ENG 1.3 Unfamiliar poetry

http://drshew.weebly.com/uploads/4/1/3/6/41362521/whatisapoemexamples.pdf

What do these poems suggest about the way we should approach poetry?  

These poems suggest that we should approach all poetry with an open mind, to 'dive headfirst', to let yourself be amazed and surprised by poetry, to consume the poem in it's entirety without holding back.

What is one specific example (evidence from the text)? One of the poems, 'How to Eat a Poem' by Eve Merriam, has a main message that is telling us to approach a poem head-first- "Don’t be polite. Bite in,"- and to savor every word, not waste anything, "...and lick the juice that may run down your chin." Eating fruit has been used as a metaphor, the purpose of this was to help us understand the message in a more engaging way, that we should read a poem as it you were eating fruit, to not waste a drop and to lick the juice off our chins, to approach a poem head-on.

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L1HEc / Japanese Pancakes お好み焼き

For our practical yesterday in Home Ec, today we made Japanese Pancakes, or okonomiyaki. They're a sort of savoury pancake common in Japanese culture. 

Our recipe was untraditional, and was made from flour, eggs, water, soy sauce, cabbage, bacon and corn. We topped our okonomiyaki with traditional okonomiyaki sauce (a mix of worcestershire sauce, honey, tomato sauce) and store-brought Japanese mayonnaise. 

Overall the recipe was easy to make, it included different processes like chopping the cabbage, stirring the mixture and then frying them in the pan. I like how we had options on what we did and didn't include. It was a bit bland by itself but the okonomiyaki sauce brought a lot of flavour, even if I did choose to have tomato sauce on mine instead.

I will probably make this recipe again at home, I'd probably add something like spinach, feta cheese and garlic (not traditional, but it would taste good). 

1.8 Connections | The Play of Anne Frank

This text based off of the real Diary of Anne Frank, and adapted into a play version.

How does viewing this text through a child’s perspective change the way we experience it? Explain using an example from the text.
Anne Frank was only 12 years old when she wrote the original diary, during World War II in Amsterdam. We see a more childlike, naive experience of the world during the play, a view of the world which can totally change after just little things. The audience needs to think more about it really affected Anne rather than having it explicitly stated in the diary, we reflect on her experiences and her perspective of the War. She wasn't completely aware of what was going on because she was so young, so in that way much of the darker parts of the war were spared from the diary, then the play. 

Reading a play that was based off the true experience of a 12 year old makes the audience feel even more emotional and much more fond for Anne. Also, reading Anne making fun of the adults - "Anne. I never heard grownups quarrel before. I thought only children quarreled." -made the adults (particularly Mr and Mrs Van Daan) look even more foolish and portray the difference on how children and adults were portrayed in Anne's diary...

How would this text be different if it were told from the perspective of an adult? How would the audience’s experience be different?
Yes, the adults experience would be different: the adults were more informed and educated on the war and the Concentration Camps, much more than Anne and Peter, for example. The text might be different because the adults would be more concerned about the war and the economy than war ever was-- "You should be ashamed of yourself! Talking that way! Think how lucky we are! Think of the thousands dying in the war, every day. Think of the people in concentration camps." --more aware of the current events, a higher need for survival. Although Anne knew about the war, she had much different priorities than the adults, and focused more on the arguments and state of the annex than what was going on outside, sometimes even arguing about that: 
"Mr. Van Daan, you don’t realize what is happening outside that you should warn me of a thing like that. You don’t realize what’s going on . . . . .Right here in Amsterdam every day hundreds of Jews disappear . . . Hundreds are being deported . . . people that you and I know . . . the Hallensteins . . .the Wessels . . ." -Dussel

Why did the filmmaker or author decide to tell this story from a child’s perspective?
The writers of the play have kept the story from Anne's perspective to stay genuine and true to the infamous original diary, which was of course famously written from 12-year-old Anne's perspective. Also, the people who adapted the diary into a play might have decided to keep the story from Anne's perspective to better emotionally connect the audience- seeing Anne, a child, going through the war, going into hiding, etc, would made the audience feel much more fond and worried for Anne as she was only a child. 

How are children represented in the text? How are adults represented in the text?
In the play, the adults were represented as more selfish, thieving, one-minded people who argued constantly- in some ways Anne would take care of the adults more than they cared for Peter, Anne and Margot. 

Does imagination help the young hero to cope? How so? Provide an example.
Anne used her imagination to cope with being in the Annex and away from the people she knows-often Anne would imagine being with her friends, riding her bike etc, and often put her feelings aside to help the adults through  and keep solidarity with their sometimes one-minded perspective. In the original diary, Anne would write to a fictional person 'Kitty.' 

