Friday, January 16, 2015

Showing and Telling, what the reader gets to know.

So, this is my first time with a blog and I hope you will be patient with me as I learn how to use it. What I am taking away from the chapter is that in every work, the author is the only one who truly knows everything about their work and they manipulate how you view characters by what they choose to tell you and what they choose to keep secret. They accomplish this normally through the main character. The main character is used because when you read, that is the character you become most attached too. The author can either give biased opinions of other characters through the main character's point of view, but depending on the main character's personality some times their opinion cannot be trusted. For instance, if the main character is a criminal, his opinions may be false, but you never know if they were falsely accused or if someone framed them as revenge for a previous act. Essentially, as readers, we are at the complete mercy of the author and only see what they want us to see. As writers, we hold the power over readers to make them see what we want them to see and believe what we want them to believe. 
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5 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 16, 2015 at 7:36 AM

    We really are at the mercy of the author. I recall there being times when I have read certain books, and feeling like I wanted to know more about certain characters, but I was left to settle with the information provided to me. I have never actually analyzed why the author left certain information out, or how it would change the plot.

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    1. Kelsey FrazierJanuary 16, 2015 at 7:41 AM

      I know what you mean. There are some side characters that would make excellent major role characters that never fully develop. Do you think it is because the author got bored with that character and just left it where it was? Or is it because there is part of their back story that becomes conflicting with the plot of the work?

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    2. UnknownJanuary 16, 2015 at 4:12 PM

      I'm not sure, but I wonder if it could be that an author becomes more interested in certain characters. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons that we may never find out.

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  2. UnknownJanuary 16, 2015 at 1:45 PM

    I will forever hate Thoreau after being yelled at by his rant in Walden. To me he seemed to be stomping his feet as he wrote because we were all idiots and his way was the only way...

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  3. UnknownJanuary 16, 2015 at 6:45 PM

    I do not believe I will ever read a book again. I will always be looking at why a hate or love a certain character, and what the author wants me to know about them.

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