Category Archives: English 9

The Bubbles (Inquiry final project)

Posted on by under English 9, Grade 9

The Bubbles by Molly Maccormack

I am a minnow.

Letting bubbles created by blowfish

Suffocate me.

But you only watch,

Terrified

I try to open my bitty gills,

I try to accept the brutal bubbles,

I welcome the torment.

Bluffing, pretending, it’s fine.

Maybe these bubbles will change me,

Maybe these bubbles will flood my brain,

Tell me what I need to do

To get used to these bubbles.

Like everyone else.

But I’m

Almost breathing, almost

propelling myself away, far away from those

endless spheres.

But.

No, I’m Accepting them

Just like everyone else.

the bubbles will endure,

Will I endure alongside?

I am a minnow.

Letting bubbles created by blowfish

Suffocate me.

The free-verse poem “The Bubbles” by Molly Maccormack is a piece that mainly focuses on the theme of conformity and societal expectations to “fit in”. The inquiry question: “Why do people feel the need to conform to society and its expectations?” is represented and answered by the author throughout the poem. Living in today’s society makes people feel as though they are small and meaningless, like a “minnow”. All of societies rules and expectations ruin people’s lives by causing immense mental stress and anxiety to blend in and be the same as everyone else. The author of this poem uses the metaphor, “letting bubbles created by blowfish suffocate me” to explain some people’s situation, using “bubbles created by blowfish” to represent societies rules. People tend to follow all of these expectations because that is what everyone else is doing, it would be against the status quo to go against them: “No, I’m accepting them just like everyone else.” This poem also touches on the struggle of internally wanting to go against the norm and be your own self when the poet states, “I try to open my bitty gills, I try to accept the brutal bubbles, I welcome the torment. Bluffing, pretending, it’s fine.” In conclusion, “The Bubbles” by Molly Maccormack is a poem concerning a very relevant and relatable subject of conformity in today’s society.

Teens and Identity

Posted on by under English 9, Grade 9

OR

As an adolescent myself, I can relate to the pressures, issues and tough decisions that teens have to face every day. Whether it be focused around school, home life or even the future, being a teenager in this day and age is a challenge in itself. For example, we are faced with sky-high expectations created by unrealistic representations splashed everywhere we look and sometimes the comparison of ourselves to others gets to be too much for one person to handle. Drugs and alcohol can be a form of escapism for a lot of teenagers trying to mirror what society tells them to be and not being able to live up to it. For others, the idea behind self-medication is to help numb themselves from life’s difficulties such as family problems, school stress and the “unknowns” of tomorrow. My observations on teenagers who end up becoming alcohol or drug abusers seem to be that they are not happy with themselves. They either have internal struggles like low self-esteem or on the other hand, they see themselves as not being able to “fit in” with who they want to fit in with. A lot of the times they may not have good coping mechanisms so instead, they turn to substances that are easily accessible at this tender age. So many situations, pressures and issues can lead to adolescents turning to self-medication to “help” themselves. As a teenager myself, I can clearly understand and relate with those who choose that path, but I also can recognize the alternate path to take which seems like it would work out better in the long run. This path would include finding yourself by having a healthy support system, believing in yourself and being yourself.

Alternative Upbringing – The Veldt Summative Assignment

Posted on by under English 9, Grade 9

A slam poem by Molly MacCormack

A child chooses a tablet over their mother.
A child prefers the warmth of their laptop over the warmth of their father’s arms
wrapped around them during a hug.
A child won’t stop consistently crying chaotically
because their phone stopped working
from the abundance of usage.
Day in, day out.

What poor children, letting technology replace those around them.
You say as you hand a child their iPhone to play a family simulation game,
at dinnertime.
Who really is to blame?
The children?
Who were born into this world where now, having technology is a necessity to live?
The parents?
Who assume there is no harm being done if the child is content?
The technology?
That is being created to fit these “needs”
to make us think we are finding our definition of happiness.
But are we happy, are the children happy?
Their eyes stare at that machine like it is their one true love, the only thing that never fails to make them feel intoxicated with delight,
But all they get back is pre-programmed responses,
false smiles from digitally drawn characters
and the DINGs, BUZZs and BLINKs
that were all installed by unnamed professionals.
Don’t they crave not only giving, but receiving back a real human emotion?

As the years pass by, we seem to forget that devices do not teach real kindness.
We forget that a tablets’ non-existent arms will forever be closed when a child feels they need a goodnight hug.
A child can never experience how tender and gentle their sister’s smile is by clicking on a photo.
A phone may be able to teach them their ABC’s,
read them to sleep with storybooks,
provide them with constant attention and entertainment,
but can we assume that human children need more than that?
Can we assume human children need humans? Relationships?
Connection?

At this point, a connection with Wi-Fi will not cut it.
Children need to learn to love, live and be human
by the ones who know how to best.
Ones that share a gigantic grin with the world as you tell them a joke
Ones that weep with you as you inform them on an gloomy ordeal
Ones who love you back, for who you are.
Not only because you remembered your passcode to enter.
Humans need humans,
Children need humans.

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