Assignment 1: Story Statement
Abby is desperately trying to salvage her marriage with Tom, whose primal lust has become an obsession; is her fight driven by fear or love for him? Dark conundrums face both Abby and Tom when an intoxicating presence makes herself known separately by the two, gifting them. Is she friend or enchanting foe?
Still working on the story statement. There is a true struggle between the Antagonist and the Protagonist throughout the novel. However, the role of the antagonist takes you for a turn at times showing potential shifts throughout the novel making you guess. A marriage is trying to be salvaged.
Assignment 2: The Antagonist
Abby is the protagonist, the stay-at-home mom in a disassociated bubble. An optimist, a writer with a naive heart of faith.
Tom is the antagonist at first glance. His surfaced dissatisfaction with his life choices has led him into a world severely detached from his wife and children seeking primal lust and convinced contentment he would gain by resetting his past accords.
But is Tom the true antagonist or is it the presence that obsessively haunts and seduces him in the woods, at the party, and on his business trips? She has become real; her taste, her touch, and her smell.
Abby’s encounter with the presence is quite different. This un explained enchanting temptress gifts her with solace, knowledge and truth. Who is the antagonist that is ripping their world apart?
Assignment 3: The Breakout title
Speak The Truth (working title)
The Doors Are Best Left Locked
The Conundrum
Assignment 4: Comparisons
Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
Just Married- Keirsten Modglin
Assignment 5: Hook Line
A mother has sacrificed herself for a role in the traditional marriage. She faces the reality of her husband’s insatiable desire to get out; while a presence makes her way into their lives. Is she pulling them apart or saving their marriage?
Assignment 6: Protagonist/Inner conflict
There are many layers of conflict in Speak The Truth. Each character wrestles with deep inner conflict, as well as the external conflict encircling Tom and Abby’s marriage.
Below is an example of arguably the deepest conflict of the protagonist, Abby. She endures a marriage of daily abuse and neglect from her husband Tom. This has caused a great build-up of resentment towards him and at times finding herself wishing, he would just disappear. However, she loves him and has a strong moral compass. At this point in the trilogy, she is not aware of the personal destruction having been in an abusive marriage, and to remain in the marriage is causing to her mental state. In the excerpt, Abby finds Tom in the bathroom, with a gun to his temple, on the verge of suicide. He has made too many poor choices, spiraling downward, and we see him here at the bottom, cracking. Her inner conflict is to allow him to continue to be abusive, knowing the upcoming divorce will be a bloodbath, and that he will try to take the kids from her out of spite, or allow him to just finally disappear from their lives forever.
. . .She swallowed the large lump in her throat, her stomach was queasy as she stood upright. Forcefully, she wiped the tears from her cheeks warning them not to return; the stained black mascara her cheeks, proving her weakness. She turned the corner into the bathroom.
A flash of fear stunned her. Gasping, her breath was knocked forcefully out of her body. She tried to speak, barely able to make words. She forced them out loudly “TOM! NO! TOM!”
Oh God, Oh God, help me! God, help me! Breathe. Breathe. Brrreeathhhe. The words shuffled in desperate cries. God, no. . .no. . . . oh God, what do I do?
He stood facing the vanity mirror. They both stood motionless staring at his reflection, frozen. The gun in his hand, gently resting on his temple. Oh God, would he turn it on her? The children. Abby desperately tried to hold in her screams, as they pushed with massive force in her throat. . .
Two roads diverged into a darkened forest, and sorry I could not travel both, But, be one traveler long I stood and looked at his face as long as I could, imagining my world without it. . .
There an array of social conflicts throughout the novel as well. Tom is experiencing conflicts at work, as well as a conflict with his interaction a “presence” that seems to take many identities; one being the woman in the woods, second being Adrienne, the intoxicating woman from the bar, and Helene, the neighbor woman from their housewarming party. Tom has many social interactions with these women, but are they real?
Assignment 7: The Setting
The setting begins in a small suburban town in Washington state. The large evergreens loom oppressively over the couples hidden war. The setting soon shifts to a Caribbean Island, where the initial inner conflicts are revealed. The island is full of ominous mystery that brings about a female presence into the novel. A game of cat and mouse ravage through the dark woods of the island. This soon shifts to a suburban small town in Mississippi. The gorgeous stately home plays a significant role in the setting of the novel, drawing much relevance to its symbolism. Mississippi is in the bayou and there is a large dark element that this plays into, with the conflicts that arise. Did the darkness of the Caribbean bleed into the bayou’s equally dark nights? Tom’s work travels play a large setting in the novel as well. Tom takes the reader into his life on the road, the loneliness of his travels, the seduction that comes into play, and the resentment it creates. Lastly, Abby takes the reader into her world, the pleasant but habitual setting that has become her identity, but in the end; South America plays a role in the setting of her liberation from the wallpapered world of suburbia.
