To be The Antagonist

The Antagonist is the story of a man Gordon Rankin, and the journey of his life. Often Rank is faced with a variety of judgment from his peers, as he is a “Hulking”(Lynn Coady) man. For a while Rank tries to live up to the expectations that those around put on him, but over time realizes he is worth so much more then an angry man. After a few years Rank stumbles upon a book written by his former friend Adam Grix, a book which exposes all of Ranks fails.  The Antagonist is a story of Rank writing a book of his life in response to his friend Adam’s story.

We all have friends who we only hang out with because they are their, not truly that they are your friends. It’s my belief that this is the case between Gordon and Adam. Would  a friend share your darkest sins to the world?  Gordon was considered a goon, a jock, and a bastard in the eyes of the public. And in Adams book this is exactly how he portrayed rank. “This bad guy. This innate criminal.” (Coady, 209)

To defend himself, Rank writes his own story.” Hey nice story you thieving bastard but guess what, I have the real story right here- so get comfortable chump!” (35)  Rank proves to readers,  that aside from his large build, and past episodes of temper, he truly is a sweet guy.  Rank helped his dad when the local teenagers would loiter in his store, he would help woman when other men abused and harassed them sexually, and he would never hurt anybody unless he felt that was the only option.

As humans we judge, Lynn Coady uses Gordon Rankin to prove not everything is what it seems. By looking beyond the surface of “Rankenstine” (Lynn Coady) we discover a gentle giant. Further proving one should not judge a book by its cover or by listening to the words of another.

 

My Final Plan

My final plan as part of my 4U english course is going to involve three parts. But the majority of it will revolve around the themes that  are represent in Lynn Coadys The Antagonist.

Thesis: Through the story of Gordon Rankin Jr, it is evident that you should not judge a person by its characters or the words of another.

 

I plan to prove my thesis through a persuasive essay.

• I will use quotes to support ideas
• I will use rhetorical devises to prove my ideas
• I will challenge you my readers to reevaluate your first thoughts when seeing a person.

I will do this by using three types of communication methods

Blog Post

• present my ideas using humor and pictures.
• allow reader response
• convey my point in a formal situation
• Give an overall summary to The Antagonist

Podcast

• I will use music to keep my readers interested in what i will be saying
• I will be able to give my opinion
• I will be able to talk to you about life events that can relate to The Antagonist.

Concept Map

• Provide an understanding to how Judgments can make a person look
• examine the different forms of judgment used in the antagonist

“Hate is not the opposite of love” (Coady 334)

After finishing Lynn Coadys novel the antagonist, the best way to respond is using the Reader Response Theory. Lynn Coady used a bunch of realistic problems to prove to readers that not everyone is what they look like. Gordon Rankin was a giant man, he often scared and intimidated those around him,  yet had the sweetest intention the whole novel. Gordon always tried to help his father when the drug dealers would come to his ice cream shop. Gordon would always stand up for his mother when his father was being highly insulting and always did his best when perusing a better life.In a way the comedy in The Antagonist helps me believe that even though all the horrible things I’m experiencing in life right now, eventually it will turn around and something good will come about it. “After this everything changes” (324)

The Antagonist Part 3

It is assumed since Gordon Rankin is the antagonist, Adam Grix is the protagonist. But do protagonist generally get described to be “an asshole about women”. (Coady 202)?  The majority of the book looks at women in two ways, the virgin and the whore. The virgin’s in Gordon’s life were people like his mother, and his once girlfriend Kirsten and a lady named Beth. All three ladies  kept Gordon on the right path. Well half the book shows woman as nothing more than sex objects, Gordon proves that Woman are strong and always see the best in people even when they bring out the worst in people. “That’s not what Sylvia meant by the everything changes. At the time, however. I didn’t understand exactly what she meant. She meant, it took me years to understand, that she was leaving Gord. She and I, that is. The thing I always wanted; my ultimate, never-spoken wish. Which of course is what ended up happening anyways” (325)

 

