Dante Aligieri - The Divine Comedy

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

There are many kinds of masterpiece of literature spread out through the world. Many country or most of them have their own kind masterpiece of literature base own their perseptions. Especially English literature, generally its divided into three major part. We have poetry, prose and drama. In this section, we focus to analyze poetry and every elements related to it. Especially in this opportunity, we try to analyze one of the greatest poetry made by the remain Italy’s greatest poet named Dante Alighieri. His masterpiece entitle The Divine Comedy created by unusual way through the author’s life. Thanks to him Tuscan dialect become official literary language of Italy. That is all the introduction of Dante Alighieri and his masterpiece. More detail about The Divine Comedy will be analyzed in next chapter. 

BACKGROUND OF DANTE ALIGHIERI - THE DIVINE COMEDY

Dante Alighieri

              Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) remains Italy's greatest poet. He was born in the city of Florence, in the region of Tuscany, Italy in the spring of 1265. He wrote the Divine Comedy (Commedia) from 1308 to 1320, completing the work the year before he died. The Divine Comedy is one of literature's boldest undertakings, as Dante takes us through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and then reaches Heaven (Paradiso), where he is permitted to partake of the Beatific Vision. Dante's journey serves as an allegory of the progress of the individual soul toward God. The work is arranged in 100 cantos in 3 parts, 34 for the Inferno, 33 each for Purgatorio and Paradiso. The work is written in groups of 3 lines, or tercets, reminiscent of the Trinity. While Dante was critical of the Catholic Church as an institution, his writings remained faithful to his schooling by the Dominicans, where he learned the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274). The Divine Comedy signaled the beginning of the Renaissance. The Commedia by Dante had everlasting impact on Italy, for the Tuscan dialect became the literary language of Italy. He died in political exile in Ravenna, Italy in September 1321. 

 

That is all short history about Dante Alighieri, the Italy’s greatest poet. As he wrote about his journey through Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso to partaken of Beatific Vision with help of Virgil (author of Aeneid), the real reason he made such outstanding poet was for Beatric, the woman he admired all his life. Although Divine Comedy divide into three chapter, Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso here we only analize about Inferno and Purgatorio due religion issue.   

CHAPTER TWO

INTERPRETATIONS

INFERNO

"Midway in our life's journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood. How shall I say

what wood that was! I never saw so drear,
so rank, so arduous a wilderness!
Its very memory gives a shape to fear.

Death could scarce be more bitter than that place!
But since it came to good, I will recount
all that I found revealed there by God's grace."
Inferno, Canto I, lines 1-9

So begins the Inferno. Dante realizes he has wandered from the "True Way" in mid-life, and finds himself in the Valley of Evil. He is rescued by the spirit of Virgil (author of the Aeneid), who tells him he has been sent to guide him out of Hell because of prayers by Beatrice, the woman whom Dante admired all his life. To leave Hell, they must go through all nine circles of Hell, the deeper the circle, the more grave the sin and its appropriate punishment. Perhaps the worst punishment is that no one helps or cares for another in Hell. By going through Hell, Dante - and the reader - learn to recognize and detest man's sinful nature and the power of evil, and the need to guard against it. Dante learns those in Hell choose to go there by their unrepentance. Dante enters Hell on Good Friday and reads the following posted above the gates of Hell as he is about to enter (Canto III, line 9):

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here."

PURGATORIO

Dante and Virgil emerge from Hell just before the dawn of Easter Sunday, and in Purgatorio Dante begins the difficult climb up Mount Purgatory. Souls that are repentant of their sins against God and man go to Purgatory and become free of temptation, and know that they will eventually be with God. The renunciation of sin occurs in Purgatory, as one begins his ascent to Purity. Purgatory is a Mountain with seven ledges or cornices, one for each of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust). On the first cornice (just above Hell), one is purified of Pride by learning the corresponding virtue, Humility. When one is cured of Pride, he moves up to the next cornice, Envy, to be purified by Caritas, love of others, and so on. Virgil, the voice of Reason, takes Dante step-by-step up the mountain of Purgatory to the Garden of Eden, where man resided before his fall, and releases him in Canto XXVII (27) to himself, as he is now purged from sin. He meets Beatrice, the unrequited love of his earthly life, in Canto XXX (30), and she leads him to Heaven. Repentant souls, even those with great sin, and even if they repent just prior to death, still go to Purgatory, as we learn from Canto V:

"We are souls who died by violence,
all sinners to our final hour, in which
the lamp of Heaven shed its radiance

into our hearts. Thus from the brink of death,
repenting all our sins, forgiving those
who sinned against us, with our final breath

we offered up our souls at peace with Him
who saddens us with longing to behold
His glory on the throne of Seraphim."
Purgatorio, Canto V (5), lines 52-60:

MEANING PER STANZA

INFERNO (NERAKA)

"Di tengah catatan hidup kami, aku tersesat
dari jalan kebenaran dan terbangun menyadari diriku
sendirian di hutan gelap. Apa yang akan kukatakan ?

