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

Derek

My dog, Derek, has an interesting life. He is a 7 year old Chinese Shar-Pei. He spends the majority of his time sleeping on his various beds throughout my house. Derek is partially blind, common for his breed,  and he often bumps into new things in my house.  After a while, he gets used to the flow of the house, and he has no issues moving around. His name was given to him by his breeder and it originates from Derek McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy. Even though his favorite hobby is sleeping, he will always play with you. The majority of the time when he walks around, he is either looking for food or somewhere to sleep. Occasionally he will do “normal dog things,” like getting in the trash, and eating food that is near him. But mostly, he is well-disciplined.

Although he is very small and looks like a cute puppy, he is very territorial. His self appointed job is to be the “protector” of the family. Whenever someone walks by the house or rings the doorbell, he will bark and bark, and bark, until they leave or when he eventually feels comfortable with them. Even though he is very territorial, whenever we take him for a walk outside and he senses someone, he is very playful and much more relaxed. 

All in all, my dog, Derek is unique.

~ Jonathan G.

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 8, 2015 at 9:16 AM

    I have to agree with your ending here. I agree that Derek is a playful puppy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 10:52 AM

    Derek sounds like an amazing dog to have

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 12:46 PM

    I can see how you must feel about derek. Wonderful vignette.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2015 at 12:48 PM

      Too bad Derek cant see how you feel

      Delete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2015 at 2:05 PM

    Outstanding! I could really picture Derek in this phenominal vignette! Great work!

    ReplyDelete

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