Please print out a copy of what you have written so far on your short story. Bring it to class. We will read them and give each other feedback on what we have so far.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Welcome to the world of great books.
Your place to express your ideas and share thoughts about your book.
71 comments:
I am reading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The protagonist is Ignatius Reilly. He is thirty years old, fat, and doesn't have a job. He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. He lives with his mom, who provides him with everything. His mom has arthritis in her elbow. Ignatius' girlfriend left him. He doesn't drive because he gets carsick. He says, "If I could drive, I would be able to help you more, I imagine." He doesn't like to leave New Orleans. He states, "Outside of the city limits the heart of darkness, the true wasteland begins."
Alex can you add a bit more about his personality?
thanks ms sefton
I am reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. The protagonist is Christopher Johnson McCandless. He comes from an upper middle class family in Virginia. His father, Walt worked for NASA. Chris had a sister, who he has very close to, and six half- brothers and sisters from his father's previous marriage. In 1990, he graduated from Emory University in Atlanta. He denied entry into a fraternity because he thought honors and titles are irrelevant. He was extremely adventurous. After graduating, he left Atlanta without telling his family to pursue his dream of living off the land. He did this because his parents' arguments caused his much stress in his life. His adventurous character took him all over North America and eventually Alaska.
I am reading Into the Wild by John Krakaurer. The protagonist of the novel is Christopher Johnson McCandless. Chris Mccandless grew up in Annandale Virginia and graduated from the University of Emory in 1990. Even though Chris was academically talented, he decided to travel instead of attending law school. He was extremely adventurous and wanted to be independent. He needed a break from his routine life and decided to get away from society. He ventured across North America in search of "raw, transcendent experience." Chris planned to live way out in the wilderness of Alaska for a few months and then return to his normal life. He brought little previsions and was under equipped for the dangerous trip he was undertaking. In the end, his naive nature and inexperience of the Alaskan weather, cost Chris his life.
In the Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, the main character is a young teenager named Ronnie. She is driven to rebellion when her parents get divorced. After the divorce she begins to spriral down, by stealing, partying, and staying out late against her mother's wishes. But when her mother puts her foot down and sends Ronnie to her dad's for the summer, a change comes over Ronnie. She begins to laugh and have fun. She even starts to forgive her father for leaving them. During the summer she falls in love, turning her into a silly school girl, far from the Ronnie that was first introduced. When she becomes happy and freespirited a new side of Ronnie is exposed. A side of her that is affectionate, loving and forgiving.
Serena Arena
I am reading Burned by Ellen Hopkins. The main character in the book is Pattyn Von Stratten,a confuseed and supressed young Morman girl. Pattyn lives in an abusive household, where her father is an alchoholic and beats her mother. Having no say about the matter, she struggles with internal unresolve and the pain of her fathers abuse. Pattyn knows that she should be following the strict rules of her religion yet in her heart there is rebellion. She realizes that the teaching of her church and the role of women that her religion stressed is totally warped and she refuses to bvelieve it any longer. Pattyn is a very curious and rebellious girl. I admire her bravery and her will to break free of her clostrophobic lifestyle. Early on in the story it is obvious that she is very strong and ready to fight for what she believes in.
The protagonist inside Ellen Hopkins "Burned" is a young girl named Pattyn Von Stratten. Pattyn grew up in a very religious home structure. Patten's parents are strict Mormons, and she follows in their footsteps. Pattyn hates being Mormon and wants to see the world outside of her sheltered home. To describe her character Ellen says that she is plain, so Pattyn must be a simple girl. Pattyn is a junior in high school making her 16 or 17. Pattyn doesn't respect the morals of the Mormon Religion, she disagrees with the teaching of her church. She wants to be a different person, instead of women just makinf babies and beatings being okay inside the marriage and household. Pattyn is quick to fall in love making her very naive. Pattyn is also very immature because of the way she was sheltered growing up.
Serena Arena
I am reading Burned by Ellen Hopkins. The main character in the book is Pattyn Von Stratten,a confuseed and supressed young Morman girl. Pattyn lives in an abusive household, where her father is an alchoholic and beats her mother. Having no say about the matter, she struggles with internal unresolve and the pain of her fathers abuse. Pattyn knows that she should be following the strict rules of her religion yet in her heart there is rebellion. She realizes that the teaching of her church and the role of women that her religion stressed is totally warped and she refuses to bvelieve it any longer. Pattyn is a very curious and rebellious girl. I admire her bravery and her will to break free of her clostrophobic lifestyle. Early on in the story it is obvious that she is very strong and ready to fight for what she believes in.
Dylan Ross
In the Last Song my Nicholas Sparks the protagonist of the story is a teenage girl named Ronnie. Ronnie is a girl that rebels because of the anger set of by her parents divorce. Over time the intensity of Ronnies rebellious acts had been getting worse and worse with bad habits with her friends, and abusing her mothers hopes and wishes. Ronnies mother finally gets fed up by
Ronnies outrageous behavior and decides on a whim to send Ronnie to live with her father. Her father whom she nnever had a close relationship with. As her time progresses with her father she finds something she never thought she would which is a deep love. Her character begins to calm and flourish and her true beautiful personality is slowly revealed.
D
I am reading the Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. The protagonist is Ronnie. She is a teenager whose parents got divorced at a young age. She is upset by this and her father's lack of trying to re-connect to her. She is very rebellious and acts out for attention. Her single strand of purple hair reflects her want for attention. Yet the fact that she does not color her whole hair purple shows us she is still the same old Ronnie that she was when she was younger. Ronnie is independent yet she is easily influenced by others. She wants to fit in by not fitting in. She is the type of girl that goes to a party to seem cool but she does not drink because she still holds her morals.
Dominic Mills
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
The protagonist in Into the Wild is Christopher Johnson McCandless. In the beginning of the book it tells how his body was found in the wild by a moose hunter. By the time he found him Christopher's body was already deteriorating. Christopher grew up in Washington D.C. He was raised in a upper-middle class family with both a mom and dad. His parents fought frequently which caused Christopher to take his journey into the wild. While he was growing up he was a great athlete and strong in academics. He also attended Emory University with flying colors. When he decided to leave he changed his name got rid of his car and burned the money in his wallet. He was a very interesting man and his story is a very good one.
