Well, I didn't expect to give all this mumble jumble on my feelings. I just wanted to post my cumulative project here because I liked what I wrote (even though my teacher didn't) and delete if off my computer (my computer is getting slow lately).
Emily Giffin’s Profile
By EssSee
Emily Giffin is an author who topped Best Seller’s lists. Her books have done so well leading one made into a movie, “Something Borrowed”. These accomplishments did not come so easily. Emily worked her way into becoming a writer and a good one too. First, a writer needs passion and Emily had it since childhood. “The Little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett influenced her goal to become an author. Growing up, Emily practiced in a journal, also writing stories and poems. (Rachelle Hruska) (emilygiffin.com) However, the constant writing did not lead her to a writing career immediately. Emily unhappily practiced law for years and decided to quit. She then followed her dreams and became a writer. She moved to London to write her first novel and was determined to complete it in a year. After the first book was published, deadlines were given to her from her publisher. (Rachelle Hruska) They were usually around a year and Emily finished her pieces on time. (Cindy) This hard work takes discipline since being an author isn’t “a nine to five” job. Emily writes four to five hours every day with two days off per week. (Katie Hahn) She usually writes in chapters and edits them before starting the next one. (Rachelle Hruska)
Emily starts her books with some knowledge of how they will turn out. She likes to write stories that women in their twenties can relate to. (Rachelle Hruska) Her novels touch sensitive themes such as poisonous female friendships, cheating, forgiveness, taking chances and much more. (Elizabeth Tucker, pg 1) All her published work so far has been written in first person, with some of Emily’s personal experiences. This way, Emily could fully express the characters and understand them. (Heather Chaet) Then, her characters are fully developed and real. (Cindy) Emily likes to place her characters into difficult situations and drive the plot with relationships. (Elizabeth Tucker, pg 1) Dialogues would be particularly important and thankfully, Emily enjoys writing them because they come naturally to her. Though Emily has a natural talent with words, she believes that her success is from persistent of wanting to be an author. (Rachelle Hruska) Now, she wants to write screenplays and is collaborating on one with a friend. It has been a good experience for Emily Giffin so far. (Heather Cheat)
Work Cited
Chaet, Heather. “HEART TO HEART.” New York Family. 19 Nov 2010. 25 April 2011
Cindy. Emily Giffin, Something Borrowed & Something Blue. 19 May 2006. Conversations w/
Famous Writers. 25 April 2011
borrowed.html>
“faq.” Emily Giffin. 2010. 25 April 2011 < http://www.emilygiffin.com/author_timeline.php>
Hahn, Katie. “Q&A With Emily Giffin.” Emily giffin. 25 April 2011 <
http://www.emilygiffin.com/press/051026TheState.html>
Hruska, Rachelle. “Interview With NY Times Best Selling Author Emily Giffin.” Guest of a
Guest. 16 Jun 2008. 25 April 2011
emily-giffin/>
“timeline.” Emily Giffin. 2010. 25 April 2011 <
http://www.emilygiffin.com/author_timeline.php>
Tucker, Elizabeth. “Author Emily Giffin Gets to the Heart of the Matter.” Alivemag. 10 Jun
2010: 1. 25 April 2011
<http://www.alivemag.com/people/sub_people_article.cfm?ref=230&ref2=4&story=Author-Emily-Giffin-Gets-to-the-Heart-of-the-Matter>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Something Borrowed Journal Response on Content
By EssSee
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin is a novel that explores topics close to home. It is about a thirty year old woman, Rachel, who sleeps with her best friend’s fiancé, Dexter, while drunk. Other than this situation, almost every female can relate to Rachel. Though she did commit a frowned upon act, she tried to justify it by thinking of all the times her best friend, Darcy, wasn’t being a good person. For example, when they were kids, Darcy seduced Rachel’s crush, Ethan, knowing that Rachel liked him for a long time. Rachel’s opinion on it is, “Perhaps she [Darcy] did it because she really did change her mind about him [that she suddenly liked him]; that’s what I told myself so I would stop hating her. But more likely Darcy took Ethan just to show me that she could.” (Emily Giffin, pg 21) Rachel’s self justification exposes their love and hate relationship. Let’s be honest, everyone experienced or will experience this type of relationship at some point in their life. It can be with a companion, sibling, parent or like this story, a friend. These relationships form from an unexplainable bond with a negative undertone to it such as secret competitions between two people. This aspect of the story is particularly intriguing since its taboo to admit you have a friend that you resent. Who really likes to admit they want to be better looking, smarter, and richer than their best friend?
