Writing is self-discovery and reading is a fantasy 📖+🖋️=❤️😍

Hey there everyone. Welcome back to my blog and hope the day seems as you wish. I’m back again with another blog to share today with all you and hope you enjoy🫰🏼❤️

So, this content is fully based on my new assignment for my Second Language Acquisition subject📚. A very interesting yet deep subject that I am studying. My purpose for today’s blog is to write my e-diary📒and also to publish that socially with all of you. Even though it is for my assignment, I do still take it seriously in being as sweet☺️, humorous🤪 to you as you all are my readers. And to add on a little fun, my last assignment based on the Phantom of the Opera 🎭received a good number of views which made me happy, therefore I hope today’s blog will be fun to read.

This assignment is to share a little thing about us (students) on our reading 📖and writing🖋️ skills. It may seem simple and sounds boring to you, but let me tell you this, I enjoy writing today because what I read gave me exposure and you are enjoying reading my blog today because you like the way the story or content is put together. See, both are related in many ways and that is why it is never boring to read or write. But, this assignment isn’t straightforward to say “Why do you like reading or writing?”, the content is totally about how I was exposed or who exposed me to both of these skills. Without further ado, I would like to get into my e-diary with all of you and let’s see what I write in there for you to read and get inspired. A short exposure on how I’m going to put this together, it will be a story that I’m going to narrate, but my diary plays the protagonist in this story. Let’s dive in. 

CHAPTER 1: Me and you

Sitting by the window side, on a cold, chilly day with the rain pouring heavily with all the ‘whoosh’ sounds from the wind, my coffee seems solid due to the coldness being still. My bed is fully made and calling me to lay, but I gaze back on the books in front of me. I look silently at how those books landed in my first look and I remember my story that needs to be recorded in my diary. “But, where did I keep it? Oh no! Did I lose it…and there you are hiding behind those thriller books”, I said to myself. Now come here, you need an introduction in my story. 

This is my e-diary (since it is savely sitting inside my laptop) and how funny it can be, some old photos are attached into it, and a few colorful sticky notes are tagged on the front page. I laughed too loud looking at a note I made that was clipped with a photograph. “Oh god! How crazy I was back then to even write this. And this picture…no way I’m showing this to someone else”, I giggled to myself. 

Oh yes, this diary holds a lot of memories about my school days, how I used to be a silly fun girl, a bully, not so smart, but whoever I am this diary knows all my secrets (but sadly it only knows me through technology effect). If I ever feel lonely, this keeps me entertained and what say, sometimes reading your own sentences with grammar error gives you the tickles in your tummy. “Now, enough of this lovely yet personal introduction about my diary, why did I pick this up? Oh yes, I need to record something valuable, which was the reason behind my writing and interest in reading”, I begin to flip the pages until it shows me an empty page. I do keep my personal thoughts in manual written form, but ever since I came across this website about e-diary it fascinates me to store in memories inside. 

CHAPTER 2: Page 39

“Wow, I'm very much impressed how all 38 pages were used for some fun stories”, I whispered softly. I took my black pen that was sitting in between some revision papers, as I love to roll the pen in between my fingers while figuring on ideas. As I figured to type my first word I thought for a moment “Oops, it is kinda embarrassing to forget the form of writing a diary, but let me see how I wrote all my previous stories. Well, none looks like it has a form, come on let me go with the flow”, I advised myself. 

Beginning the diary looks like this:

PAGE 39

PAGE 40 AND 41 (CONTINUE)

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door and I just bumped out from my writing and noticed the timing. “It is 5pm? That quick? How come I did not notice the time? My bad, I promised to bring Ollie for a walk and also my neighbor and this is what writing does to me, completely forget my reality”, I laughed at myself and packed all my things to leave the room and go for a walk. 

If you are wondering if there is more to my exploration in the world of reading and writing, just continue to the next chapter. 

CHAPTER 3: The cold and the winds that blow

Oh the weather outside is so cold and I like when it's cold and I don’t have to step outside. How bad I am. Well, the cold and the winds that blow outside reminds me of snow, when it does not snow in Malaysia. And that also reminds me of a part of the ``let it snow lyrics, “He don’t care about the cold and the winds that blow”. “Hahaha, how crazy will that be to remember this song during the rainy season”, I laughed while I took my phone to check on the notifications. 

