Student Choice Test

For my student choice test I am going to do and album reveiw on the album by Adele.

Student Authored Song

The truth doesn’t set u free

It makes others watch u more carefully

So be careful

I’m careful

No one will ever see

And you cant deny

its not easier to sheild your eyes

and if they dont see

and you dont see

there is nothing to end you this time

The truth doesn’t set u free

It makes others watch u more carefully

So be careful

I’m careful

No one will ever see

Fiction Story

And it doesn’t matter because I can’t go back now. I would have done everything differently; I never would have said anything. That first time that started everything, laying it all out on you, you taking care of me; it never should have happened. It started everything. Then that other first, it sealed the deal. No going back after that. Everything came back to you, leaned on you, and I couldn’t even stop it. But that whole time you helped me it killed me, it did just as much damage as what came later. But that last time, it was almost the end of me. And I thought it was all you, I thought how and why. I was too stuck, stuck like a zombie, I couldn’t change, I only saw it as your fault, and I was frozen in it until the other side of it broke me.

            I don’t know what happened then, but I was petrified, couldn’t think, couldn’t move. And what you kept saying, BS, I couldn’t even fathom what that meant. I couldn’t understand why or even what; I just knew I couldn’t take it. And I ran, I ran but only in circles. They always came back to you, still angry and confused. And then that. I saw that, and then I saw, even though I couldn’t see through the flood. It killed and broke and tore and I saw. Watched what I did. But what I did was even worse than what I watched. It wasn’t just the one time, it was years of you watching and pleading and fearing, to someone you knew couldn’t listen. And that, that was the third strike that made it so I could never go back.

            And I’ll never be able to go back .That day is now burned in my mind, replaying any time I don’t focus my eyes. Because it’s when everything added up and exploded. When you finally took a stand for yourself, did something based off your own thoughts and not mine, even though it was still to help mine. And I was mad because I didn’t understand, because it was easier than seeing all I did. It was easier than reality.

And it’s supposed to get easier, and I suppose it does, but it’s the longest road I ever been on. I wish I could just forget, forget everything, forget the road I’m walking. Forget I was nothing. Forget being angry and confused. Forget being in anguish. Make it have never happened. And because I put you through it too, you deserve to forget it even more than I do. But now I’m stuck thinking of all I did to you. And every day I look at it again, and see something new, see another way I was wrong. And it doesn’t matter that I can tell myself I was young and irrational, either way I know. I know I was wrong, I know I always looked straight over you, straight to me. It was always me. Always me that was wrong. Because I look back, I see that was your way of trying to hold on to me. I see how scared I caused you to be, as you rightfully were, as I would have been if I was healthy enough to see clearly.

            So even now years later I look back. Even while seeing clearer I’m still stuck agonizing in the past. And wonder where you are. Did I leave as much an effect on you as you did me? I’d like to think so, to think that I was important, that I mattered. But even more I’d like to think not. I don’t want you to dwell on everything I put you through. I want you to forget it, even though I never can as I’m still stuck in it.

And if you ever think of me know that I’m sorry, if you ever think of me push it away and be happy.

Song Lyrics for Fiction Story

Hate Me by Blue October


I have to block out thoughts of you so I don't lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you. Will you never call again?
And will you never say that you love me just to put it in my face?
And will you never try to reach me? It is I that wanted space

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for 3 whole months it's one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won't touch again
In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I'll drive so fucking far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

And with a sad heart I say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes crying and I held your face in my hand
And then I fell down yelling "make it go away!"
Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered "How can you do this to me?"

