Whirligig Activities
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Archive of ‘English 9’ category
More (final inquiry poem)
More
By: Karina Makarova
Each step we take is another recipe for disaster
Planted in our brains, is the constant demand for
More
Building, capturing, changing things, we believe we are superior
Destroying, destroying, destroying
Out of everything we’ve made, all we’ve achieved was a big, fine mess
This mess ain’t no crystal stair
So our atavistic desire grows to keep doing –
More
We act like falling stars, breaking, shooting towards earth
When really we’re just a speck of dust that flew right off that space stone
And landed on a mountain peak,
Unseen and incomparable to the great forces above it
We are the shadows of universal darkness, covering the earth with our inventions
And though our eyes are stabbed by the flash of our own light
We still continue to take over and want
More
Rationale:
The free-verse poem “More” by Karina Makarova is a piece of literature focusing mainly on the theme of humanity vs. nature or the way humans take the environment/the world they have for granted. The inquiry question; “Why do humans do the wrong action even when they know it’s wrong” is answered and represented throughout the author’s poem, as evidenced by the verse; “Building, capturing, changing things, we believe we are superior”. Humans tend to blindly destroy the nature around them because they feel they are superior, immune to the things that are clearly much greater than themselves, and though they can see what is being destroyed; “All we’ve achieved was a big, fine mess”, they still believe they are “falling stars”, that nothing can possibly get in their way of achieving what they want, just like how stars can’t be stopped from falling, they continue until they reach their destination; “…our atavistic desire grows to keep doing”. This is also represented in the symbolic imagery, the human is carelessly holding planet earth in his hands, but shows no worry or care towards the fact that it and his hand is on fire (probably because he is who set it in flames). Karina refers her poem to the video “Man” by Steve Cutts because of the way it demonstrates their generation. The man in the short clip is transforming everything and constantly moving forward, or in other words; refuses to stop, he has the “constant desire/demand for more”.
Creating Ripples (Building/Understanding – Whirligig)
categories: English 9
In Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, the protagonist is struggling to fit in and is constantly searching for the right way to present himself. In order to do so, Brent decides to go to a party, streaming to impress his classmates, but everything crumbles when, after a drink and public humiliation, he gets into his car and becomes the culprit of an accident. Luckily, Brent undergoes only a mild concussion, but sadly also takes the life of an innocent girl, Lea. To repay her parents, he takes a Greyhound to the 4 corners of the United States to plant whirligigs in recognition of her.
The theme statement, “One can cause great grief if not considering his/her actions”, associates to one of the four main themes of this book; inter-connectedness. It shows how almost every action made, even by people with no big intentions, can lead to something much more significant. For example, Brent might have never gotten into a car, drunk, taking Lea’s life, if it wasn’t for Jonathan, who neglected to tell him about the themed party, or Brianna, who treated him poorly, causing his temper. This shows how even though Jonathan and Brianna may not know Lea, they are still very much connected in the way that they all had something to do with her death. The quote from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, “Everything we did – good, bad, and indifferent – sent a wave rolling out of sight,” is a good example of what inter-connectedness means – all of our actions have consequences.
Another connection I made was when the unnamed Puerto Rican immigrant gets a change of perspective from Brent’s whirligig by the sea; “People are always in a group. Like that little wooden marching band… If the people in a group get along, maybe they could make good music instead of arguing”. This shows how after seeing the marching band (built by Brent), the immigrant realized that there isn’t always war and fighting, we can still find peace, even in the worst times. In this part of the story, Lea isn’t only connected to Brent, Brianna, and Jonathan, but the immigrant as well, helping me answer the EQ question; “How does the influence of others impact our own lives?”
Whirligig Introductory (Forgiveness)
When it came to forgiveness, I was a closed book. I felt that when someone hurt me, it was practically impossible for them to regain my trust once again, even if it was in the past and maybe long forgotten, but after seeing the video “Walking after Midnight”, I realized that forgiving isn’t to forget, it is to move forward and relieve the pain not only in myself, but in the person as well. Even though I would never be able to feel exactly the way Karen did when realizing her husband had died due to a party gone completely backwards, I can imagine how much she must have hated the man behind his death and how much strength it took to really forgive him, to work with him in order to create change in others’ mindsets.
I’ve been in the shoes of the person who did the supposedly unforgiveable and it is enough to know that when you hurt someone you never intended on hurting, you want to do anything to free yourself from the guilt, just as much as whomever you’ve hurt wants to free themselves from the despair.
