English Final

         My idea was to write a story about Elvis and explain why he was able to change the lives of so many people. Basically, my explanation for this is that Elvis was greater than human, he was actually an alien from another planet. There is also a lot of conspiracy theories surrounding Elvis’ death because he died fairly young and very suddenly. My story explains that Elvis was gone so suddenly because he was taken back to his home planet when his career began to end. Basically, I really like Elvis, and this is a fun story to explain why he was so amazing! J

Part 1: The Beginnings

            Earth in 1935 was a dismal place. Though the worst of the depression had passed, unemployment was still high, so people’s spirits were low. One of the few things that could cheer people up was music. People were still closed off, and somewhat prudish, when it came to dancing. They didn’t just let loose, even though they really needed to. 

            Observers on Planet Gracelandia felt bad for the Tellurians. Gracelandia had gone through a depression of their own many years before, but at least they had a good outlet: Rattle ‘n’ Shake. Their favorite genre, Gracelandians played this music nonstop to get through the depression while still feeling alive. They wanted to help the people of Earth feel this way as well. Gracelandians needed to find someone that could pass as human but also had great musical talent. An appointed task force searched their planet day and night until they came upon the perfect specimen: Elvin Preston. Elvin was extremely optimistic about this opportunity and was determined to help the Tellurians. 

            The next week, Elvin was prepared for his trip to Earth. The Gracelandians renamed him Elvis Presley to give him a more human-sounding stage name. Two other Gracelandians would go with Elvin and act as his parents. They were sent to Mississippi to live in a shotgun house, common houses for poor families during the Great Depression. Here, Elvis Presley began his life and worked hard to become famous on Earth. 

Part 2: Development 

            Elvis became very involved in a church called The First Assembly of God. He listened to the gospel music and saw other members of the church loved it. He wondered to himself if the other Tellurians would enjoy it just as much, enough to raise their spirits at least. Even though he and his “parents” lived with very little money, they were able to afford a radio. He had hoped to live a richer life on earth but the Gracelandians weren’t sure on the exchange rate for Gracelandia coins to US dollars, so they didn’t send enough. On the radio, he listened to the Grand Ole Opry country music station. It was a pretty popular station, so Elvis knew a lot of people enjoyed it. Elvis and his “family” lived in something that the Tellurians called a “colored” neighborhood, which is something that didn’t really exist on Gracelandia. On many street corners, Elvis could watch blues singers. Something that Elvis heard was called “R&B” and it played at all the social clubs, and gospel music spilled out of churches. Elvis took notes and absorbed it all. 

            After a few years, Elvis and his “family” decided to move to Memphis, Tennessee because they heard about a musically rich place called Beale street. They believed that Elvis could be discovered here. They found a place to live close to downtown Memphis. Elvis took a walk down Beale street and found it to be extremely lively and loud. While walking around one day, Elvis found a place called “Sun Records”. He went inside and told the people working that he wanted to record a song for his “mother”. Of course, this wasn’t really the case. Elvis was there to get himself out there and show people that he could make music that they would really like. The people at Sun Records took notice to Elvis and thought he was really talented. Elvis had finally made his big break and found a way to reach the Tellurians. 

Part 3: The Ed Sullivan Show

            Elvis released his very first album and had a few singles that became top hits. He was beginning to become famous among the Tellurians, but not yet to the level he hoped to achieve. He wanted to be so famous that the Tellurians let go and let loose whenever they heard him sing. After all, he was here to help them. Elvis and his “parents” did some research and found that a show called the “Ed Sullivan Show” was famous and well-liked among the Tellurians. The only problem was that the show host wanted nothing to do with Elvis. He thought Elvis was too vulgar and wild, just because of the way he danced. Elvis thought this was insane, he was just being free while he danced. He was trying to show the humans that dancing is a great way to ease stress. Unfortunately, Tellurians still held high morals for themselves. While on Earth, Elvis also discovered things called movies that were popular among younger Tellurians, so he was already working to release one. As Elvis became more famous, The Ed Sullivan show wanted him on. Elvis could feel the more conservative humans opening up. Elvis went on the show and performed his more famous songs, while dancing in an extremely wild manner. He knew this was risky, but he decided to just go for it. The Ed Sullivan show received a plethora of complaints which really upset Elvis. He had hoped that the audience would be able to see how amazing it was to dance like him, but apparently, they weren’t ready for that. The next time on the show, they only filmed Elvis from the waist up, so those watching on television didn’t get the full effect. Elvis thought this was a waste of time, but at least those in the real audience could watch him dance, and they seemed to love it. Overall, Elvis noticed that his appearance on the show only helped him gain popularity, so that was good. He hoped that the release of his first movie would really boost him up and help break through those barriers. 