Another component of Something Borrowed that’s relatable is the characters. Rachel is the cookie cutter good girl. She, “got straight As in high school, went to college, graduated, magna cum laude, took the LSAT, went straight to law school and to a big law firm after that.” (Emily Giffin, pg 6) Darcy is the gal everyone knows of. She is the confident party girl and she needs all the attention. Needless to say, every female out there can recognize a Darcy. You either love or hate her. She can be annoying when she is desperately screaming for attention or appreciated when she stands up to a mean girl for you. In the end, a person is not about one thing. Humans are made up of the good (Rachel) and the “bad” (Darcy) so both characters may bring out a side of the reader.
The most enjoyable development in the story is Rachel’s process of self-discovery as she needs to choose between self-fulfillment by pursuing potential true love or loyalty to a friend. Both of these choices have high stakes and as she leans onto an unexpected side, Rachel discovers a more confident self. In Rachel’s words, “I find myself talking in the girly, whiny way that Darcy has perfected,” (Emily Giffin, pg 48). During Rachel’s journey of figuring things out, the suspense grows when there is more of an understanding of grey in a world that we like to keep black and white.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin Journal Response On Style
By EssSee
Based on Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed, her goals of writing seems to be to tease readers’ morals. The story starts with juxtaposition between the two characters, Rachel and Darcy. For example, “Darcy had double-pierced ears and a sibling—even if it was just a brother, it was better than being an only child as I was.” (Emily Giffin, pg 1)There is a tone of resentment and jealousy. Having the juxtaposition created from the start, sides are established immediately for the readers to choose. Setting aside the fact that Darcy is a victim of betrayal, Giffin develops Darcy’s character into someone we should dislike. She uses the technique of showing what others think about her. As Darcy was dancing on a bar, it is commented that Dexter can’t “decide whether to be amused or annoyed”. (Emily Giffin, pg 7) In addition, negative denotations are used to describe Darcy such as disdainful. (Emily Giffin, pg 5)
Emily uses other strategies to develop her characters. She gives examples to prove who they are. Ethan is depicted as a man who didn’t change from when he was a child by having the “cherub cheeks that turn pink in the cold” that also did the same in fifth grade. (Emily Giffin, pg 92) In addition, providing examples avoid characters from being flat. Rachel is the best executed character since the book is written in first person as her. Thus, the language in the book is the way she would speak if she spoke all the time and freely. At times, repetition occurs and it gives an idea of Rachel’s level of emotion. For instance, she declares, “I avoid him when he is alone, avoid him when he is with Darcy. Avoid dwelling on him and the Incident.” (Emily Giffin, pg 82) This shows the extent of her fear on confronting her feelings. Repetition also gives the character a voice because it’s realistic to repeat something that’s bothering you.
Emily uses allusions and analogies to give the story line dimension. Once, allusion set the time of the story line and defined the target audience. When Rachel was thinking back of a boy from childhood, she states that she “appreciated his blond hair that reminded us of Bo Duke.” (Emily Giffin, pg19) Not everyone knows who Bo Duke is. However, if someone was immersed in pop culture during the 1980s, they would. Allusion also amplifies Rachel’s situation by comparing it to The Scarlet Letter, sharpening the drama. (Emily Giffin, pg 42) In Something Borrowed, one of the analogies gives the reader an opportunity to fully grasp a certain feeling. When Rachel revisited the night she hooked up with Dexter, she compares it with “the photographs of ex-boyfriends that you desperately want to throw away, but you can’t bring yourself to get rid of them. So instead, you store them in an old shoe box, in the back of your closet, figuring that it doesn’t have to hurt to save them. Just in case you want to open that box and remember some of the good times”. (Emily Giffin, pg 39) Analogy also speaks for Rachel’s attitude towards Darcy without having to state it directly. When Rachel answered, “‘We’ll see,’ I say, as a mother tells a child so that the child will drop the topic” to Darcy’s question, it boldly reveals how Rachel perceives Darcy to be somewhat childish. (Emily Giffin, pg 41) Emily Giffin writes complex situations using techniques that would give her work as much life as possible since there is nothing more intricate than life itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yup, so that's my project. Hope you don't find it so boring that you yawned.
♥ EssSee
PS. I'm thinking to move my fashion blog onto tumblr or just take it down. Web design is so complicated. I'm pondering the idea of making hard copies for my fashion articles. Uggh, I can't find a legit Photoshop program to download and I don't have $$$ to buy it lol. HELP!