Does this text connect in any other ways to the other texts you have read/viewed? How so? Provide evidence and explain.
This connects to the film Jojo Rabbit, which was based in the same time period. Both Anne and Jojo showed similar characteristics, like those of a child - creativity, naivety, and innocence. Despite having different perspectives- Nazi vs. Jew, Anne and Jojo both used their imaginations to cope with the turmoil of the war and their relationships. They were both ignorant and uninformed as to what was really going on. 

Term 3, Week 2 L1 Portfolio update

I am working towards completing my art portfolio, my kaupapa is 'nightmares' - some of it will be based off my own nightmares, some will be based off of fears people might have. I am aiming to include watercolour, pastels, pencil and charcoal on my portfolio.

A quick sketch of what I want a possible future piece to look like, I based this off of the 'evolutionary' photos I've seen sometimes, of the different stages of human evolution. The sketch depicts a woman through four stages-  kind of like how a night turns from fun and fooling around to regretting the whole thing, feeling sad and lonely as she lies by herself. I want the sketch to show a woman through the stages of a night, the final piece will likely not be as provocative and I want to include both wet and dry media - charcoal and pencil, as well as including some red watercolour paint. 'Girls on Film' just so happened to be the song that I was listening to when sketching it. 

Probably the closest piece to finishing and a piece I'm proud of, this is based off a recurring nightmare I've had for maybe the past two years. The body was rotting and had the most terrifying eyes, I can only describe them as round doll's eyes that had sunken into melting flesh, with tiny pupils. I used several references to create this, and to finish it I'm going to fill in some of the areas with grey watercolour. The finished work will be 4x4 so I'm going to cut it down to size at the end. 

This piece is nowhere near finished, but the claw-looking hands are meant to represent ribs that are pulling the woman back and down, her facial expression is terrified and is surrounded by flowers, mushrooms, etc - to represent how some people think that ED's are 'sunshine and rainbows, easy to come out of' - that some people want EDs and promote them, yet they're actually very real, terrifying parts of a lot of people's lives. This piece will include watercolour, especially for the flowers and mushrooms, but I still want it the colours to look soft and light as opposed to really bright and vibrant. 

This is another sketch I did, although this probably won't make the portfolio because it has nothing to do with nightmares, I was just working on drawing hands from reference and it turned out okay. 

A horrible little sketch I was working on, I'm only showing this because the combination of dark, blacked out space, some white, and red highlights is what I want the portfolio to look like - red's gonna be a prominent colour on the board as people associate the colour with horror, nightmares, blood, etc. 

My next steps are to continue cranking out proper art and not just sketching random things, to work on the layout of my board and stick the first two nearly-finished pieces onto it, after I finish them of course. 

 

Eng 1.8 | Introduction to Connections

Theme for connections- “Through the eyes of a child”

We will read/view/study and write about 4 texts that present some kind of conflict, crisis or dilemma that a child experiences. We as the audience experience this through their eyes. We are not studying children’s books/films as such (texts written for children), but rather, texts written about children.

Text 1/4 - Jojo Rabbit movie

1. How does viewing this text through a child’s perspective change the way we experience it? Explain using an example from the text. Jojo Rabbit was based on World War II; the holocaust, Hitler, and Nazi Germany were all prominent themes in the film. By viewing the film from Jojo's perspective, we see Hitler's action and life in Nazi Germany through the eyes of a naive, easily-manipulated child, reflecting on the true perspectives of Hitler's followers in World War II and comparing their views to those of a gullible child like Jojo in a satirical, impressionable way.

2. How would this text be different if it were told from the perspective of an adult? How would the audience’s experience be different? If Jojo Rabbit were told from the eyes of an adult- such as Rosie or Captain K - we would see the film from a very different perspective, and from more of a fixed opinion, as the adults were both more educated on the ethics and ideology of the Nazi party. Seeing Jojo Rabbit from a perspective of an adult, who would be much more educated and opinionated, would take away how Jojo was manipulated by the different people - notably Elsa and his mother Rosie - and how his own experiences changed the perspective. It would be a much more biased perspective on World War II and take away the satirical, mocking elements of the film.

3. Why did the filmmaker or author decide to tell this story from a child’s perspective? By telling the story from Jojo's perspective, it was more impressionable on the audience, as we see the once-innocent Hitler Youth scout Jojo, and how meeting Elsa, a jew, and the killing of his mother, Rosie, changed his own perspective on the war and Hitler. The audience is able to emphasise with Jojo's experiences and emotions, and how he realises the reality of the war and how awful it was.

