It is the very first judging of the PWC! I was glad that, despite the the fact that there were only 3 entries, the pieces submitted were overall outstanding. To be frank I didn't think I was going to have a very tough time with choosing a winner: I figured one astonishing piece would blow away several mediocre ones. But, as said, that was not the case; I felt myself in quite a predicament. Anyway, after those who have submitted have read this and are probably feeling great curiosity as to what I have to say about their paragraph, I should probably cut the praising and go to the reviews.
[Reviews are organized in submitted order, not according to judged value]
-----------------------------------
Matt (MattEmAngel)
Nothing shows the life of planet Earth like spring; the vibrant colors and curious sounds breathe life back into a once-dead wasteland of barren trees and fallen grass, brought low by the crush of winter. Something inexplicable, invisible and incomprehensible revives the landscape, flora and fauna, as wildflowers push through the ground to touch the wild animals nursing their young. The cold wind has been replaced with a gentle breeze, and the grey, cloud-coated sky is split by rays of sunshine. All of man's efforts to conquer the land and rule it with his superior knowledge are overshadowed by the raw, yet gentle, force of nature and the change of seasons, as the greatest of writers, artists, musicians and orators have yet to capture a fraction of the glory of it in any other form. If humanity may ever agree on one point, let it be that all of mankind pales in comparison to but a single season: spring.
I'm not sure I will ever forget this paragraph. I'm not sure if it's because I have a rather similar delivery in that I like to be to-the-point with the only metaphors and tangents to increase the imaged value, or if it's something else. On a similar note, it seemed to reflect something almost cliche: it's quite the normal schema for the average reader. It explains the schema in a very nice and deliberate way, which I found to be more exciting as opposed to "Spring is [elementary reasons]". Upon some further wondering, however, I felt the need to ask: perhaps, in some way, is it
too cliche?
Too schematic? Unfortunately, I can't really answer that question of "What is?" so I shall leave the interpretation up to those who read this. On one final note, it was said that perhaps this was a bit lengthy. It was, yes, but it added in a productive matter. As a result I couldn't complain.
-----------------------------------
Emily (MoonFairy)
As the crisp chill of winter dissipates, the seemingly delicate atmosphere of Spring has returned from its long slumber to renew the Earth once more. It's tender arrival slowly transforms the shivering world into a place of youth and rejuvenation. We get to witness this breathtaking and impossible transition as the fragile plants overpower the crushing weight of the snowy scenery every single year. Flowers start to blossom, and it's as if the Earth's sigh of relief powers the soft rolling breeze that awakens the animals from their slumber. This gentle yet vigorous power of Spring will perform its seasonal duties, and then fade into the heat of Summer.
I had trouble describing this. It's not that it was bad, but it was aloof. To avoid overcomplication (as I do try to do quite often, taha), I suppose it was similar to Matt's except that it was more romantic. Not romantic in the sense of love, but romantic in the traditional sense. It painted a picture of a party viewing the theme and its interpretation, which is, excuse the popcult lang, was quite "meta". It was inside itself and self-referencing. Other than its unsuitability for convention, it was somewhat worded strangely. Euphemism seemed to be used a bit more often than they should have, which, normally, I wouldn't mind. But it seemed to pull the story into a somewhat broken path. Overall, I didn't expect anything of this sort and I thought the image was favorable.
-----------------------------------
Nicho (nichodemus)
It is a time whispered only in dusty forbidden books, a time when the unspeakable slithered, oozed and squirmed across the Earth, a time when Man had not crawled out of the primordial soup to claim his much vaunted and foolish dominance of the planet. Mankind has only just nibbled at the cosmic cycles wherein his youthful development form the most fleeting of moments, a transient and fading day of Spring in the grand history of the universe. Science, (Ah, much beloved source of comforting misguided rationality!) has mercifully brought but a tiny glimpse of the terrifying knowledge of our history, of our planet's beginning and that of its doomed future. For it is a feverish nightmare of Cyclopean cities of unnatural geometry and the hideous forms from Beyond that dwelled in them, sights that would drive a person gibbering with madness and fear at their sheer perverse alienness not of this Earth.
Excuse the review, for it will not do justice. Regardless, we should sit down and get to describing what I felt. As I understand it, it's not conventional. Not quite at all. Rather, I feel as if you aimed for it to be a metaphor for passage of the human race. It was worded in such a way that there was a lot going on: so much that I had to read it several times. It was worded in an eloquent way such that the message would be carried on a cosmic path through considerations of schemas. As a fan of the sort myself, that hit a bell. I do feel a bit of shame that I could not describe it more so, because I believe the way it was crafted was gripping as well as thoughtful.
-----------------------------------
Without further ado, I would like to award
nichodemus for his paragraph! If you would like a breakdown for your personal paragraph of
all positives vs. negatives, I would be happy to do so. I chose nichodemus' paragraph because I felt it was the most thoughtful and intricate, but not so much that I felt lost (although others may have thought differently!).
The next theme will be giving by pang and at this time I believe all will go into his hands. As for merit prizes, I still have to wait for word. Thank you!
