I want you to write a story in which the main character embodies the feminist archetype. What is the feminist archetype, you ask? I will tell you.
The Feminist Archetype is a female character who is exhibits several to all of the following traits:
1. Rejection or absence of a father figure/ fear of being engulfed by male authority. This is often expressed through imagery of burning, drowning, or some form of imprisonment.
2. Expression of a divided self in the form of a doppelganger (a physical or ghostly double, i.e. evil twin). This represents the character's understanding of her own alientation from herself.
3. Eventual annhiliation of her doppelganger and male authority figures.
4. Search for an actual or metaphorical mother as a guide for her new "self."
5. Psychosis and insanity often occur as a reasonable result of the inability to resolve her conflicts with the self and/or society.
My general explanation would be that she is a character who is aware of her disatisfaction with her place in society, but is unable to find a way to cure it, which therefore causes her to go a bit insane.
I hope you are up to the task, because these characters/stories are fascinating and beautiful.
If you would like an example, or are just interested in reading one for fun (and have the time), here is a link to Charlotte Perkins Gilmans' short story "The Yellow Wallpaper": http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=GilYell.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
Feel free to reserve spaces now to give yourself more time to write your story.
Prewrites are allowed if by some chance you've written a story that fits this archetype already!
Good luck!
The Feminist Archetype is a female character who is exhibits several to all of the following traits:
1. Rejection or absence of a father figure/ fear of being engulfed by male authority. This is often expressed through imagery of burning, drowning, or some form of imprisonment.
2. Expression of a divided self in the form of a doppelganger (a physical or ghostly double, i.e. evil twin). This represents the character's understanding of her own alientation from herself.
3. Eventual annhiliation of her doppelganger and male authority figures.
4. Search for an actual or metaphorical mother as a guide for her new "self."
5. Psychosis and insanity often occur as a reasonable result of the inability to resolve her conflicts with the self and/or society.
My general explanation would be that she is a character who is aware of her disatisfaction with her place in society, but is unable to find a way to cure it, which therefore causes her to go a bit insane.
I hope you are up to the task, because these characters/stories are fascinating and beautiful.
If you would like an example, or are just interested in reading one for fun (and have the time), here is a link to Charlotte Perkins Gilmans' short story "The Yellow Wallpaper": http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=GilYell.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
Feel free to reserve spaces now to give yourself more time to write your story.
Prewrites are allowed if by some chance you've written a story that fits this archetype already!
Good luck!
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on May 21
- Rewards: Gold: 200, Silver: 100, Bronze: 50
- Final notes: Contest judged by moderator
Contest Winners
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by Oleander 2800 words, 3 comments, on Mar 7 2:46 PM. In Dark, Fantasy, Inspirational
Gold trophy winner
• Viewed by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
She lived in the house opposite mine, seldom spotted outside. If she had been a stranger, I would have scarcely known her, let alone have narrated this tale. The facts about her love life seemed to convey much about her thatby Cupcake14 1700 words, 6 comments, on Sep 10 6:05 AM 2008. In Friendship, Life, Other, Tragedies
Silver trophy winner
• Viewed by judge. Prewrite [remove] -
by Rinari 3000 words, 1 comment, on Mar 16 3:19 PM. In Abuse, Depression, Epistolary, Fiction, First person, Letters, Life, Young adult
Bronze trophy winner
• Viewed by judge. [remove]
Entries [5]
1 - 5 of 5
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Insanity is sometimes nothing in particular...by Sammiannnz 500 words, 16 comments, on Feb 5 4:05 PM. In Death, Depression, First person, Inspirational, Life, Love, Pain, Sad, Short story• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Comments
1 - 9 of 9
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Goodness , that is a creepy story . -
Ooooh, I'm definately going to enter this... I'm going to start working on an entry asap!
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Hi, I'm typing my entry on a computer without an internet connection; is there any chance the contest can be extended? I'm almost done... Laura =)
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Sure!
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I recently self-published a fantasy novel which might fit into this contest. Would you accept that? If so, what is the maximum word count you would accept?
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Honestly, as much as I love to read, I can't sit down and read a novel on my computer screen. So I'd have to say my word maximum would probably have to be in the neighborhood of 5,000.
Do you think you could maybe take an excerpt, perhaps of a scene that most fits this contest? Because that would be lovely. -
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I can try. Thanks.
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Hi, I think I'm going to have to withdraw my entry because I just realised that you're 16 and I think my story is going to have a lot of adult content. Sorry, good luck with your competition, Laura.
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Great story idea. Just creepy enough.
I can't wait to read all the entries!
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