Circe - Spina

Wordle: Alessia Caruso

Sack of Wind wordle

Sack of winds

Sack Of Winds Word Cloud

Circe Key Words

The Cyclops Word Cloud- Amanda Bucknam

Sack of Winds Word Cloud

Circe Key Words and Phrases Word Cloud

The Cyclops Beck

"Cyclops" Word Cloud

Odyssey audiobook

          I really liked that the narrator was able to use different tones of voices and talk differently, like when he would whisper, raise his voice, use a different voice etc.  It really kept me paying attention as opposed to some other monotonous audiobooks where it's easy to zone out. The audiobook can also make it easier to visualize it and realize what is going on as opposed to just reading it.
          There were some things about the book that I didn't like, or won't like in the future.  During those  two parts, there was nothing that confused me, however in the future if there is something I don't understand the first time and want to re-read it, it it much more difficult than just looking back in the book.

Odyssey Questions - Spina

I enjoyed the narration. It gave the story a more historic/intense feeling. It made the content itself more interesting opposed to listening to a monotone voice describe the prologue of the Odyssey. Also, the description and imagery also gives it a more interesting effect. Next, the thing that frustrates me the most is the fact that sometimes, i didn’t totally understand somethings and it was harder to go back and try to find the spot I wanted, whereas if I was reading the book, I could easily go back and find the spot i wasn’t understanding and reread it until I got it. Thats harder to do with audiobooks.

Jacqueline Dugan

1. What did you enjoy about listening to this story? 
I enjoyed how you can listen to another person read to you. I think it's easier to focus and there's more to absorb when someone else is telling you the story. 2. What frustrates you about listening to a story rather than reading it?
I don't like how if you miss something while your listening you can't just go back and re read it.

Audiobooks

When listening to an audio book there are many positive aspects to it but there are also some negative ones. What is good about listening to the book is that it allows you to only focus on the audio instead of focusing on how fast you are reading or turning the page. Besides that it also helps visualize and comprehend the story better because of the tone the reader speaks in. It is also more convenient to listen to the book because you can download it on your phone and put some headphones in and listen to it anywhere. What is not as good about audio books is that it is easier to miss some things when you are listening to it. It also depends on the narrator of the book because if he speaks very choppy it is hard to understand what he is saying. Also sometimes the reader, reads very slow and it is annoying, but sometimes you can adjust the pace.

Odyssey Jack

I think listening to online book is better than reading it. The speaker can use different kind of voice to help you distinguish the character, and voice are more attractive than words which can make you absorbed in the book immediately. Furthermore,  you could listen to the online book anytime in any places. For example, people can listen to audio books when they are seating in a car.
What I dislike about audio book is the speaker tells the story in his own way, although the words are the same, the speaker always add his own understanding. Sometimes the speaker dislike a character in the book, and he will express that in his accent which force us to think that this character is not a good guy. This give us limited space to form our own understanding.

Odyssey Calvin

1 I liked the online book because you can do something else while you listen to it. On the other hand, you don't know the page you are on and you can't take notes on the book while listening and it distracts you from the other thing you are doing or you don't listen closely to the story.

Listening to the Odyssey

There are ups and downs to listening to an audio book. You don't have to physically flip the pages, which allows you to do other things while still listening and paying attention to the details of the book. But on the other hand it's hard because you can't annotate important details, and it's hard to find a section or word that you want repeated so you can understand it. I personally could go either way by traditionally reading a hard copy of the book or listening to it on my laptop/phone.

Alessia Caruso: What I like and don't like

1. What did you enjoy about listening to this story?

• I enjoyed how the speaker spoke with such emotion and helped envision the how the characters felt in the audio book.
• I also enjoyed envisioning what each of the characters and the setting looked like.
• I like how brief, yet descriptive, the narrator is in his writing.
• It allows you to take notes while you’re listening to the tape, rather than reading something, having to put the book down to write a couple of notes, then have to pick up the book again and keep reading.
• The narrator also keeps us on our toes and really makes the audience fell that they are part of the story, through his tone and choice of words.

2. What frustrates you about listening to a story rather than reading it?

• I do not like how if you miss something, you have to rewind and try to find where you had left off, rather than if you miss something while reading, you can just go back a sentence or two and read it again, more thoroughly and carefully.
• I also do not like the long breaks in between his words as he narrates, in comparison to reading something at  a much quicker pace.

Thomas Betts- Odyssey Listening Reflection

I enjoyed the fact that while listening to the Odyssey I enjoyed the fact that the reader told the story emphatically. By switching voices for the different characters and adjusting the tone of his voice for different portions of the story it became more interesting than if I were to just read it myself. Something that could be considered a good thing but is also a bad thing about listening to the book is that we all hear the exact same story, read the exact same way. This provides clarity and because the meaning of what is said in the book is told to us through the readers enunciation there will be no confusion as to what Homer intended for words to mean, because that has been interpreted for us by the author. This is also frustrating in the aspect that individually as readers we are not able to make decisions for ourselves and interpret things as we read them. Another thing that is both frustrating and enjoyable about the process of listening to the book is the fact that the authors pace is steady and slow. It would be easier and quicker to just read the book and I could consume more information more quickly. The upside of this is that in forcing me to slow down the audio recording also forces me to look more carefully about what has been said. Finally, the fact that it is an audio recording makes it difficult to go back to a specific place and re-read to further comprehension. In my experience with listening to the Odyssey I found that despite the advantages of hearing a story rather than reading, the sacrifice of efficiency and functionality makes it frustrating.

