Author: Muhammad Siddiqi
Annotated Bibliography
Crime/Detective Fiction
Murder in the Rue Morgue:
The Murder in the Rue Morgue, written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841 is one of the most popular and classic crime/detecive fiction short stories. In the Murder in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allan Poe writes about an unnamed ordinary protagonist who recollects his campionionship with a strange yet intellectual man named August Dupin through their adventure to solve the mysterious murder in the rue mrgue. The short story starts off by the protagonist telling us how he and the character August Dupin had met and how their relationship had begun. Soon after, Edgar Allan Poe starts to describe August Dupin specifically through a conversation the protagonist had with August Dupin . Edgar Allan Poe uses this as an opportunity to open the general reader’s mind to the genre of crime/detective fiction specifically using logos to explain the way August Dupin thinks, acts, and feels. This use of logos creates a “exciting” moment for the general reader which allows for him to build suspense off of. After the initial introductions to the main protagonist, Edgar Allan Poe truly starts off the adventure with a run down of the case (all the preliminary details gathered by the police) while specifying that the police were overwhelmed. August Dupin determined that there had to be an answer begins to investigate the case himself while the protagonist accompanies him. Edgar Allan Poe uses August Dupin’s investigation to build on the suspense he created in the beginning of the short story while keeping the reader “excited” through his clever tone portrayed from August Dupin’s explanation of his own reasoning .
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia, written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1892, is the most iconic short story in the genre of crime/detective fiction. In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia, a unorthodoxed private detective named Sherlock Holmes with his companion Dr.Watson are hired by a mysterious client to retrieve explicit photos of the king and “The Woman” Irene Adler, which if leaked would damage the upcoming royal wedding. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia starts off with Sherlock greeting Dr.Watson after a long time . As Sherlock greets his old friend Dr. Watson he begins to deduce things about him in a rather clever yet unorthodox way. Sherlock quickly explains how he his able to come to his deductions by explaining what details he uses and what they tell him about an individual. Arthur Conan Doyle uses this opportunity to introduce to us both who the main characters are and to build suspense around Sherlock Holmes. This immediately catches the eye of the reader setting the tone for the rest of the short story. Sherlock Holmes begins to investigate the letter he receives from his mysterious client, he asks Dr. Watson to give the letter a look to see if he also comes to the same conclusion. As Dr. Watson inspects the letter and explains his thoughts, Sherlock rushes in and explains what he has deduced from the letter . Later, when the mysterious masked client arrives, Sherlock continues to deduce who he is by the way he dresses, his transportation method, the letter that was written to him, and many more details to come to the conclusion that he is the King of Bohemia. The client was surprised that Sherlock was able to identify him while he had a mask on. Arthur Conan Doyle uses a lot of logos specifically through Sherlock Holmes explaining his deduction to others, which helps create suspense around Sherlock Holmes himself.
Bones: The Man in the SUV
Bones: Pilot, written by Hart Hanson, is a 2005 TV drama/crime/detective fiction series that centers around Dr. Temperance Brennan or “Bones”, a forensic anthropologist working with the FBI, specifically Special Agent Booth, in order to help solve crimes. In the beginning of the episode “Pilot”, Brennan’s friend, Angela Montenegro, comes to pick her up at the airport from her trip to Guatemala. As Angela and Brennan are walking through their airport, they are being followed by a man in a black suit. After following them for a short-period of time, Dr. Temperance Brennan confronts the follower by taking him down, while other cops surround her as she supposedly takes down a homeland security agent. They take her bag to find out that she’s carrying a human skull. Hart Hanson uses a very unique scene to introduce us to the series, immediately creating suspense and diving right into the action. Brennan is later bailed out by Agent Booth, where we find out that she is a forensic anthropologist that works for the FBI under Agent Booth. Dr. Brennan is brought to a crime scene to help identify the body under a pond of a cemetary. Dr. Brennan is able to determine the age (18-22), sex (Female), and body type (Athletic: Tennis Player) by just examining the bone structure of the body. After the body is brought to the lab and tests are run, Dr. Brennan’s team is able to identify the body (Cleo Louise), the murder weapon (Hammer), a motive for murder (Cleo Louise was pregnant and rumored to have an affair with the Senator), and place of murder. Hart Hanson subtly builds suspense throughout the episode not only through logos of the lab experiments but also adding drama into the scene. The drama Hart Hanson adds to this specific episode is when Dr. Brennan choses to confront the Senator Bethlehem, Ken Thompson (Cleo Louise’s Boyfreind), and Oliver Laurier (Cleo Louise’s Stalker) on different occasions about the murder of Cleo while almost putting Agent Booth and the investigation at risk. This mix of drama with the crime/detective fiction genre allows Hart Hanson to appeal a wider audience, laid-back tv series watchers, crime/detective fiction fans, and drama genre fans.
The Silence of the Lambs:
The Silence of the Lambs is a really popular horror/crime fiction novel written by Thomas Harris in 1988, which was later turned into a movie in 1991 directed by Jonathan Demme. In The Silence of the Lambs, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is selected by Jack Crawford, the FBI’s behavioral science unit, to investigate Dr. Hannibal Lester, a psychopathic-cannibalistic-serial-killing psychiatrist, to learn more information about Buffalo Bill, a psychopathic-serial-killer. The Silence of the Lambs starts off with Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee, being called by her former professor Jack Crawford from her training, as Calrice Starling walks into Jack Crawford’s office she sees images of murder victims with part of their skins missing. Jack Crawford assigns her to investigate Dr. Lester and complete a simple questionnaire, as Clarice Starling investigates Dr. Lester, he begins to make conclusions of Clarice Starling: She isn’t really an FBI Agent based on the expiration date of her badge, she’s one of Jack Crawford’s “people”, and what lotion and perfume she usually wears just by smelling the air through the hole of his glass cell. Thomas Harris uses this conversation to introduce to us Dr. Lester’s personality and his wittiness allowing their to be suspense around Dr. Lester and Buffalo Bill. At the end he mentions one of his patients name for Clarice Starling to investigate. Clarice Realizes that the name she was given was acronym, and locates a storage unit, as she investigates the storage unit she finds a decapitated head in a jar with parts of skin missing. Clarice returns to Dr. Lester with what she has found and he offers to profile Buffalo Bill if he can see the case papers and can be transferred to a different prison where he can see the outside world.
The Dark Knight:
The Dark Knight is a crime/detective fiction movie written and produced by Christopher Nolan in 2008. In The Dark Knight, Batman, alongside Lieutenant James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, cleanse Gotham City of its criminal activity until a psychopathic criminal, called the joker, begins to take over Gotham City through his organized crime and constant run-ins with the mob, once again creating the mass criminal activity in Gotham City. The Dark Knight starts of with the scene of five clown-masked men attempting to rob a bank planned by an anonymous mastermind named the Joker, who instructs each of the robbers to kill the other when their job is done to increase each person’s share. At the end of the scene only one clown is left standing with all of the money, mysteriously revealing that he is the Joker. Christopher Nolan uses this scene to emphasize the Joker’s love for chaos which he will build off of throughout the movie. The police use this opportunity to investigate the bank to collect more evidence to persecute the mob. As their investigation continues, District Attorney Harvey Dent with the help of Batman are able to catch one of the members of the mob and get him to accept a plea deal, essentially ratting out the rest of the mob. District Attorney is able to use this and put the mob behind bars, becoming the hero of Gotham City. The Joker then begins to target Harvey Dent, James Gordon and Batman to begin his path to taking over Gotham City. As the Joker begins to target the heroes of Gotham, Christopher Nolan uses the concept of chaos (a special form of logos) as a way to create suspense from the Joker’s actions. Soon after beginning his path to taking over Gotham, the Joker is caught by Batman and Lieutenant James Gordan. While in Jail the joker was able to capture Harvey Dent and his fiance, attorney Rachel Dawes, and hold them as hostages. The Joker ends up killing Rachel Dawes while severely injuring the hero of Gotham, Harvey Dent, turning him into a criminal (called two-face) seeking vengeance for the death of his fiance. Christopher Nola’s use of chaos keeps the Batman fans as well as others on their feet throughout the movie. Christpher Nolan uses the concept of Chaos till the very end of the movie, as the famous words said by Harvey Dent ironically come to life: “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Death Note:
Death Note is one of the most popular crime/detective fiction manga/anime series, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, published in 2006. In the Death Note, honor-student Light Yagami comes across a supernatural notebook called the “Death Note”. As Light explores the contents of the notebook he discovers its ability to kill anyone whose name is written in the notebook, this power influences Light to embark on a journey to become a “god” of the world who passes rightful judgement to the criminals and those who oppose his goal. Tsugumi Ohba starts off the series by giving a little insight into who Light Yagami is (a purposeless bored high school senior honor student) to give backstory to Light Yagami’s goal and his cleverness. Soon after discovering and testing out the Death Note, Light Yagami begins to kill criminals through the use of heart attacks gaining the support of numerous people via the internet, nicknaming him as Kira. As the National Police Agency (NPA) observes the deaths of criminals by heart attacks, they are introduced to the world’s greatest yet anonymous detective, L, who immediately begins his investigation into this crime. As L initially tests Light Yagami through a stand-in broadcast in a region of Japan, Tsugumi Ohba uses this opportunity to build suspense by introducing these arch-rivals to each other through logos, specifically as L outsmarts Light Yagami by only broadcasting a fake stand-in for himself over a region of Japan to locate and learn more about Kira’s killing ability. The fact that both Kira and L have been introduced to each other but do not know of each others real name or face created even more suspense for Tsugumi Ohba to work with. Tsugumi Ohba doesn’t only do this to create suspense but also to introduce two different ideologies into the series. As the series progresses, Tsugumi Ohba poses the question: “Is it a crime to kill those who have done mischief or is it a crime to try to save those who have made their decision of causing mischief”, to the audience with each side reflecting through Kira and L in the series. This creates a new twist to the genre of crime/detective fiction as both Kira and L hunt each other down, both desiring to bring justice to the world while carrying different ideologies.
To Write Is To Read
“Fight it… Focus… Wait, what?… I can’t do this…”, I told myself as I sat at my desk with my face against the table struggling to keep my eyes open. My boredom was taking control. I could not withstand the immense power of my boredom as I slipped into my subconscious… Zzzzzzzzzzz…
A few days later I had found myself in the same situation, fighting to stay in control, yet again… Zzzzzzzzzzz… This clash continued, recurring frequently and I soon realized this was not a battle, but a war, a war that I was losing, a war that could not be contained.
“I need to conquer this…”, I thought to myself. I needed answers. I started to explore my mind, going through all of my memories for something that could give me a clue. I had finally found something. There is a saying to “fight fire with fire”, I’ve always wondered what that had meant. How could I fight fire with fire, if the fire was what I was fighting? I continued to search through my immersive collection of memories until I had tried everything I could’ve possibly imagined. I was finally ready to give up, I had officially disliked writing.
Years later I had found myself being placed into the wrong English class; Creative Writing. Through my research, I had discovered that this class required A LOT of writing. I instantly repulsed this class. I had gone to every possible length to change my class, but in the end, I was given a sickening rejection. “This year is going to be HELL!!!”, I thought. There was no way out of this class, I just had to accept my fate and face it.
As the professor discussed what the class was all about I had quickly zoned out. Every class I would fight a familiar battle with my boredom, trying not to slip into my subconscious within the first 5 minutes of class. As swiftly as I had zoned out, I was given my first assignment, my first “creative” writing piece. I stared at the prompt for hours continuing to draw a blank. The prompt asked for nothing specific, which was the problem. After hours of silence, I decided to write down random things to complete the assignment.
With each assignment, we would read an anonymous student’s piece while providing peer critique followed by a class discussion. As I read the piece written by the anonymous student I started to realize that what I wrote was completely different than what they had written. Nothing was similar in any aspect except a small relation to the prompt. “Shit… I messed up…” I thought to myself. As the semester progressed and as we read more responses I started to realize how different each one was. Even in the class discussions, each sentence was interpreted differently from each student. I was simply intrigued.
Randomly while doing some cleaning, I started to look through some of the old English portfolios that I had strangely saved over the years. I began to read each one and I saw my progression as a writer of the years. There was a common theme of a “standardized” essay format throughout the portfolios. From one assignment to another, none of them spoke my voice. I started to wonder, “Did I ever have a voice to begin with?”
As we read more and more responses throughout the semester I started to pick up on the different tools and styles my classmates used in their writing. These tools and styles were used to make their voices in their responses. I tried to imitate some of the writing tools, styles, and tricks that my classmates used to discover my writing voice. The more I tried to imitate, the closer I felt to find my writing voice.
Even though finding my writing voice is something I’m still pursuing till this day, I’ve learned so much from this experience. Out of all my years in school, I was always taught to respond to the prompt in the “standard” format. To start with a thesis, to add fluent transitioning, to include shreds of evidence, to have a conclusion, and to be as clear and concise as possible. I always thought there was only one “correct” response. Since my realization, I have been more open-minded. Reading books to discover different voices authors use, and how they go about infusing it within their text. Writing as a way of expressing myself and publishing my ideas to the world. And learning through the different lens the world has to offer.
TO READ OR NOT TO READ (Personal Experience)
“Fight it… Focus… Wait, what?… I can’t do this…”, I told myself as I sat at my desk with my face against the table struggling to keep my eyes open. My boredom had taken control over me. I could not withstand the immense power of my boredom as I slipped into my subconscious… Zzzzzzzzzzz…
A few days later I had found myself in the same situation, fighting to stay in control, yet again… Zzzzzzzzzzz… This clash continued, recurring frequently and I soon realized this was not a battle, but a war, a war that I was losing, a war that could not be contained.
“I need to conquer this…”, I thought to myself. I needed answers. I started to explore my mind, going through all of my memories for something that could give me a clue. I had finally found something. There is a saying to “fight fire with fire”, I’ve always wondered what that had meant. How could I fight the furious fire with fire, if the fire was what I was fighting, how infuriating. Surely I needed water, so I had gone to get a glass a water, preparing myself for the war that was to come. As the war drew closer, I started to throw the water at the fire. The result: Well you already know what happened there.
Response to “Mother Tongue”
Something that I found interesting in the text “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan was her relationship and experience with her mother’s “broken” English. Throughout the text, Tan mentions how she had grown up around her mother’s “broken” English and had assimilated it into her own life and was accustomed to it. I had the opposite experience, which is why I found her relationship and experience so interesting. In my family, my father speaks near to “fluent” English while my mother speaks “broken” English. From a young age I’ve always spoken to my father, as well my siblings, in English, and I’ve always spoken Urdu with my mother, but not just any Urdu, I spoke “broken” Urdu. Throughout my life, my mother relates to Tan a lot more than I do. My mother has learned and has been accustomed to my “broken” Urdu rather than me learning her “broken” English.
