Story: America's Inferno

I'm finally in bed after a long day of work and school, but I can't sleep because my head is spinning with all this political propaganda that I've been hearing all day. Tomorrow is November 8th, 2016. Tomorrow is the day that America will select the next President of the United States. You would think I would have my mind made up by now, but everything is just so confusing, you know? What if I make the wrong decision? What if America makes the wrong decision? Maybe I'll just sleep on it, and make my mind up in the morning.......

"ABANDON ALL HOPE, ALL YE THAT ENTER HERE"

"Well that's a strange sign. And that's a strange door. Where am I?", I think to myself. Everything looks dark and cold. Suddenly, a spitting image of myself appears to me out of no where. "I'm your conscience", she said to me (I said to me?) "and I will be your guide as we descend into voter's hell."

"Here are your two candidates", she said to me. "As we descend into the five circles of hell, try to make up your mind about who you want to run this great country."

"This here, is your first candidate. Yes, I know she looks like a donkey.

And over here, is your second candidate. No, he's not behind the elephant. He is the elephant.

That's how things work around here. The candidates turn into their respective political symbols. That way, uninformed voters can just straight-party vote. They just look for the animals. This makes it easier on them- and now anyone can vote, regardless if they are informed about the issues or not.

Anyway, good luck. Here we go."

DENIAL: This cannot be happening. 

How are these our two candidates!? Out of all the people in America... how these two?? These two cannot control our country. These two cannot determine our fate! How did we get here? This is actually some joke... right? Right??

ANGER: This pisses me off.

Who let this happen? I will knock them right off their rocker if I ever get to meet them. Every word they say is complete propaganda- how does no one see through that? These people are a disgrace to America and Democracy!

BARGAINING: Okay, seriously, what will it take?

I'll do anything- anything at all- if anyone else will run! No takers? I've taken a Political Science class once, and I took Government in high school, I could probably be better qualified for this job. PLEASE work with me here!!

DEPRESSION: The world is over.

There is no happiness. We will never recover from this. There is no light at the end of this tunnel. We will all die alone.

ACCEPTANCE: Alright, I guess this will have to do. 

Both of you are lustful, and gluttonous, greedy, lazy, wrathful, envious, and especially prideful. You are both terrible candidates. But I know what I must do.

My conscience turned to me. "So what do you want to do? We have to catch the next train back to reality, otherwise we'll be stuck here in voter's limbo forever."

"Nah, I'm good," I said. "I'd rather stay in this hell, rather than face the one up there."

Source

Author's Note: 

I have always been fascinated by Dante's Inferno, and I was really excited to write this week and connect the election madness with Dante's descent into hell. I really wanted to include certain aspects of the original story, including the guide into hell, and the seven deadly sins. I wanted to change the circles of hell into stages of grief though, as we are all suffering a little bit (right?). I referenced this site for the five stages of grief. I referred to this site for the seven deadly sins. 

Bibliography:

From Dante's Inferno, translated by Tony Klein.

Reading B: Inferno

I love the Minotaur as a character, not sure who or what could represent it in my story. Could decend into hell (aka: voting decision) throughout story. Who will guide me - should be someone trustworthy- maybe my conscience? Rather than circles of hell, five stages of grief: link here. Conclude with the destruction of the world and everything in it OR burn the bridge back up and live in hell instead. Who will be Satan? Maybe Americans as a whole/ politics? Could experiment with a few different people here.

Satan in the last circle of hell.

Source

Bibliography:
From Dante's Inferno from Dante's Divine Comedy, translated by Tony Kline.

Reading A: Inferno

I chose this unit because I've always been fascinated with Dante's Inferno- I know I can find a great story from this! I might want to do an election style story, to keep in context with my reality.
Right off the bat, I think it's interesting that this is in first person. I feel like I'll be able to connect with the characters better this way. I could create a character that used to be human, but is no longer, and is now turned into an animal (election candidates turning into animals). Virgil guided him through hell- someone guiding me through election hell. "Forsake all Hope, All You That Enter Here" is a great way to start this hellish piece. I could include getting stuck in Limbo, where you have to forever justify your election decision, and never escape the election. Meet people along the way that mislead me and interfere with my decision. I could name the sinners, and call out everything the candidates did. How each candidate represents the seven deadly sins. 