Likes and Dislikes about the Odyssey Audiobook

What did you enjoy about listening to the story?

• I enjoyed the narrators dramatic voices for the characters instead of him speeking in a boring monotone voice, it keeps me interested
• I enjoyed the words used to describe the scenarios and scenes, very descriptive and informative without going over the top and spending to long explaining
• I enjoy how the narrator sounds, he sounds in my opinion like he is really getting into character
• I enjoy being able to do something else while listening to the story like writing this blog post, instead of having to go back and forth between the book and the blog
• I enjoy how much shorter the audiobook is unlike the actual book which has 24 chapters and 485 pages in contrast to the 16 chapters of the audiobooks

What frustrates you about listening to the story rather reading it?

• I dislike how occasionally there is an unusually long pause before sentences which can be heard in the "Prologue" often
• I dislike how I have to rewind the story to hear something that I missed

Listening to "The Odyssey"

I had mixed emotions about listening to "The Odyssey." I really liked listening to it because it allowed you to really picture what was going on and it was more entertaining than just reading words on a page. Also, I was able to multitask and do my laundry while listening to it, yet still understand what was going on. However, it was kind of hard to listen to because if you space out or miss something important, it's a lot harder to go back and try to find it again. In a book, you can simply reread a page, when in a recording, you have to rewind and try to find out where you need to start the recording again. Therefore, listening to "The Odyssey" was fun but also kind of annoying.

The Odyssey: Listening Reflection

The Odyssey: Listening Reflection

1. What I enjoyed about listening to The Odyssey was that it was easier to imagine everything that was happening and think about it instead of reading it and imagining, which is what you would do with a book. There was also more emotion.
2. What frustrates me about listening to a story rather than reading it is that it is harder to go back if you missed something when you are listening to it because might have to listen to something you already listened to to get to the right part. That can be annoying.

three reasons Jacqueline Dugan

JACQUELINE DUGAN MEMOIR

In the book, The Glass Castle, Jeanette (the narrator) talked about many life experiences she went through, good and bad.  She used these experiences to her advantage. She learned many life lessons out of each and every one of them, learned from her parents, and learned to stick with her family.  Throughout the book she was honest and wasn’t afraid to tell the reader what she was thinking when she went through these things.  She made sense of who she was and who she is now, and how certain things changed her for the better or for the worse.  She also made sure the reader took away from her experiences.  She wrote a very good memoir.

In the story, Jeanette talked about how she learned many things from her experiences as a child/teen.  When she was younger, she caught on fire while making hot dogs.  She was in the hospital until her dad snuck her out because he hated hospitals and the way they did things.  When she got home she made hot dogs again and was more careful.  She wasn’t afraid to make hot dogs again, but she learned from what happened and she never got hurt making hot dogs again.  When she said this, she didn’t lie and say her dad wanted her to stay but he needed her to leave, she told it how it was.  He didn’t like hospitals so they left.  Throughout every memory she mentions, Jeanette does a good job explaining everything truthfully.

Even though in the story, she had many bad life experiences, she made sure the reader knew that her parents taught her many things and that the reader took away from each memory.  When she was learning how to swim, her dad didn’t hold her until she was comfortable enough to go in the water, he threw her in until she was almost drowning and scooped her up and told her that she now knows how to swim.  When I was reading this, I thought, “what kind of parent would do that to her child.” But now I know.  He wanted her to know that she has to learn how to do things for herself.  

Lastly, when Jeanette went through these things, she learned to stick with her siblings.  She also made sense of who she was and who she is, and how certain things changed her for the better or for the worse.  Before she graduated high school, she made a deal with her siblings that they would all move to New York Together when they all graduated.  This brought them all closer together.  At the end of the book she mentioned how these things changed her as a person.  After she described each memory, she mentioned how she would’ve reacted back then and how she would’ve reacted now.  

Overall Jeanette wrote a good memoir.  She was honest and made sure the readers took away from the experiences she went through.  Also last she made sense of who she is and who she was, and how certain things changed her for the better or the worse.

Alessia Caruso

Thesis: The Color of Water by James McBride portrays William Zinsser’s lay out perfectly, with great detail and focus.

