Houses for Writing

Qualities of Personality (including Confidence + Sense of Adventure) x Impossible Challenges (Personal Challenges) + Success (Resolution) = HERO


When I'd initially written this equation, I had honed in on what made the main character in "Jack and the Rich Old Man" a hero. This individual, Jack, must possess certain qualities of personality; one of these qualities is Jack's confidence in his performance. This confidence starts when Jack decides to steal from the rich old man, and carries over through each successful task. It is also very important for Jack's character to have a sense of adventure; he needs to be willing to try new things, such as: leaving home, aiding beggars, pursuing treasures, etc. These two important qualities are tested against multiple challenges or tasks; not so much challenges of worth, but challenges designed to be un-winnable. In "The Old Rich Man," Jack continues to accept the old man's requests to steal from him, right until the Old Man sets up a final challenge in order to kill Jack directly. As with other Jack Tales, these challenges usually end on a grand final thwarting event; however, when Jack inevitably also overcomes that challenge as well, Jack has truly exhausted the villain's wits, and the Old Man concedes, after signing over much of his own wealth to the boy in loss: "Last time I was down there, Jack and his mother, they was a-doing well… they had the Old Rich Man a-working for them!" (McCarthy, 55). And so, at the end of the tale, Jack has succeeded in defeating the villain by the enemy simply giving up; a nice role reversal ending, instead of a final bloody slaying. With each of these experiences, both internal and external, I believe a hero is developed.

More than that; it hadn't occurred to me that that storyteller, too, has a great amount of influence over the specific type of hero they want Jack to be in their story. The storyteller's own experiences, bleed into their Jack stories, filling themselves in the main character's shoes. Frank Proffitt, Jr., who had told “The Old Rich Man” to be recorded in Jack in Two Worlds, adopted his own storytelling style that was similar but unique to his father's. "'The Old Rich Man' is the product of a series of social changes that have transformed an old, 'shy' tradition of storytelling into a more dramatic and public one (Lindahl, 27)." Lindahl continues to describe the storyteller's influence over the story to be "strongly shaped by family tradition and neighborhood values" (Lindahl, 28). Proffitt Jr.'s culture keeps Jack's hero image just outside of the realm of the bad guy; Jack steals from such a horrible individual because he has to, in order to better the lives of his mother and their farm. Each item taken: the money, the mare, even more money, and finally a deed of property, will all help to improve Jack's impoverish living conditions.

There are limitations to this formula, unfortunately, as each Jack tale carries its own variation and storyteller influences. While I would argue each of the elements in my formula would probably be found in each tale, it hardly compares to Jones' broader all-encompassing formula. His formula, as well as my own rewritten formula, has been really interesting to read and try to comprehend. Previously, I'd considered a hero to be 'the good guy': fairly attractive, the underdog, righting the wrongs done to him and the world. There wasn't a deep thought process as to why I considered them the hero of the story, just that it was obviously inferred. To truly consider the roots of a hero: how his characteristics and culture form a mathematical equation that can develop a "not your average joe" into who could truly fit the title "Hero," has been a fascinating way to better understand the folktale genre as a whole.

References
McCarthy, W. (1994). Jack in two worlds: Contemporary North American tales and their tellers. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

The more playful side of IT, video games, has remained an evolving and competitive industry since its early start. This industry has come quite a long way, growing from its blocky malfunctioning beginnings into a sophisticated high speed alternate reality to which many users escape to. However, NPR reports that games of the 80's and 90's left a more lasting impression than was initially thought. The Save Point Games Video Games store in Charlotte, NC operates with Super Nintendo cartridges lining store walls and arcade machines- joysticks and all- scattered inside the store. It may come off as strange to turn the evolutionary clock backwards, but customers driving this growing trend have expressed their feelings simply. "Nostalgia" has been a strong force, rooted to the core of any video game user; something as simple as the sound effects in 'Mario' can bring back memories of a simpler time. Another reason for this emerging new market is the familiarity already associated with the games. Parents not only trust what their kids are playing; they've played these same games themselves! And whether it's the lack of graphic violence or a passion to share "what we played when we were there age," parents are a significant part of this growing trend.

IT aspect aside, the business strategy Save Point is using is less financially aggressive and more market monopolized. Customers give their business because, though they once owned this same technology, they regret trading or selling what they hadn't realized to be a treasured aspect of their childhood. To apply Porter's Five Forces analysis, Save Point is using a pretty creative approach by not pursuing the next new thing. By showcasing older products, this allows the supplier to drive up prices depending on a product's rarity; however, buyers also hold power to drive the price down for a used product. There are two main competitors Save Point can be threatened by: other stores adopting this same vintage section; as well as the continued progression and advancement displayed from newly released games. Based on this analysis, Save Point’s decision to incorporate vintage games into their inventory has helped to increase the relative attractiveness of their business. Unfortunately, the lack of innovation and uniqueness of the idea has given the business an unsustainable advantage; only to be enjoyed until the wistfulness wears off.

Bradford, B. (2015, February 4). Businesses Offer A Link To The Past For Lovers Of Old Video Games. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/02/04/381973030/businesses- offer-a-link-to-the-past-for-lovers-of-old-video-games