David Horan
Amy Minervini
Writing Class
Twilight: the world's worst book series?
There is no doubt that the Twilight Saga created by Stephanie Meyers is our generation's most successful book series. This book series has spawned its own fan base and has made five high grossing movies of the last past years and is universally loved by 13-year old girls and 13-year olds at heart. A lot of the fans claim that this book series is just as great, if not equal to, the Harry Potter series. however I would disagree. It is my own opinion and others that Twilight is the worst book series ever to be made. This series is universally hated by men, feminist and authors because of the poor and horrible writing by Stephanie Meyers and the fact that her characters are the not best role models for young teens. The fact that it's being compared to a literature masterpiece as Harry Potter is insulting to literature itself. The movies have questionable acting, effects, staging, and dialogue that's it's amazing to people that these movies because so successful when they shouldn't be. This is not against escapism or the harlequin romantic novels, most of the things that we like such as comics, movies, books and video games have elements of escapism. However we don't praise a comic or a video game if the plot doesn't make sense, the characters are not good or if the grammar or gameplay has problems. I would say that the only good thing that can come out of the Twilight series is that it will teach future novel writers on how to a good book series. Stephanie Meyer is a terrible writer and her characters are problematic. Although her books could help future writers of teen topics.

Stephanie Meyers is a Terrible Writer
There is no doubt that Stephanie Meyers is a questionable writer. Fans, non-fans and other authors agree that Stephanie Meyers skills as a writer is controversial. Even legendary horror novel writer Stephan King said that "[J.K] Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephanie Meyers can't write worth darn" (Rosenthal, 2009). It's sad because most of her mistakes are basic mistakes. First, let's use quotes from the books as examples of her writing. In this line from New Moon page 476, "Aro started to laugh."Ha, ha, ha," he chuckled." And again in page 479 ""Ha, ha, ha," he laughed, his head still bent forward." Now both of sentences are bad because we know that this character is laughing, so we don't need "Ha, Ha, Ha," he chuckled since it's already established that he's laughing at the beginning of the sentence. Another problem with this is that Meyers doesn't allow the reader to use his or her imagination in her books. Readers like to imagine what the characters, setting and places and that what makes reading enjoyable. Another major problem with Meyers writing is that her sentences are generally boring, take this for example "My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favourite shirt — sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka."Generally there is little action within the book series as a whole. We know Twilight is romantic book, but it's a book for young readers, we can't focus long enough on a book if it's just dialogue. We need action in book so we could get excited, pumped and get interested and be concern for the character's action and what outcome it has in the story.  Another problem with her writing is the fact she uses the same description words and that most of the words are long and complex. An example of this is "He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare." Twilight is supposed to be a young teenager's book, not a college student novel. When a writer constantly uses the same repetitive and long complex words, it bores and confuses the reader especially young teens. Another major problem is that Meyers constantly over uses the purple prose. Purple prose is defined as "writing that calls attention to itself because of its obvious use of certain effects, as exaggerated sentiment or pathos, especially in an attempt to enlist or manipulate the reader's sympathies."(Dictonary.com). As readers, we want to make connections to the characters in story through their actions however by just constantly manipulating the scene to invoke supposvie "emotions" it makes the characters look needy, helpless and foolish. Another major complaint by non-fans is the fact that Meyers constantly breaks her own universe's establish rules and some of them don't even make sense, for example in her universe the vampire's sparkle in the sunlight and to them, it tells the humans in Meyers universe that they are vampires. However since most of the book series takes place during the day that would mean that all the vampires around the world would be sparkling all the time. Another example of this is when Bella is having a half-human, half-vampire baby and Carlyle, the father and doctor of the Cullen, says that this has never happen before however there are pictures of half vampire, half human offspring on the internet so it must mean that this event has happen before in the past. There are so many plot holes in Meyer's story that it's hard to say them all. Plot holes aren't bad, as long if there are just about 1 or 2 of them however if your story has so many plot holes, it's going to make your story look really sloppy and half-done. When creating a universe for your book series, you need to develop defined rules for that world, for an example Harry Potter takes place in a fantasy setting where magic exist and takes place during the modern era. Like the modern era, organizations like the Ministry of Magic are made to monitors magic activity much like how police monitor criminal activity and Hogwarts where gifted children are taught to control their magic much like how school and collages teaches how to act in society. Another thing is that when you're going to write a book based on a controversial topic such as Abortion and Abstinence, make sure that you thoroughly research the material for both sides of the argument before writing your book or otherwise young reader might get the wrong ideas about said subject.