In Zinsser’s lay out, it states,” They [Ruth and James] elevate the pain of the past with forgiveness, arriving at a larger truth about families in various stages of brokenness.” This statement corresponds with Ruth and James life as adolescents  significantly. As a teenager, Ruth went through sexual abuse (leaving her with a low self esteem), depression, and sat Shiva (meaning that her parents acted as if she had died and never talked to her). However, when time got hard, she never felt sorry for herself. Instead, she felt sympathy and empathy for Mameh, her mother, and her sister, Dee- Dee. Thus, she was leaving them behind, having to deal with Tateh, her father, by themselves. Additionally, Ruth promised Dee - Dee she would come back, but never did, resulting in Ruth feeling deeply sorry and Dee-Dee upset. However, Ruth had to do what was best for herself and move up north, thus she can get away from all the tussle and drama, and settle down.
James also went through countless tussles involving his race, his mother's race, drugs, and alcohol. As James was growing up, he didn't seem to notice the fact that he was black and that his mother was white. And if he had, he did not think it mattered, which it shouldn't. However, as he was growing up, he began to notice how his mother was being treated differently, in comparison to his friend's black parents. Although, when he would ask his mother why, his mother would answer the question indirectly and change the topic. As James was reaching his teenage years, he was understanding why his mother was being treated differently. In James's early teenage years, the Civil Right's movement was brewing, thus blacks tended to hate the whites and the whites the same. James's friend even began to hate on whites, and James would occasionally join in on the rant, feeling pressured to join in, even though his mother was white. Additionally, James began to use drugs and alcohol in his teens after his step-father, Hunter, had passed away of a stroke. Hunter was a real role model for James, having his biological father passed away. He did what every other dad did, played, nurtured, and loved their son. However, when he passed away, James didn't know how to get his frustrations and anger out, therefore he turned to drugs and alcohol as a way to ease and forget about pain and reality. However, James was able to get his self back to normal and healthy, with the help of Chicken man, a man that worked at Jack's, that made millions of mistakes as an adolescent and as an adult. He warned James of the dangers that it would cause and told him how education is key to being successful. There on, James began to focus on school, returning to getting good grades, and learned his new love for jazz. James tussle's indicated all the bad, miserable memories Zinsser's lay out included and explained.
Zinsser's also explains that,"With the feat of manipulation they arrive at a truth that is theirs alone, not quite like that of anybody else who was present at the same events." Ruth had grown up in the Polish Orthodox Judaism, thus she came from a very strict background. Therefore, her parents, mainly her father, tended to be more forceful with countless things. Consequently, Ruth switched to Christianity and found it a better and more peaceful religion. She found it a way to seek God's help and love and made her feel as if she was another person. However, Ruth never wanted to look back at her old religion, because it would only bring up the hard times and events she faced as an adolescent. Nonetheless, she is forced to come face to face with it, when she attends James's friends wedding, and chooses to accept the fact that she had a hard background and now can move forward in life.
In conclusion, The Color of Water does portray Zinsser's lay out, though the fact that Ruth and James had gone through miserable events, arrived at a truth that is theirs alone, forgave their past, and never felt sympathy for themselves.

Glass Castle Sam Mazo

The Glass Castle is a non-fiction novel that follows the life of Jeanette Walls, a girl born into an impoverished family led by her her occasionally drunk father, Rex Walls, and artistic mother, Rosemary, and her three siblings Lori, Brian, and Maureen. As the story progresses throughout her life, Jeannette learns to fend for herself and her family against the hardships of the impoverished world as they travel from place to place all over the United States looking for a place to call home. Though she faces some sad and painful times in her life she also has had a few good times with her dad, when he is not drunk, and her family always hoping to find a place to build The Glass Castle with them. The story The Glass Castle is a good memoir that pays attention to the smallest details and hardships of Jeannette's life while also being a well made structured novel.

As the story progresses through her life, Jeannette uses the element of carpentry to carefully construct the story and make it into a good memoir. William Zinsser writes that any good memoir needs two elements, one of these is carpentry which is, "...a careful act of construction." which allows all the ideas of the memoir to fall into place after careful planning and," a jumble of half-remembered events." The story The Glass Castle clearly has this element do to its interesting back-stories and intense memories as seen on page 66 when Jeannette is being taught to swim and is constantly betrayed by her father when he pushes her into the water whenever she tries to get out,"He did it again and again, until the realization that he was rescuing me only to throw me back into the water took hold, and so, rather than reaching for Dad's hands, I tried to get away from them." Therefore the memoir The Glass Castle acquired the second element that Zinsser wrote about in his article making it a good memoir and novel.


As the story progresses, Jeannette starts to grow older and starts to understand the world and all that happens in it. She starts to write more realistically talking about how hungry they would get and how hard they would have to fight to stay alive showing more and more realism as more of the story progresses. One scene that shows off this realism and hardships they had to face was on page 174 when the family is in Welch and is starving,"My teeth hurt,' Mom said, but she was getting shifty-eyed...'It's my bad gums. I'm working my jaw to increase circulation.'" After a moment Brian takes her blanket off and all the children see a half eaten family-sized chocolate bar which they take and distribute amongst themselves while their mother watches and cries. This scene shows the gritty realism of how their mother was keeping food from them and how they were forced to take for themselves. Clearly, based on this scene you can see how the realism and hardships they faced as kids made this a good memoir.

In conclusion the book The Glass Castle is a good book because it includes Zinsser's second element of a good memoir and shows the hardships and realism that the Walls family faced.

Three Reason Argument Olivia Coxon

There are both good and bad memoirs in the world. A good way of deciding whether a memoir is good or not is by reading Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir by William Zinsser and asking yourself if a memoir that you have read follows the criteria. “The Color of Water” by James McBride is clearly a good memoir because it is meaningful, carefully constructed, and is not just complaining.