Assignment 1: Story Statement Abby is desperately trying to salvage her marriage with Tom, whose primal lust has become an obsession; is her fight driven by fear or love for him? Dark conundrums face both Abby and Tom when an intoxicating presence makes herself known separately by the two, gifting them. Is she friend or enchanting foe? Still working on the story statement. There is a true struggle between the Antagonist and the Protagonist throughout the novel. However, the role of the antagonist takes you for a turn at times showing potential shifts throughout the novel making you guess. A marriage is trying to be salvaged. Assignment 2: The Antagonist Abby is the protagonist, the stay-at-home mom in a disassociated bubble. An optimist, a writer with a naive heart of faith. Tom is the antagonist at first glance. His surfaced dissatisfaction with his life choices has led him into a world severely detached from his wife and children seeking primal lust and convinced contentment he would gain by resetting his past accords. But is Tom the true antagonist or is it the presence that obsessively haunts and seduces him in the woods, at the party, and on his business trips? She has become real; her taste, her touch, and her smell. Abby’s encounter with the presence is quite different. This un explained enchanting temptress gifts her with solace, knowledge and truth. Who is the antagonist that is ripping their world apart? Assignment 3: The Breakout title Speak The Truth (working title) The Doors Are Best Left Locked The Conundrum Assignment 4: Comparisons Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn Just Married- Keirsten Modglin Assignment 5: Hook Line A mother has sacrificed herself for a role in the traditional marriage. She faces the reality of her husband’s insatiable desire to get out; while a presence makes her way into their lives. Is she pulling them apart or saving their marriage? Assignment 6: Protagonist/Inner conflict There are many layers of conflict in Speak The Truth. Each character wrestles with deep inner conflict, as well as the external conflict encircling Tom and Abby’s marriage. Below is an example of arguably the deepest conflict of the protagonist, Abby. She endures a marriage of daily abuse and neglect from her husband Tom. This has caused a great build-up of resentment towards him and at times finding herself wishing, he would just disappear. However, she loves him and has a strong moral compass. At this point in the trilogy, she is not aware of the personal destruction having been in an abusive marriage, and to remain in the marriage is causing to her mental state. In the excerpt, Abby finds Tom in the bathroom, with a gun to his temple, on the verge of suicide. He has made too many poor choices, spiraling downward, and we see him here at the bottom, cracking. Her inner conflict is to allow him to continue to be abusive, knowing the upcoming divorce will be a bloodbath, and that he will try to take the kids from her out of spite, or allow him to just finally disappear from their lives forever. . . .She swallowed the large lump in her throat, her stomach was queasy as she stood upright. Forcefully, she wiped the tears from her cheeks warning them not to return; the stained black mascara her cheeks, proving her weakness. She turned the corner into the bathroom. A flash of fear stunned her. Gasping, her breath was knocked forcefully out of her body. She tried to speak, barely able to make words. She forced them out loudly “TOM! NO! TOM!” Oh God, Oh God, help me! God, help me! Breathe. Breathe. Brrreeathhhe. The words shuffled in desperate cries. God, no. . .no. . . . oh God, what do I do? He stood facing the vanity mirror. They both stood motionless staring at his reflection, frozen. The gun in his hand, gently resting on his temple. Oh God, would he turn it on her? The children. Abby desperately tried to hold in her screams, as they pushed with massive force in her throat. . . Two roads diverged into a darkened forest, and sorry I could not travel both, But, be one traveler long I stood and looked at his face as long as I could, imagining my world without it. . . There an array of social conflicts throughout the novel as well. Tom is experiencing conflicts at work, as well as a conflict with his interaction a “presence” that seems to take many identities; one being the woman in the woods, second being Adrienne, the intoxicating woman from the bar, and Helene, the neighbor woman from their housewarming party. Tom has many social interactions with these women, but are they real? Assignment 7: The Setting The setting begins in a small suburban town in Washington state. The large evergreens loom oppressively over the couples hidden war. The setting soon shifts to a Caribbean Island, where the initial inner conflicts are revealed. The island is full of ominous mystery that brings about a female presence into the novel. A game of cat and mouse ravage through the dark woods of the island. This soon shifts to a suburban small town in Mississippi. The gorgeous stately home plays a significant role in the setting of the novel, drawing much relevance to its symbolism. Mississippi is in the bayou and there is a large dark element that this plays into, with the conflicts that arise. Did the darkness of the Caribbean bleed into the bayou’s equally dark nights? Tom’s work travels play a large setting in the novel as well. Tom takes the reader into his life on the road, the loneliness of his travels, the seduction that comes into play, and the resentment it creates. Lastly, Abby takes the reader into her world, the pleasant but habitual setting that has become her identity, but in the end; South America plays a role in the setting of her liberation from the wallpapered world of suburbia.