing who you are. What parent leaves their child clueless. Then his father making him a bad person by turning him into a scam artist that was wrong. That stood out to me, it made me realize that parents really don't be caring they only do things when it's beneficial to them.
ReplyDeleteWhat stuck out to me was the beginning the story opens up with your father who's a creep and killed your girlfriend picking you up from prison with a prostitute in the back seat and an 8 ball of coke in the glove compartment of the car and when i was reading this it just took me back in shock but I also love the ending because he ends up getting his dad and burying him with the diamond but the picture of him with the shovel kind of made me think of Mudbound when the brothers were burying their father.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that stuck out the most to me in this short story is the effective character development. From the very beginning with the part-time hooker who doesn't give a good blowjob and want to be screen-writer to the scamming father and then finally to Bobby, the author paints the full picture of each character. Sometimes in my own writing I struggle to really make my characters unique and worth writing about, but in this short story I really cared about the people and what happened to them. Another thing that stood out is how much the author fit into a short story. Even though it was kind of long (compared to mine), the author was able to fit a whole novel's worth of plot into one short story. The sections were punchy and had lots of flashbacks and scene changes which made it interesting to follow. In my writing I find myself spending long sections on certain scenes and not keeping the fast which keeps the story interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn the 2nd person short story Until Gwen by Dennis Lehane The main character, Gwen has never had a sense of self and even ends on that point. I feel that if epilogue was to be made for this short story, then Gwen would be in some random place, say like mexico, and would end u just like his father since that is the only person "teaching" him how to live, except he would have all the insecurities inside his head. Maybe he could have a new wife and kid and somewhat of a normal life, until his father finds him and reluctantly he joins him for one last job, that would be the death of him.
ReplyDeletehis father was in his head the whole time (mind blown)
ReplyDeleteThe first sentence of the story really caught my attention. It was pretty bold for the author to start the story with coke and hookers. It was both surprising and also intriguing. I think it really sets a tone for the whole story and immediately lets the readers know the kind of world the protagonist lives in. I think that the second person point of view made the story much more effective. The main character is a criminal who most people wouldn't want to associate themselves with, but because of the second person, they are forced too. This stood out to me. I also thought it was interesting how the author chose to center the story around Gwen, and not the crime itself. This served to humanize the main character. It also gave the story meaning and set it apart from other shock-factor crime stories.
ReplyDeleteIn the story, I was interested in the characters and how they were developed. The beginning of the story was interesting because the protagonist was just getting out of jail. There was also a lot of crime going on between all of the people in the beginning of the story. Another thing that stuck out to me was all of the flashback through out the story. I thought that it made the story more interesting and understandable. Gwen was an interesting character because he is a criminal and is also the main character in the story.
ReplyDeleteI was very intrigued throughout the short story. I love the style and second person point of view, I always come to believe that the most effective way to draw your reader into your story is through the second person narrative. I applaud the author because he was very successful at this. What stuck out most to me was the mystery that each character represented, right off the bat you jump into a story of a newly released inmate already snorting a line in the back of his father's car with a hooker in it, the amount of illegal things already happening astonished me. I was very curious as to who this mysterious character Gwen was and was impatient to find out as I zoomed through the story. Overall, I enjoyed the story and I loved the way the author introduced the characters and added this illusion of mystery behind each one.
ReplyDelete