DE LA CRUZ, ROMELL IAN B.

R31

1) In my opinion, the Elephant Vanishes works by giving meaning to things through the actions in the story. The symbolisms in The Elephant Vanishes is a mi o! tra"itional symbolisms an" those create" by the story. In the story, a scene was set "uring a rainy night, with two people talking. This usually says that there is a sense o! seriousness an" melancholy. These things are mani!este" in the conversation between the narrator an" his ac#uaintance. $ut what is greatly mani!este" in the story are the symbolisms on change that, without the conte t o! the story, woul" mean nothing. This woul" inclu"e the elephant, its shackles an" the ol" %ookeeper. They show the ol" ways. They symboli%e the ol" ways, which are being oversha"owe" by mo"ernity, as symboli%e" by the buil"ing set to be built on the site o! the ol" %oo. I was able to connect the i"ea o! the ol" tra"itional ways to the elephant an" the ol" %ookeeper because the tra"itional ways are !ocuse" on nature an" mystery. &ature is where the ol" ways revolve aroun" while mystery, or magic, is the reason !or things une plaine". $ecause the mo"ern worl" "issua"es people !rom believing in magic, the su""en "isappearance o! the elephant con!uses people. It is not something the logical min" can go aroun" to e plaining. This is also the way we ten" to un"erstan" the ol", tra"itional ways, with scepticism an" con!usion. The shackles are there to symboli%e people trying to hol" on to yesteryears. 'ith the shackles being le!t alone a!ter the "isappearance, likewise, the people hol"ing on to the yesteryears are le!t behin" by change. The chil"ren that pass by the elephant enclosure show how the youth view the tra"itional ways, ob(ectively an" with no warmth. This is in contrast to how the people in the past typically are warm an" inviting, (ust like the %ookeeper. The chil"ren)s action mirror those o! the a"ults. They take the past !or grante" an" (ust move on with their lives. $ut when the past is in "anger, there is a sense o! con!usion in them. *o they want to live in the past or "o they want to move to the !uture+ ,ltimately, they choose to move on. This The symbolisms in The Elephant Vanishes are intertwine" an" woul" not hol" i! the other symbols are not there. The symbolisms create a "eeper meaning to the story, though not highly evi"ent at !irst glance.

-) *r. .yan /ba"01ugo)s lecture on 2abulation was an interesting one, but may have lacke" some clarity on the constraints o! what is !abulation. 3er previous master lectures were magni!icent, though there is no great amount o! new things to be learne". This lecture on !abulation, though, is a break away !rom that. 4he intro"uce" a new concept, one that I am not !amiliar with. 4he starte" by sharing what realism is. The lengthy e planation o! what realism is creates a goo" starting point !or her talk on !abulation since she uses the "e!inition o! realism to create the "e!inition o! !abulation by contrasting the two mo"es.

DE LA CRUZ, ROMELL IAN B. R31

$y #uoting ,rsula 5e 6uin, she e plains the use, or ma(esty, o! !abulation. This e planation create" a curiosity in me towar"s !abulation. 3er !irst sli"e on what !abulation is says that the most common !orm o! !abulation is the retelling o! tra"itional !airy tales. This sli"e, though, was #uite troublesome !or me as it woul" mean that there are other !orms o! !abulation. These other !orms are not e plaine", not even touche" upon, in the rest o! her lecture. / ma(or take0away !or me is the way she presente" the story The 7nes 'ho 'alk /way !rom 7melas. /s with her prior lectures, she uses a story to e plain the concepts o! the topic she is "iscussing. $ut what makes it a take0away is the !act that not knowing the story makes the un"erstan"ing o! !abulation "i!!icult. 8ou are struggling to keep up with the story to un"erstan" the concepts, since she is also re!erring to the story constantly. 3er answers to the #uestions, though, are e cellent, as always.