poetry

Wish You Were Here : Pink Floyd

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.

Can you tell a green field
from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
a walk on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

1. Read through 3 seperate times.
2. I chose this song by Pink Floyd because its always had that kind of sense to me as a song. It just seems like so much more then a song.
3. It fits with the message the band is trying to convey. They are mourning over the loss of another band member.
4. They try to create the same kind of sense of loss and understanding that they are feeling. They express this through the tone and musical rhythm in their song.
5. The tone is very sad. It involves that of death and the missing of a loved one and how to overcome that.

Creative Writing 3

1. When starting my play, I really had no where to go. I was lost for words and ideas and didn't know how to correctly and accurately portray my thoughts and ideas for a plot into a play format. However, once I started I couldn't stop. I kept moving through the plot, with event after event until before I knew it I had completed the 5 page requirement with ease. I had alot of fun writing a short play like this and am looking forward to writing more.

2. If I were able to give advice to a 10 year old about todays world and what it's like, the most important piece of advice I could give him would be the advice to always try to listen to your parents. Although they dont always agree with you and it doesnt always seem like theyre happy for you, they only want the best for you and know whats right for you. They have been around the block a few times and have had there on experiences, similar to the same ones which he will face, as referances. I have learned this through my own mistakes and shortcomings that my parents have come in and shown me where I went wrong and helping me fix it.

3. These works have survived generatin after generation not because of popularity, however, but because of there realtion to modern day. Even though they were written in completely different time periods, many comtemporary works have the acute sense to be able to still relate with the reader today. I dont think that I could ever posess the skill and ability required to be able to write such a work to survive for so long.

1. I think that theme, among many other things, is very important in writing. All great pieces of literature that I have read have dwelved into some territory of human emotion or feeling that have centralized the novel as a whole. These kind of ideas are often seen in movies and television, where the characters come to a realization or the plot as a whole portrays something the author or director wants to convey personally to the reader or audience. Theme is something that holds these works together and without it, the overall product would not be complete.

2. A theme that I have thought about communicating through my play is that of greed and materialism and the significance of both on our american culture and society today. So many people are rooted upon these thwo things, of having the most stuff and always wanting and feeling that need for more. I hope to demonstrate on the fulness of life and how not all of these things are important. This kind of a theme is important to me because it is something that I have struggled with in the past and have overcome personally.

3. There are a couple of different ideas that I have come up with for my short play. The first is that of two friends both competing with one another for a girl, going through hilarious antics in order to be able to go out with her. The second is a similar idea however it is that of two friends competing for a career or job, falling to the same routine.

Creatve Writing 2

Creative Writing Questions

1. Reading is very important to an author, in my opinion. When it comes to sports the only way to get better is to practice and play with people who are better then you. The same kind of philosophy comes with many things. It can be applied to school work as well in the sense that you only get smarter by studying more diffucult things and in juggling, you only get better by practicing or trying more difficult patterns or number of objects. For a writer, they can read these masterpieces of literature any time they want to try and gather ideas or way's of writing that they had not thought of prevoiusly, not to mention these reading's are generally enticing.

2. Many things are different then what I think should be concerning my peers, America, and the world. Most blatant in my opinion is all of the underage drinking and some drug use thats used between people my age across the country, not just here in Edina. Its startling when you realize how many people actually drink often under the age of 21, especially in high school students as young as freshman. I feel that something like that is really inappropriate for someone my age.

3. Pink Floydd's Wish You Were Here is a song that has inspired me very much so over the years. I learned to play it on guitar in the 8th or 9th grade and through its lyrics and chords lead me to feel as if I wanted to accomplish so much more with all of the time that I have been given.

Did they do the right thing?

This movie has been by far the most contreversial and most iniative of thought for me. This movie really made me think. It was the first movie to have to do with racism and a problem that we have had to deal with in our society in the past. Although this kind of treatment recieved by both the black community from Sal and Sal from the community is accurate as to what "did happen" in our society, but not to what is happening now. The scene that sticks out to me as most shocking is the murder of Radio Rahim by the police after he assaults Sal. This led to the community attacking in rage against Sal's Pizzeria and burning it down to the ground. When watching I was outraged at what was happening, I didn't know what to think when I saw them choking him. Even one or two of the officers said to let him go but the big policeman held him in a chokehold till he was no longer breathing. I think its important to understand that this kind of thing happened in our society's past and was not completely uncommon for that time but it is should be seen as outrageous and unbelievable today.

The Battle of Algiers

After reading the New York Times review of The Battle of Algiers (Pontecorvo) I have come to appreciate the movie for what its worth, not simply on my own viewing pleasure or displeasure, taste or distaste. I was admittedly very bored while viewing this film, there were moments when the action would continue and following the plot was worthwhile but in my opinion throughout the rest, with the different language, subtitles, lack of enthusiasm, and difficulty to comprehend it seemed like a loss to me. Peter Rainer of the New York Times movie review has enlighted me however to a more "in-depth" while also "broader" perspective of the film. Pontecorvo wasn't just going for a film or box office type movie, the docuementary can be seen as art and even though its difficult to be enthraled by the film, you can still appreciate it for its worth as a film that re-defined its genre and opened all kinds of new doors for countries around the worl, not just in film making, but in life itself.