Infants- cry for hunger, thirst, diaper change,
Toddlers- cry for attention
Children- cry from a scraped knee, want more toys; jealousy
Teenagers- death, broken friendships, back-stabbing, loss, pain, disappointment, aches, longing, damage, family
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Broken Hopes, New Hopes
Why does my big sister cry?
Why does my mommy cry?
I see them laugh, but then they cry,
They box it up and I don’t know why.
When I’m a big girl, 7 maybe,
I’ll make all their pain go away.
Everything will turn out okay,
I’ll have it no other way.
But for now,
I guess,
I just have to deal.
I’ll stay strong for them too.
And I will help them heal.
Monologue
It should have been me.
I should’ve been the one to take that bullet.
She wasn’t supposed to die. Why do these things happen to me? To us? Why?
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
We were just having a good time in the park.
Everything was… normal.
As it should have been.
Just two best friends having fun as we shouted and hollered on the monkey bars, up and down the swings.
And then just like that, my best friend was gone.
Forever.
I remember the moment right before she was shot.
‘I wish things would stay just like this. Perfect,’ she told me.
I agreed as I heard the gunshot and saw my best friend fall to the floor.
We should have never moved to this country.
If we had never met, she wouldn’t have been in the park that day.
But God chose this.
Funny how destiny works right?
But not so funny when a person who you loved dearly is now gone forever.
I want to die too; I can’t imagine a life without her.
But for her, I will try.
For both of us.
Dialogue: Mother & Daughter
“But Mom, I don’t want to move! I have friends here!”
“Honey, you are old enough to understand. The war is becoming too dangerous.”
“I won’t know anyone there…”
“You will meet plenty of new people once we get there!”
“What if I don’t fit in?”
“Just be yourself.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“I don’t want you to die.”
“I won’t, I promise.”
“You’re right. You won’t die in a new country.”
“I guess you’re right Mother. When will we go?”
“Soon, just be ready. This country is unpredictable.”
Coming of Age: 2 Voice Found Poem: Persepolis
Wealth
Invited Attacks
I was 10 years old
The “Islamic Revolution”
Execution
In the name of freedom
Capitalism
“Cultural Revolution”
My mother was really scared
Arab Invasion
Justice, Love & the Wrath of God!
Massacre
Ouch!
Forbade people to rescue 400 fire victims
God, where are you?
Down with the king!
God chose the king!
Pain
Destiny
I lived in poverty
I felt ashamed
The king is a killer! The king is a killer!
Tomorrow we are going to demonstrate
We shouted from morning till night
New freedom. New freedom.
Foreword to Coming of Age Multi- Genre Project
Sometimes when we close our eyes, we see ourselves differently as opposed to when we have our eyes opened. Maybe we’re a small child, with big hopes and dreams, ones that reach farther than imagination takes us. When we then open our eyes and look in the mirror, we may see someone else. We close our eyes because we miss that child and we long to be them again. We still move on, happy to have actually been able to be that child once. I think part of coming of age, is taking who you were with who you are, to shape who you will someday be.
When I think of coming of age, I think of two scenarios. When I was younger, I couldn’t see well. I didn’t know I needed glasses. It wasn’t that I couldn’t see at all, just things weren’t so in focus. This is the first scenario. The second scenario is now. I have glasses and I can see clearly. You start out in life, maybe more naïve, but as you get older, you begin to see the world for what it really is and start the journey to find who you are as well.
For my multi genre project, my inspiration came from my life, and people in general. Some things I have actually dealt with or am still dealing with now, and others are fictional, but come from the real world. Stuff like this happens all the time and we should all be aware.
Throughout this project, you will follow the story of 3 sisters and how their coming of age each differs, yet help each of them to be who they were meant to be.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Coming OF Age Reading Response #1
Maybe our life is measured by what we accomplish in it. Maybe it's the changes we go through. From past to present, Rachel's character goes through many changes. From trying to deal with a new life in a new country to wanting her Pop and trying to be a "teenager". In the book, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi W. Durrow, Rachel has to move in with her grandmother who is unfit to raise a child due to "contributions" she drinks daily. The book is a journey that leads you in a whirl wind of events. Flashbacks are intricately woven to fit in the story as they help clue you in on what happened that tragic day. What eventually brought Rachel to be where she is now.
