Modern American Themes: “Why Don’t You Look Where You’re Going?” due Thursday, February 11
The original story, “Why Don’t You Look Where You’re
Going?”, was written in the 1950s, a
relatively peaceful time in world history and an era in American history during
which there was much “smooth sailing.” At least America appeared that way, on
the surface. Consider that a major concern of Fifties society was conformity,
as represented by the story you’ve just read. For most post WW II Americans,
there was no reason to question Society. Everyone wanted to belong. There weren’t too many concerns (yet) with
technology, race relations, gender issues, immigrants, the handicapped, ecology
and global warming, proper nutrition, college debt, mutant viruses like Zika,
etc. In case you haven’t noticed, these are topics of your class’s article
reports—topics that are very important today.
So here’s your assignment. You are going to write a societal
allegory—you may write the 2016 version “Why Don’t You Look Where You’re
Going?” (option 1) or you may create
something entirely new (option 2). I’m not asking for a full story, but a story
outline of sorts that will detail your writing plans.
OPTION 1--You may keep the OCEAN LINER AS SOCIETY symbol
smoothly moving along in the sea. However, let’s update the story by creating a
new adversary for the ship. That new adversary will represent a current major
issue for the 2000s, issues like the ones in your article reports.The new adversary “could be” in his/her own boat, but it
doesn’t have to be. It could be an environmental force (like the Flying Fish),
a person or group of persons on the ocean liner, another boat that rivals the
size of Society, a group of smaller
boats, or anything else that will best express something that modern Society
has to deal with. There are more
formidable problems that Society faces today, so it would be more appropriate
to have Society in conflict with something other than a man in a tiny sailboat.
I don’t want to limit your creativity, but I do want you to
include at least some essential elements to your story. So please use the OCEAN
LINER to represent Society, but feel free to change the liner’s color, structure,
size, speed, crew, etc. in any way to fit your story’s purpose. Also, you
should include at least SIX CHARACTERS in your story. You can identify your characters as the
original story does, by gender, size, shape, color, what they wear, etc., or
you can give them appropriate names. That’s up to you.
Make sure that your reader can understand the CONFLICT of
your story. Express some EVENTS that escalate the conflict to its climax and
conclusion to reveal your theme. Maybe even include some brief DIALOGUE that
reveals your theme, as the author of “Why?” did when the man in the sailboat
screamed to the people on the ship, “Why don’t you look where you’re going?”
His cry is both a cry of anger at the near accident and an admonishment of
those who don’t really care where Society is taking them.
OPTION 2—Using different symbols, write a societal allegory
that deals with a major modern issue. So
SET your story elsewhere—maybe in a school, at a local mall, at a polling
place, etc. Include CHARACTERS and a CONFLICT
that escalates to a CLIMAX and RESOLUTION that says something about the modern
world. Maybe include important DIALOGUE. This option offers you more creative license,
so I won’t burden you with any more
rules.
To repeat, I am not asking you to write an entire story.
Instead, I’d like you to write a 250+ word blog that describes your ideas for a
new story. Post before Thursday's class.
posted by JTF @ 4:43 PM
22 comments
22 Comments:
For my version of “Why Don’t You Look Where You’re Going?” I am going to keep the setting on an ocean liner. That symbolizes society. The boat is going to be red, white, and blue. It is fast and narrow in size. On the boat everyone is going to have some sort of iPhone with social media. There are going to be TV’s and computers everywhere. The crew will be walking around telling people to experience the world around them. On the TVs there will be videos of the ocean and sky. Lucy is tall, well groomed teenager, has brown hair, and a bored expression. She sits with her teenage friend Emily, and complains how there is no excitement on the boat with her phone in hand. Out in the waters there is an abundance of sea life, dolphins and colored fish that no one notices. Emily has blonde hair and is half paying attention to Lucy. The other half of her attention is on a social media app on her phone. Daniel is a crewman who can’t stop staring out towards the ocean, at the sea life. He yells for a mother of two toddlers to come look. He wants them to go to the game room or swim in the pool. The mother will ignore him and say she is having personal family time with her kids. She’ll give them ipads with games while she reads her kindle. A huge storm or hurricane of sorts will attack the ship causing it to lose power. Everyone on board is frantic, his or her technological devices are running out of power. People are in chaos. Children start crying, teenagers start to complain, the parents are trying to decide how and who gets to use the remaining power of the technological devices. The crewmen are trying to fix a backup generator. People are in such frenzy that they don’t even notice that the storm passed and a beautiful sunset (details of color would be provided in a story) has been cast upon them. Daniel will shout, “Look up!” The people will look at the sky and be silenced as the boat continues to ride with the waves.
