My prompt for this entry was to write about something that I know nothing about (but would maybe like to know). I’ve chosen to write a story about astronomy, a subject that has always interested me but that I really don’t have a lot of knowledge on. I’ve taken the perspective of an astronaut in this story.

Day 112. I’m not sure exactly where we are on the schedule, I think a little behind, but we’ve been moving at a good pace for a few weeks now. We have yet to find any indication that our research is supported. I’ve just woken up to the smell of fresh oxygen and aluminum.  I am not sure how long I slept. The funny thing about time when you’re in space is that its nothing like ‘time’ at home, on Earth. Depending on where you are, it can be faster, slower, or seemingly unmoving. Time is a manmade concept, and I’ve detached from that concept quite a bit over the last few months.

After making sure everything is order on board, I relocated to the meal room. Going through an assortment of pre-packaged, vacuum sealed foods to choose from, I began to miss home again. It comes and goes, happening randomly, this deep ache I have to be back with my family again. I questioned again, my reasoning for agreeing to this excursion. I sighed.

Moments later, I heard a faint ticking coming from the dashboard of our screens on board. I looked up. Could it be…? The ticking continued. I stood up, walked over to the screen.

“Mark, come take a look at this, would ya?” I called into the next room.
Mark walked in and began to hear it himself. His eyes widened. He quickened his pace over to the screen and glanced down.

Both of us could not really believe what we saw. Light years away, our radar detected a force so powerful that the equipment we had could not measure it, and began to go haywire. Dials going up and down, our electromagnetic radar became inconsistent and bouncy. It had to be.

“There she is” I couldn’t believe my own words out of my mouth.
Mark said nothing.
We turned on the infrared monitor and zoomed in on the source of the extreme energy. Very faintly, we could see it. A small dot in the cosmos, emitting absolutely zero light, and a force that could not be measured.
“I don’t believe it,” Mark said softly.

I ignored him and continued shifting around the detection equipment and the infrared camera so that we could take a picture of what we were experiencing. After saving a few screens of the detection to our hard drive, I programmed the radar to zoom in even further. I had to be sure.

But yes, there it was. It couldn’t be anything else. There is no other explanation for an area in space to produce such energy an emit no light alongside it. It had to be, a black hole. This is what we had been searching months for, after observing abnormalities in our astronomical scans from Earth, this is what I had been sent to find.

And we actually found it.

I picked up the radio.
“Houston…we’ve located the source.”

The first title that I find compelling is of the recent movie Edge of Tomorrow. It does a good job, in my opinion, of divulging a little information while still remaining mysterious enough to draw viewers in. It promises the idea of being on the cusp of the next day, without quite reaching it. It’s meaning, interpreted quite literally, ends up being the premise of the film, in which a soldier gains the ability to reset the day he is living every time he dies. The title is successful because it promises a movie that is both entertaining for action fans, but is also a “smart” movie in that the premise isn’t simply “shoot a bunch of stuff and save the day.”

The second title that I find to be particularly powerful is the band This Will Destroy You’s newest album, titled Another Language. Without knowing anything about the band, you can already tell that the album is going to contain music that might be foreign to the listeners ears, or literally in another language entirely. It works in context with the name of the band as well, as it implies that there is something about this “other language” that will, either literally (not likely) or metaphorically destroy you. They are an instrumental band and it turns out that the other language that they use is the ability to convey emotion and story with only the instruments in their hands, instead of laying out lyrics that tell the story for you. Musically, it is another language as opposed to much of the music that we hear today that speaks directly to the listener. Here, it is up to the listener to find the meaning in the music’s language.

The last title that I find to be interesting is that of a book by the sports writer Rick Reilly, entitled Hate Mail from Cheerleaders. It instantly raises questions in the potential readers minds. “Cheerleaders can be that angry? What did he do to deserve hate mail? I’d like to hear that story.” It is an excellent attention grabbing title, while also setting up the format of the book, where there are a plethora of little short stories that are either good for a laugh or will have you fighting back tears. The title sets up both the style of the book and the tone, as it doesn’t exactly have the ring of a long-form piece of fiction. It is also in keeping with the personality of the writer, in that this type of thing isn’t out of the ordinary for him.

