Toward the Future/From the Past

1. Some things that I found frustrating were that everything had to be written in dialogue. This was my very first time ever writing all dialogue, I wasn’t used to it what so ever. Some of my strengths were that once I started writing, it just all came pretty easy. I was just writing the conversation that was going on as I thought it would onto paper. On a personal basis, I would not even think of pursuing drama writing or doing screenplays. Mainly because it was too hard for me to sit there and think of what characters should and shouldn’t say, also because I don’t like plays at all.

2. If I were to give a 10 year old kid a piece of advice, I would for sure have to tell them to do what they want to do later in life. To not be stuck doing things you don’t like, and not enjoying your time spent. Also that they should actually try hard in school, based on personal experiences mainly because in school, there is nothing worse then having your parents yelling over grades. I would strongly encourage the kid to do what he wants, not what his friends or kids around him say. Another huge piece of advice that I would give, would be to get you license as soon as he turned 16. I still have friends that are done with high school and don’t even have their permits. Also because when you are 16 and you get your license, there is so much more freedom from school, parents, and friends.

3. I think that what lets great literature continue across the ages is the fact that there are so many people who actually care and pay attention to what is being said enough to pass it on to future times to continue its beauty. A reason why this happens may be from documents of people who reference classics in their writing which bring other to seeing it. I could never see myself having my things that I have wrote lasting more then the length of the notebook that I wrote it in.

Luigi Pirandello, playwright: "A man will die, a writer, the instrument of creation: but what he has created will never die!"

1. A theme in a play is a pretty important part of the piece itself. I personally don’t think that a play necessarily needs to express an idea. Most of the pieces of literature that i have read usually have an obvious theme or main idea to it. People should be able to get something out of the piece that they are reading and should get a message or idea from it. Without a theme or plot, it turns into just a bunch of writing without a destination or ending. I can also see where a writer would not see it necessary to have a theme because of their style of writing or what the piece is about. It may just not go well with the writer’s style.

2. A theme that I came up with was some sort of journey, where the main character of the play would have some destination or objective to complete by the ending. I didn’t really use that idea in my play but it seemed like a good idea at the time. If I could rewrite my play i would have it be more of a political issue, more in depth with how schools are based upon rank and placement to get into a good school. It isn’t really as important to me because I don’t care about my rank or placement, but I do know a lot of other kids who are obsessed with it and how they do on their ACT.

3. The one conflict that I wrote about in my play was the main character was on a date and was keeping his true occupation under the table and from his date. Some other ideas that I came up with for conflicts were as a said before, issues dealing with schools and colleges. Another idea that I had was a character that had to find some way to get to work. I don’t know why that, it just seemed an easy conflict to write about.

I am a Thinker, and I Think Thinks

1. Reading is definitely a crucial part of writing. If a piece of writing cant be read easily or has no train of thought, it is just some words put together, like this blog post. Reading for a writer is almost the gateway towards future papers or essays to be written. Without reading there would be no base or platform to move off of to write anything. Books, articles, and essays contain hints and helpful information for ideas to write about. The role of reading is essential to being a good writer. It’s a way for writers to sculpt and manipulate their form and style of writing.

2. There are many things in this world that don’t go as planned. Especially the way we want it to. One main topic that concerns me is how important a few tests can be on your future. I.E. the ACT and the SAT. Some parents and students take these tests ridiculously far. I admit I took the test but could have cared less what I got. Why should a test or some other form of acceptance be the only way to get into a top school? What I don’t comprehend is where in Edina, if you do well on your ACT or SAT, you still have to rank at a specific spot in the whole class to get into some colleges. For instance, my friend Keith, got into some school which I can’t recall, but didn’t get accepted because of his class rank. Why should a rank be a factor of what school you get into?

3.A piece of art, which in this case is a movie, that greatly inspired me was this movie called “Pay It Forward”. I saw it a long time ago in theaters and after seeing this movie I looked at the way I treated people a little different. The movie was about this kid who creates this formula of sorts that instead of getting things for good deeds, all you do is continue to do good things. Hence the title pay it forward. And the movie goes on about how this kid meets this teacher who has been burned when he was a child by his dad and his teacher ends up dating the kid’s mom. But the main idea, this movie gave me a general idea of how you should treat people. So from time to time I tend to think about just the title of the movie and think about things before I say them. I’m generally a nice guy, but everyone has their moments.