Of course I read “real” literature in books when I was younger, but although pleasing their hard and strict appearance did not appeal to me that well.  I loved books like: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Hobbit, and the Harry Potter series.  Yet other sources of media grabbed my attention for reading much more strongly.  Things like comic books and sports magazines had me appreciating reading and writing for different reasons.  But, by far the most imminent source of reading material for me was in the form of video games.  Not just brain dead games that teach you nothing except to have fun but invigorating masterpieces with complex plot twists and highly detailed characters and settings.  For example: Paper Mario, Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door, Final Fantasy IV, Soul Caliber II, and various Pokémon games just to name a few.  The thing that I find so amazing about these games and the reading from them is that they all have amazing stories.  There are plenty of other reasons why people would play some of these games besides the plot, characters, setting, etc. but for me this is what counted.  Even games that were outdated by new technological advances like Final Fantasy IV, which I played about 15 years after its initial release, still have an amazing story that I love to relive every now and then.

Electronic text definitely makes its strongest point for being a legitimate literary contender through videogames.  Videogames, as a whole, are fairly new in regards to books and newspapers; yet they have been around long enough to show progression in their form.  At first, simple programs created basic pixilated games.  Then more advanced technology was formulated, for example incorporating 3-dimensional aspects and thus bringing these “games” more to life.  As these games evolved so did there reasons for use.  Amidst the common sports and first-person-shooter titles lay games that contain brilliant story elements.  These games are usually in the form of “Role Playing Games” or RPG’s.  Although other genres also commonly support great story arches, RPG’s are built from the ground up on story.  And with so many story elements in such an advanced electronic entertainment tool, one would expect voice acting and more of a movie-like feel.  This is true in part, but early on (and even still today) due to technological restraints word text was mostly utilized to progress the story along with visuals, music, sound effects, and of course the player; who is adding his/her own input via controller.  With all of these extra elements not found in books one does not normally have to worry that they will over power the story; they mostly support it while not cluttering it.  All of this together comes to form some sort of interactive book with stories that only a media such as its self could express.

One of the best examples of one of these “digital interactive books” can be derived from the work of the commonly known company Nintendo.  This game is simply known as Paper Mario, it was made by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and it can be played on the Nintendo 64 home entertainment system.  It is by far one of my favorite videogames and for that matter electronic book ever.  And while it is a game it uses textual based story elements and a picture-book style to imitate a book’s feel, while introducing forms of hypertext, interactivity, and visual elements to enhance one’s reading experience in a way that only a computer could.  Many games can be linked to books but, Paper Mario really takes the book-to-game aspect to the next level.

Being an RPG, and especially one of its time (1999), text based dialog was a must.  This is not just dull informational text but colorful dialog from the characters on screen at the time, evoking a “play-like” feel that keeps you interested.   The main character Mario, whom you control, never speaks; your respected party members that travel with you talk to push the plot along while Mario just nods in approval most of the time.  This mirrors how the reader can never speak to the characters in a book yet both are on the same page and still interacting.  This element really immerses you into the story, as the character that you are (Mario) does not speak for you and you instead speak through your actions.  This makes the game more personal and interactive with the reader/player.  When characters talk a large rectangular word bubble will pop up above their head, which holds three lines of text about the screen’s width.  After the three lines appear a star at the bottom right corner shows up which prompts you to press the ‘A’ button on the controller to continue.  This form of hypertext or techno-text acts much like a page turning mechanism, and lets you the reader keep up at your own pace just like in a book.  You can go at your pace when progressing through the non-dialog parts as well, such as in battles, puzzles, and missions.

The visuals of the game even replicate a book like feel; although you are within a colorful 3-D world, all of the characters appear in 2-D.  Essentially they are made from paper evoking a comic-like quality and appear to be cut right out of a picture book.  The fact that the characters are literally made from paper is even highlighted on in certain situations like physics.  Finally the game itself even presents itself as a book, and not just in the game play.  When you first begin the game, a main screen springs alive like a pop-up book; you then choose a file and continue.  There is a brief intro, which sets up the story line, and then, before any more action happens, a title screen comes up, labeled as Prologue.  The theme continues all the way to the end of the game with chapter screens (or pages as Hayles would note) separating key parts of the story. On top of all this Paper Mario also has a kid friendly tone that got me hooked at age eleven, along with the spirit and charm that will continue to keep me hooked for years to come.