4. How are children represented in the text? How are adults represented in the text? As Jojo is a child he is surrounded by other kids of his own age- they are represented as just normal kids- innocent, playful and optimistic about the world - despite the ongoing issues going on around them. Furthermore, adults are represented differently on the views we learn they have - Captain K, the Gestapo, the Hitler Youth leaders, etc - are represented almost childlike, immature and carefree on their views - whereas Rosie, who we learn was strongly against the views of the Nazi party, was represented as very hidden and secluded, always busy, always mysterious.

5. Does imagination help the young hero to cope? How so? Provide an example.

 Jojo's imaginary companion, Hitler, helped him to cope for majority of the film - he always was there when Jojo felt lonely, confused, or needed encouragement, and more often than not, Jojo would always end up much more energetic after talking to his imaginary companion. For example, at the start of the movie, when Jojo was feeling nervous about starting at Hitler Youth boot camp, Hitler 'hyped' him up, and instead of being nervous, he was really energetic and pumped up to go to camp. 

6. Does this text connect in any other ways to the other texts you have read/viewed? How so? Provide evidence and explain.

 Jojo Rabbit is definitely connected to lots of other literature- historical fiction, fiction, films, etc. But one connection I made was to The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, another film about a young kid in Nazi germany.

 

"Bipolarity Of All"

if below us and in sadness is hell,

if above us and the sun is happiness,

and the divided lands we roam is everything in between,

then these wingsー the only immortality we as humans may all shareー

have flown me everywhere. 

"Anemoia"

when i think of us, i have a thirst for home-

a home which i cannot return to, a home which maybe never was. 

i ache with nostalgia for a past excluded from history,

because life in itself is merely a distraction,

from both a mindless yearning for your touch-

and whelming grief for an abandoned innocence of childhood.

L1 Food+Nutrition Unit | Cooking Methods

Cooking methods are relevant to what nutrients you want to cut out or even include in your meal plan. For example, stir-frying, deep-frying, etc are not great cooking methods to use if you are wanting to cut out or limit fat and salt in your meal plan. Cooking methods should still be appropriate to the food you're cooking. 

A Clockwork Orange film study essay (draft)

‘Alex awakens to Beethoven’s 9th’ scene: close viewing essay (draft!)

Anthony Burgess, author of the 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange once wrote, “Is it better for a man to have chosen evil than to have good imposed upon him?” In Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, the idea of imposed morality vs. free will is a recurring and significant theme to reflect on, and challenge the ethics of the real-world issue of experimental and inhumane psychiatric treatments such as lobotomies and electroshock in the 60’s-70’s. In the climatic scene ‘Alex Awakens to Beethoven’s 9th’, techniques of music, setting, camera zooms and acting coincide to connect the audience to the emotional turmoil and downfall of protagonist Alex DeLarge: the after-product of experimental and inhumane government treatment politically marketed as ‘a successful rehabilitation’.

These aspects have been used to create the extremely climatic, intensely emotional scene of Alex waking to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the score played alongside a violent Nazi propaganda film shown to Alex during the aversion therapy. Now when hearing the symphony, along with the thought or sight of violence, Alex immediately has the overwhelming sensation of pain and terrible nausea. After being released and immediately discovering he had been betrayed by his parents, and then beaten to near-death by his former-droogs (now authoritative policemen) in the woods, Alex desperately seeks shelter at the nearest house. Only to find himself at the mercy of a revengeful writer whose life he carelessly destroyed years earlier, Kubrick has used these aspects to effectively portray and connect the physical and psychological impact rehabilitation has had on Alex with the audience to bring up these real-world issues. It links into A Clockwork Orange’s wider theme of imposed morality vs. free will.