“I almost forgot, my diary is still incomplete. I would have completed the story if it was not for the knock on my door yesterday. Well, today the weather is again compromising to finish my story or maybe I wonder if I will finish by today”, I whispered to myself. 

Taking my laptop on one hand, coffee mug and a pen on the other I headed to the living room and found Ollie rolling over the mat and she gave me a look saying “It’s cold and I don’t want to step out”. I know very well both of us are the same when no one is at home and the entire day is with us to relax and chill. I sat leaning on the couch and wondered how more cozy it could be. Sat my mug on the coffee table, opened the last page I left and began typing my words into the empty e-diary page.

PAGE 42

PAGE 43 (CONTINUE)

Now, that is enough for today, I really can’t put myself into this more because I will miss this lovely weather. Let me hope I complete this by tonight or tomorrow. There is always a tomorrow in my story…hahaha. 

Well, now the rain seems to slow down. Maybe I shall grab something at a cafe for evening snacks, visit my neighbor to give one of my story books as he was begging for it. “Diary and Ollie, make sure you two stay quiet at home till I’m back. Do not spill the beans”, I said it loud while walking into the kitchen. 

CHAPTER 4: Twinkle twinkle little star, the night seems a little far

The night is here. The sky is black covered with thick cottons, but the rain seems to have disappeared from the night. No sign of anyone walking down by the street or at home, it feels like a pin drop silent. Not sure how fast the day passed, but the only thing that is not coming to me is sleep. 

“Sleep sleep nightingale, sleep sleep close your eyes, ahhhhh-hhhaaaa”, I yawned out loud. Somehow the yawn seems to come to me, but not the sleep. I have been on my cozy bed for nearly an hour or two, rolling over, covering myself completely with the comfiest blanket, tugged by a soft teddy with me, but SLEEP is way far from my eyelids. 

A moment later, I saw a bright flash that looked like there were some fireworks in the sky. This diverted my thought and I gushed towards the window to see what it was. “Wow, lightning! It is going to rain again and you know what that means, WRITE YOUR STORY”, I said the last words out loud and rushed to grab my diary again. 

My study table is straight opposite the bed and I grabbed the chair to sit. On my table lamp and the room setting feels more cozy with the lightning outside. “Never want to drag this because if I do, I will never finish”, I giggled while searching for my pen. 

This is about writing, you are an enthusiastic person to write your story, but the day may be dull and moody you decide to shelf it. It happens to me sometimes, but today is not one of them. 

PAGE 44 AND 45

As I am closing the last part of the diary, my eyelids begin to close on itself. “Ahhhhh-hhhaaa, now reading has influenced me to yawn at my own writing. What a masterpiece to finish with”, I stretched my hands in the air and began squeezing my eyes. I looked out and saw a little star was twinkling at me and I wondered how the night seems long to me now. 

CHAPTER 5: “Where’s the thump thump?”

“Time to float”, Pennywise’s voice echoed in my ears. Hi Vikkasni, I’m Pennywise, nice to meet you. 

“No! What kind of dream was that?”, I woke up from the sleep rushingly. The clown was super close to my face and wondered why? 

“Sweetie aren’t you going out to meet your friend?’, my mom’s voice passes through the room walls. I just realized the time was 2 hours earlier than the time I scheduled it. I told my mother that I will be out in another 30 minutes. Made my bed, headed to the shower, quickly got dressed and noticed my room window was misty, so it rained through the night once I was done with my writing. Packed my bags with my story book, diary(the laptop, basically), sticky notes, a pen, phone charger, wallet and other utensils I need. Since my father is dropping me at the cafe on his way to meet his friend, I am not taking any public transport.

Walked out of the room a little messy and I noticed Ollie staring at me. Sat by her side, tickled her tummy and I said, “You are with mommy today and be a good girl, I’m sure you are not going to tell anyone that I was awake until 1 in the morning”. My thoughts were interrupted when Ollie barked and my mother noticed I was out of the room. 

