https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YSMgtvHNor8I453EHMn0GoQxtD2QEt0Tb8kEJBUGlDY/edit?usp=sharing

The completed project can be accessed within the link below, containing the Introduction, Mentor Texts, and Excerpts on a Google Slide Presentation.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18OZCMbYDvrzgX62It8mIZH7iyjkqLqrnvZQreEq6uI4/edit#slide=id.p 

Original Piece:

Dawn

There was nothing at first save one being; and she had no form, but was there; for she was what existed, and there was nothing apart from her which she had not yet created from herself, and it was Cabelâm. She would create light and imbue it within her; and she was light, and lit the dark void. And from her she made a great eye of light, and its sclera and body she called her mind, and its iris and pupil she called her thought. And when she came to that eye and beheld it, she gazed into all that was; and she saw everything from the most naive to the most wise days of time; she knew the thoughts and minds of all else that would be, for she was preeminent to all in every way. It was then that she realized that these were thoughts she had not yet unlocked, and that as she remained more within the visions she could learn and discover what has yet to be, and so she called them the Prospects, the foreseeing dreams. And from those visions she would feel love and wonder, and revered what she had seen; and she wanted them and saw their beauty. So she lifted her hands and outward came unto the void a great light, and it pierced the shadows, but not enough, for her light was lonely and shined little in the vast space, so she kindled flames of her own light; and she conducted them to shine with her, and it became a concert. She saw that these flames grew and exceeded hers, for they were more than her one, and they cultivated their own forms of light and radiated stronger in unison, and in interest she gave these flames her thoughts, and they became aware and grew minds of their own. And she named these kindled flames the Raiím. 

She made six first, and they were the First Kindled; servants of her will and mightiest of her subjects. And she spoke to them with a great voice of thunder: “I am Shaah Utum, and from you is me, for I am creation, and I have made you from my thoughts and from my fire and my will entirely, and knoweth that he who hath thought and mind is of my being, and that his thoughts and his mind hath come from naught but me, for you all are my subjects, the Raiím, and it is me who has given you life and thought, and it was me who birthed you from fire. And from my greatest work I shall bequeath you but a glimpse of the cornea, and you shall see my will unfold.” And the Raiím had a small understanding only, for as they learned they spent more within their thoughts and perception rather than what they had been foretold, and before they could remain in mind, she presented to them the Prospects, and they saw through only moments which she presented them, and they gazed and comprehended the spectacles in which they saw, and they were bound to its lore. But within Aihutur, the lord of beauty, a hidden envy and revulsion grew and boiled; for what he perceived was a world of beings without government and who mindlessly worshiped Shaah Utum and nobody else, and Aihutur desired such worship for himself, and wanted to rule over others and give life such as what had been given to him. He wanted the same power as his creator and to gift others with sentience and faculty to be akin to his mother. But he did not possess the ability to create, and he was angry and envious, but he hid these feelings and remained solemn and contained.

And when she ended the visions many of the Raiím cried and wept and yearned for more, but Utum silenced them, and they were soundless, and thereupon Shaah Utum said to them then, “Be not upset for what hath ceased, but in your thoughts think unto what will be, and rejoice; and in your minds consider wherefore I have shown ye this, and how ye shall create it, for ye be of power and ever great might, and think not unto me for counsel but rather learn and discover.” And they dwelt in thought. 

But Aihutur could not fall still, and was impatient and eager to see the world that he had been shown, and so he ventured to the Void, where he sought the Eye of Shaah Utum. And he hid amidst the sorrow and confusion of his brethren where he was unseen, and came to the Prospects, and gazed into the iris. And he saw horrors and terrible sights unimaginable that could not have been thought by him, and he found that he could not take himself away from the sight, and was bound by what he saw, and he witnessed the deaths of all who would be, and the wars of all that could happen, and the grief and hate of all that it burdened, and the torture and the agony of all that suffered. And his mind was bent and corrupted further than it had already been, and he became mad and demented, and he understood then that he wished to give creation to the future that he had seen rather than one in accordance with what Shaah Utum presented. And from the depths of the visions he heard a distant voice, and it echoed and grew as it repeated, and it was as if a great choir was chanting the words, and as if there were untamed violins and singing pipes and thundering organs that roared behind them:

“He is become now the wielder of death, and he hath flame and ice bent unto his will, for he is fallen unto darkness and consumed by envy. No longer is he ye brother, but rather an evil arisen from the deepest shadows, and he will not stop until he hath subjected the Earth unto his desires.” And it took the power of Shaah Utum to rip him from the foresights, and he wept too and cried in despair, for he had grown attached to the dreams, and he was enshrouded by grief and anger. But he was silenced and shamed by Utum, and her voice belittled his cries, and boomed across the void: 

