*aNa*

What can the reader of a story get from the author? A lot actually. In the novel The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende there as many situations that the author has the chance to view as good or bad. Esteban, the patron in the novel, has a sexual problem. He is all the time raping the peasant girls. This seems like such a horrible problem but in the story it is portrayed as bad but in a way not the worst thing in the world. The author points out that the peasants seem to think this is in a way supposed to happen. She makes it a point for one of the peasant girls to say that this is what happened to her mother and grandmother like it is a ritual thing that will happen. The reader then sees this raping as bad but what is normal for the patron to do. The patron in this story also visits whore houses off and on. In today’s society we think of such thing as on of the lowest jobs or livings a woman could have. The whores of the house are even looked down upon as not as good as the rest of the world. Isabel Allende does something interesting. She makes the idea of these whore houses something that was looked at as normal. By having Esteban go there it was almost like him just going to a grocery story or just to visit a friend. The whore of the house, whom Esteban met before, even states that her dream is to open her own house and she would know the exact way to run a successful business. The patron then looks at her with ambition and dreams as that of a great woman. That is the last thing someone today would want to do right? If someone is looked at as the lowest of all people the last thing they want to do is keep going as that right? The author of this story makes the reader forget about the viewpoints of today and accept what is “right” or “normal” in the time of the novel.

Digital literature. The beginning of a new era. How long have books been written? How many times are stories read off in a sequence from a piece of paper with words written or typed? A lot huh? The world is moving on. Step out have some fun. These words on paper don’t have to be the only way to read or write literature. Some authors seem to be trying new creative ways. One way that is out there is the use of video games that include words. This seems to be nothing more than words flying across the computer screen. Does it make the mind think? Of course! A little harder than normal actually, but is it really literature. That seems a little hard to state saying that there really isn’t a story or even complete sentence actually. Nothing but random words and phrases. These games are not the only way of using this digital literature though. Another way an author is experimenting with this is having every visitor to the site add their own lie to make a little “book” of lies. Think about this one. It may not be a story but it seems to have a little more thought and meaning behind it. People are writing their certain lies for a reason. Rather it just be what is on their mind or maybe even the truth that they really want to be a lie. Ever think of that? This type is so much easier to read and comprehend as actually having some sort of meaning behind it. Though not a clear story line it at least seems more capable of reading as a group of thoughts. And in the end isn’t that what an author is doing when they are writing a story? Authors seem to be creating these new ways of literature that make the mind think in a different way. Does difference make it not literature? Is being different and busting out of the normal a bad thing?

The whole idea of the corridos brings about many interesting discussions. One of them being the many different versions that have been recorded. This type of literature seems so different from what many people would consider. But it is considered literature isn’t it? Why not. It has the same elements. It tells a story, and has characters. The thing is, it changes. Throughout the versions certain elements of the story change with the person telling it. This could be explained by a few things. First off by the story being repeated through generations people may forget some parts or maybe even add some, or they could even be sided to one character in the story making the other one sound more like the bad guy. The whole fact that the story isn’t in book form and written down gives the opportunity for change to occur. Another interesting thing about corridos that might make someone argue the face that they are not literature is that the story is sung. Before someone can argue that think of one thing. When reading the lyrics to any song doesn’t it almost always tell a little story? The corridos are just like lyrics to a song. They tell a story. And isn’t a story considered literature?