Blood Wedding Journal #3: Letters characters might have written

Dearest Leonardo,

I could not deny this burning, passionate love I felt when I was with you. Every minute of the day I longed to be with you. I left this other man's and my wedding, his family and his house for you, but I was afraid that you were the one they would punish. I kept asking you to escape, but you refused. I know you told me that you wanted to find a corner of darkness where you could escape the poison that others spread, and if that had happened, I would have always been there for you, carefully watching and guarding your dreams. These hands of mine, they longed to dig into your flesh and open your veins and listen to your murmuring blood. I was burning for your love. You told me that the only reason we would be apart would be because one of us had died. But now, my fears are a reality. We can never be together for, you lie under the fields of wheat.

Love always,

Bride

Wild Duck Journal #4: Letters that characters might have written

Dear Gina,

Why must you be so selfish? Don't you realize what you've been doing to not only me, but also this family? You've tied us up in this web of deception and I don't really know how you can stand yourself. It's very difficult for me to grasp how you aren't completely torn up with feelings of remorse. You claim you know and have done what's best for me, but really I see this as a bitter situation that I wish you had told me about earlier. Bringing my invention dreams to reality, that all seems so unrealistic now. I wanted you to be the inventor's prosperous widow, but it doesn't matter now because it's all over. I'd like to say I'm sorry for leaving you and Hedvig, but I just can't be around the family I thought I knew. I just can't stay around the house when Hedvig could not really be my child. I don't want to stay around with a child who reminds me of the man you had an affair with. Both with their increasing blindness- it just angers me so! I know you think I'll come back to you and Hedvig, but I can't guarantee anything. If you can't respect me enough to tell me the truth up front and reveal the truth about "our" child, how can I show you any respect in return?

-Hjalmar

Oedipus Journal 4: Oedipus' Diary Entry

Dear Diary,

I am in a very difficult situation. I've murdered my father and married my mother, all of this initially without my knowledge. I wish that I hadn't been permitted this much life! I wish I had died earlier! That way my family and I could have been saved from all this grief. I wish it had never come to this extreme, because now I'm afraid I'm loathed by the Gods. I think my decision of jabbing my eyes was justified, though, since this way I can avoid having to look my father in the eye once I die. I don't even want to end there! I wish I could block out all the sound of life as well, because then I would rid myself of a world full of pain. I want to escape Thebes- I want to go so far away that I'll never hear another human voice! I know if I leave, my boys will be able to fend for themselves, because they're strong young men. But, I wish to see my daughters. I'm afraid that if I stay here, they will be burdened with this misery as long as they live. I want to let them know that they deserve and should pray for a better life than I had. So, for now I offer a farewell to my children, all the citizens of Thebes, and (I pray) the pain I feel.

Oedipus Journal 2: A poem written by Oedipus

The Enemy

He can't escape the punishment.

He'll never get away with his

plots,

schemes,

or plans

to steal my crown.

He's a traitor and a burden.

He's the enemy.

"Calm" or "rational"

Don't make me laugh.

His crooked mind convinces him

that there's no conspiracy,

but I see a criminal

un

fold

ing

right before me.

He's the enemy.

Wait, could it be?

The three-road path

seems too familiar.

If the stories match up,

if he says only one man,

could it be possible that

I've become the enemy?

I decided to create a poem that Oedipus wrote about Laius' murderer. At first Oedipus is convinced that Creon is the murderer and that Creon has a plan behind this murder to interfere with Oedipus' power. He then recalls that he happened to be at the place of Laius' murder when Jocasta explains how Laius was killed by a group of theives where three roads meet and after hearing it he begins to second guess himself. I wanted to show how Oedipus initially shifts the blame to Creon in the beginning of the poem through the repetition of "He." By repeatedly saying "He," and "He's the enemy" it shows how Oedipus wants to bring the attention off of himself and really emphasize Creon's guilt. Through syntax, I was able to reveal with the constant use of punctuation how Oedipus didn't feel like there was much room for explanation and it was obvious who should be held responsible because the sentences/lines are short and to the point. However, there are question marks in the third stanza which illuminate how Oedipus is questioning his initial thoughts and beginning to wonder whether or not he should have been so quick to judge. There is alliteration in the line "His crooked mind convinces him that there's no conspiracy, but I see a criminal unfolding right before me," and the harsh sound of the C's really highlights Oedipus' sharp emotions because the reader can relate the hard emphasis to Oedipus' feelings.