Journal Writing

In this following (fictional) journal-writing exercise, Isak was asked to develop a character (Viktorr Carpio). He was then given outside stimuli (in the form of pictures/graphics), which he needed to incorporate as a visual “memory” or prompt for a particular day’s entry.

------------------------

Journal Writing

CHARACTER PROFILE:

Viktorr Carpio

49 years old

January 1, 1961

Armed Forces of the Philippines

Lieutenant, communications expert

Forces against MILF

Stationed in Maguindanao

He has brownish hair,

Scar at the right side of his mouth, scar down his left eye, his left hand’s ring and pinkie finger are tattooed.

Build – fit and quite muscular

Brown Eyes

Scruff

Pale Skinned

Failed Tech College

Entered PMA after two weeks of job searching

JANUARY 9, 2010

SATURDAY

We were on the mess hall in our camp, right in the middle we placed a television screen, we started listen to what our superiors were explaining to the public in the news.  The report was accurate enough yet instead of explaining how many casualties we’ve already sustained during the fight. 20 men were killed and another 10 men would have died in the fight if our reinforcements didn’t come sooner. Most of us were wounded in the fight, actually it shouldn’t be called a fight, it was a massacre.  They outnumbered us, and they didn’t show any sign of fear, like they were prepared to die for a cause, which was too idiotic to understand.

Usually our mess hall times were the most peaceful moments of our career, but again I was called in to receive a encrypted code from our superiors. Again we were headed into combat against the Muslim rebels

JANUARY 10, 2010

SUNDAY

After the massacre, which just happened two days ago, we were sent for RNR for the day. Most of us would usually do our inside tradition of honoring the dead.  And that was to drink a goldenschlagger bottle for the day in their name.

JANUARY 11, 2010

MONDAY

We were out on patrol, checking out the terrain, we found a rooster which surprised us by his clucking. I guess, that rooster was all the Muslims needed for us to be ambushed.

Battle Report

Kills: 45

Lt. Victorr Carpio – Fatigued

PFC Joseph Quiros – KIA

SSgt. Makarov Dumlao –Fatigued

Pvt. Josee Alibangbang – Incap

Cpt. Kasi Ocsicnarf – Fatigued

Casualties: 1

Joseph was hurt pretty bad, he was wounded by a rebel which was quickly brought down. We have had so many casualties that our Captain, Kasi, told us to give him covering fire as he flanked our adversaries with Private Josee. Luckily we held them off long enough to give them time to bring them down, while the two took the attention of the Muslims, Kasi radioed me and Staff Sergeant Makarov to get back to base with Joseph and save his life, along with calling some reinforcements. At the end we got Joseph to HQ, but it was already to late, as the Americans say it, he became a star in his mothers window. Yet we still got some back up for Kasi and Josee who were being attacked by the Muslims. At long last, we were able to save them both, with Josee being , incapacitated.

JANUARY 12, 2010

TUESDAY

We were asked to give air support, we were given a heli which held a nice Machinegun which made Kasi shout out “If anyone of you faggs try to man the minigun, I’m gonna castrate you!” Which led to the frequent Makarov Saying “Hey! Don’t get your hangers all tangled up there boss!”  We all borded up the heli and went in to position. Makarov sat as the sniper, Josee the co-pilot, Me as the assault gunner, and Kasi, well obviously, He got the minigun. We also got a new squad member as replacement for Joseph, his name is Charles Dulot

Battle Report

Kills:109

Lt. Victorr Carpio – Fatigued

SSgt. Makarov Dumlao –Fatigued

Pvt. Josee Alibangbang – Fatuiged

Cpt. Kasi Ocsicnarf – Fatigued

Pvt. Charles Dulot-Fatigued

Caualties:0

We gave them hell, along with Kasi’s sadistic jokes like “Ah… Imma GRIM! BLOODY! FABLE! WITH! AN UNHAPPY! BLOODY! END!!!” or “I’ll SHALL DEVOUR YOUR BODY AND DEFICATE OUT YOUR SOUL!!!” or something like those.

