Week Five & Six /Analysis Two- Formalism & Structuralism and Semiotics / Analysis Two

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Soliloquy of a Story
Who am I? WHO AM I? I live inside of your words, bleeding through your sentences. I seep into your skull and leave my brains inside of you.  You look at me, you inhale me, and I consume you.  And who do you call yourself? Who are you? WHO ARE YOU? You are a captain you say, a reader. A reader of words, a voyager of stories.  You think you can come into my home, my ocean and peacefully get by? You think that I won’t see you and grasp you and never allow you to forget? I would not allow that. I will squeeze your throat and breathe life into you as I see fit.  I will captivate you to the point where you lose yourself.  You have no power against me, you only have me. You belong to me but I belong to the world. You are now mine but not mine alone. I will capsize you, I will own you, I will hold you tight and never let you go.

Word Count: 177

Formalism Analysis

The story is the inner dialogue of a book. Not the story or the content of the book, but the emotions of the book. The story personifies the book, a symbol of knowledge, creativity, and art.  By giving this symbol a voice and life it gives a personality and opinions to the book.  The use of questions creates an intimacy with the reader and creates a participatory element to the story.  In regards to the picture, it gives the subject a voice.  The image of the octopus capsizing a ship implies a fantastical element to the book’s story.  With the visual of the scene appearing out of the book, it pursues the idea that the book is more than just a book and is a living, breathing entity.  The structure of the story addresses the idea that the book is alive and the voice is a defined speaker.  Within the idea of formalism, we may assume that the context is not the most important aspect of the story.  With this in mind, we do not need to worry about what the book has seen, how the book knows its’ place or how the book has developed its’ idea of the relationship between a reader and a piece of work.  We here are more concerned with how it is told.  The voice is commanding, challenging, and aggressive.  The power shown in the giant octopus is reflected with the tone in the piece.  The dominance is also reflected and is very defining of both the piece and the octopus. The reader is challenged, even belittled by the piece and this technique is effective in expressing the central theme.  

Word Count: 276

Total Word Count: 453