Creative Writing Assignment on TS Eliot's "The Wasteland"
Emily: Mr. Gordon, it's really nice to meet you. I'm really excited to talk about T.S. Eliot, his poetry, and his life, because he has always been one of my FAVORITE poets.
Mr. Gordon: Emily, the honor is mine. I am a fan of anyone who is a fan of Eliot's. Now, where would you like to start? First, let me buy you a drink.
Emily: I'll take water with lemon, please. Mr. Gordon, I have heard a lot about Eliot's thoughts on the idea of head and heart. What exactly does he mean by this?
Mr. Gordon: Well, as in the Wasteland and Four Quartets, they enact a classic opposition between the head and heart. It is re-cast in the light of medical science as an opposition between brain and nervous system and heart and blood; between the flickering and circulating; between what the doctors of Eliot's youth had discovered about the way we work and what King Charles' doctor had discovered; between a modern age of nerves and an older, nobler age of blood.
Emily: Wow, I never knew that Eliot was at all interested in medicine and how the body worked. I thought he only wrote poetry.
Mr. Gordon: Yes, Eliot was a very deep man. There is a lot about him that people don't know or never realized.
Emily: In Wasteland, the wife says "My nerves are bad tonight," and later she seems distracted and says, "I can connect/Nothing with nothing." Where did Eliot come up with all of this, or what does it mean?
Mr. Gordon: This "nerves" passage relates to Eliot's life at the time with his wife, which he is referring to the state of his and his wife's nerves which are upsetting, troubled, and worried. In this poem, it is apparent that...
pages: 4 (words: 977)
comments: 1
added: 10/16/2011
Creative self expression is, above all things, an art; it allows a person to translate intangible feelings and emotions - the essence of their being—to something the world can see and, at best, understand. For me, expressing my creativity is executed in an array of behaviors, including singing and the arts, but most predominately, through writing.
My greatest love will always be the manipulation of the written word. As a 9-year old-child, I would often sit wide-eyed in the hallway with my girlfriend Leila during those precious increments of “free time”, penning elaborate short stories of Barbies, witches, and laughable relatives, our curious minds filled to the brim with elan and youthful enthusiasm. Writing was an outlet, a release - some otherworldly place that I was welcomed into; a place far transcending the mediocrity and unevenness of a seemingly prosaic life.
As a young teenager, I discovered the unbelievable relief that came with writing poetry. When my boyfriend, Alex, relentlessly broke my heart, I turned not to my parents, or deviant behavior, or even to tears, but rather, to the comfort and solace of my Ticonderoga #2 and crisp white sheets of fluttery heaven. It indeed was quite a prolific period, and looking back on it now, the ordeal itself seemed so inconsequential. But I know intrinsically that without the hours of scrawling raw, overly sentimental lyrics, my broken heart may never have mended.
Freshman English was an artistic category unto itself. On countless occasions we were to write poems, stories, essays, responses. The most memorable of assignments were the adaptation of the George Ella Lyon “I am from” poem and the essay on the Aeniad, where we had to assume the role of one of the characters. Both works were the recipients of meritorious praise, but more importantly, personal growth. The way...
pages: 2 (words: 501)
comments: 1
added: 03/16/2011
Charles Dickens was an author who has a common theme in most of his books. Charles Dickens liked to stress, in his books, that the lower class is always higher than the upper class. Another idea is the need for sacrifice. He also had a common place where his novels took place. Most of them took place in an area where there was a cast system. "Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth and spent most of his childhood in London and Kent" (Encarta.com), both of which appear a lot in his novels. He started school at the age of nine, but his education was stopped when his father was imprisoned for debt in 1824. He was then forced to work in a shoe polishing factory. He was laughed at for this job his whole life. This can be seen in his book David Copperfield. He shows us once again in this book how hard life was for him and how he grew up in the lower class. In 1827 Dickens took a job as a legal clerk. After learning shorthand, he began working as a reporter in the courts and Parliament, perhaps developing the power of precise description that was to make his creative writing so remarkable. It might have been because of this job that he became such a brilliant writer. He received practice from being a reporter, so this may be the reason for most of his work being so remarkable. The themes of David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities can be related by a cast system and by the need for sacrifice. They are both common ideas used in many of Dickens novels. As one can tell, there is always a comparison between the upper and lower class. Dickens portrays the upper-class...
