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Post by Kamilla Lestrange on Sept 10, 2008 23:31:06 GMT -5
I won't lie. I'm lazy and I procrastinate. There's a poem due tomorrow. And I wrote it right now. Honest reviews, please?
You say you have a ticket And I say that’s outlandish You say you bought the ticket And I say that’s outlandish I don’t recall the ticket stub you protect with malicious interest I don’t recall being the ticket master that let your fingers on it That ticket, I don’t recall it ever being for sale Simply because it wasn’t
Life has been degraded Into a show put on for you The selfish, famished audience Filled with glares and darting views The theatre has lost its splendor The gleam, luxury all gone Because I’ve been pushed onto the grimy wooden stage It’s funny because I fooled myself Into believing the floor was smooth But this is theatre, a drama, a performance I should have known everything would have been false
From afar it seems just perfect Happy endings are here and there The villain dies, the heroin survives But that is a fairy tale So tell me why I have been chosen To act and sing for you Why is it me on that seemingly polished stage And not the stage meeting your clacking shoes
How did you get that ticket That’s what I’d like to know Because now you’re in for a show One you’ve bought with a ticket that was never to be sold
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Post by Lucy Weasley on Sept 10, 2008 23:32:47 GMT -5
You have my raving review FIRST I got dibs on Ella my love.
I love it. The ticket and stage metaphors are brilliant.
They make me feel it. It's supremely true. Because it's how we feel.
Makes me think of that quote.
Life is a stage and we are but players.
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Post by Kamilla Lestrange on Sept 21, 2008 21:03:42 GMT -5
The late Ernest Hemingway received a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, a story chronicling Santiago, an unlucky and elderly, Cuban fisherman’s ambitious journey into the majestic sea. In the short novel, Ernest Hemingway creates a story so moving and simplistic that the reader cannot help but feel every painful sore and grief that Santiago must endure during his 84 day long unlucky streak. For almost two months, Santiago has set out into the vast sea but come back with no prize to personify his heartfelt attempts. His misfortune greatly worries the parents of Manolin, his close but young companion. Despite the fact that Manolin’s parents have forbidden him to journey with the old man and direct him towards a more prosperous boat, Manolin takes great care to provide Santiago with food, conversation pertaining to American baseball, and bait for what is soon to be Santiago’s most epic catch. As the morning sun creeps out of its slumber, Santiago awakes to greet the eighty fifth day of his unsuccessful career. He sails into the previously ignored Gulf Stream, remembering his promise to himself that he would sail out farther than he ever has before. He desperately hopes to end his misfortune and is delighted when he feels a gentle tug on his razor sharp, fishing line around noon. Santiago’s experience as a fisherman has granted him knowledge of how to hook, catch, and pull a fish. Despite his best attempts, he simply cannot pull up the vast marlin that has chosen to prey on the bait Manolin had presented Santiago with as a good luck gift. Desperate the capture the calmly struggling marlin, Santiago uses his aged back, shoulders, and arms to assist the line. He understands that tying the fish to the boat may allow the fish to swim away with his hopes of finding luck in the great sea. For two days and two nights, the marlin refuses to release its grip on its precious life and continues to swim in a northwest direction confident that its great determination will grant it freedom. Despite the constant pain from the wounding line, Santiago refuses to lessen his iron grip on the dagger sharp line. The elderly fisherman is exhausted and injured but feels as he can relate to the ever fighting fish. He views the marlin as a wise, tough, and anguished creature much like he has been. Throughout his entire ordeal, Santiago articulates his desire to have his friend, Manolin with him. His back was become weary from the pressing line and he has only had a bottle of water to sustain himself with for the past three days. On the third day, the marlin finally feels fatigue and ends his quest for freedom. Santiago reels in the massive fish and kills him with a steady thrust of a harpoon. The marlin, in a brief frenzy, thrashes about raising the mast as he fights to swim home once more. Santiago marvels in the fish briefly but his awe turns into doubt. He comprehends the costly price the fish will bring but he worries that the people who will feast on the marlin will be undeserving of the fish. As the fish tries earnestly to swim away, Santiago refuses to let go of his prize. The crimson blood from the marlin’s harpoon wound leaves a crimson stain in the sea attracting voracious sharks. As a school of sharks descends upon Santiago to devour his precious symbol of success, Santiago battles the sharks losing his priceless harpoon and ropes. After slaughtering one shark, more begin to attack and Santiago resorts to using a crude makeshift spear. Hemingway weaves an ending the leaves readers hoping for Santiago to succeed and return home with his beloved marlin.