Option One: The Ocean Liner is still society, with mostly the same structure as the one that was written in the story; however, the first and second deck has less people in them, while the third deck seems to be growing. On the fourth deck, there is still a handsome blond man, and a square, unladylike lady. Joining them are the ugly fashionista, the timid trendsetter, the charismatic nihilist, and the snub nosed photographer.. The cruise ship continues in the original direction, but occasionally the crew or captain may adjust the degree at which it goes. The characters on the fourth deck see what appears to be a shipwreck; there are lifeboats heavy with survivors, as well as individuals floating on driftwood or in personal life preservers. The crew goes out of its way to help take in the survivors, and they are all put in the third deck. The characters all interview some survivors to find out what happened and who they were, and the survivors are generally appreciative and honest people. Some of them state that the cause of the shipwreck was from an outside force, while some of the survivors say that it was an engine destruction. As the ocean liner continues, there are more and more shipwrecked survivors. The original inhabitants are getting annoyed and angry at the overcrowding of the third deck, while the first deck is nearly empty. The crew asks the characters what they feel they should do with the survivors, with some of them noting the differences between groups of survivors. Some survivors that came from the lifeboats seem to be perfectly fine; there are no signs of fatigue or anguish that would usually be seen from someone who had recently escaped from a life-threatening situation.
On the ocean liner are all of the conservatives in society. These passengers have very traditional values and beliefs. They do not believe in newer policies or progressive ideas. Some people aboard this ship would be some of the Republican candidates running for president in the 2016 election and their supporters. Candidates include Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich. Some of their supporters include the upper class who support individual accomplishments and personal responsibility.
In the ocean surrounding the liner is a smaller, but still pretty large, boat. Passengers on here include the liberals of society. These people aim for change and reform. Some issues include women’s rights, LGBT rights, and the gap between classes in society. This boat has two stories, one led by Bernie Sanders and the other by Hillary Clinton. Although the overall purpose of this boat is to strive for the equality of all people, the supporters of Sanders and Clinton differ slightly. Mainly younger passengers are on Sanders’ deck, whereas mainly older passengers reside on Clinton’s.
The big ocean liner is trying to get to its destination, which is presidency, in one smooth sail; however, the smaller boat is in its way. The passengers aboard the liner can hear loud chants coming from the boat about all of these issues today, some including abortion rights and same-sex marriage. The passengers among the liner hear what they have to say but continue going about their own business, knowing that their traditional policies will get America where it needs to be.
My societal allegory takes place on a white ocean liner. Everyone usually remains on the top deck because the first deck is made of suites and dining rooms, the second is reserved for the kitchens and poorer class and the help stays on the lowest deck. The old woman with the beaded pearls always seems to wear a fur coat even when the temperature reaches scorching degrees. The young girl with the perfect blonde curls frolics around the boat without a care in the world. The aspiring journalist stays hidden for most of the day and talks to the help very often. The Captain is always interacting with the rich folk on the boat and has a drinking problem. The cabin boy finds trouble very easily but is never blamed for anything. The black servant never speaks unless spoken to and is told to never look the passengers in the eyes.
While everyone is busy gossiping about others, the cabin boy spots the young girl with the perfect blonde curls. He walks over to talk to her but he is interrupted by the black servant. The black servant is already talking to her. The cabin boy becomes enraged that the servant would be speaking to her or even anyone for that matter. He sees the captain drinking at a table with the old woman with the beaded pearls and sneaks off into the control room. Moments later, sounds start alarming and signals are flashing overhead. The captain rushes in to find that someone had veered the ship off course. He runs out, points to the servant and begins reprimanding him for being inside the upper deck without permission and for entering the control room. Before he can answer, the captain grabs him by the arm and throws him inside one of the lifeboats and begins lowering it. Soon after, the lifeboat touches the water and the captain releases the ropes. The captain strolls back to his seat with the old woman with the beaded pearls and invites the young girl with the perfect blonde curls to join them. Having seen everything that happened, the journalist approaches the captain and tells him what she saw. He thanks her for the information and takes another sip from his glass before continuing his conversation.
To go along with the ocean liner as a society idea, I’d have it up against a large damaged boat, one that represents global warming and environment change. The crew of the damaged boat would represent advocates of global warming; having them running around the ship, frantically trying to fix it as it sinks. The passengers of the original ship, another character in itself, are like the citizens of today; they are affected by this large ship in the way but are not helping to fix the problem and remain on the original ship. The third character is a short man with dark brown hair and glasses, who is speculating on whether or not the ship going down would affect their ship or not, representing the scientists of today studying global warming. The stern captain (or the fourth character), is set in his ways and believes that the ship doesn’t pose a problem, representing the government officials that shy away or even downright deny global warming. Alongside the damaged boat is another boat. The co captain sees this boat (a character representing the government officials that recognize global warming) and notices that it is attacking the damaged ship, causing more harm to it (the small boat represents big industry countries that pollute the air with factories). The co captain sees this and tells the passengers of the boat, some of which who start getting on life boats and going to help the damaged ship, with others even moving towards the boat doing the damage to try and stop it. The captain sees this and realizes the danger they’re in (our world today finally recognizing the affects of global warming) and plots course to turn away from the damaged boat, representing our new found efforts to turn away from non-belief and turn away from damaging our world.
