RA: Oh So Stylish

So. We had an assignment to analyze a song. Keeping with the tradition of saving bullets or arrows (or whatever your preferred medium of attack is) and time, I'm going to kill two birds with one stone (/bullet/arrow) and analyze "I'm Not That Girl", from Wicked, which I am also translating for my sign class. Brilliant.

I'm Not That Girl

Speaker: Elphaba, aka Elfie [total side note, this is where I get one of my nicknames from. Long story, and I'm not totally obsessed with Wicked, but I will say it is probably the greatest Broadway show I have ever seen, for it's creativity, plot, lighting, and some fun characterization. I thought it was absolutely brilliant how it made itself into a prequel for the beloved, "Wizard of Oz", but absolutely changed the meaning of everything. Brilliant! /end side note...]

Audience: Herself, which is interesting. (So Brannon wasn't completely crazy talking to himself about the gray speck on the carpet :D). She's musing out loud, and trying to convince herself. What makes this incredibly interesting is that it's not your normal argument-- she already knows all of her points and arguments for both sides. She knows her strong points and her plan of attack, so her main argument has to be very strong indeed.

Argument: 'Ignore your feelings and let him go.' She's resigning herself to giving up the only boy who has ever sparked her interest,

because she doesn't feel like she's on his level. She feels completely overshadowed by Galinda, and doesn't think she'll amount to much in the ways of romance or social popularity.

Style: Morose. One argument is dejected, fatal, while the other is giddy because of the precious, rare feeling she experienced. The hopeful side is being pulled down by the fatalistic side, and in the end, she crushes her hope. She gives in to the notion that she will never have a chance with Fiyero because the competition is far too high above her.

Technical Analysis: Style, stance, tone, and all sorts of good fodder

Stance: Different opinions of what you think about your topic.

Changing stance without changing tone or audience:
Young audience (elementary/jr. high)

1) Annie moved closer to Billy. She looked at him, and he looked back, wide-eyed. She scooted closer on the lunch bench. Her eyes were big and brown with long lashes. Billy gulped. Her hand touched his, very softly, and all of a sudden she was holding his hand. Billy smiled. He held her hand tighter, and they spent the rest of lunch sitting close together.

2) Annie moved closer to Billy. She looked at him, and he stared back, wide-eyed. She scooted cloer on the lunch bench. Her eyes were huge, with long freaky lashes. Billy gulped. Her hand touched his, just barely, and all of a sudden she had grabbed his hand. Billy grimaced. She held his hand tighter, and he spent the rest of lunch trying not to sit so close together.


Changing tone without changing stance:
Older audience (college/adult)

1) Anna sidled closer to William. She gazed through him, nearly piercing his soul, and he ogled back, one eyebrow raised. She slithered even closer on the bar stool. Her eyes were enormous, with sweeping, sultry lashes framing delicate eyelids. William choked slightly on his martini. Her hand brushed his, ever so slightly, and suddenly the warmth of her hand spread across his as she interlocked fingers. William choked harder. With one too many drinks, he could not pull himself from her spell, and he spent the rest of the night trying to dislodge her surprisingly persistant grip.

2) Anna sidled closer to William. She looked at him intensely and longingly, as if she was interested, and he stared back in shock and nervousness, one eyebrow raised. She cunningly moved closer on the bar stool. Her unblinking eyes were enormous, and she gazed flirtatiously at him with her long eyelashes. William coughed in embarrassment. She reached out and her hand brushed his to get his attention, and suddenly she had interlocked her fingers with his. William became more embarrassed and felt all the more awkward. With one too many drinks, he couldn't bring himself to tell her off, and he spent the rest of the night trying to pull his hand from her stubborn hold.

Fw: Totally glad I have these for when I'm out of town and it's more difficult to concentrate when relatives are gabbing with full mouths

Okay, my relatives really aren't that bad, but they are talkative, so I'm glad I don't have to write a full-blown paper or anything that needs a lot of concentration. Can't say as much for my sociology homework, but they at least understand that I'm not totally being antisocial if I skip out of the room for a while. (Well, either that or I'm avoiding the very distant relative that was hitting on my sister last year, and trying to avoid the same fate).

So, driving down here was intersting, and frankly, almost terrifying. I drove with my parents and my sister, and although my dad has his little baby Acura, which is a very nice car and should have good traction and all that jazz, we hit a BEASTLY snowstorm, and I could feel the tires sliding every few minutes. A bit unnerving, especially when you couple it with the fact that we couldn't see farther than the taillights of the 4th car in front of us, and you can usually see the whole valley. Then we hit fog. Joy. And then it stopped snowing, and then it started again, and then we had semis blowing past us (which was rather stupid, in my opinion... lugging a huge cargo load on a slippery road, almost no visibility, and going 85 miles an hour.)

Well, food's on, and I'm starving, so I'm outta here :)