How am I writing?

As of this entry, I have written two formal essays in English class. One in-class, and the other at home; each one had a different prompt. The first focused on the role of “fate” in short stories we had explored in class, and the second was an analysis of a theme in Antigone and its presence in our world today. Despite the very different subjects, and circumstances in which these two essays were written, there are common strengths and weaknesses in my writing, which are evident in both.

I will start by acknowledging my primary weaknesses. Between the feedback from Mr. Bellew and my own reflection of my essays, I can see that I have four main improvements to make. Although my work is generally coherent, “moments of awkwardness” are a part of each of my essays. I think this is mostly due to not re-reading my work enough before deciding it is finished. If I read through each paragraph more, I could see how the sentences flow and add better transitions needed to minimize the awkwardness. Occasionally, my word choice is weak. There are times when I choose the correct word, however, often it takes me a while to think of the exact word to describe what I want to say. So, I try to put the closest word I can think of as a placeholder. Sometimes, I don’t go back and change it. This hinders the fluency and could be a cause of the “moments of awkwardness”. In at least one instance in each essay, I have used casual language or an abbreviation. Instead, to ameliorate the essay, I need to spell out words like “first” as opposed to “1^st” when speaking of the voice "first person", or “versus” and not “vs.” when speaking of the preposition. Finally, an old problem: spelling. I have never been a good speller – but with spell check on the computer – I realize I have no excuse. I think that spelling is important for the comprehension of the essay and I just need to be more cautious.

As far as my strengths are concerned, I believe they have been pretty consistent between the two essays. I have a “logical approach” to my writing and how I convey my ideas. I am “perceptive” and generally, write fluently. I think this is because I have enjoyed writing about the subjects in the past two essays and I was interested. The more engaged I am in the topic, the more insightful I am able to be. In the past, I often struggled with the development of my ideas and including explicit details in my writing. Because of this, when I write, I am consciously asking myself if I can go one level deeper in what I am trying to say. I try to focus on giving one pearl of an idea instead of abundant pebbles! I have also spent a lot of time, especially last year, becoming familiar with literary terms, and so I really feel like that is one of my strengths. My understanding is especially useful in an essay when I am to discuss the techniques used by an author.

Overall, I will continue to develop my strengths to be stronger, and I will work on the weaknesses I discussed above. Hopefully, my next essays will have evidence of improvement – I will be thinking of what to focus on when I write them!

Modern Antigone Theme - Short Story (in -class) -

Antigone in action!

Reflection

Scene – Prologue [Antigone, Ismene]

For our version of “Antigone” the movie, we chose to make the prologue a visual reality! In ancient Greek theatre, the prologue is a scene that introduces the conflict of the play. In Sophocles’ work, it often consists of one or two characters delivering necessary background knowledge to the audience. It is also interesting because it is a part of the play where there is no choral influence whatsoever. In “Antigone”, the prologue gives the audience an introduction to the two sister’s characters as they speak of their recent loss and struggle with the family curse of fate. It is the time when the sister’s polar personalities truly shine through and much emotion is exhibited.

In the scene, Antigone tells Ismene of her predisposition to bury her dead brother – to do what she believes is right. It is an emotional time in the play and Antigone is conveyed as the stronger of the two sisters. She refuses to understand the limits placed on her and is willing to go as far as death in her loyalty to the dead. The content of the prologue had a major effect on our cinematic decisions. For much of the animation, the camera switches between different close up angles on each sister as they speak in this time of hardship. If it had been an scene more focused on action, we would have used a wider angle to display the movement, however, the prologue emphasizes the characters and their feelings and that is why we used the close ups. These show their sentiments displayed on their faces, and actions as they speak to one another. It is an intimate scene and therefore requires intimate shots!

For example, Antigone tells Ismene that it is time for her to prove whether she is a true sister, or…a traitor to the family (1:03). This is a dramatic part, and so we had a close up on Antigone’s face to show the seriousness in her eyes. Also, we gave some thought to the appearance of each sister in our visual reality. Antigone is striking, and rebellious. Her blue hair and red lips emphasize that she is strong and is not bothered by what others think. Her style is contrasted with Ismene’s light pink outfit and carefully coifed hair depicting a more conservative character.

Overall, the prologue in “Antigone” is packed with importance and significance in the play. We did our best to capture as much of this as possible in our reenactment, through the dialogue and cinematic decisions, and personally, I think it looks pretty good.