Part 4: Love Me Tender

            A few years before, Elvis had taken a job at a movie theater to earn some more American dollars. It was here that Elvis observed how popular movies were and how the Tellurians loved the people in them. Elvis decided he would try to pursue fame through the movies, while also pursuing fame through music. Elvis found a manager who got him some auditions with a man named Hal Wallis. Wallis offered Elvis a contract, thinking he had some potential. Elvis was thankful for this because acting was never his strong suit on Gracelandia. He could sing effortlessly but acting was a bit more difficult. Wallis tried repeatedly to find roles for Elvis to take but nobody thought Elvis was right for the parts. This made Elvis worry that they could see through his façade and know he wasn’t actually a Tellurian. Eventually, Wallis decided to pass Elvis off to a different company who gave him a role in a piece called Love Me Tender. Elvis was worried about the success of his film career because people were already judgmental about the movie before it was even released. Elvis knew he already had a large, younger fanbase from the album he had previously released, but he still wanted to reach older audiences who were still uptight. Originally, he thought that movies would reach a more mature audience who he could then swoon with his music. Elvis worked incredibly hard during the movie, and to his surprise, it worked. Even thought a lot of people did criticize the movie, a lot of people also loved it. Love Me Tender ended up making a lot of money for Elvis and his “family”. Elvis was still a bit disappointed with it due to his already wild fanbase. His fans were so excited to watch Elvis in this movie, so it made him seem more like a teen idol than a truly serious actor. Elvis was still grateful for the love of his fans, but also wanted adults to take his career seriously and enjoy his work.

Part 5: The Army

Because Elvis was finally making a good amount of money from his films and musical works, he decided that he and his “family” should move somewhere more “star-like”. Elvis thought he couldn’t continue his career living in a small, poorer home so he bought a huge mansion that he called Graceland, paying homage to his home planet of Gracelandia. Elvis and his “family” were hanging out at Graceland when they heard the news that he would be drafted into the United States Army. Elvis was not scared at all. For one thing, if he died on Earth, he would simply return to Gracelandia unharmed. Second, this could be very good for his career. Elvis believed that by being in the Army, older people who before hated him would now respect him and give his music a real listen. So, Elvis allowed himself to be inducted into the Army. The only thing he worried about was losing fans because he wasn’t able to record music while overseas. He thought that his fans might lose interest in him if they didn’t have anything new to enjoy. But Elvis didn’t have any control over it so he just went along with the Army. Shortly after he was sworn into the Army, Gracelandia decided to bring Elvis’ “mother” back to their home planet. The leaders of Gracelandia didn’t see any good reason to have so many aliens on Earth with Elvis and didn’t want to be found out. They did allow Elvis’ “father” to stay on Earth so that Elvis could have a companion. Elvis was stationed in Germany so here he would live for the next couple of years. During his time here, Elvis made plenty of friends with other men in the army. One of Elvis’ friends asked him if he would be willing to meet a young girl who was a big fan of Elvis. Of course, he agreed and later that week he was introduced to Priscilla Beaulieu.

Part 6: Priscilla and Lisa Marie 

Elvis and Priscilla dated for nearly 8 years. Throughout this time, Elvis’ career continued to skyrocket. At this point, Elvis was bigger than ever. He had released 9 albums by now and starred in twenty-five movies. The Tellurians loved him, and society had come a long way since his arrival during the Great Depression. Women were dressing how they wanted, and everyone was having more fun. Elvis knew that he wasn’t the only reason for all of this, but he knew he played a big part in it and was happy for it. Elvis would soon be marrying Priscilla Beaulieu. He knew at some point he would be returning home to Gracelandia, but he was lonely on Earth and Priscilla filled a void within him. Plus, he knew that taking a wife and starting a family would play well for him among his fans. As for the older people that still disliked him, this would make him look like a family man with good moral values, so this was a win-win for everybody. Soon after being married, Priscilla gave birth to Elvis’ first child, Lisa Marie. Elvis knew that the leaders back on Gracelandia wouldn’t be happy about this because this meant that a part-alien person would now be living on Earth. Elvis tried to explain to them that all of this was to simply boost his influences on Earth, but inside Elvis knew he was genuinely happy about having a wife and daughter. He tried to convince his leaders to allow Priscilla and Lisa Marie to come back home with him when the time came, but they wouldn’t hear of it. They couldn’t risk any chance of exposure to the Tellurians. 