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

SA #2 "Drop" by Blue October

Dropping from healthy to self-destructive point of view in “Drop” Blue October articulates the desperation formed by fear of having no “way to ease your pain” through subtle hyperbole stretching towards sanity, contrasting drug references, and characterizing and dual symbolism. To find a way to “ease your pain” people will look in all directions, from drugs and self destructive behaviors to therapy and good natured friends. One common misconception is even though it does not fully cure you, simply seeing a “shrink” can make one instantly feel better. Blue October uses hyperbole to mock the idea of a “shrink” fixing everything in saying “tell another shrink the same d*mn thing/ (Listen for the way to ease your pain)”. Also, to demean the help of a good natured friend “Stay cool, everything is going to be OK”, hyperbole is utilized in saying “everything”, because at no point can everything in the world be fine. Through using hyperbole Blue October shows escaping pain is not as simple as some think, making self-destructive behaviors more prominent.

            It is common knowledge that drugs are dangerous, but when they become one’s only outlet the mind twisted what is true. While the speaker is sober they say “it’s just a trip not a way to ease your pain”; thinking healthily they are able to see however appealing that route is to escape pain, it is “not a way” to fix it. Upon becoming high and grasping the superficial fix to pain, trips are compared to “A carnival ride, you’ll trip again”, showing the excitement of the “trip” and how it will pull you in “again”. As the point of view switches from healthy to self-destructive, contrasting both sides of drugs for relief, it shows the weakness people have when it comes to being desperate for relief.

In “Drop” drugs stand as an example for the extents people are willing to go to “ease your pain”. Especially as they are vastly damaging, drugs are not something you can just “decide” to be free of. One’s past will follow them, as “there’s a sweaty man with a bloody sink” “And still the sweaty man is behind the tree”. The “sweaty man” serves as a symbol for the speakers past and addiction, characterizing the speaker. The word “drop” as in the title and throughout the lyrics has a dual meaning depending on the point of view the speaker is in. “Drop” is a symbol for stopping drug use  in “I’m so high, so high so high” “Till you decide to drop again” when the speaker is speaking from a harmful point of view. In “Stay cool, everything is going to be OK” “Until you decide the drop again” when the speaker is in a rational state of mind (point of view) “drop” symbolizes falling back into drugs. While the hyperbole’s cliché misconceptions, contrasting drug references of opposite states of mind, and symbolism creating characterization of the speaker’s decision all apply mainly to drug uses, drug use its’ self is a symbol for the desperate things people to do when they fear being trapped with intense pain, in the song “Drop” by Blue October.


"Drop" by Blue October
I touch the tongue to see
A devil's face in front of me
You blow your nose and cry
The clown demands a sad good-bye
A sad good-bye.

Black below the tree
White horses dead in front of me
A scar below the cheek
There's a sweaty man in a bloody sink.
[Chorus]
It's just a trip not a way to ease your pain
Self help...Tell another shrink the same thing
Stay cool, everything is going to be okay
{ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/b/blue-october-lyrics/drop-lyrics.html }

Until you decide to drop again
Until you decide to drop again

A blue jean girl to be
Sweaty man is behind the trees

The flip side of sanity is the game
Fourteen million miles away from sane
A dark man in the restroom window pane
Whose words just pour out human pain.
[Repeat Chorus]

Now I'm so high, so high.

Paradox SA

One consistent question is how much is too much. The amount that one has (financially, environmentally, socially, etc.) is relative, always being compared to someone else. Wanting just one single thing when anything in the world is possible doesn’t seem like much to ask. But, when that one single thing that you want completely yours is another person is becomes a much more complex wish. Switching between theoretical and first person language in “I Just Want You” Ozzy Osbourne uses ironic understatement, sly imagery, and uncommon paradox to discreetly demean people’s limitlessly selfish infatuations.             

            In some situations wanting to be a part of someone’s life and them a part of yours isn’t too much to ask. Once it advances past that point, into wanting someone completely as yours, even with purely good intentions it becomes a huge request. Osbourne says “I don’t ask much” before leading into the chorus of repeating “I just want you”. Understatement is used through saying “I don’t ask much” and “I just” to show how very selfish people are. Also, the understatement is increased by juxtaposing the simple first person chorus against the verses, which talk of anything being possible.

