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\u201cThe Tyrant\u2019s Stage\u201d is a sonnet going through the feelings of a working-class
\nRussian citizen forced to attend Putin\u2019s war concert to celebrate the military. I decided to
\ncome up with a modern version of the Shakespearean sonnet by changing the rhyming
\nscheme. I wanted to create an echoey feeling while reading to signify how if most of
\nthese Russian citizens were not forced to attend the concert, the stadium would be
\nempty and echoey. I am really happy with how that turned out because it is unique to
\nthe topic of this poem.
\nThe first stanza described the life of the citizen. The imagery of being “pulled
\nfrom my day by the great hand” and “squeezed onto a bus like a grain of sand”
\nemphasizes a loss of individuality. It shows that the worker is no longer a person with a
\nlife, but rather a tool to advance the country\u2019s infrastructure and economic growth.
\nThe second stanza described the massive scale of this event and the
\npropaganda spread during the show. I wanted to show a contrast from this event and a
\nWestern large-scale concert by depicting the stadium as being “full with lies” while also
\ndescribing the size by the flag-waving “sea of lives.” I also wanted to include some
\nimages of the audio in this event. The subject doesn\u2019t want to hear the propaganda war
\nsongs, so I used the \u201cloudspeakers\u2019 cries” as a way to convey how overwhelming it was
\nto be there. The ears ringing suggests a violent assault of propaganda in contrast to the
\ncelebratory concert as it was meant to be.
\nThe third stanza really hones in on the personal feelings of the person showing
\ntheir disgust and thoughts of the performance. The act of \u201cmouthing the anthem\u2019s
\nwords\u201d shows a disconnect of pride in one’s country for more of an indifference for
\nRussia. Feeling dead inside brings life into the matter. I assume that if a person is
\nuncooperative with the government, then there may be punishments that include death.
\nI wanted to show a sense of survival and the only way to survive was to be obedient to
\nthe “icy tyrant\u2019s” rule.
\nI really enjoyed writing this because I am not the fondest of creative writing.
\nStepping out of my comfort zone helped me capture some of the emotions I felt while
\nlearning about this topic. Instead of just reading facts and data, I put myself in the shoes
\nof a citizen and made the reality of government-forced propaganda feel personal rather
\nthan analytical.<\/p>\n
Avrum Horsley, a Second-Year Student Majoring in Computer Science<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe Tyrant\u2019s Stage\u201d is a sonnet going through the feelings of a working-class Russian citizen forced to attend Putin\u2019s war concert to celebrate the military. I decided to come up with a modern version of the Shakespearean sonnet by changing the rhyming scheme. I wanted to create an echoey feeling while reading to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,82,81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem","category-russia","category-war"],"yoast_head":"\n