I took a seagull, and made him angry. Representative of my story's main character.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Attitudes Assignment
I took a seagull, and made him angry. Representative of my story's main character.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Target Audience, Genre Assignment + Short Story w/Descriptive Revisions
Genre: Comedy
Gender: both
Age: 5+
Interests: cartoons, animated/CGI movies
Habits: going to the theater
Other things they watch or read: cartoons, light-hearted fiction
What they do in their spare time: for children, play with toys; for ages 12+, watch tv
Things they buy: toys (either to play with or collect), DVDs
Where they live: near theaters
Income level: probably at or above poverty line
Maximum education level: any
Other: this was intended to resemble a pixar-esque short animation; something that would appeal to an extremely large audience. I mention going to the theater as a habit rather than an interest because it would be one of those shorts that airs before movies, and would be seen most by moviegoers.
A stern seagull sits in a bright, noisy bay, struggling with a plastic 6-pack holder around his neck. Exhausted and exasperated, he gives up at getting the rings off. A second seagull notices his plight and feels sorry, so he goes over to share some of his fish. The second seagull approaches, and the first looks at him depressed. The second smiles, and rips the head off of his fish and pushes it with his beak towards the first. The first seagull looks at it excitedly. Suddenly, he lunges forward, grabs the fish’s body in his beak, and flies off cackling! The second seagull chases after him angrily. The first seagull casually tosses the fish into the air, catches and gulps it down, then starts laughing maniacally as he flies away. Suddenly several other seagulls from the bay have joined the effort to chase him down. He looks back and panics at the sight of them all, then flies off as fast as he can, escaping.
The seagull, looking exhausted, goes to land on a boardwalk on the other side of the bay. He comes down by a bench, but his 6-pack rings get snagged on the bench, causing him to have an extremely clumsy landing. Frustrated, he starts struggling with his rings again. A person sitting on the opposite side of the bench exclaims “ohh...” at seeing the seagull fumble to the ground and struggle. The seagull gets startled at the sound and stares sternly at the person, sizing him up. The person throws some of his popcorn on the boardwalk for the seagull. The seagull, still looking very stern, looks at the popcorn, then back at the human. Without warning, the seagull jumps at the person! Amidst the flurry of waving limbs and flapping wings the seagull starts devouring all the popcorn right out of the bag in the man's hand. He then takes off, with the human yelling angrily and shaking his fist at him. As he flies away, he looks back at the shouting person, and lets out a hearty series of laughs.
The seagull looks back to the bay, and sees that the other seagulls are still in a flurry, so he decides to avoid going back there. Looking around the water, he spies a random log off in the distance, further out from the bay. He decides to land by it. The log is a broken off part of a tree trunk, with a single branch poking out into the air. The area around the log is very quiet compared to the rest of the bay. He lands beside the log and starts fiddling with his rings again, to no avail. Suddenly, he looks up with an almost startled expression. His expression changes to stern caution as he starts looking around him. Then, he looks down. He hurriedly takes off, but gets his rings caught on the log’s branch. Out of nowhere a shark leaps out of the water! It swallows him whole, and sinks back into the water. The log sits there shaking. Random feathers from the seagull settle onto the water. Everything becomes still again just as quickly as it had been stirred up.
Gender: both
Age: 5+
Interests: cartoons, animated/CGI movies
Habits: going to the theater
Other things they watch or read: cartoons, light-hearted fiction
What they do in their spare time: for children, play with toys; for ages 12+, watch tv
Things they buy: toys (either to play with or collect), DVDs
Where they live: near theaters
Income level: probably at or above poverty line
Maximum education level: any
Other: this was intended to resemble a pixar-esque short animation; something that would appeal to an extremely large audience. I mention going to the theater as a habit rather than an interest because it would be one of those shorts that airs before movies, and would be seen most by moviegoers.
A stern seagull sits in a bright, noisy bay, struggling with a plastic 6-pack holder around his neck. Exhausted and exasperated, he gives up at getting the rings off. A second seagull notices his plight and feels sorry, so he goes over to share some of his fish. The second seagull approaches, and the first looks at him depressed. The second smiles, and rips the head off of his fish and pushes it with his beak towards the first. The first seagull looks at it excitedly. Suddenly, he lunges forward, grabs the fish’s body in his beak, and flies off cackling! The second seagull chases after him angrily. The first seagull casually tosses the fish into the air, catches and gulps it down, then starts laughing maniacally as he flies away. Suddenly several other seagulls from the bay have joined the effort to chase him down. He looks back and panics at the sight of them all, then flies off as fast as he can, escaping.
The seagull, looking exhausted, goes to land on a boardwalk on the other side of the bay. He comes down by a bench, but his 6-pack rings get snagged on the bench, causing him to have an extremely clumsy landing. Frustrated, he starts struggling with his rings again. A person sitting on the opposite side of the bench exclaims “ohh...” at seeing the seagull fumble to the ground and struggle. The seagull gets startled at the sound and stares sternly at the person, sizing him up. The person throws some of his popcorn on the boardwalk for the seagull. The seagull, still looking very stern, looks at the popcorn, then back at the human. Without warning, the seagull jumps at the person! Amidst the flurry of waving limbs and flapping wings the seagull starts devouring all the popcorn right out of the bag in the man's hand. He then takes off, with the human yelling angrily and shaking his fist at him. As he flies away, he looks back at the shouting person, and lets out a hearty series of laughs.