I am reading Lightning by Dean R. Koontz. There could be two protagonists in this story so far.The first is named Stefan. He is a tall, blond, blue-eyed man. Everyone that looks at him seems to be lost in a gaze because of how strong his eyes are. He has watched, stalked, and obsessed over a 12 year old girl since she was born. Her name is Laura Shane and she is the second potencial protagonist. She is a brunette with brown eyes and can make any man stare her way. At one time she was threatened to be raped by a junkie when he was robbing her father's convienice store. She is very loving and has a motherly to her father.
1. Crescendo-increasing; growing.
"The crowd started to clap, and money rained into the hat as the music built to a crescendo."
2.Inexplicable-incapable of being explained.
"Big, seat bodies, two of whom were squashing her between them as the crowd came to an inexplicable stop."
3.Mesmerized-to be hynotized; spellbound
"The stars truly mesmerized the two young kids as the night went on."
4. Taxidermy-the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals and especially vertebrates.
"Jonah seemed far more interested in the weird taxidermy pieces perched on the shelves.
5.Alternately-occurring or succeeding by turns
"Outside, Jonah was alternating chasing, and being chased by, the waves as seagulls fluttered overhead.
Jessica Hartley
4/6
1. Mandate- an authoritative order or command
"I'd never written but a few words in a mandated diary."
2. Orchestrate- to arrange or manipulate
"Three solid hours of crying babies and unispired testimony, all orchestrated by bishops, presidents,..."
3. Sheen- luster,brightness, radiance
"...wake up,tingly all over, and bathed in a cool sheen of sweat..."
4. Prohibit- to forbid
"How, despite the church's prohibition of all things alcohol, he only drank more and more?
DOMINIC MILLS
I knew I wanted to chose an Indian poet. So I chose Agha Shahid Ali because his words seemed to connect with me the most. Unlike other poets I could actually understand what he is talking about.I also extremely enjoy everything Indian. Finally his birthday is the same as both my parents so it felt like fate.
From "The Wolf's Postscript to 'Little Red Riding Hood'"
First, grant me my sense of history: I did it for posterity,
for kindergarden teachers
and a clear moral:
Little girls shouldn't wander off
in search of strange flowers,
and they mustn't speak to strangers
I really like this poem because of the imagined inside look inside the characters. This poem shows what Ali thought about the "bad guys" in the story and they have souls too. In this poem the Wolf explains he attacked a little girl to give the moral that you should not speak to strangers. He also says he has a great sense of plot because he could have just eaten little red riding hood in the forest where he met her. He also says that he purposely fell down to make children laugh.
Taylor Neuhoff
I chose Gabriela Mistral because I love reading poetry from Latin America. His poems are all very sentimental, which make them easy to read and understand. I like studying sophisticated poetry, and Mistral is a University professor and has spoken at the united nations. I like the topics he deals with too. I love that he uses such strong imagery.
I have in my throat one word
that i cannot speak, will not set free
though its thrusts of blood pounds me.
If i voiced it, it would scorch the living grass,
bleed the lamb, fell the bird.
I have to cut if from my tongue.
these lines are maybe about love. he seems so passionate about the "word," but he never reveals it throughout the whole poem. He might just be doing this make the reader think, but im not sure. It must be something powerfully terrible, because he wants to "cut it from his tongue. His words hit me like a punch and immediately i want to know what the word is. His writing makes me curious.
MELE SMALLWOOD
I chose Cecilia Meireles because latin american poetry has always sparked my interest. Her poems are very easy to relate to. They are all full of emotion and imagery. Her poems are definitely more on the sad side, which i think makes them seem more "real". I feel like you can see who Cecilia was as a person by reading her poetry.
The greatest pain I have,
Silver dagger,
Is not to see me dying,
But to know who is killing me.
I feel like this has to heartbreak. The "Silver dagger"could possibly be a man Cecilia had been madly in love with, and then he left shattering her heart in to millions of pieces. I think she feels betrayed, and cannot believe her lover would cause her so much pain.
MELE SMALLWOOD
I chose the poet Bei Dao because he is from the country of China and I took a cultural intrest. I red a few of his poems and i liked how deep they were. I also took an intrest in his personal life. He had expirenced the cultural revolution with Mao Zi Dong which was something that had a huge impact on my grandma. I also was interested to learn more about China's history and about its culture. I am also very excited to cook a special chinese dish for class.
Quiet and Tremble:
you are drawing yourself
being born--light's rising
turning the paper-night
madness that you released
is quiet cast by truth
pride shines as if internal wounds
darken all the words
I think he is talking about his own soul and probably about maybe a new discovery of a side of himself he did not know of. This side of him is probably the fact that he is being driven crazy by reality and he is just a broken man deep inside with a lot of wounds.
MEGAN (your favorite) O'MALLEY
I chose Maria Elena Cruz Varela because I thought her past was very interesting. I knew i wanted a female poet so i could relate to her more and when I found Maria i became very interested in her. I also liked the fact that she was from Cuba because i know very little about Cuba and Im excited to study a new country. I also liked her style of poetry. I like hwo the words dont rhyme and she uses a lot of imagery. Overall after reading her first poem i knew i wanted to do her.
"Its dawn. Again. Life is obliging. Obliging us.
Its Dawn. Again. Dissolved in speech. Locked in a spiral down to the last fall,
fall into nothing, horror of nothing. Devouring us.
I come with my relics of all that is wrong.
With one ear gone. And bleeding. A bullet in my temple.
Abandonment. Ridiculous bedroom of miserable hotel."
I think Maria is using dawn to represent the ending of something. Like how dawn is the ending of the day she is saying its dawn, its the end of the situation. She then goes on explaining that nothing good has come of this situation. She is left alone and there is nothing left. She uses "spiral down to the last fall" to represent her life with nothing left. I like her repativeness in the word "dawn" cause it really makes you analyze it. Overall i think she is explaining what happened to her and how at the end what she was left with.
1) I chose Alistair Te Ariki Campbell because I read one of his poems about Maui. Also because he lived on an island similar to Maui. I was also interested in Māori history. He has an interesting name. I liked his poetry, it seemed nice and simple. He was born in the same year as my grandfather and he had an interesting life story.
2) he had led his company, unwittingly
beyond the start-line of an attack,
and was killed crossing a bridge,
but the real part of him, his legend,
lives on, whether his name is known or not.
He lives in the hills rallying the dead.
(Captain H.W. Leaf, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell)
3) He is writing about the New Zealand war hero, Captain H.W. Leaf. He was a Māori and was killed in battle. He died while leading his troops across a bridge. His name lives on. He is a legend among the Māori and will continue to be even if his name is forgotten. The author believes his spirit lives on and rallies the dead as he rallied the living.
