Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Lord Of the Flies Final Project


My version


             The birds flew away as the sound of a ship neared the island. Being hunted posed a problem to Ralph as he knew that he needs to find his way toward the beach. As the sound of the hunters closed in, he knew he didn’t have time to think, so he ran as fast as he could towards the beach. The countless thorns scratched against his body leaving their little imprints in the form of blood. At last, he reached the beach, his body bruised and bloody, his feet scorching on the hot white sand, and his mind thinking about following his father around as a young child again.

Alas, it was too late; the ship had already passed and was already stopping at the next island, presumably searching for signs of life or just restocking on supplies. The grey smoke from the ship rose up into the air, matching the one from the fires behind Ralph.

“No! No! It can’t be! My only chance of rescue, gone,” Screamed Ralph at the top of his lungs.

“Just give up now,” said a remarkably familiar voice.

“Where’s Jack?” “He went back to the cave,” said the voice, now full bloodlust.

“Tell me one thing, what do you feel about that? The ship just passed by and missed us. You know why it missed us? Because of you and your stupid hunting group only used the fire to cook, we coulda been off this island by now and back at home by now if you all had just listened to me, the chief instead of the babbling idiot Jack.”

The hunters tied Ralph up and took him to Castle Rock for Jack to see.

“Well, chief, here’s what you wanted,” Said Roger.

“Just put him to the side and go hunt the sow, I’m top bored to do it right now.”

“Not so fast hunters, haven’t you realized it yet? Haven’t you noticed that it was me who killed Piggy, it was me who hunted Ralph, and what has Jack been doing? Nothing, he just sits there and gives orders while we have to do the work and listen to him talk all day long. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone such as me, who does work and just doesn’t sit on his lazy butt, is chief?

There was no response, making it the first time that there was complete and utter silence on the island.  

“What? You don’t want me to be leader?” The only noise, somewhat amusing, was the noise of crickets chirping, until Roger stepped on it.

“There goes you stupid excuse, now get back to-” Before Jack could finish, Roger threw the spear and impaled Jack right in the heart much to the horror of everyone else. Jack’s body rolled off the cliff and into the jungles below.

“There, now I will be chief,” Said Roger with a sick, cynical grin.

Three weeks had passed since Roger took over the island and everything was quiet, practically dead silent. Only the littleuns, with their child-like innocence, were talking to each other every now and then. This new shift of power seemed to bring a new way of life to the island, as the wind was now cold and dry, the animals were quiet and reclusive, and the island itself seemed to become more demonic.

The fire, nothing more than ash and burned twigs, had no use, and the trees needed to make the fire, were burned during the Great Fire of Britain as SamnEric called it. All the pigs were hunted and stored in the last remaining shelter so the insects won’t be able to get them. Ralph was the only one left with no paint on him since he was merely a prisoner and not actually part of the tribe. Roger also didn’t wear any paint since he said

“I don’t need a mask.”

The long rainy, silent days was one of the things Roger enjoyed, besides punishing people. Usually he would punish someone if they did something without his permission, such as when a littleun brought the head of the sow still impaled on its stick, now nothing but a skull.

As night crept upon the boys and the Sun sought shelter away from them, they heard a voice they thought was long gone.

“Pssst, come here.” The boys passed it on as nothing but the wind, but Ralph knew better. He felt the fear creep back into him and start to ooze into his brain. When he turned around, there was nothing there. He quickly turned back around and prayed it would go away. The wind, with an eerie whistle, crept past his ears as if it was saying Ralph. Now he knew what was happening, he crept up along the edge of the cave and said

“Jack? How are you still alive?”

“The poor bastard didn’t throw the spear with enough force to pierce the bark armor I had on.”

“Bark armor?” Ralph said in a confused fashion and thinking about how stupid Jack sounds saying that.

“Yes, now wake everyone up so we can get away from here.”

 For once, Ralph was happy to see Jack, but soon, the happiness manifested into malice as he remember how Piggy and Simon died under his rule and how he was hunted.

“Why should I help you? You tried to kill me.” Jack, about to reply, didn’t when he felt the spear Ralph was hiding against his neck.

“Look, I can help, I have a hiding place and have food, how do you think I survived so long on my own?  For once, stop being silly and listen to me.”

After hearing those three words, stop being silly, Ralph quickly jumped up and woke up SamnEric,

“Quick, wake up the other boys and tell them to meet us on the bottom, and don’t wake up Roger.”

Before going downhill, Ralph pictured Rogers face one more time, the stubby moustache, the small eyebrows, and the parted, wet hair, all reminded him of something to terrible.

“Okay, everyone here?” asked Jack.

“Yes, that’s everyone.” 