A significant aspect in Alex’s awakening scene is the use of music. Specifically, the revengeful Dr. Alexander playing Beethoven’s 9th symphony at full volume as a means to torture Alex, who is locked in the upstairs guest room. It is a high-tempo classical instrumental, featuring layers of violins, thunderous percussion and flute, fluctuating from loud and thunderous to very soft flute parts rapidly. Kubrick has used Beethoven’s 9th symphony and Alex’s intense reaction to parallel the beginning of the movie to Alex now, at the climax of his emotional downfall, after discovering his parents had rented his room out to another young male, and having been taken advantage of and brutally beaten by his former droogs, now policemen. Beethoven’s 9th exemplifies the change and hypocrisy in power in A Clockwork Orange—  how the writer Alex beat to near-death years earlier is now torturing the vulnerable character. Kubrick’s choice of music in the awakening scene brings up the film’s theme of imposed morality vs. free will. What used to be the symphony Alex listened to in “pure bliss” is now an act of torture, an exemplification of a disastrous effect of the forced and unethical aversion therapy that Alex was deceived into believing would cure his need for violence— this was a topical reflection to how many inhumane psychiatric treatments were marketed in the 60’s. Coinciding with the intensely emotional way Alex is reacting, Beethoven’s 9th now has a chaotic, almost-demonic edge. We are able to connect and see the shocked, betrayed and psychologically-tortuous impact that rehabilitation, much like electroshock and lobotomies in the 60s, has had on Alex in a way we have not seen previously. 

The acting in the awakening scene is another way the psychological effects on Alex are effectively portrayed. Throughout the scene, Alex’s emotions are in turmoil; he is clearly distressed: he shows this through horrified, shocked facial expressions, gagging, clutching his ears and sides of his head to block out the music, and banging and kicking at the floor and door. How Alex is acting in the scene — gagging, coughing and covering his ears and head — the intense facial expressions showing his anger, shock, horror, and panic— Kubrick has effectively shown both the physical effects and effects of the psychological turmoil Alex is going through while hearing Beethoven’s 9th. With no remorse and completely at the mercy of Dr. Alexander while locked in an upstairs room, the audience is shocked to see a side of Alex we have never seen before, and, for what could previously be unthinkable for the earlier and younger version of Alex, feel pity for him. Being able to connect and feel genuine sorrow for Alex on such an emotional level in this scene brings up the theme of imposed morality vs. free will. Through Alex’s intensely dramatic reaction to the symphony, at the mercy of Dr. Alexander and having returned to the house at which we have seen merciless torture once before, the audience are able to see the effects of government rehabilitation on Alex and connect with the intensity of his emotions in the scene.

The use of zooming the camera in and out in this scene is a significant aspect that coincides with the acting to portray the psychological turmoil Alex is going through. At the beginning of the scene, as the 9th symphony starts and Alex slowly wakes up to realise what is happening, the camera is zoomed out from his face to show the entire bedroom. The camera now shows Alex thrashing on the bed, the closed and locked door, and the confined space of the room itself. Nearing the end of the scene as Alex stares in horror at the brightness of the large window before him, the camera zooms into a close-up of his pale, horrified face as he realises jumping from the window is his last resort of escape. Adding to the aspects of setting, music, and acting to show his reaction to this, Kubrick has used these zooms to emphasise and further portray to the audience the psychological state of Alex. In the beginning of the scene when it zooms out to show the room, it happens at the same time Alex recognises the symphony and realises he has been purposely trapped in the guestroom of Dr. Alexander’s house. Zooming out to show the room at the same time Alex realises what is happening connects the audience to the intensity and chaos of the scene. Zooming in to show a close-up of Alex’s facial expression as he realises the window is his last resort emphasises the emotion and generates the climax that has the audience extremely engaged in the scene and worried for what will happen to Alex, raising questions on how the film will end.  

Another significant aspect in this climactic scene is the house at which it’s set. Alex awakening to Beethoven has been set in the upstairs bedroom of Dr. Alexander’s house, the writer who Alex and his ‘droogs’ beat to near-death alongside his now-deceased wife, who they brutally assaulted and raped as young teenagers. Dr. Alexander, who we discovered to be the owner of the house a bloody and drenched Alex seeks shelter at after being beaten by his former-droogs, is now blaring Beethoven’s 9th from a speaker system as a means to psychologically and physically torture Alex in revenge for what he did to him and his wife years ago. This was a significant aspect in the scene as Kubrick has shown how Dr. Alexander is now dominant over Alex, how after rehabilitation Alex not only lost his want for violence but also the power and authority he once had over his droogs and his victims of rape and assault as a careless and violent delinquent. Through setting the most climactic, emotionally-catastrophic scene in the film at the house of the writer he brutally assaulted years earlier, we as an audience are able to see how Alex’s perspective and the wider world around him has changed after his free will was taken away in rehabilitation. The audience is reminded of the unethical and experimental treatments of the 60’s and 70’s deinstitutionalization movement, when both the novel and movie were published. We’re able to see how Alex has changed throughout A Clockwork Orange and at his most vulnerable, unauthoritative position we have seen, the effects of rehabilitation are brought up. To an audience already familiar with inhumane psychiatric treatment in the deinstitutionalization movement of the 60’s and 70’s, seeing how therapy ‘ruined’ Alex psychologically raises the wider theme of imposed morality vs. free will and links into a real-life historical issue at the time the film was made.  

