Spoken Word Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnSuR3bFWcQ

This spoekn word, "One Colour" by Neil Hilborn and Renee Schminkey, uses a very serious topic and brings up issues with the way society sees it. The thing I like about this spoken word poem is that the two of the presenters play off each other by saying things at the same time as well as in concession, without pauses in between. Thy tell two very similar stories that show that both genders can go through the same thing, and that sexual assault is not always the same story, and isn't always what we think of it to be. It brings up valid points with words that flow and that's why I like it so much.

Overview on meeting Teresa Toten

Teresa Toten was very interesting to listen to. she kept her speech moving and flowing nicely and walked around to make eye contact and make it more casual and personal. She spoke about many of her books, and how her hardships of her youth inspired some of them, and I find that is a reoccurring theme within a lot of authors, because we're told to write about we know, and so if you had a hard childhood, it's easy to write about one.
Teresa mentioned that all her books were failures to her, but its good to fail once in a while, and I think that's a really good message to talk about, especially to a group of kids who are stressing about marks and getting into university.
I also liked how she mentioned that doing good and donating to charities and helping people is good, not because of the good it does for others, but because it makes you feel better when you do it. She told us to do it out of selfishness, which is a very realistic approach. I liked how she made us see negative things like failure in a positive light and positive things like charity in an almost negative way.

Overview on Poetry

The titles in my poem could definitely use a lot of work. As opposed to finding creative titles that add to the poem, which I found hard, the titles became a last minute thing that I sort of jotted down.

I think I did my form quite well. My haikus have the right syllable count and my other poems have line breaks that, in my opinion, make sense and flow nicely. I think form is one of my strongest points in my poems.

I believe one of the other strongest points in my poetry is use of poetry devices, specifically alliteration and sound of the word. I also use repetition to emphasize.

I think my poems were only moderate in their impact. I used line breaks and other poetry devices effectively enough to create impact, but the content of the poems were not as impactful as they could have been, which I probably could have fixed in more time.

I definitely considered diction above all else when I was writing poems. I tried to use cacophonic words to describe things badly and euphonic words to contrast and describe something nice. Some of my metaphors and similes could use some work, but generally I did fairly well at using words and being consistent with my diction within the poems.

My spelling and grammar I believe I did well, although I recall I got a bit confused with punctuation, due to the fact it’s much different than writing prose. Still, I think I used punctuation moderately well to help with the impact of sentences.

I believe all my poems were an appropriate length, at a page each save for my haikus. They were short enough to keep the reader interested while being long enough to contain a story and many poetry devices.

Because of these things I would give myself a 3+ for my poetry collection.

Patchwork poem

I have been acquainted with the night,

The Angel of Death at his kill.

I can’t remember childhood.

Murder is losing its mind, I am losing my patience,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.

The Snobby Princess (character poem)

Once upon a time,

In a castle far away,

There lived a lovely prince,

Whom I gazed at day to day.

He searched and searched and searched,

Though I was always there.

Why did he never notice me?

Why did he never care?

And one day a princess came,

And she was full of dirt,

And yet no matter how she smelled,

She had something up her skirt.

The queen placed me to suffocate,

Under the mattresses soft.

The princess tossed and turned all night,

And in the morning scoffed.

She blamed me for her painful dreams,

She turned the prince against me.

Her parents locked me away.

I am just a helpless pea.

And one day from in my cell,

I heard the ringing bell.

My lovely prince had married her,

The snob princess from hell.

Why I Didn't get my Homework Done Last Night (a sonnet)

When I go online and see gifs of cats,
I feel a happiness within my heart,
They laugh and play and wear their tiny hats,
And it is tearing my whole life apart.

My whole family teases me when they see,
The balls of yarn and fur mixed up in one.
They don’t understand what it does to me.
I’ve gone so far that I can’t see the sun.

The cat overlord whispers in my mind,
Of things that no human can understand.
I must resist this contract I have signed.
The cats now own my soul, and I am damned.

For every waking hour now I must face,
The cats of Facebook, Tumblr, and Myspace.

Short Story Reviews

The character that stood out in the stories we read, for me, would have to be, Tess, who got stoned in “The Lottery.” This is because her personality shifted so greatly in a split second and she truly showed what humankind can act like. She never protested to the lottery itself, but that the way they performed it that particular time was unfair. She was at first, joking around and seemed all for the lottery. She gave no indication of not wanting the lottery, even when her name was chosen and she was being stoned, she merely protested to the fact her name specifically was pulled. She represents humankind’s sheep-like nature and the way she’s portrayed casts a creepy depiction of what humans are.The aspect I found most difficult of story writing was both time constraints and thinking of a middle section. It’s easy to think of a scenario, a conflict, and even a resolution. It’s easy to think up characters and character traits. But finding out how the characters get to the resolution in a short time frame, both for me as the writer, and for the characters, as there was a page restriction of three pages maximum, is difficult. I found, also, that the fact I had less time to think about the story, and my characters, the less time I had to set up a solid back story for each of them. I had a vague story for them both and this made dialogue harder, because without their background it’s hard to understand how they would talk. Also, it was hard, because of time and the relevancy to the actual plot of the story, to describe the backstories of the characters in my actual story without going too off-topic. I think this made the story’s dialogue seem a bit out of place for the reader as well.

