Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Chapter 13

I have to agree that many of the things we read are political in one sense or another.

We are going to read a play soon called The Importance of Being Earnest. It is a comedy, and I think you guys will really like it, but it is very political. It is what's called a satire. That's when a writer uses comedy/humor to make a more serious point. Think Saturday Night Live--many of the great skits (especailly the political ones) are really meant to send a more serious message.

Why do you think writers disguise their points in fiction? Why not just write an essay about what they really think?

27 comments:

  1. I think the main reason they disguise them is to put them in perspective to something we can actually relate to. The author wants us to feel like we understand it then we get to the deeper meaning. One of the main reasons they don't just write an essay about what they really think is because they want to make things complicated but also they want to bring humor to it and make it entertaining.

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  2. I think writers disguise their points in fiction to get people to agree with them. If an author just wrote an essay, the audience might get bored or not even read it because it doesn't appeal to them. But, if an author uses comedy in his writing more people are going to want to read it for the humor part. This makes a bigger audience for the author to reach with his/ her message.

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  3. I think that writers make their points through fiction to intrigue their readers. I know that I would personally not choose to read an essay about something like politics, that's just plain boring. I'd rather read a suspenseful, page-turning story, with political points hidden in throughout. Plus when someone reads an essay, you just get what they think and, I know that I, would have a hard time understanding. But when it's disguised into a story that can relate to someone's life, it's more comprehendible.

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  4. I think that some writers disguise their points in fiction because it may be easier to get their point across if they use it in fiction. For instance writers can make a point in a fiction novel by exaggerating something or just making up a situation completely. Some writers may just be the type of person that would rather write something with their imagination over trying to write an essay about what they really think which can be boring.

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  5. I think writers disguise their points in fiction because it makes it a little more interesting then just coming out and writing what they think. The writers want their points to be known and adding humor or sarcasm really makes their argument worthwhile. Also writing an essay about just what they think can become really boring.

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  6. I think authors disguise the fiction to make their book more interesting. There are only a few people who would love to pick up a political or fiction book and read all 500 pages. Others like me, would rather prefer a hidden message in an interesting story. Especially if the story is updated in time and has a good plot. Its always easier for a reader to see the full theme of the book if they can relate to it.

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  7. I think they disguise their comments mainly so the reader or audience will think about them a little more. If they openly bash the person or idea some people might automatically have empathy and be biased when they decide what side they are for. This could also relate back to older days when writers had to disguise their points so they wouldn't get persecuted. Another thing might be that the comical part might keep the reader's attention longer.

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  8. I believe that authors disguise their political points in fiction so that they are still able to entertain their audience and not bore them. Sometimes readers might not even pick up a book if they know it's going to be about the author's political beliefs.

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  9. I believe authors don't just come out and say what they really think in order to avoid controversy. Sometimes it is easier to tip toe around a subject and give the reader an idea of what is going on. Author's also make up a story related to a real life experience in order to get a point across of what they really think.

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  10. I believe that some writers disguise their ideas through fiction because they don't want to just outright say it. Many ideas are pretty boring, and not many people will sit down and take the time to read essays. When they throw fiction in or some exaggeration, it makes the story more interesting and people will be more willing to read it.

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  11. I think that writers disguise their ideas through fiction because if they they just came out and said it people would judge it to fast. Also fiction is more interesting to read. A person doesn't want to read an essay about a view the writer has. They want something that will entertain them so writers use this quality in humans to get their point across.

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  12. I think writers disguise their work because they still want to entertain their readers. Some readers may know the message will be boring and not want to read it without some sort of story line or interesting things happening. Honestly, I don't want to read about serious things, I would rather read comedies or love stories.

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  13. I think writers disguise their points in fiction instead of writing an essay is because they have to get people interested in it first. Then once the reader reads it they start to get the point out of it and agree with the writer. Who wants to just read some boring essay? Not me, I'd much rather read a story then think about what message the writer is trying to convey. It is so much easier to persuade through a fiction story than to let people state their opinions on an essay. A story lets people get a look at the issue instead of just one person's opinion.

