Up in the Attic
Albert Hans
The Art of Writing
Prof. Jem Poster’s workshop
Transcript of my hand-written first contribution to the class.
Theme / Task: Modify someone else’s piece of writing of about half a page
to a page by one or several of the following devices:
a) shift of narrative perspective (first person > third person)
b) prose transmuted into poetry (free verse, rhyme patterns, etc)
c) change the vantage point (for the benefit of a better argument)
d) spice it with dialogues (to describe the characters implicitly)
e) alter it in a way that the source of it is still recognizable
The following piece of mine was beautifully crafted into something new. However, I dare not publish it here, simply because I want to respect the privacy of that person.
Up in the Attic
It was up in the attic where I felt best, where I was at home with myself.
Detached from the others in the house I could be on my own, devoted to ideas of mine worth developing and dreaming, holding forth new perspectives for me, and above all, providing me with hope, a belief in life, confidence in myself and in the purpose of my life. And yet at the same time there was this assurance in me that Ι could dash downstairs to share the company of my mother who was doing her customary work in the kitchen, in those days the central gathering point of our house.
It is this dichotomy, this simultaneous clash of opposing phenomena, of being able to probe into myself or, conversely, communicate with my mother that made me feel good.
Thus the room in the attic was a kind of secret retreat, a shelter and a refuge away from the hustle-bustle of the day, a means to find to myself.
------------------------------
Afterthought:
What a luxury to live in tranquillity, aloof from the constant unrest and health impairing noise of this world!