Gabriel's English Journal

Brian Woolland worked as a van driver, a farm hand, a wine merchant and a photographer. He then worked in mainstream education and became a advisory teacher for drama. He then became a university teacher at the University of Reading. Brian Woolland regularly leads theatre workshops and teaches creative writing.

Brian Woolland is known as a publisher of academic books and also had success in playwriting. Brian Woolland has written three novels ‘Dead in the Water’, ‘Tunnel Vision’ and ‘The Gallows Cheat’. Brian Woolland has written five plays.

Brian Woolland got some experience of the situation between Israel and Palestine as he has been to Palestine and therefore the trip has helped with his understanding, which helped him write ‘The Flesh Is Mine’.

http://www.brianwoolland.co.uk/biography.html

Brian Woolland

Historical Background of the play: The play is in two time zones, the Trojan War (a Greek myth) and the current Israeli war between Israel and Palestine over Gaza. The Trojans lived in the city of Troy, which is modern day Turkey. The Trojan War began when Paris, Prince of Troy, ran away with Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. The Greeks sent a fleet of ships, with an army, to get her back. The war lasted for 10 years. In single combat, the greatest Greek warrior, Achilles, killed the Trojan leader Hector. In the end the Greeks won, by a clever trick using a wooden horse.

The current Israeli is a conflict between Israel and Palestine as after World War II Israelis were given the land (Gaza) but the Palestinians wanted the land as well. It’s part of the wider Arab Israeli conflict. After World II, Isreal were given a large part of Palestine, but the neighbouring contries who were already living there felt unhappy and didn’t accept the Israeli’s. Then in 1948, Israel and the neighbouring countries went to war. In 2005 the Israeli’s finally decided to leave Gaza, but thanks to a organisation called Hamas came into power and disrespected the views of the Israeli’s in Gaza and wanted the Palestinians to return to their old home, using violence to get their way.

Do or die. 10 seconds left. NBA finals. OKC VS Pelicans at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The set is tied at 3-3, winner takes all. The Pelicans are winning 90-88. Orange, black and blue interrogate your eyes as you look around the arena.  The OKC fans are screaming “Defence, Defence” as the tall, strong figure of Anthony Davis collects the ‘rock of dreams’ in the post. The OKC bench break out of their dull trance and burst with excitement. The crowd follow in pursuit and start banging

batons together with hope. They sense an opportunity. Suddenly out of nowhere, the Congolese giant Serge Ibaka swiftly and cleverly steals the ball of Davis and the crowd turns electric and flourish into a Mexican wave. All you could hear were hopeful cries and prayes, even the cries were crying for an unimaginable miracle. The big televisions screens loomed above the OKC’s superstar Kevin Durant, signifying the dangerous reality of losing. Pass. Then another pass. ‘FWISH!’ The prominet basketball was in Kevin Durant’s hands. The brightly lit scoreboard towered over the hoop, that looked even smaller than usual. Every single fan was on the edge of their seats, the atmosphere couldn’t be anymore tense. The usual upbeat and vibrant OKC cheerleaders have their pom-poms covering their defeated faces. Armpits were weeping heavily and eyes were bulging out of people’s eye sockets. Kevin Durant slickly dribbles past Tyreke Evans and dashes the ball to the explosive and energetic Russell Westbrook, who was standing at the three point line (also known as the ‘drain lane.’) Three seconds left.Three points needed. Russell takes a soul clenching chance and shoots. 2 seconds left. Every single eye-ball watched the ‘rock of dreams’ take flight into the air. 1 second left. The crowd holds their breath in shock and dismay, the arena was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Every single human being was on the edge of their seats, sweat streaming down their heads. 1 second left. The claxon erupts into the atmosphere as the basketball sweetly connects with the net. Like a pack of wild animals, the crowd turns riot. Fans jump, cry and hug each other. Fans were dancing crazily with the OKC team.The arena lights up with the bright, vibrant colours and a the televisions screens flash up saying ‘ OKC NBA CHAMPIONS 2015!’ Two large doors open up and streamers and balloons descend onto the scene of celebration, joy and happiness.

Kevin Durant entered the silent Chesapeake Energy Arena. One word entered his mind, gigantic. The 18,000 stadium looked at peace, no tension, no desperation. As he walked down the gleaming court, he looked to the left and saw the bright black chairs empty but still had a ticket of the game that OKC had. He inspected the chairs, looking at the magnificent design. The three giant television screens had the brilliant blue and orange logo of OKC appeared as Kevin Durant walked down the court. The air felt tense as Kevin Durant shot jump shots continously. The fact that he was alone scared him. After his 150th shot, Kevin Durant decided to take a rest for a few minutes. As he was drinking, he looked up and saw the gigantic banner which read ‘GO OKC GO.’ He smelt the intoxicating fragrance of the cleaning product used to clean the floor. He touched the soft and smooth net. The rims had a beautiful orange sparkle and the net was a crisp white, with every cross identical. Even the bench looked fantastic, a dark menacing matte black, hot enough to warm the coldest of bums. As Kevin Durant was about to continue shooting, he inspected and studied the basketball, focusing on the black lines and the fine stitching. The ball’s manufacture number was 9091

