Mason Pocklington

For this week's reading I read Akata Witch and really loved it! Back in the day I was really into Harry Potter, and found this to be similarly delightful. One of the prominent things I noticed about this novel was how the character that was considered "different" by society, (being albino), was also secretly actually different in that she had magical powers, (Leopard). The theme of female empowerment is rightfully present in this novel, as it shows Sunny learning, progressing, overcoming obstacles and finding her place in society, (i.e. being magic). During the beginning of the novel even, Sunny is presented as different. When she made the decision not to use the switch on her classmates hands the reader could see that she views the world in a different light. She comes across as empowered by knowing her core values - what she likes and doesn't, for examples candles - and her overall confidence, even though she's lonely at school.  The archetype of witches - or

For this week's reading I read Annihilation, and also watched the movie out of class to be able to compare. As far as the week's topic of "weird" goes, the movie seems to hit the mark more than the book did. The definition of "weird" as I have understood it to have translated into the modern day is simply different or unexplainable. This can be demonstrated more efficiently and with more opportunity in visual terms than written terms. The movie has more opportunity to visually demonstrate just how "weird" Area X is by using things such as colors, creatures, videotapes and watching people react to it all. The book differs in the movie from how it deals with "weird", though. In the novel, the team relies on journals of others and writings from the biologist to express to the audience how Area X is described and interpreted. However, in visual form, the movie had no need for journal writings to express just how "weird" the X was.

Something really interesting that I noticed while reading was how Japanese culture influenced the writing of the author. As discussed in class, the idea of "boredom" being an influence over the characters and plot was noticeable throughout the whole novel. Unlike American literature, where a big theme has been in audience engagement, and with our media overstimulation, current authors pack novels with action and a myriad of emotions to keep the audience hanging on the edge of seats. What was really refreshing about reading these types of books is the idea that something interesting (by American standards) doesn't have to be always happening, and that makes it interesting. Also discussed in class, the idea of Japanese literature oftentimes not being made clear to the audience. Comparing to American culture, where things are usually quite literally spelled out to us to make sure we understand, there's something quite fresh about ending a book but still having question

Interview with a Vampire is a great example of the classic Good vs. Evil novel, with additional darker themes such as hatred and being unsatisfied. A big reason I really enjoyed this novel was because the main character was a good representation of the human factor in the supernatural. For the first main theme, the main character Louise seems to represent the average person's morality, as seen when he struggles with the emotional repercussions of taking a life feeding off humans. Throughout the entire novel we see Louise debate both with himself and with other vampires, the nature of being immortal, the rights and wrongs of taking human lives and the repercussions of damning other mortals to vampirism. He seems to exist as the bridge between the reader and the nature of being a vampire so we can relate and think about how we'd behave if we were vampires as well. Would we be like Louise and contemplate the nature of killing and being immortal, or would we relish in the destruc