Writing Portfolio - English

My writing Portfolio will include creative writing from term 1, my Power Of One essay from term 3, Yellow Brick Road from term 3, and the lake essay from term 4.

Creative Writing 

The sent of seawater lingered through the air, The water crashed onto the surface and retreated back out to sea as the sand absorbed the last of the water. As I witnessed the sunshine and shimmer on the light blue ocean the seagulls squirmed and squealed to each other fighting over the few bits of food they could find, the sand pushed against me with the guidance of a gush of wind. An elegant rush of flavor hit my mouth.

A Simile is a figure of speech that compares two things also highlights the similarity between two things using words such as like or as.  

The sky is as blue as the ocean and the clouds are like waves.   

A Metaphor creates an implicit comparison.

A Metaphor you may hear quite often maybe There are more fish in the sea. 

Power Of One 

Throughout the Apartheid, much chaos was caused and unfair treatment was shown towards the South African people. In the film known as The Power of One directed by John Avildsen, one of the scenes included PK and Gideon Duma Jogging around Alexandria. As they ran throughout the town Pk found out more about Alexandria, some of which confused him and didn’t quite understand. This scene shows us around Alexandria, how poorly the black were treated and how much just one person's beliefs can be so strong and persuasive. The three techniques I will be going over and how those techniques create impact will be dialogue, atmosphere, and lighting. 

As they ran through Alexandria we realise how the people of Alexandria lived and see how cramped and enclosed the town was. We see kids running around, people scattered and bunched around the town, which is full of sound and music the children were making. Although we see how unfair they were treated we get to see the lively atmosphere in the town. Avildsen would’ve included this scene to show how the blacks were treated and how they had no freedom at all, also to bring sympathy among the audience towards the people of Alexandria. The kids did not have much knowledge of how to speak English and they were only allowed to learn enough to get a Job to survive not even enough to read the Apartheid signs declaring where they were and weren’t allowed to access. The director’s purpose of including this aspect in this film is to show how the English made these rules to retain all the power. As they ran closer to Johannesburg the building began to upgrade from what we saw in Alexandra. Once they arrived in Johannesburg they stopped running and you hear Gideon talk about beliefs to PK, the guards overhear and tell Gideon to watch what he says. Once again we see how the guards bring fear to the blacks and see how they had all the power whereas the blacks had none. This creates a reminder of who is in charge and that they have the upper hand unless something was done about it.   

As they start running PK sees a queue of people lining up. In a phase of confusion, he asks Gideon about it. Gideon informs Pk that for each two hundred people there is one assigned toilet. This begins to build more sympathy or even anger to the audience, we’re already thinking that they are treated poorly then we see the reality the south Africans face every day, and as we get more information that reality seems worse and worse. A mix of confusion and disgust appears on PK’s face once he was told, As they continue a few kids follow slowly behind till they get closer to Johannesburg where they part from PK Gideon. During the run, Pk and Gideon continue to talk about the unfair treatment and how Alexandria isn’t right, especially for the kids. Which they have no control over. They run past a parked bus with kids going in, Gideon says how only two percent of the population in Alexandria is allowed to be schooled and is only tough enough to get a job which is barely anything. By using dialogue the director has created more meaning and importance in the scene.

This scene is the second time we see Alexandria and this time we see the town in the light whilst last time it was dark and PK and Gideon were fighting with the people of Alexandria watching. With the light upon the town, we see how completely different the town is compared to the thoughts that the people from Johannesburg realize. In Alexandria, the lighting is quite faded and contaminated with all the dust making the town quite misty. As they approach Johannesburg we see the change in lighting, as PK and Gideon arrive we see that it is quite clear and the sky is blue and far less contaminated with the dust. Johannesburg is higher maintenance and made to be more prominent than Alexandria. As Gideon walks away after his conversation with PK we see a lady pull her children away in fear of Gideon.   

