Original pieces inspired by Sandra Cisneros's writing
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.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
CBR
I wish I could live in my CBR house. It had, Infinite hot water, Really good wifi everywhere, Great lighting, Great hill for sledding under. I open my eyes and I am still in this hateful house. I miss my CBR house.
I like how in a few short lines, you are able to display the emotion and longing for your old house and how much you hate this new one. It really displays the pain of moving.
I like how in a few short lines, you are able to display the emotion and longing for your old house and how much you hate this new one. It really displays the pain of moving.
ReplyDeleteI like how your vignette is very short but says a lot about how you miss your house.
ReplyDeleteWhat is CBR
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ReplyDeleteIs this about you? What does CBR mean? I like your writing style too
ReplyDeleteI like how it is structured differently from the normal paragraph format.
ReplyDeleteThis is an answer to all of your CBR questions. I am afraid that I cannot tell you what CBR means because it is very personal to me.
ReplyDeleteI like how the format is different and how it clearly shows your emotions.
ReplyDeleteI like the emotional twist between longing and hating.
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