I enjoy short stories with some sort of action or suspense to them. I enjoy any sort of drama in a short story, so long as it’s not relationship drama. I don’t like stories that focus on romance or family drama, I would much prefer a story about coping with death or something much more serious than relationship issues. I enjoy plot twists in my stories the most, though. A sudden jarring plot twist that has me re-reading the same line over and over to try and comprehend what exactly just side-swiped me is the best feeling. I think this is perhaps why I loved “The Fall of the house of Usher” so much. It had a very sudden realisation that left me gawking at the book for many minutes, literally.

What I like about my short story is the plot and the mood the setting creates. I like my characters as well, but they’re portrayal could use work, as well as dialogue, definitely. My setting, though, in my mind, works well with the situation and helps to show how depressed Faith is and perhaps her hatred to the world. It shows that she gave up on everything and secluded herself from everything and everyone and sort of gave up. I liked my characters, but they could use a bit of work. I found it hard writing for Finn because he doesn’t fit the stereotype of young boy. He’s been living on the street and has picked up things from the gang he is in. He had to take care of his mother when she was alive, and so he has a sense of responsibility that other kids his age really don’t.  This made him a sort of hard character to wrap my mind around at times. How he would react to certain things was not how a normal eight-year-old would, and so I possibly made it difficult for myself.

Continued Hiaku (Renga)

Atlantic Spirits

Hard granite slab field;

The ghosts of my ancestors

drift on top the sea

They call out to me sadly

A language I wish I knew.

A past forgotten

Begins to tell its story

And of its demise

Peggy's Cove (Haiku)

Hard granite slab field;
The ghosts of my ancestors
drift on top the sea

Dialogue between Finn and Rin

“That smells good,” Finn said, popping his head in the window of the apartment. “My mom used to make spaghetti like that. Hers was probably better, though.” He climbed through the open window.

“O-oh…Hi there, umm…Did you want some? There’s lots and I don’t need that much,” Rin handed the boy a generous helping of pasta. “So…Does your mother know where you are?”

            “No, she’s not around no more. The other rats told me to tell people she bit the dust, but that’s stupid, right? She didn’t bite nothing, she just got sick.” He didn’t pause to chew.

“Rats? Oh…Right, okay. I’m sorry about your mother. But what about your fa-oh, nevermind. Do…Do you like the pasta? It’s not too salty or anything, is it?”

“It’s good. Name’s Finn, by the way. Should introduce myself if you’re gonna feed me, right?”

"My name? Oh right, sorry. I'm Rin. I'm glad you like the spaghetti, it wouldn't be nice if I gave it to you and you didn't like it. Umm, did you want more? And if you want I could get you something to drink."

“More? For real, Mister Rin? You’re gonna give me more and a drink?!”

“Well of course I’m going to give you more, why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, we ain’t exactly in the rich side of town, Mister. Don’t you wanna save it for later?”

“I don’t see a problem, I mean, I’m not hungry right now and you probably need it more than I do. It’s fine.”

“If you keep it up, Mister you’re going to have rats on your doorstep…Hey, how come your hair’s so weird?”

“Weird? Oh well I just don’t cut it, so that’s why it’s so long and I don’t like it getting in my face so I tie it up too.”

“No, why is it white?”

“Oh, I don’t really know actually, my mom and dad had brown hair so…”

“You’re weird…I kinda like you.”

“Thank… Thank you?”

"No problem. Hey, are those cookies? Can I have one? Please? Just one. I haven't ever had a homemade cookie. I swear I'll be out of your hair if you just give me the cookie please."

                "They're oatmeal cookies, I hope that's okay. Here you are. But you really don't have to leave. I kinda like you too"

                "Really? I can stay? I mean...Wow. You're, like, the greatest, Mister! I swear, I'll sleep on the couch and I'll do chores or something...Well...Maybe I won't do chores, I always mess them up anyway, but wow. You're the greatest!"

