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

My House, A Football House

Everyone in my house likes different things. My sister likes books, my mother likes art, and my father likes business. But me, I like sports. Sports are the ultimate relaxer. The unity of the world. Books don’t bring people together, maybe for book groups but not different nationalities. Art, art is a world wide subject. But art is boring, it is old, and it is really hard to catch your attention. And business takes a certain type of person to really enjoy the business world. 

But Sports, everybody likes one sport of another, whether it is ballet or football. FOOTBALL. Now that’s what brings my family together. Its not the hitting or the thump you hear. It is the rooting for a team that drives you on to come together around the T.V. 

My family does not get around walls and look at art. We don’t read books together, and we certainly do not usually talk about business.   But when Alabama plays football on Saturday evening near 8:30, I guarantee you that we will be waiting by the T.V, eating my mamma’s home cooked meals.

My mamma’s home cooked meals are the best. They taste like heaven on a plate with a hint of butter. But, when it comes down to the thick in bone, FOOTBALL is what brings us together. My mama's meals are just the side to add to it. Like ordering a soup at a fancy restaurant. 

I will always remember these special times, when my family gets together for one thing, FOOTBALL.

~ Jake L.

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 10:27 AM

    Bama is life. Roll Tide Roll

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 10:54 AM

    I love how you use FOOTBALL to get the readers attention. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete

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