As a literary piece Paper Mario tells a tale that only a game such as this could; a book would just not compare to offer the same experiences that game like Paper Mario could or did for myself in my youth.  Sven Birkerts goes against this point, as he completely dismisses Nintendo games when he talks about the future of hypertext: “We do not know yet whether hypertext will ever be accepted by a mass readership as something more than a sophisticated Nintendo game played with language” (Birkerts, 164).  Frankly hypertext is already accepted by a mass readership with Nintendo games alone.  The way Birkerts uses “sophisticated” in this line seems sarcastic to my sense.  This is supported when he mentions that the games “play” with language, as if they do not really use it properly or in a “sophisticated” manor.  In fact these Nintendo games, such Paper Mario; utilize hypertext, interactivity, and visual elements to enhance one’s reading experience not deter it.  I understand that some would argue how many games can not be viewed as textual as Paper Mario.  And I whole-heartedly agree with the fact that there are plenty of games that are mindless enough with violence and other explicit content to turn away from the story-telling effects of games.  Yet this is always going to be an issue, and its not necessary bad to have games like this but it’s very important to know take not all games are of this fashion. And while on the topic of comparing games to books, a lot of books in there own right can be overly graphic and perhaps not be considered literature.  Why else would we have a banned books list?  What is in a book or game should be what constitutes what literature is and the form that it’s in should not take away from anything that it has to offer.

In the end electronic text like that in the form of video games, more specifically Role Playing Games should be considered legitimate literary pieces.  Especially Paper Mario which holds a great gaming and literary experience waiting to be unlocked.  In this writing I did not even get the chance to explain the great story.  Well, on the bright side, at least I have not ruined the story for anyone.  Although Paper Mario may be simple it is still a hilariously comedic and thrilling adventure that everyone should enjoy as a piece of literature.

One can not talk about electronic text and not mention the creative aspect of videogames.  Videogames, as a whole, are fairly new in regards to books and newspapers; yet they have been around long enough to show progression in their form.  At first, simple programs created basic pixilated games.  Then more advanced technology was formulated, for example incorporating 3-dimensional aspects and thus bringing these “games” more to life.  As these games evolved so did there reasons for use.  Amidst the common sports and first-person-shooter titles lay games that contain brilliant story elements.  These games are usually in the form of “Role Playing Games” or RPG’s.  Although other genres also commonly support great story arches, RPG’s are built from the ground up on story.  And with so many story elements in such an advanced electronic entertainment tool, one would expect voice acting and more of a movie-like feel.  This is true in part, but early on (and even still today) due to technological restraints word text was mostly utilized to progress the story along with visuals, music, sound effects, and of course the player; who is adding his/her own input via controller.  With all of these extra elements not found in books one does not normally have to worry that they will over power the story; they mostly support it while not cluttering it.  All of this together comes to form some sort of interactive book with stories that only a media such as its self could express.

An example of one of these “digital interactive books” can be derived from the work of the commonly known company Nintendo.  This game is simply known as Paper Mario, it was made by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and it can be played on the Nintendo 64 home entertainment system.  It is by far one of my favorite videogames and for that matter electronic book ever.  Many games can be linked to books but Paper Mario really takes the book-to-game aspect to the next level.

Being an RPG, and especially one of its time (1999), text based dialog was a must.  This is not just dull informational text but colorful dialog from the characters on screen at the time, evoking a “play-like” feel that keeps you interested.   The main character Mario, whom you control, never speaks; your respected party members that travel with you talk to push the plot along while Mario just nods in approval most of the time.  This mirrors how the reader can never speak to the characters in a book yet both are on the same page and still interacting.  This element really immerses you into the story, as the character that you are (Mario) does not speak for you and you instead speak through your actions.  This makes the game more personal and interactive with the reader/player.  When characters talk a large rectangular word bubble will pop up above their head, which holds three lines of text about the screen’s width.  After the three lines appear a star at the bottom right corner shows up which prompts you to press the ‘A’ button on the controller to continue.  This form of hypertext or techno-text acts much like a page turning mechanism, and lets you the reader keep up at your own pace just like in a book.  You can go at your pace when progressing through the non-dialog parts as well, such as in battles, puzzles, and missions.

