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.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Cheer

She loved it. It was all fun and games. Big sparkly bows. Flashing lights. Excessive makeup that she honestly loved. She walked on stage and couldn’t stop smiling. Hearing the music start and not knowing what the outcome was going to be but it was okay because she knew that she wouldn’t love it any less. Getting there unnecessarily early just so they could sit there for hours extremely tired. Wishing for the time to come that they could go backstage and get pumped up. She was never nervous. When she saw the crowd it was like time stopped and in that moment she knew everything was going to be okay. Maybe it was the absence of sound. That split second before they press play so the music will start. Everyone was silent. There was absolutely no sound. But when they pressed play it was like every tough practice was worth it.

She did it because she loved it, not because she was forced.

Now she has to force herself to smile. Or she just doesn’t smile at all. The fun of getting up in the morning and knowing that she was going to see her second family is gone.

She can’t take it anymore. The constant screaming and punishment for their mistakes. Astringent criticism from the team. (These are the people that are supposed to be her best friends.) Constantly coming home with bruises and cuts from being hit over and over. Though they never ask her if she is alright. They are only concerned about the person who hit her. They tell her that she is second priority. She just has to stand there and take it. No exceptions. She is always coming home crying just because the stress of it all is starting to take over. She hates it. The big sparkly bows that she no longer wears. The flashing lights that give her a headache. Excessive make up that she does not care about anymore. The feeling like she does not matter. Like she has no part of the team that she worked so hard to be on. She is desperately trying to abstain from quitting. Just because she hopes the happy feelings she used to have will come back. But inside she knows that it is never going to happen. The impertinent people really make it hard for her to love it again.

Most of the time she just wishes she does not cheer at all...

~ Olivia K.

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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2016 at 1:14 PM

    This is a super good vignette! Very depressing, but you really drew me into your excitement and then your disappointment. Nice work Olivia!

    -Sofie

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  2. JodieJanuary 6, 2016 at 1:17 PM

    Very powerful. I like how it connects to what happens behind the scenes rather than just what happens on the stage.

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2016 at 1:17 PM

    This is a really great concept and delivery! I love how you show that she doesn't want to quit yet because she remembers how she used to be happy doing cheer.

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2016 at 1:19 PM

    I like how you used the same language twice almost forcing you to compare the two.

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2016 at 1:21 PM

    The tone of the first paragraph makes you almost excited - as if you're going on stage with her. It's so exciting that you are completely shocked when the second paragraph comes and you see deeper into the story. Overall, very well done.

    AC

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