Ceilie's Essay #12

Ceilie Moore
Mr. Salsich
English 9
February 5th, 2009

Views From Prison and Metaphors Of Freedom:

An Essay On Imprisonment and Freedom

Imprisonment and freedom are polar opposites. Being imprisoned gives you nothing to work with but cement walls that are incapable of being opened or closed, letting nothing in or out. Freedom is acting in a wonderfully careless manner, being negligent to the idea of hitting a boundary that can deprive you of your liberty. They are two strong feelings that can both strongly affect the way one lives.

TS If I was imprisoned and given only one sight to longingly gaze (FAST) at as I wished for freedom, I would want to look at the ocean. SD Unlike most, I wouldn’t want the luxury of looking at my friends or family and observe them as they lived their lives freely. CM Watching them live without boundaries as strict as mine would only provide me with envy and give me more hopeless determination to break free of my shackles and join them. CM I would hate knowing that the barrier of punishment or disease would be the only thing separating me from being by their sides. SD I would want to be able to look at the ocean because it would not only give me a beautiful view but also supply me with a symbolic friend. CM The soft hum of the waves could comfort me in times of pain or remorse and give me the illusions that I am somewhere besides a prison cell that is limiting me from what I want to do. CM The ocean is also a place where thousands of my memories have been made. CM3 Although remembering such happy times may make me sad in the sense that I will never relive those moments again, I still get the pleasure of remembering being a careless eight year-old practicing cartwheels and building sandcastles as the shore tickled my tanned feet. CM4 From these memories, I get the chance to smile as I reminisce (FAST) the days I spent lounging aside the beach and living my life happily instead of worrying about being confined in a cell of sadness. CS Looking out on the views of carefree people living without restrictions would only pain my heart, but being next to the place where I have spent endless summers making sweet memories will provide a spiritual friend and many moments to happily reflect back on.

TS Freedom is running without hitting a fence, jumping without gravity pulling you down, and swimming beyond the point in which your toes are numb and legs don’t feel the sensation of movement. SD Although, freedom can not only be described by actions, but by a person, an artist sitting in front of their blank canvas. CM Artists are given a palette that can be limited to only black and white, or more colors than the rainbow can physically contain. CM They can choose their medium, their choice of canvas, and their inspiration for the piece. (Tri-colon) SD When running, jumping or swimming, there is always one small variable holding you back and setting a limitation on what you can do. CM An artist’s boundary is the edge of their canvas. CM Where the edges lie, sits an invisible wall that surrounding the area that an artist may use to express their creativity. CS Freedom is the feeling of infinite ideas, actions and emotions (tri-colon) that give this ecstasy-like side effect, and an artist sitting in front of a blank canvas experiences every ounce of freedom that one can endure.

People face imprisonment and freedom every day. Those young soldiers going off to war are trapped in their camouflaged suits and the gun strapped to their chests, only focused on surviving the minefield they’re about to run across. The young and innocent are free of life’s heavy topics and time consuming obligations, only focused on skipping throughout the playground without scrapping their knee, and even if they do, a Band-Aid can easily fix it. Freedom and imprisonment can decorate and bring excitement to our lives, like an artist brings a painting to life, or unexpectedly strike them, and if by chance they do, we can only be so lucky to see an ocean from our prison cell.

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Self-Assessment

What Am I Most Proud Of In This Essay?

I am proud of the introductory paragraph. I have a tendency to ramble with sentences and I think I kept it simple, starting off with a blunt statement and then slowly elaborating but in decent length sentences. 

What Was The Hardest Part Of This Assignment?

I think the hardest part of this assignment was elaborating on the second body paragraph. When writing the idea map for it, I was very worried that I wouldn't be able to make two, good-sized chunks about the one topic, but it all worked out in the end. 

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Graphic Organizer
Topic: Views from Imprisonment
SD: I wouldn’t want to see people
CM: I would be jealous of them and their freedom
CM: I wouldn’t want to see them be free and know only a small wall is separating us


Topic: Freedom is…
SD Freedom is like an artist
CM They are given a palette and do what they want
CM The colors are their decision, the background, the medium, etc.
SD They only have one boundary
CM Their boundary is the edges of the paper
CM It is a fence around where they can express their creativity