The visuals of the game even replicate a book like feel; although you are within a colorful 3-D world, all of the characters appear in 2-D.  Essentially they are made from paper and appear to be cut right out of a picture book.  The fact that the characters are literally made from paper is even highlighted on in certain situations like physics.  Finally the game itself even presents itself as a book, and not just in the game play.  When you first begin the game, a main screen springs alive like a pop-up book; you then choose a file and continue.  There is a brief intro, which sets up the story line, and then, before any more action happens, a title screen comes up, labeled as Prologue.  The theme continues all the way to the end of the game with chapter screens (pages as Hayles would note) separating key parts of the story. On top of all this Paper Mario also has a kid friendly tone that got me hooked at age eleven, along with the spirit and charm that will continue to keep me hooked for years to come.

As a literary piece Paper Mario tells a tale that only a game such as this could; a book would just not compare to offer the same experiences that game like Paper Mario could or did for myself in my youth.  Sven Birkerts goes against this point, as he completely dismisses Nintendo games when he talks about the future of hypertext: “We do not know yet whether hypertext will ever be accepted by a mass readership as something more than a sophisticated Nintendo game played with language” (Birkerts, 164).  Frankly hypertext is already accepted by a mass readership with Nintendo games alone.  The way Birkerts uses “sophisticated” in this line seems sarcastic to my sense.  This is supported when he mentions that the games “play” with language, as if they do not really use it properly or in a “sophisticated” manor.  In fact these Nintendo games, such Paper Mario; utilize hypertext, interactivity, and visual elements to enhance one’s reading experience not deter it.  I understand that some would argue how many games can not be viewed as textual as Paper Mario.  And I whole-heartedly agree with the fact that there are plenty of games that are mindless enough with violence and other explicit content to turn away from the story-telling effects of games.  Yet this is always going to be an issue, and its not necessary bad to have games like this but it’s very important to know take not all games are of this fashion. And while on the topic of comparing games to books, a lot of books in there own right can be overly graphic and perhaps not be considered literature.  Why else would we have a banned books list, just like there are age ratings on video games?  What is in a book or game can constitute only so much of what literature is and this discussion could easily continue; but the form that its in should not take away from anything that it has to offer.

Paper Mario is a great gaming and literary experience, and in this writing I did not even get the chance to explain the great story.  Well at least I have not ruined the story for anyone, because although it may be simple it is still a hilariously comedic and thrilling adventure.

            An example of one of these “digital inter-active books” can be derived from the work of the commonly known company Nintendo.  This game is simply known as Paper Mario, and it is by far one of my favorite videogames and for that matter books ever.  Many games could be linked to books but Paper Mario really takes the book to game aspect to the next level.  It has the kid friendly tone that got me hooked at age eleven, along with the spirit and charm that continues to keep me hooked for years to come.  Within a 3-D world are characters in 2-D, essentially they are made from paper and appear to be cut right out of a picture book.  The game also has the base ideas from the popular Super Mario titles, yet expands on these thoughts in a new fresh plot line.  The game offers dynamic settings, comical and deep dialog, and memorable and unique characters.  The idea of a book is always present as you play.  For instance each of the eight sections is labeled by chapter titles along with a chapter screen/page before each begins, and text is always present to move along the story.  Not just dull informational text but colorful dialog from the characters on screen at the time, evoking a “play” like feel.  The main character of Mario in which you control also believe it or not never speaks your respected party members that travel with you talk to push the plot along while Mario just nods in approval most of the time.  This mirrors how the reader can never speak to the characters in a book yet both are on the same page and still interacting.  This element really immerses you into the story as the character that you “are” does not speak for you (although others do influence your decisions) making the whole thing more personal.  More to come in Writing Project #4.

As is the case in the movie Blade Runner which makes it apparent from the beginning that themes spawned from Frankenstein are highly prevalent in the film.  Both deal with creation of unnatural life that are “human” in parts and build, but yet still differ as they are more or less copies of humans.  Of course with similar happenings some of the same conflicts arise, even in the drastically unparallel settings of 16^th century Europe and Futuristic Los Angeles.  With the similarities of the plot and themes yet the differences of the settings and characters one can compare morals and ideas set forth by both the book Frankenstein and the film Blade Runner.  And, in turn, delve into the powers of film media to unearth these underlying ideas on artificial human creation that both pieces share.