                "You can be my official taste tester. That'll be your chore. I hope you don't mind. But if it's okay... Do you think you could keep this from your other... friends? I don't think I can handle that... I wouldn't be sure if they're as nice as you"

                “Oh…Actually…Maybe I should get back to them. We’re sort of like one big family. We take care of each other, you know? They’ll miss me if I stay away too much.” Finn smiled sheepishly at Rin, before exiting from the window in which had come and disappearing into the dusk.

Stories: 55 Words or Less #3

The Specks
      Like an ant in a farm, he trudged through the muddy tunnels he had helped build. He had made a promise. His eyes scanned the distorted, blue faces for a sign of familiarity. He heard a crunch and froze. His heart fell as his eyes found the cracked reading glasses under his boot.

Stories: 55 Words or Less # 2

Colours

      She saw him. He was a mixture of brown and tan and blue, with hints of green. When his hand grazed hers he was orange like a dim candle. When he spoke he was the blue of moonlight reflecting off his face. She saw him, and it was beautiful because she was blind.

Stories: 55 Words or Less # 1

The Sweater

        She cuddled into herself, burying her face in the floppy sleeve of the soft sweater that hung off her frame. Her body relaxed as the scent of him filled her entire being. She could almost see him in her mind. She looked up, and she saw his casket instead.

Overview on The Glass Castle

From this unit on the memoir The Glass Castle I learned many things about clutter and how important it is to focus on only the most important events when writing. The memoir itself taught me to not let anything pull me away from my dreams, and if I'm unhappy, I can work to change it with some hard work, as Jeanette throughout the book, but mostly when she left for New York.

The overall message of The Glass Castle was one's past is nothing to be ashamed of, no matter how weird it is. The beginning of the book starts with Jeanette speaking of her embarrassment of seeing her mother on the street and confronting her mother about it. Her mother tells her to "tell the truth." Throughout the whole story Jeanette reveals her source of embarrassment to the reader. She shows when she starts feeling embarrassment for her family and life and why she feels this. She opens up to complete strangers and at the end she writes about her acceptance of her family as they gathered together, and all seemed well.

It was difficult to write a memoir of my own because all the important events in my life are very vivid in my mind, so there are many details that are irrelevant but still important to me that I wanted to include. The constraint on number of pages helped reduce clutter but also prevented me from writing all I wanted to. It was also difficult to show and not tell, since I wanted to make sure the reader understood all my feelings and everything that was going on, but I couldn't tell them what exactly I was feeling I had to show it.

I enjoyed sharing an exciting moment in my life and recalling it. I find I like to tell the particular story I wrote about to all my friends over and over, but I rarely have a set point to the story. I usually tell it as varies small things that happened to me that I found strange or funny. But writing the memoir really focused on the importance of what happened and helped me come to realise it. What I disliked about writing the memoir is more the psychological aspect of having to share the parts of the story I usually don't tell and having someone assess my life.

My writing has become less cluttered through this unit and I've learned that only important things should be included. My writing is filled with more relevant information and less irrelevant information.

The Glass Castle was not enjoyable to me. I didn't like any of the characters very much and didn't find Jeanette's life particularly interesting. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters of the story and felt the overall tone seemed a bit whiny. I did not feel sympathy for Jeanette until nearing the end of the book, and I never felt sympathy for her parents or siblings, save for occasionally her father. Because of this, the book was mostly boring to me.

This is me

Hello and welcome to my blog!

As a pastime I enjoy writing short stories mostly. I love creating characters or delving deeper into someone else's characters and trying to write something that would be true to that character but with my own plot, so virtually, fan-fiction. But mostly I like creating characters of my own and delving into what makes them act the way they do and their past slowly through writing.

I mostly enjoy reading fiction. I have grown a large distaste for teen fiction because their plots are usually very predictable and heavily focused on unrealistic, sappy romance with unrealistically perfect boys, and girls, some times. I enjoy reading the classics and currently I am enjoying "Les Miserables" and "Atlas Shrugged." I feel like, generally speaking, the classics have good, unpredictable plots and deep characters which is what I enjoy. I don't like predictability or a plot that doesn't vary among the genre.

      

As a writer I believe my strong points lie in my creativity, my descriptiveness, and my characters. I take great pride in the detail I put into my characters to make them into realistic, relatable characters with real flaws that cause real conflict. My weaknesses would probably be in my descriptiveness as well. I tend to have cluttered, telling and not showing sort of writing because I want to get all the description in my head out and make sure everyone understands what I'm trying to get across.

I'm taking Writer's Craft to better my writing class and better be able to write in general. Writing is a very good trait to have in society and I want to learn skills that I can apply to all writing in the future.

As for where I want my writing to go,  I would like to be able to better analyse characters and plots and the motivations of characters. I want to be able to write and be clear and get a point across without being over-descriptive and have my works full of clutter.