Hutan yang satu ini, aku tidak pernah melihatnya begitu suram,
begitu mengerikan, begitu berkemaruk sebuah keliaran
Ingatan yang begitu terang hingga merinding

Sang Kematian bisa lebih pahit dari tanah itu !
Tapi sejak berakhir baik, aku akan mentasbihkan
semua yang kugapai di sana kasih Tuhan. "

Inferno, Pupuh I, baris 1-9

PURGATORIO (DUNIA ANTARA)

"Kami jiwa-jiwa yang gugur oleh kebiadaban,
seluruh pendosa di ujung napas kami, yang seketika
gemerlap Surga memancarkan kemilaunya.

ke ralung kami. Ya, dari jurang kematian kami,
bertobat pada semua dosa, mengampuni mereka
yang berdosa, dengan helaan terakhir kita

Kami mempersembahkan jiwa yang tenteram bersama

dengan-Nya
yang meruntuhkan air mata kami dengan kerinduan

untuk menatap
Kemuliaan-Nya di atas takhta Tertinggi. "

Mount of Purgatorio

Purgatorio, Pupuh V (5), baris 52-60:

DICTION

Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece – a litle part of Inferno and Purgatorio have a few conotative meaning among  them. Inferno and Purgatorio simply very excelent piece of art. But still, it store not only denotative meaning concern Dante’s life history as well.

Midway in our life's journey means Dante is thirty-five years old, half of the biblical life expectancy of 70 (Psalms 90:10). The action in this tale begins in 1300 A.D., or Dante, the writer’s thirty-fifth year.

from the straight road means “right way"  to salvation.

so rank, so arduous a wilderness! means assailed by beasts (a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf)

THEME

Divine Comedy entirely tells about Dante’s journey through Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Heaven) to meet his beloved Beatrice, the woman he admire in all his life. Yet in this part of his masterpiece, we only include Inferno and Purgatorio. From Inferno and Purgatorio, Dante meets Virgil who take charge as guide to be take him through nine circle of Inferno and climb Purgatorio.

ATMOSFER

Divine Comedy takes a story about Dante’s journey through Inferno and Purgatorio. In Inferno of course , the atmosfer we feel from his literature describe as worried, fear, eeriness, fluster and many other feeling base on what happen when we alone in such scary place as Hell. At meddle of the story, after throughout nine circles of Hell, Dante and Virgil emerge from Judecca in Mount of Purgatorio. Dante describes Purgatorio as place of salvation for sinners who seek God’s grace to purify their sins and people who have sin to theme. This place fill with atmosfer and feeling about soul who not dead or life, neither save nor damn.

POINT OF VIEW

Divine Comedy uses first person point of view as Dante himself as main character through the journeyof his story. Obviously because he always uses word “I” so much. This is the way how he describe what the Infernn and Purgatorio better as wel. Through the journey he made comment and answer it himself is also hint that he uses first place point of view.

FIGURATIVE SPEECH

Divine Comedy uses Allegory or Parable style. Allegory of simply Parable is a poetry in the form of a narrative or story that has a second meaning beneath the surface one. Since Divine Comedy is poetry with narative-like style about Dante’s journey through Inferno and Purgatorio, it is possible to be belongs to Allegory style.

VALUE AND COMMENDATION

Divine Comedy and his author Dante Alighieri put value and commendation as one side. Whatever happen in his journey through nine circles of Inferno and Mount Purgatorio, it is obviously Dante threw everythings he got to meet with his beloved Beatric. He sacrifised his life, met eery creatures, saw appropriate torments for sinner, climbed Mount Purgatorio for Beatric’s sake. It is involving all word relate to love and at last impress the readers for his extraordinary doing.

CHAPTER THREE

REFERENCE

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri

www.greatdante.net/

www.online-literature.com/dante/

www.worldofdante.org/

www.dantealighieri.com

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

At last, I got a chance to submitted my long - long time prose after inactive for a while. Enough chit - chat, I present you one of greatest prose written by Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Introduction
 
 The valley known as Sleepy Hollow hides from the world in the high hills of New York State. There are many stories told about the quiet valley. But the story that people believe most is about a man who rides a horse at night. The story says the man died many years ago during the American revolutionary war. His head was shot off. Every night he rises from his burial place, jumps on his horse and rides through the valley looking for his lost head.

