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"Objective Correlative" was rather interesting to me since I'm well aware of what it's talking about—the usage of symbolism and setting to give off a certain emotion—but I wasn't aware that there was a word for such a thing. I just thought it was labeled as symbolism or something to that factor. It does allow me to fully understand the advice of "show don't tell." Telling leads the reader to believe the author thinks their audience is unable to pick up on the emotional cues and symbolism, and it feels aggravating when that happens. Takes out all the fun. And putting objective correlative into a formula helps with trying to envision the meaning of it. It's not one singular object, but a whole bunch of things that come together to form an emotion or theme.
ReplyDelete"Understanding the Objective Correlative" clears up on why such a thing is important. To me, it's the equivalent of leaving a puzzle for the reader to solve, or a small note for the audience to pick up and interpret for themselves. It's a technique that's been used for a while, and much of the time it is subconsciously used since telling instead of showing has the same impact as reciting facts from a textbook.
—Airam Sandoval
I really like the point that was made in What is the Objective Correlative? About the writers’ and poets’ and playwright’s duties “to create an emotional reaction audience, they must find a combination of images, objects, or description evoking the appropriate emotion.” I completely agree with this fact. I think that every writer’s job is to create compelling characters and dialogue in order to captivate the audience. In my opinion, this a very difficult task to do.
ReplyDeleteI also liked this point that Gingerich made; “A story has to be about something” Indeed a story must always be about something. In my opinion, every single story either a poem, a play, a short story or a novel must not only tell a compelling story, but also have an important theme or motif behind it, even if it is not explicitly stated. Readers love to find out things on their own so, hiding some meanings or theme behind a story might be the writer’s best interest. I have read several short stories that have no theme behind it and I must say I wasn’t very compelled or interested in the end. Short stories are meant to have a deep meaning behind it since they’re so short and have no room for dull or mundane sentences.
Ivanna Zamudio Trevino
In “What is the Objective Correlation,” the understanding that I have is that there is a formula in screen writing and regular writing that is used in order to get the audience to feel a certain way. It effective but definitely manipulative. It’s the same formula used in so many horror movies. Virginal Girl and her friends do something “immoral” (i.e. premarital sex, drunk driving, etc.) then slowly but surely all the friends get picked one by one until only the Love Interest (L.I.) and the Girl are left. L.I. will inevitably sacrifice himself after declaring his love in some cheesy romantic manor (whether he survives till the end varies) leaving the Girl to fulfil the “Final Girl” motif. We all know this formula, and yet it is still used. Its simple and doesn’t require much introspection in order to follow the plot and many people enjoy the simplicity. I on the other hand concur with “Understanding the Objective Correlation.” I don’t watch much television, but when I do, I want to watch something that doesn’t over-simplify things. I want an experience. A show that I very much enjoyed was A Haunting of Hill House. It involves horror, and yet also tackles the issues on mental illnesses. The show is not so much about ghosts or spirits. It’s about the mental turmoil that the characters all face. Though fantastical in nature, it is still relatable for people with mental illness.
ReplyDeleteAreli Garza
In all honesty, I didn't really enjoy "The Things they Carried" more than anything because it felt like I was just reading list. I understood the significance of the things they carried and how it illustrated their daily struggles as well as their personalities but I found the story to be very dull. It felt too wordy and like the author tried to include too many things. When it comes to stories, I tend to prefer less ambiguous topics and it never truly pulled me into it. I never felt like I was a part of the story or like it connected with me. I felt like an outsider the entire time and for this reason I feel that this story fails for someone like me. The concept is actually really interesting, and reading about Jimmy's unrequited love was probably my favorite part though I have to say that it was a bit unsettling and some what creepy.
ReplyDeleteThe two articles that we had to read proposed an interesting concept that I think I have heard of before. The objective correlative was always something out of reach for me. I always tried to include it in my writing but I never felt that I was doing it properly. I now believe it was because I didn't properly understand it. I have a slightly better understanding about it now.
Valeria Jaime
In “What is the Objective Correlation?” it is explained that writers, poets, or playwrights “must find a combination of images, objects, or description evoking the appropriate emotion.” This is something that is more difficult than it sounds. All these connections can either work just the way the writer intended them to, or it can go straight over their heads and be confused by what they just read. It can be difficult to make people feel something without exactly telling them what they are supposed to be feeling. However, when it is done right, it can make a powerful connection between the reader and the writing depending on what emotion they might be feeling.
ReplyDeleteThe Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien I believe tried to show this with each soldier having connections with their combinations of image and objects, especially with Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his lover (that is not his lover) Martha. This personally did not evoke much emotion from me. Lieutenant Cross’ fixation with Martha was disturbing. This felt more stalkerish than someone being lovesick. Nothing in this story made me feel something besides Jimmy Cross, but I am not sure if disgust was the appropriate emotion that I was supposed to be feeling.
-Angela Milan
When reading the two articles about objective correlative, there was one thing that came to mind: my best friend. I remember when I first started writing stories, and he would read them, he would tell me that “instead of telling the reader what the character is like, show the reader because it’s much more interesting that way than saying ‘oh, this is how they are.’” In What is the Objective Correlative? The author says, “the emotion originates in the combination of these phenomena when they appear together.” If we look at Ch.3, Laplante even adds on to those ideas by saying “You can’t show the entire video of your summer vacation; you have to be discriminating…Choosing your trees and rendering them precisely are the heart of all good writing.”