At the end we did our job with the casualties being 0 KIAs and 2 incap along with 0 MIAs. In other words, it was successful.

JANUARY 13, 2010

WEDNESDAY

Again we were out patrolling, turns out we have been near a good water source and there are some pretty friendly locals. We were sent back to base after the patrol.

After that we were sent to take in some locals who were attacked by the MILF. There were dead bodies of men, women and children. It made even Kasi, the most hardened of us all to break. Seeing dead civilians is never easy to forget. But, that didn’t stop us from saving those who still survived.

Battle Report

Kills:40

Lt. Victorr Carpio – Fatigued

SSgt. Makarov Dumlao –Fatigued

Pvt. Josee Alibangbang – Fatuiged

Cpt. Kasi Ocsicnarf – Fatigued

Civilian Casualties:

Men: 40(estimation)

Women: 20(estimation)

Children: 2

We fought long enough for evac to get the civs out. And then, we were ordered to pull out as well. I always thought that we would die considering the number of hostiles in the area, I guess the sight of the dead encouraged us to fight even harder for the sake of the living.

JANUARY 14, 2010

THURSDAY

It’s Josee’s Birthday today, which meant that he gets the bigger share this time.  After the early morning celebrations and all those things, we were sent once more on patrols. This time patrols went smoothly for once. All there was to see were the smiling locals, the oinking pigs, the nighing horses and Makarov continuously joking about how I sleep, eat and exercise or how Kasi likes to speak in German, Russian, Japanese and Swedish everytime he insults, comments, criticizes and curse us. Another smooth day.

JANUARY 15, 2010

FRIDAY

Today’s a bad day for us all, Captain Kasi is now retiring at the age of 48. He has been a good leader. He’s a man who has a Scottish ancestry, he fought for the UN for more than a decade. He served under AFP for 4 years, and now he’s going back to the UK. I shall never forget the things he taught me. After his retirement, I was then promoted to Captain. I shall be his legacy, and I vowed that I will fight with his bravery and courage. This, I shall never forget.  

------------------------
Isak started with Wordlab during his early grades to have his difficulties with reading, writing and expressive language be addressed.  He is now an incoming High School Freshman; he just finished a writing program with the clinic, challenging his organizational skills, while honing his creativity – even when confined within the parameters of a “made-up reality.”

Poems

The first poem is the finished product of a writing exercise to practice the different poetic devices: anaphora, alliteration and rhyme.

The other three are first drafts of writings using hyperbole. They are yet to be revisited for editing.

----------------------

I. INDEPENDENCE

Life is a game of fight

Time will come that you won’t like

Mixed emotions are coming your way

Mixed reactions, you see it in the face

Mixed suggestions are trying to say

“Please give me some space”

I want to leave this space behind

I want to choose the mountain I’ll climb

I’ll decide how to live my life

I’m going to be ok, I’m sure, and I’m fine

I’ll go beyond my dreams

Dreams to help who’s in need

Dreams to wake me up from sleep

So I’ll dream, believe, and succeed

I’ll leave you with a kiss

And I’ll end my life in peace

II. HAPPINESS

I’m happy like no one can reach me from flying.

A scream of joy made my life jollier today.

I’m dead happy like my hormones want to explode.

I got high from laughter.

III. MISERY

I caught myself down in the ground flooding with tears and blood all over my body.

A guilt came into me that made me want to dig my own grave.

My laughter was turned into disaster and my smile makes me feel like it is a crime.

IV. WAKING UP FROM A GREAT DREAM

I finally found the sun in what I was not used to, a brand new experience welcome me into the jovial world never the less I did not give my heart into it, I’ll slide back down in the beginning. Now is the time for the rising sun to utter the desired dreams he always wanted.

-----------------------

Joshua is an incoming fourth-year student who is also an upcoming musician who plays the guitar, the drums, sings and writes his own music.

Treasure Hunt

This writing exercise was given to Vince at the tail end of his 6^th program. This activity served as a platform for his creative expression. It also served as a challenge to his cleverness in weaving randomly chosen words into his story. Most importantly, it served as an exercise in following the prescribed structure in writing narratives.