1.      Theme, its theme about love. It is obvoiusly the story involve around Ichabod, a teacher of small school in his village who fall in love with Katrina Van Tassel, the only daughter of rich Dutch farmer. It is unrequired love because at last, Ichabod lost Katrina after being hit by headless rider.  

2.      Plot

·        Structure of Plot

The beginning start about Ichabod Crane as a teacher from small school who fallin love with Katrina. He dreams himself to be the master of rich Dutch farmer with Katrina as his wife. The middle start after he realize it is tough to get Katrine when Brom try to get in his path. The problem become complicate after Brom shows his jealousy in the night when Ichabod dances with Katrina. When the party is over, here author show its climax when Ichabod encounter headless rider who rides a horse. For finale, Ichabod disappeared just leaving his horse and old hat found around the bridge. After his disappeare, people talk in couple of weeks and tought Ichabod being taken by the headless rider because lost his love for Katrina. Something very important as love is same like the head of body. That people think about.

·        Kind of plot

After the following progress of plot, it is decide that the plot belong to progress plot. It is explain the story begin with exposition, awekening of problem, complication, climax and last the author shows the resolution.

3.      Character

·       Ichabod                               

     He roles as round character because we could see many side of his life as teacher who teachs in school and church, and so on. He is main character along with Katrina and Brom. He is not dynamic character because his occupation not change at all. He also protagonis because he carry the author goal to show about the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

·        Katrina Van Tassel                 

      Her role as flat character because we could not see other side of her except she is only daughter of rich Dutch farmer. She is main character and static character because her occupation not change at all. She also female protagonis who also carry author goal like Ichabod.

·         Brom Van Brount                   

      His role as flat character same like Katrina and Ichabod as well. He also main character but in antagonis side because he block Ichibod path. He is static character and also flat character because author did not show other side of his life except as hero of girl, his appereance and his glory for winning many prizes.

·       Farmer                                    

     He only supporting, flat and static character because just loans Ichabod his horse.

·       Mother and Father of Katrina 

     They are supporting character because here the author only shows them as homemaster where the place they hold party.

·        Headless Rider                       

      He is main character and his role as medder because he put the end of story line and what purpose did the author desire.

      Characterization uses here focus on directed order. It seems the author try to brings understanding of this following character in this way. But this way only works in main character only. The rest not describes very detail like main character does. He did not let the reader judge what kind of characters do in his story.

4.      Setting

o    Physical Setting                      

       The story take place in a quiet valley of New York State’s hill known as Sleepy Hollow. This story settle in a village near Sleepy  Hollow named Tarry Town.

o    Chronological Setting                 

       The story begin with legend around the Sleepy Hollow about rider who rises from his burial place, jump to his horse and seeks his lost head. In Tarry Town, which was founded by people from Holland several years ago, the story start to evolved after saveral years after American Revolutionary war.

o    Social Setting                           

       This story influence by Sleepy Hollow’s Legend. Because of this is most fearsome story near Tarry Town, is is has great influence in their lifestyle, economic, social, norm and folktales. For example it is influence in norm, Ichabod who is not found along with his horse being believe was taken by Headless Rider. Same as the Rider who lost his head, his important part of body, Ichabod also lost his love,his most important feeling for now.

5.      Point of View

·         The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the author sets  himself as third person point of view. Here we could find that actually the author hide himself to become “invisible author”. Because he is invisible author, we could not track down his presence. Instead he uses word like he, she, they and so on to expresses his presence as invisible author. As his role as invisible author, he also an omniscient author because he know what character thinking about. But still because he don’t know about entire character thought, we called him limited omniscient. For example, he did not explain what happen to Ichabod after that night.