JARED SHIMADA
I chose Shunataro Tanikawa because I took an interest of his country of origin: Japan. We both have a common interest of music. I also chose him because I did not hear of much Japanese poets and wanted to learn more about them. Also, he decided to turn to Western poetry instead of the traditional Japanese version of poetry. I liked this about him and chose him since he basically adopted a different version of poetry he was accustomed to.
NERO
Nero
you have died
without anyone being aware
you have gone far away alone
your voice
your touch
and even your feelings
now clearly live again before me.
In this stanza, he is mourning over the death of his beloved dog. He is saying that even though the spirit of his dog has left the body to go to heaven, the memories of the two of them being together will bring back familiar things of the dog such as his bark. Personally, I find this very touching since he is dedicating a very long poem to his dog. This dog must have played a big role in the poet's life.
SHANE JACOB
1) I chose Amrita Pritam from India. I chose her because i really enjoyed reading her poems and her imagery was very profound. I like her creativeness and usage of words. I also thought her life story was very interesting. She grew up in pakistan and moved to india. Her mother died when she was young, and to get over the loneliness, she began to write poetry to comfort herself.
2) I will meet you yet again
How and where? I know not.
Perhaps I will become a
figment of your imagination
and maybe, spreading myself
in a mysterious line
on your canvas,
I will keep gazing at you.
3) I think this passage is about a someone dying and there loved one is telling them not to worry and that they will meet again. He/She is says that they do not know where or when they will reunite, but somehow they will be together. They must not lose hope because destiny has them together and that their love will always last. I think the poet is trying to communicate that even if you die, your legacy and spirit will continue to live but it may be in different shapes or forms. I think this poem is related to her mothers death that greatly effected her.
Serena Arena
The poet I chose is Joy Harjo, a Native American poet born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1951. I chose this poet because she has a really amazing way with words and she is able to bring you into the poem. Through imagery she makes you feel as if you are there smelling the grass, and feeling those emotions. Also I am interested in this poet because she performs her poems along with music so that they almost become a song. Along with being an amazing writer, she has won many awards for her work.
"The woman hangs from the 13th floor window crying for
the lost beauty of her own life.
She sees the sun falling west over the gray plane of Chicago.
She thinks she remembers listening to her own life
break loose, as she falls from the 13th floor
window on the east side of Chicago, or as she
climbs back up to claim herself again." (Harjo)
In this poem, Harjo explains the thoughts going through a woman's mind as she hangs out the window of the 13th floor of a building in Chicago. The woman is very undecided, she can't make up her mind as to what to do. At home she has three kids and once upon a time she was beautiful and full of vigorous life. The woman contemplates the her suicide judging if it is truly what she wants, deciding if she truly can't stand another minute. The poem ends with the choice up to her, lingering in the air unanswered and undetermined. This poem leaves you on the edge and with one question on my mind...will she do it?
I chose Nazim Hikmet not only because he is from Turkey, but because of his interesting background. During his adult years, he spent most of them in prison. He was detained by the government because of his political beliefs. His poetry is often described as "romantic communist" and "romantic revolutionary". He was born in 1902 and died 1963.
"Taut, thick fingers punch
the teeth of my typewriter.
Three words are down on paper
in capitals:
SPRING
SPRING
SPRING..."
In this small excerpt I feel that he suffered a lot through a time that we could call "winter" and now is in the period of his life called "spring". And during he "spring" of his life, he is in love and has a passion for life. Meaning that each life is similar to each year. But instead of seasons we have phases of life.
JESSICA HARTLEY
4/22
I chose Claribel Alegria from latin America. I chose her because her poetry is very easy to relate to, but its also a little challenging to completely understand. I like how she talks about direct people, or an incident that happend in her life. She explains a certain moment and how it made her realize something about something else in her life.
"Rain is falling
falling
and memories keep flooding by
they show me a senseless
world
a voracious
world--abyss
ambush
whirlwind
spur
but I keep loving it
because I do
because of my five senses
because of my amazement
because every morning,
because forever, I have loved it
without knowing why." (Alegria)
In this poem I think she is reflecting on a loved one that is passing away. She uses the rain as a symbol of all of her memories flooding back to her. How maybe each as each drop falls on her, another old memory comes back. She also realizes how she has taken a thing like rain for granted. She never realized why she loved, she just does.
JESSICA HARTLEY
4/22
Claribel Alegria was born Nicaragua and grew up in El Salvador. She later moved to the United States in 1943. In 1948, she recieved a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Letters at George Washington University. She returned to help reconstruct Nicaragua in 1885, after Anastasio Somoza Debayle was overthrown. She is now living in Managua, Nicaragua.
DYLAN ROSS
I chose the author James Welch because I found his use of words, and imagery very interesting to read. Aside form his writing style that attracted me I myself am Blackfoot native American so it's interesting to see how living on the actual reservation was like for him through his poetry.
I have plans to burn my drum,move out and civilize this hair.
See my nose? I smash it straight for you.
These teeth?
I scrub my teeth away with stones.
I know you help me now I matter.
In this poem I think he is writing about pleasing somebody and that he has to change has whole self to be recognized to those "who matter". Since the poem is called Plea to Those Who Matter. Earlier it talks about him changing his face to not be ignored, and to make a name in the world.
DOMINIC MILLS
1. Agha Shahid Ali was born in Feb. 4 1949 in New Delhi.
2. He studied at University of Arizona and at Penn State.
3. He won the national book award in 2001.
4. He made the ghazals more popular in American poetry.
5. Died in 2001 of brain cancer in his sleep.
1. 1757 British rule begins
2. 1857 Revolt of Indian soldiers against East India Company.
3. Aug 15 1947 India becomes independent.
4. 1947 Undeclared war with Pakistan; ends with United Nations-arranged ceasefire
5. 1948 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated.
http://www.indianchild.com/history_of_india1.htm
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5903, accessed 25 April 2010.]
DOMINIC MILLS
Major Events in the poets life:
1)He spent 17 years in prison because of his commitment to Marxism.
2)In 1909 he was appointed as translator in the press department of the Foreign Ministry.
3)He left Turkey to study in Moscow and when he returned was sentenced time in prison for unauthorized re-entry, but charges where dropped.
4) After he was released from prison he escaped the country to various soviet union countries but was forced to leave his family behind.
5) Because of this he lost his Turkish citizenship and became a citizen of Poland in 1951.
