Adolescent Fiction: First Impression of Annie on My Mind

Thursday, February 23, 2012

First Impression of Annie on My Mind

Couples

After reading chapters one through seven in Annie on My Mind I feel as if I am reading a traditional love novel between a guy and a girl. In the beginning of the novel there is that first moment when their eyes lock and there is love at first sight. “The girl’s smile deepened and her eyes sparkled for just a second. (p.8)” As the novel continues we see Liza and Annie become giddy over each other, they both know that there is something special between them. “By the time we were through, I realized I was talking to Annie as if I’d known her my whole life, not just a few days. (p.62)” There is a definite spark between the two girls, the same as if it were between a guy and a girl. After Liza and Annie meet in the museum exchanging numbers they went their separate ways. Liza was confused, should she call Annie or should she wait for Annie to call her. It is like when a guy and girl exchange numbers and there is the three day rule. Neither of them wants to call because it might make them sound desperate, so both of them are contemplating to call the other. Usually, the man will call because they are the more mature ones, any comments ladies? Then the day Annie calls back Liza we see Liza have butterflies in her stomach, much like girls do when the guy calls them.

After the special phone call next, we start to see Liza and Annie’s relationship start to grow. Liza and Annie gradually start hanging out. Their hanging out becomes more frequent, much like a relationship between a guy and a girl. At first the guy and girl couple start to hang out once or twice a week, then as the couple starts to get to know one another their hanging out becomes more and more frequent, or until the guy has had enough. With Liza and Annie we see the same thing. The amount of time they spend together increases throughout the novel. The girls spending time together is much like a guy and girl couple dating. We see Liza and Annie go to the museum, have a picnic, take a ferry ride, have a cab ride, and long walks. These events are dates a guy and a girl could take place in. As the novel moves on we see the girls meet each others parents and go to each others house. This is similar of a guy and girl couple when they begin dating. With the traditional couple many times the parents want to see who their son or daughter is dating. Most of the time the couple dating will go over to the house and meet the parents and spend time with the family getting to know each others family members, much like Liza and Annie do. Another time I see an instance of a traditional couple dating is when Liza brings Annie flowers as a nice gesture, much like a gentleman would do.

After a fair amount of dates and getting to know one another Liza and Annie bump their relationship to a physical level, with that special first kiss. This is very much the case of what a guy and girl relationship would look like. After getting to know one another, there becomes a level of conform ability and maybe the start of a physical relationship. Liza and Annie’s kiss is that of a typical guy and girl kiss. It is that unexpected first kiss, where the world seems to stop and both people are at awe, mainly the guy because he’s like wow she actually fell for it. “Without thinking, I put my arms across her shoulders to warm her, and then before I knew what was happening, our arms were around each other and Annie’s soft gentle mouth was kissing mine. (p.92)”

There are many instances that Liza and Annie have that are similar to the instances that a traditional guy and girl relationship would have. Instances of similarity would be the look of love at first sight, the dating experiences, to the first kiss. If the author would have changed Liza’s name to Rick I would think nothing of the relationship between the two, I would think of their relationship as a traditional relationship. I might think Rick is a bit feminine but I would not think anything of their relationship. I just see two girls dating like any other traditional couple would.

1 comment:

JenMarch 11, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Well, Nate, you've just provided an awful lot of detail and description, showing us that there IS plenty in the book. The details and descriptions are there, but they are focused on the growing relationship.

The three-day rule? There actually is such a thing?!

I'm going to spend more time thinking about your claim that if Liza's name were Rick, we wouldn't think a thing about the relationship.
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Post #9 Shakespeare Bats Cleanup (due MONDAY, 4/30 by class time)

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup explores a number of themes, among them grief, identity, coming of age (Bildungsroman), friendship, love, and others. Kevin, our adolescent narrator, shares his story with us as a poetic narrative which includes poems written in conventional forms and free-form poems. Choose one theme which the book develops, and show its development through the text. As you do so, be sure to consider and articulate how the book's structure (as poems) affects whatever theme you discuss.

Post #7 Warriors Don't Cry (due Sunday 4/15 by 8 pm)

Choices for responses:

1. The title of this text refers to warriors. How are the characters warriors? Are you comfortable with that depiction? Why or why not? Be sure to offer specific description as you explore characterization.

2. While it could certainly be argued that the author of our last novel does place himself in the text, that book is fiction. This text is not; rather, it's a memoir. How does knowing that the book is non-fiction shape your reading of it? Does it cause you to respond differently? If so, how? If not, why not? Consider characters, events, and the historical context carefully as you respond.

Post #6 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (due Sunday, 3/25 by 8 pm)

Post #5 Annie on My Mind (part 2) due Sun 3/11 by 8 pm

You have several different options for your response:

1. How is social transgression framed and treated in the novel? Do you as a reader find that the characters are affirmed or punished for stepping outside of social conventions?

2. We've talked a bit about parallel spaces in texts, spaces in which characters encounter very different experiences. After reading this novel, can we argue that those parallel spaces never intersect? What function might those separate (or not so separate) spaces serve?

3. The story is written in the epistolary (letter writing) tradition. How does that framing affect your reading? Your interaction with characters? Your response?

Post #3 Due by Monday's class (2/20)

For this post, you have three options:

1. Respond to some theme you identify in the novel. Be sure that you make a claim and support it using specific examples from the book.

2. Apply the article's claims to the novel. Be sure that you make a claim and support it using specific examples from the article and the book.

3. Examine the novel as science fiction. How is it both utopic and dystopic in its function? What might it be warning us as a society against? Be sure that you make a claim and support it using specific examples from the text.

Post #1 Due by Thursday's class (1/26)

Ellen Raskin's novel The Westing Game is a detective novel, yes, but we can tease out many themes as we examine the text. A few we introduced and explored briefly in class today:

the Cinderella effect

the roles of women

identity construction

gaming and strategy

trust (as it relates to other themes or on its own)

oppressive/repressive (think Trites) parents

Choose from a theme on this list or choose a theme you've noted in the text, and write about the way the theme is introduced and developed through the novel. As you show how the theme works throughout the book, be sure to offer specific examples to support your ideas.