6.      Style and Tone

·         Style

Style is how the author says something, the choice of words and the use of language, sentence construction, imagery but not what the author says. In order to brings what Ichabod feel toward Katrina, although in the end he is vanishes to nowhere, the author adds story about headless rider who seeks his lost head. There is similiarty between what happen to Ichabod and the headless rider. Both of them lost something very important to theirselves. Ichabod lost his heart and the rider lost his head. Judging from the storyline, the author seems to provides folktale of  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as background to expresses the progress of story. There is not many dialogue include in this short version of novel but most of them set on denotative meaning and there is no hidden meaning at all. Although like that in panorama part, the author shows a little conotative meaning for example “She was a girl in bloom…much like a round red, rosy apple” (fourth paragraph, second sentence) which is metaphor expression. This story also has symbol put in itself, for example “a round red, rosy apple” (fourth paragraph, second sentence) represented as fine looking lady. Many of  the sentences directly the progress of story and events exist in side itself. Most of the are why of thought and his effort to get to Katrina attention. Neither from Katrina nor Brom nor Headless Rider expresses in word. Aside of that, the author influence the storyline with folktales of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It seems he try to put focus on thr progress of story through the contruction of panorama technique.

·         Tone

Tone tells us the author feels about his or her subject. Words express the writer's attitude toward his or her work, subject, and readers. This attitude could be expresses as serius, humorous, horor etc. Especially in this story, the author put serius atmosfer with passionate effect in the beginning but turn into real horror in the end. It is suitable because the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has great influence and it is so “real” when the Ichabod encounter the Headless Rider in the night after he has dance with Katrina. Well, in the end the author shows the resolution and it is clearly sets that both of Ichabod and the Headless Rider lost same importhat things to themselves. Lost somethings and they better disappeare to nowhere.

7.      Structure and Technique

§  The author just defining the description about the background of story. Rest of the of story mostly expresses through panorama technique and just small part expresses by scenic ( using conversation or dialogue as describing atmosfer).

