Life as a Drama - an essay by Reanne Sun

Practical English Writing: An EFL Composition Course

Assignment #20: The Power of Metaphor [MC]

Life as a Drama
by Reanne Sun

O R I G I N A L

Life is like a drama. It contains many happy, angry, sad and bitter scenes. Every character has his own role and apart to play in the drama. In our daily life, we cry, smile and laugh. The characters in a drama can also be sick or sad. All of us want to do our best, displaying our full abilities on the stage. However, sometimes we will miss some lines and forget some parts. We are not perfect. We will make mistakes and blame ourselves. Then we will restart and continue our life, doing whatever we have to do.
Like actors on a stage, all people have particular relationships between each other. And in some way, each actor is unique. At the begging of a drama, all the actors and actresses are in high spirits to perform their best. At the end, some people may be sick or die, tired of continuing. Life is the same. As we get older and older, some people get too old to do any things. At the end of the drama, all we have are memorizes. To win praise is the goal of many playwrights and also the drama of our life.
On the other hand, there is something different from life to drama. For example, life can never be rehearsed. What is done can not be changed or restarted. All our emotional actions are real and natural, not pretended. And one of the differences between life and drama is that the time on a stage can be very fast, while the time in our life isn't. So we should hold the time and never hold back to what we want to do. In that way our life can have a satisfying ending.

Q U E S T I O N S

1. Are there any places in this essay where the author seems to generalize too much?

2. Can you think of any quotes by famous persons supporting this metaphor?

3. The author mentioned that all actors are in "high spirits" at the start of a play.
However, are all people are in "high spirits" at the start of their lives?

4. The author said that when things go wrong the actors blame themselves.
Are things always this way are in real life?

5. Are all "emotional actions" real? Don't people also pretend in real life?

6. Are there any English mistakes in this essay worth pointing out?

R E V I S I O N

Life is like a drama containing many happy, angry, sad, and bitter scenes. Every character has a role and part to play in the drama of life. Depending on the scene, some of us laugh, others get sick, and others exit the stage of life. Though some actors are obviously better than others, most try to do their best. Nearly every actor blunders sometimes and make mistakes. In real life, too, no persons are perfect and sometimes it takes courage to go one.
Like actors on a stage, all people are unique in some respects and in some way, whether they realize it or not, they are connected. At the beginning of most dramas, actors are generally are in high spirits to perform their best. At at the start of our lives, most people feel excited to be alive. By the end of a drama, however, some people may be sick or dead, or perhaps simply tired of the plot. Life is the same. As we age, people eventually get too old to do anything. At the end of the drama, all we have are our memories - and even they eventually fade.
In some ways, however, life differs from a drama. For example, life can never be rehearsed. We have only one shot at life, and when we die it is no laughing matter. Moreover, the mistakes we make cannot be changed: the lines of life are much harder to erase than lines on paper. Another difference between dramas and real life is that in real life, our actions are usually genuine. Some people always seem to be acting - even in real life. However, I believe most people experience moments of naked truth when our real situation is revealied.
Finally, whereas actions on stage can move fast, a human lifetime usually takes years. It takes most people many decades to complete their dramas. And since we are never really off stage while living, we should use our time wisely and try to make the dramas of our lives are meaningful as possible.