pages: 3 (words: 678)
comments: 0
added: 01/04/2012
1-21-03 The Long Ride Home It was Saturday evening and the prom weekend had come to an end. The past two nights a group of seniors had rented out a condo in North Conway, New Hampshire. They spent the weekend partying like any typical teenagers would do. There were twelve people there but when Saturday night rolled around, they all parted separate ways and were coupled off into different cars. There was one problem. No one was twenty one and there was a large amount of alcohol needed to be taken home. Rich, who was twenty years old, decided to take what was left of the alcohol. He figured if it was being offered he might as well take it. Now that was settled and they could start driving home. Rich was older than the rest of the group and was into different things that the rest. Before everyone headed home Rich rolled a joint and smoked inside his car. Rich figured it would be a two-hour car ride but he would be fine. Rich was unsure of where he was going so his silver Acura followed behind Justin's red Mustang. Justin and Rich decided to impress their girlfriend Jenn and Ashley, who were the passengers in there two different cars. Justin and Rich were both going back and forth antagonizing the other to drive faster. Rich sped up quickly and accelerated to 90 M.P.H, when Ashley quickly noticed they had just passed a New Hampshire State Trooper. Within tenths of seconds, the lights were quickly flashing and they needed to pull over. Ashley was panicking because the car still had a slight odor of marijuana and there was alcohol in the trunk. The officer quickly came over to the car and asked if Rich knew why he was getting pulled over. Rich...
pages: 3 (words: 694)
comments: 1
added: 10/27/2011
A city at night I had finally reached my destination, Hong Kong. As I strolled out of the clustered subway my eyes glittered with excitement, my two lengthy hour journey was over. The lights sparkled magnificently like glitter dust in an assortment of colours in the sky. The mayhem traffic on the narrow roads resembled a war zone. The atmosphere was murky, the uncontrolled smoke from the raring car exhausts made me feel as if my throat was clogging up, I began to cough vigorously. My stomach began to rumble as I glanced at all the elegant restaurants, one of which grabbed my attention, its sign stood out reading " sushi supreme" I decided to take a look inside. A young attractive waitress wearing a traditional oriental dress approached me and said "Why not try, you've got nothing to lose" her attempt to persuade me had paid off. As I perused the well-addressed menu I was slightly put off by the unreasonable prices, but I thought to myself its not every day that you get to try the Chinese delicaces. It took approximately twenty minutes for the highly skilled chefs to prepare my sushi with a side order of rice with sweet and sour source. "Enjoy", the waitress said tantalisingly as she lay my food in front of me. I noticed that the portions were rather small. I nervously took a bite out of the sushi. Mmm, the quality of the food to my surprise was superb I managed to finish the whole dish within thirty-five minutes. My hunger was reasonably satisfied. As I left the restaurant I for some strange reason decided to take a fortune cookie, 'your future holds good surprise'. I began to pick up pace as I wondered through the raging streets of Hong Kong. "Wow" I was truly...
pages: 3 (words: 602)
comments: 0
added: 01/06/2012
I wandered onwards, the light overpowering my eyesight. Someone ahead of me was calling me to fight, to take control of what was happening. On the other hand I was weak and had hardly any strength to carry on. It was almost as if I was reanimating the little Tom & Jerry cartoons which I used to watch when I was younger. Where they had the devil telling Tom to do one thing on his right shoulder and then the angel on his left telling him to do the other. Sadly I realised that no matter how hard this little guardian angel wanted me to turn around and be strong with what had happened-confront my fears, I knew that I was going to lean towards the devils side as I had nothing else to do. My brown hair swept casually over my shoulder. I flickered my eyes from left to right cautiously watching for any sudden unexpected movements. Gradually I managed to pull myself towards a sheltered area of woodland area. The old rhyme my dad had used to tell me spun around in my mind 'death of midnight comes to those who wander openly, those who choose to enter will fall, those who are pushed will fly'. I had always wondered what he meant by it but I didn't want to find out right this moment. I clung to one of the old oak trees with their spangled and twisted branches reached out into a starlit night sky. I shuddered slightly and slid to the ground silently. Uncomfortably I kicked a few of the rocks and tried to settle myself. Gradually I felt myself drifting away into a world where no one would be able to harm me. ' Get away from her!' He slid a tiny little blade from his pocket...
pages: 3 (words: 753)
comments: 1
added: 11/29/2011
We're not supposed to deliver to Carlingford. Suck a dick all you Carlingford wankers who want me to personally deliver your pizza. Since the Carlo dominos opened up, we've been forbidden to deliver there. But every once in a while, for no real reason, one of the midgets gets a call from someone in Carlingford and, due to midgets also being fucking retards, they take the order and send it through to the makers. By the time anyone spots their mistake, it's too late and we've got to take the thing anyway. So I had to deliver to a place in deep Carlingford, where packs of 3 headed mutant people roam. Armed with the requested 2 pizzas, garlic bread and chicken strips, I ventured into the forgotten wasteland that a few of you muppets may call home or close-to-home. Without incident, I arrive at the house. I give them their pizzas, their chicken dippers, their garlic bread and take their money. Not only do they pay me, they also tip me. "Here's 30, that's fine" were the words spoken to me following the transaction. They wandered inside happy and I left feeling relieved that my last delivery of the day was finally done. Upon my return, however, I discovered something unpleasant. Before I'd returned, the freakbbitch from the house in deep Carlingford had rung the store, asking where the bottle of coke she ordered was. Apparently, she was quite rude about it, too. Something about being stuck in a house in deep Carlingford with her mutant siblings must've been triggered by this sudden desire for coke, turning her into an obnoxious fuck head. She was so angry and rude that the manager, the spineless fuck hole he is, not only gave her a free coke and sauce, but also caved...