Moving to a different country after having lived elsewhere your whole life can be hard. One way her family coped with the new life was trying to forget by experiencing fun things. "Dear Mrs Warner, thank you for giving us the money to go to the amusement park. We are going next week. I can't wait. Love, Rachel. (25)" Even though her family tried to deal with their current situation as best as possible, it was still upsetting to live in a new country with most of her family dead. At night, Rachel would cry and scream. She would have nightmares almost every night thinking back on how she could've stopped her brother from dying. " 'Poor thing. It's alright. Go ahead. Let it out. It's hard to make sense of,' she says. 'But you're safe here.' (31)" She felt regret from that day. The regret doesn't stick with her the whole story though. It's human to feel regret about many things. I myself, have a regret that made me be able to connect to Rachel's chararter. She regretted the way she could've prevented her brother's death but didn't, and I regret my past and how I wasn't able to help out my best friend before her untimely death.
The only family she really knew was her Pop. In the beginning, it is unclear of why her Pop isn't with her. The only thing you know is that she longs for her father all the time. After losing your mother, younger brother and younger sister, I can understand why she would want her father so much. "I am waiting for Pop to come back - for Pop to come get me and take me home... (51)" After having moved to new country and then faced with a tragic event, all she wants to do is just go back home. Away from the country that her family lost their life in.
As Rachel began to grow older, she began to adjust to her new life in the new country. Her yearn for her father became less spoken about and more subtle. She began to go through the stages that most teenagers go through. She began to talk back to her grandmother and began to "defy her power" in the grandmother's words. She was always a very intelligent young lady. She also began to lie and have her intelligence make excuses for her. "Kissing John Bailey felt really good... When John Bailey touches me, I know this is the skin I want to be in. Sometimes when his mom works nights and he doesn't have basketball practice, I go to his house after school. When I come home late, I tell grandma I was at the library. (150)" Her grandmother doesn't believe her and Rachel knows this, but I think this is what most teenagers drive on. Trying to be their own person with power and not being stopped from doing what they want to do.
I am really enjoying reading The Girl Who Fell From The Sky. It's fun to track Rachel through her journey as she tries to find who the person she lost in that 9-story fall. Maybe the wind was blowing really hard that day and blew away her sweater, but I hope some day soon she finds her sweater so she can move on to the race known as life.
Moving to a different country after having lived elsewhere your whole life can be hard. One way her family coped with the new life was trying to forget by experiencing fun things. "Dear Mrs Warner, thank you for giving us the money to go to the amusement park. We are going next week. I can't wait. Love, Rachel. (25)" Even though her family tried to deal with their current situation as best as possible, it was still upsetting to live in a new country with most of her family dead. At night, Rachel would cry and scream. She would have nightmares almost every night thinking back on how she could've stopped her brother from dying. " 'Poor thing. It's alright. Go ahead. Let it out. It's hard to make sense of,' she says. 'But you're safe here.' (31)" She felt regret from that day. The regret doesn't stick with her the whole story though. It's human to feel regret about many things. I myself, have a regret that made me be able to connect to Rachel's chararter. She regretted the way she could've prevented her brother's death but didn't, and I regret my past and how I wasn't able to help out my best friend before her untimely death.
The only family she really knew was her Pop. In the beginning, it is unclear of why her Pop isn't with her. The only thing you know is that she longs for her father all the time. After losing your mother, younger brother and younger sister, I can understand why she would want her father so much. "I am waiting for Pop to come back - for Pop to come get me and take me home... (51)" After having moved to new country and then faced with a tragic event, all she wants to do is just go back home. Away from the country that her family lost their life in.
As Rachel began to grow older, she began to adjust to her new life in the new country. Her yearn for her father became less spoken about and more subtle. She began to go through the stages that most teenagers go through. She began to talk back to her grandmother and began to "defy her power" in the grandmother's words. She was always a very intelligent young lady. She also began to lie and have her intelligence make excuses for her. "Kissing John Bailey felt really good... When John Bailey touches me, I know this is the skin I want to be in. Sometimes when his mom works nights and he doesn't have basketball practice, I go to his house after school. When I come home late, I tell grandma I was at the library. (150)" Her grandmother doesn't believe her and Rachel knows this, but I think this is what most teenagers drive on. Trying to be their own person with power and not being stopped from doing what they want to do.
I am really enjoying reading The Girl Who Fell From The Sky. It's fun to track Rachel through her journey as she tries to find who the person she lost in that 9-story fall. Maybe the wind was blowing really hard that day and blew away her sweater, but I hope some day soon she finds her sweater so she can move on to the race known as life.
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