Eva Piper Reading Summative Paragraphs

In Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Eleven”, the main character Rachel learns that life comes in layers instead of just flipping a page of a book and being at the next year. In the opening sentence, Rachel tells the reader, “What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one.” In this sentence, Rachel says “what they never tell you” which implies that she had to learn this on her own. Even though she had to learn this independently, she still is brave and persevering all on her own. Rachel says in the third paragraph, “Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That's how being eleven years old is.” In this part of the story, Rachel tells the reader some metaphors for how growing up feels like. She says “rings inside a tree trunk” which shows how she still and always will have little parts of her younger self inside her. In the second paragraph, Rachel says, “And maybe one day when you're all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you're three, and that's okay.”. Rachel says “you will need to cry like if you're three, and that's okay.” which tells the reader that she is okay with the fact that she can't always be a tough and mature eleven-year-old, and sometimes she may need to let your past self let itself out. Even though Rachel is only eleven, she has already learned so much about living and how one progresses through the rough patches of life.

Next is the Fakie Paragraph. Personally I hated Fakie so I have kind of mixed emotions about this one, but it got a 10/10 so I guess it's okay.

    In Tony Varrato’s Fakie, Alex’s internal conflict is much more complicated for him to overcome than his external conflict. During Alex’s first days of school in Virginia, a bully named Brian told him, “ ‘Nice hair. You know they can fix baldness with hair plugs, right?’ ” (15). Alex was no stranger to bullying, so this new jerk, Brian, didn’t affect Alex all that much. Brian makes fun of Alex’s hair, saying he should fix it with a hair plug, which is rude. Alex stands tall, though. He won’t let mean comments stop him from keeping going. At the beginning of the book, Tony Varrato writes, “Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he slipped onto his bike. That was almost too easy, he thought. He believed he had convinced Brian not to bother him anymore.” (26). Alex’s external conflict is being bullied, but he handles it quickly and without causing any trouble during this part of the book. Since Alex was trained in self-defense, threatening to jump his bully, Brian, in the school hallways came easy to him and was a win-win solution to him either way, as he got rid of Brian. This external conflict didn’t stay for very long and did not affect Alex long-term whatsoever. One night, when Alex was waiting on the couch for his mom, he daydreamed (or more day-nightmared) about his past, “Images flicker in the boy’s mind like a silent movie. Two men yell. The gun flashes. No one hears the scream.” (23). Alex has been through so much trauma (his internal conflict) and has enough knowledge that he needs to be a part of the Witness Relocation Program. Still, as he does handling his external conflict, he works through it proudly and strongly. This conflict is not nearly as easy to deal with as a stupid high school bully. Even though every type of conflict can be difficult, Alex’s internal conflict is something that will stay with him for a long, long time, even maybe after he deals with it, while his external conflict was dealt with in minutes.

Also, I got the Children's March Paragraph. I didn't really like this one, but I thought the first sentence was perfect.

Cynthia Levinson’s article “Why the Children of Birmingham Marched,” sheds light on the exceptional bravery and perilous circumstances that marked the children's march. In the story, Levinson wrote, “But so many black families' houses and churches were bombed that people nicknamed the city "Bombingham." In this sentence, the author says “so many” which goes along with the fact that the bomber, a white man named “Dynamite” Bob Chambliss, was known for his crimes but never went to jail, so he could just bomb and destroy African American peoples’ residences as he wanted. This was extremely dangerous, as proved by how four little girls were killed in one of his church bombings. The author also wrote in the article, “For years, black people tried to change the laws. Audrey's parents sued the city, saying that Audrey had the right to play in any park.” This piece demonstrates one of the ways the people of color courageously fought against segregation, and Audrey’s parents (Audrey was a child marcher) are just one of hundreds of examples. Audrey’s parents didn’t know what would happen if they sued the city; they could’ve been put in jail, they could’ve been shot, they could’ve been beaten. But they still did it anyway, because they knew it was the right thing to do. In the text, Cynthia Levinson explained, “Audrey and James decided to protest. On May 2, 1963, they and about 800 other children marched out of 16th Street Baptist Church,” This part of the article says “800 other children '' which shows both courage and danger. The children knew that they were going to be beaten, and possibly jailed, they were sprayed by stinging fire hoses, and attacked by police dogs, but they still kept going! When the hoses came out, they put on swimsuits. While locked behind bars, they sang songs of resistance to pass the time. They never gave up. Every child from Birmingham who marched showed courage in the face of danger, and Cynthia Levinson greatly empowered that in her article.

This is the A Long Walk to Water summative that I did as an essay. One of my top 3 things I have ever written. I'm so proud of this and happy with how it came out.

In A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the internal and external relationships and imagery show the need for hope, relationships, and water.

From the 1980s to the 2010s, struggle in South Sudan was everywhere, to say the least. From wars to the search for necessities, it's obvious to assume that it is difficult. Salva Dut and Nya are two children living through this, and the wording in this book emphasizes the ongoing fight for survival.

Nya was fulfilling her daily task of retrieving filthy water for her family when she thought: “Going was easy.” (1) These three simple words deliver a big message. Nya walks eight hours a day, every day, through the beating sun and burning sand, to keep her family alive. When put in this horrible position, it's only human nature to find the easy and hard parts. After years of doing this, she separated from the fact that going to fetch water was a much easier walk than going back with her heavy jug. As she walks, she will soak in the easy part, and prepare for the hard. This shows how she is used to this. No child should be used to this pain.

Salva was walking to safety with a group of other refugees when they stumbled upon a bee hive and he exclaimed, yearningly, “Honey! This night, they would feast!” (25) To the average person, they could go buy honey in the grocery store for $1.89. To the average person, they wouldn’t risk the bee stings for a little bit of honey. But Salva and his group are not average people. They had been starving for days, little bits of food keeping them walking 24/7. The exclamation marks finished off the excitement at this moment, carrying it onto the reader. The honey was the equivalent of finding buried treasure. Even if they left with plentiful bee stings, they also left with something else; hope. And hope is something they needed strong and hard right then.

While Salva and his group, joined by his uncle, walked and walked through the relentlessly hot desert, Parks described his journey as this: “Thorns gored his feet. His lips became cracked and parched.” (52-53) Plain and simple, these words paint a picture in the readers’ heads of Salva’s fight. The varying vocabulary releases feeling, even if it’s just a page. It continues about the struggle, just as they are continuing with their walk. The reader would feel surprised; “How are they still walking?” they may ask. But there is only one reason: Salva, Nya, that whole group. They all have hope. Hope for a change. Hope for survival. Hope, hope, hope. They struggle; the text emphasizes that. But along with their struggle, they had hoped to carry them on.

A Long Walk to Water is a book about struggle, hope, and survival. If this book didn’t have the unique diction and interesting imagery throughout, the whole message of the book would turn out completely different.