Source:www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hikmet.htm
Major events within Turkey:
1)1453-The fall of Constantinople - the birth of Istanbul
2)1923-Foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
3)1928 - Turkey becomes secular: clause retaining Islam as state religion removed from constitution.
4)1993 - Tansu Ciller becomes Turkey's first woman prime minister
5)2002 January - Turkish men are no longer regarded in law as head of the family. The move gives women full legal equality with men, 66 years after women's rights were put on the statute books.
Source: http://www.hitit.co.uk/HistoryTk.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1023189.stm
SHANE JACOB
1. Amrita Pritam was born 1919 in Pakistan.
2. Amrita's mother died in 1930, and she began writing poetry to try and cope with the loneliness.
3. She migration with her father to India in 1947.
4. In her lifetime, Amrita Pritam published over seventy books,novels, short stories and poems.
5. Amrita Pritam August 31, 1919 – October 31, 2005
1. 1947-independence from Britain.
2. 1964-Death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
3. 1971 India signs a 20 year treaty with the Soviet Union.
4. 1989- Falling public support leads to Congress defeat in general election
5. 2000-India marks the birth of its billionth citizen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1155813.stm
http://connect.in.com/amrita-pritam/biography-17531.html
DYLAN ROSS
1. James Welch lived from 1940- August 4, 2003) and was born in Browning Montana.
2. His father was a member of the Blackfeet tribe, and his mother a member of the Gros Ventre tribe.
3. He attended schools on the Blackfoot and Fort Belknap reservations, and attended University of Montana.
4. Started writing career at Univ. of Montana, and there began his writing career which later contributed to the Native American Renaissance literary movement.
5. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle in 1997.
(Blackfoot Tribe)
1. Called the Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsitapi meaning the "original people".
2. Collective names of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana.
3. Membership in these societies were based on brave acts and deeds.
4. Blackfoot name came from the moccasins, as the people painted the bottoms of the shoes black, or the other story is that they walked through ashes of prairie fire which turned their shoes black.
5. The buffalo was a vital source for them in clothing, living, and eating.
DYLAN ROSS
Alistair Campbell
1) He was born on June 25, 1925 in Rarotonga, Cook Islands; at age 8, moved to New Zealand where he lived the remainder of his life.
2) His mother, Teu Bosini, dies of tuberculosis in 1932, when Alistair was 7; His father, Jock Campbell dies the following year.
3) Born Alistair Campbell, he later added 'Te Ariki' after going back to the Cook Islands and discovering his grandfather had ties to chiefdom. In his grandfather's honor, Campbell added Te Ariki (the chief) to his name.
4) In 1976, Campbell was elected the President of the New Zealand branch of the Postsecondary Education Network International (PEN-International) an international partnership of colleges serving the education of students with hearing impairment
5) He died on August 16, 2009 at the age of 84.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Campbell_(poet) http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/campbella.html
Cook Islands
1) First settled in 500AD by the Maori from French Polynesia.
2) Spaniard Pedro Fernández de Quirós, made the first recorded European landing in 1606.
3) Captain James Cook arrived in 1773.
4) The name "Cook Islands", in honor of Cook, appeared on a Russian naval chart published in 1820.
5) On June 11, 1980 the US signed a treaty with the Cook Islands specifying the border between the Cook Islands and American Samoa.
Sources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cw.html http://www.ck/history.htm
http://www.cook.islands-travel.com/history.html
TAYLOR NEUHOFF
Major Events in Gabriela Mistral's life
1. Her first love was a railway employee, who committed suicide.
2. She adopted a child, who later died.
3. Her father abandoned her family when she was only three.
4. Mistral became in 1921 the principal of Santiago High School, Chile's most prestigious secondary school for girls.
5. Gabriela Mistral was the first Latin American woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.
http://kirjasto.sci.fi/gmistral.htm
Five events in Chile
1. 1879-84 - Chile increases its territory after it defeats Peru and Bolivia in War of the Pacific
2. 1927 - General Carlos Ibanez del Campo seizes power and establishes dictatorship
3. Chilean Revolution of 1891
4. Britain is defeated by German at the Battle of Coronel, off the coast of Chile
5. The economic crash of 1929 strikes Chile with more force than any other country on earth.
SHIRLEY XIAO
BEI DAO :
Wrote his most notable poem "Huida" ( answer) written in 1976 during the Tiananmen Demostration.
Appeared on posters for the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989.
During the Tiananmen Square Revolt he was in literary confrence in Berlin and was not allowed to return to China. ( He was in exile and was seperated form his family for about 6 years.)
In 1983 many of his poems were published in the East Asia Papers series of the Cornell University East Asia Program and in Renditions 19/20 in Hong Kong by The Chinese University Press.
In 1989 he signed a letter with 33 intellectuals to the NPC and the Central Committee,which led to the making of a petition campaign that called for the release of political prisoner.( He succeeded )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bei_Dao
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/beidao.htm
1949 Republic of China was created
1951 PLA operations in Tibet
1976 Great Tangshen Earthquake
1989 Tiananmen Square Protest
1991 First McDonald's restaurant in Beijing (haha)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Chinese_history#Modern_China
SHIRLEY XIAO
Serena Arena
A. Life: Joy Harjo
1.Joy Harjo born in May 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
2.1973 Rainy Dawn was born to Joy Harjo.
3.Harjo received a BA from The University of New Mexico in 1976, and then was further educated at the University of Iowa and earned a MFA in 1978.
Country: North America
4.Won the Oklahoma Book Arts Award and In Mad Love and War (1990) won the American Book Award and the Delmare Schwartz Memorial Award.
5.The Woman Who Fell From the Sky (1994)
source:
B. Country: North America
1. Columbus lands in the Bahamas, returns to Spain with first Indian slaves (1492)
2. War of 1812, the last war in which Indians fight with a foreign colonial power against the United States (1812-14)
3. First appropriation by Congress of a fund ($10,000) to "civilize" the Indians (1819)
4. Congress passes Indian Removal Act, legalizing removal of eastern Indians to west of the Mississippi (1830)
Cherokees travel the Trail of Tears (1838-39)
5. Founding of National Congress of American Indians (1944)
Congress establishes Indian Claims Commission to judge all tribal claims (1946)
source:
MELE SMALLWOOD
Cecilia Meireles
1. In 1921 she married the painter Fernando Correia Dias; they had three daughters
2. In 1940 Meireles became a professor, teaching at the University of Texas
3. In 1953 she participated in a symposium on the work of Gandhi
4. Between 1919 and 1927 she contributed to the magazines Arvore Nova and Terra do Sol
5. She visited Portugal in 1934 and lectured there on Brazilian literature at the universities of Lisbon and Coimbra
Brazil
1. 1500 A.D. Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral lands in Brazil. He claims it for Portugal.