“Take your breakfast sweetie and don’t make papa wait for you”, mom said while preparing my breakfast. I had breakfast with my family, last checked up and walked down the stairs with my father. Headed to our car and as I sat in the front seat and noticed the time was earlier than I told my friend to be there, so the diary is all mine at the cafe. 

As we were passing another neighborhood, my father asked me what was inside my bag as it looked heavy. “It is my thump thump papa”, I said while searching for my laptop. Where’s the thump thump? 

“Isn’t that a dialogue from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie?” Papa watches all these movies with me and by humor he remembers this dialogue. “Oh I call my laptop thump thump as it has the website known as e-diary and that internet diary contains a lot of my personal stuff, therefore this laptop symbolizes my heart beat, not sure why”, I gave a creaky look on the face. The moment we wanted to continue our story, papa told me that we were at our destination and he told me “make sure your thump thump is safe”, as he pointed down my leg, THE LAPTOP FELL DOWN. 

Told you, it is my thump thump and not satisfying to look at it below my feet. Grabbed in my hand, opened the car door, said bye bye to papa and I walked to the cafe. 

CHAPTER 6: WHAT’S THE LAST QUESTION?

This cafe is always busy, but today it seems quiet as the weather made everyone stay at home. I found a table near the window, opposite the barista. I know Syahirah was working today as it is Saturday. She is normally on the same shift and she is also my very good friend. Gives the best ‘cafe hospitality’ to all the customers and most of us know her. She walked straight to me, made a joke of the day, took my order and my other friends order and left the table. 

The smell of coffee, peaceful setting with retro set up, chilly morning, and a wonderful quote on the cafe board 'I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book’. A beautiful quote by J K Rowling. Isn’t that a coincidence to my reading passion? I took out my thump thump, placed it on the table, on the laptop, headed to the website and the right moment came when the coffee was served. 

PAGE 46 AND 47

Just the moment I have finished the last sentence, my friend walks in from my back, taps me on the shoulder. I looked at her and smiled with satisfaction that I have chosen to be an educator not because it is fun, but a purpose to serve in the education system. She began cracking jokes as I exited the e-diary website, closed my thump thump and kept it inside my bag. 

My days of sharing my stories for reading and writing seems very me. Hope to share more again in future. “A book is a gift you can open again and again”, Garrison Keillor. And that gift is always to open and see the future. 

Now that was the final part of today’s blog everyone. Hope it was nice to read my assignment in a blog form and till I see you next, if you like this blog, do read, share and comment below. Thank you and take care everyone❤️

F•R•I•E•N•D•S💛👭🏻

A big hey to all my beloved readers and I’m back again with another content for the blog. The last I remember to entertain all of you is through my assignment about the Phantom of the Opera, one great love story and it was sad too. I hope you did enjoy the masterpiece and don’t worry, I’m not back again with another assignment😅, but this is another normal, interesting and exciting thing that I would like to share with you. Before I begin, what is the topic about? 🤔

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow”. This is a quote by William Shakespeare and all I can say is that he has put through every word correctly about friends and that is what our topic is about today. Not trying to create any class impression here by saying ‘topic’🤭😛, let’s say the content is about friends and who do we consider them as in our life? I have no idea how to call my friends because there were some who I decide to keep at distance, there are some who are in an on and off relationships, so I can’t really think of it, but I can say that if you truly find friends that connects with Shakespeare’s quote then you are one lucky person to be with them. Truly I’m blessed with that kind of friends who helps me take the right decision, tells me what kind of comedic error I am and they are there through my thick and thin, not kidding. ❤️❤️❤️

So, I’m not trying to be emotional today, let’s get into what I’m about to share in this blog. For the given intro, I have said that I’m blessed and for sure all of you who are reading this or will be reading are also blessed with great friends. But, is it enough to show your gratefulness through only words? They will not ask you to do something or at least to say, they do not expect, but there should be something we do for our friends, right? If you are willing to do something for them, then this blog is all yours because I’m going to share key ways that you can do to spend time with friends. Most of you are trying to connect, “how to show our gratefulness through spending time”? Trust me, time is what all of us need now and same goes for our friends, all they need is some time with us to catch up, share some humor, entertain one another with delicious meals and more. The key here is time and that would show how grateful you are for them to be a part of your journey. 