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to me writing stories, I have a hard time with all this advise given to me. I dream to one day write a story that will impact at least one person on this planet and when I’m excited about a story that I’m working on, I tend to want to explain everything. I don’t want the reader to miss out on details but at the same time, I don’t want to bore them either. Deciding what to describe and how to describe it is definitely my biggest struggle, but I know it just takes practice and focusing on each tool at a time instead of tackling them all at once.
As far as O’Brien’s story, I kind of found it disturbing because of the way Lieutenant Cross was describing Martha, but I will give him credit for transitioning from reality to daydreaming very naturally. In that regard, it was well written.
-Megan Cavazos
“What is the Objective Correlation?” talks about something that, in my opinion, anyone that aspires to be a writer realizes is needed after practicing for a while. A story, a play, a poem is not about what you say but the meaning behind it. To evoke emotions in the audience there’s more to do than just telling the audience what you want them to know, but explaining them with actions what is the meaning behind what is happening. When we start writing for the first time for something that is not academic, usually we tend to just say what is happening. Just the same way something will happen in a movie, but writing is not about that as T.S. Eliot said, “The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an 'objective correlative'; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion.”
ReplyDeleteThe second article talks about “Understanding the Objective Correlative”, which is similar to the first one. This one talks about the importance of the objective correlative with the audience and remarks about the importance of giving something to the audience that will put their minds to work.
Yazmin Sanchez Cortez
The writings on the Objective Collective were enlightening to understanding necessary components that make up a theme in a story. It occurs naturally and with repetition a subject as simple as a piece of paper can carry so much weight by the end of a story. From what I gathered and what I had assumed, is that these objects are low key and not meant to stand out when introduced but subtly build up throughout a narrative as it rearing its head.
ReplyDeleteThis compliments chapter three in Method and Madness where Alice LaPlante encourages righting the facts of a scene, describe the actual senses without relying on metaphors or symbols. Describing every real detail of a scene in relation to how the character feels helps build the tone while not explicitly saying how the character feels. This calls back to my time in Creative Writing when we were told to write an essay and describe the scene clearly and exact detail and letting the message build naturally as we write. I often did that in my own personal writing, describing the environment and senses and felt like I was a hack for not writing some prose about some obscure memory, but it was reassuring to know that all I have to do is write what is around me and the senses.
-Marc Fuentes
Re-reading The Things They Carried after so long was great especially via the idea of the objective correlative. The examples found in the excerpt from the novel do not limit themselves to the standard gear that the military has to carry, that would be boring to read. Ted Lavender’s list has always stuck out to me because of what he carried mentally and emotionally. From fear to tranquilizers to dope to the poncho used to wrap him when he was eventually killed, that creates an image of the character, his trials, and tribulations. I really like the idea of summing up characters of experiences through objects or feelings they have. Coming back to Ted Lavender, it was such powerful imagery when at the time of his death all the things he carried were removed. Sure, it’s standard to remove all belongings off a corpse, but knowing that he carried fears and that they were no longer a part of him is quite peaceful. Objective correlative creates a deeper, meaningful scene in these narratives. Previous to this I had only seen examples of this and had never put a name to this type of descriptive tool. I enjoyed reading the subtlety in this narrative and who knows, I may find myself employing it too.
ReplyDelete-Monica Olvera
The idea of getting lost in the details is something in my head while reading "The Things They Carried". O'Brien lists just about everything the soldiers carry with them countless times, giving weight to each one's personality, but also I think to give the reader an idea of Lt. Cross's mind. He's constantly thinking about his unrequited love and not too focused on the war in front of him. Becoming dulled to the routine and wanting for something else, like the story's details leaking in bit by bit between the repetitive lists of things they carried. Knowing that Lavender was dead so early in the story made me curious why it was treated as a focal point, only to be rolled back a bit with more detail each time his death was brought up.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding exactly what objective correlative means was informative. I think everyone knows that combining similar elements to give greater emotional impact to scenes is effective, but up until I read the article I had no idea what it was called. "Repetition is one of the strongest tools a writer has" says "Understanding the Objective Correlative" also plays into "The Things They Carried", the importance of the burdens they all bear and impact of letters sent to Cross.
-Nathan Smith
The objective correlative, as a concept, is a perfect way of telling and not showing. It allows a writer to use objects and things within the story to represent the story's themes and ideas better than if they simply had a character state them or show them. Both of the Objective Correlative articles describe and outline how best to utilize the idea, and O'Brien's story follows them almost to the letter, as if he somehow used them as a guide. His story is full of objects that his soldiers carry, repeated and impressed on us again and again, each of which represents something about the characters -- their fears, their loves, and their desires. But the objects themselves, taken all together, represent the immense emotional burden of war, which is the true main theme of the story. Without ever sitting down and saying 'War is hard', O'Brien manages to impress upon the audience the awful, terrible burden that all of these men face, which is something far, far heavier than any of the things they carried.
ReplyDelete-Nathan Phillip