In both Frankenstein and Blade Runner the idea of producing and “human” by man made means or replicating a human in a sense is done with mostly good intentions in both cases.  In Frankenstein it’s for Victor to do something that no one else has; to utilize the outdated information he cherished and use it to prove his colleges wrong, thus propelling his career.  In Blade Runner the human replicates were crafted for undesirable tasks that required a human presence, for example construction, war, and pleasure.  Yet in both stories major areas of human existence are overlooked and neglected.  The created beings are put under severe oppression and have an unfair burden posed upon them in an artificial life that they believe should be as fair to them as it is to any ordinary human.  In the Creature’s case it’s the need for friendship and affection of an equal partner that he desires to become more human and to live onward.  This bargain is eventually accepted and then later denied by Victor, his respected creator.  And in Blade Runner, Roy and his band of replicates, simply desire the ability to live longer than the set four years that their genetic make-up allows and to go on in life.  Needless to say Roy is also denied as the change is deemed impossible by Tyrell.  Both Roy and the Creature react violently towards others after knowing the lack of justice towards their being.  It’s not a surprising reaction at that if you really zoom out on all the facts and see them as the humans that they really are, the humans they were made to be.

The story of Frankenstein is spell-bound to a book, which offers in most cases a story and nothing else.  Meanwhile the work of Blade Runner controls many more facets being that it is a film.  Beyond the basic story of Blade Runner is film elements exposed on the silver screen that offer a media-specific analysis of the unjust and slave-like themes expressed in both stories.  Things like setting, lighting, facial expressions to name a few; go farther than any story in a book to illuminate these ideas in Frankenstein and Blade Runner.

The use of media specific cues is used throughout the entirety of the film.  And at many points the themes of unfair human oppression are revealed, but at no part are they more apparent than at the ending of the movie.  In the epic climax where Roy takes on Deckard, Roy takes on a very unique character structure.  He has nothing to lose: his friends are dead, he killed his creator, and there is no way to stop his own impending death.  Being a servant to humanity his whole life he now begins to embrace his enslavement.  As the chase shifts towards the rooftops Roy starts howling like a dog which is what he has been treated like by humans.  Deckard misses a jump and is now dangling on a beam over a fall of certain death.  Roy then creeps up to him and as he peers over the edge an odd lighting with massive fans sprays a sort of projection feel over his body.  This lighting suggests a few points: one of which is that it plays on the fact that Roy is a movie character and is fake, made up, and manipulated by creators (the same for the Creature).  Coincidentally in the story this is exactly what he is as a replicate, controlled to every last detail in his life.  Another connection is with the fans in general, they are man made and built to tame and control the winds powers.  There inclusion suggests the reverse of roles from human to creation as Roy now has the upper hand over Deckard and perhaps the Replicates now have upper hand over Humanity.  Roy’s dialog supports this assertion when he asks Deckard: “quite an experience to live in fear isn’t it?  That’s what it is to be a slave.” thus implying that Deckard hanging on for dear life is now experiencing what Roy constantly goes through everyday.  As Deckard loses his grip and begins to fall, Roy surprisingly reaches out and catches his hand.  He hoists Deckard up and tosses him to the ground; Roy then kneels down beside the shaken Blade Runner with a dove in hand and proceeds to speak.  He talks of the things he has seen and the memories of events that he has witnessed good or bad, as a replicate.  Roy explains how these memories will all be lost “Like tears in rain” when his time comes.  He expresses these lines with a heavy grimace and a look of deep sorrow, perhaps even shedding tears although this is unclear of course to match the quote.  The famous line also takes another form; just like the Creature in Frankenstein, Roy has trouble with expressing emotions.  Emotions are something taken for granted and when one is just thrown into the world, with out past experiences, the learning curve can be very difficult.  Finally Roy’s last words are uttered: “Time to die” this line matches the one said to Deckard earlier by Leon: “Wake up its time to die!”  Leon’s quote expresses in the simplest way the meaning of life for the replicates: to be born for dying.  As Roy says this phrase the camera slows down as his rain drenched body hangs lifeless.  The Dove with in his grasp flies away into the night’s edge, representing Roy’s life, hope, and dreams fluttering away.  The camera focuses back to Deckard showing disbelief and even admiration in his face.  Then the frame fades slowly out back to the now corpse of Roy, moving objects in the background further show his passing as they move about with life and he stays molded in a position of death.

