Blog Entry 11- Ugly Draft

Work in Progress

Fablehaven is essentially based on Kendra’s imagination, the main character of the story who has a mix of an orphan and innocent archetype. She expects nothing bad to happen if one doesn’t deserve it, which is one of the main characteristic of an innocent. She also believes that if you follow the rule, you get rewarded, and if you break the rule, you get punished. But as the story unfold, what she believed were proved wrong and now she must face the reality and go against what she feared most in order to save her family.

Orphan archetype:

Kendra is an orphan because she feels that her families are trying to abandon her by going to a mandatory vacation set by her dead grandparents. (Kids were not allowed). She thinks her parents will have a good vacation, without the kids. (She is suspicious about the whole vacation set up). she didn’t believe when her parents said, “we will miss you.” Once, Kendra heard her mother requesting grandpa Sorenson to take care of the kids when they go away for vacation. During the conversation she found grandpa Sorenson unwilling to take care of kids. She heard him saying, “Does it have to be in June? Why not in July?“  “I suppose we could find a place to lock them up.” After hearing this conversation Kendra felt that there is something going on in June with grandpa Sorenson, but she didn’t know what.

According to Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” Kendra is a hero with an orphan character, and she goes through the stages that Campbell has described, but how does she complete her cycle is the question to be answered.

Separation: Kendra and her brother Seth are left with their grandfather for 17 days at the grandfather’s place. Her parents must go for a 17 days Scandinavian cruise set by her dead grandparents (Grandparents, Larson). Kendra is afraid of living with her grandfather because she though the grandfather didn’t like kids and she also didn’t know him well. Her grandmother wasn’t there at the time, and she never saw them together. She sometime thought may be they were secretly divorced. On her way to her grandfather’s place, there were many signs that made her think that there is something going on there that she is not aware of. She remembers her grandfather telling her mom “Things get a little crazy in mid-June” But “what it could be?” Kendra asks herself. So, in a back of her mind she is expecting something to happen. So, Kendra and her parents are separated for 17 days. ( Typical orphan story)

Adventure: Grandpa Sorenson sets some new rules. He tells the kids not to go into the woods. They could explore the garden or the tree house or the pool, but not into the woods because he thinks they can get Lyme diseases from tick bites. Grandfather gives Kendra three small keys and he challenges her to look for the key holes if she could.  Kendra wanted to talk to grandpa Sorenson, but he seems less interested and he tells her he is little busy. Seth her brother goes into wood alone and when he returns he claims that he saw a weird old witch. Kendra unlocks the three locks with the keys grandfather Sorenson gave her and she sees a mysterious message which says “Drink milk.” Then Kendra and Seth drinks the milk and they start to see fairies, which were once butterflies and humblebees.

  Seth going into the forest and Kendra seeing the mysterious message, “Drink milk” are all Kendra’s imagination, because she knew that Seth was a kid who like adventure (a rule breaker) and so she was expecting this kind of behavior from him. The “Drink milk” message is also nothing more than her imagination, because she saw Dale and Lena, the house keeper secretly feeding insects and butterflies with milk. But when she asked her why they were doing it so secretly, they said, it’s because they didn’t want grandpa Sorenson to know (He may think that they are wasting milk). Kendra was not satisfied with their answer and she thought maybe there is something going on with the milk. So this is the reason the word “Drink milk” came into her imagination. Then Seth again breaks the rule. This time he catches a fairy and keeps it in jar. The fairy turns into an evil animal and then they retaliate back. Seth, grandpa, grandma and Lena all get abducted and Kendra must do something to save her families. She didn’t know what to do, where to go ask for help or may be do nothing.  She is scared as hell and she never was in a situation like this before. So essentially she is an orphan and she needs to grow up and do something that an adult would do. She goes to the fairy queen to get some help and the fairy queen says something like “blood” and “milk”. So Kendra gathers all the clues and she comes to the conclusion that she has to mix some blood with the milk form that strange cow. Once she makes this mixture(mixture of blood and cow’s milk= talisman), she gives them to the butterflies and the humblebees, which turns them into fairy twice the human size. The fairies (supernatural aid) help Kendra to rescue her families from the evils and the family is united.

Return: Kendra can’t believe so much has happen in just 17 days. She can’t believe what she has just gone through. She thinks may be this was a dream ( clue that this could be dream). When she came here she though this 17 days would one of the most boring days of her life, but now she doesn’t even want to count how many days are left. Everyone is happy, and so is she. She knows her grandparents very well and she is hoping to visit her very soon.

Blog Entry 10- Book Report and Notes

Fablehaven is an imaginary world of Kendra who seems like an orphan or may be an innocent. She is morally good, trustworthy, a survivor, but she also is very suspicious, thinks negative, and is a whiner as well.

