Toward the Future/From the Past

1. This was the first play that I have ever written. Though, I did enjoy it more than I though. However, this style of writing is much different from the myriad of essays and other forms of writing that I have grown tired of over the years. The biggest limitation to me was the implication of stage directions/designators and how/when to use them. Some pleasent surprises I found in writing a play that it goes very quickly---which was nice. There wasn't much dabbling with the inner emotions of the characters, but rather extracting those inner emotions through body language and tone(s) of voice.

2. One main thing in my life that I could write about, similar to Ms. Tan's essay, is the relationship that I have with grandfather. He's taught me a lot of things and I try to emulate the qualities that he practices in his everyday life. The quality I have the most admiration for is his how he isn't very fickle at all. He will tell you what he thinks, but in a manner that will guide you towards achievement. One way that I could represent his influence could be from selecting from a handfull of converstations that we've had and re-create the moment in an original way.

3. Advice that I would give to a young kid would be to respect everyone's differences no how unrelated you may be. This also correllates to being who you're meant to be---not how others see you. With an open mind you'll be much more inclined and open to meeting new people without an already altered sense of judgment only because everyone shares that stereotype. I would guess that this would be a hard thing to stay focused on, but in the long run, all of the respect and compassion that you've shown for others will be so beneficial to your well being as a person.

Assignment #11

1. Besides the characters, the theme is the most important element in literature. However, the characters and the theme directly correllate to one another becasue without well developed characters, you cannot further the theme. The theme in a story is what the writer is trying to convey to the reader. I would think that it is commonplace for great works of literature to have thorough elements within the theme.

2. I think good literature lasts because it can appeal to so many people. Nowadays, people can change so quickly and personalities are complex. When a writer can reach out to so many different groups, his/her work will last forever because there is always a new group with appeal to the work.

3. One thing that I would like to leave behind me is the impression that I lived my life without any regrets and did what I wanted to do. Striving to do things that make you happy will ultimatley make someone's life much more enjoyable. I think sometimes people hold onto an idea and pursue a dream that they know isn't for them because they think people will feel different about them---that's not what I want to do. Writing can have a big role in this because it is a creative outlet for what I think needs to be done.

I am a thinker, and I think thinks

1. An issue that concerns me today is the growing abuse that we continue to put on our planet. Whether you believe in global warming or not, there is a growing problem that needs to be fixed. Our society today is fixed on getting more and more and making things bigger and bigger. However, we're not thinking about having more for the future. We're not setting up our children to have a fullfilling life. Commercial farms have ruined family farmers and have also created a lesser product while maintaining less quality. Another example is the amount of expanding that we're doing in order to create more space for organizations that really have no purpose. As a result, amazing parts of the world are being destroyed. The biggest problem though, is not the issue itself, but that no one seems to have any urgency to fix it. We, as a whole, have the power to change this, but no one steps up to the plate.

2. Alberto Granado. This guy was, and still is ahead of his time. He didn't care whether or not the people were sick and/or poor. He just wanted to help them and do all that he could. I think today, we're missing people like that---peope who would sacrifice their own well being to help others out. Thats something admirable.

3. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. This book was pretty amazing. It was a satirical look at society and all the explanations that we need to give to everything because we are never satisfied with the true beauty of the world.

Assignment #9

1. To me, happiness would be being comfortable with yourself. Forget money, and material possesions, I'd be fine without any of that stuff. When a person is comfortable with who they are, then they can focus on what really matters (making themselves happy) and then really start living life.

2. In my life, happiness is doing things that make me happy and never second guessing my decisions. I believe that that is an important concept in life because if you have any regrets about what you have done, you can never fully move on and fulfill your dreams. My greatest source of happiness is knowing that I have tried to follow this belief since I can remember. Knowing that I'm doing what makes me happy is all that i need to know.

3. My dad's best friend is a good example. He's one cool cat and he always tries to explain things which he thinks will help me out. True Overholt is one cool cat too. His carefree spirit and exuberance for life inspire me to do great things.

4. I really don't know who I impact in terms of their happiness. I would like to think it is a lot of people, but I really have no way of knowing. Hopefully my creative writing group has become happier because of my presence.

5. The greatest need in my life is to be happy. I don't want to live life running around all sad and angry all the time because that is pathetic and I don't want to be pathetic because being pathetic is horrible. Nobody likes horrible things because people want to be happy. That's why I want to be happy, so then everyone else will be happy.

Assignment #8

For my photostory, I really don't have any ideas. I think writing something that has to do with showing how time moves so fast, or the different chapters in our lives would be cool. I have ideas for music, and probably some photos too, but as for the writing, like I said before, that's up in the air.

Assignment #7

1. This quarter I enjoyed writing poetry the most. I like to write complex and abstract thoughts and the only way I can do that is through poetry. Although short stories are challenging to me, I think that they are a lot of fun. Part of the fun of writing is that it is a challenge to convey your thoughts into words. However, I feel like a lot of the daily prompts are childish. I don't really like writing them a whole lot because I feel that they have little or nothing to do at all with what we're writing about. For me, I think I like writing poetry the most because it is a simply style that doesn't require you to follow any strict rules. As the writer, you get to decide how the words flow, and what the meaning is. I like that.

2. I think my strongest piece of writing was the one that I wrote about the man and the creeping doubts that he has after his death. I feel like this is my strongest piece becasue I was able to finally use a strong metaphor (death) to explain my questions about life. I think I get a lot of my inspiration from this area of my thinking because I do have so many questions about things.

3. As a writer, I hate having direction and structure. However, I do feel that I need to be pushed to even start something because I am lazy. The writing is supposed to be an expression of your thoughts and ideas so to tell someone that you have to write about this, or you have to write about that, to me, is wrong. But it is neccessary to teach this class.

4. I don't really have any desire to pursue different areas of writing. I guess non-fiction would be cool, but it really doesn't matter. I would just like to write. A memoir would be cool too, but it'd be too early to write one at the age of 18.

Assignment #6

1. I like to be scared. Being scared is funny to be because most of the time it is over nothing and then you realize that what you were scared about is really dumb. I'm okay with being frightened anytime really. Except mornings.

2. I'm afraid of getting lost. When I'm lost, I begin to panick and then I get really stressed out and very angry. However, some things in this world that I consider horrific don't neccessarily apply directly to me. I think war is terrifying and that I definetly wouldn't be able to go off to war. I think that my fears come from what I'm most uncomfortable with morally, except for being lost. That's just a scary situation to be in regardless. Blood and guts don't bother me at all, unless it is extremley excessive for no reason. However, the thought of something terrible happening is quite frightening because it is something that you think about, but are never too sure if and when it could ever happen.

3. For me, madness is losing your morals, thus, changing your perspective. In the story by Poe, the man lost all his morals and then killed everything he knew and it became his downfall.

4. I think today, what drives a lot of people to madness is the thought of death in general. People often obsses about what happens after you die. The fascination with life, I think, is that it will end. However, people sometimes tend to forget that it and it consumes their thoughts and it drives them to do things that they wouldn't normally do themselves. Their personalities almost transcend who they really are.