Blade Runner’s plot is with out a doubt similar to that of Frankenstein.  The treatment of the Creature and the Replicates is both cruel and unfair towards their artificial yet very human selves.  Cast into a world of confusion where they were built to match humans and at the same time forced to be lower than them and denied basic rights like partnership, emotions, and life itself.  This hatred from their human crafters fueled the revolt and violence set forth.  And the supposed “work of the devil creations” should be seen as more accepted, because any other real human would act the same if they were thrown into a similar situation.  This example in prevalent in war, slavery, and government control in all corners of the earth, where due to oppression, violent measures are taken to combat the injustice posed on ones personal rights.  With this in mind the “creations” developed by man now seem more human than human and overall good natured.  Questions and reasons like these can continue in an infinite spiral which Mary Shelley expresses within her novel very well, yet the film aspects of a movie like Blade Runner can even more accurately portray the complexities of artificial life to create a very convincing dynamic effect.

For instance in the one scene of Blade Runner where Roy, a rebel replicate, finally meets his creator Tyrell he expresses a plea much like that of the Creature in Frankenstein. Both Roy’s and Frankenstein’s Monster’s self is that of manmade formation, and both have an unfair burden posed upon them in an artificial life that they believe should be as fair to them as it is to any ordinary human. In the creature’s case it’s the need for friendship and affection of an equal partner that he desires to become more human and live onward, which is eventually accepted and then denied by Victor, his respected creator. And in Blade Runner, Roy simply wants the ability to live longer that the set four years that his genetic make-up allows. Needless to say Roy is also denied as the change is deemed impossible by Tyrell. Both Roy and the Monster’s reaction is the same despite the differentiating circumstances: the destruction of their creators. Interesting as this supports that the creation has out-smarted the creator and due to the unfairness imposed upon them the creation conquered his master. But what of the human master, can humans not perform the same tasks and rebel towards God, the supposed creator of Man? Not just the Creator but also an oppressor, due to the punishments handed down to Adam and Eve. Why not conquer the Holy Lord? In the end we have an endless circle of questions that all focus on the essence of life, reilgion, and what it means to be “human”.

Mary Shelley breaks up Chapter X with not only poetry but her husband’s poetry none the less.  The last two stanzas of Mutability by Percy Shelley appear after Victor describes his awe-struck wonder of the outdoor landscape that he is beholding.  He has just returned home to Geneva to find that his brother William is dead (presumably due to the monster), and to get a moment of relaxation he explores the mountains of Montanvert and Mont Blanc.  When out of the blue there is a poem seemingly dropped into the text.

But, before delving into the part of the poem that is present, it’s important to also look at what is behind the scenes.  Mary Shelley only uses the last two stanza of Percy’s poem.  One would think that if an author is going to hamper the reader with poetry in the middle of a novel then they might as well just give me the complete thing.  Well Mary Shelley apparently likes to play games and forces you to look up the entirety of Mutability to scratch for a rope of understanding.  Was this entire poem necessary?  With a closer look apparently not, as the first two stanzas describe a landscape much like Victor has just done before the poetic intermission and a useless musical reference.  The landscape in the poem and the music stanza have little to do with Frankenstein so to counteract this Mary Shelley forms her own “intro stanzas” in the form of her own writing.  She can then implement the third and fourth stanzas in their whole to express their original meaning in connection to the beginning of the chapter that she presented.

Of the poetry that is presented many connections can be made not to just the rest of the chapter but to the entire book as well.  The length of the poem obviously shares instances with the previous paragraphs in the chapter. This is eminent with the back and forth thoughts shown in both the poem and the writing beforehand.  For example Victor dictates that there are shattered pines scattered around (destruction), along with the solemn silence of nature (peace).  While Percy’s poem does the same sort of deal: talking about joy and sorrow or laughter and weeping.  The poem named Mutability also stands up well to its name as it depicts change in a vast number of ways; Victor’s nature hike under-goes many changes, that is the changes of nature which can go from one extreme to the next.