The Antagonist part 2

Upon Further reading I have definitely solved our last puzzle as to what the message of the Antagonist truly is about not judging a character just by there looks, or from what other people say. When googling the definition of  Antagonist it was described to be someone who is an opposite of a main character. This fits the book because he’s trying to prove he is not what his friend Adam wrote him to be in his own book.  And like in every good book you have a villain; Adam and a hero; Gordon. I find Adam to play the villain in this novel because he stole  the life story of Gordon Rankin  and used it to his advantage opposed to asking Gordon if it was okay. Gordon is the hero of this novel because hes trying to prove whats truthful in all the lies. “Adam”, he says “Will you stop lying with your eyes closed like your hoping someone comes along and cuts your throat?”.  To be fair this makes me believe we will find at some point Adam and Gordon will engage in a heated conversation where Gordon is able to prove whats truthful to his readers. Christ is also referenced a lot in the novel as a savior. He saved the broken and made them good again.  Gordon believes god is the help he’s been looking for all along and mentions this in every aspect of his life story.

The Antagonist Part 1

If anyone has read The Antagonist they would know its a comedic novel written to show the true life story of Gordon Rankin.  Lynn Coady is the author of the Antagonist as well as Hell going: stories, and Mean Boy. So fat  in the Antagonist we have learned (or it’s been implied) that main character Gordon Rank has a deep anger for once friend Adam Grix who stole the life of Gordon, both bad and good, and turned it into a  novel. In turn Gordon has decide to write his own novel about his life. Personally we can all relate to this because I’m sure that at some point in life, you, my readers, have been involved in some sort of false rumor. That is what Gordon is facing making his story easily relate able. I haven’t uncovered what the main message of the book is so far, I’m feeling it will be along the lines of “don’t judge a book by its cover” or something a long the lines of that. Lynn Coady uses a lot of imagery when writing, for example when first meeting main character Gordon Rankin, he is mentioned as,  “The little bastards old enough to drive” (Coady, 11)  by his adoptive father. I think as a reader i am easily confused, this may be a side effect of my concussion from December but Coadys  writing style in this novel is very random. This may be Coadys way of proving a message or theme, but that is a puzzle we will solve upon further reading

 

  

Adnan Syed, Guilty?

https://serialpodcast.org/season-one/1/the-alibi  ( copy this link into a new page)

Baltimore, 1999, teenage boy Adnan syed was convicted of first degree murder. A murderer no one suspected. 17 years later Adnan is once again innocent until proven guilty. How? you may ask, Adnan has been given a second trial to prove his innocence. With my prior knowledge of law i know a conviction isn’t handled lightly, but i also believe as soon as knew’s dropped about Christina Gutierrez abusing her cases, immediately someone should have reviewed her cases.  This might have allowed Adnan to be free many years ago. However it isn’t until today that we are looking at such things. “retired Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin P. Welch declared the earlier convictions vacated and wrote that he was granting a new trial on the grounds that Syed’s original lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, offered “alleged ineffective assistance” in her failure to cross-examine an expert about the reliability of cell tower evidence.” (USA Today, Eversely Melanie)

Today, July 15, 2016, revisit or Adnan syed trial. My belief as well as many others, is that Adnan is innocent. I know this, listening to Serial, Reviewing content from the trial has brought me to the conclusion that Adnan is innocent. Adnan had  no one supporting him back in  1999 but today he has an attorney who will defend, and A  liable witness to prove Adnan’s alibi

. Not only this,  as mentioned in the pod cast Serial, Jay Wilds  has a wavering story of what happened that night.

I chose to convey my information through a blog post because this is my blog. I am allowed to say what I believe and anyone who disagrees can either write their own blog post or leave me a comment as too what the believe. My  back ground in law makes me think that, he was already seen  as guilty which means he is  guilty, however my big heart is pushing for the court to let this man free as world-wide we know he is innocent. what do you think. Is he finally going to be free? Or should he stay in jail forever?

Chaudry, Rabia. “Adnan Syed Is Innocent. Now Find Hae Min Lee’s Real Killer | Rabia Chaudry.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 2016. Web. 15 July 2016.

“Episode 01: The Alibi.” Serial. This American Life, n.d. Web. 15 July 2016.

Eversley, Melanie. “Lawyer: Convicted Murderer Adnan Syed Getting New Trial.” USA Today. Gannett, 2016. Web. 15 July 2016.

