- Natural inclination of self preservation and protection

Character: Val

Thoughts/Connections: Val has transparently negative and low quality self perceptions about her existence. Riddled with a guilt that was strengthened over the years of her mother's disdain, shifted blame for her illness, and ultimately, her death, Val does not see herself as worthy of positive feelings toward herself or from others. She went her life always being made felt like her own idea of herself was incorrect and an underrepresentation of the "malice" her mother had imposed upon her intentions. Val has an engrained mindset that she is only capable of causing destruction and damage around her and that she draws the same energy in the direction of her loved ones. She believes the emotionally crippling narrative that her mother pushed as it is the only thing she left behind before burning herself alive, making her daughter a witness to it, and (in death) still putting it all on her daughter's shoulders.

Feeling about Theme: Moving towards theme of the human toll caused by shame and guilt

Subject: Dehumanization

Character: Calla

Thoughts/Connections: Calla is seen as an object of the entertainment/film industry -- representing nothing more to the general public than an abstract existence of a person overshadowed by the monetary and social value she is capable of providing. Her own emotions and trauma are dismissed and invalidated for the sake of people around her "improving" her craft. When the sides are weighed of what is more important, her wellbeing and opinions sink to the bottom of insignificance. To Flynn and to Marilee, she is a means of making money and reaping the benefits of wealth, power, and fame in the entertainment world without the public scrutiny of being a public figure. 

Feeling about Theme: I sense the author moving toward a grander theme of the complexity of happiness and what it means to an individual.

Are any of your citations redundant of your own prose?  If so, you don’t need both. If a citation and your prose say the same thing, edit one or the other. Your prose should contextualize and/or interpret citations, as opposed to repeat what you cite. 

Are your citations drawn from throughout the whole of the text and/or the whole of your characters’ arcs??

Are your citations successfully and smoothly integrated into your sentences?

Where your sentences include citation(s), do your sentences exhibit sentence variation? (That is: avoid relying on the same sentence structures/patterns when you cite.)

Is the novel always correctly cited?  That is, are your citations 100% accurate— no wrong words, no misspellings, no misquotes?  

Are you sure your citations impart or illustrate what you intend them to? (The “roommate test” is helpful here: test out a point and your illustration/citation by asking a roommate/reader what they think you’re saying)

Do your citations include, on the one hand, enough context (synopsis and brief reference to the plot) that your essay makes sense? 

    ... and on the other hand, not so much context that it morphs into unnecessary, bloated plot summary? 

2--3 of your direct quotes might be shorter phrases/partial sentences. The majority of your direct quotes should be full sentences (or full pieces of dialogue). 

It’s a given that you’ll also end up with some indirect quotation, paraphrase, and summary. Remember that direct quotation, indirect quotation and paraphrase all require in-text citation. 

In text citations: use page #s--skip “Williams,” since once you’ve introduced her as the author, there’s no need to keep writing her name. E-book readers: Use page #s if you have them; if you don’t, you do need to use the chapter/paragraph format, clunky as it is. If you have to use that format, those citations eat up a lot of words, so you may go over our upper limit word count by as much as 100 words. 

Also: Use Chapter 7 from They Say, I Say, to address “So what?” In your conclusion, use one of the “Templates for Establishing Why Your Claims Matter” to tell your readers why your analysis matters. 

You want to avoid/address “So what?” before your conclusion too, of course. So, think about your introduction and the body of your essay in these same terms, and write it so that any reader can answer both of the following questions as they read: “What’s going on here?” and  “Why should I care?”

Valeria is a unique model of transformation because we as readers experience her persona remain stagnant towards the other characters while knowing an interjecting, intimate look into her traumatic childhood. It is true that her circumstances shift from married to unmarried, from probationary punishment to American freedom, and from stuck to escaped. But overall, Valeria’s character remains paralyzed by the restraint of her guilt, unable to fully disclose her most influential life events to the people considered to be her family. She runs from transparency with Elliot about her confession, and runs from the reality she knows is contradictory to the narrative she has been fed her entire life. She does not challenge her burdens, but faces them without a clear direction and ultimately does what she is consistent with throughout the book: reclusing. She edges toward revelation but never reaches it.

How does this Val’s lack of change develop the theme?