With each technique and aspect there is purpose and meaning, whether it is to create a mood to paint a picture, set a scene. There are many things that individually create one of those aspects like angles, lighting, settings, attitude, costume, etc. Directors use many of those, sometimes to toy with the audience's emotions to keep them intrigued. In The Power of One, there are ongoing twists and tense moments like when one of the black races is around the guards the fear that something unfair will happen for no reason to the blacks is a quite common occurrence. We notice the way things are from PK and the black’s point of view, therefore, getting an insight into the unfair treatment they endured. This scene links to a film directed by Tom Tykwer, one of the scenes in this film Lola Rennt was running through the city she lives in. Whilst running she is followed by a tracking shot like it is used when PK and Gideon are running through Alexandria. 

The Yellow Brick Road

Witi Imimaera is a New Zealand author from Gisborne. 21 of his stories have been adapted to screen. From what I remember I haven't really heard the yellow brick road, so personally, it has no meaning to me. I predict that this story will be about a journey and people coming together to get through challenges     

The narrator believes that they are moving to Wellington because they will make lots of money there and be more wealthy in Wellington than they were in Waituhi. The narrator says "Wellington is where the money is" and also mentions that Waituhi is a different place because of the people. As they are in the car they are getting many dirty looks and it seems that Waituhi is a friendlier place. The dad tells uncle Sam that they are moving to Wellington because he wanted his children to have a better life than he did. Once they get closer to Wellington the narrator becomes doubtful, he thinks that they will become rice but has doubts about living there and wants reassurance. In comparison, the story shows how they are moving towards their dreams but realizes that it's not exactly what he thought at all.    

The Lake 

At the beginning of The Lake written by Ray Bradbury, Harrold stood on the shore of the lake left in shock and despair. Not long into the short story, we find out that a former female friend had drowned in the lake. Harrold was young but still was old enough to understand the concept of what had happened. Harrold was in disbelief, and with his unresolved feelings and with no closure Harrold held on to this pain deep down.

 

In “The lake” the relationship between Harold and the young girl, tally, they were best friends and Harrold had loved tally dearly. The feelings the Harrold had for Tally and the pain for her death were never resolved as the body was not found immediately and had taken a very very long time to be discovered therefore Harrold never got closer nor did he get to say goodbye to the very important girl in his life. A little later on in the story Harrold stood watching the waves collapse and watched as goosebumps appeared on his arms, was interrupted and brought out of his thoughts by his mother who wrapped him in a towel. At this point, the audience thinks it’s just a normal day and feels calm at the explanation of the lake Harrold was at.

Harrold walks down the shore of the lake slowly getting further and further away from his mother, Harrold yelled out totally “ Tally, Tally, oh Tally” soon after he built half a sandcastle in hope that if tally was somehow still around she’d built the second half as they would always do, as Harrold yelled for tally we find out of the tragedy. Tally had drowned out in the water, as the body wasn’t found for a long time Harrold didn’t want to believe that she was gone. He never had the chance to say goodbye or even to get the closure he needed. At the end of the story, we find Harrold back at the lake he had been at the beginning. This time he was accompanied by his wife. The familiar scenery brought back the feeling of despair Harrold held for his very close friend Tally. This would give the audience a feeling of deja vu and even a feeling of success for Harrold.

With the setting being the lake the feelings that had been pushed down in Harrold were showing and the un-resulted feeling he held for tally were all back like a fresh wound that he had to suffer through. Harrold left his wife and walked further down the lake as he had in the beginning; This time he saw a lifeguard pull a body out of the water, the body of his 12-year-old friend who he loved. Tally had been dead for around 10 years. Harrold walked to where the lifeguard had found her and when he approaches the spot he noticed a half-built sandcastle just as he had built at the beginning of the text. With all the feeling flowing in and the 12-year-old corpse, he had witnessed he walks back to Margret who he described as a “strang woman named Margret who was waiting for me smiling”. 

The beginning of this text affected the ending because once again Harrold was full of thoughts of Tally and his wife who he thought he loved was no longer an important thought or part of his life but instead, she was just a strange woman smiling at Harrold. The beginning and are very similar and linked through the setting and the feelings.