It had been seven years since Elvis had performed in person because he had been so focused on the film aspect of his career. His manager put together a taped concert that would air on TV. Though it was the most-watched show of the year, Elvis felt as though some people were beginning to picture him as a “has-been”. He was getting older, had a wife and child, but he still wanted the Tellurians to love him. He had gotten so used to having musical influence over them and he wasn’t ready to give that up. The next year, Elvis decided, he would begin playing in person again to try and reboot his career to what it once was. 

Back on Gracelandia, the leaders had other plans for Elvis. They thought that he was getting too attached to his life on Earth and was forgetting about his true home. They thought Elvis had done a fine job with his task, but it was soon time to bring him home. The Gracelandian leaders reached out to Elvis and told him to enjoy his final years on Earth. This may seem like a long time but years on Earth were just days on Gracelandia. Elvis was devastated by this news but knew he must live his life on Earth as much as possible until the very end. 

Part 7: Divorce and Celebration

            Even though Elvis knew he wouldn’t be on Earth for much longer, he still loved Priscilla very much. He didn’t want to make her sad by a sudden disappearance disguised as death. So, Elvis decided that he would divorce Priscilla to give her time to move on and be happy with someone else before he went back to Gracelandia. Elvis decided to stay close friends with Priscilla so that he would still come off good in the media and not completely ruin his career. He also wanted continued access to Lisa Marie so that he could spend as much time with her as possible before his return home. Elvis wanted to make sure that all his fans had something huge to remember him by, not that he didn’t think he had a great career, but he wanted to make sure that he went out with a bang. He secured a deal to do a live show from America’s best vacation destination: Hawaii. According to Elvis’ manager, this would be the first entertainment special to broadcast live and would bring in millions of viewers. Elvis was ecstatic because he wanted to do something big before he left Earth, and this was it. Elvis’ manager was wrong. The special actually brought in over 1 billion viewers. Elvis felt like he had achieved the impossible and knew this was something the Tellurians would never forget.  

Part 8: The End

            It had been a few years now since Elvis was told that he would be returning to Gracelandia, but he was still on Earth. Elvis wished at this point that he would just be taken back to Gracelandia because he was becoming restless. He had been preparing to return for years, divorcing Priscilla and giving one last huge concert. Elvis almost wished he had stayed married to Priscilla because they would’ve had at least four more years together. Elvis still put on smaller concerts here and there, but nothing as big as his concert in Hawaii. He was pretty much passing time until he was taken back. But one day at Graceland, Elvis started to have horrible chest pains and he knew that this was the Gracelandians way of taking him back home. While he had a great time on Earth with his music and film career, he knew it was time to go home now. He wished that he would have time to say goodbye to his daughter, Lisa Marie, but he knew he would be gone within the next few minutes. Everything went black, and Elvis was gone. 

Aftermath: 

            Elvis was gone from Earth very quickly and suddenly, which prompted many of his fans to believe he hadn’t actually died. Elvis was watching all of this from his home on Gracelandia and was glad that he had such a lasting influence on his fans that they hoped he was still alive somewhere on Earth. Some of the conspiracies made Elvis laugh, some of them were just stupid, and some of them believed Elvis was an alien. 

Works Cited

Doll, Susan. “Elvis Presley Biography.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 11 July 2007, entertainment.howstuffworks.com/elvis-presley-biography3.htm.

Konkel, Lindsey. “Life for the Average Family During the Great Depression.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 19 Apr. 2018, www.history.com/news/life-for-the-average-family-during-the-great-depression.

“Love Me Tender (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Apr. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Me_Tender_(film)#Elvis_Presley.

“60 Years Ago Today: Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show.” 60 Years Ago Today: Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show, www.graceland.com/blog/posts/60-years-ago-today-elvis-presley-on-the-ed-sullivan-show/.

Warnock, Sarah. “What Did Elvis Learn from This Black Neighborhood?” The Clarion Ledger, Mississippi Clarion Ledger, 15 Aug. 2017, www.clarionledger.com/story/magnolia/entertainment/2017/08/15/shake-rag-town-restored-song/560950001/.

