1. All of the "great" literature I've read in my classes is built mostly or totally around expressing themes. It seems to be the defining characteristic of what's considered great. Lots of books (like Harry Potter, Eragon, etc.) achieve wild popularity just by creating interesting characters and situations, but they don't go into history as "classics." The reality thus seems to be that my writing should have a thematic message in order to be considered good writing, since otherwise it lacks insight into life. On the other hand, language-arts classes have convinced me that themes can be inferred from absolutely any piece of writing, even if the author didn't intend it. So it might be a good idea to just write something imaginative and then weave the theme in as I go.
2. I'd enjoy writing a play about social norms and how they got the way they are. The people who break such norms are usually the most interesting, but society is entirely structured around those who follow them. It would also be interesting to examine how government tries to incorporate every person into its (usually narrow-minded) systems and doesn't trust anything that it doesn't explicitly authorize. Both of these topics revolve around the concepts of freedom and control, and the ideas behind each, which I think would make for very thought-provoking play.
3. The main conflict in my play would most likely be fought between individuals and society, with the law taking the side of society as a whole. I'd probably create a fictional society with norms very different from ours, so that I can put them in perspective properly. The protagonist would probably get into trouble for doing socially unusual things, and would then have to convince people that his/her weirdness isn't putting anybody in danger. Those are just random thoughts, but I think there's some potential work of literature in there...
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2 comments:
I really like your idea on prompt two, for a theme about social norms. Very provocative! I think you should for sure write a play about that because it is so interesting. I also like your idea idea for a conflict, I've always wondered how a simple change in perspective can completely upturn a society. I really like it. Societal norms is such a simple yet interesting idea.
I agree with Nadini. I could totally see you writing a play about a totally absurd society just to get your points across, too. I think that it's human nature to need social norms in order to feel comfortable, and it takes a certain personality to break free from it. You should definitely write about this!
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