Val is unable to overcome the guilt/shame/remorse of her trauma (weakness/vulnerability) and does not want anyone around her to have to, or be able to, face it too. If she cannot overcome it, how could others? So she lets it reside within the private knowledge of herself, her family, and her probation officer -- almost letting Elliot in too but leaving him before she could. She makes it clear that as much as her emotional needs are begging her to cope healthily, she is much more willing to internalize the emotional and psychological effects of keeping her deeply troubled past a complete mystery in order to preserve the untainted projection of herself (even though she was a mistress??). She keeps those around her at (calculated) bay, controlling how much personal information is known and is not.

 'I wasn’t going to tell you,' she said, her voice muffled. 'Not ever. I knew I shouldn’t. But.' She lifted her head, her forehead marked from the press of her kneecaps. 'I wanted you to know—' ... '—a little ,' she interrupted. 'I wanted you to know a little. Can you be content with knowing only a little?'"

CHAPTER 5  //  PAGE 46

CHAPTER 6 // PAGE 60

How does Calla Begin?
Calla’s character begins (as a real character and just a name-drop) when Pearl is given a special job assignment to administer and record the results of a daily Apricity test on her as she undergoes “filming” for a new project. She is a bubbly, high energy, clearly emotional-connection deprived, favorably endowed young adult who films horror movies where she is known for her iconic screams. She is a child star turned older star, who has been in the horror film industry from the age of 14. She is internally gentle and displays clear desires of a compassionate ear to confide in and converse with -- opposite from the cold and “by all means necessary” type of people she has around her at all times (Marilee and Flynn)

Where does Calla end?
Calla’s character makes her final appearance on [page 88] where she and Pearl say goodbye to each other as Calla embarks on a year long break from the entertainment industry to travel and also create media/press buzz when she makes a comeback. This follows her incident of being mobbed after leaving a crowd-surrounded public pod, unprotected.

How does Calla end?
Calla’s character at the end of the novel seems to be optimistic and content with the step away from her previous, torturous (literal) conditions. But she also takes this step away from the industry with an odd, similar optimism to return to it. Transformed on the outside with new hair, new makeup, new look, and a new composure, Pearl struggles to recognize this as the girl who she had encountered just days ago, but realizes that Calla is an unpredictable personality whose ambitions, principles, and goals go dangerously beyond her ability to intervene.

How does Calla change? (or not change?)

Calla hardly changes aside from the small “rebellious” acts of independence and actual autonomy. She does change in the way that she builds a more tangible bravery against the commands of Marilee (with the support and encouragement of Pearl) but throughout her appearance in the book, she is still encapsulated by the social and behavioral constructs outlined by the modern entertainment industry that thrives off the exploitation of young talent. To her defense, she is kept legally and financially binded by the adults around her whose livelihoods depend on her continuous fame and success no matter the ethical costs. On a different note however, Calla reveals parts of her humanity and emotions when she does open up to Pearl briefly about her fears. She lets Pearl question her night screams, even subtly telling her about the experiments she is undergoing. In the end, she remains under the control of the upkeep of her public image and continues to play along.

How does this Calla’s lack of change develop the theme?

Calla’s inconsistency with her true desires demonstrate the established theme in ways that are unique to her. Calla experiences a plethora of pressures, responsibilities, reputations, and exploitations and has been experiencing them since a young age. Her public image has been carefully crafted and developed by teams of PR professionals and press experts, so her fear of perceived weakness and vulnerability also carry the weight of widespread backlash and overwhelming hate for tainting the idea of her that the public holds onto -- the general public does not like to recognize that teenage girls are humans capable of faults and weaknesses too. It is almost as if her compliance is a brave acceptance of the restrictive circumstances around her, where she has no choice but to fear perceivable vulnerability as it threatens the construction of the Calla Pax brand that is greater than her right to free will and a normal life. Calla does not feel as if she has the choice to clarify that she is not a perfect product of media consumption (even tho literally no one is perfect), so she tucks away the real emotions and trauma that have accompanied her skewed version of a childhood/adolescence to sustain her celebrity image -- so much that she genuinely begins to believe that she is doing it out of choice, and not underlying/unofficial implications. This character binded by legal fine print and a toxic upbringing that defined her as a profitable product develops the theme perfectly.

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