“Know thou not that of which the discord thou hast created is, and that in thy ignorance and unrelenting curiosity it only prevents what we all wish for? For he who wisheth this will only hindereth that which is in the interest of the preponderance, and he must knoweth that I have kindled him from my light and mind, and that I am his creator, Shaah Utum, and it is me who rises above him and all his brethren, and therefore he who resisteth my will shall only falleth unto my subjection.” And he was greatly humiliated, and could not hide his guilt and his ignominy as he stood forward his kindred. But Nuâhír, lord of art and lore, was indifferent to Aihutur’s betrayal, and was the first to determine the creation of the future, and came to Utum to propound her ideas,

“I am come unto thee with my submission, hence wherein I have thought and foreseen: I shall weave thy light unto a great tapestry, and cloak the Void whereat the world shall be, and thus thou canst give unto that world life and beauty, and so that we may bless the world with inherent respects.” She said, and God concurred, and so she gave Nuâhír her divine light, and she wove it into a great tapestry and coated the void with it, creating Uehab.  

And the Raiím entered Uehab, where Shaah Utum would create the Second Kindled, and they watched over the skies and the cosmos, and were the lords of matter. And as she did before, she presented the Second Kindled the Prospects, but when she gave them souls, they had not yet the same power that the children of the First Kindled possessed and they could not comprehend them; and they were embarrassed. Aihutur took notice and for a reason he could not understand he was amused, and laughed and could not repulse his enjoyment at the sight of their failure. And it was taken of notice by his kindred, and there was disappointment and ignominy, and Shaah Utum came forth and shamed him, and he was humiliated. Narama of the Second Kindled was indifferent to Aihutur’s arrogance, and instead was silent in thought and quietly learning, for she was adept of the mind and masters of passion, and she was closest to Utum, and dwelt longer upon judgment and percipience than in the words and actions of others. She was intent on the pursuit of the future and what it would bring, and amidst the discord she braided her ever golden hair into stars and constellations and sewed them into the cosmos, where they shone brightest among the light. And the conflict between the Raiím grew silent and settled, and they gazed upon them and were fascinated. And it was Aihutur who was especially interested in the stars, for he saw their beauty and their might, and the way they captivated others, and he grew lustful of the constellations, and envied their brilliance. 

And Shaah Utum was proud, and knew there that Uehab was complete, and she lifted her hands far above all others, and her eyes became beacons of starlight, piercing the farthest of shadows in the corners of the cosmos. And she said, “Behold my might and see forth the beauty, come now beneath the light and watch the creation of the Earth!” And then there was Earth. And she created those who ruled it, the Third Kindled, the Keepers of the World. And they were the last of the Raiím to witness the Prospects, and though they had not yet the ability to comprehend them as their kindred prior, they were the quickest to learn and understand as they dwelt within their thoughts. And then they came to the Earth, where they fashioned and perfected it, and it was Nuôhar who sculpted the mountains and carved the hills and hacked the deepest trenches, and it was Mirños who flooded those trenches and controlled the waves of the seas, and Rônur who casted his breath across the sky and roared the storms and cried the rain, and Hurdom who enshrouded the dunes of grass with trees and called forth the animals and tamed them, and it was Ernar who fed the animals and planted the crops and hung the fruits from the trees. And therein the Earth on the Southern Lands, in the furthest and untouched corners awakened the mortals, the Huoríb, named by men as Elves, who were wise of mind and strong of might, and were the first peoples ere aught else. And so began the Ages of Mortalkind, and the Coming of the Kindled.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NmTI-1c5zTyz8dNFykhrtqkcNnPSZYDj0MwhhGtab2w/edit?usp=sharing

I chose to commemorate two women, Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, who went missing in the jungle of Panama in 2014, through Edgar Allan Poe style poetry. His style of poetry is largely character-based, dark, and has a specific rhyming pattern.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ftf1KQwi1MMpGWXYqYZJNL-NyNxUuS4MYcwW9iUQM9U/edit?usp=sharing

Batman is a popular superhero in today’s media, and the presentation I made talks about his dark, broken, empty mental state he lives in.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15wdU724Z88ZjL8f8oOiz1wFutI3CiUObHervygukrn4/edit#slide=id.g1f848eec6a7_0_100

Dr. Seuss is one of the most famous authors and illustrators of children’s books. He was known for his unique visual language and rhyme in his picture books.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ttDeeUtkS5crlPqJBJPwfXahLZxMKXRMp1-8-F6iXqE/edit?usp=sharing

I chose John Green, the bestselling author, of many YA novels to study. Throughout many of his novels, John Green discusses often teenage characters, and how they navigate life. Many of his books may appear to end sad, but teach the character and therefore the reader important lessons. He emphasizes that life isn’t linear, and that it can be full of so many struggles but also beautiful moments. He takes profound topics that people often face in their lives, and tries to explain them in the form of a novel.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Bu6eiJzw364wWrEqyKhRCohbl7eVatoqH1GhoinLwgE/edit?usp=sharing