Nine Circles of Hell

Source

Bibliography:
Dante's Inferno from Dante's Divine Comedy, translated by Tony Kline

Story Planning: A Riddle for the Fall

Source Notes:
"fell down a well"
- I wanted to expand this action and create a story where the main character is reflecting on things as he is falling down a well, as Alice said it was a very long fall
- I wanted to include things about where he came from and the actions leading up to him falling down the well
- I wanted to include the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" to further allude to Alice in Wonderland, him hypothesizing about it the whole way down

Character Sketches:
The man falling down the well
- curious man, easily distracted by his own thoughts
- reflecting on the riddle while falling rather than panicking about actually falling

Source

Research:
- riddle about raven and writing desk has been 'answered' many times
- some of my favorite theories include:
"Because they are both used to carri-on de-composition"
"Because there is a 'b' in both"
"Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and is never put with the wrong end in front!"
(Source here)
- there's a pub that is called the 'raven' in London, where it has been said that Carroll used to write there, perhaps this is the answer or related to the answer
- maybe there is no answer at all, and he intended for us all to hypothesize our own answers

Writing goals:
- I want to expand on my stories more and make the length of them greater, but sometimes I experience writer's block and I may benefit by saving my story and re-visiting it later to revise and expand

Final Paragraph:
Perhaps I'll never really know why a raven is like a writing desk. Or, at least, I'll never know the original intended answer. I wonder how long this fall is- I'm surely near New Zealand by now... or is it Sydney? Maybe I'll find out. Maybe I'll never kn---

Bibliography:
From Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

Reading B: Alice in Wonderland

Source

A Mad Tea- Party
-Dormouse
-arguing about civility
-Why is a raven like a writing desk?
+include this in my story/ man falling
-speaking english but not making sense
-'beat time'
-imaginative Alice

The Queen's Croquet Ground
-gardeners painting rose tree
-cards
-elaborate entrance
-"off with their heads"
-playing croquet with a flamingoes and other animals
-tried to behead the cat

Who Stole the Tarts?
-jury/jurors of creatures
-witness to whoever stole tarts
-Mad Hatter
-Im a poor man
-cook next witness
-called Alice

Alice's Evidence
-she grew during court
-against Knave
-pun
-sentencing
-Alice's sister woke her up

From Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

Reading A: Alice in Wonderland

Down the Rabbit Hole
-Alice loves pictures and conversations in books
-White rabbit ran by
-fell down the well
+could write a story and tell it as a man is falling down a well
-asked herself silly questions
+write about how he got there, what he would do if he lived
-tried the small golden key
+could write amelia bedelia style and take things literally
-drink me
-eat me
-talking nonsense

Advice from A Caterpillar
-"Who are YOU"
-strange poem about young and old
+write about a shrinking man
-pigeon thought she was serpent

Pig and Pepper
-livery or fish
+could get a strange package, wonder about it, benign
-pepper in the air
-strange poem
-baby pig
-met cheshire cat
-'we're all mad here'
-grin without a cat

Source

From Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

Story: The Invisible Giant

So, before you understand my story, you need to understand some things about me.
Firstly, I am a giant.
No, really, I'm massive. When I'm standing tall, I'm at least 7 feet taller than the Empire State Building. 
Which I've never actually seen, by the way.
Secondly, I am invisible.
No, really, no one can see me. I've tried to get the attention of people my whole life, to let them know that I'm here to make their lives just a little more tolerable, but to no avail. No one has ever been able to see me.
That isn't to say that they haven't ever sensed me, though.

My whole life, I have wondered where I came from. Did I have a family, like these people that I have been desperately trying to get the attention of for so many years? Did I have a purpose?
I could let all this 'unknowing' make me sour and depressed, but I can't do that. I just can't. 
Not when there are things to be done. 

Have you ever wondered how you usually come this close to hitting squirrels, but always manage to stop in time?
That was me.
Have you ever wondered how sometime you have the perfect amount of change to buy that vending machine Coke for lunch?
That was also me.
Have you ever wondered how you can drop that iPhone onto concrete over and over again, and it only breaks one time out of ten?
That's not that $50 phone case that you ordered on Amazon. That's me.

Now the times that you do hit that poor squirrel, or the times that you don't have that extra 30 cents for that Coke, or when you crack your iPhone after you drop it on carpet, those times I'm helping someone else. I'm j trying to make things a little more fair around here.

I intervene in lives everyday, but I'm never noticed at all. I can tell you that without me, there is a lot more chaos in the world. Getting 'heads' on a coin flip actually doesn't have a probability of 1/2, by the way.

Sometimes, I like to swim the Pacific Ocean and intervene between the sharks and the minnows. Sometimes, for fun, I like to shave icebergs into snow cones. I like to go to Vegas on vacation, and make sure that some people roll their die just right. I like to make people and animals happy, really. Or, at least, make their lives less inconvenienced.

I'm not 'karma' or 'luck' or 'divine intervention' or anything like that. I'm just a regular dude. Kinda. Except for the 'giant' and 'invisible' thing. Whatever.

Anyway, I'm not telling you this for any praise from you. I just want you to know that, while I can't keep every minor inconvenience out of your life, I'm looking out for all of you. 

Source

Author's Note:
In the original story, Alice is an 'invisible' giant to the Red King, and she freaks him out when she lifts him up and puts him on a table.

Bibliography:
From Lewis Carroll's Alice in  Wonderland.