pages: 3 (words: 653)
comments: 1
added: 10/28/2011
Between Dreams and Nightmares When Hamish McSpam was in high school three years ago, he was inspired by the story of a Scottish high school dropout who made a fortune by repairing old computers and selling them to college and university students. The story of that Scottish lad had led Hamish McSpam into conceiving his very own philosophy: What is the point of wasting time in school, learning things that will not be useful in life, while one can earn a living by doing something that one enjoys? Such a question might be contentious to others, but to Hamish it would always be rhetorical. "I have my own ways. I shall do things in my own way," Hamish told his parents and teachers about his decision to quit school. He was so well known for his stubbornness that nobody bothered to argue with him. Within two days of job seeking, Hamish became an apprentice at Uncle Graham's garage for cars and trucks. Over a month's period, Hamish's hard work and determination impressed Uncle Graham, and so he gave Hamish a full-time job as a mechanic. Two years later, Hamish managed to earn himself a British driving licence. So Uncle Graham assigned him to another job – picking up and delivering second-hand car parts within the northern region of Scotland. There was no regular schedule. Hamish would be away from Aberdeen for two, three, or sometimes four days; delivering used car parts to small garages and workshops in Aberdeenshire and Inverness. Every month, Hamish would update his savings account, checking whether he had saved a sufficient amount of money to open his own garage. Hamish wished to fulfil his childhood dreams of owning a garage and modifying cars for weekend races. He found out that he was still short of £10,000 – about...
pages: 4 (words: 921)
comments: 0
added: 12/23/2011
The school bell rang. The seemingly endless Friday had finally come to an end. The tired and restless looks on each pupils face had instantly vanished into joy and excitement. John and Mark carelessly threw their books into their bags and began to head home. "History has to be the most boring subject ever", said John with relief, as they left the class. "Oh I don't know. Math gets pretty close." He had a smirk on his face. "Nah History with Johnson. As soon as he says a word, I can't get my eyes open. So what you gonna do during the weekend?" "Nothing planned really. May try to do some work. Pretty far behind. Why? Got any ideas?" Mark said inquisitively. "Not really. May just go to the skate park. This place is just getting so damn boring, always the same thing. Nothing interesting ever happens. I'm sick of this place. We need something new to do." The road split, dividing their destinations. "Yeah, well see ya. Call me later or something." "Yeah alright, catch you later". Mark finally reached the street which his house was located at. As he was drawing nearer and nearer, he heard a faint gasp for help. Mark instantly stopped his constant pace and looked to the direction which it was coming from. He carefully listened. Just when he had began to continue home, he heard it again but clearer. He jogged cautiously to where it was coming from. He peered around the corner and saw a man who looked oddly familiar. He was built and had dark hair and a rugged face. He had a knife to another man's neck. "I warned you before", the familiar man said. "But it wasn't my fault? I didn't even want to be in this" At this point, Mark was uncertain what to do. His contemplation to help the...
pages: 6 (words: 1419)
comments: 1
added: 09/27/2011
In The Bluest Eye, author Toni Morrison uses various creative writing styles in order to accentuate the dark moods that the book is based upon. Improper grammar, font styles, repetition, and narrator switching are all used in place of long descriptive paragraphs to convey the moods associated with topics such as abuse and incest. The first creative writing style presented to the reader is a manipulation of the words themselves. In the first chapter, the "Dick and Jane" primer, Morrison starts by reciting the book as it would be read. Soon, however, the capitalization and punctuation disappear. These are then followed by the spaces, creating a mass of unseparated words. Without describing anything later in the story, Morrison succeeded in conveying to the reader that the story that follows will not contain the perfect house, family, or pet. The reader gets the sense that a character in the story is reading the "Dick and Jane" book, and that the character progressively gets annoyed with the book and it's dissimilarity to real life. Morrison foreshadows by simply breaking the rules of grammar. She then goes on to manipulate the second chapter. However, this time it's not by omission of punctuation, but by font style. The entire chapter is written in italics, indicating the separation of mood from the first chapter and it's confusion of words. This change of style allows the reader to understand that the main story has not yet begun. The past is merely being introduced, telling of the incest between Pecola and her Father. This introduction prepares the reader for the setting, themes, and characters that are about to enter the scene. In addition to the manipulation of the text itself, Morrison makes use of phrase repetition in order to remind the reader of the characters' annoyance with the so-called...
pages: 3 (words: 626)
comments: 1
added: 08/12/2011