Through the aspects of acting, zooming in and out, setting and music, the disastrous psychological effects on Alex are effectively portrayed to the audience. This makes us connect with his character, and brings up the idea Alex that his rehabilitation was not as positive and great than we previously thought. Kubrick having used these effects dominantly to make us see and connect with Alex’s emotional turmoil, makes the audience think about the disastrous consequences of Alex’s government rehabilitation. The genuine pity and connection we make to Alex’s character while seeing these four aspects come together, gives a clear opinionated perspective on the deinstitutionalization movement and sheds light on the inhumanity of government psychiatric treatments. A film with a very real, haunting subtext on the topical issue of experimental psychiatry in the 70’s, A Clockwork Orange provides an opinionated perspective— challenging the ethics on a real world issue of imposed morality vs. free will. And as A Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess once wrote, “Is it better for a man to have chosen evil than to have good imposed upon him?”

Dust To Dust | Contemporary Issue Practise L1 Geo

Learning about social, economic, political, environmental viewpoints in preparation for our L1 Contemporary Issue assessment in Geography. This work won't be assessed as it's just a practise on what we need to know. 

Looking back at my poetry, a year on :)

https://hhsjaimeb.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-poetry-workshop-w-api-taylor.html

You might recall last year when incredible Maori poet and writer Apirana Taylor visited Hornby High School to share some of his work; in fact, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop hosted by Apirana with the other English Scholarship students. 
Today in English, as we get back to the gist of things after lockdown, we actually did the same warm-up that inspired the poetry from the blog post linked above. I like to think my writing has improved over the past year so I took this as an opportunity to look back at my poem from April 2019 compared to one I wrote over a year on. 

Last year's poem, I immediately cringed

If you don't know what this poetry warm up is, we were given 13 words and wrote down the very first word that popped in our heads. The underlined words show the words I came up with. 

"Party at the End of the World"
There is a whale emerging from rumples of azure;
Mahuika from a sun of fire.
On land, someone's sister waves a white flag - not of surrender, but of strength. 
In Christchurch a clock ticks,
in a room so very quiet you can hear the breathing of souls doomed from birth. 
And only in the end, 
whether it be in a hail of bullets,
or a room so cozy to mask the haunt of chemo, 
might we be able to look at the trees around us and realise the beauty of it all.  

Looking back there's definitely a huge improvement between then and now, at the time I was super proud of my poem and couldn't imagine doing better, a year later and I have definitely done just that. Maybe in another year's time, I'll look back at this blog post and think 'why did 15 year old Jaime think this was good?!' - in fact, I actually really hope that happens.

P.S Here's a photo showing the actual process of writing this poem, when I'm inspired I write so fast to just get words out and my handwriting often gets really messy just like this. Re-reading and editing often takes more time than actually getting words on the paper. 

L1 English work from home | SEXXXY Paragraphs

While working from home, for English we have been continuing the preparation for our film study. 

We've been working on writing SEXXXY paragraphs to explain our ideas and thoughts around the aspects of a small excerpt from a visual text. For example in this Google Slide, we watched a scene from Limitless and then the 2004 short film Kerosene Creek. While watching each video, we were given questions to think about, and then we had to pick an aspect that stood out to us and step-by-step, write a SEXXXY paragraph. (Statement, Evidence, Explanation x 3, Your Link) 

I enjoy writing these paragraphs but whenever it comes to linking or comparing to another visual text my mind always goes blank! I got there in the end though :) 

Independent english work: film aspects and techniques :)

English assessment 1.4: Descriptive writing "Then, Now & Later"

It’s nearing the end of Winter in Wuhan.

I remember the beginning of this cold season, how the days slowly turned bleak and bitter. How the strong winds that once carried the leaves to the sea are now as sharp as a knife, slicing rosy cheeks, platinum silver to match the skies. Now, the stench of smog burns the back of my throat as the sliding door closes behind me and I begin draping detergent-drenched towels over the rail. The city of Wuhan is bustling beneath me. Occasional honks sound from far below; the grid-lock traffic is customary for a late Friday afternoon, after all. Pedestrians walk in the glow of golden streetlamps like actors walking across the stage in the spotlight. 

It’s the middle of Spring in Wuhan. 