It looks like Fablehaven is a story about a wondere and a warrior, but it’s not. Because the whole story is based on Kendra’s imagination and she doesn’t have any quality of either a wondered or a warrior. she is a kind of  kid who always follows the rules. She is not brave. She is naïve and she is seduced by easy answers. She doesn’t like travelling. For example she asks her parents,” Won’t you get bored stuck on a boat for seventeen days?” (Referring to a Scandinavian cruse)

Symbols:  Narrow road, no sign of houses, old metal gate, warning sign such as “Private Property,” “No trespassing,” “Certain Death Awaits,” tall wrought iron fence, double gate, old house, bubbly glass, long white beard, long ears etc. All these symbols are trying to lead us to something scary!

Milk- milk is a very special thing in the story. The house keeper, Dale feeds the animals and insects with milk without letting their boss,Mr. Sorenson know. The secret journal tells Kendra to drink milk. After drinking milk, Seth claims that he could see the fairies (he could be lying), but Kendra believes him and she dinks the milk. Now she starts to see things that she has never seen, which again could be just her imagination.

Butterflies- Turns into fairy. (Butterflies sometime symbolizes fairy)

Sacred animals- Talks about animals and birds appear many times in the book which could represent extinction on animals from this world.

Truth- Mr. Sorenson (the grandfather) doesn’t tell the truth to kids. But the kids eventually finds out the truth and now they don’t believe their grandfather anymore. So may be its better to tell the truth to kids. It turns out that kids should not be told just half truth, becasue then they can't wait for the half to be told.

Language- Adults must be careful when talking and selecting the words, because some kids take their word and the language seriously. For example Kendra hears her grandfather telling her mom, “I suppose we could find a place to lock them up.” We know it was a joke but, Kendra thinks it its serious which make her think that her grandfather is wired and scary.

Talisman- salt, milk mixed with blood,

Symbolic action- fold both hands, place hands on someone’s shoulder, keep finger on one’s lip, keep one’s hand on head etc.

so, Kendra the main character of the story is imagining things that are pretty similar to reality, but not real. The sacred animals like monkey, goat, butterflies, different kinds of birds exist, but Kendra's imagination goes beyound these animals and she creats some new imaginary animals based on the things she has seen and heard.
Kendra Vs Seth
Kendra is not grown up at all. she acts like she is younger than her brother even though she is 2 years older than him. For example there were signs on their grandparents property saying NO Trespassing and Trespassers Will Be Persecuted. Kendra found these sign creepy where as Seth who is just 11 years found these funny. There are many things where Seth is ahead of Kendra and she knows that which makes somehow a little jealous. In a back of her mind she wants to be like Seth, unfearful, strong, smart and adventurus.

Blog Entry: 9

       I will be using Joseph Campbell’s monomyth because fablehaven clearly has separation, adventure and return phase. According to Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” That’s exactly what happens in Fablehaven. The main characters of the story, Kendra and Seth enter a supernatural world full of danger and they face many challenges before the victory is achieved, and at the end they return to their normal life. I will also be using Carol Pearson’s Heroic Archetype to understand the characters better.

         According to Person Archetypal System, “People everywhere can relate to a Hero who overcomes great obstacles, a Magician who helps make dreams come true, and a Jester who brings out the fun in a situation.” In Fablehaven, Kendra matches the archetype of an innocent as well as an orphan, while Seth matches the archetype of a wanderer and a warrior.  Even though there is just two years difference between Kendra (13) and Seth (11), they act or behave totally differently. So I will be looking closely at their characters and also at some other characters that make the story interesting  and appealing.

Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. On the web.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces#cite_ref-2

The Pearson Archetypal System.  On the web.

http://www.herowithin.com/system.html

Blog Entry: 8

I will be using Joseph Campbell’s monomyth because Fablehaven clearly has separation, adventure and return phase. According to Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” That’s exactly what happens in Fablehaven. The main characters of the story, Kendra and Seth enter a supernatural world full of danger and they face many challenges before the victory is achieved, and at the end they return to their normal life. I will also be using Carol Pearson’s Heroic Archetype to understand the characters better.

Blog Entry: 7

The book I chose for this blog entry is Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. This book was published in July 2006. This is the first book of the five books series. The reason I chose this book is because I anticipated this book to be full of mysteries, suspense and action, after reading the back cover of the book which says, “ For centuries mystical creatures were gather into a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary is one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite….” This book is about two young kids living with their grandparents for about 17days, while their parents are away on a cruse. The kids find weird things happening in the forest they are forbidden to enter, but as time goes by they unlock a locked blank journal which takes them to a complete new world full of danger and evil. The more they know about the Fablehaven the worst it gets...

