Newsworld

Are there any prominent symbols in this story?  If so, what are they and how are they used?
There are several symbols in the story, among the most prominent being Newsworld itself.  It is representative of childhood, and more specifically, of the nostalgia that comes with revisiting objects from childhood.  When they visit Newsworld, it is abandoned.  Although they explore, tracing their ways through the encapsulated memories looking for something, they find nothing but a wall and the rush of reality as security approaches.

What connections did you make with the story?  Discuss elements  of the story with which you were able to connect.
When 9/11 occurred, I was much younger than the characters in the story.  In my childhood I had difficulty making emotional connections to events, particularly ones that felt so far away.  I did not understand what 9/11 meant for the world.  I understood that people died, but I could not grasp the magnitude of it despite the fact that there were others my age who fully recognized it.  In regards to that particular event in history, I can connect with the difficulty characters have with responding emotionally to the situation, although in my case it was for different reasons.  

What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium.  What medium would you use?
First of all, I would make it more obvious that the women-as-metaphors are just for show.  I would avoid playing it straight.  Heterosexual guy writers have been doing this for centuries and it is so tired that it makes me roll my eyes.  If a story needs to be from a perspective that has been put on a pedestal since people started regarding writing as an art form, it cannot be so dated.  The acknowledgement that these young men have been socially conditioned not to express their emotions and the poisonous impact this has had on each of them psychologically is far more interesting than repeated reinforcement of their masculinity and heterosexuality, which is why if these reinforcements are going to be used, it needs to be more obvious that the intent is to express the need to reinforce these ideas in order to hide and deal with the emotional impacts of the events of the story.  Being a filmmaker, my first instinct is to make it as a film, but I would also like to see it as a visual novel.  No dialogue.  Just images expressing the narrative and emotions of the story.