Year 10 Writing Portfolio (English)

This is my writing portfolio for English this year.  This portfolio will include my creative writing from term 1, my close viewing assessment on the power of one movie by John Avildsen, and my written text essay from this term (term 4). 

This is my creative writing (sensory language) work from term 1.

My sensory language writing. 

Sensory language is writing a story/ paragraph that involves all 5 senses. We were challenged, we had the task of writing this without using the words saw, heard, smelled, tasted, felt. As I sat amongst the grass the cool breeze made its approach. It winded through the grass, I could sense the breeze rushing along the hair on my arms and legs. I witnessed the sun appear soon after and could take in the sound of the birds chirping. I could identify the aroma of the blossoming flowers.  I had the privilege of savoring the luscious, succulent dragon fruit. 

Similes and Metaphors.

What is a simile?

A simile is comparing something to another thing. Using words such as like or as. 

Examples: The big was as loud as thunder, His spoke as loud as a lion's roar.

What is a metaphor?

A metaphor is calling something or someone something that isn't meant literally. 

Examples: He had the mouth of an alligator, She gave off a mighty roar. 

My Haikus:

Shining radiance

A fiery sandy desert 

A hot melting sun 

A leaf like a tear 

A graceful shift to the cold 

The heat had withdrawn 

A cool spectacle

Wrapped in layers of wool 

A graceful snowflake

The revival starts 

The heat prevails one more time  

The blooming of light 

Slam Poetry.

I didn't have a favorite performance. Slam poetry wasn't very exciting or interesting in my opinion. I personally would prefer maybe a beat or something more pleasing to the ears. Maybe the words rhyme or have music with them. 

Power of one

This is my close viewing assessment from term 3 about the power of one.

During the horrific time of apartheid in South Africa, a boy tries to leave his mark on the world. The power of one movie directed by John Avildsen had a scene involving PK and Gideon Duma running through Alexandria. The Scene shows symbolism, natural lighting, a lively background display, an atmosphere as well as facial expressions.

 While running through Alexandria we see how crowded Alexandria is. We see probably close to a hundred people wandering through the streets going to do their everyday activities. Avildsen would most likely use this to show how the black people were forced into cramped townships. As they get closer to Johannesburg we see more advanced technologies and building designs showing the difference between the white and black peoples' different areas. Gideon drinks from a spigot (hose tap) while we also see a white person tap which is more developed than the black person's tap. In Johannesburg, the white people give odd looks to Gideon and act afraid as he approaches them. Avildsen uses this to show that black people are shown as horrid aggressive creatures. We also see how black people have been put to work by white people showing us that during aparthied black people were used as slaves. 

Gideon wears a singlet-like shirt which is a darkish grey color while PK wears a white shirt with sleeves. Avildsen could have given them opposite clothes because they are of opposite skin color and are on opposite sides of the money spectrum. PK drinks from a non-white tap symbolizing that he doesn’t care about the rules and believes that white and black people should have equal treatment. The use of water to symbolize what PK thinks of equality may be a way to hint that he's the rainmaker and the fact that they were talking about the myth of the rainmaker gives this idea a lot of credibility. This scene also then takes us to the waterfall which gives water a massive part to play as this part of this movie. The use of water could be the turning point of the movie where PK accepts the myth and becomes willing to be the rainmaker.

The lighting throughout this scene is a more high key natural lighting. The more orangey natural color reflecting off the sand in Alexandria might be a sign of poverty as they can’t afford to get the resources to build proper pathways. The lighting used reflects perfectly what it would be like in Africa. The light also gives the feeling of a morning time setting and as we get to Johannesburg the lighting becomes brighter giving more of a midday feel. Gideon blends in more in Alexandria as there are many black people while PK sticks out more but as they enter Johannesburg Gideon sticks out more and he also speaks out more giving him the spotlight of the scene. 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

This is my written text essay from term 4 about the Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber.

Throughout The Secret Life of Walter Mitty written by James Thurber, a memorable idea continues throughout the entire story. This memorable idea was that items trigger dreams. These dreams progress the story and pass time in the real world. The main plot of the novel is that Walter Mitty finds his life boring and has dreams of himself doing “cool” things, which is memorable to me as it reminds me of my childhood and how I could take any item and use my imagination to create virtual reality inside my head. This story also reminds me of my younger self-wanting everything but being held back by many things.

At the start of the story, Walter is a captain of an ice breaker (a large ship that has hardened thicker steel to move through and destroy ice).

This first paragraph of the narrative is exciting and captivating. We are made to think this is the story, the legend of a captain breaking his way through the ice. Then as the scene reaches its climax we cut to the real world in which Walter's wife is nagging him about driving too fast. This links to the real world; phones are distractions that can cause accidents just like the dreams Walter has.

As Walter Mitty continues his day, he drives past a hospital triggering his next dream. He dreams of himself as a millionaire banker. Walters zoning out is relatable to a lot of people. Your brain automatically takes boring situations and makes them interesting as a way to keep it awake. Which makes the idea of him dreaming a very realistic idea. The reader can find the idea of this story very relatable and interesting. The author tried bringing the story to life with a very detailed description of each dream. A line Walter says (“Obstreosis of the ductal tract”) to make him seem like he knows what he's doing as it seems highly technical and not many people would actually know what it is.

As stated earlier Walter finds his life very boring. Which is the main plot for the story. The author might be having a similar experience that encouraged him to write this story. It's very relatable to most readers as boredom is just natural. The idea of Walter dreaming himself into another world has some similarities to Alice in Wonderland. Both stories have the main character entering a fantasy world full of exciting new experiences which progress the story. The main idea of this story was memorable to me as I often find myself in similar situations in which certain objects become other things as a result of boredom. Walters wife is his tie to the world just as my family and friends are my ties to this world. These things make the story memorable to me. As the story comes to its conclusion Walters's last dream is activated by a cigarette, in this dream he is executed by a firing squad.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty uses many different writing techniques and overall is a very good story to read. As it’s very relatable it’s captivating to read. This makes the story memorable. The use of common items that most people have been around makes the story interesting to everyone. This is an important part of the story as it makes it relatable to the whole audience while also keeping the story readable. The story's progression is amazingly done as the items create these dreams that pass the time until Walters's task is done and he has moved on to the next task.