Not wasting your TIME, let’s get into the 7 ways to spend time with your amigas/amigos. Here we go…

1. Have a movie night [in or out] 🎥🍿

Obviously when you watch a movie at the cinema, it’s going to be all silent🤫, but at least knowing how they enjoy the movie gives you a pleasant smile and at the same time they would feel that the time was well spent with you and a popcorn. It can be anywhere and believe it or not, movie night at home is even more interesting because you can laugh out loud with them🤣, drop some popcorn on their head, cry on their shoulder, enjoy action piece with some karate moves and it would be fun as you or your friends will not bother about the time. 

~ Some movie to watch

~ Snacks to munch

2. Plan out a trip to somewhere far🏂🏇

This should be a spontaneous move because as you decide to choose a special date, things will not turn out to be as planned, so take a sudden leave, pack what you have, choose somewhere no one can find you and hit the road with your friends. Maybe during this trip try out adventurous activities🪂🧗 which give chill and thrill to one another. Each of you choose one and the rest enjoy it. Come on, you live only once, so take every possible chance to try all the activities with your friends.😉

3. Catch up over coffee or tea talk ☕🍵

We all do have the day that turns out to be a volcano eruption🤯 for us. And when that happens we miss people who always motivate us, encourage us and one of them is our friends. The same situation happens for them too. When they feel down, go for a break. Sit in a cafe, order something cold or hot (to give excuse that the drink took time to cool down)🤭😂, avoid calls, texts, plans and just like that sit and talk. Share everything and this is a way that we rarely do with our friends, so let’s make it possible. 

4. Workout together 🏋🏻‍♀️

Who are gym freaks here!? It is not necessary to be a gym freak, but when you have decided to spend time with your friends, then put on the gym mode. There's nothing wrong with entertaining them, so go for a workout session with them, listen to interesting music, crack jokes where dumbbells should laugh too. By the way, working out is good for you too, so don’t miss this opportunity😁😉.

5. Attend an event together or volunteer for some activity💃🏻👩🏻‍🤝‍👩🏼🌱

Nothing comes better when you go on the move just like that without planning, especially attending some event randomly (make sure to get the tickets first then learn something from this event). It could be a learning journey together with your friends too. If you guys have not planted a tree, volunteer yourselves for the activity, let’s go for nature and friends. 

6. Do a virtual reading📖🔖

I suggest virtual because reading requires silence🤍 and when you do it physically, there is no silence, but violence😜😜. The choice is yours, I’m only giving my thoughts in it. Try this out because a peaceful reading session will also give you time to spend with your amigas/amigos, it would be really entertaining to share your kind of story, analyze together your stories and it will really fulfill the time with them. 

~ Read like the classic friends ☝🏻

7.Go on a road trip🚗🥤🍔🎶

This is a little different from the 2nd way. This requires only the feet to move a lot and no resting. It is all about only trying street foods, sleeping in a small budget hotel (make some noise and no rest), feel the wind in your face and friends’ laughter by heart. Another way to be there with them and enjoy every small moment in life. 

Here you go readers, these are the 7 ways you can spend time with your friends and tell them how grateful you feel to have them in your life and for sure they will tell you the same. Let’s give some time for those we love so much ❤️and do not let yourself be caged with all the evolving things. A time well spent with your friends will also help you find your base besides your family. Your amigas/amigos make you feel home too, so choose your ways to spend time with them. What are you waiting for, grab that phone or meet them in person and pick your ways to fulfill it with them. With that said, I’m leaving this to you and till I meet you next time, have a wonderful day and let’s shine together with the people around us. Take care my dear amigas and amigos. 

The Phantom of the Opera 🎭✨

Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog. It has been a long break that I took to not upload any interesting fact in my blog, but now I’m back with another interesting fact to put out there for everyone to read and hopefully I have given out something interesting to all of you.

A reason visit to an amazing short story has intrigued me to write this blog. It is none other than the famous Phantom of the Opera written by Gaston Leroux. We all have heard the story and even a movie and plays have been conducted based on this story. What can I say, a story that drives us deep into a love story that is hard to leave and at the same time difficult to cherish. I would not be dramatic to say that I teared up at the last chapter, but I would say that my heart felt heavy after completing the chapters. You want to know why?