“The Color of Water” is not just complaining. In the memoir, both the mother and son have extremely hard lifestyles, growing up in bad neighborhoods. The mother is molested by her father, the son does drugs, they face many issues in regards to their skin color, and they don’t have a lot of money. The mother's hard life is shown on page 42 when it says, “My father did things to me when I was a young girl that I couldn’t tell anyone about. Such as getting in bed with me at night and doing things to me sexually that I could not tell anyone about.” However, these facts are listed not just because it makes the reader know that their lives are bad, but because it shows the reader how much they had to overcome. This provides a deep message of getting through terrible times, and in “The Color of Water,” they turned to God, as well as their family and friends, to do so. Therefore, “The Color of Water” has a dark side to it, but is not just complaining.

In addition, “The Color of Water” is very carefully constructed. The order in which events occur and the significance of each one is crucial to the lessons learned throughout the story. There could probably be an infinite amount of events listed that add on to the evidence suggesting that the characters have bad lifestyles, but instead, only the most important events are chosen from the characters’ crazy lives. These events shape the memoir and show that the writer isn’t just saying things with no purpose, but are telling the events that mean the most to him. Many of these events have to do with the constant struggle with the color of the characters' skin, which is extremely an important topic. An example of the struggles that the family face due to the color of their skin is on page 89 when it says, “Being the token Negro was something I was never entirely comfortable with. I was the only black kid in my fifth-grade class at P.S. 138 is the then all-white enclave of Rosedale, Queens… someone in the back of the class whispered, ‘James is a nigger!’ followed by a ripple of tittering and giggling across the room.” This embarrassment was just one of the many struggles that the family had to face in regards to the color of their skin. Therefore, “The Color of Water” is very carefully constructed with many important events.

Finally, “The Color of Water” is a very meaningful memoir. Throughout the story, both the reader as well as the boy discover the dark past of the mother. The mother overcomes this dark past by turning to God and thinking positively, and this idea is shown in the last chapter of the book. The mother says a speech in a church at the end of the book, moving the people in the church as well as the readers. This speech shows how much she had overcome and how God really changed her life, giving her a different perspective in life and encouraging her to push through the pain. The moving speech is shown on page 258 when it says, “‘God bless you all in the name of Christ!’ she shouts, striking at the air with her fist and sitting down, her face red, nose red, tears everywhere, in my own eyes as well.” Therefore, “The Color of Water” is very meaningful and moving.

In conclusion, “The Color of Water” is a great memoir because it isn’t just complaining, is very well put together, and is very moving and meaningful.

Three reason- The Color of Water- Lian Wolman

The memoir the Color of Water by James McBride is a good memoir because, it keeps the reader interested, there was conflict and it was definitely eventful.

The memoir was about identity, religion and race conflicting in an unusual way.The mother had a crazy background, she was originally Jewish but married a black man and eventually converted to christianity and became very involved in churches.  The mother in the memoir had a past that the children did not know about which made her children wonder especially because she was white and they were black. The children were trying to find out who they were at the same time that they were trying to figure out who their mother was. This created a bit of mystery about the mom that let the reader wonder throughout the book which kept the reader fascinated and made the memoir interesting.

The memoir was also about household with an outrageous number of kids which  made this memoir eventful. Since there were so many kids it was very hard for the mother to supply all of their needs. When ever she spent a little one on one time with any of them it was a big deal. She worked a lot of low paying jobs which made it hard to feed all of them and buy them new things. At one of her jobs they gave their workers a free meal so she would try to take as much food as she could and bring it home for her children, but even that was not enough to feed all of them. Since there were so many kids in a small house with a low family income it made the book very eventful.

This memoir was good because there were so many prominent issues in the world today. In the memoir, it also kept the reader interested, had mystery and was eventful.

Thomas Betts Three Reason Post

The Color of Water by James McBride is a successful memoir because it reaches all the criteria needed for a good memoir. James McBride avoids dwelling on the negative parts of both he and his mother's life and simply states them as fact, then goes on to discuss the greater effect of this. James McBride also has integrity of intention and really went into his mother’s past to write this novel. Finally, the way this book is crafted pieces together James McBride’s mother’s and his scattered memories and puts them into a coherent story, making The Color of Water a good memoir.

A good memoir doesn’t focus on the negative events in the author’s life but only uses them to get a greater meaning across, which is exactly what James McBride did in The Color of Water. Both he and his mother went through a lot as children and the way he presents these facts is not in asking for pity but only to create a more whole picture of who his mother is and how she made him the person he is. He looks back on the mistakes he made with complete honesty. “ I was obviously hiding, and angry as well,” he says, referring to the fact he was committing crimes and dropping out of school, “ but I would never admit that to myself.” (p. 140) the fact that he blames himself rather than his surroundings and situation makes it a good memoir. By “elevating the past with forgiveness” as William Zinsser puts it he writes a good memoir.

James McBride did not write this memoir to have it be sold out and become a bestseller, but to discover more of his and his mother’s past, giving him integrity of intention. He has to look carefully into the past of him and his mother which gives the memoir meaning and purpose as well as allowing the reader to connect more deeply with stories of their own. When James went back to Virginia  where his mother grew up and talked to the people she knew as a child, it shows that he actually meant to accomplish something writing this memoir. "My own humanity was awakened, rising up to greet me with a handshake" (p. 229) he writes, referring to the emotions he felt in undertaking the journey into his mother's past, proving his integrity of intention.

