Potomac's eighth grade English students read and discuss The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The book is a series of short vignettes that together capture the characters, setting, and stories of a particular neighborhood in Chicago. The vignettes are written from the perspective of a fictional narrator and are based loosely on Cisneros's own experiences as well as those of her students. Some of the vignettes are humorous or action-packed; some are heart-wrenching or shocking. All are deliberate in their use of figurative language, poetic elements, grammar conventions, and pacing.

Each eighth grader composed at least one vignette for inclusion in this digital collection. They wrote in the style of Sandra Cisneros, as they interpreted it based on their notes and our class discussions, yet they set it in a time and place of their own choosing. While some of these vignettes are based on the author's personal experience, many of them are purely fiction, an imagining of characters and circumstances that seemed ripe for this assignment. Students also used this assignment to experiment with new vocabulary words and techniques involving punctuation and sentence structure.

We encourage you to leave comments below vignettes that strike you in some way. Please keep your comments positive and specific; this is not the place for critiques or suggestions. Enjoy the creativity and vibrancy of these students' literary efforts.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Hammock Happiness

One of my favorite memories from my old house was the hammock in our backyard. It was tied in between two massive trees and their roots expanded above ground, so you can imagine how painful flipping over on the hammock was. After I would flip over, I  would have black and blue bruises all over but still I would go back on the hammock and do it all over again. I always went on that hammock because it had multiple uses. I could relax, sleep or swing on it.

Often times while I swinging on the hammock, even my dog, Rex, would want to join in on the fun and try to jump on. The hammock was like a baseball glove, catching and holding things such as leaves, bugs, and people. And even though it was about 20 feet from my house it felt like I was much farther away, almost on vacation. It gave me a sense of freedom from stress and difficulties and a place of relaxation, swaying back and forth underneath the shadows of trees.

~ Alexis K.

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 8:24 AM

    Great job!! Really enjoyed the imagery in yours(:

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 8:31 AM

    I love your descriptions of the hammock and your memories there. It really paints a picture in my mind!

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 8:31 AM

    The descriptions are really vivid. This is really good!

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 8:34 AM

    Nice work!! :) I like how you compared the hammock to a baseball bat. Great simile!!

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 12:49 PM

    A.KArt this is really good

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2015 at 10:18 PM

    Great job! The descriptions are incredibly detailed!

    ReplyDelete

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