Well today I’m here to share this wonderful love story with all of you in terms of an assignment that is done with 3 other group members and myself (Kusha, Saranya, Siti Hamidah), so here we are to briefly narrate the story of the Phantom of the Opera and don’t worry it is not going to bore you’ll.

Not waiting for any cue, let’s dive in!

What is the Phantom of the Opera all about?

To begin with the story begins by introducing the readers to the Opera house and the members, but it also gives a gist about the mystery behind the Opera Ghost (that is how the members call it). This Opera Ghost’s story gives thrill and chill to everyone, but in funny circumstances it does not affect the new managers, M.M Richard and Moncharmain. With growing fear about the Opera Ghost and the current death of Joseph Buquet (the chief of stagehand) , here begins the introduction of two childhood buddies, Christine Daae (a performer in the Opera House) and Raoul de Chagny (a viscount). As much as Raoul can remember Christine and how he returned her scarf, Daae seemed not to remember him or the incident. But all seems certain to Raoul that Christine might be in love with someone when he eavesdrops on her conversation with a man who says, “Christine you must love me”. Therefore, is it real that Christinne is in love with someone? 

The question of Daae's relationship has started consuming the viscount. He is not able to know if she is in love with someone else. As this continues, Christine decides to meet Raoul after their first meeting and here Christine says she remembers him and also has come to see the Angel of Music (it is to be believed from Heaven and both Raoul and Christinne have heard about it from Christine’s father’s stories). But her encounters do not make up Raoul’s mind and when he decides to discover further he too comes across the Angel of Music, but not too long after that he is knocked off that night after witnessing Daae to have visited her fathers grave at Perros. As the days pass in grief over the relationship, Raoul soon discovers that Christine has been a victim or prisoner to someone who controls her action and commands her to not marry anyone. But Christine's action does work in similarity to Raoul’s vision of the situation. She decides to tell him about the Angel of Music who turns out to be none other than the vicious Opera Ghost, who feeds fear to everyone. Christine's explanation angers Raoul as he gets to know how Erik (the name of the Opera Ghost) abducted Christine the first time, how he sympathetically told he is in love with her and while the flashback reveals Christine’s captivity state, she was also eager to look behind the mask of Erik to know how he looks like. To her terror, she finds a face that is a corpse like, no nose, has human skull bulging out, more dreadful appearances (no offence but all from the story’s actual description) and this made Christine even more afraid. As she already knows how he looks, a promise is made to live with him forever, but Christine diverts it to tell Erik that she shall leave and will return to him soon. 

The promise of returning back seems less likely because Erik knows Christine’s idea of trying to escape with Raoul. As the viscount is much in anger he decides to hurt Erik at any cost, but his actions seem madfull to his brother, the Count de Chagny. The brother’s fear increases as the public has come to know that the viscount and Christine will run away and marry each other, which is true, but things take a different turn when Christine disappears the night of her performance. Who took her? Where did she go? Is it Erik? I too had all these questions and the answer to these questions led Raoul to find Christine. But this time, there is someone to lead the way for him. Persian is someone who works in the Opera House is aware about the abduction of Christine and his instincts were right that this situation shall take place because Erik himself told the Persian that he is in love. The Persian have met Erik before personally twice by the lake house (which is located under the Opera House and this is the place Erik keeps Christine captivated) and this is where he got to know that Erik is in love. The Persian shows the way to reach the lake house via the inner cellars that were built by Erik. Somehow they manage to reach the lake house, but gets trapped in a room that is known as torture-chamber (Erik is very much familiar in building this rooms because he has experience in it). Their effort to get out from the room seems vain because Erik has sensed their presence and decides to roast them in heat first then drown them in water. The latter decision was made by asking Christine to choose between a grasshopper or scorpion (the former is to burn the entire lake house with gun powders in barrels and the latter for her to accept Erik’s proposal). 

Erik saves the viscount and Persian from dying by drowning and here is where he decides to keep Raoul with him and Christine in the lake house and drops off an unconscious Persian to his flat. When Persian recovers from his illness he is curious to know what had happened to Christine and Raoul and Erik once again makes his appearance in front of Persian at his flat.