Her Characters are Horrible
One the major sources of hate for this series are the main characters Bella, Jacob and Edward. These three characters lack any realism, personality and unlikeable in the history of literature. It's amazing how Meyers thinks them as good characters and how so many girls love Edward and Jacob and how they want to be like Bella. But in reality, they aren't good characters at all.

First let's talk about Edward, he is handsome vampire that our "protagonist" Bella falls in "love" with and he only wants to protect Bella from the vampire life style but also from himself. Pretty heroic, however the matter fact is that Edward is an abusive boyfriend to Bella. He shows all the signs of an abusive boyfriend. First he's Controlling- when an abusive boyfriend or husband attempts you to feel subservient to keep you trapped in a relationship or marriage, by making all of the decisions and treating you like a servant. An abusive boyfriend or husband also limits how much you can see your friends and family and prevents you from getting a job, making the girlfriend or wife more dependent on him both emotionally and finically (Christopher, 2011). In the entire book series, Edwards often makes most of Bella's decisions where she would often disagree and was powerless to change it. "In what strange parallel dimension would I ever have gone to prom of my own free will? If you weren't a thousand times stronger than me, I would never have let you get away with this." (Bella Swan, Twilight, Epilogue). He also disabled her truck so she couldn't leave, he bribed his sister Alice to monitor Bella while he was gone, and virtually imprisoning her and he forbid her from seeing her best friend under any circumstance. He is also Belittling- when your abusive partner insults you in public and privately. They question your intellect, interests, education and achievements to make you feel not worthy of his love or to make you think that you wouldn't be able to survive without him. He may also insult you or embarrass you in front of friends by pointing out your faults and react sarcastically when you voice your opinion. (Christopher, 2011). Edward has be very verbally abusive to Bella throughout the books "Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant.", "Are you referring to the fact that you can't walk across a flat, stable surface without finding something to trip over?", "You are a terrible actress—I'd say that career path is out for you.". He also has a problem with Jealousy- Abusive partners are often extreme jealous, often asking detailed accounts of everything you do when you're apart, considers any form of interaction with another male as flirtation, and accuses you of cheating on him or act very possessive when out in public. (Christopher, 2011). When Edward and Bella started dating, Edward became very over protective of her and often got jealous of other males who got close to Bella like Jacob. He uses Intimidation- abusive woman are often frighten of their partner, often feeling timid or apprehensive when your partner is around because you worry that you might anger him. Partners may also use threats of physical violence or emotional outbursts to frighten so you wouldn't be able to assert yourself (Christopher, 2011). Bella mentions that she was afraid of Edward and was afraid to look at him or his reactions. Edward also tells Bella in every book of the series that he fights the urge to bite her or that he worried that he might hurt her. He is often in Denial- often abusive partners use excuses and accusations to make you believe that his behavior is your fault. You partner will say that your stupidity, mistakes, secrecy or flirtation was the cause of the outburst and requires him to control all of your money and control all of the family decisions. He may also deny the harshness of his actions and make fun of your reactions or blame his behavior on stress (Christopher, 2011). An example of this is in Breaking Dawn when Edward and Bella have sex on their honey moon and Bella becomes pregnant with a half human, half vampire offspring that is slowly killing her. Bella wants to keep the baby however Edward wants to get rid of the thing, his own child, however Bella still wants to keep it and Edward tells her that it will be her fault if she dies and he then wants nothing to do with it. From these examples, you can see that Edward is a very abusive boyfriend and what Meyers is teaching these young girls is that it's okay to have an abusive partner, as long as he's handsome and his sorry for his actions.