Stephenie Meyer, Author of Twilight

Stephenie Meyer at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born	Stephenie Morgan December 24, 1973 (age 38) Hartford, Connecticut
Occupation	Novelist, producer
Nationality	American
Genres	Vampire romance, young-adult fiction, science fiction
Notable work(s)	The Twilight series
Spouse(s)	Christian Meyer (m. 1994)
Children	3
Signature
Stephenie Meyer, born December 24, 1973) is an American children's author and producer, best known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages. Meyer was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in America, having sold over 29 million books in 2008, and 26.5 million books in 2009. Twilight was the best-selling book of the 2008 in US bookstores. Meyer was ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008", and was included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world's most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26. Her annual earnings exceeded $50 million. In 2010, Forbes ranked her as the #59 most powerful celebrity with annual earnings of $40 million. Early life Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. She then attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1997. Meyer met her husband Christian when she was 4 years old in Arizona, and married him in 1994 when they were both 21. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli. Christian Meyer, formerly an auditor, has now retired to take care of the children. Meyer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; she has stated that she is strait-laced about her beliefs and does not drink alcohol or smoke. Meyer had no experience as a writer of any kind and had never even written a short story before Twilight. She had considered going to law school because she felt she had no chance of becoming a writer; she later noted that the birth of her oldest son Gabe changed her mind, saying, "Once I had Gabe, I just wanted to be his mom." Before becoming an author, Meyer's only professional work was as a receptionist in a property company. Meyer lives in Cave Creek, Arizona, and also owns a home on Marrowstone Island, Washington. The Twilight series Twilight Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the draft of what became Chapter 13 of the book. In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a complete novel, though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment. Her sister's response to the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies. Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House. Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in a 2003 auction. By November, Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company. Twilight was published in 2005 with a print run of 75,000 copies. It reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books within a month of its release, and later rose to #1. Foreign rights to the novel were sold to over 26 countries. The novel was named the Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Editor's Choice. Subsequent novels Following the success of Twilight (2005), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, New Moon reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books, and in its second week rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next 11 weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list. After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies.Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day. The novel won Meyer her first British Book Award, despite competition with J. K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide in 37 languages. In 2008, the four books of the series claimed the top four spots on USA Today's year-end bestseller list, making Meyer the first author to ever achieve this feat as well as being the bestselling author of the year. The Twilight novels held the top four spots on USA Today's year-end list again in 2009. In August 2009, USA Today revealed that Meyer broke J.K. Rowling's record on their bestseller list; the four Twilight books had spent 52 straight weeks in the top 10. The books have spent more than 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that Breaking Dawn would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective. Midnight Sun was to be a companion novel to the series. It would be a retelling of the events of the novel Twilight, but from the perspective of Edward Cullen (as opposed to Bella Swan). Meyer had hoped to have Midnight Sun published some time shortly after the release of Breaking Dawn, but after an online leak of a rough draft of its first 12 chapters, Meyer chose to delay the project indefinitely. Meyer has decided to pursue non-Twilight related books as a result of the leak, she made the rough chapters of "Midnight Sun" available on her website. Inspiration Meyer cites many novels as inspiration for the Twilight series, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Each book in the series was also inspired specifically by a different literary classic: Twilight by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; New Moon by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; Eclipse by Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; and Breaking Dawn's theme by Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meyer said, "I've been reading books for adults my entire life. Growing up I was an avid reader—the thicker the book, the better." She also said she is a huge fan of Orson Scott Card, and "can't go through a year without re-reading" Jane Austen's books. She also says that her writing is strongly influenced by music, and she posts playlists on her website of songs which specifically inspired her books. Bands included most often in her playlists are Muse, Blue October, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay and Linkin Park. As a Mormon, Meyer acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work. In particular, she says that her characters "tend to think more about where they came from, and where they are going, than might be typical." Meyer also steers her work from subjects such as sex, despite the romantic nature of the novels. Meyer says that she does not consciously intend her novels to be Mormon-influenced, or to promote the virtues of sexual abstinence and spiritual purity, but admits that her writing is shaped by her values, saying, "I don't think my books are going to be really graphic or dark, because of who I am. There's always going to be a lot of light in my stories." Film adaptations The Twilight Saga (film series) Summit Entertainment optioned Twilight in April 2007. Catherine Hardwicke directed the film and the screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg. It stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black. The movie was released on November 21, 2008. Meyer makes a brief cameo appearance in a diner scene. Following the success of Twilight, Summit greenlit a film adaptation of the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in November 2008. Chris Weitz directed the film, which was released on November 20, 2009. Summit confirmed an adaptation of the third book in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in February 2009.David Slade directed the film, which was released on June 30, 2010. Summit also obtained the rights to Breaking Dawn in November 2008, and approved a two-part adaptation in June 2010 that was scheduled to start production in late 2010.The first part was released on November 18, 2011, and the second part is scheduled for November 16, 2012. Analysis Reception Entertainment Weekly has stated that Meyer is "the world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice", while The Guardian described her as an "imaginative storyteller, a prolific author and a newly powerful figure in the publishing market." Wayne Janes of Toronto Sun agreed, saying "Meyer's success points up another trend — the virtual domination of the best-seller lists the last few years by what would normally be classified as young adult fiction," and noted, "In the absence of a new Harry Potter adventure, teens, fantasy enthusiasts and women (sales are mostly to females) who swoon at the idea of a virginal James Dean-ish vampire made Meyer the go-to gal for chaste love." Tymon Smith of The Times has described her as the "superstar of young adult fiction". Meyer was named USA Today's "Author of the Year" in 2008, and one of MSN Lifestyle's "Most Influential Women of 2008" where she was described as a "literary luminary". She was also ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008". and was included in their list of "People Who Mattered", with Lev Grossman noting, "Maybe Americans aren't ready for a Mormon presidential nominee yet. But they're more than ready to anoint a Mormon as the best-selling novelist of the year." Meyer was included in The Arizona Republic's "Valley's Most Fascinating People" in December 2008. Novelist Orson Scott Card said, "[Stephenie Meyer] writes with luminous clarity, never standing between the reader and the dream they share. She's the real thing". Scott described Meyer as an "amazing phenomenon". In an interview with Newsweek, author Jodi Picoult said, "Stephenie Meyer has gotten people hooked on books, and that's good for all of us." Meyer was ranked #5 on Forbes' list of "Hollywood's Top-Earning Women", the only author on the list, and it was noted that the "Twilight series of young-adult vampire books have taken the publishing and film worlds by storm." She was ranked #82 on Vanity Fair's list of the "Top 100 Information Age Powers" of 2009.Meyer was featured in an issue of the biographical comic Female Force, a Bluewater Productions title which celebrates influential women in society and pop culture. The comic has previously published biographies of women such as Oprah Winfrey and Princess Diana. In 2011 CEOWORLD Magazine ranked her among CEOWORLD magazine's Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. Meyer was the second bestselling author of the decade, according to a list published by Amazon, beaten by JK Rowling. Fan following Meyer has gained a following among young adult readers of her Twilight novels, which are set in the small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Forks has thus received attention from fans, and celebrates "Stephenie Meyer Day" on September 13, the date of character Bella Swan's birthday. Fans express themselves in other ways: "[They] dress up like her characters. They write their own stories about them and post their tales on the Internet. When she appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands." Criticism Comparing Meyer to J. K. Rowling, Stephen King stated, "the real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good." King went on to say that "people are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because it's not overtly sexual." He further explains, “A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like, the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.” Meyer has been criticized by feminists who consider Meyer an anti-feminist writer, saying that the series romanticizes a physically abusive relationship, pointing to red flags that include Bella's entire life revolving around Edward; never being in control of her own life; being absolutely dependent on Edward’s ability to protect her life, her virginity, and her humanity; and the physical injuries Bella suffers from finally consummating her relationship with Edward. Meyer has dismissed such criticisms, arguing both that the books center around Bella's choice, and that her damsel in distress persona is due only to her humanity. Personal life Meyer married Christian Meyer in 1994. They have three sons together: Gabe, Seth and Eli. The family lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Film producer Meyer is also a film producer. Meyer started her own production company in 2011 with producer Meghan Hibbett. The company is called Fickle Fish Films. Meyer spent much of 2011 producing both parts of Breaking Dawn as well as the film adaptation of Shannon Hale's novel Austenland. On February 12, 2012, Meyer announced on her personal website that filming for The Host, for which she is also a producer, would begin Monday, February 13, 2012. In April 2012, Meyer announced that she would be producing a film adaptation of Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall. Other works One of Meyer's short stories was published in Prom Nights from Hell, a collection of stories about bad prom nights with supernatural effects. Meyer's story "Hell on Earth", was about a demon named Sheba and a half-angel named Gabe who fall in love with each other. Other authors who contributed to the collection are Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe and Lauren Myracle. Prom Nights from Hell was released in April 2007. In May 2008, Meyer's adult sci-fi novel The Host, was released by the adult division of Little, Brown and Company. It follows the story of Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, a young woman and an invading alien "soul," who are forced to work as one. The Host debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for 26 weeks. In March 2008, Meyer said she was "almost done" (finished) writing a possible sequel to The Host, entitled The Soul. If she were to continue the series, the third book would be called The Seeker. Meyer mentions having several other book ideas on file, including a ghost story titled Summer House and a novel involving time travel, as well as another about mermaids. On August 28, 2008, it was announced that Meyer had written the treatment for Jack's Mannequin music video "The Resolution", which she co-directed the following week. In 2009, Meyer teamed with the skateboard and clothing company Hobo Skate Company to produce her own clothing line, consisting of a line of T-shirts and skateboards related to her science-fiction novel The Host. On March 30, 2010, it was announced that Meyer had written a 200-page novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. The book was released on June 5, 2010, by Atom and was available for free between June 7 and July 5 on the official website. In April 2009, Meyer took part in Project Book Babe, a benefit designed to help pay her friend  Faith Hochhalter's medical bills after Hochhalter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Meyer donated many advance reader copies and original manuscripts for auction. The same year, Meyer teamed up with Hobo Skate Company to auction off a The Host-themed skateboard, which sold for $1500 that was donated to charity. Publications Twilight Series Twilight (2005) New Moon (2006) Eclipse (2007) Breaking Dawn(2008)  The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (2010) The Twilight Saga : The Official Ilustrated Guide (2011) Other books Prom Night from Hell (section, 2007) The Host (2008)  source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenie_Meyer