The epic love story of Erik is stopped as he narrates to the Persian that he is dying of love. He tells that eagered man that when he tried to kiss Christine’s forehead by exposing his unlovely face, but Christine did not feel scared or turned her face away instead she said “poor Erik”. He also continues that this is the first time he has kissed a woman even though his mother did not allow him to kiss her because of his appearance. And when I said the epic love story comes to a stop because Erik decides to let Daae go with her beloved viscount as he knows that the beautiful woman is only in love with Raoul. He also felt her tears mingled with his and he felt complete for living as others because of her care. After hearing this story the Persian remains silent and Erik finally concludes his words by saying that he gave back the golden ring (the gift he gave to Christine as a symbol of her taken) to Daae and told her that once he is dead she shall bury the ring with him. With that, he leaves and the news of Erik’s death comes three weeks later.

A story always has its own beauty when we include the setting (time or place in a literature component) of a story for readers pleasure of reading. Thanks to my member, Siti Hamidah for listing out the settings that can be found in this story.

The Phantom of the Opera was originally the fictional story of French author Gaston Leroux. It first appeared as a serial in 1909 and 1910. Many people are familiar with two popular versions of the novel: the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who won the 1986 music production. The Phantom is set in the Opera House of Palais Garnier, Paris, France. This is the famous setting that is easily found by readers because the Phantom of the Opera takes place originally in Paris.

Below are the other settings included in the Phantom of the Opera:

1) Perros-guirec ; this setting is found in the flashback (Chapter 5) how Christine and Raoul met each other when they were young and how again they met each other to discuss Daae's relationship and about the Angel of Music. 

2) The lake house ; this setting is located below the Opera House where Erik takes Christine as his captive to keep her there.

3) Rue du Faubourg ; this is the setting of one of the performers, Carlotta. She lives here and this is found from Chapter 7 when she received an anonymous letter from the Opera Ghost. 

Aren’t we all a little picky to choose our favorite genre? It can be for movies, songs or even short stories and in this story my group member, Saranya has helped all of you to choose the genre or themes easily by listing the themes for each chapter. I would not suggest any readers to skip other chapters which do not include your favorite themes but you can choose to read again, but only this time on the chapters that have your favorite themes. 

A) Life is a masked ball (the overall theme of this story)

A writer does not set his gothic horror story in the setting of an opera house without addressing issues of reality, illusion, and perception. The plot revolves around seemingly impossible feats, overwhelming drama, and misdirection; in this sense, the entire novel becomes an exercise in arguing that most of what we experience in life is, to some extent, an illusion.

B) Family (Chapter 1-10 and Chapter 13)

The love Daae had for her father even after his death she decided to let go of music. On the other hand will be the devastated brother Comte de Chagny (Raoul’s brother) who cares about his brother's sudden change in action.

C) Jealousy vs. Love (Chapter 2, Chapter 9 and Chapter 13)

Raoul’s desperate to know if Daae is in a relationship whereas Erik who is jealous of Daae’s love for the viscount. They both share the same feeling of being in love with the same girl and being suspicious and jealous when she talks aor feels for either Raoul or Erik. 

D) Revolt Against Society (Chapter 3, 4 and Chapter 25)

The rejection because of his appearance enraged him towards the society that gave him an idea of exploding the Opera House for his satisfaction to kill the human race.

E) Looks vs. Talent (Chapter3)

Just because Erik;s figure has been his weakness it let down the guard in him that only good looks can perform. Which is not true, a skillful and talented person can anytime propose his talent openly without including the physical appearance to be a barrier. As there is talent, looks do not bother the audience.

F) Anger (Chapter 6-11)

An emotion that speaks less, but acts out vigorously. It is a dangerous emotion that can be used to start a murder and here, being humilated and has been tremendously hurt, Erik decides to use this anger into a weapon that hurts anyone who come across him. Be it the incident of fearing the managers that they should not sell the Box Five, giving him time to time payment, warning Carlotta to not perform because he wants his loved one to perform. A tool that can ruin every aspect of a person’s life. 

