Depression in Literature

So I know I said that part 3 would come today but this is something that completely trumps part 3.

Depression is one of the hardest subjects to talk about when it comes to writing so this blog is going to be a lot different than my normal ones. My high school have suffered a severe tragedy with one of our freshman committing suicide. So I am deciding to dedicate this blog to her.

Like I said depression in literature is one of the hardest subjects to tackle, so it very rarely used in most forms of writing unless it is a biography. So why is depression such a hard subject to talk about? Well because it effects a lot of us. I personally went through a phase of my life where I was basically extremely depressed. And I know a lot of other people have gone through that same phase. But if it is such a common emotion, then why don’t authors use in writing more? Well that is because depression effects everyone differently, so if an author wants to try to make their character more relatable by giving them depression, it is really hard for people to relate because yes they may be going through the same thing but most likely in a different way. That and not a lot of writers know how to write a book where one of the main characters is depressed.

So that is why I believe that authors don’t really use depression in writing. But before I end this blog I actually want to talk seriously about depression and suicide. Look if you guys out there are suffering with depression, don’t just stand by and do nothing about it keeping all of your emotions bottled up. Go and talk to someone please, I know from experience that keeping your emotions locked up like that is not healthy for you at all. Secondly let’s talk suicide, look in no matter what the situation, suicide is not the answer. I don’t care what you may be feeling, it is not the answer. There is so much more to live for and there are people out there who care for you. So before even thinking about trying, think about what will happen to the people who actually care for you.

Video Games and the 4th Wall

Again this is not a book review on some made up prequel to the amazing book the 5^th wave, (you should really read it though) this is us talking about the 4^th wall. If you haven’t read the last blog, or are just joining us I would really recommend going back and reading the last blog because I am not really going to be doing any explaining of what the 4^th wall is. This blog is mainly going to be about how video games are able to use the idea of breaking the 4^th wall.

Last time we talked exclusively about Deadpool, the mercenary with a mouth whose superpower is being able to break the 4^th wall, and use it to his advantage, which is why he is my favorite comic book hero, but so many other forms of literature do the same thing. Let’s start off with one of my other favorite forms of 4^th wall breaks video games.

Video games do this kind of stuff all of the time, whether it is giving you tutorials on how to play the game, to one or two side comment’s to the player about the game. But the granddaddy of 4^th wall breaks in video games has to come from Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid on the PS1. This boss basically reads your memory card and tells you what games you have been playing recently and makes fun of you for playing them. If that isn’t crazy enough when the boss fight starts the game reads your button inputs then tells the boss to move out of the way from being hit. The only way to beat this boss was to get up off of your couch, walk over to you game console, unplug you control from control port one then plug it back into control port 2. I thankfully did not play this game as a kid but I do have a lot of friends who did, and this boss fight, was so creepy and mind shattering that a video game character was able to basically read everything you did.

So yes video games are kind of like the like the idea of Deadpool, which is the reason why a lot of people like it is because it does something completely different. The next and final blog of this series will actually talk about all of the other forms of literature that use the idea of breaking the 4^th wall.     

Comic Books, Deadpool, and the 4th Wall

First things first this is not a book review about a prequel to popular book the 5^th wave, but the 4^th wall does actually have to do a lot with literature. For those who don’t know the 4^th is the layer between you and the thing that you are viewing. This can be seen in many forms of literature from plays, to movies, to books, or my favorite comic books. Yes the 4^th wall is a very much needed thing because it separates the viewer from the actually story. But what happens when the 4^th wall breaks? What happens when the character in a story starts interacting with the reader? To answer this question I am going to have to go back into the world of comic books and dive right into my favorite character. Deadpool.

If you don’t know anything about comic book characters stop right now and go look up the character Deadpool. For those of you who are too lazy to actually go and look Deadpool also known as the mercenary with a mouth, is one of the most known comic book characters. Deadpool has extreme military training, a healing factor so strong that he can grow back all of his body parts from just having a head left. He can also keep talking while his head is decapitated. But Deadpool is also known for another reason, he is the only know character in comic history to be able to break the 4^th wall.

You see Deadpool actually knows that he is in a comic book, so he can do things that most other comic book characters can’t. Like being able to communicate with the audience of the comic book, know things before there are going to happen because he has read ahead, or my favorite kill literally every single character in the comic book universe, the jump out of the comic book and kill the creators of your comic. Yes this is an actual story that the creators of Deadpool wrote. But besides being one of the most powerful comic book characters, he mostly uses his powers to be a narcissistic, sarcastic, and not allowed to say the rest of this sentence because this is a blog for a high school class.

But Deadpool being able to break the 4^th wall is just a small, small percent of what breaking the 4^th wall is used for. There are a lot of other media that use this technique. And that is what the next blog is going to be about.        