Crafting a memoir is an element of writing James McBride successfully executes in The Color of Water. The way he writes from his mother's perspective and his own perspective alternating chapter by chapter and goes chronologically makes the memoir flow and make sense. He constructs his and his mother's lives from memory and stories and does an excellent job doing so. The way he carefully constructs the memoir so he and his mother's stories intertwine towards the end shows he carefully constructed his memoir.

By avoiding dwelling on the unfortunate aspects of his childhood and seeking pity, having integrity of intention while writing, and putting together his mother's and his memories into a coherent story line, James McBride writes an excellent memoir.

Three reason blog post- Jack

The Color of Water is a good memoir book that is written with maternal love.

James lives with his eleven brothers and sisters in Brooklyn, and their mother, Ruth, is the only white female in their area. Thus, James begins to aware that his mother is somewhat different, and because of his black skin, he wonders whether his mother is his real mother. But each time he asks this question, his mother will reply with the internal answer that she is his real mother.

Ruth is a very eccentric mother. She never lets her son to play or communicate with either neighbors or friends. Instead, she creates a own world in her home. Each children has their own role in this big family, and they are able to play games according to their role. Ruth also sets many family rules to her children such as they have to come back home before the sunlights went out.

Ruth is also a very remarkable mother. She never cares about money very much, and even once her purse was stolen by thieves, she just takes it very easy and goes back to her house like nothing happens. Because of her white skin, many black people around her area always mock and satire her, but she will only fight back when it is related with her children. The most important thing is she insist on to take all her twelve children to school even though it costs more than she can support.

The Color Of Water Calvin

The Color of Water is a good memoir, based on what William Zinsser says about memoirs. He says “A good memoir requires two elements, one of art, and the other of craft. He also says, “There’s no self-pity, no whining, no hunger for revenge.” In The Color of Water, James McBride tells his story with all of these traits.

The element of art which Zinsser says is what makes a good memoir is apparent in The Color of Water as James McBride tells his story without droning on and on. He tells each small detail and helps you visualize his life. McBride also adds in artistic elements like telling his mother's story as well as his own. Another element of art he uses is in making it good is by making it so you realize all of the decisions he made in high school with him robbing people and doing drugs. Then he shows that you can resist that urge to do what he did.

The element of Craft is another part of a good memoir. In The Color of Water James McBride crafts each sentence so that you can relate to him and his life. He tells what it was like living in New York and when he went to Kentucky.

When I was puerto rican bad memoir

When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago is a bad memoir because it very negative.  Even though she had a very tough childhood, she could have made the book more positive.  

At one point, her mother leaves her with her cousins in order to fly to New York to seek medical treatment for Raymond’s foot.  The entire time though, she is completely miserable at her cousin's house.  Even though she does chores there, as she does at home, she feels as if she is being treated completely unfairly.  She feels abandoned by her mother for leaving her there.  She said “it wasn’t fair.  Mami had given me away to Evangelicals who would make me peel potatoes all day long” (p.168)   She also got to hang out with her cousins all day, yet she doesn't talk about any of the fun they must have had.   

In another part of the book, when Esmeralda moves to America, she complains about she is almost forced to stay back a year.  Because it was her first year in America, the school want’s her to stay back a year and repeat seventh grade.  However, Esmeralda objects and argues with the principle to let her go on to 8th grade for 6 months.  In the end, she ends up in the dumbest group of eighth grade, and she wishes she could have stayed in 7th grade.  After all that being rude to an adult, she is still complaining about how she was with dumb people in 8th grade.

When her spoiled cousin Jenny got a bike, and was offering rides to the children, Esmeralda refused, and tried to force the children to not take the rides.  This was because she was the boss, and thought she should be able to tell everyone what to do.  One of her brothers, Raymond, eventually gets a ride against Esmeraldas will, but then gets hurt bad.  Even though Jenny takes the blame, and everyone blames her, Esmeralda wants everyone to be mad at her and blame her, even though it wasn't her fault.    

Throughout the book, Esmeralda talks about just about everything in a very negative manner, even though it wasn't always that bad.      

Spina - Three Reason Blog Argument (When I Was Puerto Rican)

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago was a good memoir because it showed the struggles Esmeralda went through as a child, but then later on, how she overcame those struggles.

For example, throughout her childhood, her parents fought a lot, their houses were always infected with snakes forcing them to move a lot throughout Puerto Rico.  The big move they ultimately made was to New York. Esmeralda had to tough it out during her childhood moving from house to house, but the move to New York is when things got better for her. She had moved up to the top of her class, getting on the honor roll almost every quarter and getting into the high school she wanted, defying the odds of when everyone said she couldn’t do it because she couldn’t speak great English.

Another example to show that Esmeralda had some struggles as a child, but overcame them, was that Esmeralda was the oldest of 11 children and always had the responsibility of taking care of some of them and setting a good example. This sometimes overwhelmed her because she had to balance school work, help her mother around the house,  while still being a good example for her younger siblings. This was a major struggle throughout a good part of her childhood because sometimes she couldn’t handle being that mother figure for her siblings sometimes. As she became older and went on through middle school and high school, she was a great example for her younger siblings, getting great grades every quarter, getting into a Performing Arts high school when she blew her audition because she couldn’t speak great english even after practice. She also got a full paid scholarship to Harvard.  She paved a great path for her younger siblings which is the job she was supposed to do.