Stephenie Meyer at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Stephenie Morgan
December 24, 1973 (age 38)
Hartford, Connecticut

Novelist, producer

American

Vampire romance, young-adult fiction, science fiction

The Twilight series

Christian Meyer (m. 1994)

3

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Stephenie Meyer, born December 24, 1973) is an American children's author and producer, best known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages. Meyer was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in America, having sold over 29 million books in 2008, and 26.5 million books in 2009. Twilight was the best-selling book of the 2008 in US bookstores.

Meyer was ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008", and was included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world's most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26. Her annual earnings exceeded $50 million. In 2010, Forbes ranked her as the #59 most powerful celebrity with annual earnings of $40 million.

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Early life

Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. She then attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1997. Meyer met her husband Christian when she was 4 years old in Arizona, and married him in 1994 when they were both 21. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli. Christian Meyer, formerly an auditor, has now retired to take care of the children.

Meyer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; she has stated that she is strait-laced about her beliefs and does not drink alcohol or smoke. Meyer had no experience as a writer of any kind and had never even written a short story before Twilight. She had considered going to law school because she felt she had no chance of becoming a writer; she later noted that the birth of her oldest son Gabe changed her mind, saying, "Once I had Gabe, I just wanted to be his mom." Before becoming an author, Meyer's only professional work was as a receptionist in a property company. Meyer lives in Cave Creek, Arizona, and also owns a home on Marrowstone Island, Washington.

The Twilight series

Twilight

Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the draft of what became Chapter 13 of the book. In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a complete novel, though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment. Her sister's response to the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies.

Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House. Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in a 2003 auction. By November, Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company. Twilight was published in 2005 with a print run of 75,000 copies. It reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books within a month of its release, and later rose to #1. Foreign rights to the novel were sold to over 26 countries. The novel was named the Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Editor's Choice.

Subsequent novels

Following the success of Twilight (2005), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, New Moon reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books, and in its second week rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next 11 weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list. After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies.Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day. The novel won Meyer her first British Book Award, despite competition with J. K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide in 37 languages. In 2008, the four books of the series claimed the top four spots on USA Today's year-end bestseller list, making Meyer the first author to ever achieve this feat as well as being the bestselling author of the year. The Twilight novels held the top four spots on USA Today's year-end list again in 2009.

In August 2009, USA Today revealed that Meyer broke J.K. Rowling's record on their bestseller list; the four Twilight books had spent 52 straight weeks in the top 10. The books have spent more than 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that Breaking Dawn would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective. Midnight Sun was to be a companion novel to the series. It would be a retelling of the events of the novel Twilight, but from the perspective of Edward Cullen (as opposed to Bella Swan). Meyer had hoped to have Midnight Sun published some time shortly after the release of Breaking Dawn, but after an online leak of a rough draft of its first 12 chapters, Meyer chose to delay the project indefinitely. Meyer has decided to pursue non-Twilight related books as a result of the leak, she made the rough chapters of "Midnight Sun" available on her website.

Inspiration

Meyer cites many novels as inspiration for the Twilight series, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Each book in the series was also inspired specifically by a different literary classic: Twilight by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; New Moon by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; Eclipse by Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; and Breaking Dawn's theme by Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meyer said, "I've been reading books for adults my entire life. Growing up I was an avid reader—the thicker the book, the better." She also said she is a huge fan of Orson Scott Card, and "can't go through a year without re-reading" Jane Austen's books.

She also says that her writing is strongly influenced by music, and she posts playlists on her website of songs which specifically inspired her books. Bands included most often in her playlists are Muse, Blue October, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay and Linkin Park. As a Mormon, Meyer acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work. In particular, she says that her characters "tend to think more about where they came from, and where they are going, than might be typical." Meyer also steers her work from subjects such as sex, despite the romantic nature of the novels. Meyer says that she does not consciously intend her novels to be Mormon-influenced, or to promote the virtues of sexual abstinence and spiritual purity, but admits that her writing is shaped by her values, saying,

"I don't think my books are going to be really graphic or dark, because of who I am. There's always going to be a lot of light in my stories."

Film adaptations

The Twilight Saga (film series)

Summit Entertainment optioned Twilight in April 2007. Catherine Hardwicke directed the film and the screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg. It stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black. The movie was released on November 21, 2008. Meyer makes a brief cameo appearance in a diner scene. Following the success of Twilight, Summit greenlit a film adaptation of the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in November 2008. Chris Weitz directed the film, which was released on November 20, 2009. Summit confirmed an adaptation of the third book in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in February 2009.David Slade directed the film, which was released on June 30, 2010. Summit also obtained the rights to Breaking Dawn in November 2008, and approved a two-part adaptation in June 2010 that was scheduled to start production in late 2010.The first part was released on November 18, 2011, and the second part is scheduled for November 16, 2012.

Analysis

Reception

Entertainment Weekly has stated that Meyer is "the world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice", while The Guardian described her as an "imaginative storyteller, a prolific author and a newly powerful figure in the publishing market." Wayne Janes of Toronto Sun agreed, saying "Meyer's success points up another trend — the virtual domination of the best-seller lists the last few years by what would normally be classified as young adult fiction," and noted,

"In the absence of a new Harry Potter adventure, teens, fantasy enthusiasts and women (sales are mostly to females) who swoon at the idea of a virginal James Dean-ish vampire made Meyer the go-to gal for chaste love." Tymon Smith of The Times has described her as the "superstar of young adult fiction".

Meyer was named USA Today's "Author of the Year" in 2008, and one of MSN Lifestyle's "Most Influential Women of 2008" where she was described as a "literary luminary". She was also ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008"^. and was included in their list of "People Who Mattered", with Lev Grossman noting, "Maybe Americans aren't ready for a Mormon presidential nominee yet. But they're more than ready to anoint a Mormon as the best-selling novelist of the year." Meyer was included in The Arizona Republic's "Valley's Most Fascinating People" in December 2008.