G) Revenge, Violence, and Redemption(Chapter 8,12,13,14,16.22,23,24,and Chapter 25)

Another truly absurd thing we human race do is take revenge. It is not helpful because it makes things even more complex for you until your loved ones hate you. Erik does not look great with the plan of killing the human race that neglected him, he is not giving good but earning a full sin.and being violent just to attain what you want is selfish and by attempting violence on Daae made her hate him first. We are no one to hurt someone and gain our profit. 

H) The Supernatural vs. the Natural (Chapter 1-15,17,18,19,20,21,22,24 and Chapter25)

Not everything we see becomes natural or not everything we feel invisibly is supernatural. Let's not let the latter feel confusing for us. Just like how Gaston tries to reveal to his readers that the death of Joseph is done by a ghost and the one that has been creating disturbing events in the Opera is an unknown figure. Well supernatural may exist, but sometimes it is up to us to not let it affect us just like Daae who believes the Angel of Music is true and she was trapped by Erik. God is not supernatural, he is natural and that is why we humans are a reason for his existence. 

I) Beauty vs. Ugliness(Chapter 1,2,4,6,8,10,13,17,20,22, and Chapter23)

Neither beauty tells the truth nor ugliness is required to fall in love. There is no such thing as that. Beauty or not your heart should be pure for one to feel you and understand you. Erik seems to be scary and ugly, but Daae understood his grief and the love he has been longing for.

 *READ THE ENTIRE STORY TO LEARN ABOUT THE STORY!

“Inside out’, is a movie that has a metaphor in the title itself. The title and the storyline (shows the emotions of an individual) does not make sense, and that is why it is a metaphor. Connecting 2 unfamiliar things into one. Here in our blog, Kusha, a member of the group has penned out the metaphors that can be found in this Gaston Leroux’s fantasy. Hope you don’t forget to leave the he-art in dreaming for metaphors. 

• The Phantom's mask

The Phantom's mask is a metaphor for deception and false looks. While the Phantom is connected with the mask, every character in the novel wears a metaphorical mask and pretends to be someone else in order to be accepted by the society in which they live.

• The Cave 

There are many parallels between the Phantom's home cave and mythological descriptions of the underworld. As a result, the cave can be interpreted as a metaphor for death.

• The Theater 

The theater is a place where anything can happen. Inside the theater, illusions come to life, and for some characters, the theater is a place where reality and illusion collide, interact, and go unnoticed. As a result, the theater serves as a metaphor for illusion and communication between reality and irrationality, as well as a link between dreams and reality.

Didn’t I mention that for this assignment we shall also include our favorite characters? Oops! I did forget that part, but the below are some characters we chose from the story that we like and somehow are related to us, we have given reasons based on the plot (chain of events), setting, theme and metaphor. 

THE PERSIAN:

Why do we like him? 

In my opinion, a reader's perspective to choose a character is always to find it in the flow of the story. Sometimes it looks like the major characters are our favorite, but as soon as we dive into the story we know exactly what descriptive we are finding in our characters. My perspective of choosing a character, is by always to know how the character has contributed in the story and that is why I have chose the Persian and his character that spoke some negative side of the Opera Ghost may seem wrong, but he at the same time is willing to risk his life to safe Christine’s by helping Raoul to lead the way to the lake house. It normally does not take much courage to protect ourselves, just imagine doing this for another person? That is how I really got fascinated with his character and I feel related too.

A THEME as an honor to the Persian?

The amount of bravery to enter the torture chamber, die of heat, drown of water, explode by barrels of gun-powder, these cannot be taken easy for someone who is helping another, therefore a theme to only describe his chapters would be “A heart to risk for others”. 

Where did the Persian become famous? 

Even though the entire story revolves around Christine, Erik and Raoul, the storyline that helped Raoul is the great one which is from Chapter 20-26, helping Raoul to find the cellars that lead to the lake house, experiencing the heat, water and fear (which will be included as the climax of the story, a boiling point of conflict) and lastly rescued from death with Raoul and knowing the truth about Erik giving away his love (which would be the falling action).

Where was the character involved?

The Persian was involved in bringing Raoul through the cellars that Erik built, heading towards the lake house. Apart from it will be his appearance in the lake house, before helping Raoul and while he was helping the viscount. He also ended up in a torture chamber build by Erik in the lake house. 