The quote “Forgiveness is my gift to you, moving on is my gift to myself” really describes my perspective on what it means to pardon someone for their mistakes. I learned that when something unspeakable happens to you, it’s always going to be at the back of your mind, whether you want it there or not, so in order to overcome your constant feeling of hatred, disappointment, or anger, you must accept that life goes on, better things will eventually arise if you let go of all that’s weighing you down and open your eyes towards a continued future.
Taken Over (Summative Assignment – The Veldt)
Taken Over
Technology has brought our world to shreds
It wasn’t so at first, we’ve stopped using our heads
We’ve turned into zombies at a masquerade
Hiding our faces, letting our devices invade
We’ve blocked out our loved ones, our moms and our dads
We’ve built online avatars to replace what we had
We need to stop buying, no more consuming
Helping companies grow, that’s all that we’re doing
Let’s stop this nonsense and focus on giving
There’s much else to do, let’s start by living
Building and Understanding Hubris
categories: English 9
Building and Understanding – FEC
categories: English 9
Mushrooms – Sylvia Plath (Summary)
categories: English 9
Overnight, very Whitely, discreetly, Very quietly Our toes, our noses Take hold on the loam, Acquire the air. Nobody sees us, Stops us, betrays us; The small grains make room. Soft fists insist on Heaving the needles, The leafy bedding, Even the paving. Our hammers, our rams, Earless and eyeless, Perfectly voiceless, Widen the crannies, Shoulder through holes. We Diet on water, On crumbs of shadow, Bland-mannered, asking Little or nothing. So many of us! So many of us! We are shelves, we are Tables, we are meek, We are edible, Nudgers and shovers In spite of ourselves. Our kind multiplies: We shall by morning Inherit the earth. Our foot’s in the door.
We think that this poem is a metaphor on gender inequality – the mushrooms act as females in our society (perhaps how Sylvia, as an author, felt). It is related to “The Friday Everything Changed” because the girls in the story didn’t care about how the boys treated them, all that mattered was them sticking together, like the mushrooms. When sticking together, it helped them to thrive, as did the mushrooms overnight.
Earless and eyeless, perfectly voiceless; this shows how the mushrooms (as females) aren’t as important – they don’t need to see, hear, or speak because others feel it is unnecessary, even though it’s not true.
We shall by morning inherit the earth. Our foot’s in the door; the last line of the poem shows that they all stick together and with the help of each other, by morning the mushrooms will grow bigger, learning to face everyone else.
English Introduction Assignment (writing prompt)
My heart is racing, nearly out of my chest. The dry, yellow grass lies dead beneath my feet and I see nothing but thick, white smoke clouding my vision, while I step further into the nightmare called a battle field. The memories I left behind play over, and over again in my head, as I watch hundreds of people die right in front of me. With lifeless bodies surrounding me, screams echoing behind my trail of thought, and no idea what’ll happen next, I run. It seems like the entire world is chasing me and there’s nothing I can do. This is my life now.
I jump up to see a pair of eyes staring up at me and I realize my face is wet, probably from all the crying.
“Was it the nightmares again?” asks Dave, and I nod.
The nightmares aren’t news to Dave. They’ve been going on for over 10 years now, each leaving me terrified, screaming, and wishing the next night they would stop.
“We’re going home tomorrow,” he starts again when I don’t say anything. I wipe my tears and wonder how much they’ve all changed since I left.
“I can’t believe we made it,” I said, “though nothing seems right anymore.”
A cold shiver strikes my body, as the thought of war pops back into my mind. Everything we went through; the pain and suffering of seeing innocent people die. How will we ever forget that and the millions of other terrible things that have happened?
“It’ll be okay,” Dave says, as if he knew what I was thinking, “go get some rest before morning. You’ll see your family soon.”
He walks back to his bed and though the room stays silent, I can tell that neither of us is prepared for the questions waiting to be asked back at home. The years that went by have changed us, turned us into completely new people. They won’t understand why we’ll be waking up stunned from the nightmares or why we’ll jump at the first sound, alarmed. They just won’t get it.
“Oh but…” I hear someone say, assuming its Dave and that he’s talking to me, “if anyone asks, tell them we’re fine.”
He was right. The most important thing is that we’re safe. Safe from the piercing sound of gunshots, tugging at our ears, safe from the constant fear of losing our lives by doing something wrong, and are now going back to the warmth of our homes and family. We have survived.