Author: jsabia (Page 5 of 8)

Apprentice Book : A&P by John Updike

Reflect, Your Choice: I chose this story because it sparked the most emotion from me, as I felt infuriated by it.  I found myself being able to engage with this story the most, as I could feel myself being able to see myself in the situation more so than the other two stories.  The part of the text that I chose “I say ‘I quit’ to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero” because it was the area of the text that confused me the most and made me the most angry.  I was confused as to how this boy could think that quitting his job would somehow benefit him in the long run.  The guiding force to me was purely the emotion that the story brought out in me.  By being able to have a connection with the text, I found it easy to visualize the words in front of me and be able to to run it into a tangible piece of “art”.  Being able to see myself in this story, as the girls in it were only a little younger than I am, aided in my choice of story as well.  This story was the first story we read, but also the one that I remembered the most vividly when I began to think about making my apprentice book.

Reflect, Bookmaking: I chose to make the book really simplistic, as I envisioned it to be made by the boy behind the counter while he is on the clock, almost as if it is a note that he jotted down.  The front cover is the open sign that I imagined to be on the window of the small corner shop that he works at, while also incorporating the title “A&P”.  Similarly, I put the closed sign on the back of the book, as it symbolized not only the ending of the book, but also the end of the story in general, as the girls never talked to him again, and his time at the corner shop also ended.  The inside pages of the book are laid out in a way of expectation versus reality.  The left pages are what the boy thought was going to happen, what he hoped was going to happen.  Whereas the right pages are what actually happened, the harsh reality of his choices and his decisions that he didn’t see coming when he made them.  In creating this artist book, I was hoping to capture the simplicity of the situation, as it only took place in a maximum of a half an hour, but also showing how the expectations and the reality of the situation were nearly complete opposites.

This story is a heartbreaking love story about two young people with a love so beautiful and so strong.  The girl gets cancer and quickly begins to fade.  Their whole life is built around their love story, they own the bar where they got together.  She ends up dying in the end.  I loved the entire story.  It is beautifully written.  I definitely shed a tear because, ouch.  I was constantly engaged from the beginning to the end, and it really made me feel the pain of the characters.  I don’t think I have any questions right now, aside from the ending. The ending was beautiful and abrupt and tragic, and I love that, it is just like how he describes his heart breaking.  My question though is do you think that extending the ending slightly would possibly add to the drama at the end?  It could add more weight and gravity.  But overall it was beautiful, and I loved it.

This story is the relationship between a girl who lost her mother and a boy who cares a lot about her.  There is a large connection between the girl and the ocean, as her mother loved it.  She has a panic attack and is frozen in place until the boy comes and finds her.  I loved how the beginning and the end have a few of the exact same lines, it gave me chills.  The rawness of her emotions as well as the description of the ocean were also really impressive.  I don’t have any questions as far as the story goes, but it does cause me to wonder about Devyn’s backstory a little bit.  I feel like we know so much about Winter’s that it may be interesting and beneficial to hear a bit about Devyn’s too.

The story is about people watching.  It largely follows a mother and her son as we later find out that the boy’s father is likely very sick and possibly dying.  I really like the simplicity of the issue, but also the complexity of the message.  I like how something as simple as people watching can lead to people actually understanding and empathizing with one another instead of being so quick to judge one another.  I don’t feel like I have any questions, my only curiosities lie around the narrator.  I feel like we have very minimal information about them, and knowing more about who they are could be interesting.

This story is about a married couple going to counseling because their marriage is complicated.  They decide to go on a camping trip, they get into a fight and the wife leaves.  She’s probably going to get eaten by wolves and the husband is now alone in the woods not knowing that his wife is probably getting eaten by wolves.  I liked how suspenseful it was.  It was also written in its own voice, it was like I could actually hear how the characters were speaking rather than just reading the words that they were saying.  I would like to know if this is the end of the story.  I didn’t feel like there was any sort of wrap up, so I would like to know if this is a cliffhanger on purpose, or if the story just simply isn’t complete yet.

This story is kind of like a psychological thriller story that follows a kid who has lost everyone close to him.  He ends up in the woods and has horrifying hallucinations of monsters and trees with faces.  I really enjoyed this story.  There wasn’t a single time throughout it where I wasn’t on edge and waiting to see what happens next.  I think it was very well written and put together.  I am so confused by the ending, and that might be on purpose, but I genuinely don’t understand what happened.  Was it all a hallucination?  Did he die?  Why is he staying?  Was it a dream?

This story is about a man painting from life in New York City.  He becomes fascinated with a woman in a green sweater, but loses her in the crowd.  He later finds himself in charge of a lost little girl named Mia.  They spend some time together trying to find her parents, and it is later revealed to be the woman in the green sweater.  I really loved the description of everything, and the opening few sentences were really good.  I like that I originally thought that it was going to be a love story and it ended up being more about observing the beauty around you.  I guess if I did have a question it would be if the man that sat down as the distraction had greater importance than just a distraction, as he had a name.  I would suggest extending the ending so that there is more meaning rather than a very brief interaction with the woman, but I do really like the ending statement.

It is an interaction between two people in a very complicated relationship/friendship scenario and it ends up being a figment of her imagination allowing her to finally let go.  I absolutely loved it.  Not only was it written in such a way that was easy to understand and interact with the characters, but it’s also really impressive how well you can feel the characters emotions even though it is written in the third person.  When the interaction ended up being completely in her head???? Are you kidding???? Actual goose bumps.  I want to know more about what he is thinking and feeling, I know it’s from her perspective, but as a reader I’d like to know.  I genuinely have no critiques, which I know is extremely unhelpful, but I love the way it is written now and I don’t see anything that needs to be altered.  This piece is very easy, as a college student, to relate to as it takes place at our age group and is likely something we have all experienced at least partly.

This is a story about a guy and a girl who are friends but both have feelings for one another even though the guy is in a long term relationship.  It gets really complicated, and then he ends up breaking it off to be with his friend in the end.  I really liked the development of the story as it went along.  I liked the introduction of the roommates and how realistic that was.  I also really liked how easy it was to read, it was very much a type of story that I would gravitate towards on my own.  I don’t have many questions aside from do you think it would have been beneficial for us to learn a little more about the girlfriend?  I feel like that could have added more depth to the story.  I would suggest adding some possible interactions between the girl and her roommates.  As a reader I would be curious to see how they react to the whole situation between her and the guy.

This is a story about the sun and moon being star crossed lovers.  They turn into humans and meet one another and then are torn apart again by their responsibilities.  I loved the story.  It was such a creative idea and it had me deeply invested throughout the entire story.  I found myself feeling the emotions of the characters and also feeling the disappointment at the ending as they did as well.  I would like to know where the idea came from.  I also want to know the importance of the man.  Is there a deeper meaning behind him?  Or is he simply just a man that lives in the woods?  My only suggestion would be to possibly shorten the ending.  They don’t actually meet or interact until page 8.  I understand the building of tension, but it is definitely a long build up.