2. 1695 Gold is discovered in Brazil's interior.
3. 1822 Brazil gains independence from Portugal. Pedro I, the son of Portugal's king, establishes the Brazilian empire.
4. 1888 Slavery is abolished in Brazil.
5. 1889 The military forces Emperor Pedro II to give up his throne. Brazil becomes a republic with a president.
Sources:
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/aw/wr/article/0,28138,642885,00.html
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/meireles.htm
MELE SMALLWOOD
MEGAN O'MAlley
MAjor events:
1. Became leader of the anti-castro group.
2. Went to Jail then put under house arrest.
3. Awarded Liberty Prize in 1992
4. Awarded the Emilia Bernal award in 2001
5. Lived the rest of her life in exile in Puerto rico with her daughter.
Cuba:
1. War of 1885
2. Independence in 1970s
3. Fidel Castro's years of power
4. Spanish-American War
5. Spanish Colonization
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3692/is_199507/ai_n8713749/
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1097.html
JARED SHIMADA
Shuntaro Tanikawa
1. Born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo Japan
2. Was still in junior high school when the Second World War was going on. (1939-1945)
3. In 1989, his book, Floating the River in Melancholy, won the American Book Award
4. Been nominated for the 2008 Hans Christian Anderson Award
5. Directed the movie "Yah Chayka!" in 2008.
Sources:
http://www.ulike.net/Shuntar%C5%8D_Tanikawa
http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/12/books/books-of-the-times-036904.html?&pagewanted=1
http://www.fandango.com/shuntarotanikawa/filmography/p165394
Japan
1. 1930: Toshiba is founded.
2. September 1940: Japan sign the "axis" pact with Germany and Italy.
3. Sunday, December 7, 1941: Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
4. August 1945: USA drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emperor Hirohito surrenders and World War II ends.
5. January 1989: One USA dollar is equal to 125 yen.
Sources:
http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/japanese.html
JARED SHIMADA
Simon J. Ortiz
1. Ortiz was born in 1941 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
2. In 1966-68 he attended the University of New Mexico and then the University of Iowa in 1968-69.
3. In 2000, Ortiz was given the award Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year.
4. In 1988 he was appointed as a tribal interpreter for Acoma Pueblo and a year later, became the First Lieutenant Governor for the pueblo.
5. In 1981, he was reconized at the White House Salute to Poetry and received the Pushcart Prize.
North America:
1.
Serena Arena
The most important event in Harjos' life i think is her shift from fine art to langauge and poetry writing. After high school Harjo studied art as a boarding student at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Harjo continued to pursue painting as an undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico until her senior year in which her focus turned to poetry. After reading works from poets like Galway Kinnell, she began to take in interest in language and composition. I think that this must be one of the most important events that changed her life since because of this decision she has become a world renowned poet and achieved much fame. She has also won many awards for her poetry. This change of interest had brought he farther than she was when she was studying fine arts and has opened her life up to a new kind of creativeness.
"For the soul is a wanderer with many hands and feet." A Map to the next World, Joy Harjo
SHIRELY XIAO
The most important moment in my poets life is probably when he was exiled from China for around 6 years. During these six years he was seperated from his wife and daughter. He probably felt really lonely as fellow poets were also exiled from china. In 1970 his lines were on banners that quoted him : "I will not kneel on the ground, Allowing the executioners to look tall, The better to obstruct the wind of freedom."
SHIRLEY XIAO
MELE SMALLWOOD
I think the most important event in Cecilia's life was when her husband committed suicide in 1936. She was left to raise their 3 daughters all by herself. This tragic event no doubt changed Cecilia's outlook on life, and surely effected her poetry as well.
"As the companion is dead,
so we must all together die
somewhat.
Shed for him who lost his life,
our tears are worth
nothing.
Love for him, within this grief,
is a faint sigh lost in a vast
forest."
DOMINIC MILLS
I believe the most significant moment in Agha Shahid Ali's life would be his move from New Delhi to America. He went to many universities in both India and America however. In America he taught at 9 different schools and recieved a PhD in English from Penn State. I think his shift to America is significant because he is much more widely known in America and that is where he made his life. He is often known for comparing Kashmir to America.
"Memories"
Desolation's desert. I'm here with shadows
of your voice, your lips as mirage, now trembling. Grass and dust of distance have let this desert bloom with your roses.
DOMINIC MILLS
During his life, Nazim Hikmet faced many adversities. He spent years in and out of prison, and being harassed by the police based on fabricated charges. This was because he was part of the banned Communist group within country, that the country did not like. But perhaps his years in prison where a good thing for him partly.While in prison he spent hours on poems, and some of his most famous come from the time he served in prison.
Letters from a man in Solitary:
Trees may grow in the yard,
but I'm not allowed
to see the sky overhead...
How many others are in this place?
I don't know.
I'm alone far from them,
they're all together far from me.
To talk anyone besides myself
is forbidden.
So I talk to myself.
After release from prison:
What time is it?
Eight.
That means you're safe until evening.
Because it's the practice of police
Never to raid homes in broad daylight.
JARED SHIMADA
The most important time period for Shuntaro Tanikawa was World War II. After the United States dropped the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan went into a state of melancholy and confusion. Everyone didn't know what to believe. Even in this state, Shuntaro Tanikawa was still able to write poetry. This time period also played a huge role in his poetry. Some people claim that the strongest stanzas in his poetry are inspired by the scenes of war he saw. Also, his first work of poetry, "Growth," has a stanza(the sixth one) that seemed to be inspired by World War II since he had to deal with growing up during a period of war.
"Growth"
age three
there was no past for me
age five
my past went back to yesterday
age seven
my past went back to topknotted samurai
age eleven
my past went back to dinosaurs
age fourteen
my past agreed with the texts at school
age sixteen
I look at the infinity of my past with fear
age eighteen
I know not a thing about time
Alex Armstrong
The most important event in the life of Alistair Te Ariki Campbell is the death of his mother, followed closely by the death of his father. It totally changed his life. He went from a happy and secure Maori childhood in the Cook Islands to an orphanage in New Zealand where only English was spoken. He suffered from depression throughout his life, had identity issues, and the theme of much of his poetry is dark, reflecting his early loss. In the poem, “Tradewinds” he writes about his mother:
You were just a girl,
one of two wild sisters,
when he came to Tongareva,
a gloomy trader,
his soul eaten away
by five years
in the trenches.