“Good, now, here’s the plan, what we will do is steal the pigs from Roger tomorrow as he goes to search for us, I have devised a plan and found a perfect route to Castle Rock without being caught, here it is,”

Jack pointed to the drawing on the floor and explained everything clearly. The next day, after finally getting some peaceful sleep, the boys made their way to Castle Rock following the route and doing exactly what Jack said. Every five minutes, they hid to make sure they weren’t being followed and soon, they made their way up to the top.

Roger wasn’t there, as Jack as said, he was out on the other side of the island looking for them. Jack was right behind them, instead of looking for meat, he was grabbing the spears and painted his face red, white, and black, but the paint slowly started to fade.

“Hurry up you idiots, get the meat so we can get out of here.”

“We’re going as fast as we can, so just get off our back and shut up,” replied Ralph, with a proud grin.

As dusk approached, the sound of whales homed in near the island, a sound that frightened the boys. But as it got closer, they realized it wasn’t whales, it was a ship. The ship, silver in color, was approaching the island and the boys, with new found excitement, ran to the beach and started a fire so the ship can see them. Soon, Roger, apparently having the civility knocked back into him, joined them by adding a few pieces of twigs ad leaves. Along the shore dropped a ladder, from which a Naval Officer used to climb down.

“Brilliant fire you kids have made, excellent use of the resources, you all our British right?”

“Yessir, we are British, but we didn’t use all the resources, we sort of burned the entire island down.” Replied Jack in a week voice.

“Well, I don’t expect that from the British, after all, we are much more civilized than those Germans. Come, I will tell the others to get you a shower or few ready for all of you and we will get you a haircut and some fish and chips to eat. You want to look clean in front of your mum don’t you?”

“Yessir,” Replied Ralph this time in a voice that showed excitement, as he was finally going home.



Rational



The reason I chose to start my version at the end of the story is due to the fact that there were so many possible ways to continue the story from that point. Golding had his reasons to end the story over there, as in the original, The naval officer spots the fire and kids and rescues them, while in my version, Ralph reaches the shore to late and misses the chance as the Ship is inspecting the next island a few miles away.

Roger had the potential to do everything that happened in this version of the story. He was cold, cruel, sadistic, and didn’t care if he had to kill a human being. He was the true chief of the tribe but as he was somewhat of a silent person, he worked in the shadows. Jack himself chose not to pick a fight with him when Roger nudged him out of the way. If Jack represented someone such as Hitler, and he had a fear of Roger, what would make Roger represent? It wouldn’t be a person, but more along the lines of greed, sadism, the inhumanity and savagery found in humans as their true colors are revealed and they aren’t bound by civil morals and laws.

Last but not least, I chose to end this version with the naval officer finally showing up as a sign that whenever one succumbs to power and can’t get enough, as Jack is portrayed, going as far as to get Ralphs help so he can take back control, there will be morals and laws that will be followed sooner or later. The exact moment when Jack takes back control, the ship shows up and stops him. Along with the fact that he, instead of grabbing food like the others, grabs the spears, shows just how violent he can be as they were used for hunting the pigs, stabbing Simon, and torturing others.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Lord Of the Flies Tanka

Fire's a fading
Humanity is losing
Piggy so troubled
Jack is taking control now
Savages is what they are

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

You Can't Have It All

But you can have the old school markets with their low prices and foods with funny names. You can have your little sister knock on your door at three in the morning innocently asking, are you awake? You can have the humming of bees and the gleaming eyes of rabbits that says, i'm sick of carrots. You can have those warm summer days where you spend your time in the sun and at the beautiful sandy beaches. You can have the questions of your friends, funny, yet akward, like the videos of cats you see on Youtube.

You can have the ice cream cones with the bits of fudge at the bottom. You can have the pair of shoes which you wear everyday since their lucky. You can have the pizzas at Italian restaurants, so steamy, filled with culture, and every bite contains a bit of its makers stlye. You can have all the foriegn languages in the world, until you realize that even knowledge, has a limit. You can have the sweat trickle down your body as you work your way up the mountain. You can have the heavens until you realize you would get the hells. You can have the newborn, so delicate, precious, and still seeing the world upside down. You can have the giant mansions and the fancy cars, until you finally notice, that they are just tools.

You can have the lightsaber duels with your friends. You can have all the books in an empty world, but even books don't talk back. You can have the treehouses, so free, your world. You can have the lush forests of the Amazon, the glaciers of Antartica, or the deserts of Africa. You can walk along the shores of the Caribbean, or just relax in your own backyard. You can have your friends yelling you can do it, when you try to win at arm wrestling. You can have the rush of wind on your face as you ride the bicycle down the hill. You can have the cuts and bruises, but they can't slow you down. You can have the strings of a harp, nothing alone but beautiful together.