Lastly, an example to show that Esmeralda overcame her struggles was trying to please her parents. Esmeralda tried very hard to be successful. Her mother told her every night that she failed as a female, as a sister and as the eldest. Every day Esmeralda proved her right by neglecting her chores, letting one of her siblings get hurt, or by not commanding the respect that she deserved from her brothers and sisters. Even though she had failed to please her mother, she did try in the process. This is why success at school became very important to her. She always struggled to please her parents (mostly her mother) and she figured if she couldn’t be successful in the house, she could be when it came to academics. Many people doubted her ability as a student including her mother but she proved them wrong later on once again by showing them that not only she could handle all of the schoolwork, but be very successful while doing it.

When I Was Puerto Rican: Blog Post - Ben Poulios

When I Was Puerto Rican: Blog Post

When I Was Puerto Rican was a “good” memoir. Esmeralda Santiago, the author, did not indulge herself in the depressing parts of her life. Esmeralda did not seek revenge for the bad things that have happened to her by writing this memoir. She is honest about everything that has happened in her life, and does not make herself look like a brave hero who was never afraid of anything.

Esmeralda Santiago did not make herself look like the best person in the world such as when she had a horrible teacher named Señora Leona that would choose Esmeralda to answer a question Señora Leona knew she didn’t know. Esmeralda wrote about how she didn’t know the answer, and Esmeralda tried to use a trick involving fruits, but it took her a long time to figure it out. In the end, Esmeralda wrote that she didn’t know the answer, so Señora Leona had to do the problem. Another example of the author being honest about her life and showing she was afraid of things was the time when Esmeralda had to go to the bathroom in El Mangle. The toilet was a whole in the floor that opened up straight into the disgusting lagoon filled with food and diapers. Esmeralda was scared that something would reach up, grab her, and drag her into the water.

Not only is Esmeralda honest about her life, Esmeralda does not indulge herself in all the bad things that has happened to her in her life. Esmeralda writes about happy things in her life. An example of this is when it was the first rain of May, and Esmeralda’s mother told her children it was ‘good luck to get wet by the first May rain’ (Santiago 59).  Esmeralda wrote about how she and her brothers and sisters played in the rain and the mud caused by the rain. Esmeralda could’ve written about how it was muddy and dark, but she wrote about how she and her family danced in the rain while singing nursery rhymes.

Esmeralda did not seek revenge by writing this memoir. An example of this is that her dad had left Esmeralda and her family multiple times, but she never said in the book that she hated her dad and wished he would go away and never come back. She wrote about how she loved her dad and used to help him put new floorboards in by holding the nails. She wrote about how her dad was gone for days at a time, and she was angry at him sometimes, but she never said she didn’t love him.

The Glass Castle- Amanda Bucknam

Based on William Zinsser’s “Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir”, the memoir The Glass Castle, is a well crafted memoir based on the big picture of it. Zinsser talks about how, to make a good memoir it has to have two elements “one of art, the other of craft.” I believe that this memoir shows proof of that- meaning, Jeannette didn’t ponder in her sorrows but she moved on to bigger and better things in her life. As the memoir progresses, Jeannette finds who she wants to become and how if she stays stuck in the dark for much longer, her life wouldn’t be anything but a series of misfortune. “They elevate the pain of the past with forgiveness, arriving at a larger truth about families in various stages of brokenness.”, Zinsser explains how finding the better future from the broken past drives the person's life to become better.

The element “integrity of intention”, that Zinsser mentions is about the past, present, and future of the narrator's life. In the Glass Castle, Jeannette talked about all three, while still focusing on her future. With a rough past, Jeannette talks about how she was able to move past the problems she faced on a daily basis to become the person she is today. The new and improved life has shown that Walls has a reshaped lifestyle after she took on the passion she had always dreamed of. The future has much to hold for Walls, as she has become a stronger being. Zinsser describes how “We come from a tribe of fallible people,” he’s talking about how everyone is capable of making mistakes and that you have to smooth out the edges before everything gets better.

Jeannette focuses on how she got to where she is and how her past shapes her future. Going from an unpleasant past to a bigger and better future. Walls wouldn’t be as far as she is today without the unbearable past making her future stronger everyday. If you’re sitting in sorrow all the time saying how much your life sucks at the moment, your future will go no where. She took the high road, making her suckish life become better than she could have ever imagined. The past makes her a stronger person today, seeing how far she’s come from point A to point B. Families may be broken at the time, but eventually it becomes easier. Jeanette's mother (Rosemary) was very self sufficient, she didn’t accept help. And that shows how you have to take things on for yourself to make for the best.

Jacqueline Dugan's story

When I first started watching Grey’s Anatomy I had no idea what to expect.  I thought it was just a show about boring doctors.  But it’s so much more than that.  It has taught me so many lessons, and some facts about medicine.  Some of the lessons I learned from the amazing characters are “You will never learn if you don’t try” and “Always expect the unexpected”. These are just a few of the many things Grey’s has taught me.

