Manav Komal

     To begin, the circus in the story, "The Night Circus" is strange,  and it's not what a typical circus would look like. The circus is called Le Cirque de Reves. It has an unusual color palette consisting of black, silver and white and only opens at night. Our two characters, Prospero and Alexander compete with each other throughout the story in order to find out who is the strongest. In the story, there are several themes involving magic, love, rivalry, and commitment         Magic is one of the biggest themes in the story. While our protagonists have a serious rivalry with one another, we see how the characters in the story react to the idea of magic. They seem to be scared of it, but also are fascinated with it. This reaction seems to be legitimate, and a reaction that a majority of people in real life would have towards magic, similarly to aliens or other supernatural experiences. When people visit the circus, they use cards to read into the future. It seems that m

 The Hobbit was a story I enjoyed both reading and watching as a film series. The character Bilbo Baggins is one of the most compelling characters in the story because of his character arc through the course of the story. His development as a character was really fun to explore because at first, he is this humble little hobbit who minds his business and secludes himself from others. Bilbo's home in Hobbiton is his safe place and he has lived there for his whole life. when he is offered a job by the dwarves to be their personal burglar, his whole world changes. He acquires a sword, encounters goblins and monsters that he must fight off, and is tasked with stealing the Arkenstone, a prized possession among dwarf kings in the musty mountain. At the end of the story, Bilbo is a different hobbit. He does not return the same, and the other hobbits in Hobbiton seem to lose respect for him. He is not worried about it and seems to have grown as a better hobbit from his long, dangerous quest

 Akata Witch - Nnedi Okafor Akata Witch is a tale about a 12 year old girl named Sunny. What makes her such an interesting character is her weakness to the sun due to her albinism. This struck me as something a witch would experience. It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch, accidentally killing her.  I like Sunny's name, as it's really forwardly, ironically directed to the story. Her name is Sunny, but she can't enjoy the sun! I see Sunny as an underdog character. She is an intelligent girl, but is bullied by her peers because of her appearance and her sex. this story reminded me of Peter Parker's character in the Spider-man stories, a young intelligent underdog character who is good at science. He is bullied for being a nerd, but acquires super-human powers. In the case of every Spider-man story, he uses his powers for good. Sunny can cast spells, create potions, and summon spirits. She also has this very unique con

  "The Unnamable" is a short story about a fiction writer who meets his friend Joel Manton, who talks to the narrator about an entity that haunts the area. It seemed like this story was not a weird tale itself, but rather a discussion about weird tales until later in the story when the two characters become the victims of an attack. I liked this story because we are placed in a position where it feels like a "campfire story" of two friends chatting the night away. We are given a description of this entity that is said to be haunting the area, but we never actually see him at first. He is just a rumor, or something most people would just brush off. I also really liked the creature's devil like appearance, with horns and hooves. Imagining this creature in real life brings the fear to life! I also liked the setting the story took place in, an old house on Meadow Hill near a cemetery. Later in the story, this unnamed entity attacks both of our characters, Carter and

      " A Wild Sheep Chase" feels like a spiritual journey we are on with the unnamed narrator in which we learn that his life in in shambles. he works for an advertising agency in Tokyo lives a miserable lonely life. he is divorced, but has a girlfriend that works as a prostitute by night. The narrator is the victim of unfortunate events that led him to where he is in the start of the story which includes the unplanned death of his college girlfriend, and the process of splitting up with his wife which was not specified on.     The visitor that sends the narrator on the sheep chase was a very mysterious character. He is a well groomed man with an emotionless demeanor. He threatens the narrator with shutting down his ad agency and ruining his life if he does not track down this sheep. I interpreted the sheep hunt as a multi layered allegory. The sheep could signify post-war Japan because on one hand because of the many references to Japan's history. The sheep chase could

      Vampires are creatures that sustain themselves by consuming the blood of life forms. the ideology originated in the 1800's, usually in the form of corpses that have risen from the grave to feast on the living and have the ability to shape shift. What I found most interesting regarding vampires was that they were interpreted as unholy reanimations when this was not the case at all. Instead, a vampire would experience normal symptoms of death which included the dehydration of skin, bacteria buildup in the stomach, long hair and fingernails, and gas that fills the belly that makes blood and matter spew from the mouth.       The first thing that peaked my interest was the look of the vampire. In the reading, he is described as "utterly white and smooth" as well as "inanimate as a statue." He is well groomed and well dressed. this is the look that is most commonly known for the vampire. his demeanor is that of a witty, yet mysterious cartoon character whose int

I find the concept of "Frankenstein to be very interesting in regards to what the monster represents. In other words, Frankenstein is almost like a warning of how unchecked creations or innovations can have a disastrous outcome. mythical references regarded "science with superstition." In mythology, tales of  riddles, gods, and monsters were meant to explain the unexplainable. One thing I never knew was that Frankenstein is one of the first cautionary tales about artificial intelligence. the story of Frankenstein turns this superstition phenomenon into and accidental event which takes place in a laboratory in which science is responsible for instead of the supernatural. In this rendition of the story, Frankenstein is not portrayed as a terrifying monster, but rather a handsome man with black luscious locks. In some other renditions of the story, Frankenstein is portrayed as an evil creature who sets out to kill people and terrorize the one's who have wronged him. in