Descriptive writing coursework

The crowd goes wild. There is 10 seconds left in the NBA Finals. OKC VS Pelicans at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The set is tied at 3-3, winner takes all. The Pelicans are winning 90-88.OKC fans are screaming “Defence, Defence” as the tall, strong figure of Anthony Davis collects the ‘rock of dreams’ in the post. Suddenly out of now, the Congolese giant Serge Ibaka swiftly and cleverly steals the ball of Davis and the crowd turns electric,  fans are screaming, shouting “fast break.” The big televisions screens loom above OKC’S superstar Kevin Durant collects the ball from Ibaka. Every single fan is on the edge of their seats, the atmosphere couldn’t be anymore tense. Kevin Durant slickly dribbles past Tyreke Evans and dashes the ball to the explosive and energetic Russell Westbrook, who is standing at the three point line (also known as the ‘drain lane.’) Three seconds to go, down by three, takes a soul clenching chance and shoots the three pointer. The crowd holds their breath in shock and dismay, the arena was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Three tension seconds later, the ball finally connects with the net making the cleanest “SWISH” sound ever. And the crowd goes in to a wild riot. Then the buzzer goes off.

Kevin Durant entered the silent Chesapeake Energy Arena. As he walked down the gleaming court, he looked to the left and saw the bright blue chairs empty but still had a ticket of the game that OKC had. The three giant television screens had the brilliant blue and orange logo of OKC appeared as Kevin Durant walked down the court. The air felt tense as Kevin Durant shot jump shots continously. After his 150th shot, Kevin Durant decided to take a rest for a few minutes. As he was drinking, he looked up and saw the gigantic banner which read ‘GO OKC GO.’ The rims had a beautiful orange sparkle and the net was a crisp white, with every cross identical. Even the bench looked fantastic, a dark menacing matte black, hot enough to warm the coldest of bums. As Kevin Durant was about to continue shooting, he inspected and studied the basketball, focusing on the black lines and the fine stitching. The ball’s manufacture number was 9091.

I will be working with Bruke Workneh in this scene. Summary- Agamemnon meets with Achilles. Agamemnon needs Achilles to fight the Trojans, however Agamemnon has disrespected and hurt Achilles’s pride as he stole Briseis from him. Agamemnon offers Achilles many treasures but Achilles filled with pride refuses his offers.

‘That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,’

At first when reading this soliloquy from Lady Macbeth, many thoughts come to mind. Does she want to change gender or does she want to be become something more than mortal? Well you must read on through the soliloquy to understand Lady Macbeth’s true desires.

‘And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full’ ‘Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;’
Many of you will be going ‘ohh’ and ‘ahh’ and ‘I understand now!’ However for those who are going ‘WHAT??!! I don’t have a clue.’ Lady Macbeth wants to swap places with her husband, Macbeth, and use his gender to become king.  I know this because she says ‘And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full’ which bascially means, make me become king. Anyone with any knowledge of Lady Macbeth’s character will understand that she has no belief in Macbeth’s ambition to become king. Lady Macbeth’s character seems more commanding than Macbeth and is Macbeth’s ‘second brain’, telling and making decisions for him. Finally in the soliloquy Lady Macbeth is trying to speak to the spirits, if there are any spirits, in the soliloquy….

Dear wife,

These supernatural beings approached me after I returned from my triumphant battle. They told me many good reports about my future, then they turned into air and vanished. I do not have a single ounce in trust in these beings,. My wife, I wanted to question them further on their ‘prophecies’. Just like they ‘proclaimed’ I received a promotion in the ranks, a very high position indeed. These beings also claimed that I shall be the next king, quote Hail, king that
shalt be!’ Consequently I had a meeting with King Duncan and his son Malcolm. They have a desire to meet us at our castle. This could be my chance to end the king’s rein and begin my reign as king!
Now my dearest wife, I have not made an idea for ceasing the current kings reign, however I have got a few plans up my sleeve. The obvious way is to ‘get rid’ of the king, however I believe that I might not survive to become king. Maybe an ‘accident’ could occur which could leave the king dead. I am very confused and I need thou’s help to help me fulfill my dream. As you can see, with the up most importance, you shall not breathe a word of this letter to anyone.

From, you know who

Logline

Through a terrible tragedy, Pi is separated from his family through a journey to Canada,becomes shipwrecked, and his only companion is Richard Parker, the tiger fighting for survival and searching for the right religion.

Review

The adventure starts in Pondicherry, India where Piscine Patel changes his name to Pi so he can avoid being bullied by his peers. His family owns a zoo however the business is failing this is why the Patel family decide to move to Canada.  On the zoo Pi encounters Richard Parker, the tiger. Then the ship that the Patels were on, started to sink and sadly only Pi survived the tragedy. Pi survives by jumping into a small boat with three different animals, a tiger, a hyena and a orangutan. After a few days on the boat, Pi and the animals become hungry and the hyena kills and eats the orangutan. Pi becomes distressed and Richard Parker eats the hyena. Richard Parker and Pi build up a relationship when they are shipwrecked. They go on an unforgettable journey that tests Pi’s faith and even the viewers faith and beliefs.

Ang Lee includes many different religions and beliefs. Pi’s father acts, behaves and talks like an atheist and contradicts Pi from even having faith in a religion. However his mother is more opened minded and tries to reason with his father. God and science are the two main beliefs in Life Of Pi. It is unknown if Ang Lee uses Life Of Pi to send a message about religions and faith but they sure do add depth to Life Of Pi. This creates question that are not answered specifically in Life Of Pi. He is the god of Life Of Pi universe, always in control.

Life Of Pi is visually very attractive to the eye, in 3D or 2D. Seem less transitions and perfect mirror images creates such an atmosphere that the viewer can believe that they can touch or smell the salty sea water.

5 out of 5 fothe movie Life Of Pi