Grey’s anatomy does a really good job of making everything realistic.  The series is about a group of doctors who try and survive not only in the medical aspect of things but life in general.  There are many doctors who come and go but there are main doctors who have remained in the show throughout all the seasons I’ve watched. Every time I open my laptop to turn on this show, I have a hard time turning it off.  Meredith Grey is the main character in the show and it’s been amazing watching her journey throughout the show.  You would think in a show like this, every patient the doctors have survive and life is great for every doctor, but that’s not the case at all.  The patients die daily, just like in a regular hospital, and the doctors have to face daily struggles involving work and their personal life.  There is some romance between doctors and between patients in the series, which keeps things interesting.  

I would say I am most like Meredith Grey.  In the beginning of the series she had a hard time letting people in and took the hard times in life very bad.  Towards the seventh season (there are eleven seasons) let her guard down a little and she made good out the bad.  In sixth grade I would say I was like Meredith Grey in the first season.  I had a hard time opening up to people and I would take the bad times in life very hard.  Now I am like Meredith Grey in the seventh season.  I open up to friends and I try to make the best out of the worst moments.  I love how when I’m watching the show I can try and see if I would solve a problem the same way she would because we are similar.

I love this show because it has not only taught me many lessons, but made me think about life different.  Before the show, I thought when you get out of college you get a job and that’s the end, but it’s a lot more than that.  I will keep these lessons Grey’s has taught me in my life forever!

By: Jacqueline Dugan

Alessia's Story

Have you ever seen the greek theatre where live romans used to battle gladiators? Imagine, a huge stadium filled hundreds of rows made up of stone and a huge platform, that is obviously empty now, but wasn’t back in 27 BC. The theater was first used for religious use, however later changed to purely entertainment, especially when gladiatorial games were introduced into the theater.Thousands of Romans used to come to the theater anxious to see who would be brave enough to conquer the beast. When the announcer would walk across the stadium, and rally the entire crowd with excitement and rage, they knew their life would never be the same, since they were going to witness something completely dangerous and absolutely crazy.

While I was in Siracusa, (Syracuse) Sicily, last month, I saw many other historical relics. After twenty minutes of gazing at the theater, my father and I decided to explore the Ear of Dionysus, which is an ancient, enormous, dark cave shaped like an ear. I had heard so much about this cave, but never knew I, out of all people, would get to go in there. As we walked out of the cave, we could see so many more caves in the far distance. Turns out, those caves were where many romans used to live  thousands of years ago! I also got to see where these Romans farmed and even swam, and no there was no water in the pools. But, it was so cool to see how the Romans made houses and an entire town out of rock.

This amazing experience had taught me so many things about my past, mainly because my entire family originated from Sicily. It was incredible to see the different lifestyle and landscape and felt as if I had jumped into my latin textbook.

Sick Days

Before the spring of seventh grade, when I got my tonsils removed, I used to be sick every month with ear infections, asthma, tonsillitis, and sore throats for at least 3-7 days. I used to get pneumonia a lot too until fourth grade. I went to bed feeling fine but when I woke up at 4 am I couldn't stand up without falling to the ground and I couldn't stay on the ground without getting a burst of energy that forced me to stand up. When my mom saw what was going on she drove me straight to the children's hospital in Hartford where I was put in my own room, so they ran a few tests, did several x-rays and decided that I needed a spinal tap, which is a type of surgery in which they go into your back and look at your spinal fluid. Before the procedure they gave me anesthetic through my I.V and made me fall asleep for an hour or 2, I don't really know what they did to find and fix the problem, but what they did tell me was that it was pneumonia and that I was very lucky. About three hours later they let me out and allowed me to go home but I was out of school for recovery and my friends occasionly came over and wrote me a couple get well cards, and not long after I was recovered and ready for school again. This story has always been important to me because it always makes me think how lucky I was to be able to be cured and how my mom was with me the entire time calming me down.

Last year I had my bat mitzvah and typically when one has a bat or bar mitzvah one chooses a charitable bat or bar mitzvah project. The project I chose was called the Shatterproof challenge. This challenge required me to rappel down a twenty two story building that was located in Hartford, it was the Hilton hotel. I also had to raise one thousand dollars in order to take the challenge. I found out about the challenge from my dad, Mark because he was approached by the man who started this challenge, Gary Mendell. He approached my father because he is a business associate of my father's and my dad is connected to the Hilton in Hartford. Mr. Mendell wanted to use the building for rappelling and raising awareness and funds for this cause. At first when my dad approached me and asked me if I wanted to take the challenge I said yes because I needed a bat mitzvah project. When I said yes I did not actually realize what I was agreeing to, it just seemed like a fun thing to do. Later I asked what the challenge was for. He told me that Gary Mendell had lost his son because of drug and alcohol addiction. Gary Mendell started this organization in order to spread awareness for drug and alcohol addiction and also to end the stigma associated with this disease. Mr. Mendell wants to also spread the word that drug and alcohol addiction is not just an obsession but a disease. One of the main reasons this is important to me is because one in ten people over the age of twelve in America suffer from the disease. Even though I have no personal connection to the addiction it is important to me because I feel like I am helping the cause that affects many kids around my age. I have taken the rappelling challenge for two years now and raised over three thousand dollars for it. I plan on continuing to do more for this cause by continuing to take the challenge of rappelling down the building and raising funds to support the cause.

