Kichuu
05-01-2007, 08:30 PM
This is my final paper for English 102, so it's worth 1/3 of my grade. I'm not very good at writing essays, but I seriously need a good grade on it. If someone(more the better) could review, critique, give suggestions, anything! It would be very much appreciated.
Here's what's required for this essay. It needs to be atleast 5 pages. Mine's a little over four because I'm stumped on ideas. We have to annalyze an authors style(I'm using Chris Wooding), but I don't know what else to talk about. Also, I have most of my problems in writing conclusions, so if anyone has any tips on that, please share. =) Okay, on to the essay:
CHRIS WOODING ANALYSIS
Chris Wooding, author of 18 books and several short stories, was born on February 18, 1977 in Coalville, Leicester. Before he was even in his adolescence, Wooding knew he wanted to be a writer. His career started at the young age of 18 when he got a literary agent. His first book, Crashman, was published at the age of 19. Wooding also grew up in the midlands of an ex mining town, which caused him to find refuge within books “to escape from a relatively monotonous environment during his youth”(Scholastic.com). He used them as a scapegoat into a more surreal world surrounded by fantasy and mystery. He also enjoys bad horror films which he has the “uncanny ability of being able to predict who will die and in what order after seeing only the first five minutes of these movies”(http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/chris-wooding/). These genre experiences obviously played a role in shaping Wooding's eventual style and love for fantasy, sci-fi, and horror stories, which most of his creations are. Broken Sky, a young adult fantasy is one of his earliest creations, as well as one of his most popular. In its original format, Broken Sky span over nine books, but has since been republished in a seven book format with a three book format currently in the works. The Weavers of Saramyr is the first book of a three book series known as The Braided Path. Originally it was a whole different story completely, but the editor didn't like it. She noted that 'the Weavers' were the best thing in the story, so Chris Wooding, unable to bring 'the Weavers' in sooner, threw away the original concept and rewrote the story from scratch. Thus creating The Weavers of Saramyr, which became Wooding's first adult fantasy book. Chris Wooding expands on the element of fantasy by allowing us to live through his worlds by a wide range of versatile characters.
Broken Sky deals with difficult issues throughout the series, such as race relations and resistance movements. Due to such circumstances, the characters are forced to grow up quickly. Wooding uses the war in which the main characters, Ryushi and Kia, are thrown into to allow us to see their desire for revenge, hatred, and rage, which was ignited by the slaughter of their father and betrayal of their older brother. Similar ideas are used in The Weavers of Saramyr. Like Ryushi and Kia, Kaiku lost her parents early in the story. They were poisoned, showing that betrayal played a part in their downfall, as well. Ryushi, Kia and Kaiku were all tossed out into a world in which they weren't familiar with and all wanted revenge. “Ever since he had dueled with his older brother in the dark tunnels of Ley Warren, he had been obsessed with exacting revenge for their father's death” (Broken Sky Book 4, 91). A character in The Weavers of Saramyr, even tells Kaiku, “Revenge is an unhealthy motive,” thus revealing her same desire (The Weavers of Saramyr, 45). Where Broken Sky have race relations, The Weavers of Saramyr have class relations. Within the depths of Broken Sky, the Dominions, who look human and are generally Caucasian, have a hatred for Kirins, the ash colored beings with pointed ears from Kirin Taq. “Hochi and other Dominion folk were prejudiced against Tochaa as he was a Kirin”(Takami's Keep). This is similar to the racism blacks and whites have faced in the past. They are also segregated between two 'dimensions' so contact between each other is limited as is. “Division with the eventual hope of unity” is what 'Broken Sky' stands for(Broken Sky Book 4, 157). In The Weavers of Saramyr,'there were dozens of different modes of address for different situations, each one conveyed by minute alterations in pronunciations and structure'(The Weavers of Saramyr, 15). Even animals were talked to or about in a different manner than if consulting a living being, showing the strictness of their culture. Another noticeable feature that is similar to Broken Sky, is the fact that there is something like another 'dimension' that only Weavers can asses. Weavers can use “their masks to slip beneath the weave of the world and communicate across vast distances instantaneously” (http://www.chriswooding.com/weavers_book.html). A young girl in Broken Sky is capable of transferring herself and others to either the Dominions or Kirin Taq. People like her are known as Resonants and, because of there power, are hunted down by the King to assist in his war; Whether they want to or not. Aberrants from The Weavers of Saramyr also have special powers. Instead of being hunted down in hopes of helping the war, they are considered the cause of war, therefore usually exterminated at birth. “Aberrants are feared and hated by the people of Saramyr; for two centuries they’ve been ruthlessly hunted down and killed by the Weavers”(http://www.sff.net/people/victoriastrauss/ReviewSaramyr.html). Many of Wooding's works tend to show these relations to people and how they react towards a certain race or person. “I like writing characters who totally don't care about anything except themselves” is what Chris Wooding told forum members,” Continuing, Wooding explained that “they're not good or evil, just utterly selfish and honest about it... that's kind of admirable to me, since most people are selfish and pretend they're not”(The Crooked Lanes). He uses several of these characters throughout his books, such as Whist from Broken Sky and Asara from The Weavers of Saramyr.
