I'm still house hunting and it's taking up an enormous amount of time. It is so stressful; interest rates, needs for the future, school zones … aaaaggghhhh. I've neglected my writing, and need to get back on track. However, I have written two 15 minutes pieces, both during my year 11 English. We are working on creative writing, so I wrote a couple of small pieces when they were working so that they could understand what I was asking. I thought I might share them with you (remember that they are only quick 15 minute writing pieces with no drafting), and you can critique them too.
The first piece is the 'no e' writing (again – I'm a great recycler of ideas), but I changed the topic to 'Deforestation'
A monstrous wail is cast forth across a dark woodland. Birds wings grasp airy flight; lofty boughs no match for his chainsaw. An ill-advising authority allowing for total annihilation of flora and fauna; disdainful chaos and lacking any form of discrimination. This is tantamount to a mythological slaying, an assassination of our air - humankind can not do without. You want a utopian world, but punish our world's lungs; brimming with chlorophyll and of much import, you simply gnaw away its ability to purify our lands. It is you who is at fault, you who will allow our kind to diminish. Your calm and rational pitch was no match for our ruling administration's wily plans.
The second piece was a part of a theme 'Future Worlds'. The idea is to watch Gattaca (a film by Andrew Nicholl) and use the text to inspire a piece of writing. The text cannot be copied as such, but literary devices, uses of symbolism etc can be used. The students had an idea they were expected to explore, which was, 'Humankind will ultimately become a prisoner of technology'. A few of them were struggling to create a piece that highlighted an opinion (portrayed through a character, narrative, plot line or similar) about the particular idea. Over my lunch break I quickly drafted this piece, so that the students could see a basic example. My writing form is a letter from one scientist to another. It is clearly not finished, but my protagonist is concerned that the use of technology is going too far. I quickly whipped up a minor link to 'Gattaca' in that the corporation in my piece was named using the letters G, C, T, A, just as GATTACA was.
My dear friend,
I write to you in the hope that you'll stop the experiments in time to stop the destruction of mankind. Society is moving too fast, becoming too reliant on technological advances. Please don't fall into the trap that has been set by the Atagt Corporation. Those imbeciles of nature; purveyors of desecration only serve themselves. Our search for the easy way out has led to our ultimate demise; our minds have become inactive, and we have been trapped within the prison we have created ourselves.
I am not long for this world, but my soul bleeds with the knowledge that the Atagt Corporation will have control of the very food on which we depend. Please, I beg of you, stop this nonsense now, before it's too late. You say that the technology will help our world, will alleviate poverty. It has done nothing of the sort. In thinking of present concerns, all we have done is ruin the future. The next generation of children will have no skills, no knowledge of food production. Everything we, as a society, rely upon so much has been genetically modified. When will this stop? Too soon, we will be the ancestors of genetically modified humans. Too often, humans lack the will and motivation to do anything difficult. We have volunteered to let technology take over and have orchestrated our own downfall. You have the power to stop this. Step in now and act.
Hope you liked the little detour in writing, and hopefully I will be back soon (commenting and blogging – thanks Laura for commenting on my last post J)