Option 2:
There is this huge, winding staircase. There are people on various steps. At the top of the stairs beholds a life of wealth and where no one is seen to be worrisome. At the bottom of the stairs, the lighting is dark, the wallpaper clearly ripped out from the wall, and there is this retched smell. Gradually, the darkness gets lighter, the wallpaper becomes more beautiful, and the smell of flowers become more prominent. The people at the bottom of the stairs look up, some are filled with excitement and courage while the others complain about the long journey and effort needed to make it to the top. The complainers state that it is unfair that the people at the top of the stairs have life so easy and do not need to work anymore. However, these people at the bottom do not realize that they, themselves, had to climb the same exact stairs to get to where they are now. Some people who are found halfway up the stairs are complacent on their location and do not seem interested in climbing up the stairs anymore. There are people who are disabled or somehow unable to make it to the top or even climb up some stairs. Those people are being helped by those who have already climbed up the stairs and are willing to climb them again just for the sake of the people who cannot. On the other hand, there are those who find a way to cheat their way to the glorious top of the stairs. This could be accomplished either by paying someone help them get to the top or by simply riding the elevator.
Option Two:
A student went to a four year college to study pre-med. From there, he continued his education at medical school. After 8 years, the student has finally graduated but is in $166,750 debt. He has a plan to pay it off over 30 years for a total cost of $419,738. This character will be described as the intelligent young man.
Another student did not go to college. Instead, he stuck with his high school part-time job. Because he no longer had to split his time between work and school, he now works full time. Although he is just a mediocre worker, he makes enough money to pay for his rent, car payments, and meals. Because he did not go to college he has no debt to pay off. This character will be described as the scrawny worker.
The story will mainly take place in a grocery store in the year 2020, but will also be set at each character’s home for short segments.
The intelligent young man still cannot find a job nine months after graduation. He lives in his parents’ basement and sulks around, robotically repeating to everyone he sees that he went to college for 8 years. He watches TV all day and complains on facebook about his life. He has payments due in order to stay on track to pay off his debt, but no earnings to pay it off with.
The scrawny worker is still working 9-5 at a local grocery store making a decent salary. He has enough money to pay his rent while having a little extra to splurge on a new car. Months pass and the intelligent young man still cannot find a job relating to his studies. He eventually gets a hopefully temporary job as a cashier at the same grocery store as the scrawny worker. He is making a small amount which is just enough to pay his rent, but not enough to pay his college payments, so his debt is building up. He sets his 8 year degree next to the checkout screen and wears his graduation cap to work. The two men compete to be the better employee but the scrawny worker who has been there for years eventually wins when he gets a promotion at work With this promotion comes extra money which he uses for a bigger house. Meanwhile, the intelligent young man is still living in his parents basement even though they beg him to move out.
This mocks how college tuition is rising while earnings out of college are dropping. It also will depict what can happen if the debt to income ratio does not decrease.
Option 2: My setting is a large compound in the desert. It contains many people, and it represents society. The majority of people reside in the courtyard in tents. In the center of the encampment is a large building, with many amenities and luxuries. However, only a few people live in this building. One of the people that lives in the building is the old-fashioned man, who wears a suit and a monocle. In the yard there is the old, beaten-down man, and the young indignant lady. There are also two young, strong, stupid men living in the courtyard. Those in the yard wear torn, dirty clothing and are haggard-looking and worn. Those in the building are pale and have delicate skin and features. They wear suits and dresses and speak in lengthy, eloquent sentences.The premise is that those in the courtyard do the work to maintain the camp and gather food and generally produce everything that everyone in the society needs. Every day, the old-fashioned man comes and takes whatever he wants, leaving very little for the majority of people. The conflict is when the indignant lady begins to shout to her fellows in the courtyard, urging them to see how unfair this system is. The old, beaten-down man tells her that this is best for everyone, but she is not convinced. The story ends when the old-fashioned man silently walks out, and signals to the younger, strong, stupid men in the courtyard, and they pick her up by her arms and take her to the fence surrounding the compound and leave her outside, locking the gate behind her. The old-fashioned man silently returns to his building, and life goes on as usual. This represents the disproportionately wealthy members of society, and how they can convince the more uneducated members of the public that it is their right or privilege to have what they want, while others go without, and how they wield power over others, convincing the stupid men that it is the young lady's fault that she was abandoned. This represents the massive inequality in modern society.
Option 2
An unnamed man and an unnamed woman work in a towering office building that casts a great shadow upon the surrounding buildings. They were on the top floor, Floor 80, and they were leaving for the day. They got into the elevator with several other people. The elevator starts to go down.
At floor 70, a well-dressed man with an English accent and eloquence in speech decides to step out. The man and woman look out and see several other well-dressed people talking. They hear about the creation of new businesses. They look around and see that the lesser-achieving workers are underneath the ones talking about business; they are doing the laborious office work that the well-dressed people did not want to do.
The elevator door closes, and then they arrive at floor 60. A very industrious man walks out of the elevator as the door opens. Once again, the man and woman look out and see that more businessmen have become CEOs of their own companies. Soon after, a rather rowdy CEO and a hard-headed CEO begin to argue about their policies. The elevator door closes as the CEOs form two sides and begin to throw office supplies.
