Sophia Holland

A stereotype is defined as " a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing" versus an archetype which is defined as " a very typical example of a certain person or thing." By these definitions, I find that the witches featured in Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones are archetypes of witches. Aunt Maria fits the nasty old woman witch, Zoe Greene fits the archetype of a crazy woman with magical powers, Elaine is the harsh, cold, and always-wearing-black witch, and Naomi (the daughter of Aunt Maria, not main character Mig) is the young girl rebelling against her mother witch.  Interestingly enough, all these archetypes could also describe female characters in power. Even "young girl rebelling against mother", as that is typically the background of a female character in power.  I think that this similar archetype-ing came about as a way to demonize women with power, whether it be magical or business. But recentl...

For this week I am going to read some H.P. Lovecraft to give legitimacy to my weird Cthulhu obsession in middle school. But before reading this I want to give a first impression on what is "weird". From our class discussion, I gathered mostly that the weird is hard to explain. A quick google search defines "weird" as something supernatural or uncanny. Uncanny is defined as "strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way." I am going to guess that the short stories I read for the new weird are going to be unsettling supernatural events, that are difficult to describe and difficult to pinpoint what makes them "weird." The first story I read was "The Unnameable." The supernatural event in this story was a local legend of a creature that no one but the victims had ever seen, and the victims could rarely describe. The town is unsettled by the legends surrounding this creature, and it's presence is very mysterious making the unn...