Pueo Stories

“Tutu’s Surprise”

1. How does this story work?    

This story functions by recounting the patterns of a teenager slowly falling into delinquency through the point of view of his grandmother, who he is taking care of. This enticing set up pulls readers in for the climax, where the main character ends up becoming a mo’o as punishment for treating his grandma poorly. The creative plot arc and fantasy element makes for an appealing story that could effectively teach the consequences of misbehavior. 

2. Imagine the writer is sitting next to you. What feedback do you give him/her?

Personally, I don’t have much negative feedback. There are a lot of areas with ambiguity, such as the reason Kalani takes care of Tutu or why he becomes more distant. Normally leaving out information is something that could be critiqued, but Tutu’s point of view is made more realistic by keeping Kalani’s actions secretive. This makes it more consistent. Conversely, adding more details might actually disrupt the original story, so I think the choice was well made.

“Click”

1. How does this story work?    

This story conveys paranoia by framing a disoriented, lonely late-night scene in anxiety. Repeating sensory details such as the clicking sounds and surprising sights inserts the reader into the mind of an unknown narrator, which also allows for a lot of confusion. These combined details make the story unsettling and cause the reader to simply follow along with the random decisions the main character makes to somehow feel grounded again, transitioning from a bedroom to a diner in the neighborhood.

2. If the story doesn’t work as well as it could, what is your understanding of what the writer’s intentions are?

My understanding of the writer’s intentions was to evoke unresolved fear. In the story, confusion is constant in every scene: your finger is injured without knowing why, leaves don’t naturally accumulate on the ground after falling from the trees, and the food at the diner tastes odd. Although it doesn’t make much sense, the writer was aiming to trap the readers in a distorted environment that induces an emotional reaction.

3. Imagine the writer is sitting next to you. What feedback do you give him/her?

Contrary to “Tutu’s Surprise”, ambiguity and missing context might be ineffective in this story because readers don’t have a realistic situation to relate to. For example, simply describing “You feel uneasy” (2) is not as emotionally impactful towards someone reading this story as an actual event that would make the reader feel uneasy. Many phrases in the story attempt to unnerve the reader, but lack substance that might actually be fearful. Being in the dark about details more so confuses a person rather than frightens them. Despite that, I do like the descriptions of sensory details such as blood, the lack of grime on the key ring, and facts about the environment that add to the confusion. These give a mental image about where things are taking place, and give a sense of time passing, and help the reader track what’s happening in the story.