Kindred :)

     Kindred is without a doubt one of the craziest books I have ever read in my entire life. The entire book went by really fast, which I liked because it was easy to keep up with the readings. I feel like the characters didn’t have a lot of depth, but I didn’t mind because I think it added to the pace of the novel. One of my favorite characters was Kevin because despite what happened, he always loved and never gave up on Dana. Even though he was trapped in the past for five years, I think he kept himself together pretty well, which is more than I can say for how I would’ve reacted in that situation. 

     By the end of the book, I felt as though I had lived through this entire experience with Dana. I’m still not sure why Dana had to go through this. I know that she was summoned when Rufus was in trouble, and taken back when she was in trouble, but why did this happen to Dana? Maybe it was to save her own families timeline and make sure Rufus lived long enough to create Hagar. At the beginning of this book, I didn’t realize that Dana’s timeline begins with a white man raping a black slave. It’s completely backwards to think that Dana must save Rufus’ life so that he can force Alice to have a baby with him. 

     I think a lot of people could defend Rufus’ actions by saying that he is just a product of his times, but that doesn’t make it seem any better. Rufus seems to be a little more progressive than his father, but still not a very good person. Some might say that at least he loved Alice enough to buy her back after she ran away, but he was the one that drove her to attempt an escape. Rufus’ “love” is a very selfish one, and that is why he is absolutely my least favorite character. 

     Overall, Kindred has definitely become one of my favorite books of all time. I really loved that it was fast-paced and action-packed. I would definitely recommend this book to any of my friends, and I’m really glad I was introduced to it during this class. 

My Thoughts on Slaughterhouse Five

         Slaughterhouse Five was definitely the easy book to comprehend so far, at least on the surface level. It had clear sentences and correct grammar, unlike Mumbo Jumbo. I really thought the way the author depicted PTSD through a chronologically disorganized book was super cool and interesting. It was really easy to keep up with the readings because I just wanted to keep reading it. I have already read this book from Mr. Butler’s class last semester, but reading it a second time gave me a whole new perspective and I was able to understand the deeper meaning of the book.
        My favorite part of the book is how blunt it is. It doesn’t dance around the subject of death, nor does go into excruciating detail. Kurt Vonnegut describes things exactly the way he saw it, even if was something as gruesome as the Dresden bombing. Seeing the narrator be so disconnected from real life and emotions gives the reader a new perspective on how war can effect veterans and how they are left with PTSD afterwards.
         Even though I’ve already read this book in Mr. Butlers class, we never actually had any class discussion on it so I was left to think about it myself. We read this book alongside One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich which I often thought about while reading Slaughterhouse Five again. If you haven’t already read this book, I strongly recommend it. This book gives a whole new meaning to life and what it is like to live freely. It also showed me that someone with PTSD can be suffering as much inside as someone stuck in a Russian gulag.
          So far, Slaughterhouse Five is my favorite book that we’ve read. I found it the easiest to understand while depicting a much deeper, emotional theme. Even though Billy Pilgrim doesn’t seem to be a super sympathetic person, the book finds a way to make you feel sympathy towards him.

My Thoughts on Mumbo Jumbo

        Mumbo Jumbo is absolutely the craziest, most confusing book I have ever read in my entire life. If you thought reading Beloved was hard, just wait until you read Mumbo Jumbo. I felt like there was just too many characters and details to keep track off. Plus, the author doesn’t actually use correct grammar or anything which only adds to the confusion. The only thing I really actually liked about this book was how the author was able to tie everything together in the end.
        The hardest part about reading this book is the grammar. There is hardly any commas and absolutely no quotation marks around the dialogue. This is not a book that you can just sit down, relax, and enjoy. Reading this book takes a lot of focus and a lot of work. For the most part, I was able to get the general idea of the chapters, but I don’t think I could really summarize them for anyone. I definitely do not recommend reading this book on your own. Without our daily class discussions, I would have been completely lost and would have missed a lot of important details. I also hated that the author purposely spells things wrong, or uses the number one to replace the worked “one”. Part of me felt like I was reading somebody’s text messages.
        Had this book been a little easier to comprehend, I might have a favorite character or two. The plot itself was so hard to understand that I didn’t really have time to think about characters I liked. I could barely keep all their names straight. The worst part was the ending of the book, when Reed decided to wrap everything up. There were so many new names and plot that I didn’t really follow it all that well. I got the broad idea of it but again, I couldn’t really explain it to anyone that asked me to.
          If I were to recommend reading this book, I would highly recommend that you be prepared to read it more than once before you truly understand what is happening. I think that if I were to reread Mumbo Jumbo, I would be able to catch more details and understand it’s meaning better. Overall, it is a very cool, interesting book, but you must be willing to do some critical thinking before reading it.