The mask is still warm from past breaths as I loop it around my ears, the elastic snapping against my cool skin. The air outside is warmer when I slide the door open slightly, yet through the cheap fabric of the mask, I smell the strong pungent stench of chemicals and disinfectant that is becoming all-too familiar in the province. Wincing at how it stings my eyes, I look over the edge of the balcony, and I’m shocked. The street below is almost-completely deserted and eerily silent. A sun that once struggled to shine through clouds of slate now radiates across a province of steel and branding it bronze. The Yangtze is a lagoon of rumpled blue satin. Beyond that, on a plot of land where the rainbow beanstalk of a circus tent would slice the sky, the week-old walls of a hospital doomed, struggling to accommodate China’s sickest. 

It’s the start of summer in Wuhan. 

The land is flat and dry where the sun will come to rest, flames still licking the sky as it straddles the horizon, and just when the tongue of fire has come to rest, only the glow of blue and red illuminates the street below. I’m not the only one watching. People above and below me are peering over their balconies to catch a glimpse of the man. He was old; he wore a red shirt over his face. The nurse closes lightless eyes with the tip of her yellow latex pinky, pulls the shirt over wrinkled skin. It’s when the doors of the ambulance slam shut that apartment doors overhead close, too, and now, it’s just me, watching as blue and red disappears past a bend of deserted street. 

Wuhan is dark, Wuhan is quiet. That’s the way it will be for a long time. 

L1Eng | Close viewing unit introduction

In today's English lesson we explored videos surrounding cinematography techniques such as camera shots, angles, and the use of music in film. I have some previous knowledge of these techniques to a certain extent but today I learned more.

A couple of the new camera techniques I discovered included 'the golden section' and 'leadlines'. 

One camera effect that stuck out to me was the 'dolly zoom' which I've seen on TikTok as the 'vertigo effect'. The dolly zoom is a unique shot, the camera is moving backwards from the object/person/focal point, all while the camera is zooming in. This provides for a very interesting shot. 

A dolly zoom looks like this:

Since last year's close viewing unit of The Hunger Games, I've actually subconsciously taken more notice to the cinematography techniques directors use. Music is definitely an aspect of film that I didn't take notice of before but now it makes me understand the film and think about it in more complex ways, whether it is a scene or a montage, etc. 

Moving onto the actual film I will be close viewing: Jojo Rabbit is a very good movie (this is the film that the class voted on watching) that I could definitely close-view, but there are of course some films I'd like to study myself if I had the chance.

I'd absolutely love to close-view Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' and could probably write an entire essay based on the music alone. 

Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' would also be very interesting, especially in terms of camera angles and shots, which, again, I could write an entire essay on. The Kubrick zoom is already iconic in itself and the fact that Jack Nicholson has his own in 'The Shining' is amazing.





'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' (which also coincidentally stars Jack Nicholson) is another film I'd love to close-view. Films based off literature are, in my opinion, significantly worse than the book itself, but 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' is an exception. It's a masterpiece. 




Finally, 'Lolita'. There are two adaptations of this film, based on the classic novel by Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita was difficult to read, admittedly, but is definitely in the top three books I've ever read) I've seen both films, but it's actually Adrian Lynn's 1997 adaptation that I prefer, not Stanley Kubrick's.  

Lolita is such a beautiful film, and I admit if this were to become my close-viewing subject, I would spend most of English crying at how tragic it is. But this is probably the film I want to study most. That said, if the English department doesn't allow me to study it, I wouldn't blame them. 





I'm aware I've gone on a tangent, but I'm most definitely passionate about films and can't wait to start close-viewing. 

L1 Art: What is my kaupapa?

As we approach our first NCEA internal, senior art students have the opportunity to choose their own themes/kaupapas as a way to develop complex ways of thinking in relation to the meaning(s) behind art.

This year I will be focusing on the practise of unethical human experimentation as my Kaupapa. I've chosen this theme because it is something I feel really strongly about but can also be approached from many different perspectives.

The media I will work with is paint and design. 
From List one, I chose Shane Cotton and Rachel Rakena. 
From List two, I chose Vincent Van Gogh and Jacob Yikes.

For assessments 1.2 and 1.4 the artist I am interested in is Katsushika Hokusai. 

Intro to L1 English | All About Me DLO

My First Poems of 2020

i didn’t understand the warmth of you

until i couldn’t have it again

- ode to you

the last place you loved me,

the first place i loved you.

- denton

like a garden of glass

bleeding red,

or blooming pink

- a ballad to my imbalances.