"Mother" script

Mother
By Grace Paley

Narrator
Mother
Father

Group 6

Scene: A man is listening to the radio and begins to reminisce about his mother. He recalls her words while standing in doorways and in the living room with his father. Man is in his teens in first memory and all of the characters get older with each memory. Music is playing.

Narrator: One day I was listening to the AM radio. I heard a song: “Oh, I Long to See My Mother in the Doorway.” By God! I understand that song. I have often longed to see my mother in the doorway. As a matter of fact, she did stand frequently in various doorways looking at me. She stood one day, just so, at the front door, the darkness of the hallway behind her. It was New Year’s Day.

Mother: If you come home at 4 A.M. when you’re seventeen, what time will you come home when you’re twenty? (Asked without humor or meanness)

Narrator: She had begun her worried preparation for death. She would not be present, she thought, when I was twenty. So she wondered. Another time she stood in the doorway of my room. I had just issued a political manifesto attacking the family’s position on the Soviet Union.

Mother: (bedroom door) Go to sleep for godsakes, you damn fool, you and your Communist ideas. We saw them already, Papa and me, in 1905. We guessed it all.

Narrator: And at the door of the kitchen…

Mother: You never finish your lunch. You run around senselessly. What will become of you?

Narrator: Then she died. Naturally, for the rest of my life I longed to see her, not only in doorways, in a great number of places—in the dining room with my aunts, at the window looking up and down the block, in the country garden among zinnias and marigolds, in the living room with my father. They sat in comfortable leather chairs. They were listening to Mozart.

(Music gets louder)

Narrator: They looked at one another amazed. It seemed to them that they’d just come over on the boat. They’d just learned the first English words. It seemed to them that he had just proudly handed in a 100 percent correct exam to the American anatomy professor. It seemed as though she’d just quit the shop for the kitchen. I wish I could see her in the doorway of the living room.

(She stands for a minute, then sits beside him)

Narrator: They owned an expensive record player. They were listening to Bach.

Mother: Talk to me a little. We don’t talk so much anymore.

Father: I’m tired. Can’t you see? I saw maybe thirty people today. All sick, all talk talk talk talk. Listen to the music. I believe you once had perfect pitch. (Pause) I’m tired.

BLACKOUT

Narrator: Then she died.

Sestina

Against the windowpane the rain
Falls, waking her from sleep
She knows in the morning
She will greet a new life
But she won’t promise to go happily
Or without a fight

Oh, how she will fight
Like the sun with the rain
Right now she lives happily
Listening to him sleep
She can’t leave him for her new life
But soon it will be morning

When the sun rises in the morning
The storm will lose the fight
And, for now, end the life
Of the persistent, heavy rain
Tonight she cannot sleep
Knowing she will not wake happily

For no one could rise happily
With the light in the morning
They, too, would refuse to sleep
With minds racing of the fight
To be had, like the struggle for life
Between the sun and the rain

Her thoughts pause to listen to the rain
She knows he’s dreaming happily
Unaware how his life
Will change in the morning
On her own she will fight
Unwilling to interrupt his sleep

She longs to hold him and sleep
But her mind refuses to forget the rain
And her inevitable fight
That she prays will end happily
How long until morning
And the end of this life?

Now the rain is humming her to sleep
And she happily curls into him, for a moment forgetting life
Soon it will be morning and she will remember her fight.

Sim/Met Poems 3

Your hands touch me
Like a wind brushes the grass
A steady hand
A summer wind

His smiles breaks
Like a vase smashing against the tile
A forgotten smile
A delicate vase

Your eyes are clear
Like a window through time
Desperate eyes
Unforgiving time

Her laugh dances
Like raindrops against a windowpane
A youthful laugh
A beautiful rain

I read you again
Like a book I can’t put down
An unpredictable you
A never-ending story

Sim/Met Poem 2

All Is Fair in Love and War

You are the knife in my side
With every move I feel your blade
Threatening to twist deeper
If I ever try to break away

Your touch is like ice
Freezing my soul when I feel you
My mind goes numb from the cold
Of your unrelenting glacier

Our battle is a season of endless
Weather, refusing to change with the months
You seek refuge in hysterics
Thriving on vengeful passion

But our hearts beat steadily
Together like the rhythm of a drum
Tempo constantly changing
But our pulses never stray from one

Our love is like a delicate rose
Harsh with thorns at ever turn
Perfect in its own way
Bittersweet existence

Simile/Metaphor Poem 1

Something Like Life

You fool me
Like the tortoise tricked the hare

Race you to the finish line
But you’re already there


Her heart is like sugar cane
Melting with moisture

His moisture
So sweet


Her teardrops fall
Like dew drops on tree leaves

Tears of joy
Peaceful and serene


An ultimatum in black and white
Like an old photograph

There’s no time to change
A moment trapped in time


Pages of a textbook
Like a death sentence

Words and numbers
Jumble in your brain

My Found Poem

Ode to my Shower

Lather, rinse, repeat
Jasmine, Vanilla
Eucalyptus
Wash, rinse
Bubble, lather
Wash, bubble, rinse
Scrub, gel, baby oil
Lather, rinse, repeat
Repeat.