The elevator stops at floor 50, and a very suave man who dresses in very clean clothing steps out. The man and woman see a handful of CEOs, counting countless stacks of money. A few secretaries are seen signing many stacks of papers. The floor was filled by a small group of powerful people.
At floor 40, a distraught business man walks out. In front of him are several depressed businessmen, tears streaming down their faces, banging their fists against the walls. A huge monitor is on the wall, showing a car crashing into a bank. The money was flying all over the place, uncontrolled. Chaos ensued.
The elevator then arrives at floor 30. A very aggressive man walks out, then he punches a foreign man, much to the great surprise of the remaining people in the elevator. As the foreign man got back up, several other people of the same ethnic origin came to his aid, and a fight ensued. “Wow, each floor is more chaotic than the last,” the unnamed man mused. The elevator door closes as a burlesque man shatters two important computers used by the original foreign man.
At floor 20, a very young man steps out. The man and woman watch as he goes onto a computer, loading up websites that have nothing to do with the work he had to do. Several other young adults are doing the same thing, working on the internet, doing nothing with their lives. They start to argue over a viewpoint someone tried to offer. The whole room dissolves into chaos as everyone argues and tries to shut each other down.
At floor 10, the man and woman are the only ones left in the elevator. However, when they look out, they see a blazing inferno. The whole room is ablaze; there is no one left on the floor. The man and woman scream in terror as the fire spreads rapidly. The fire then begins to spread to the floors above. The man and woman cry in silence as the flames destroy the building.
The elevator then arrives at the ground floor. No one is left. As the elevator descended, the flames spread to a boiler room. The building collapsed on itself. The doors open and reveal the charred remains of the upper levels of the building. The building is destroyed.
This is a social allegory. The building represents civilization as a whole. The elevator represents humanity. Each floor represents a time period in the world. As the elevator goes down, the floors follow major events and time periods in the history of the world. The elevator is constantly going down, representing the potential downfall of civilization due to the choices made by society today. The inferno represents the chaos created by humanity, such as nuclear warfare, or the destruction of the environment. As the chaos grows, it eventually becomes powerful enough to erase everything humanity has achieved up to this point. If civilization continues to fight and destroy everything around it, it will eventually reach its demise and lose everything it has created.
Option One: As the ocean liner sailed across the sea smoothly, but there was more to the then what meets the eye. The corruption that took place on the lower unseen levels was horrendous. Right below the third deck was the semi poor people, who were dressed in shabby clothes, and had barely enough food to feed themselves. The ship staff brought to those individuals whatever leftovers the upper deck had, and occasionally they would bring old clothing that the others did not want. The children on this level were ambitious. They heard talk about the lower level and they strived to reach it, they saw how their parents struggled and never wanted to live a life like that. Underneath the third deck was even worse, the poverty stricken. Food came scarcely, and clean water was a luxury. Despite the hardships these families faced, the love that filled the air on that lower deck was unbelievable. The parents could not give their children food, or nice clothing, but they could give them love. The parents never ignored their kids, like those on the top deck, instead they encouraged their imagination! Tales of life off the ocean liner were told and old wise tales about those who lived on rafts were always floating around on the deck. On the bottom floor was something no one would ever expect. It was a jail, for those who did not fit in with the three other decks. People who would try to escape the ocean liner, but were caught and immediately placed on that bottom deck. They were being brain washed into believing that life on the ocean liner was the only way to live, and that the story of the “why don't you look where you're going man” was just a myth. No one survives when they get off the ocean liner. The ocean liner is the only way to live.
The setting of my story is in the mall on Black Friday. The mall sounds of the hustle and bustle of parents and teens trying to get the biggest “bang for their buck” shopping sales. The stores are crowded and hectic, filled with parents trying to satisfy their children’s wishes for Christmas.
In the mall walking down the aisles are a few characters. There is a chubby mom with short, frizzy gray hair, who has bags under her eyes because she is tired of trying to satisfy bratty children. There is a teenage girl who is tall and thin, and only cares about getting items for herself. She is dressed in Ralph Lauren, and carries a Louie Vuitton purse. There is another mom who is enjoying the day by leisurely perusing through aisles, spending careful time on her decisions of what to get her children, since they don’t need many items. There are also children, running through the mall, begging their parents for “things” they want that their friends don’t have. There is a teenager with his friend, shopping in the candle store for a good deal on a nice candle for his grandmother, since he doesn’t have much money.
The conflict in the story is that the characters who are focused on the amount of things they buy are getting frustrated with the laid back shoppers because they are moving so slow. However, the laid back shoppers are enjoying their day more because they aren’t chaotic and running around to buy the most presents. The climax is when the hustling shoppers begin to yell at the laid back shoppers for being so slow, and the resolution is when the laid back shoppers respond that they didn’t mean to interrupt anyone.
The important dialogue in the story is when the shoppers, who focused on the amount of gifts as opposed to the quality of what they bought, screamed at the shoppers who cared about how meaningful their gifts were for moving at such a slow pace through the mall. Along with that goes the apology from the laid back shoppers, saying they didn’t mean to interrupt.
