Spoken Word

The spoken word piece that I decided to choose is "Why I Hate School But Love Education" by Suli Breaks. The reasons I chose this piece is that:

1. I enjoy Suli Breaks style. The way he uses his hands to speak and the way he speaks brings so much feeling into the message that he is trying to say.
2. I like the video itself. The way the lyrics/words are on the screen; I feel that it adds emphasis to what he is saying. Also the music in the background is very fitting.
3. I agree with the message that Suli is trying to share, that there is more then one way to be an educated person in this world today.

Another great piece that Suli did, which was a response to some of the backlash he got from this video is called "I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate" and I shall also put a video for that one too.

"Why I Hate School But Love Education"

"I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate"

Paradise Poems

I had a good chuckle reading Clayton's paradise poem so I thought I'd pay homage to it. I think I will post more poems like them on this thread or a new one entirely.

The Summer Day
The sky sizzled with heat
The bugs buzzed with sounds similar to a beat
The ocean was heard in the distance
The wind blows signs out of stance
The air smelled of bacon
It was a good day to play video games

Profile of: Kane, Axel and Kane-Hitler, Alexia

Profile of Kane, Axel and Kane-Hitler, Alexia

//START REPORT
Kane's mother Alexia Hitler-Kane had been the Führer Adolf Hitler's only daughter. While Alexia loved Adolf with all her heart she knew that what he was doing was wrong. 1969, during a then young Resistance raid on Berlin, the Resistance due to their rash nature and their poor intel had struck at a time when the Führer had been away. Seeing her chance and hearing what sounded like the brutal murder of her family Alexia told her attackers to take her with them for she wanted to help. After a brash argument and with Alexia's knowledge of the mansion, the remaining resistance members and her escaped with minimal causalities. It is unknown but we assume that one of the resistance members that took Alexia was Yohan Kane, Axel's father. Alexia had stayed with us here and contributed to our cause then some of our oldest members, the only problem was that she was that not many people of the resistance trusted her, and with good reason as she was Hitler's daughter (and not to make matters worse but his favorite child).

After a few short months after Alexia had joined the Resistance, Yohan and her fell in love. At first it was a running joke, one of the Resistance's top soldiers falling for Hitler's daughter, but as Alexia started to prove herself the jokes stopped. As their love grew, Alexia's love for the Resistance grew as well. She wanted to be on the front lines but Yohan wouldn't allow it. After about 7 years Alexia and Yohan had their first child in 1976 (Axel). It was hard on Alexia, as much as she loved the resistance and Yohan, she didn't want Axel to grow up in such a hostile environment. After much debate it was finally decided that Axel would be raised in Austria, which at the time was under Nazi control but was safer then the camps that the Resistance had outside Munich. 

Years passed as the young Axel Kane grew up in Innsbruck, Austria and the Resistances' funds had taken a huge hit after loosing multiple shipments of goods and weapons to the Nazi Germany, now under control of Hitler's eldest son Adrian. Knowing that Adolf had put out a large amount if money for her return, Alexia devised a plan. She would give herself up, say that they the Resistance didn't have anymore money and needed to play their final card. Of course Yohan rejected the idea immediately but after further convincing and plans to get Alexia back as soon as possible he allowed it. 

This part of the story everyone in the world knows about but for continuity I'll tell it. It was April 30, 1981 when Alexia had been returned to Berlin and her brothers Adrian and Andreas had paid the ransom for her return. It had been six years since Adolf Hitler had passed away and Adrian had bee ruling with the same choke hold on the world that his father had for so long. There was a grand parade for Alexias' return, even though the only daughter of Adolf had been missing for the past  12 years all of Germany was ecstatic. Unknown to us, Adrian had known that Alexia had been part of the resistance (wither it was just an accusation or a Nazi spy got into our ranks) and after the parade when Alexia was about to give her speech, Adrian put a bullet into her head. This murder was broadcasted all around the world so that everyone would see it... including Axel, who at the young age of five witnessed his mother's execution.

Yohan was enraged by this of course and his anti-Nazi raids where increased by tenfold. This made Axel's childhood a nightmare, with no mother and a father who when he wasn't out on missions or planning for the next one was drunk and depressed. This hurt the relationship between Axel and Yohan immensely and when Yohan had finally lost his mind it was Axel that told the rest of the Resistances' leaders that Yohan should be retired. 
That was 1992 and Axel, now 16 was ready to step into his father's shoes and join the Resistance.

Axel excelled in every test and skill that the Resistances' trainers threw at him. Need a knife to hit a target from 30 meters away? Axel could do it. He could hit a target 80 meters away with a gun that's maximum range was only 60. Axel was Yohan's son and at the age of 24 he already had his own designated squad dubbed, The Ohm Squad. Over these years Yohan's health got better and worse at the same time, while he did stop drinking and smoking it had already taken a toll on his body and in 2000 Yohan Kane passed away.

Now the files after this point are encrypted and well quite frankly, top secret. Just know that Axel Kane is alive, The Ohm Squad is fighting the good fight, and that Adrian Hitler has a target on his head. If I was him I'd hope that his nephew makes his death fast.
// END REPORT

Captain Axel Kane

Axel: The Father of Peace
Kane: Fighter

Born: July 14, 1976

Height:6'2"

Weight: 174 lb. 