You followed him
from island to island,
bore his children
And in “Forgiveness”, he writes about going back to his birthplace in the Cook Islands and forgiving his parents for dying young and abandoning him.
Forgiveness is a journey I must take
Alone into my childish fears, and there
Confront my fathers for my children’s sake.
I must go back before I cease to care,
And the world darkens and I cannot move.
Forgiveness is a journey from despair
Along a path my ancestors approve.
I must go back and with them make my peace:
Forgiveness is a journey into love.[1]
SHANE JACOB
I think the most influential moment in Amrita Pritam's life was when her mother died. She was the only child of a school teacher and poet, and when she died Amrita grew up with the responsibilities of an adult. Also, to get over her grief, she began writing poems at a young age.
"I will meet you again
How and where?
I know not Perhaps
I will become a
figment of your imagination and
spreading myself
in a mysterious line
on your canvas
I will Keep gazing at you
Perhaps I will become a ray
of sunshine to be
embraced by your colors."
TAYLOR NEUHOFF
The most important event in Gabriela Mistral's life was in 1945 when she wont he Nobel Prize for her lyric poetry, inspired by powerful emotions such as sorrow about her mother, true love, and father who all passed away during her childhood years. This has made her a symbol of idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world. I think this was most important because Gabriela was only educated by her sister, and grew up with a troubling childhood. the poem that corresponds with this is event is called "Sonetos de la muerte". I couldn't find the translation, but this is one of the great poems that won her the prize.
MEGAN O'MAlley
I think the most important event in Maria Elena Cruz Varelas' life was her time in jail. She was sent there for being against Castro and his policies. In jail she wrote a lot and while you are in confinedment like that you really get to know yourself. I think her poetry improved from that experrience and she has gotten a lot better in being a poet through being in a tough situation. She learned a lot during those 18 months. Thats why i think that is the most important moment in her life.
JESSICA HARTLEY
4/26
One of the most important events in Claribel Algeria's life was when she was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2006. This is probably one of her most important events of her career because is symbolizes her accomplishments. It is also a great honor because only one person is chosen every two years.
TAYLOR NEUHOFF
Gabriela Mistral was born in Vicuna, Chile on April 7, 1889. Although born in Chile, Mistral was raised in a town called Montegrande just inside Argentina. She attended a primary school taught by her older sister, Emelina Molina. Her father was also a school teacher, but he left their family before Mistral was 3. By age 15, Mistral was supporting herself and her mother, working as a teachers aid in the town of Compañia Baja located in Chile. As early as 1900, Mistral met Romelio Ureta, a railway worker, who later killed himself in 1909. This was just fuel for Mistral's creative mind, and was also the inspiration for most of her early work. In 1904 Mistral started publishing her early poems.
Mistral lived primarily in France and Italy between 1926 and 1932. Again mistral was struck with loss when her 17 year old son, Juan Miguel Godoy killed himself. A final volume of poetry, Poema de Chile, was published in 1967. In November 15, 1945, Mistral became the first Latin American, and fifth woman, to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. King Gustav of Sweden awarded Mistral in person, on December 10, 1945.
MEGAN O'MALLEY
Maria Elena Cruz Varela's life was anything but ordinary. She rebelled against the usual and stood for what she believed in at all times. In 1991 she became the leader of the Anti-Castro group. Fidel Castro was the leader in Cuba, an evil dictator, who some refer to as one of the most cruel leaders of all time. His beliefs and systems were the exact opposite of MAria. Because of Maria's strong will she opposed Castro and became the leader of this group. Because of her bravery she was sent to prison for 18 months and then later put onto house arrest. She was still being loved in the outer world despite her confinement and was awarded the Liberty Prize among other awards in 1992. After house arrest Maria was allowed out of the country and she finally received her awards, visited America and fled to Puerto Rico with her daughter where she lived the rest of her life. Despite being locked up, Maria wrote beautiful poetry in these times and perceived. Even after reaching her new home of Puerto Rico the past still haunted Maria and she had to live the rest of her life with the weight of a brave woman on her shoulders.
JESSICA HARTLEY
5/3
Claribel Alegria was born in Esteli, Nicaragua on May 12, 1924. When she was still an infant, her family was forced into exile and moved to Santa Ana, El Salvador where she grew up. She attended Jose Ingenierso School and her education had been funded by her uncle. She spent a summer term in new Orleans at the Loyola University after winning a scholarship. At the age of 19, she moved to the United States. There she attended the George Washington University in Washington D.C.. In 1948 she received her B.A. degree in philosophy and letters. In 1947 she married the U.S. born journalist Darwin J. Flakoll. The following story explores Claribel Alegria's perspective on the innovation of her poetry during the time of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
MELE SMALLWOOD
Cecília Benevides Meireles was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1901. Her father died 3 months before her birth, and her mother died when she was 3. Her 3 siblings all died before she was born. Cecilia was raised by her portuguese grandmother. From her nanny, Cecilia learned Brazilian songs and games. Cecilia began to write poetry at the age of 9. She attended normal school from 1913-1916, and continued to study other languages afterwards. Cecilia made her debut as a poet in 1919 at the age of 18She married the painter Fernando Correia Dias in 1921, and they had three daughters. 5 years later, her husband committed suicide. The following story depicts the day she wrote one of her poems
DYLAN ROSS
James Welch was born in Browning Montana in 1940. His father was a member of the Blackfeet tribe and his mother was a member of the Gros Ventre tribe. He lived his young life growing up on a Blackfeet reservation in Montana and then continued his college education at the University of Montana starting his writing career. Later in his life he taught as a professor at the University of Washington and Cornell. He won many awards such as the Times Literary award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. He bacem very well known for his novel "Fools Crow" in 1986. The following story shows the day when himself and his co-writer Paul Stekler won an Emmy Award for the documentary "American Experience".
