Irishman Who Designed Oscar Statuette Had Eleven on His Mantel

Oscar statuette is a knight standing on a film reel and holding a sword courtesy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/23/oscar-films-sundance_n_6518866.html.

Born in 1893, Cedric Gibbons was an Irishman who made a name for himself in Hollywood.  He not only designed the Oscar statuette, but was nominated for thirty eight and brought home eleven.

Edith Head holds the record for most Oscars won by a woman (8) courtesy https://www.blue17.co.uk/edith-head-incredible-designers/. 

Austin Cedric Gibbons, the son of an architect, was born in Dublin in 1893.  He studied at the Arts Students League of New York and was hired by MGM in 1924 as an art director and production designer.  Four years later, he helped found the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  In 1928, it was Gibbons who designed the most recognized award in the world, the statuette of a knight standing on a reel of film gripping a crusader's sword.  Oscar stands 13 1/2 inches tall and weighs 8 1/2 pounds, thanks to its solid bronze casting.  Legend has it that the statuette got its name when the Academy librarian, Margaret Herrick, commented that it looked like her Uncle Oscar.  In 1929, the first Academy Awards were held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles where Janet Gaynor won a statuette for best actress and Emil Jannings for best actor.

First Academy Awards ceremony in 1929 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards.

Little did Gibbons know that one year after he designed the Oscar, he would be carrying the statuette home.  In fact, when his career was done, Gibbons' mantel would hold a record-breaking 11 Oscars, and he would be nominated for 38. Gibbons influenced the production of about 1500 films and had direct involvement in 150 films in Hollywood.  The art director won the Academy Award for the following movies:

• The Bridge of St. Louis Rey (1929)
• The Merry Widow (1934)
• Pride and Prejudice (1940)
• Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
• Gaslight (1944)
• The Yearling (1946)
• Little Women (1949)
• An American in Paris (1951)
• The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
• Julius Caesar (1953)
• Somebody Up There Likes Me (1957)

Cedric Gibbons with his Oscars courtesy https://www.pinterest.com/slynnrich/cedric-gibbons/.

Louisa May Alcott's "Death of a Soldier"

"It was the hardest question I had ever been called to answer; doubly hard with those eyes fixed on mine, forcing a truthful answer by their own truth."

As the Civil War raged on, the casualties mounted.  An unknown woman named Louisa May Alcott, volunteered at a Union Hospital in Georgetown for six months in 1863.  Homeschooled by her father, she was also raised by close family friends Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, giving her a good grounding in literature.  Louisa loved to write.  At the hospital she penned many letters, which became her first book Hospital Sketches, preceding the famous Little Women.

One soldier really made a mark on her.  The doctor said:  "Every breath he draws is like a stab; for the ball pierced the left lung, broke a rib and did no end of damage..."  Louisa was\ told there was no hope for him.  It fell on the young woman to break the news to the soldier.  

Louisa wrote:  "[There was] no outward sign of suffering till, looking nearer, I saw great tears roll down and drop to the floor."  She thought she was a "poor substitute" for a wife, mother or sister.  She watched as the nurse dressed his wound and the scar from his operation, an operation in futility since the bullet was lodged in too delicate a spot to be removed.  

The soldier's vulnerability pulled at Louisa's heartstrings;  "Although he was the manliest an among my forty, he said:  'Yes, a'am' like a little boy."  She noticed a ring on his finger, and thought he was married, but found out it belonged to his widowed mother,  Almost 30 years old, the soldier stayed home and looked after his mother and younger siblings.

The soldier said that he was injured in his first battle, and asked Louisa if it might be his last.  "It was the hardest question I had ever been called to answer, doubly hard with those eyes fixed on me, forcing a truthful answer by their own truth."  The soldier dictated a letter to Louisa to be sent to his brother Jack, who would then break the news to his mother.  

"Over his face I saw the grey veil falling that no human hand can lift."  The other soldiers in the hospital room gathered around the soldier's bed to say goodbye.  Though they were strangers, he was "beloved by all".  As his time drew near, the soldier begged for air and the curtains were opened to a red streaked dawn sky.  "Over his whole face there broke that mysterious expression brighter than any smile, which often comes to eyes that look their last."  The soldier held Louisa's hand until he breathed his last breath.   

Note:  To read the essay in full, visit http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/Death-Of-A-Soldier-By-Louisa-May-Alcott.htm.

http://louisamayalcottismypassion.com/category/books-by-louisa-may-alcott/hospital-sketches/

Plot: The Most Essential Ingredient of a Story

http://www.wattpad.com/story/10952084-story-ideas-%26-plot-lines

Plot is the most essential ingredient of a story according to Writer's Digest.  A successful story is one that gives the reader the feeling:  "I've got to know what happens next." (http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-genre/young-adult-childrens/crafting_an_effective_plot_for_childrens_books)

In a picture book, usually 32 pages, the writer has about 25 pages of plot to work with.  Something different should happen in each picture.  For example, the reader should see:

-a change of scene
-a change of expression
-a closeup
-a panorama
-a change of viewpoint
-a change of mood
-a surprise
-meanwhile (what's happening elsewhere)

Writer's Digest states that logic and cause & effect are the two most important components of plot. The plot should illustrate the theme of the book.  A picture book, with limited words, should take place in one time frame.  The movement should be linear.  Begin the story where it starts to become interesting.  Eliminate the preliminaries.  Here are examples of how to start your story:

-the main character makes a decision
-dramatic dialogue
-the day begins
-the main character's present situation
-the main character's typical response to a specific situation
-the start of a journey
-the main character sends/receives an important message

What drives plot?  According to Writer's Digest, "strong consistent characters drive the action forward".  For example, Harriet and the Promised Land demonstrates powerful characters.  To learn about more picture books with strong character development, visit http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson803/803BookList.pdf.

a

http://www.amazon.com/Harriet-Promised-Land-Jacob-Lawrence/dp/0689809654

A chapter book with a strong main character is Amelia Bedelia, which focusses on a girl who takes everything literally.  When someone asks her to "draw the curtains" she gets out a pencil and paper and draws the curtains.

Amelia Bedelia, which debuted in 1963, is a series consisting of dozens of titles, the latest of which appeared in 2014 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Bedelia.

As I stated in yesterday's post, you need to make your reader care about your characters.  The reader is interested in the story because he knows the protagonist, he knows his plight, he knows the choices he has made and he's curious about how he will proceed.  For example, the main character Jo in the novel Little Woman is a passionate one.  Her father writes from the Civil War front stating that he's suffering from an illness.  Jo immediately sells her hair to raise money for her father's care.  Jo's feelings drive the book's plot.

Illustration of Jo's father coming home from the Civil War courtesy 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women.

When writing your picture or chapter book, don't forget to follow the story arc or narrative arc which refers to the chronological construction of the plot.  "It is the rising and falling of the tension, and the pacing and timbre of the plot." (https://fcmalby.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/narrative-arc-shaping-your-story/)

While every story contains a beginning, a middle and an ending, don't forget it also must contain a crisis, a struggle and a discovery.  There must be "a transformation in the life of the main character". Otherwise, it is only a report, not a story. (http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-5-essential-story-ingredients)

http://penultimateword.com/editing-blogs/what-is-plot-pinning-down-fictions-elusive-structure/