This story highlights the materialistic attitude of most people in society. However, the more things a person has doesn’t mean they are happy. The people rushing through the store and buying all of the gifts are miserable. The people who are taking their time choosing gifts and being thoughtful about their choices are the ones enjoying their time. For the receivers of the gifts, it will mean more to those who get less because there are less gifts to focus on whereas those who receive a lot of gifts will be distracted and want more gifts.
The blue-jeaned man with the mustache was on the upper deck complaining about the refugees emptying out the buffet food. He was demanding that the refugees walk the blank and are excommunicated from the ocean liner. People were hooting and hollering for the end of the refugees. The next day the ocean liner passed a small little life raft with three refugees. However, the captain of the boat passed over them and dared not to look back. The man dressed in khakis was then campaigning on the upper deck about how the ocean liner should have rescued the refugees. The blue-jeaned man argued back that the refugees do nothing but take all the food and use all the boats commodities even though they never paid for their boarding passes. He declares that they do not even deserve to be on the boat. Some people cheer and some people boo. The man in the khakis argues that it is not right to look the other way and act like we don’t see the refugees whom are barely surviving. The man in the khakis cries that we must save the refugees even if we do not want to because it is the right thing to do. Some people cheer and boo. The next day, once again, a man in a suit and tie is demanding that all refugees walk the plank and dive back into the abyss where they came from. The man in the khakis tries to argue, but the suit rudely tells him to shut up. The suit moves on to say that including the deportment of all refugees from the ship, all refugees must never be rescued again no matter what. The crowd was drawn to this man’s radical demands and cheered for him. The next day, another refugee boat was passed. The man in the khakis secretly helped the refugees get on and hid them in his quarters. Later, the maid walked into his room and discovered the man in the khaki’s little secret. He was brought before the suit and sentenced to walk the plank. As he walked onto the edge of the plank, je turned and screamed so all of the ocean liner, “Remember how we got here!” All that was heard after that was the splash of water. (spoooosh).
P.S. its about immigration on the U.S.
Option #1
The ocean liner is still representing society, but the colors of the ship are now stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. This represents the equality of all sexualities and gender preferences. There are flags located all over the ship, each one a solid color. These flags correspond to the ship’s stripes, each flag representing something different. The red flag symbolizes life, orange symbolizes healing, yellow symbolizes sunlight, green symbolizes nature, blue symbolizes harmony, and purple symbolizes spirit. Each flag is raised by a crew member when a different island is reached, promoting the appreciation of that specific symbol. Whoever best practices and shows appreciation for that symbol wins the flag. Whoever wins the flag is put into a raffle and will win an unknown prize. For example, when the liner stops at St.John, the yellow flag will be raised. This then challenges the people on the ship to show their love for sunlight, maybe by laying out and tanning for a few hours. The tannest and darkest lady Laverne then receives the yellow flag and her name is put into the raffle. A short woman from Jersey named Nicole then argues that she is tanner than Laverne, and starts fighting with the crew about who deserves the flag. The crew then takes a vote on who they think best exemplifies sunlight. Ellen, the crew-cut masculine blonde votes for Laverne. Neil, a feminine blond, average height man, votes for Nicole. Caitlyn, a broad-shouldered, big-chested woman votes for Laverne because “she’s like my twin!”. The last crew member Michael Kors, a fashionable fabulous man then votes for Laverne, declaring Laverne the winner of the yellow flag. This happens for every 6 islands visited, with the crew being the deciding factors should there be competition.
Option 1: My Ocean liner represents society, but the ship has three very distinct levels. Each level has very different types of people. The lowest level, and the biggest, holds the most people, but they are donned in shoddy clothing. They have low levels of food, sharing most of it and have little commodities from the ship. On this level, a young boy is highlighted who is very hungry and seems quite uneducated. On the second level, moderate in size, are less people. These people wear modest clothing and have enough food to enjoy their stay on the ship. These people seem content with their stay. On this level is a middle aged woman with kids who are playing around her having fun. However, she worries a little if they have enough food or entertainment options. On the top level, the smallest, are the least amount of people. This group is donned in fancy clothing as they have buffets of gourmet food all over. They have the nicest pool on this deck and the nicest furniture. However, on this deck there is a surplus of food and drinks and lounge area for the guests. On this deck is an older man in a suit, smoking a cigar. He is stuffed from all of his food and watches down upon the lower decks. Off a distance from the ship is another small boat that is one big flat deck. This boat carries people who all are dressed the same and are sharing the same food. They are only referred to collectively. In this story, the main ship represents today’s society, with distinct classes. The poorer lower class, the average middle class, and the rich upper class. Each have distinct qualities and styles. The passing ship is a ship of uniform individuals, much like a socialist society. This little story represents the pressing of a socialist society on a current, free market society with distinct classes.
