I really liked his last post, "What Would Vonnegut Think?," so I'll review it first. It contained the exact same thoughts that I had about whether Vonnegut would like our blogging project or not. I agree with Zach fully in that Vonnegut would like the idea of others spreading his ideas and beliefs, which is exactly what we are doing in this assignment. Zach wrote, "We can also feed off of each others ideas and opinions, reblogging somebody's idea while adding some of [our] own or getting inspiration off of them." I really liked his is idea of "feeding off," since we are all essentially gaining more knowledge and absorbing other students' ideas when we read them, and it all stems from a few lines from Kurt Vonnegut's mind.
I also liked the idea of "two classes worth of blogs connected to one main central blog." I didn't fully realize how many of us were participating in the project until I read that assignment, and the first thing I did was go to Mr. Lynn's central blog and check the blog list. The wealth of knowledge accessible for the whole world to use about Slaughterhouse Five was incredible, and it really helped me envision how inspirational a writer like Vonnegut could be.
A really good idea Zach had was incorporating a video into his post. Maybe its just me, but I tend to watch a lot of the "Related Videos" after finishing the video at hand. Several videos after Zach's, I have come to the conclusion that Vonnegut, who has a kind of school-teacher vibe, would be amused by the idea of a whole bunch of teenagers reflected on his writing amongst each other. He was a man with a lot to say, and I, like Zach, think that he's support the chance that we'd say whatever else he might have wanted to say.
The second post I chose to review is titled, "Slaughterhouse Five: The Movie." This was one of the only posts I did not agree with wholeheartedly, for the most part. While we both agreed that Slaughterhouse Five was an amazing book but the movie was terrible, Zach argues that it would make a great movie with the right "team of professional film makers." My opinion could be found here, and I basically say that it may be a decent movie for those who have already read the book, but it would be a terrible experience for people with no background knowledge about the story.
Zach clearly knows what he wants in the movie, mentioning CGI, music, transitions, and a team of skilled writers as being essential to make a successful movie. I also agree with those points, but I think that those factors would only be important for a Slaughterhouse Movie targeted at Slaughterhouse Five's readers. Zach thinks that 'music should change accordingly to better fit the mood," but I think that would just throw off the viewer even more. It would be too confusing to be listening to heavy metal in the midst of a war scene, and upon being hit by a stray bullet, to find yourself listening to classical Beethoven while Billy lays on his vibrating bed. The heavy metal would still echo in your ears and mind, thus throwing off the feeling of this entirely new scene.
I think that, instead, the film makers should have scenes with similar music follow each other. For example, if Billy is in the German camp and the background music was a calm, classical tune, whatever scene he travels into should also feature calm music. This would eliminate the mixed feelings and emotions that would occur with sudden changing music. Since this would occur a lot in a Slaughterhouse Movie, it would be a challenge to find the right set of music and their order. Still, it is extremely important, since music can alter entire scenes.
The third and final post I want to review is, "Assignment #5: Sorry Readers, No Life Lesson For You." I was intrigued by some of the ideas Zach said he'd like to incorporate in his novel, especially his position on morals. The following sentence really caught my attention: "[E]veryone's posts that I read had morals to them, but for me, I probably wouldn’t write a story with any meaning at all." I, too, wrote that I would do something similar, focusing my story more on the character's adventures than on teaching him lessons. This seems to be a pretty popular idea, since most of us don't learn a life lesson everyday. Still, there are always lessons to be learned, even if they aren't presented up front to the reader. For example, Zach said that he'd like his protagonist to be an underdog who always wins. This could be seen as a way for the author to show that you should never give up, no matter how lopsided things may seem.
Zach's novel would "probably be really cliché," according to himself. This doesn't like really inviting news to me, unfortunately. Some people enjoy classic tales retold again and again, however, I like unique novels, and even if a story has already been told, there are always different ways to tell the story and give the reader a whole new experience. No offense to Zach, but I don't really want to read a story about a teenager who, after overcoming obstacles as an underdog, has to deal with one final villain, and obviously end up winning.
Here's what throws me off, however. Somehow, Zach's story is going to be "nonlinear... like Vonnegut, where the story is kind of all over the place," and a "page turner." I honestly can't imagine a novel with such a cliché plot being a page turner, and writing it in a nonlinear fashion may only make it confusing while not adding much value to the book. Sorry, Zach, but I don't think this book would be a success.
Overall, I enjoyed reading Zach's blog and comparing our opinions. While they matched at times, some of our ideas also contrasted. Its definitely interesting to see how different or similar somebody's thoughts could be compared to yours while you're reading the same text.
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