[ENDING THAT REVEALS THE ENDIG] By the third night, the sharks had won the skirmish and consumed the grand marlin. Defeated, Santiago retreats to his tiny shack and succumbs to sleep. The morning after Santiago’s epic voyage, the local fisherman had gathered around the skeleton of the marlin. Santiago had abandoned the carcass on his tiny boat and the tourists have mistaken the huge marlin as a shark due to its size. Manolin has been worried for his friend’s safety for three days and ignores the excited crowds as she races towards Santiago’s shack. After crying tears of joy and relief, Manolin and Santiago agree to fish together once more over coffee and conversations about baseball scores. That night, Santiago falls asleep and dreams of his experiences in the great land of Africa.
In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway portrays Santiago as an intelligent, proud, and humble fisherman who has fallen upon hard times. His pristine and respected image has been smeared with his failure as a fishing man. His determination allows him to rise above the dismissive laughter of his colleagues and secures loyalty in his alliance torn companion, Manolin. Hemingway clearly states that Santiago is now aged and ready to accept the end of his life. He also shows how obedient, loving, and uncomplicated Manolin is when he must choose who to follow and what to learn. We end the novel obviously knowing that Manolin will continue Santiago’s legacy by applying his mentor’s teaching into his own fishing. Santiago is the embodiment of the world’s ambitious population. He portrays the kinder, empathetic side we are all rumored to have and shows how untainted aspiration can lead to the greatest milestones of your life. He battles the sea, an unknown place where the unthinkable can happen and malicious sharks that will show no mercy as they try frantically to steal his glory. By persisting in his journey for respect and ignoring his fear he succeeds. However, in a rare twist of events Ernest Hemingway reminds us that our accomplishments do not define us. He writes of how Santiago ignores the crowds and is finally at peace with himself. Hemingway shows us in a subtle way that the way we define ourselves is the way we decipher the chaotic surprises life, or in Santiago’s case the sea, decide to present us with.
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Post by Fred Weasley II on Sept 21, 2008 21:13:39 GMT -5
It is bloody brilliant, so much I have to use the word bloody. I love your use of words, and you actually made the book sound interesting and put it into perspective. Which is a feat in itself. The only thing I found wrong is this one sentence.
Manolin has been worried for his friend’s safety for three days and ignores the excited crowds as she races towards Santiago’s shack.
which should be he races back towards.
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Post by Kamilla Lestrange on Sept 21, 2008 21:27:54 GMT -5
Yay! I'm so excited you liked it! My teacher claims this book as one of his favorites so ai, high expectations! xD
And ooh. You are one bloody fine editor. So fine I have to use the word bloody!
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Post by Molly "Kat" Weasley II on Sept 21, 2008 21:31:28 GMT -5
XD I can totally understand that. I like loved my Senior English teacher so much I did the same, wanting to impress him.
Don't I know it? haha jk jk <333 ^.^ I get paid in love.
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Post by Kamilla Lestrange on Sept 21, 2008 21:39:18 GMT -5
Exactly! He's just so nice! Haha and I want him to be proud of me!
And yesh. You are probably the wealthiest person here because of all the love you get!
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Post by Fred Weasley II on Sept 21, 2008 23:46:07 GMT -5
^.^ He will be. I'm sure he already is.
XDD You can never get enough. You only get what you give. *gives out all her love*
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