The ocean liner is still going to symbolize the present-day society of America. The passengers on the liner represent people who will help resolve the issue that is going on. The liner is white as it cruises through the ocean. The liner suddenly is heading toward a battle between two medium sized boats. There is confusion among the passengers on the liner. A young man with the slicked back black hair uses his high definition camera to zoom in on the action. Some people are intrigued into what he is looking at while the other passengers on the liner are playing on their smartphones, giving no care about what they are heading towards. Then comes along an intelligent African-American man. He recognizes exactly what is going on in the ocean ahead. “I know what’s going on. The blue boat is a bunch of policemen and government officials. The people in the black boat are a bunch of men (African-American) who have probably been brutally harmed by the police. Or my guess is they are not being treated fairly by government.” Once this was said, a fat man misinterpreted what the intelligent man said. The fat man began telling everyone on the liner that the police on one boat are shooting at the black men on the other boat. This was completely false. It was only an argument. Now the people move their intention away from the young man and towards the African-American men. The liner is rapidly moving closer to the boats. It soon passes right in the middle of both boats. There is an argument between African-American men and policemen about unnecessary violence and brutality. It is a racial argument. The African-American men are claiming the police force singles them and tries to arrest, hurt, or kill them. The police are arguing they are just doing what’s best for society. They are trying to get rid of crime in society. A tall, muscular man from the police boat shouted out, “Those men threatened to kill me so I just did my job.” The men on black boat begin screaming at the liner saying, “Help us! These cops are trying to harm us for no reason.” Then one tall African-American man wearing a baseball cap stands on the edge of the boat and says, “I got shot and killed by a cop for rushing my wife to the hospital because she was giving birth.” When he said this it caught the attention of the people of the liner. Another shorter, stockier man said, “All they did to Rodney King and Freddie Gray. How can they be innocent?” Both boats drifted away. The black boat read: guilty until proven innocent. The blue boat read: innocent until proven guilty. Basically the people on the liner represent a jury. They need to decide which side they would support. The conflict is whether the people on the liner will fight for the rights of their own people (African-American men) or will they just let the government and police forces handle it.
The ocean liner is still going to symbolize the present-day society of America. The passengers on the liner represent people who will help resolve the issue that is going on. The liner is white as it cruises through the ocean. The liner suddenly is heading toward a battle between two medium sized boats. There is confusion among the passengers on the liner. A young man with the slicked back black hair uses his high definition camera to zoom in on the action. Some people are intrigued into what he is looking at while the other passengers on the liner are playing on their smartphones, giving no care about what they are heading towards. Then comes along an intelligent African-American man. He recognizes exactly what is going on in the ocean ahead. “I know what’s going on. The blue boat is a bunch of policemen and government officials. The people in the black boat are a bunch of men (African-American) who have probably been brutally harmed by the police. Or my guess is they are not being treated fairly by government.” Once this was said, a fat man misinterpreted what the intelligent man said. The fat man began telling everyone on the liner that the police on one boat are shooting at the black men on the other boat. This was completely false. It was only an argument. Now the people move their intention away from the young man and towards the African-American men. The liner is rapidly moving closer to the boats. It soon passes right in the middle of both boats. There is an argument between African-American men and policemen about unnecessary violence and brutality. It is a racial argument. The African-American men are claiming the police force singles them and tries to arrest, hurt, or kill them. The police are arguing they are just doing what’s best for society. They are trying to get rid of crime in society. A tall, muscular man from the police boat shouted out, “Those men threatened to kill me so I just did my job.” The men on black boat begin screaming at the liner saying, “Help us! These cops are trying to harm us for no reason.” Then one tall African-American man wearing a baseball cap stands on the edge of the boat and says, “I got shot and killed by a cop for rushing my wife to the hospital because she was giving birth.” When he said this it caught the attention of the people of the liner. Another shorter, stockier man said, “All they did to Rodney King and Freddie Gray. How can they be innocent?” Both boats drifted away. The black boat read: guilty until proven innocent. The blue boat read: innocent until proven guilty. Basically the people on the liner represent a jury. They need to decide which side they would support. The conflict is whether the people on the liner will fight for the rights of their own people (African-American men) or will they just let the government and police forces handle it.
dMy setting takes place on a tight bend in a never ending road. At the very beginning of the road lies the people in the society who do not believe in dieting or focusing on the nutrition in their food intake. Many people hardly make it to the top of the windy road in this generation. These people stuck at the bottom are distracted by their traditional modern processed foods high in sugars and oils. They’re stuck at the bottom and their health problems are stopping them from being able to get to where they want to be. Once a person falls back to the bottom of the road, all they want to do is reach the top and see what it is like. However, they are constantly distracted by what looks so good on the outside, yet isn’t so pretty on the inside. Only at the top, the distractions become less, the energy increases, and the mental and physical health is boosted. At the top, the people are well rested and the chance of getting cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or have a heart attack is much less. The top of the windy road is filled with different personalities and body types, no one is equal and there is no “one size fits all”. This generation seems to think that. The people at the bottom are filled with moodiness. They aren't necessarily what they eat, however, they definitely do feel what they eat. In order to get to the top, and be and feel the best they can, the people at the bottom need motivation and courage. These people at the bottom may feel tired, stressed, and cranky. Not because they are at the bottom, but because they lost all hope and stimulation to a healthy and nutritional lifestyle.
