Source #2 Postmodern Short Stories

Look for these and any other Postmodern Characteristics or Motifs for your Post:

To Post: 

MAKE SURE YOU ARE SIGNED IN WITH A NON-COMALISD ACCOUNT. Comal accounts cannot be anonymized. Use a burner account or an old gmail. That way, you can use your ALIAS, remaining anonymous to the broader internet. Identify which essay you intend to write about. Comment on one or more of the Postmodernist Elements listed below in Evidence & Commentary.

LABEL YOUR POST WITH YOUR ALIAS NAME AND CLASS PERIOD.

Include:

1. An INTRODUCTION that names the ESSAY & AUTHOR. The intro must also name the Postmodern elements in the essay, and the intro should include a summary of the essay.

2. EVIDENCE & COMMENTARY about two examples of POSTMODERN elements, like

   1. Magical Realism,

   2. Historiographic Metafiction,

   3. Pastiche, and

   4. Anti-Convention Paradox & Black Humor. 

(But anything works! Go nuts!) Explain how your evidence fits the definition and fits the literary tradition. Then, explain why it is significant in the text. Here's the Postmodern KF:

1. YOUR REACTIONS & OTHER WORKS this reminds you of, and how they compare/contrast. Two or three examples is ideal Share what resonates with you, what shocks you, what you have questions about, what you think its purpose is, etc. Apply the messages or ideas to your own experience with personal anecdotes (not too detailed...privacy).

2. DIGITAL GOODIES to include in your reactions...

   • Hyperlinked Titles & Images

   • Embedded Videos

   • Headings/Subheadings

   • GIFs/Images

You'll use your responses to these works and other Nerdy comments in a blogpost for your Final Exam.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

To receive credit, link your post in the Canvas Submission Container, "✍️ Source #2 - Postmodern Short Fiction.

              Here's How:                    

Copy Your Link (⛄+ "Share Post")             

In Canvas, Paste Your Link in "Website URL" and "Submit Assignment" before Monday,

                         11:59pm

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Option A (6 Points) Becky Robinson's "Baby Dolls"

Option B (10 Points) Ry Book Suraski's "Decortication of an Airplane"

Option C (8 Points) Alyssa Proujansky's "Sink Monkey"

Option D (7 Points) Eric Howerton's "Polyphemus on His Days Off"

Option E (9 Points) Tatyana Tolstaya's Unnecessary Things

Option F (6 Points) Mia Couto's "War of the Clowns"

Option G (8 Points) Kate Crosby's "Inside Where You Belong"

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Here's a model comment from Ima Nerd.

Excerpted from Kofituff 6th with Formatting & Content Updates

THE STORY….

"Monster What" Furry Puppet Studio

The story “Polyphemus On His Days Off” by Eric Howerton, gives a humorous alternative lifestyle to the cyclops from Greek mythology. Howerton rewrites this chapter of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey in a darkly hilarious act of historiographic metafiction to make Polyphemus a kind of relatable character...except the drinking part, of course...

He shows human characteristics like wearing comfy clothing when alone, or even watching Titanic.

"Titanic" MemesDaily

But, my immediate reaction to the story was surprise. I found myself unsettled to a point where I found it easier to take it unserious. However deep down it gave me that feeling that something was in fact wrong, especially when it comes to something so seemingly ordinary like free time. I find it fascinating when something we see everyday and don't give a second thought to makes it into something slightly uncanny or puts the spotlight on it in a weird way.

On days away from his parents’ lofty expectations, Polyphemus hikes lazily in the mountains or makes sand angels in the rolling desert hills. He fondles the branches of an acacia tree and plays hide and go seek with the cacti. For dinner, he orders a mélange of roasted root vegetables and eats them clumsily with a spoon. Snubbing his disco-era waterbed, he lulls himself to sleep on a mat of leaves and straw, dreaming of a rented U-Haul and the quiet drive to a vast interior plain.

I like picturing his excursion because it reminds me of spring days when I was a little kid.

Is it Just me…?

Phemus - can I call him Phemus? is undeniably a “monster” because he plays with cacti and roots for the iceberg to win, but I like to believe that he secretly enjoys the romance aspect movies like Titanic. I envision he and Celine Dion (the nails-down-a-chalkboard sounding Soprano who sings the Titanic theme song) galumphing along in their rented U-Haul on a desert road trip together. 🌵

The story presents Poly-poo, Mr. Phemie himself, as an avatar of postmodernism in all its irony, giving him a fragmented reality, and even the reinterpretation of The Odyssey.

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Here's the linked story:

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It makes me feel like there's been something I've overlooked about it in the past, and that gives the feeling of - oddly... paradoxically pleasant - discomfort.

Kind of like listening to Celine Dion singing, well, anything. But here she is singing the cringey mushy Titanic theme song. Polyphemus would definitely play his ukulele as her backup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDfGU7NMxboNE&v=fGU7NMxboNE

I think they'd be buds.