DYLAN ROSS
Zhao Zhenkai was born on August 2nd 1949 in Beijing. His name Bei Dao literally means "North Island," and was suggested by a friend as a reference to the poet's provenance from Northern China as well as his typical solitude.Dao was one of the foremost poets of the Misty School.His early poems were a source of inspiration during the April Fifth Democracy Movement of 1976, a peaceful demonstration in Tiananmen Square. He has been in exile from his native China since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.Bei Dao was a Stanford Presidential lecturer and has taught at the University of California at Davis, the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and Beloit College in Wisconsin. In 2006, Bei Dao was allowed to move back to China. In my essay I will write about his return back to China
SHIRLEY XIAO
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, originally of the Cook Islands and later New Zealand, is one of the Pacific Island’s most prolific poets. After his first publication in 1950, he published more than twenty volumes of poetry, the last in 2008. Born June 25, 1925 in the Cook Islands, he was raised on the atoll Penrhyn Island by his Maori mother and his New Zealand father. Unfortunately, his mother died of tuberculosis when he was seven, and his father succumbed to alcoholism and died one year later. Alistair and his siblings were sent to live with their paternal grandmother in Dunedin, New Zealand, but it was a time of economic depression, and she was unable to support them. They were soon sent to an orphanage. He went from a secure, happy childhood in a respected family of the Cook Islands to a cold orphanage. Although his native tongue was Maori, he soon mastered English and rose to the head of his class at Otago School. Graduating from Victoria University in Wellington in 1953, he worked as an editor for education publications. His first marriage to Fleur Adcock produced two children, but ended in divorce. He remarried Meg Anderson, also a poet, and had three more children. In addition to losing his parents very early, he lost his older brother Stuart in 1945 when he was killed in Italy during World War II. Suffered from depression throughout his life, he had two known nervous breakdowns. Also, he had identity issues and denied his Maori heritage for a long time before eventually embracing it. Recognized for his achievements, he was awarded the Pacific Islands Artist’s Award in 1997 and the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievements in Poetry in 2007. At the age of eighty-four, he died August 16, 2009. The following story will attempt to recreate the day in 1976 when Alistair returned to Penrhyn Island with his younger brother Bill to explore his heritage and come to terms with his roots.
Alex Armstrong
DOMINIC MILLS
Agha Shahid Ali was born in New Delhi in 1949. He was raised a muslim and learned English, Urdu, and Kashmiri. He was raised in a very rich family, with his father being one of the most famous educators in the Kashmir area. Ali was fortunate enough to attend college at the University of Kashmir as well as the University of Delhi. He eventually immigrated to America in 1976, and received a PhD in English from Pennsylvania State University. Ali also gained a MFA from the University of Arizona in 1985. Ali was most well known for increasing the popularity of ghazals, a type of poetry, in America. He wrote many volumes of poetry some of which include "A Book of Ghazals" and "A Nostalgist's Map of America." Ali also taught at seven different universities in his life, some in India and some in America. He finally died peacefully in his bed December 8, 2001. This is a day in his life when he thought of the idea to write "The Wolfs Postscript to Little Red Riding Hood".
DOMINIC MILLS
JARED SHIMADA
Shuntaro Tanikawa was born on December 15, 1931 in Tokyo, Japan. He was the son of a philosopher and a concert pianist and became a very successful poet when he published his first book when he was 19. Later in his life, he went on to win numerous book awards as well as filming a movie. Before all of this happened, he started off as boy who had passion for writing. During the period of the Second World War, Shuntaro Tanikawa was still attending junior high school. Due to the amount of American raids on Japan and the invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, many people in Japan feared a bombing. This fear became reality on August 6, 1945 when the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Two days later, another bigger bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. After Japan had surrendered to the Americans, many citizens went into a state of disbelief. They believed that all the values were destroyed and were useless. Even though many were affected by the defeat, Shuntaro Tanikawa was able to continue his passion for writing. Today, he has become a well known post-war poet in Japan as well as America. The following story explores Shuntaro Tanikawa's reaction to the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and how he coped with feeling of hopelessness after the defeat of Japan.
JARED SHIMADA
Serena Arena
First P:
Born in Tulsa Oklahoma, Joy Harjo descends from the North American Indian, Muskogee tribe. Although she went to the Institute of American Indian Arts, and focused on fine arts and theatre, today she is a world-renowned poet whos' poems speak not only to the indigenous tribes of American Indians but also to anyone with a taste for adventure. Harjos' poems are both exciting and emotional and the reader is easily brought to a place where nature reigns and the spirit of man is deeply connected with with every living thing around it. Harjos' words bring you to a world that although is not that far away is so unlike the one that we live in today. Having her work published in reviews, books, magazines and so on, Harjo stands as the poster child for Muskogee poetry in America.
SHANE JACOB
Amrita Pritam was born in Gujranwala Punjab, Pakistan on August 31, 1919. She was the only child of a school teacher and poet. After the death of her mother at the age of 11, Amrita and her father moved to Lahore, which was the capital of Pakistan. She lived there until she migrated to India in 1947 with her father. With the death of her mother, she was confronted with adult responsibilities and was forced to grow up fast. She began to write poetry to fill the gapping hole in her life. It gave her comfort and she began her career as a romantic poet. She published her first poem Amrit Lehran (Immortal Waves) at the age of sixteen following her marriage with Pritam Singh who was an editor. The following story explores the day Amrita Pritam lost her mother and the emptiness that was filled with poetry.
SHANE JACOB
Nazim Hikmet was born in 1902 in Salonika, Greece. But he is still considered to be Turkish because at the time Salonika was under the control of the Ottoman Turks. He later moved to Anatolia with his family where he grew up. In his later life he was constantly accused of false actions because of his association with a communist party the government was against. He was in prison for about a total of 17 years. And in my paper I wrote how he dealt with his time in prison and about the day he wrote "A Sad State of Freedom".
Simon J. Ortiz was born and raised in an Acoma Village where other full-blooded Acoma Pueblos lived. He was later sent to an Indian boarding school which banned the speaking of children's native languages. Because he could only speak Keresan, Ortiz became frusterated and later got into the idea of dictionaries and language skills. Soon becoming homesick, he left the boarding school and attended a schoolo closer to home that mainly taught mechanics and plumbing. Although his father was strictly against becoming a laboror, Ortiz became one working in a Uranium plant after graduating. Soon, Ortiz got enough money to enroll in Fort Lewis College with a chemistry major. Then, Ortiz became interested with writing. But unfortunatly, his tribe banned wrtiting because they thought that only "white people were writers". But despite their thoughts, he became a writer after he returned from the military and went to college as an english major. After becoming successful in writing, Ortiz attended two colleges in the International Writers Program. Recently, he taught at over eight colleges and recieved many awards. The following story explores the time when Simon J. Ortiz wanted to become a writer, but his tribe would not approve.