The setting takes place in his own carefully thought out worlds overrun with several creatures, many of which found in folklore. Banes and Wyverns are two of the many creatures that wonder the pages of Broken Sky, while demons, known as Shin-Shin, haunt the text within The Weavers of Saramyr. Years are also counted in different ways to help create the fantasy world. In Broken Sky, years are referred to as 'Winters'. “The craggy face of the Kepper Elect of Gar Jenna was impassive his grey-white hair, faded with the passing of fifty winters”(Broken Sky book 3, 100). In The Weavers of Saramyr, years are called 'Harvests'. “Kaiku was twenty harvests of age the first time she died”(The Weavers of Saramyr, 1). By doing this, Wooding is able to give you a sense of a whole new world in which you must explore to understand completely. You can feel that you're living in their world due to Wooding's carefully structured rules and races, making everything seem possible to a certain extent even though it obviously wouldn't be in our own world.
By use of Omniscient 3rd person point of view, Wooding is able to show you all views of the situations and the characters feelings about them. “She had a lot more to think about than those with only five senses”(The Weavers of Saramyr, 23). The same point of view is found in Broken Sky, as well. “It seemed to her that there were two forces fighting within her, and both had to do with pride” (Broken Sky book 4, 127). Broken Sky contained much more dialogue, than The Weavers of Saramyr due to it being directed towards young adults, who yearned for a more fast passed and direct story. The tone of Broken Sky can go from serious, due to the ongoing war and discrimination, to humor with the help of Peliqua and Gerdi. When things get tough, they can usually bare a grin and break the darker tones for a short while. The Weavers of Saramyr held much more serious and dark tones to please the adult readers. “She shook her head as she retreated, trying to deny what she saw; but the weight of truth crushed down on her, the evidence of her eyes accused” (The Weavers of Saramyr, 21). Though viewing the writing of both books as a whole, the writing seems more laid-back. The dialogue between characters, on the other hand, vary in mood and tone from character to character. Wooding tends to create a very wide range of diverse personalities.
All of the various characters that appear throughout Wooding's stories help create the world that you are viewing. By feeling the pain and suffering the characters must overcome, along with seeing the structured rules of their society, you can get a good sense of life in their interesting and unique worlds through their eyes. Since you are able to feel the experiences yourself, the story in general becomes more believable, despite it's fantasy genre. Chris Wooding knows how to create entrancing worlds and uses them to his advantage. His characters combined with his well thought out worlds make for a very entertaining and original story.
Here's what's required for this essay. It needs to be atleast 5 pages. Mine's a little over four because I'm stumped on ideas. We have to annalyze an authors style(I'm using Chris Wooding), but I don't know what else to talk about. Also, I have most of my problems in writing conclusions, so if anyone has any tips on that, please share. =) Okay, on to the essay:
CHRIS WOODING ANALYSIS
Chris Wooding, author of 18 books and several short stories, was born on February 18, 1977 in Coalville, Leicester. Before he was even in his adolescence, Wooding knew he wanted to be a writer. His career started at the young age of 18 when he got a literary agent. His first book, Crashman, was published at the age of 19. Wooding also grew up in the midlands of an ex mining town, which caused him to find refuge within books “to escape from a relatively monotonous environment during his youth”(Scholastic.com). He used them as a scapegoat into a more surreal world surrounded by fantasy and mystery. He also enjoys bad horror films which he has the “uncanny ability of being able to predict who will die and in what order after seeing only the first five minutes of these movies”(http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/chris-wooding/). These genre experiences obviously played a role in shaping Wooding's eventual style and love for fantasy, sci-fi, and horror stories, which most of his creations are. Broken Sky, a young adult fantasy is one of his earliest creations, as well as one of his most popular. In its original format, Broken Sky span over nine books, but has since been republished in a seven book format with a three book format currently in the works. The Weavers of Saramyr is the first book of a three book series known as The Braided Path. Originally it was a whole different story completely, but the editor didn't like it. She noted that 'the Weavers' were the best thing in the story, so Chris Wooding, unable to bring 'the Weavers' in sooner, threw away the original concept and rewrote the story from scratch. Thus creating The Weavers of Saramyr, which became Wooding's first adult fantasy book. Chris Wooding expands on the element of fantasy by allowing us to live through his worlds by a wide range of versatile characters.