Jacob Black is another problematic character. He is the werewolf and the other romantic love interest of Bella. Now a lot of people consider Jacob to be one of the only two nice characters in the books, besides Bella's father. Jacob is basically kind, supportive and friendly however Jacob is class-case stalker as he shows all the signs of one. Meyers dismisses it by saying that Jacob imprinted on Bella however that doesn't excuse him from his behavior. He uses Unwanted Communtion- when stalkers use different forms of communication to harass their victims. Some examples are persistent telephone calls, countless text messages or incessant emails and Two-thirds of stalkers will chase their victims at least once a week however the communication happens daily (Fryer, 2013). In the book series, Jacob does take any chances to be around Bella Swan, even when it's inappropriate. He does Monitoring Your Home or Your Workplace- it's when a stalker monitors either your home or your workplace. Over three million people have been recognized as victims of stalker through this practice (Fryer, 2013). Like I said earlier, Jacob will do anything to be around Bella Swan and in one of the scene of the book, he watches Bella through a crack in bedroom door while she sleeps. He uses Threat or Violence- a stalker or a rapist will use threats and violence to control their victim. This kind of behavior is often associated with a "rejected stalker" (much like how Jacob acts when Bella and Edward start dating again). When a stalker uses this method, he is typically obsessed with a person, often a former friend or lover, and the stalking is the outcome of a breakup (although Bella never did tell Jacob that they weren't dating). Often the stalker cannot reconcile the relationship or cope with the humiliation (Fryer, 2013). Jacob was violent towards Edward and his family during the second and third books and even makes threats to Bella to stop dating Edward that "better you be dead that with him!" (Fryer, 2013). He often uses Defamation or Manipulative Behavior- Stalkers may also threaten to harm themselves to prompt a response of concern from the victim. He or she may also try to defame the victim's character by lying to family, co-workers and friends. During the second and third books, Bella is conflicted with her "feelings" for both Edward and Jacob and Jacob tries to get her fall for him forcibly "you love me, you just don't it yet...", he also discredit most vampires of the Meyers universe as evil and monsters (Fryer, 2013). Jacob was originally a good character at the beginning of the series; however Meyers later devolve him into a rapist and a pedophile in Breaking Dawn. Another sick thing that Meyers has done is sexualize both Edward and Jacob, most of the description dialogue for them are usually physically, not personality wise or mentally. Even in the movies they are portrayed sexually, like Edward is played by Robert Patterson who is very handsome and Jacob is played by Taylor Lautner and in every movie he takes off his shirt to show his abs. a lot of people believe that the only reason that fans, mostly women, go see these awful movies but to look at Patterson's face and Lautner's abs. what Meyers is teaching young girls is to base men on their physical appearance, not on their personality or their values.

And lastly, the character that people hate the most in this book series is Bella Swan. She is considered not only a horrible role model for young women in general, but the worst main character in any book series or movie series. Meyers says that Bella Swan is "the average teenage girl" however most of her actions and behaviors are things that a normal person would never do in real. Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen are better main characters because they act and think like humans. First, Bella's "character" is described as a Mary Sue, a literature term for "a character in a work of fiction who exists primarily for the purpose of wish-fulfillment on part of the author. She plays a prominent role in the work, but she is notably devoid of flaws or a complex personality, and she usually represents the pinnacle of idealized perfection."(www.wisegeek.com). in writing terms, that's a bad character because if she's so perfect how can we relate to her? Good main characters like Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen have a balance of strengths and flaws to them so as readers we can relate to them better (Jain). Bella Swan has no personality and is generally a bland character. Through the entire book and movie series we learn nothing about her interest or hobbies other than becoming a vampire and marrying Edward. With Harry and Katniss, they have very defined personality and interest but they also change and develop as the series continues. Bella believes that she is "tortured" and that no one will understand her because her parents are divorced and she's moving to a new state. As readers, we don't believe that she's tortured because even though divorce and moving are hard things to deal with, we get over it as we grow up. We believe it more when Harry and Katniss get depress because they have more believe reasons to be depressed. Harry was an orphan and he has this pressure of defeating lord Voldermort and Katniss lives in a future where her and family's life is at stake. Bella is often very rude to her friends even though they are trying to cheer her up and she even calls them names. Harry and Katniss both cherish their friendship and are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect them. Bella is also rude and disrespectful to her father Charlie and constantly lies to him about the vampire situation. Harry and Katniss love and care about their parents and family figures and will often seek comfort and advice from them. She is also willing to give up said friends and family and the chance to go to college and to start a normal life to become vampire and to live with this abusive guy for all eternity. Feminists dislike her because she is very co-dependent and she basically can't do anything without Edward or Jacob. For example, when Edward breaks up her in