My story takes place on a giant white ocean liner. The luxury liner represents the upper class and it is cruising off the coast of West Africa, heading down towards South Africa. At six p.m. on the middle deck, everyone feasts on the ornate outdoor tables. A young wandering girl with short hair spots a bunch of small, dark objects in the far ocean distance. She tells her mother, but she is completely ignored, so she wanders back to the edge of the deck. She squints as the ocean begins to swallow the blinding sun, only to see the objects getting noticeably closer. Eager to share her discovery, the wandering girl with the short hair begins to tell a husky man with a thick beard about it. The war veteran responds quickly and looks over out into the deep blue ocean. He represents the skeptics of society who fail to recognize common viewpoints. He claims the objects are a bunch of skiffs with dark people aboard them, armed with dangerous weapons. He frantically shouts his claim to everyone on the deck, warning them of the impending danger. Immediately, people start to get up from their tables to see what the big deal is. A young stout boy claims it’s just a bunch of fisherman looking to make a catch. As the objects get closer and closer, people see that they are indeed boats, boats loaded to maximum capacity with ridiculously frail young African children. All of the children aboard the small boats begin to yell chaotically, but nobody aboard the liner has any interest in hearing what they have to say. After a crewmember with a long grey mustache comes out to calm the passengers, most of them return to their meals. A punk teenaged boy with jeans halfway down his legs leans over the railing and cups his ears towards the ocean. He listens as one particularly tall African boy stands up and speaks for the others. The tall African boy cries out, “Please have we some food? Foooooood, please? We are very hungry.” The punk teenaged boy listens over and over again. “These people are starving, look at them,” he says as he turns around towards all of the other passengers on the deck. The passengers pretend like they don’t hear a thing. Nearby, an overweight square lady in her sixties comes outside with a plate full of leftover food and dumps it in the trash. “Don’t pay attention to those worthless scavengers,” she says arrogantly. “Not our job to feed them.” The punk teenaged boy goes on stating facts regarding the extremity of child hunger and malnourishment in Africa. He begins bagging up the food on his plate, and he tosses it overboard directly to the children on the boats. People are shocked and get up to see what he is doing. The overweight square lady notices how grateful and happy the children on the boats are once they got their hands on the smallest bit of food. Moved by their priceless smiles, she has a change of heart and partakes in throwing her food overboard to the starving children. In no time, everybody on board the deck participates in tossing their extra food overboard. The white cruise ship fades under the sunset as small, valuable objects fall from its sides down towards the water. The punk teenaged boy sighs in relief knowing that for at least one more night, the children aboard the small boats can sleep on a full stomach.
My story will take place on the top floor on a sainted leviathan ocean liner. The ocean liner’s top floor consists of children and some parents to look after them. All of the kids on the top floor are about ten to fourteen years old. Some of the kids are jocks who play football, basketball, and baseball at school. Other kids are really smart who only played a sport or two as young boys. Some people are in the band at school and have not played organized sports before. The only girl playing with the group of guys is a bit stocky but knows how to play various sports. One adult wearing khakis and a Polo quarter zip is all about being equal while the other adult is wearing running shoes and shorts and believes that things should not always be equal.
The kids get bored sitting around so they decide to play a game of pickup basketball. They try to pick teams with two jocks being captains. The rest of the jocks get picked and then the rest of the kids start getting put on either team one or team two. Before the teams could get picked the adult wearing khakis steps in to stop everything. “The teams should be picked out of a hat.” he says. Suggesting that people will be hurt if they are picked toward the end. The other adult bites his tongue and remains silent. Finally the game begins with the teams set “as even as possible.” The jocks on both teams take over and seldomly pass the ball to the others. At the end of the game team one wins by twenty points and celebrates happily. Here comes the khakis and Polo sweater telling team one to stop celebrating so much because everyone was a winner.
I picked the social allegory of “everyone gets a trophy.” I picked this because I think it is an issue that is relevant with today’s young people. I don’t believe that everyone can be a winner. Playing sports has taught me that it takes everything you have to be winner. Losing has also taught me to work harder to win. I also believe that we should be happy when we truly win something because of the great effort we put into that event. If we teach the young people in our society that they are all winners, how are they going to react in the real world when something doesn’t go their way? They may not know how to handle themselves or know how to bounce back if they never had to as a kid. Struggling through adversity or learning to get over a loss makes us stronger people and I believe that is what we should be teaching our young people instead of “everyone gets a trophy.”