Eyes: Grey-Blue-Green

Hair: Black

Relationships: Yohan Kane (Father, Deceased March 20, 200) Alexia Hitler-Kane (Mother, Deceased April 30, 1981) Adolf Hitler (Grandfather, Deceased July 10, 1975) Adrian Hitler (Uncle, Alive) Andreas Hitler (Uncle, Alive)

Squad Members: The Ohm Squad, SGT. Mikael Adler, SGT. John William, WO. Jennifer 

Noticeable features: Tattoo of a "47" at the base of the back of his neck, a reference to his weapon of choice the AK-47 and his initials.

Scars across his body (wither this is from Yohan when Axel was young or just missions we don't know) Most noticeable is on the right side of his face running from under his eye to the middle of his cheek. This was gained after a knife fight during a mission. You should see the other guy.

Alexia is killed 1981

War ended in 1951 with Adolf Hitler in control of Europe and most of the world

NOT DONE YET WILL UPDATE

Patch Work Poem

So I had to do one of these for an English assignment. I liked it so I though I might as well use it here too. Enjoy.

Long ago monk travel along or alone (Travel, Omprakash Thirunavukkarasu)

The wheels start to turn (It's a Hard Road, Liam Hughes)

With my with every groan (Infectious, Micaela)

And with love I burn (The Burning Fire, Alex Fischer)

A long road, have I traveled (A Long Road, Michael Stevens)

In a night, or in a day (A Dream within a Dream, Edgar Allen Poe)

A long road, have I traveled (A Long Road, Michael Stevens)

Yet if hope has flown away (A Dream within a Dream, Edgar Allen Poe)

Of once my brother fell to me (Agony, Mark R. Slaughter)

Do not go gentle into that good night (Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas)

But light from out the lurid sea (City in the Sea, Edgar Allen Poe)

Rage, rage against the dying light (Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night)

Names of the poems and their author are in the parentheses.  

Reflections on the Memoir Unit and The Glass Castle

1: I found this unit to be really good. I enjoyed the memoir we read (I usually don't like the stories we read in English classes, save The Catcher in the Rye.) From this unit I learned the difference between an autobiography and a memoir, I didn't know that they were different at all. I didn't really "learn" anything from actually reading the story of The Glass Castle, but from the writing of it I find that it has taught me ways to improve my writing.

2: I think that the overall message of The Glass Castle was that no matter what your background or the way you were raised can affect your successes in life. Jennet hadn't gone to school for most of her life, didn't have the most well educated parents and never had much time to settle down and work on her skills, but now she is a successful writer and is better because of her life experiences.

3: It wasn't that hard to write my memoir, seeing as I wrote five pages when I only needed two. I found that I had to create a lot of my memoir because I was so young at the time of the memory I wanted to tell. Other challenges I found was deciding what parts of my memory were important or unimportant, figuring out what I should highlight.

4: Even though I just mentioned on how hard it was to create parts of my memoir, I found that this was my favorite part of writing it. I liked the creative freedom it gave me and how it allowed me to make my memoir that much more personal.

5: I find that I am trying to use larger words and using cacophonous words more. Other then that my writing hasn't changed that much.

Reflections on the Short Story Unit

1: I had only one really memorable character from the stories I read this unit was my own character. That's not to say that the characters in short stories like "The Lottery" or "To build a Fire" weren't interesting but I found that the character I created has a very compelling back story and his story has a lot of potential for (knock on wood) a full novel or series. I might be tooting my own horn but that's just how I feel about him. Creating the character of Axel was actually my favorite part of this unit and writing my short story.

2: When writing my short story I found that the hardest part of writing it was keeping it short. Sometimes I wanted to add more detail. If I need to work on anything it would be to try and keep my stories a bit more simple and not as complex.

3: I wouldn't say that I like or dislike any type of short story. I find that in a a short story the characters are important. If I can't like the main character, not only in just short stories but in all writing, I find that it is hard to truly like the story in a whole. If I had to choose the type of short stories I'd have to say that I like it when short stories are in the first person view. I find that the story telling from this point of view is very effective when telling a very personal story.

4: Like I said before my favorite part from my short story has to be creating the character of Axel. I find that the story I created for him was quite an impressive one. While I do like my short story I find that the story I was trying to tell was the wrong genre to tell it in. If I did have more space to right maybe it would have been better but I feel that the story would just be better off told as a novel.

Myself as a Writer

I find that as a writer I like being descriptive. If someone is to describe something I think that it should be described to the last detail, unless of course the story calls for some details to be hidden. Personally I like writing stories in general. Long or short it doesn't matter. I also enjoy writing dialogue for graphic novels or just doodling short comics. I enjoy reading novels and everything I mentioned in the past couple sentences. While I don't particularly like it, I do enjoy reading the odd poem here and there

My strengths as a writer has to be my imagination. I feel that I can create a story from almost anything. I also feel that I can create worlds for people to go into and really believe that it is real and make the reader either hate or love the place I create. Lastly I feel that I put a lot of good work into character development and no matter how small the character I feel that they should have a back story. As for my weaknesses I tend to lose my original goal when writing stories. I tend to write a lot and then stop liking my own writing so I leave the project for a while (trust me when I say there are a lot of stories waiting to be finished.) I also find that when trying to create certain worlds or characters I fall short of my goals I had planned for them and eventually scrap the character as a whole.

The reason I took writers craft is to improve my writing technique.  I feel that while I like my writing and I have been told it's good, I think I can improve it. By doing so it would in my mind, increase the depth I can put into my stories and would allow me to expand farther then what I feel as my comfort zone. Hopefully as my writing gets better Bradley and I can continue our on going project of making a graphic novel and after that I would like to get into writing novels when my life gives me time to do so.