Blog entry: 6

The warrior archetype usually, in any story makes sure that the good win over evil. They always fight against the injustice, and protect the innocent. Some of the positive attributes of a warrior are: bravery, tough minded, determined, disciplined, honest, loyal, strong etc. And the warrior can also have some of  negative characteristics. Some of the common negative characteristics are: stubborn, overly competitive, fool, ruthless, short temper etc.

 I chose the above image because it represents a warrior. When we hear the word "Warrior," we immediately think of a fight or a war. This image definitely shows a warrior who is engaged in a war or a fight. The sword, horse and the body movement all show how strong, tough minded and determined he is. He is controlling the horse as well as defending himself with one hand, and he also attacking his enemies with the other hand. So this image shows the strong side of the warrior's character.
some of the sub-types of warrior that immediately come to my mind are James Bond, Rambo, Robin Hood, and of course Ong Bak ( the warrior movie that i chose for my earlier blog ). And i don't think the anima and animus figures are different when it comes to this archetype. They both are usually physically strong and mentally tough, but i do think the male figure are a little more aggressive than the female figures.
Well, the warrior usually gets a call to do something physically for the good of his/her society. Then they either accept the call voluntarily or they are forced to accept it. The warrior usually has a mentor who trains him/ her with different kinds of skills and then initiate him/her for a mission. Now the warrior has to complete the mission alone or with some help (usually friends). Then finally if he/she is successfully, he/she will return back to his/her original place or community or he/she could die during the mission. For example, James Bond (warrior) is usually initiated by the British Queen (master or mentor) for some specific mission, and he always completes the mission successfully with the use of his fighting skills and the available technology from the British government.
     In the movie Ong-Bak, Ting, the hero of the movie (warrior) is sent to Bangkok City to look for the stolen head of the Buddha. He gets involved in many fights, some of which were life threatening, during this journey, but he never gives up and he kept fighting until he finds what he is looking for. Therefore, the warrior's archetype such as bravery, tough minded, strong and determined are seen everywhere in the movie.
  

Blog Entry: 5

The movie that I chose for this entry is Ong- Bak: The Thai Warrior, a Movie which shows the capabilities of what a person with good knowledge of Muay Thai could do in real life. Like any other movies, this movie also follows the three basic patterns of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth; separation, adventure, and return.

Separation: As usual, the separation phase begins with some kinds of calls to a hero to act. In this movie, a guy named Don comes to a village called Ban Nong Pradu, and he steals Ong -Bak (Buddha’s head from a statue). Ban Nong Pradu is a poor village and Ong- Bak is their most valued ancient treasure. Now, some one from the village must do something to get back the stolen Ong- Bak from Don, who is believed to be in Bangkok. Ting, the main character of the movie (hero) volunteers to go to Bangkok to get the Ong -Bak back. Ting is an ordinary guy with good knowledge of Muay Thai. As usual he has a helper or a master: a Buddhist monk, from whom he learned all his Muay Thai skills. Ting leaves his village for Bangkok, an unknown and a certain world full of danger. Ting gets a sacred amulet (talisman) from his uncle before he leaves for Bangkok, which latter in the movie saves his life. So Ting (the hero) going from his village to Bangkok city shows the separation stage.

Adventure: Ting reaches Bangkok City, and he meets his cousin Humlae, (known as George) who initially doesn’t recognize him. Ting asks for Humlae’s help to locate Don and the stolen Ong- Bak, but Humlae seems reluctant to help, he is more interested in gambling and money making business. So Humlae steals Ting’s money, the money that he got from the villagers, and bets it into an illegal fight. Ting goes after Humlae to get his money back, but he gets drawn into the fight instead. This is his first test on his journey to recover Ong Bak, and he wins it. The main villain of the movie is Komtuan, who runs these illegal fight and he is also involved in illegal trading of the antiques. Don works for Komtuan, so Ong- Bak is under komtuan’s possession. Ting uses all his Muya Thai skills while trying to get back Ong- Bak from Komtuan.This time he also gets help from Humlae  and his sister Muay Lek. The journey isn’t easy, but Ting (the hero) and Humlae (the helper) never give up the hope and they finally succeed. Now Ting must return back safely to his village with Ong-Bak.

Return: Ong Bak is like an ultimate boon for Ting and he must return back to his village with it. He could stay in city and make a lot of money form street fights, but he is the hero so he returns back to his village successfully. His cousin Humlae also returns back to their village. The villagers celebrate the Ong-Bak’s return and Tign becomes the master of two worlds. This completes the cycle of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth.