Author Function: Scriptor
Notion: Fear
The girl licks her salty
fingers whilst holding a now empty popcorn cup, and is now presented by
an enormous pink fluff of candyfloss. As smoke surrounds the arena, three tall silhouettes
enters.
She has never seen anything
like them. Their faces are almost deformed; pale, with protruding eyes and
gigantic mouths that curls up into a somewhat grotesque smile. She starts to feel
her heart pounding fiercly in her chest. One of the creatures leans over to the other
and smell a flower attached to his chest, but is instantly sprayed with water.
The audience burst into laughter as the soaked clown chases the other around
with a bat.
Exhausted, he stops right in
front of her and for a second their eyes meet. His face has started to melt but still, he gives her a smile as he emit into a rattling laughter. Unable to
control herself, she bursts into a scream. Her father unsuccessfully attempts
to calm her down as she desperately tries to crawl under the bench. The
laughter is still roaming in her head.
Her father grabs her firmly and
he makes his way out of the crowd with the hysterical girl crying at his chest,
leaving salt and candyfloss bits on his shirt.
Reflection
Academic function:
Had this text been written as
an academic text, the form of the content would have been much more formal and
objective. The topic of the text, namely fear of clowns (Coulrophobia), would
have been approached in a more scientific sense along with substantiate sources
and arguments for how and why such fear arises. Furthermore, such academic
texts would not include first person narrative or short or simple sentences,
but instead more complex, thorough sentences. Moreover, writers of academic
texts tend to write in a passive voice when stating their points. The use of
adjectives would be less and word contractions such can’t, could’ve, etc. would
be left out (Even though they don't appear in this text).
Coulrophobia is actually a relatively common fear, and once you pay it some thought, the frequency shouldn't seem too surprising. They are meant to entertain children but children have quite a colorful imagination and lack the ability to apply logic to what their minds assess. For a kid who doesn't know better, a clown probably closely ressembles the embodiment of the classic "boogeyman", which means their demeanor and inpredictability can easily tip from humor to horror. Your depiction of the clown beheld from the eye of a child is remarkedly accurate, provides insight and reminds us why clowns should remain in the world of Stephen King where they belong.
ReplyDeleteNice micro-story about a fear that seems to be gaining in quantity. The clown's original function has been forgotten and is not suitable for childish entertainment, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the remarks in your reflection piece, although there are academic genres that allow for first person testimonials, for instance in the fields of anthropology, psychology and medicine...
The scriptor function is hard to distinguish from any other prose writer. Did you work to put anything specific into your piece that a short story writer would not have?
I like your description of how it feels for a child or anyone to be afraid of clowns and this seems to be a fear which is becoming much more common. I agree with your reflections about how your text would have been a lot more different if it was written by an academic author.
ReplyDeleteI like this piece a lot. The little story created images of a circus and of the clowns. The decision to use clowns to represent fear was appropriate and relevant and it was just very nicely done.
ReplyDelete