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  14. Some writers disguise their point in fiction instead of an essay is because some writers are scared the voice their "real" opinion. And writing an essay is like voicing their "real" opinion. When they write it in fiction it seems to be funny and cynical. Everyone loves smart-a-lics, at least I do. More people are interested in fiction that reading essays, so in that authors write more fiction. I agree with Jordan in her saying that a story lets people get a look at the issue instead of just one person's opinion.

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  15. I believe that the one of the reasons that Writers don't just come out and say what they really mean would primarily be because if they did that, they could easily offend certain people. However if they hide their opinions like so many of them do, it defiantly doesn't offend people as bad as it could.

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  16. I think they hid it in fiction because its more fun that way. if you have a color full story book or a grey history book of corse youd want the one that feels more comfortable.

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  17. People like to be entertained and I can tell you that I am not interested in reading a political paper, but I have read Animal Farm. Animal Farm has a lot of political things in it and its much more fun the read than an essay. It also protects the author a little bit because they are not flat out criticizing the government. What they write is up for interpretation and that gives them some protection.

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  18. I think disguising your point of view makes it more entertaining to discover the flaws of certain political figures. This way it reaches more people in the world other than just political analysts. So any normal person can pick it up, read it, enjoy it, then tell their friends about it. This way everyone gets a laugh and the author gets their point across.

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  19. I think that writers disguise their opinion in fiction because they can twist things to the way they want, they can make things absolutely absurd but it will get the point across so it makes it easier for them and makes it easier to read for the audience, because lets face it no one wants to read a boring essay they'd rather read something funny but opinionated.

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  20. I think they disguise there point because if you just flat out say this is how u think and are harsh about it, people get turned off of it very easily and they get defensive and don't want to read it anymore but if you make it funny or you kind of slide it into a piece of literature you are still making your point but for the most part not turning people off of what you are trying to say.

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  21. Most people find essays to be boring, and most people don't like to be bored. People like to be entertained, corrupt pigs taking over a farmhouse is much more interesting to read than reading a history book. George Orwell disguises the history of Russian dictatorship with an ironic story about pigs that run off the farmer in Animal Farm.

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  22. Writers use satires because serious issues are boring, plain and simple. No one whats to read about how the government should change this and that. Readers would rather read something funny and out there, and make the connection themselves.

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  23. People like funny people, and when someone famous or an author can take something that is awkward to talk about, or some serious issue and disguise it as a joke it makes people listen. Then they can have those thoughts and ideas in the back of their heads to think about. More people are attracted to jokes than they are serious issues. Its just a easy way to break the ice and allow people to talk about things.

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  24. Many people are bored with serious topics, such as politics. Not many people watch C-SPAN for the fun of it. Making a point through satire or fiction makes it interesting, and will catch the attention of most people a lot more than watching someone drone on and on about a topic in an uninteresting matter.

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  25. i think all authors are different. some say what they think but some dont because the dont want to be criticized for what they had written. but i think they disguise it in fiction because i believe it is easier to identify to us as readers

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  26. I believe writers disguise their points in fiction so as to attract a bigger audience. No offense to essays but people don't usually enjoy reading essays. But they do like reading fiction. They want to get their opinions spread and the only way to that is to tell more people. So, anyway that a writer can attract more people, they will do it. Also, sometimes the writer is trying to convey an opinion that people normally would not agree with. But, if they can distract people with fiction, they have a bigger chance of tricking people into their ideas.

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  27. Why do you think writers disguise their points in fiction? Why not just write an essay about what they really think?
    I figure writers could do this for a couple of reasons. Maybe they want to get into the readers subconscious, (Inception, see it). Maybe they don't want to be blatant about it. Maybe they realize it's far more amusing and intelligent to put an insult, to ridicule someone, in a witty manner, a well stated one, than to simply rant. Also, people are far more likely to read a story than essay. You have to keep people amused if you want to be heard. To me at least, that's just far simpler to do by story versus essay.

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