Since the incident with the Flying Dutchman, the few boats that have passed by have lost their wonder. The cruise liner sees the boats pass by fairly frequently, perhaps twice a week. Some sailboats, a couple other cruise liners, even a small yacht that almost overturned named the S.S. LGBT. Since the Flying Dutchman, the cruise ship has nearly tripled her original speed and the indifferent wake that she leaves sinks the smaller boats. In addition, the number of passengers on the ship has grown exponentially. Since the christening, five generations of children have lived and grown up on the cruise ship. Each generation bringing new technology with them and the latest is the worst yet. People are confined to their rooms, only stirring to eat and use the restroom, just for the privilege of using a cell phone. When a ship does turn up on the horizon, no one is there to greet it. Some lucky person might see it out of a porthole and take a picture and then send that picture to everyone they know. The picture, however is drowned in cute pictures of cats and texts about what they’re doing tomorrow. The liner has become a ghost ship with the passengers being prisoners and the only ones that do walk the deck are indeed ghosts. Dead generations walk the deck and peer toward the sea and look lifelessly upon the sailboats, cruise liners, and a single yacht. Not a word is shared, and the people looking at the yacht from their boats are the only ones aware of its state of disarray. The ship has been run into the ground. Its brass railings are tarnished and covered in salt deposits. The entire deck in fact has an inch layer of damp salt. Deck chairs are falling apart and have been thrown about.
The growing population represents overcrowding of the United States.
The cruise liner has picked up speed to show the development of humanity and the lessening of attention to outside matters. We encounter more, but we see less as we go faster (Isolationism but more personally than nationally)
Ghosts represent the missed opportunity of paying attention to actual events instead of their own little world.
Characters: Flying Dutchman (in this case: Old problems don’t concern the new generation), S.S. LGBT (Lesbian and Gay movement), Lucky person (somewhat aware of outside), Ghosts, Sailboats (third world), Other cruise liners (First world countries)
The tall blonde girl with the beautiful face lead the group down the halls of the school hallways.
"Hello," the short boy with the glasses said from along the hall by himself. The tall blonde girl stuck her nose in the air and everyone surrounding her followed. Everyone tried to become part of the group lead by the popular girl, the tall blonde girl. She could tell everyone what to do.
Even though the school was lead by the administration, she somehow found a way to get them to do as she wished as well. The boy with the short glasses tried to be acknowledged by the tall blonde girl, but no matter what he did or said the tall blonde girl and all of her group towered over him and either ignored him or didn't notice him.
A tall red headed girl with glasses and wrinkles on her forehead from many hours of frustrated expression. She grabbed the short boy by the arm.
"You don't have to be like them," she said sternly and she pulled him away. He walked away with her and watched as they walked away from the tall members of the beautiful blonde girl's group. He opened his locker and pieces of paper fell out into the hallway, never to be seen again. As he shut his locker, he watched the group of tall members walk towards him and he saw more and more people join them until the group took up the entire hallway. Teachers and administration ignored the group and focused on yelling at the outliers sprawled behind them. He sat on the ground and watched the scene unfold in front of him, the group growing larger and larger and less and less outliers along the sides
For my adaptation of “Why Don’t You Look Where You’re Going?” the setting is going to remain the same and take place on the ocean liner. Only difference in my story is that this ocean liner is ridiculously enormous and moves incredibly fast. This stays traditional as a symbol of our society; very big and always running non-stop as fast as possible. On the boat everyone is going to have some sort of smart phone with social media, and every app that assists them in life. For example, an app that makes things like ordering food easier because you don't even have to talk on the phone or get up from in front of the tv and drive to pick it up. There is going to be every form of the most recent technology for every gadget available on the top deck because they are the ones that can afford such luxuries. As you go down to the second deck the technology is still efficient but it isn't the brand new thing like up top. However, it gets a little worse for those on the third deck because they basically just get the hand-me-downs from the deck two after deck two gets theirs from the top. In my story, there is tax. Everyone has to pay a tax since they live on the ocean liner, even though there isn't really anywhere else for them to go. No one on the ship really knows where this tax goes they just know that they have to put a stipend of what they have earned based upon what they earn and other factors as a result of their life choices. The people on the ship don't know where the money goes after they put it into the Pneumatic tubes, all they know is it goes up to a smaller fourth deck at the very top of the ship. Only an unknown select few are on this fourth deck and there isn't really anything that the people can do about it. A big issue on the ship is what happens with the money they send up to this unknown party on the fourth deck because all they are really told is that it goes to the maintenance of the ship, pays the salaries of those who are employed to keep the ship running, and that it goes into the education of the children on board. The people on the bottom two decks are always complaining that they all should have to pay the same percentage in tax no matter how much money they have which kinda doesn't make sense since the people on the third deck would have to pay much much more than that of the other two simply because they have more. Thats like taking the MVP’s trophy from him/her and melting it down to make participation trophies for those who didn't really earn anything but were on the team just because that MVP had more than the rest. One thing on the ship is consistent no matter what level you live on, everyone is consumed with anything and everything technology. This affects the entire ship because no one has the motivation to make the ship better or make a stand against the unknown party at the top fourth deck because all they care about is the news and entertainment that the fourth deck filters through and allows them to see on the internet or their tv’s. Nearly everyone on the lower two decks has fallen into a rut and has become satisfied with being equal with those around them instead of searching for and developing their individuality into the best that they can be. It does happen, but it is very rare; an individual will rise up from the two lower decks and make it into the third. But, this happens very seldom because most don't really give it the effort it takes or just blame it on what they were born into and they become satisfied with being the same as everyone around them.
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