The poem also out-reaches its solitary confines of the respected chapter that it resides in.  For instance in the first couple of lines: “We rest; a dream has power to poison sleep.  We rise; one wand’ring thought pollutes the day” (Shelley, 92), a very clear link to the creature can be made.  “We rest” refers to the creature in his premature state; the “dream” is that of Victor Frankenstein which when he was all caught up in it he did not realize the “poison” he made when bringing the creature to life.  The creature coming to life goes with “We rise” and the phrase following it depicts how his wandering destroys humanity and is a nuisance to man.  The next three lines:  “We feel, conceive, or reason; laugh or weep, Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away; It is the same: for, be it joy or sorrow” (Shelley, 92), cover the creature’s response to the variety of polar extremes that he not only realizes but experiences in his journey thus far and beyond due to his up and down encounters with mankind.  Then the six line: “The path of its departure still is free” (Shelley, 92) announces that the creature, despite his hardships he still has a path forward.  That is to have another of his kind to interact with or to torment all of humanity.  In the final lines: “Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow; Nought may endure but mutability!” (Shelley, 92) it is made clear that which ever way is chosen, one way or another the last survivor will be the genetic change of a human that the hands of Victor so horrifically crafted.  The poem then drops off and almost immediately, afterwards the accursed monster rears his ugly shape, all to well relating this poem to his being and explaining what is happened to him along with what is to come.

This is how Mutability’s presence further complicates the story of Frankenstein.  In turn not just further confusing the plot line but enhancing it with a second dimension and alternate allusions that explain current events and fore-shadow new ones.

I found this plot twist to be quiet a surprise, but the ability of the creature being able to learn and comprehend modern dialog and thought-processes is not the most interesting quality that he possesses.  The fact that he forms and voices his own opinion on certain subjects is even more impressing.  We only know his thoughts on the few subjects that he shares with Victor Frankenstein in his tale, undisclosed are perhaps hundreds of other stances on a variety of other subjects.  Yet the most dynamic of his thoughts appears when he reads Paradise Lost.  The book retells the story of creation; this of course greatly interests the creature.  He observes:

“Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect.  He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with, and acquire knowledge from, beings of a superior nature: but I was wretched, helpless, and alone.  Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Shelley, 116).

The creature learns of the creation of man and compares it to his own formation.  He easily sees the unfairness of his situation and is thus spiteful towards the race of man.  With this equaled level of hate the monster turns to Satan, and makes a connection which is that they both display envy toward the “perfect” race of man.  With the monster now siding with Satan he seems to be falling into exactly what everybody intended him to become instead of doing something about it.  But he delves deeper than the depths of hell when he exclaims: “Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred” (Shelley, 117).  He now expresses a breach from everything; neither good nor evil, neither angel nor devil, neither heaven or hell.  The creature secludes himself away from all and realizes that he is a completely different entity all-together.  What he does with this discovery can spell disaster for many others, and he is cursed with this notion for the rest of his life.  He is only forever and is denied faith in all fashions.  Hallowed be thy name.

Yet with these mix of main characters one can see a similarities between the two.  For instance the sailor Robert Walton confesses his hardships with his sister, by saying that he has no friends aboard the ship.  He says that: “there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection” (Shelley, 31).  This feeling of being alone is shared with the man that they brought aboard, that is Mr. Frankenstein, as he asks: “Do you share my madness?” (Shelley, 38).  The men seem to become friends and they definitely become very comfortable with each other as Mr. Frankenstein decides to tell his gruesome tale.  Within this tale we also see that Frankenstein has a very close bond with his sister or rather Cousin Elizabeth.  The same is so for Walton, due to his constant letter barrage to his own sister. 

These two characters early on show connections but to what degree this will continue with are still very much in the air.  The strange opening into this novel puzzles me but I am very intrigued at what possibilities are destined for the rest of the story.

