“House on Little Cubes” Writing assignment Ryley Steele
1. A new day. I wake up and do my normal routine: breakfast, smoking, and sitting outside, enjoying the sun. Today is different though. It seems as if the tide has risen once again, and the ferry man is bringing the supplies to build our houses up once more. I can’t recall how many time I have done this, far too many to count. The ferry man approaches my home and hands over many bricks; I gladly take them. I bring them back up to the roof of my small house and set up the lawn chair. After I get myself situated, it is time to get to work. The bricks are hard and rough on my small hands, but I barely feel anything anymore. After years of building house after house, my hands are now numb to the pain of the tremendous work. It takes most of the day to finish the next cube, but it is finally finished. As I went down to grab my furniture from the flooded room beneath me, my pipe slips out of my mouth and is sucked into the depths of the numerous cubes beneath me. At first, it does not hurt me too much, because I have a case full of pipes. I can always replace an old pipe. I return to excavating for my furniture in my boat, and after about an hour or two, I have finally retrieved all of my belongings. I return to my newer, yet smaller, home. I put my furniture back and looked for my case of pipes. None of them were the same. I tried numerous attempts to get used to every single one, but it did not feel right. As I went outside in my sullen state, I noticed the ferryman had several diving suits. On an impulse, I decided to buy one and get back my prized possession. I put the suit on with ease, and looked down into the depths of the ocean.* STOP*
2. My dear Beatrice,
Words cannot express how much I miss you. Every day it is the same feelings of emptiness I experience as I wake up. I do what we used to do: wake up, eat breakfast, and sit outside in the same chair as when we would sit together. Nothing seems to brighten my days anymore ever since you were taken away. The other day, the tide came in, and you know what that means. I had to build another house for myself. As I went to the old house to grab our furniture, I dropped the pipe you gave me. At first, I did not even think of anything different, but after I tried out the other pipes I had, I knew I had to get it back. I went to the ferry man the next day and bought a diving suit to get your pipe back. When I went down, I was not expecting to be hit with every single memory we ever had with each other. I saw when you were sick, when Gwen was married, when Gwen went to school, when we had her, when we met. So many memories of us, it pained me to continue down. But at last, I got the pipe, and that was the only thing that mattered. When I got back to the new home, I prepared dinner just like any other day if you were here: the wine, the table, and the chairs. The only problem was you were gone.
I miss you every day,
Alfred
3. Today, I’m observing a very peculiar person. He goes by the name Alfred, and he does not say much, which is part of the reason he is so peculiar. I will be watching his daily routine, to see if maybe he has a secret to hide. He is getting up at the moment, but nothing to strange so far. All he did was get dressed, which is normal, and is now preparing a normal breakfast. How can someone so normal be so weird? He is taking his breakfast to the table, but he has set up two chairs. That’s odd. If there is only one person, why set up two chairs? As he finishes breakfast, he takes his dishes over to the sink. He washes them like normal, but what’s this? My feet are wet. It seems as if the tide is coming in again, which means he will have to build up once more. This means I will have to build up once more, but I can do that later. This is more important at this exact time. I see him grabbing the usual supplies from the local ferry man as he prepares to build his home for maybe the 100th time in his life. How old can he be? And with no family? There’s another strange thing to consider. Maybe he never had kids or married. Anyway, back to the story. He seems to be finishing up his new house, so now must be when he is going to get back his furniture. He ventures down into the half flooded home, but what’s this? He’s looking down into the water as if to find something. A pipe. He does not have his pipe anymore, which is awkward, due to the fact that he has been smoking it for quite some time since I started observing. As he returns back to the surface, he goes to the local ferry man once more. It looks as if he has rented a diving suit. A diving suit? Does he really think he is going down into the ocean? That means I will have to follow. As we both go down into the depths of the sea, he seems to stop for long intervals of time as if to remember something. *STOP*
Tell Tale Heart- Poe
I believe Poe used a variance of tenses in order to draw the reader into the story, because when he does so, it seems to be more interesting in general. Another reason he might is as to confuse the reader, but at the same time having the reader analyze more in-depth to the story. They are fairly consistent, but at some times it is a bit difficult to understand and see them at a first glance. I believe they do add to the story by adding a more interesting theme to catch the reader.
