“Empty Walls” – Serj Tankian

1. “Empty Walls”– Serj Tankian By: Andy Carrillo Vanessa Medina Sean Gurganian

2. The Song - Full

3. Music Video

4. Your empty walls... Your empty walls... Pretentious attentionDismissive apprehensionDon't waste your time, on coffins todayWhen we decline, from the confines of our mindDon't waste your time, on coffins todayDon't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxicationDon't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxication Repetition & Symbol Rhyme Allusion End Stop & Imagery Allusion Lyrics 1

5. Repetition • The repeated use of the same word or word pattern to create emphasis. “Your empty walls... Your empty walls...” • The speaker uses this repetition to intensify the description of the setting.

6. Symbol • A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself. “Empty walls” • “Empty walls” symbolize the desolation of Iraq because of the current war. Bombings have significantly reduced the population. The country has been destroyed. Now those rooms or walls where people lived are empty. Also, deserted homes, including the uprooting of families that resided in the homes.

7. Allusion • A reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture. “Dismissive apprehension” • This refers that fears of death are insignificant to the culprits. The deaths of all the people are really, or at least should be a big deal but evidently the culprits don’t think so.

8. Allusion (cont.) “Dying of anticipation” • This may mean one of two things: - That the expectation of dying is permanent. or - The anticipation of hope for improvement, whether it's from an external force, or from within. • Anticipation is a clever use by the author, the word may be used with optimism or pessimism.

9. End Stop • A question mark or exclamation mark at the end of a line of poetry. “Don’t you see their bodies burning?” • The question mark is used to add emphasis to the speaker’s concern for the crisis.

10. Imagery • The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience. “Don’t you see their bodies burning?” • This paints a picture of the seriousness of the speaker’s position on the issue of war.

11. Rhyme • The repetition of vowel sounds in accented syllables and all succeeding syllables. “Pretentious attentionDismissive apprehension”

12. I want youTo beLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youto seeFrom behind those empty wallsThose empty wallsWhen we decline, from the confines of our mindDon't waste your time, on coffins todayDon't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxicationDon't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxication Setting Assonance Allusion Rhyme Rhyme Lyrics 2

13. Setting • The time and place of a literary work that establish its context. “Left behind those empty walls” • As mentioned before, “empty walls” represent Iraq. Everything in this poem is related to the horrible situation in Iraq.

14. Assonance • Assonance is the repetition of an identical or similar vowel sound. “When we decline, from the confines of our mind” • The speaker is saying that even for those who are not dead physically, they are dead or dying in their mind or inside.

15. Allusion “Don’t waste your time on coffins today” • The speaker is conveying the message that people should spend the valuable time of being alive with those who are still living. In a place where death can occur at any moment, it is invaluable to spend precious moments with those who are still in this world, rather than dwell on those who have passed away.

16. Rhyme “Don't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearning” “Dying of anticipationChoking from intoxication”

17. I want youTo beLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youTo seeFrom behind those empty wallsWant you to beLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youto seeFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsThe wallsFrom behind those empty walls Setting Drawing conclusions Repetition Lyrics 3

18. Drawing conclusions “Taunt you to see from behind those empty walls” • Since taunt means to provoke or challenge, we can conclude that the speaker wants to challenge the culprits’ ignorance. Destruction is caused by cowards.

19. I loved youyesterday, before you killed my familyDon't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxicationDon't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxication Rhyme Allusion Rhyme Lyrics 4

20. Allusion “Choking from intoxication” • This is an allusion to injustice. Intoxication is a very deep word. In addition, the complexity of "choking" with "intoxication" is even greater. Literally, intoxication is used to describe both an individual's mental and physical state.

21. I want youTo beLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youTo seeFrom behind those empty wallsWant you to be, left behind those empty wallsTaunt youTo seeFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsThose walls... Those walls... Setting Repetition Lyrics 5

22. Stanzas: 13 • Mood: Disappointed about the mass deaths and angry with the culprits of war.

23. The End Thank you for listening to our presentation!

24. Bibliography • "Empty Walls lyrics by Serj Tankian." LyricsMode. LyricsMode.com. 15 Apr 2008 <http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/serj_tankian/empty_walls.html>. • "*mis chicos malos*." Blog. Microsoft. 16 Apr 2008 <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://storage.msn.com/x1pc_jqddVOWRmzsyV 8n40niMnQveWluu_1D20ON1Q9BPrMkF8ZQxDC9nA8IFE83s7PwzIg1OZZzguu5eDSfkQ gpgvWkInb6KFqfqpYVL5ZA_OCBLdDACwTGEM7sOnYX5T&imgrefurl=http://ademongirli e.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!C636467BB11E00F!517.entry&h=302&w=302&sz=31&hl=en& start=861&um=1&tbnid=Jj7EbfvTmwyDjM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3D serj%2Btankian%26start%3D860%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3 Dactive%26sa%3DN>. • Gardner, Brian. "Contests: Enter to win one of SYSTEM OF A DOWN’S SERJ TANKIAN CDs." Caustic Truths. 16 April 2008. Revolutions. 16 Apr 2008 <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://caustictruths.com/blog/wp- content/uploads/2007/10/serj- small.jpg&imgrefurl=http://caustictruths.com/blog/2007/10/12/contests-enter-to-win-one-of- system-of-a-down%25E2%2580%2599s-serj-tankian- cds/&h=380&w=300&sz=34&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=v_GJ- YnnfJjCdM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=97&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dserj%2Btankian%26um%3D1% 26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN>. • nir3m3diados. "Serj tankian." Photo Bucket. photobucket inc.. 24 Apr 2008 <http://photobucket.com/image/serj%20tankian/nir3m3diados/serjtankiandance.gif?o=90>.

25. Bibliography (Cont.) • Black , Cristina. "Backstage with… Serj Tankian." Time Out New York. 17 October 2007 . Time Out New York. 24 Apr 2008 <http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/music/23167/ba ckstage-with-serj-tankian>. • Roberts, Randall. "KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas Gibson Amphitheater." LA Weekly Blogs. 11 December 2007. LA Weekly, LP. 24 Apr 2008 <http://blogs.laweekly.com/play/live-in-la/kroqs-almost- acoustic-christma/>. • Sullivanka_DAG. "Serj Tankian." PhotoBucket. photobucket inc.. 24 Apr 2008 <http://photobucket.com/image/serj%20tankian/Sullivanka _DAG/l_d7bd5edb84b2879482208bc4ef1cc924.jpg?o=5>.