“South of the Border, West of the Sun,” a novel

“South of the Border, West of the Sun” is a book by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, one of my all-time favorite authors. First time looking at the cover, it makes me wonder, so where is the south of the border? And where is the west of the sun? It turns out that the book title refers to a song by Nat King Cole describing a trip to Mexico. That may explain why even though the short novel was written in Japanese and set in Japan, it doesn’t at all seem foreign to English speakers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDpTxrj3Fps&spfreload=10

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” a Christmas carol

I don’t think they’re anyone in this world who hasn’t once listened to the classic Christmas song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The song was written in 1939 by Johnny Marks, based on the story of a fictional male reindeer with a glowing red nose, commonly known as “Santa’s 9th Reindeer.” Rudolph has a nose so shiny that it illuminates the team’s path through any severe winter weather on Christmas Eve. The title of the song itself has become so popular that, just by looking at it, anyone could hear the melodies going in their minds.

“500 Days of Summer,” a romantic comedy

The movie’s tittle might make you think it tells a story about an endless summertime, but in fact, it’s about a clinically realistic girl named Summer and how she makes an average guy with an average life fall in love with her. But before I figure all of that stuff out, it’s the tittle that makes me want to sit down and watch the movie. (okay I also want to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt.) I wanted to know why were there 500 days in summer and what happened during that time.

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

This title is great because it adequately sums up many qualities of this work. The book is large, intense and filled with big ideas. The name also gives a connotation of this text’s importance. The Leviathan is mentioned in the Bible, and may have been anything from an alligator to a giant python. Hobbes decision to use this title may have been informed as well by this fact. The Leviathan in this text is the political State which contains each and every person who lives in a society alongside other human beings. The title is also mysterious as any person who has not heard of this text will immediately wonder if it is literary fiction, and not if it is a text on political matters. I would take from this the use of a title that expresses qualities about the content, but also a larger scope.

Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard

This title is interesting because it first reminds a modern reader of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and secondly because it builds an expectation of frightening stuff inside the text. The text however happens to be about the moral implications of Abraham’s (of Bible fame) challenge to sacrifice his son because God asks him to. The title makes one suspect horror, where there is none at all. Unless the line “Reality does not lie” is frightening to a reader, which now that I think about it could be taken as a scary statement. However, there is also a weird part where he talks about an eternal love between two people who can never be together (or something). From this title I wouldn’t take any inspiration though it is an interesting read. The title feels tacked on at the last minute once you’ve finished the text. Great title for a work, but in this case on the wrong work.

Is this It? by The Strokes

This first album by The Strokes refers not only to the title track, but can also be about the hype concerning the band’s first release. In the track Is this It? a gentleman is trying to pick up a date and go back to their place. When the words “Is this It?” are sung it is unclear what it means. Is he asking if they have arrived at their destination? Is he asking once inside the apartment with disdain if this is what the person’s apartment amounts to? Or is he asking himself if this is the chance he has been waiting for to go home with this person or home with any person period? It works well because it is so unclear. On the hype end of things, the title of the album could also refer to the band’s massive hype at the time, and “Is this it?” could be the question that some listeners may have asked themselves once they’d listened to one or all of the tracks. I would take from this the use of a title that can have many interpretations depending on one’s own preferences.

I Was Told There’d Be Cake

This is a collection of short stories that I picked up because the title really caught my eye. It was so witty, and I feel like I instantly connected to the author right away because of it. How often do we become more inclined to go somewhere or do something if there is food involved? I knew the book was going to be a memoir because that was the section I was in, and I wanted to pick up the book because I got an impression of the author’s tone right ff the bat. I was expecting stories that were witty, refreshing, and most likely really down to earth.