The words Vince was supposed to use were:

spectacular, received, arrogant, tentacle and squander

(the word ‘arrogant’ was overlooked)

This written output is at its raw form, as it has not undergone any editing or revisions. A reading of this material would show this student’s rich imagination, creativity and ingenuity. This work would be revisited in his next program; the editing would focus on the mechanical aspects of writing, like following punctuation rules.

-------------------------

Treasure Hunt

Price was a treasure hunter and explorer. He found spectacular gold bars in a wrecked ship under the sea and a giant stone statue of a kraken with broken tentacles in a deserted island. He has received a lot of rewards from exploring new lands.

          He set out on a journey to explore an area where people disappear after they wander into it. 

          It was an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There were immense jungles, wild life, and its beaches stretch for ten kilometers. The beaches were deserted.

          Price, along with his friend Maxwell and a few more explorers arrived in the beach. They brought fifteen motor boats that contained thirty men, food, supplies, weapons and tents. 

          “Beautiful,” Price said.

          “Well, let’s get this over with.” Maxwell said. “We will set up camp here, by the beach.”

          The men finished setting up camp after an hour. The tents were all organized in an orderly fashion, empty crates were discarded, and Price, Maxwell and a few men were rounded up.

          “We’re going to explore the jungles,” Price said to the people who were not selected for the excursion. “Do not squander our good resources. We will be back in two hours.”

          Maxwell waved his hand, Price entered the jungle, and so did Maxwell and the few men. They all walked in a straight line, watching out for any strange movements in the jungle. So far, it was clear.

          After some time of walking, some of the men suddenly disappeared. The only people that were left were Price, Maxwell and three other companions.

          Suddenly, natives burst out of the bushes and attacked them. Two the of the other companions shot at them but were hit by poisoned arrows and soon they were dead. Price, Maxwell, and the last companion were quickly tied up to a wooden pole and were brought to a small village. There were children playing with sticks, men with weapons dancing around a fire and women were cooking food.

          Maxwell chuckled, “This explains a lot.”

          “No wonder why people disappear.” Price said. Suddenly, the last companion was brought somewhere else. “Where are they taking him?”

          The last one screamed for help, but they could not do anything. Soon, he was gone.

          “If I could only reach up my radio.” Price said. The poles were placed upright on the ground. Then a man with a hat with feathers came out of a hut and muttered something in a language that the two cold not understand.

          Maxwell noticed something inside of the hut that was shinning. “Price, I think I see something inside of the hut.”

          The chieftain waved his hand and everyone was silent. The people stopped dancing around the fire, the children stopped playing with the wooden sticks and the women stopped cooking. Maxwell pulled out a small knife from his long sleeve shirt and started cutting on the rope.

          He was able to cut lose. He pulled out a pistol from the holster on his thigh and shot some of the natives. The natives ran away in panic. He cut the rope on his feet and also Price’s

          “Thank.” Price said rubbing his wrist. “Let’s get out of here, Maxwell.”

          They two just ran of their lives out of the jungle. The natives were screeching and firing their arrows at them. Suddenly, a whole army of natives started coming out of bushes. They were shooting their arrows, throwing their spears and chasing them.

          They were running when suddenly Maxwell was hit by an arrow.

          “No!” Price shouted in distaste. He tried to help him up be Maxwell shook his head.

          “Nah its fine, Price. Just leave, now!” With that, Price said a farewell and ran quickly arrived at the beach.

          A man walked up to Price while he was walking to a motor boat, “Where are the others, sir?”

          “We have to leave, now!”

          Suddenly, the natives appeared on the tree line. The explorer and his men ran toward the boats, left the tents and supplies. Soon they were out of the island. They could only hear a faint screech then it soon faded.

----------------------

Vince is a fifteen year-old student who has expressed his eagerness to write essays and narratives. He dreams of becoming a lawyer – after serving as a teacher in his alma mater. He is currently a student in an all-boys school, a guitarist in a band, and an avid air soft player.