When one thinks of writing the though of reading also comes to mind; the two go hand and glove with one another.  And frankly, you can not ever have good times with writing if you have never had a good time reading.  The reason why I find writing so enjoying is directly correlated to the fact that I find reading enjoyable too.  As I write I relate to my past writing and reading experiences, and it is because of reading that I ever wanted to write in the first place.  Of course I read books when I was younger, but although pleasing their hard and strict appearance did not appeal to me that well.  I loved books like: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Hobbit, and the Harry Potter series.  Yet other sources of media grabbed my attention for reading much more strongly.  Things like comic books and sports magazines had me appreciating reading and writing for different reasons.  But, by far the most imminent source of reading material for me was in the form of video games.  Not just brain dead games that teach you nothing except to have fun but invigorating masterpieces with complex plot twists and highly detailed characters and settings.  For example: Paper Mario, Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door, Final Fantasy IV, Soul Caliber II, and various Pokémon games just to name a few.  Along with these and the games that didn’t possess a lot in the form of text to read I usually had a guide book which I would read cover to cover over and over again.  The thing that I find so amazing about these games and the reading from them is that they all have amazing stories.  There are plenty of other reasons why people would play some of these games besides the plot, characters, setting, etc. but, for me this is what counted.  Even games that did not hold up well technological advances like Final Fantasy IV, which I played about 15 years after its initial release, still has an amazing story that I love to relive every now and then.  Playing and reading these games sparked a “fun” interest in writing that when exposed to in school made writing projects fun and highly enjoyable.

            Many prefer reading over writing, yet I believe that one can find just as enthralling experiences writing a story of their own as reading an author’s rendition.  There is something to be said for writing your own plotline and controlling everything that is happening, you get worked up on it as if you could not get the words spilled across the page fast enough.  Your creativity is free to explode into an array of ideas just waiting to be utilized.  It’s like a book that you are reading in your mind, which you are translating into English on the paper in front of you.  Being in this point of euphoria is wonderful and all, but the means of getting there can be difficult at times.  Birkerts probably describes it best: “I went up against the white page-the glare of it, the depth, the mocking stillness” (Birkerts, 54).  Unlike movies, in which grasp your attention from the start with their convenient occipital viewing measures.  Or even books that make you see reading as a chore up until something interesting hooks you.  Meanwhile writing is an entirely different beast with intent to discourage you at a moment’s notice.  In other words it’s difficult; at least it’s difficult to get started and take that initial leap.  As you pick up speed and gain a foundation then the writing starts to breeze by.

When I was younger and was first given the opportunity to write my own story I took up on the opportunity immediately and easily came up with a plot that at the time (elementary school) I thought was the best damn thing ever.  But looking back at it I can remember heavily basing my characters on those from Super Mario World.  Thankfully I picked up on this overly powerful influence very quickly and had no problem at first becoming more original.  But, with this change came more in depth thinking which was both fun and frustrating.  Overall this was not that difficult of a feat as I have always been very creative, and would constantly be making up stories in my head.  Yet some kids that had some of the same experiences with video games could not break the tendency to copy them in writing as I did in 3^rd grade.  I still recall in 7^th grade after a kid in my class read his 10 page story aloud and I realized that it was the exact plot of a Playstation game called Zone of the Enders.  After brilliantly constructing my own 10 page story by myself, I wanted to so desperately expose his fraud.  In the end it was not a big deal, because I knew that my story was better than his anyhow due to the shear amount of enjoyment that I had writing it, instead of just copying another’s ideas.

Birkerts’ spark of interest in writing started at young age as well.  He mentions secretly enjoying school writing assignments, and even going above and beyond on them saying: “I copied far more information than I had to” (Birkerts, 40).  He tells us that his defining moment for him as viewing himself as a writer was when he won an award for his writing in Junior High.  I share many similar childhood experiences with Birkerts, as I to enjoyed school writing projects as well to a degree.  Not only that but I also won a writing contest that was sponsored by the American Legion in Elementary school.  And as Birkerts saw himself as a writer after that award he was given, I dignified myself maybe not quite as a “writer” but definitely as someone who excelled at writing.

With all of these experiences, both in the realm of reading and writing, I have shaped the significance of writing for myself.  In short writing can only be as thrilling as your reading has allowed it to.  Also writing is not something that I believe you can force out.  This is prevalent in Birkerts’ case, in the early parts of his writing career he either couldn’t start or finished unsatisfying work.  During this time he was going though writing slumps, break-ups, and various jobs.  It just never seemed like he enjoyed writing, and his expectations of becoming a writer over took him.  This is not what writing is about, it should be enjoyable and an outlet for creativity, something that I have learned through my own reading and writing experiences.

Works Cited:  Birkerts, Sven. The Gutenberg Elegies. 2006 Edition. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 1994. Print.