What is Literature

I am shocked that I hadn’t thought to do this blog sooner. A question I should have answered in the first blog that I ever wrote. Now you must be wondering, what is that question? Well simply put, what is literature?  How do I define literature, what is literature to me? Well my friends that is not a simple question to answer. Because literature is many, many things to me.

Let me start out with the basics, what is literature? Dictionary.com states that literature as “writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas ofpermanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essentialfeatures, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.” Now to a lot of people including me that is an extreme definition of the word. So what is my definition of literature? Well literature is a form of art but in the written or spoken expression. So basically literature is any form of music or poetry or story that has to deal with any situation.

Now the second and harder question to answer how do I see literature, what do I consider literature? What is and isn’t literature to me? Well let’s start with what is literature. Literature is many things to me. Its movies, T.V. shows, video games, poetry, books, essays, etc. let’s just say there are a lot of things I consider literature. But before you even say “why would you even consider movies and T.V. shows, and even video games a form of literature?” I have made blogs tackling all three of those topics all you have to do is look. But for a brief summary, they all have to start from a script, and they all have writing and dialogue and lore, so I don’t get why people do think that they should be considered an art form of literature. Secondly that list is entirely my opinion so it is what I believe.

Now let’s answer a harder question what don’t I consider literature. Anything that can’t be written down and told as a story all on its own. Very simple definition that I am hoping that I don’t have to explain in a later blog post.

Well there you go my definition of what I believe literature is it only took me 55 post to finally figure to do this concept. Well this time I will leave you with a question. What do you believe literature is?

Play review: Urinetown

What is Urinetown? Is it a place, a lie, a tool, or even the end? Well really Urinetown is a musical. The basis of Urinetown is basically there has been a drought for many years now and the way they conserve water is by forcing people to pay to pee. And you can’t be caught peeing in public, since that is now against the law. And if you are caught you get sent to Urinetown. (Warning everything past this point has a risk of being a spoiler for Urinetown, you have been warned).

So before we begin Urinetown is not a happy musical. It takes place where all of the poor people have to pee, because it is the only place where they can afford it. The main character is fed up with having to watch people every day pay to pee so he starts a revolution. He then is sent to Urinetown in act two because he is captured. We learn in act one what Urinetown actually is (which is they take you to the top of a building a throw you to your death) by the narrator flat telling us what it is by saying it is a secret. In the end the good guys do defeat the evil corporation that is forcing everyone to pay to pee. Only problem is that the corporation was actually conserving the water supply very effectively, but when the “good” guys take over the water basically disappears all together killing off all of the cast except one.

I have always found Urinetown to be an interesting musical. Because even when the “good” guys win and the “bad” guys loose, it isn’t always for the betterment of everyone else even though a lot of people may think it will be. And the thing that I find extremely funny with the musical, all of the musical is very cheery and peppy, which doesn’t fit the tone of the musical at all.

So Urinetown is a great musical, and if you have a couple of hour to pass or just need something to listen to go on to YouTube and search up the soundtrack to Urinetown, the music is very well written and can help you focus a decent amount. Well that is it for this blog, and this time I will leave you with my favorite phrase from Urinetown, always remember it’s a privilege to pee.             

D&D

(Warning if you don’t understand anything about D&D you may want to skip this one). Today is the day my true nerd side shows through. Today is the day I finally get to talk about the literature side of D&D. For those of you who don’t know what D&D is, D&D is short for Dungeons and Dragons. Basically D&D is just a bunch of nerds sitting around a table rolling dice and constantly yelling at each other. But you are probably wondering, what does D&D have to do with literature? Well I will tell you. You see to even start D&D you have to create a story, lore, characters, it’s a lot more than just people being nerds. (Final warning if you don’t understand anything in nerd speak turn back now).

To even start D&D you have to create a story. This can be anything, from something as basic as a princess is locked in a tower and the only way to save her is to slay the dragon. Or extremely complex like (and yes this is a story I have played through) an evil cult is trying to steal the world’s supply of gold to summon a five headed hydra which is also a god and that god wants to destroy the world. So in short (and if you didn’t understand a word of that) D&D stories can be extremely basic or extremely complex. But D&D stories allow people to bring their imaginations to the full. Lore is basically the same thing as story it can be as complex or as basic as you want it to be so I thought that I should at least mention it.

The other major thing that you can be extremely creative in is the characters in D&D. Your character can be anything. They could be a basic human warrior with a sword and a shield. Or you could pull something like me (and yes this was a character I played) and be a half dragon with scales and the ability to summon fire balls and shoot lighting by using playing cards.

So there I have finally gotten my true nerd out to the world. So I hope that this may have change some people’s minds that D&D isn’t just for nerds and is really simple. It’s actually a very complex story that you and some of your good friends make. And it is way more fun than sitting and staring at your cellphones for three hours just sitting next to people.