MELE SMALLWOOD
I was awakened from a pleasant sleep as the sun pierced through my eyes. I groggily turned onto my other side; he wasn’t there. As I slid my feet onto the cold bedroom floor a chill ran up my spine. It was bright outside, but I could see a storm rolling in on the horizon. Slowly, I turned away from the stairs, my heart feeling a sudden ache for my lover. I found him in the kitchen, his face buried in his hands. He sensed my presence and his eyes met mine. There was something different about his stare; something dark and haunting. Something was wrong.
MELE SMALLWOD
MELE SMALLWOOD
I was awakened from a pleasant sleep as the sun pierced through my eyes. I groggily turned onto my other side; he wasn’t there. As I slid my feet onto the cold bedroom floor a chill ran up my spine. It was bright outside, but I could see a storm rolling in on the horizon. Slowly, I turned away from the stairs, my heart feeling a sudden ache for my lover. I found him in the kitchen, his face buried in his hands. He sensed my presence and his eyes met mine. There was something different about his stare; something dark and haunting. Something was wrong.
MELE SMALLWOOD
MELE SMALLWOOD
I was awakened from a pleasant sleep as the sun pierced through my eyes. I groggily turned onto my other side; he wasn’t there. As I slid my feet onto the cold bedroom floor a chill ran up my spine. It was bright outside, but I could see a storm rolling in on the horizon. Slowly, I turned away from the stairs, my heart feeling a sudden ache for my lover. I found him in the kitchen, his face buried in his hands. He sensed my presence and his eyes met mine. There was something different about his stare; something dark and haunting. Something was wrong.
MELE SMALLWOOD
I was awakened from a pleasant sleep as the sun pierced through my eyes. I groggily turned onto my other side; he wasn’t there. As I slid my feet onto the cold bedroom floor a chill ran up my spine. It was bright outside, but I could see a storm rolling in on the horizon. Slowly, I turned away from the stairs, my heart feeling a sudden ache for my lover. I found him in the kitchen, his face buried in his hands. He sensed my presence and his eyes met mine. There was something different about his stare; something dark and haunting. Something was wrong.
Just as his French Polynesian ancestors had long ago, he arrived at the shore of Penrhyn Island by boat. Only, he was not in a canoe, and he was not paddling. He was merely a passenger, on an emotional voyage of discovery as much as a physical one. He was not seeking out a new home or returning as a triumphant warrior as his ancestors may have done; instead, he was attempting to connect with his roots and overcome the mental demons he still had regarding his past. He closed his eyes and imagined paddling to shore as a returning warrior, being greeted by joyfully by his mother, Teu. In an instant, his thoughts turned dark as he recalled the day his mother had died when he was seven. It was like a nightmare, except he never woke up. He did not blame her; after all, she did not choose to get tuberculosis and die. But he did feel cheated and abandoned, first by her and then by his father Jock, who turned to alcohol and died a year after his wife. Forty-three years ago, he and his younger brother Bill had left this same shore by boat, leaving their happy Maori childhood behind and heading for New Zealand. He was grateful that Bill was with him now, and he did not have to face his memories alone. He put his arm around Bill’s shoulder and said, “Teu is smiling. She is so happy to see her sons return. I only wish that Stuart could have joined us.”
JARED SHIMADA
August 6, 1945
Just I was making the three and a half block journey back home from my junior high school in Tokyo, I thought of today as an ordinary during the Second World War. Nothing had changed. I woke up early this morning to head to school, attended my classes, had lunch with my friends, had bombing raid drills, and now, going home to finish the arduous amount of punishment my sensei's call homework. Out of all the homework I had been assigned, I was quite fond of the creative peotry writing assignment. Should I write a prose poem or possibly a series of haikus or tankas? I entered my house with these thoughts racing through my mind when I heard a loud shriek. It was my mother. Her head was buried in the tear soaked sleeves of her blouse. "Mother, what's wrong?"
She replied, "a newsletter came in. I didn't want to tell you, but your father insisted." She handed my the tear stained piece of parchment.
It read, "Emperor Hirohito has announced that the city of Hiroshima has been reduced to ruins by the use of an atom bomb dropped by the Americans."
JARED SHIMADA
This feeling is strange. Yes, very strange. When I fall asleep, I usually have dreams of equations and the Uranium plant i work at as a laboror. But now, as I close my eyes, I see words and sentences running through my head like credits after a movie. Words I have just learned, words that I've never seen; Rhyming couplets, metaphors and inspirational haiku's. I never get any sleep. The words mock me and tell me clever and unusual stories that keep me up, wanting more. Chemistry and my native language, Keresan, no longer has any impact on me. I am under the spell of the language English. And its now apart of me, tearing me apart from my tribe and my family. But these words, so sweet yet coarse, have an empowerment over me. Some would call it an addiction, but I call it the window to my true self, a future writer.
Brooke Sturdevant
Ms. Sefton
World Literature
May 5, 20101
“Day In the Life Essay”
Simon J. Ortiz was born and raised in an Acoma Village where other full-blooded Acoma Pueblos lived. He was later sent to an Indian boarding school which banned the speaking of children's native languages. Because he could only speak Keresan, Ortiz became frustrated and later got into the idea of dictionaries and language skills. Soon becoming homesick, he left the boarding school and attended a school closer to home that mainly taught mechanics and plumbing. Although his father was strictly against becoming a laborer, Ortiz became one working in a Uranium plant after graduating. Soon, Ortiz got enough money to enroll in Fort Lewis College with a chemistry major. Then, Ortiz became interested with writing. But unfortunately, his tribe banned writing because they thought that only "white people were writers". But despite their thoughts, he became a writer after he returned from the military and went to college as an English major. After becoming successful in writing, Ortiz attended two colleges in the International Writers Program. Recently, he taught at over eight colleges and received many awards. The following story explores the time when Simon J. Ortiz wanted to become a writer, but his tribe would not approve.
This feeling is strange. Yes, very strange. When I fall asleep, I usually have dreams of equations and the Uranium plant I work at as a laborer. But now, as I close my eyes, I see words and sentences running through my head like credits after a movie. Words I have just learned, words that I've never seen; Rhyming couplets, metaphors and inspirational haiku's. I never get any sleep. The words mock me and tell me clever and unusual stories that keep me up, wanting more. Chemistry and my native language, Keresan, no longer has any impact on me. I am under the spell of the language English. And its now apart of me, tearing me apart from my tribe and my family. But these words, so sweet yet coarse, have an empowerment over me. Some would call it an addiction, but I call it the window to my true self, a future writer.
Post a Comment