Coalhouse Walker vs Bigger Thomas

        Last semester in African-American literature, we read a book called “Native Son”. This book

was about a man named Bigger Thomas who, out of fear, accidentally murders a white girl. I see

some similarities and some differences between Bigger and Coalhouse. They both do something to

white people that they “aren’t supposed” to do. But, Bigger Thomas runs away from his problem,

while Coalhouse Walker embraces and uses it to his advantage. Both of these characters know a

white person who is trying to help them get through their present situations.
     

          Bigger Thomas accidentally murders Mary Dalton to prevent someone from finding him in her

bedroom. At this time, it would’ve been detrimental for Bigger to be found alone in a white woman’s

bedroom. Coalhouse Walker blows up fire stations, then takes hold of J.P. Morgan’s library.

Obviously, this makes Coalhouse look like a serious threat, and he becomes a wanted man. Both

Bigger and Coalhouse are in major trouble with the law, but Bigger committed his crime accidentally,

while Coalhouse intended to hurt people.
       

        After committing his crime, Bigger Thomas immediately runs away to hide, while Coalhouse

makes a scene to make himself more visible to the public. I think this difference is due to the fact of

why they committed these crimes. Because Bigger committed his crime by complete accident, he

doesn’t want, nor is he mentally ready, to go to jail. Coalhouse commits his crime to send a political

message to the white race. He wants to tell society that he will not stand for their treatment of him,

and he is ready to die for his cause.
       

          During Bigger Thomas’ time between arrest and death, Jan comes in to help him through the

trial. Jan wants to help Bigger even though he murdered Jan’s girlfriend, Mary Dalton. For Jan, this

would be a very radical move in the 1940s. A white man did not usually help and stand up for a black

man. Coalhouse Walker lets Mothers Younger Brother join his radical group. Younger Brother is a

white man who, in the early 1900s, wanted to advocate for black people’s rights. This is also

practically unheard of to do back then, as a white man.
       

           Bigger Thomas and Coalhouse Walker may seem like completely different people, but they

actually have quite a few similarities in their stories.

My Thoughts on Ragtime

        Ragtime is kind of a weird book. At the beginning of the book, it seemed like there was a million different plot lines, but now they all seem to be combining into one story. My favorite characters so far are probably Tateh and the little girl. My least favorite character is Evelyn Nesbitt because I just feel like her storyline is boring. My favorite aspect of the book is how the author is able to smoothly bring all the characters together while keeping true to their own stories.
        My favorite characters/storyline is Tateh and his daughter. I like them because I love how far Tateh will go to keep his daughter safe and happy. Although, I definitely don’t agree with the fact that he kicked his wife out of the house. When Tateh has the opportunity to give his daughter a (temporary) safer life, he takes the chance. He plans to send his daughter away to make her happier, even though he would miss and worry about her. I feel like Tateh’s main goal is to give his daughter the best life he can afford. Even though he doesn’t have a lot of money, he always makes sure his daughter has all she needs, which is why they’re my favorite characters.
        Evelyn Nesbitt is my least favorite character because I find her weird and boring, For one, she started a relationship with a man that was watching her while hidden in a closet, and who followed her around everywhere. That seems like a poor choice and bad judgement to me. Also, I think it’s weird that she tries to help her murderous husband get out of jail. even though she is 100 percent sure that he did murder Stanford White. Sure, they got divorced immediately after the trial, but why would you want to set a murderer free, especially one that murdered the man you truly love?
        Overall, I really enjoy the novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. I think it’s cool that there are so many different characters, all different types of people, are all involved in the same plot line. I also like that Harry Houdini is involved in this book, even though I don’t really see him as an important character. I also like how Doctorow takes aspects of current events in the 1970s and adds them to the 1920s. Overall, I hope all books we read this semester are as good as Ragtime.

All Blog Posts From Now on are For History as Fiction