Workshop

I think we did a great job with our first workshop as a class. We still do not all know one each other but it is interesting to hear everyone's feedback and see how they think and what criteria they are looking for in a "good story". I believe in the long run this will help us know about each other a little more and appreciate our mind sets a little more, whether we completely agree with them or not.

I like the fact we did not all say generic comments that had no real feedback. We are a small class but it is important to come together and push each other to new potentials.We also did a good job and not being too picky or judgmental. We all kept an open mind, whether that genre was our "cup of tea" or not and gave back good commentary that not only brought encouragement but helpful ideas on how to improve. New ideas were being bounced around and it was exciting to be a part of.

The only thing I will say, and it's in agreement with what Ms. Fried said, in that we should refrain from saying "You" to not get the line of being too personal or hurting someone's feelings. We all work hard on our material and I am so glad to be a part of a class in which we are so open to one another. I think with repetition we will cut down on the "you"s and become expert critics.

"Emergency"

So we read the first story out of our class books today called "Emergency." I remember Ms. Fried commenting about this story was adapted into a film version starring Jack Black and I can now see why.

Honestly, over all the story leaves you a little confused and intrigued about what you just read. I understand there are metaphors in the story that shaped it and made it much more "literary," such as the usage of seasons which most people associate with certain feelings and moods.

It is the story of two friends, who are stated as being good friends despite the fact that the narrator has only known him for a max of 3 weeks, as they met at his new job. They both work the overnight shift at a Catholic E.R room/ hospital. They have many adventures and get into crazy trouble and that is the main gist of the story. 

It is obvious both "Fuckhead" (the narrator) and Georgie are both pill heads and usually stay under the influence as they are surrounded by medical supplies. In the beginning of the story, Georgie has a stash of pills, which the narrator only leaves him with two. Mind you, he never states he put the pills back, which he then states he took a couple later on. That led me to believe as much as the story wants to make Georgie the obvious one with some sort of "problem," the narrator might in fact not be any better himself.

I like the distorted point of view of this story as I feel it puts the reader in the narrator's shoes. He seems to be confused a lot and it just seems random things keep happening which he doesn't place much thought on. The story is presented in random scenes and flashbacks, which is actually a different way of presenting a story and I appreciate the originality. 

Now, what I will say is it seemed in the discussion we had in class everyone concentrated just on the metaphors and might be looking too deep into the story to find a purpose, which I understand from the literary point of view perfectly but let's keep in mind it's in the point of view of a "supposed" pill head. I personally do not take pills but I am young and I do like to party and so relating my experiences to this story I understand sometimes being in an altered state of mind. The beauty of the story is not always so much what is going on but how it is coming across. Your mind is almost detached and it just seems everything is happening and you are just there for the ride, kind of like when he had the baby rabbits and forgot about them. 

Yeah there might be some hidden metaphor for that but let's not get so caught up in those and try to appreciate the way the story is written from what I would call a "euphorical" point of view in which the narrator himself might not be completely aware of his surroundings but the randomness of the story itself is the beauty of it.