Novelist Orson Scott Card said, "[Stephenie Meyer] writes with luminous clarity, never standing between the reader and the dream they share. She's the real thing". Scott described Meyer as an "amazing phenomenon". In an interview with Newsweek, author Jodi Picoult said, "Stephenie Meyer has gotten people hooked on books, and that's good for all of us." Meyer was ranked #5 on Forbes' list of "Hollywood's Top-Earning Women", the only author on the list, and it was noted that the "Twilight series of young-adult vampire books have taken the publishing and film worlds by storm."

She was ranked #82 on Vanity Fair's list of the "Top 100 Information Age Powers" of 2009.Meyer was featured in an issue of the biographical comic Female Force, a Bluewater Productions title which celebrates influential women in society and pop culture. The comic has previously published biographies of women such as Oprah Winfrey and Princess Diana. In 2011 CEOWORLD Magazine ranked her among CEOWORLD magazine's Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. Meyer was the second bestselling author of the decade, according to a list published by Amazon, beaten by JK Rowling.

Fan following

Meyer has gained a following among young adult readers of her Twilight novels, which are set in the small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Forks has thus received attention from fans, and celebrates "Stephenie Meyer Day" on September 13, the date of character Bella Swan's birthday. Fans express themselves in other ways: "[They] dress up like her characters. They write their own stories about them and post their tales on the Internet. When she appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands."

Criticism

Comparing Meyer to J. K. Rowling, Stephen King stated, "the real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good." King went on to say that

"people are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because it's not overtly sexual."

He further explains,

“A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like, the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.”

Meyer has been criticized by feminists who consider Meyer an anti-feminist writer, saying that the series romanticizes a physically abusive relationship, pointing to red flags that include Bella's entire life revolving around Edward; never being in control of her own life; being absolutely dependent on Edward’s ability to protect her life, her virginity, and her humanity; and the physical injuries Bella suffers from finally consummating her relationship with Edward. Meyer has dismissed such criticisms, arguing both that the books center around Bella's choice, and that her damsel in distress persona is due only to her humanity.

Personal life

Meyer married Christian Meyer in 1994. They have three sons together: Gabe, Seth and Eli. The family lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Film producer

Meyer is also a film producer. Meyer started her own production company in 2011 with producer Meghan Hibbett. The company is called Fickle Fish Films. Meyer spent much of 2011 producing both parts of Breaking Dawn as well as the film adaptation of Shannon Hale's novel Austenland. On February 12, 2012, Meyer announced on her personal website that filming for The Host, for which she is also a producer, would begin Monday, February 13, 2012. In April 2012, Meyer announced that she would be producing a film adaptation of Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall.

Other works

One of Meyer's short stories was published in Prom Nights from Hell, a collection of stories about bad prom nights with supernatural effects. Meyer's story "Hell on Earth", was about a demon named Sheba and a half-angel named Gabe who fall in love with each other. Other authors who contributed to the collection are Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe and Lauren Myracle. Prom Nights from Hell was released in April 2007.

In May 2008, Meyer's adult sci-fi novel The Host, was released by the adult division of Little, Brown and Company. It follows the story of Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, a young woman and an invading alien "soul," who are forced to work as one. The Host debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for 26 weeks. In March 2008, Meyer said she was "almost done" (finished) writing a possible sequel to The Host, entitled The Soul. If she were to continue the series, the third book would be called The Seeker.

Meyer mentions having several other book ideas on file, including a ghost story titled Summer House and a novel involving time travel, as well as another about mermaids. On August 28, 2008, it was announced that Meyer had written the treatment for Jack's Mannequin music video "The Resolution", which she co-directed the following week.

In 2009, Meyer teamed with the skateboard and clothing company Hobo Skate Company to produce her own clothing line, consisting of a line of T-shirts and skateboards related to her science-fiction novel The Host. On March 30, 2010, it was announced that Meyer had written a 200-page novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. The book was released on June 5, 2010, by Atom and was available for free between June 7 and July 5 on the official website. In April 2009, Meyer took part in Project Book Babe, a benefit designed to help pay her friend 

Faith Hochhalter's medical bills after Hochhalter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Meyer donated many advance reader copies and original manuscripts for auction^. The same year, Meyer teamed up with Hobo Skate Company to auction off a The Host-themed skateboard, which sold for $1500 that was donated to charity.

Publications

Twilight Series

1. Twilight (2005)
2. New Moon (2006)
3. Eclipse (2007)
4. Breaking Dawn(2008)

•  The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (2010)
• The Twilight Saga : The Official Ilustrated Guide (2011)

Other books

• Prom Night from Hell (section, 2007)
• The Host (2008)

 source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenie_Meyer