1. A new day. I wake up and do my normal routine: breakfast, smoking, and sitting outside, enjoying the sun. Today is different though. It seems as if the tide has risen once again, and the ferry man is bringing the supplies to build our houses up once more. I can’t recall how many time I have done this, far too many to count. The ferry man approaches my home and hands over many bricks; I gladly take them. I bring them back up to the roof of my small house and set up the lawn chair. After I get myself situated, it is time to get to work. The bricks are hard and rough on my small hands, but I barely feel anything anymore. After years of building house after house, my hands are now numb to the pain of the tremendous work. It takes most of the day to finish the next cube, but it is finally finished. As I went down to grab my furniture from the flooded room beneath me, my pipe slips out of my mouth and is sucked into the depths of the numerous cubes beneath me. At first, it does not hurt me too much, because I have a case full of pipes. I can always replace an old pipe. I return to excavating for my furniture in my boat, and after about an hour or two, I have finally retrieved all of my belongings. I return to my newer, yet smaller, home. I put my furniture back and looked for my case of pipes. None of them were the same. I tried numerous attempts to get used to every single one, but it did not feel right. As I went outside in my sullen state, I noticed the ferryman had several diving suits. On an impulse, I decided to buy one and get back my prized possession. I put the suit on with ease, and looked down into the depths of the ocean.* STOP*
2. My dear Beatrice,
Words cannot express how much I miss you. Every day it is the same feelings of emptiness I experience as I wake up. I do what we used to do: wake up, eat breakfast, and sit outside in the same chair as when we would sit together. Nothing seems to brighten my days anymore ever since you were taken away. The other day, the tide came in, and you know what that means. I had to build another house for myself. As I went to the old house to grab our furniture, I dropped the pipe you gave me. At first, I did not even think of anything different, but after I tried out the other pipes I had, I knew I had to get it back. I went to the ferry man the next day and bought a diving suit to get your pipe back. When I went down, I was not expecting to be hit with every single memory we ever had with each other. I saw when you were sick, when Gwen was married, when Gwen went to school, when we had her, when we met. So many memories of us, it pained me to continue down. But at last, I got the pipe, and that was the only thing that mattered. When I got back to the new home, I prepared dinner just like any other day if you were here: the wine, the table, and the chairs. The only problem was you were gone.
I miss you every day,
Alfred
3. Today, I’m observing a very peculiar person. He goes by the name Alfred, and he does not say much, which is part of the reason he is so peculiar. I will be watching his daily routine, to see if maybe he has a secret to hide. He is getting up at the moment, but nothing to strange so far. All he did was get dressed, which is normal, and is now preparing a normal breakfast. How can someone so normal be so weird? He is taking his breakfast to the table, but he has set up two chairs. That’s odd. If there is only one person, why set up two chairs? As he finishes breakfast, he takes his dishes over to the sink. He washes them like normal, but what’s this? My feet are wet. It seems as if the tide is coming in again, which means he will have to build up once more. This means I will have to build up once more, but I can do that later. This is more important at this exact time. I see him grabbing the usual supplies from the local ferry man as he prepares to build his home for maybe the 100th time in his life. How old can he be? And with no family? There’s another strange thing to consider. Maybe he never had kids or married. Anyway, back to the story. He seems to be finishing up his new house, so now must be when he is going to get back his furniture. He ventures down into the half flooded home, but what’s this? He’s looking down into the water as if to find something. A pipe. He does not have his pipe anymore, which is awkward, due to the fact that he has been smoking it for quite some time since I started observing. As he returns back to the surface, he goes to the local ferry man once more. It looks as if he has rented a diving suit. A diving suit? Does he really think he is going down into the ocean? That means I will have to follow. As we both go down into the depths of the sea, he seems to stop for long intervals of time as if to remember something. *STOP*
Tell Tale Heart- Poe
I believe Poe used a variance of tenses in order to draw the reader into the story, because when he does so, it seems to be more interesting in general. Another reason he might is as to confuse the reader, but at the same time having the reader analyze more in-depth to the story. They are fairly consistent, but at some times it is a bit difficult to understand and see them at a first glance. I believe they do add to the story by adding a more interesting theme to catch the reader.
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