The seagull looks back to the bay, and sees that the other seagulls are still in a flurry, so he decides to avoid going back there. Looking around the water, he spies a random log off in the distance, further out from the bay. He decides to land by it. The log is a broken off part of a tree trunk, with a single branch poking out into the air. The area around the log is very quiet compared to the rest of the bay. He lands beside the log and starts fiddling with his rings again, to no avail. Suddenly, he looks up with an almost startled expression. His expression changes to stern caution as he starts looking around him. Then, he looks down. He hurriedly takes off, but gets his rings caught on the log’s branch. Out of nowhere a shark leaps out of the water! It swallows him whole, and sinks back into the water. The log sits there shaking. Random feathers from the seagull settle onto the water. Everything becomes still again just as quickly as it had been stirred up.
Obituary for Amadeus C. Gull
Amadeus C. Gull died July 31, 2009. His life was tragically cut short by a sudden shark-attack. He had been suffering for over a year from a set of six plastic beer can rings stuck around his neck, and when he most needed to get into the sky, the rings got caught on a log branch, keeping him close enough to the water for the shark to reach. The shark, unfortunately, swallowed him whole, so his survivors tragically do not have a body to bury.
He was born May 2, 2006 in his parents’ nest by the bay. The parents, Windy and Michal Gull, always said that their son was the cleverest seagull in the entire bay. Often as a child would he get himself into the most impossible trouble, only to escape unharmed. Amadeus put his smarts to good use getting food over the years, and for the most part lived happily. Even when he got the rings stuck around his neck, Amadeus refused to give in. He was confident that one day he’d find away to get them off, though the encumbrance had left him agitated and solitary.
Amadeus is survived by his parents and 2 brothers, Leo and Mikey Gull. He was preceded in death by 3 unnamed siblings, who were taken while still eggs.
There will be a private service on August 7, 2009, open to close friends and family only. As there is no body left to bury, the service will be kept relatively short.
He was born May 2, 2006 in his parents’ nest by the bay. The parents, Windy and Michal Gull, always said that their son was the cleverest seagull in the entire bay. Often as a child would he get himself into the most impossible trouble, only to escape unharmed. Amadeus put his smarts to good use getting food over the years, and for the most part lived happily. Even when he got the rings stuck around his neck, Amadeus refused to give in. He was confident that one day he’d find away to get them off, though the encumbrance had left him agitated and solitary.
Amadeus is survived by his parents and 2 brothers, Leo and Mikey Gull. He was preceded in death by 3 unnamed siblings, who were taken while still eggs.
There will be a private service on August 7, 2009, open to close friends and family only. As there is no body left to bury, the service will be kept relatively short.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Short Story Assignment--A Very Selfish Seagull
A seagull sits in the bay, struggling with a plastic 6-pack holder around his neck. Exhausted and exasperated, he gives up at getting the rings off. A second seagull notices his plight and feels sorry, so he goes over to share some of his fish. The second seagull approaches, and the first looks at him depressed. The second rips the head off of his fish and pushes it with his beak towards the first. The first seagull looks at it excitedly. Suddenly, he lunges forward, grabs the fish’s body in his beak, and flies off! The second seagull chases after him angrily. The first seagull tosses the fish into the air, catches and gulps it down, then starts laughing as he flies away. Suddenly several other seagulls from the bay have joined the effort to chase him down. He looks back and gets startled at them all, then flies off as fast as he can, escaping.
The seagull goes to land on a boardwalk on the other side of the bay. He comes down by a bench, but his 6-pack rings get snagged on the bench, causing him to have a less-than-graceful landing. Frustrated, he starts struggling with his rings again. A person sitting on the opposite side of the bench exclaims “ohh..” at seeing the seagull fumble to the ground and struggle. The seagull gets startled at the sound and stares sternly at the person, sizing him up. The person throws some of his popcorn on the boardwalk for the seagull. The seagull, still looking very stern, looks at the popcorn, then back at the human. Without warning, the seagull jumps at the person! Amidst the flurry of waving limbs and flapping wings starts eating all the popcorn right out of the bag in his hand. He then takes off, with the human yelling angrily and shaking his fist at him. As he flies away, he looks back at the shouting person, and laughs.
The seagull looks back to the bay, and sees that the other seagulls are still in a flurry, so he decides to avoid going back there. Looking around the water, he spies a random log off in the distance, further out from the bay. He decides to land by it. The log is a broken off part of a tree trunk, with a single branch poking out into the air. He lands beside the log and starts fiddling with his rings again, to no avail. Suddenly, he looks up with an almost startled expression. His expression changes to caution as he starts looking around him. Then, he looks down. He takes off, but gets his rings caught on the log’s branch. Out of nowhere a shark leaps out of the water! It swallows him whole, and sinks back into the water. The log sits there shaking. Random feathers from the seagull settle onto the water. Everything becomes still again just as quickly as it had been stirred up.
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