            In each verse Osbourne talks of anything being possible to make “just wanting” one person seem less significant. Slight imagery is used to help contradict “indisputable truths” like “there are no identical twins” and “no invisible seams”, making it more powerful to juxtapose against other imagery and diction. Imagery in “buy myself some plastic water” opposed to saying simply get some water adds to expressing people’s extravagant actions.    

            Paradox is a contradicting statement that when analyzed becomes one true statement. Throughout “I Just Want You” paradox is used, as well as the entire song being a parody. Through saying “there are no indisputable truths” Osbourne argues that no matter what something says it not necessarily superficially true, just as it’s not asking for much to “just want you” is superficially untrue. Also, the entire song forms a paradox by saying wanting one person all to oneself isn’t a lot to ask, which is untrue. But, once the song is analyzed and found to demean peoples infatuation the contradiction is proven true.

SA #1

 
"Scared as F*ck" by An Horse
I'm not really scared,
I just like the way that those words sound
When they fall from my mouth,
And I say them to you out aloud.
Sometimes my hands
Clap louder than everyone else,
But that's the way it stands,
'Cause I want to clap the loudest.

But I got so scared,
That you might be
A better me than me.
Yeah, I got so scared,
That you might be
A better me than me.

You can take my socks,
But you damn well better leave my gloves
'Cause I need my hands
To be warm like everybody else's.
Once my hands are warm,
I can give them to you and say,
"Please do all you can,
But my fingerprints will stay the same."

But I got so scared,
That you might be
A better me than me.
Yeah, I got so scared,
That you might be
A better me than me.

But we know someone who got so scared,
At the supermarket and you were there,
And I get to hold their hand
'Cause they'll get scared again.
They'll get scared again.

I'm not really scared.
I'm not really scared.
I'm not really scared.
I'm not really scared.
I'm not really scared.
I'm not really scared.
I'm not really scared

Fear is one of the most powerful emotions, as it is a survival instinct. It’s also a survival instinct to stay with others, such as the cliché “strength in numbers”. Even though not being accepted by other isn’t going to typically affect one’s life expectancy, it’s still frightening for most. People are naturally afraid of others being better than them (and not being good enough themselves) because that means they are less special, less interesting, and more likely to be left by others. Transitioning between intermittent figurative language devices in “Scared as F*ck”, An Horse utilizes ironic paradox and contradictory characterization through dual points of view to evince people’s fear of being rejected because others “might be better than me”.

Throughout the song “Scared as F*ck” the lyrics and diction switch between false confidence and fear. The verses switch between false confidence and fear, while the short chorus is fearful, comparing and contradicting the differences in point of view. Paradox is created through the opposing point of views of “I got so scared that you might be a better me than me” and “But I’m not really scared/I’m not really scared”. Superficially, the entire song is a contradiction. One of the points of views must be false while the other is true since they are opposites. The objectification and hyperbole of “The way that those words sound/When they fall from my mouth” and “My hands clap louder than everyone else” “’Cause I want to clap the loudest” shows the speaker’s fear of not being noticed and not being good enough. Because the speaker feels the need to be more noticeable than everyone else, it proves the point of view to be paradoxal because she says she’s not scared when really she is scared of being left behind.

Characterization created through the speaker’s point of view and symbol descriptions shows the speaker’s true fear. The speaker’s character is contradictory and indecisive as the speaker switches between points of view. The speaker’s identity is defined by their desperation to be better than everybody else, while trying to convince the listener that they are “not really scared”. The speaker’s hands are symbols of similarities to other people, such as “You can take my socks/ But you damn well better leave my gloves/ ‘Cause I need my hands to be warm like everybody else’s”. The hands serve as symbols of intimacy and similarities between people showing the speaker’s fear of being different from others as their hands need “to be warm like everybody else’s.” Through characterization of the speaker’s fearful identity it shows the dual points of view, to collectively show the speaker’s fear of being rejected.

Paradox and characterization combine with intermittent figurative language to create dual points of view. The speaker switches between scared and not scared, trying to convince the listener of their confidence. An Horse uses the song “Scared as F***” to evince people’s fear of being rejected and being different from others.