 

 

Investigating Media

As Kirby Ferguson said “Everything is a remix”. This is extremely evident in music  today.  To be fair there are only so many good bass lines out there for example lets take a look at Nicki Minajs Anaconda, recognize the base? That’s be cause Nikki took Sir Mixalot’s original song Baby Got Back,  and transformed it into something more hip for our current generations.

It’s not just songs that get remixed and transformed in to something original, there are movies too. A recent example would be Tarzan. Tarzan is the lovely story of  a boy raised by monkeys who falls in  love with a female scientist. In 1958, Tarzan was brought to the public as a silent movie. Now in 2016 we are viewing our 29th version of Tarzan. What makes the first movie different  from the last movie you may ask yourself. To answer your question, media is constantly improving. The first movie was a black and white silent film, now we have 3D high action, surround sound  versions of this original movie.  Not only is media changing but so are the actors, and directors being used in each film. This allows movies to be recreated over the years, though each movie follows the same story line, each movie contains something different or unique compared to the other movies.

So when we read in the news that one celebrity is suing another celebrity for copy right, what is really going on? To clarify, a celebrity must ask to use another celebrities work, just like we, students, must cite another authors work. But in media, people are going to create what is working well in society. For example the hunger games, since that story became a major movie, inspired similar novels like The selection by Kiara Cass, and Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. All three novels portray a dystopian universe, involving needing to fight for your own life. Though they follow the same type of story line, each one is individual in its writing type, and form.

After decades of music and entertainment, it’s going to be harder for musicians to create original music. To prevent from copying other people, i believe Musicians should always find perspective from other musicians. People should research the idea they have in mind before aimlessly writing. Finally as funny as it sound i believe the artist should always believe they have just copied someone else’s work. By this i mean you should always double-check before you submit your work to the public. This insures the art created is original to the writer.

What do you think? Lett me know in the comments below.

XOXO  Alex.

A, Paul. “Tarzan.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Aug. 2004. Web. 14 July 2016.

Ferguson, Kirby. “Everything Is a Remix Part 3.” Vimeo. Vimeo, 2011. Web. 14 July 2016.

Leafar-380-729250. “Tarzan Movies through the Years…” IMDb. IMDb.com, 16 May 2014. Web. 14 July 2016.

Vale, Douglas. “Sir Mix-A-Lot Feat. Nicki Minaj – Baby Got Anaconda Remix.” YouTube. YouTube, 2014. Web. 14 July 2016.

A cast for justice.

Recently I listened to a well-known podcast called Serial by Sarah Koenig. Serial is about a man named Adnan and whether or not he committed a murder in 1999. As I  plan to become a part of the legal justice system I found this podcast very interesting and would suggest it to anyone who has an interest in mysteries. Essentially the podcast Serial is Sarah announcing to the public what she discovers from Hae Min Lee murder that proves Adnan’s innocence. Personally after hearing that Adnan has been given a second trial I believe this form of investigative journalism can be very helpful when proving one’s innocence. One thing I wondered is how the family would have felt when this podcast first started to when it ended.

Something I assume, is when Sarah Koenig first started the podcast she would have had to contact Adnan’s family for permission to publicize the trial and to gather more information. There is a lot of mention about how Adnan wasn’t living the strict muslim lifestyle his parents assumed he was. I believe when Adnan’s parents found this out they would have felt mortified by the other muslim families in their community and angry at their son’s behaviour. Though a lot of this they found out during the trial process. However now that Adnan has been given a second trial

I believe  that his parents are very happy about the podcast as it might prove that their son  was innocent. And what once was life in prison is now life with his family.

I have very mixed feelings about podcasts, I have to be interested in what I’m listening to in order to pay attention. When reading it is easy to get lost in the words, but when you’re listening to a podcast you have to be interested in order to catch every detail. Personally I am not the type of person who can sit for hours on end, I have to get up and move around which makes reading easier for me then podcast. But when the book I’m reading is not my fancy I prefer listening to someone else read.  Does anyone else have a similar problem?

A major issue for people today is the inability to remember important details. This idea is portrayed in Serial. How is someone suppose to remember what they were doing at a specific time six weeks ago? I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast.  This podcast solely relies on the memory of others about what happened in 1999. It is because of this that I believe the podcast will be missing lots of information, making some of the story untrue.

First blog post

This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.