Does Politics Need Gender Quotas – For Men? (Subtitle: How limiting male representation, rather than creating a floor for female participation, might shake up government)

I saw this article on The Atlantic and immediately wanted to click it because of the two buzzwords mentioned: gender and politics. The title starts of slightly provocative, but takes a twist after the hyphen. The hyphen seems extremely intentional because the author knows the reader was not expecting it to be about men, and in particular, about limiting their power. Most discussions around gender and politics focus on creating a floor for female participation as the subtitle points out, so the author was going for the shock factor by focusing on men. The pause readers take upon reading the hyphen creates an almost controversial tone to the title that I think works really well as far as “clickability” goes.

Montevallo

Montevallo is the title of Sam Hunt’s new album, and I thought it was interesting because it seemed random. It sounded cool based on the assonance and the slightly exotic sound to it, but I didn’t really understand it’s relevance to the songs or to the artist. After a quick Google search though, I found out it was the name of the town he lived in while attending college at the University of Alabama, which brings new meaning to the songs on the album. Presumably, most of the songs took place in the town based on his experiences there. I think the implicit vs explicit details revealed through the title was interesting, and grounded the songs on the album in a specific place. However, the listener would only know that if they were familiar with Alabama geography

The three I choose are Sweeney Tood : The demon barber on fleet street,  The Missionary Position Mother Teresa in theory and practice and My Bad George Bush.

Sweeney Tood: The Demon Barber on fleet street is a title that I do enjoy. The simplicity of the title works.  It starts off with his name and then a brief description that does not give much away.  The use of “Demon Barber” complexes me. The questions that come to mind are:What do you mean by Demon Barber? What is a Demon Barber? Is it literally a Demon cutting guys hair? This title makes me want to see the movie. It’s clever without trying too hard.

One title I feel is trying too hard is The Missionary Position Mother Teresa in theory. The title is meant to have a double meaning, Mother Teresea being a missionary and another meaning. I think the double meaning title is always creative but it takes away from the story of Mother Teresa. The second mean has nothing to do who she is as a person. The only way double meaning titles work is if  both meanings relate to the topic at hand. This title is creative but dumb at the same time.

My Bad George Bush is another title i’m mixed about. When I first saw this title on Pinterest I chucked.  This story is an outside look into George Bush’s life and presidency. Though I think this is a good title I do not think that Bush will approve. This makes me think to think about my subject when selection a title. Bush had his ups and downs ( mostly downs) in his presidency but he might not agree with the title. The use of “My Bad” implies he did something wrong. I would like it if my subject would look at my article and enjoy the title with me and not become upset because she feel misrepresented

To Gain the Upper Hand, Amazon Disrupts Itself
(NY Times: 12/1/2014)

This title stuck out to me initially because of its contradictory fashion. As an Amazon shopper, I am aware of what it is as a company and business, thus I am immediately intrigued by familiarity with the subject. But to also see it being described in a self destructive manner makes me concerned for the business and also curious as to what might have caused this problem. This title works for this article especially because it explains both what “gaining the upper hand” and “disrupting itself” mean in terms of Amazon as a company and what they are currently experiencing.  Leaving this unspoken in the title, it makes the reader want to read more about the subject.

The Mazerunner
(Film: September 2014)

This is a title of a film that was released in September of this year based off the novel “The Mazerunner” by James Dashner. I had not read the book before seeing the movie title, and the title is what sparked my interest in reading the book. It is both confusing and foreign to its audience because in our society, we do not have things called “mazerunners” and thus are not familiar with them. But it captures both excitement and action in the sense that Maze-runner could be interpreted as someone running in a maze. This title is successful in that it does not fully reveal its definition, but introduces the noun in an exciting way.

Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free
(Boston Globe: 2014)

Information is a very popular concept in modern America, as our lives revolve around it. However, this title takes a different perspective on the side of information – as if it is the equivalent of a person – and its preferences on being free. It is instantly catching because of this unique perspective and also the irony behind “free information”.  Based on the title, one can assume the articles contents as a number of things: and all interesting to the modern reader.

These titles were all successful in the way that they immediately interested a wide variety of readers as well as leaving out information that could spark curiosity. I would like to include information in my title that many people can relate to.