CHRISTINE DAAE:

Why do we like her?

It was very easy to connect with Daae because she is the life in this story and whatever she does holds our heart into it. One thing which directly lifts us into spirit is her kindness for caring for others, especially not judging their looks. This is specific to Erik, but the way she cares for him is certainly a feeling not everyone would express. This kindness melts us down.

Theme for the chapters she appeared in?

It is hard to not give away the best theme for the chapters she appeared in and for that we would like to give away a theme which is, “The Angel of Kindness”. Her kindness that she showed to Erik when he abducted her and brought her to the lake house, even though there was a fear in her and especially after encountering his face, she did manage to calm him down and to not make him feel even more ugly of himself.

Where exactly did Daae get our attention?

We were overwhelmed with her kindness when she projected it in Chapter 12, the flashback of revealing Erik kidnapping her to Raoul. This chapter is known as rising action (a part of the plot in which the conflict increases). And together with that we can see her kindness in the last chapter which is known as the denouement (the end of the plot) where she did not fear Erik kissing her forehead and how she took in the kiss without hesitating for his look. 

The settings for Daae where she appeared?

She appeared in the Opera house mostly for her performance, the kidnapping, when she met Raoul after so long and when she decided to tell Raoul about Erik. She also appeared in the lake house that Erik built under the Opera House to keep her there. 

CARLOTTA:

Why do we like the soprano?

She is one of the minor characters too, but her act of bravery is what we are impressed with. It is simply what we need in a woman to show out that she can fight or stand for her own rights and with that, we definitely relate to this point that she was brave and we love to be brave just like her.

A theme for her bravery?

Even though she appears in a few chapters, bravery is still an act we should talk about. A theme that we can give to her in Chapter 7 will be, “The guts to stay strong”. She did attend the performance that evening even though she received a warning letter from the Opera Ghost. 

Her bravery is spotted where?

Her bravery was spotted at the rising action of the plot in Chapter 7 when she decides to do her performance she was muted with a toad’s sound, but she decided to continue until things took a different turn. Another bravery act of hers would be in Chapter 14, she came back to the Opera House to settle down with Daae’s performance and this would be the first time after the toad’s incident, but that did not keep her from feeling shamed. 

Carlotta’s famous place?

She was definitely famous from the performance she made in the Opera House. Apart from that would be her house when she received the letter from Erik to not perform, which is Rue du Faubourg St.Honore.

PHANTOM:

How is he related to us?

Phantom may seem to be the antagonist of the story, but that did not stop us from including him to be one of our favorite characters. We like Phantom because he is passionate about music. He is known from this story to be a musical genius, may be hidden in the walls, but he is unmistakably pulling the strings. Though he is a quiet poltergeist in general, he is willing to be more malevolent when he wants something. Knowing his other side of wanting to be in love is really sympathetic for us. 

A theme that is dedicated to Phantom?

It was hard to differentiate if the Opera Ghost was Erik, but as we found out from Daae’s confession the best theme to give for his act in all the chapters would be, “Masked in the face, but the emotions are true”. Which is totally true because he may seem masked up because of his hideous face, but his emotions to be loved, his anger due to disobedience are truthful. 

Where did we really like Phantom?

It is specifically found in Chapter 12. When Daae explains to Raoul about Erik the night before her second abduction took place, she told Raoul that he has been working on a masterpiece which is Don Juan Triumphant, a musical that he is working on for the last 20 years. The passion he shows for this work makes him not realize anything going around him. This really shows how much he loves music.

His metaphor as a remembrance?

The mirror. The mirror represents Christine's denial that the Phantom is merely another face of herself and the Phantom's destruction of the mirror represents her denial. When conversing to the Phantom, Christine states, "I am the mask you wear." This is her telling her genuine self that she is concealing her true self and putting on a show. Christine recognized herself in the mirror after it was shattered. She was dressed in a wedding gown. This essentially suggests that she desires to be loved, which is a vital aspect of any marriage. Raoul is the one who has feelings for her.

Where was he found?

Erik or I should say Phantom was found in the Opera House, his lake house and lastly at Persian’s house.