order to "protect" her, instead of going to her friends or to her father for support, she shuts herself away from society. Feminists consider Katniss a better main character because she protects her friend Peeta and she does most of the fighting in all the books. Bella also starts doing dangerous and suicidal actions, in order for Edward to come back to her. Most people have experience the angst of heartache during their teen years however people have gonna over it and moved on with their lives. The fact that Bella can't find another love other than Edward is unrealistic in the real world. Harry Potter has also gone through heartbreak; however he got over it and moved on. Bella also treats Jacob, a nice and supportive man, as a slave and uses his feelings for her to do thing for her. Since Edward had left Bella and Jacob was there to support her, they started dating. However Bella still has feeling for Edward and Bella could have said "Hey Jacob, I still have feelings for Edward so I'm not ready" or "can we just go out as friends" like a normal person would do. However she doesn't do that, instead she just doesn't say anything and continues to use him through the book series. Bella also has selfish and vain quantities to her. According to a scene in Eclipse, the only reason that she wants to become a vampire is because she's afraid of becoming old and Edward not being attracted to her anymore. As human beings recognize, growing up and getting old is a natural part of life and getting old does have its befits, such as wisdom, experience and knowledge. One of the things that made Harry Potter series good was the fact that the characters grew older and smarter as the book series progress. At the end of the book series, Bella's actions have no consequences and she doesn't lose anything. That idea it's self is bad writing because it teaches younger teenagers, especially young woman, that their actions have no outcome and they don't have to give up anything which is not true in real life. In both Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, there are outcomes that are serious. In books, characters and people die and they have a long lasting impact in the book.  Another to point out is that Bella and Edward don't have a real romantic relationship with each. They don't have any common interest that we know of and in the movies, a lot of people point out that these two don't actual seem to enjoy being around each other, otherwise the attraction toward each other is just physically. In a real romantic relationship, the couple should have a balance of physical, mental and emotional attraction to one another. The absolute worst thing about these three characters is the fact that they have no character development through the book series, they stay the same and become stagnant which is a really bad thing to do for a young teenager novel. The main goal for all teen novels is to teach teenagers that growing up and growing old are a natural and wonderful thing. These novels should teach us how to act in society through relatable and unique characters and help us develop our moral values. In this writer's opinion when your book has a main character that's more monstrous than the actual monster's in the book, there is something wrong with it.

It will help Future Writers
Despite its major flaws, I theorize that Twilight can actually help future writers of teen topics. From reading these books, writers could learn the importance of grammar and words and how it helps the reader read your words more easily and to make it more enjoyable for them (Bensky). It will also teach the importance of developing a set universe in a book so that readers could understand the rules of the universe and how the writer needs to also follow the same set rules in order to avoid plot holes. It will also teach the importance of researching the mythos or the controversial topic for their book so readers wouldn't get misinformed on the subject or angry at the writer for writing something that they don't fully understand. And lastly and most importantly, it teaches the importance of good characters and a good protagonist because your protagonist is your ideal person, and he or she should reflect the values that you believe in. A good protagonist should have a good motivation that fits that character, wither it be a personal like surviving the Hunger Games or global like defeating Lord Voldermort (Jain). A good protagonist should also be a human character, someone who has both unique strength and flaws to them so the reader can relate to the protagonist (Jain).
Although Twilight can help future teen topic writers, Twilight has poor grammar and characters. I should also say that Twilight isn't really the worst book series ever, because it's a matter of opinion. Throughout the years, many people have claimed that some writing and books were horrible for children. For example, "Catcher in the Rye" is a banned book because it has offensive language in it, however I read it and I found it not very offensive at all (Doyle, 2010). "The Great Gatsby" is banned because it contained "language and sexual references" however I saw it as a story of how the glitz and glamor of the 1920's often corrupted the people of that time (Doyle, 2010). "To Kill a Mocking Bird" was also banned because it does "psychological damage to the positive integration process" and "represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature." However I find that it teaches why racism and prejudice is wrong with the character Boo Reilly (Doyle, 2010). "The Lord of the Flies" is also a banned book because it "demoralizing inasmuch as it implies that man is little more than an animal." But I believe that it shows why we need rules in society because man is an animal, but a unique animal that can think, reason and commucate and without these, we would just be the same as any other animal.
The main point of this is that books are made for people to interpret and to make their own conclusions, were they like the book or not.  Twilight isn't my cup of hot chocolate but if some people like this taste of literature, then it must be doing something right with it.