Broken Sky deals with difficult issues throughout the series, such as race relations and resistance movements. Due to such circumstances, the characters are forced to grow up quickly. Wooding uses the war in which the main characters, Ryushi and Kia, are thrown into to allow us to see their desire for revenge, hatred, and rage, which was ignited by the slaughter of their father and betrayal of their older brother. Similar ideas are used in The Weavers of Saramyr. Like Ryushi and Kia, Kaiku lost her parents early in the story. They were poisoned, showing that betrayal played a part in their downfall, as well. Ryushi, Kia and Kaiku were all tossed out into a world in which they weren't familiar with and all wanted revenge. “Ever since he had dueled with his older brother in the dark tunnels of Ley Warren, he had been obsessed with exacting revenge for their father's death” (Broken Sky Book 4, 91). A character in The Weavers of Saramyr, even tells Kaiku, “Revenge is an unhealthy motive,” thus revealing her same desire (The Weavers of Saramyr, 45). Where Broken Sky have race relations, The Weavers of Saramyr have class relations. Within the depths of Broken Sky, the Dominions, who look human and are generally Caucasian, have a hatred for Kirins, the ash colored beings with pointed ears from Kirin Taq. “Hochi and other Dominion folk were prejudiced against Tochaa as he was a Kirin”(Takami's Keep). This is similar to the racism blacks and whites have faced in the past. They are also segregated between two 'dimensions' so contact between each other is limited as is. “Division with the eventual hope of unity” is what 'Broken Sky' stands for(Broken Sky Book 4, 157). In The Weavers of Saramyr,'there were dozens of different modes of address for different situations, each one conveyed by minute alterations in pronunciations and structure'(The Weavers of Saramyr, 15). Even animals were talked to or about in a different manner than if consulting a living being, showing the strictness of their culture. Another noticeable feature that is similar to Broken Sky, is the fact that there is something like another 'dimension' that only Weavers can asses. Weavers can use “their masks to slip beneath the weave of the world and communicate across vast distances instantaneously” (http://www.chriswooding.com/weavers_book.html). A young girl in Broken Sky is capable of transferring herself and others to either the Dominions or Kirin Taq. People like her are known as Resonants and, because of there power, are hunted down by the King to assist in his war; Whether they want to or not. Aberrants from The Weavers of Saramyr also have special powers. Instead of being hunted down in hopes of helping the war, they are considered the cause of war, therefore usually exterminated at birth. “Aberrants are feared and hated by the people of Saramyr; for two centuries they’ve been ruthlessly hunted down and killed by the Weavers”(http://www.sff.net/people/victoriastrauss/ReviewSaramyr.html). Many of Wooding's works tend to show these relations to people and how they react towards a certain race or person. “I like writing characters who totally don't care about anything except themselves” is what Chris Wooding told forum members,” Continuing, Wooding explained that “they're not good or evil, just utterly selfish and honest about it... that's kind of admirable to me, since most people are selfish and pretend they're not”(The Crooked Lanes). He uses several of these characters throughout his books, such as Whist from Broken Sky and Asara from The Weavers of Saramyr.
The setting takes place in his own carefully thought out worlds overrun with several creatures, many of which found in folklore. Banes and Wyverns are two of the many creatures that wonder the pages of Broken Sky, while demons, known as Shin-Shin, haunt the text within The Weavers of Saramyr. Years are also counted in different ways to help create the fantasy world. In Broken Sky, years are referred to as 'Winters'. “The craggy face of the Kepper Elect of Gar Jenna was impassive his grey-white hair, faded with the passing of fifty winters”(Broken Sky book 3, 100). In The Weavers of Saramyr, years are called 'Harvests'. “Kaiku was twenty harvests of age the first time she died”(The Weavers of Saramyr, 1). By doing this, Wooding is able to give you a sense of a whole new world in which you must explore to understand completely. You can feel that you're living in their world due to Wooding's carefully structured rules and races, making everything seem possible to a certain extent even though it obviously wouldn't be in our own world.
By use of Omniscient 3rd person point of view, Wooding is able to show you all views of the situations and the characters feelings about them. “She had a lot more to think about than those with only five senses”(The Weavers of Saramyr, 23). The same point of view is found in Broken Sky, as well. “It seemed to her that there were two forces fighting within her, and both had to do with pride” (Broken Sky book 4, 127). Broken Sky contained much more dialogue, than The Weavers of Saramyr due to it being directed towards young adults, who yearned for a more fast passed and direct story. The tone of Broken Sky can go from serious, due to the ongoing war and discrimination, to humor with the help of Peliqua and Gerdi. When things get tough, they can usually bare a grin and break the darker tones for a short while. The Weavers of Saramyr held much more serious and dark tones to please the adult readers. “She shook her head as she retreated, trying to deny what she saw; but the weight of truth crushed down on her, the evidence of her eyes accused” (The Weavers of Saramyr, 21). Though viewing the writing of both books as a whole, the writing seems more laid-back. The dialogue between characters, on the other hand, vary in mood and tone from character to character. Wooding tends to create a very wide range of diverse personalities.
All of the various characters that appear throughout Wooding's stories help create the world that you are viewing. By feeling the pain and suffering the characters must overcome, along with seeing the structured rules of their society, you can get a good sense of life in their interesting and unique worlds through their eyes. Since you are able to feel the experiences yourself, the story in general becomes more believable, despite it's fantasy genre. Chris Wooding knows how to create entrancing worlds and uses them to his advantage. His characters combined with his well thought out worlds make for a very entertaining and original story.