Reading Horror and Sci-Fi

 Midterm Count Books Read Week 01 - Frankenstein - (6pts) Week 02 - Interview with a Vampire - (6pts) ; Also watched the movie, had fun. Week 03 - A Wild Sheep Chase (6pts); Watched Battle Royal and was intrigued. Week 04 - Annihilation (6pts); Also watched the movie afterwards and enjoyed the visuals but did not like the adaptation as much compared to the book. Week 05 - Redlands (5pts); Afterwards watched Kiki's delivery service and Mary & the witch flower. Love it. Week 06 - The Hobbit (6pts); Had a late night LoTR marathon since it is one of my favorite franchises. Week 07 - The Night Circus (6pts); I love this book. I have not missed any class but came late to the class of September 21 but was late due to being stuck in the meeting room and had emailed you about it. Eventually the room let me into class.

  This week I am putting aside from re-reading my beloved Harry Potter and instead read Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This reading truly made me sit down and think about how much our view of a fantasy world is based on the wizarding world of Harry Potter and how us readers are used to certain norms that are not seen in the Night Circus. An example is the distinction of two worlds living together but ignoring each other as much as they can. In the Harry Potter saga we see this constantly when one compares the world of muggles compared to those of wizards and how the wizarding world is a fun club secret that only the cool kids know. And because of these two worlds basic morals are taught to children on the differences between good versus email and how not every child is born with the same privilege as others but have the same potential to be someone great. In the Night Circus these rules established by Harry Potter are blurred to the point that the reader does not feel completely t

  This week I read an all-time favorite, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was a complete pleasure to move away from my computer and grab one of my copies of book and dive into a world that always seems to comfort me. The Hobbit is not just a story of a stubborn country bumpkin going off into an adventure. It is a story that explores self-discovery and acceptance when confronted with tough situation that tests one self. Which is one of the reasons why I never miss a chance to go back and experience once again with Bilbo how it feels to leave your comfort zone and grow a bit as a person. As I am writing this, the class discussion on The Hobbit has already passed and one of the comments has kept me thinking and re-examining my favorite fantasy tale is the one discussing about the female representation in this story. As a female reader who has read and watch the saga so many times it surprises me how I never came to question the representation of females in this story. Especially after

Witches, a controversial yet popular topic especially in October when ghouls come out of hiding and us humans are intrigued by anything spooky. There are many reasons why witches are controversial but mostly it is based on history in which certain women were murdered due to their suspicions of using “dark magic” to aid them and others in their life. So, anything any woman that would break from her gender roles in any way or had a different point of view was considered a witch.     As we all know witches have been viewed in many different ways as either these horrid ugly women who are mischievous and only care about themselves or were seen as a sex icon of sorts that seduced others in her evil doing. What was in common in all these tropes is the view that these women were not to be trusted in any circumstances and were wrong in the eyes of society. This led to an evolution in where nowadays many people relate to witches and see them as an icon of rebellion for women who want to break