You can have the songs that touch your soul, or the ones that let you be yourself. You can have your mom yelling no Rick when her favorite soap opera characters break up. You can have the barking of dogs when you walk past a house. You can have the basketballs, footballs, or the tennis balls, even though you really love the water. You can have the Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton clothes. You can have the Indian spices and the American hamburgers with to much scent or flavor. You can have respect for others just as they have respect for you. You can have your first love, even though you know it won't for out. You can have the thoughts of wanting to fly like an eagle, wanting to soar through the skies. You can't have the love of those who fall into a black sleep, breaking your heart with agony. But you can have the family get togethers filled with laughing, crying, and love.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Poems about Spring


Description: Spring if often seen to ideas of rebirth, renewal, and regrowth. The plants bloom, the birds chirp, it all seems so heavenly. Spring is also the time to relax, and we can't forget that the whole reuse, reduce, recyle thing when we think about nature while in spring. It's when the weather isn't to hot or cold, its perfect, just in between. I decided it's time to talk about it.

Synopsis: Spring is the best time for poem telling, so much subjects to talk about. It's always fun to go out and try your luck.

Ode to Spring by Frederick Seidel

Morning News by Marilyn Hacker

Birds Again by Jim Harrison

Spring and All [By the road the to contagious hospital] by William Carlos Williams

A Blessing by James Wright

Spring Carol by Robet Louis Stevenson

From you have I have been absent in the Spring by William Shakespeare

The Spring by thomas Carew

A light exists in Spring by Emily Dickinson

Monday, April 18, 2011

Peppermint Leaf-Benjamin Moore, 2033-20






The prisoners,
Feeling ease,
In a land that they please.

They got here
In a little brown canoe that wobbled,
Going through the thick supernatural fog,
Landing on the sandy beach,
They were happy.

The island was
A paradise,
But now,
they're scared,
Wanting to leave their cells,
Leave the demons of humanity.

Insanity
Common now,
Screaming
Arguing
Then silence,
As haunting as
The death of a loved one.

Everywhere they saw,
Green demons ravaged the landscape,
They cried out their names,
Come to us
We can be your saviors.

But no,
The prisoners knew better,
They knew not to listen to
their guards,
That they must not lose
Their sanity.

The green demons were
The obstacles in life,
They must overcome them,
Defeat them.

Then they woke up,
And realized it was all a dream,
Not a dream
But a nightmare.

With new filled knowledge,
They went outside,
To the fresh scent
Of the peppermint leafs.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Book Review


 Lisey's Story by Stephen King

Publisher: Scribner

Genre: Psychological Horror

Where I Got It: My uncle sent it to me as a gift.

One Sentence Summary: Lisey Landon is married to world renowned author, Scott Landon; two years after he dies, Lisey begins to understand her late husband's life and learns that even he wasn't perfect as she must now face his demons.

First Sentence Of The Book: To the public eye, the spouses of well-known writers are all but invisible, and no one knew it better than Lisey Landon.

First Chapter Review: The first chapter starts off with Lisey explaining a bit about her marriage and how she has appeared on magazine covers due to being married to Scott Landon. It quickly changes when Liseys sister, Amanda, arrives and helps her clean out Scotts old office suite. She finds that there is a notebook with numbers going up to 846. The numbers correspond with pictures of her and Scott, with the ones that aren't in the notebook having her named.

Verdict: I personally believe that this story is one of Kings greatest works. It takes the fathoms of literature to a new level. I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy or horror, or anyone willing to try anything new. It clearly shows how the deep human emotions can go.

Cover Comments: The flap has the outline of a shovel on it with flowers covering it. The metal part has been cut to give a small view of the cover. Once the flap is lifted, it shows the Boo'ya moon, which is where Lisey has to go. It is quite beautiful and intricate with the word baby on the upper left and babyluv written in cursive on the lower right.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Found Poem

The Darkness Within

The tide was coming in,
Ralph chose the firm strip as a path
Pacing by the water,
He found himself understanding the wearisomness,
He stopped.

The time had come,
This meeting must not be fun
But business.

They never had a assembly
In which they boys were
Darkish figures.

The beastie, the snake
Littleuns talk
Nonsense, Jack said.

A sound, half-laugh, half-jitter, rose among the boys,
Don't do it again,
The assembly was silent.

The thing is-fear cant hurt you
More than a dream,
Unless we get frightened of people,
Be happy.

Rooted far down in the springs of sorrow,
The littleuns wept
Shut up, shut up!

The last laugh died away,
Am I a hunter, or am I not
Not at night.

By now, whatever sunlight had reached them,
Was shining like fire.

We were happy,
But now,
Things were going rotten,
As Ralph lost himself in deep waters.

Breaking up sanity,
Sitting there
Telling people what to do,
Jack grumbled,
Then he stopped
As the beast laughed.