Olivia's Story

"Being a part of something special makes you special, right?" That was one of the many lines that made me fall in love with the show Glee. I learned so much from all of the lessons and themes that were covered in the TV show's amazing story. I started watching Glee in the summer going into seventh grade and had low hopes, thinking that it would just be some corny show. However, after the first episode, my opinion of the show changed completely. I loved all of the characters and the lessons that they learned throughout the series. 

In a nutshell, Glee is about a bunch of "losers" (a kid in a wheelchair, a transgender kid, a music-obsessed nerd, a failing student, a football player who confessed to like singing, and many more) who all joined together in a Glee club, finding themselves as well as friendships that will last them a lifetime. They overcame so much throughout the series and every character is very inspiring in a different way.

For example, Kurt, the only openly gay teenager in his school, faced a lot of bullying and extremely harsh threats. However, another teenager named Blaine, a proud, happy, and also openly gay student at a private school, gave him the motivation to stand up to the bullies and become confident in himself. Right away, Kurt started talking back to the bullies, staying true to himself and becoming very happy. This lesson is extremely inspiring to me and pushes me to be true to myself every day. Even further, it always reminds me to accept everyone, regardless of their differences, and to be open minded no matter what.

In addition, the story of Kurt and Blaine is important to me because of my beliefs in gay equality. Glee helps to spread the knowledge of what issues gay people are confronted with, which is extremely meaningful to me. Therefore, for all of these reasons and more, Glee is an amazing show with many heartfelt lessons that I will carry around with me for the rest of my life. 

Amanda's Story

As a young kid, I had always wanted a pug. The dog with the wrinkled, pushed-in face, big beady eyes and curly tail. You could say I was obsessed with them. Every couple of days my mom would check a Facebook page for the Pug Rescue of New England. There was a little 2 year old pug up for adoption named Lily, and she just caught my eye. My family looked into getting a pug. There were a couple problems. We already have a 90 pound yellow Labrador, we aren’t always home to take care of the dogs (we’re at school and work), and we didn’t know if this one dog would fit our family and our lifestyle. We had a man come do a house inspection to see if we would be the right home for this dog. We also had the owner of Lily, bring the dog to our house to see if she would fit in with Baxter (our other dog). They seemed to get along pretty well. But here’s the backstory about Lily- she was a rescue dog who was abandoned for at least a year after her previous owner passed away. She became lonely, hungry, and overall pretty sad. The relatives of this older lady who passed, would come feed her only a few times a week. The Pug Rescue of New England took her in to put her up for adoption. Soon enough, Lily was ours. I came home from school one day to see a little pug on my kitchen floor. The first thing I asked was, “Is she mine?”, and to my luck she was. And she was one of the best things that ever happened to me because she continues to make me smile every day. Lily has been with our family for around 2-3 years and has come to love us and our other dog Baxter. Lily has become so important to me because I advocated to first get her when my parents and brother were unsure about it. We have grown a bond because we love each other so much. 

Baseball and Rain

Last Spring, I don’t know where I was exactly but I was driving home from somewhere and my dad turned and looked at me and said,” This Summer we are going to fly out to Cincinnati for a couple days.”  I asked why and he replied, “To see the MLB All Star Game and Home Run Derby. Bob (one of my dad friends as well as the Chief Operating Officer of the Reds) got us tickets.” I replied with nice. Fast forward to  July 12th two days before the game. We had just returned home from a week camping in Maine with my whole extended family. We had a 5:05 PM flight to Cincinnati so we landed around 7-7:30 I think. We went to our hotel after we had dinner and did not much for that night. The next day was when things actually started to happen. We woke up and after breakfast we went to meet Bob and his friends at a lunch place. I don’t really remember what we did for most of the day, but I am pretty sure we walked around the city after lunch and drove to the stadium to drop off one of Bob’s friends who worked for the Reds. Then we walked or drove around the city until about an hour or so. Then we went to the executive offices of the Reds. We got our tickets  and were given hats and ties. Then we went to the VIP party until the Derby was almost starting. We went to our seats which were almost right behind home plate 8 rows up and watched the derby and afterword watched a performance from a musician known as DJ Earworm. There were fireworks and laser lights. Then we went to Bob and his friends hotel. Then it started pouring out so me and my dad ran to our car which was parked like 7 blocks away and drove to our hotel and went to bed. We needed to meet Bob and Phil(the owner of the Reds son) at 9 to ride the zipline through downtown Cincinnati to the stadium. (I have pictures of this but not on my computer) Then we went to watch a parade.We then decided to go to the pregame party which was on the other side of the stadium so over an hour before the stadium opened to the public we walked into the stadium from the executive offices and started heading to the pregame party. We stopped to check out the Owners suite which looked amazing. While we were there it started thundering and pouring so we waited until the rain stopped(it was like twenty minutes) and headed over to the party. There was a live band, and places with great food. Then we headed to the VIP tent until we went in. We watched the game and afterward went to the Diamond Club area. Then me and my dad left and the next day we flew home. This was important to me because it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I got to spend a lot of time with my dad who is normally on work trips so I only see him a couple days a week. When he is home, I have a little brother who takes up a lot of his time. In Cincinnati I got to spend the days just with him.