Revised Dear Sherly

Dear Sherly,
This is a letter for you
explaining our apologies
for the Last couple problems with the dogs.
We are in the prosses
of training them to want to
remain in the bockyard.
Also we will getting
the fence nailed up to minimise
their escape routes.
Also we apologies for the tresh
we had built up in the back alley.
We will reman to keep thot clean
and enough room
for fire trucks.
Thank you.

Paraphrase of "Oh No" and "Monologue for an Onion"

From Robert Creeley's "Oh No"
If you walk a long distance you will stumble across something. When you arrive, there will be room for you. The place is meant only for you and you will be comfortable. Your friends will be there waiting, happy to see you. And they belong there too.


From Suji Kwock Kim's "Monologue for an Onion"
I don't want to upset you, and I mean you no harm, but still you hurt me and attempt to strip me down.

You continue to cry as you strip away my layers and every part of me falls in front of you. You are mistaken man, as you search deep inside me.

Keep searching. Under every layer, I have another. I am solid, inside and out. My deepest insides you will not discover.

There you are, crying still. Is this how you live? Obsessed with what you think you could find?

You keep tearing away layers of everything around you. Are sadness and destruction enough for you? Stop.

Don't be sad that you cannot see the truth. What did you expect? How are you going to find the truth?

The truth that is in you. You, who keeps digging for the root of it all, desperate for answers. Look at what is right before you, pathetic.

All of my layers are aching. But you are the broken one. What you were trying to do backfired and you've caused yourself pain. You aren't you anymore.

By searching for these answers you have torn your soul, and you are in pieces all around us. And what did you find at your center? A broken core?

You're weak and have separated your own self. You cannot find your true self now deep inside all of the layers. Someday your desperation for truth will kill you.

"The Victory" Questions

Page 748
"The Victory" by Anne Stevenson

1. The speaker describes her son like a regret or a downfall she has. She sounds like she resents him. It almost appears that she had hoped to live her life's dreams through her child, "I thought you were my victory," but he possibly let her down or caused her pain in some way, "you cut me like a knife." I think she sounds bitter about his accomplishments, "The stains of your cloud of glory bled from my veins."

2. The speaker might call him "antagonist" because in her mind, he is her opponent; they work against each other. He could be in the way of making her dreams a reality in that he doesn't turn out the way she had hoped he would. The two could be competing for something; glory, power, love or affection.

3. This could be called "The Victory" because the child was supposed to be that for his mother. It could also be a insincere title, like he is the supposed "victory" of her, one that never worked out. It seems to have a sarcastic tone.

4. The mention of the knife as she "brought you out of my body into your life" suggests the baby was born by cesarean. As a not-so-literal meaning, I think it says she resents him and his needing her when she says the "bladed cries." The knife symbolizes the pain the boy has caused her.

Word Poem

A few interesting words...

purblind
sunder
squall
carnage
plexus
recumbent
clay
quaff
pukka
vitriolic

His vitriolic gaze was obvious, even by his profile.
He seemed to be purblind in his rage and nothing else existed.
She remained recumbent in the corner behind him.
Her fear was pukka and she was powerless to hide it.
Each of them could see the squall ahead and sunder was the only way out.

Slam Poetry

http://www.virtualpoetryslam.net/main/

This is a website that had some sort of contest of slam poetry. Some of the entries on the site are just typed, but there are a lot of videos, and some are really cool. See what you think!

"Reading A Story" Questions

Aesop

1. The North Wind is greedy and forceful; he is overconfident by going first to prove his strength and gives too much, forcing the traveler to protect himself further. The sun appears to be much more patient. He knows that a steady, constant heat will wear the traveler down and as he increases his strength, the traveler will be "persuaded" to take off his cloak. He was confident his power was more than the North Wind's, but did not take it for granted.

2. Too much, too fast. A little wind at the start, slowly increasing and a large gust all at once may have lost the man his clock but the immediate power of the wind told the man to hang on tight.

3. He slowly heated the man up so by the time he reached his peak strength, the man has probably begun to perspire already, so was glad to remove his cloak. He convinced the man and did not force him.

4. He is the object of resolving their argument.

5. Slow convincing that the man should choose to take his coat off is much more effective than forcing him to part with it.


Chuang Tzu

1. The exposition is the beginning of the story when the author explains who the two men are representing and what they have come to ask Chuang Tzu. Only 2 sentences are necessary from Chuang Tzu to show the dramatic situation.

2. I think he mentions the tortoise first to show the man why he refuses and make them understand his reasoning immediately. He doesn't want to deeply explain himself. The purpose is that he knows mentioning the turtle will let them see it from his eyes.

3. This story tells us that Chuang Tzu both knows what he wants and how to make his point. He is straight to the point about his opinions and feelings.



A & P by John Updike

1. The details in this story that stand out as particularly ordinary in this story is that he calls the customers pushing around their carts "sheep." I used to work in a grocery store so this story seemed very true to life to me. The customers really do seem to herd around like a bunch of sheep, and I also liked how he described the aisle that the girls went down as having multiple seemingly unrelated items all packed into the one aisle. The close attention to detail in this story contributes a tone of complete normalcy. It allows for both easy reading, as well as picture view in your mind's eye of exactly what was things looked like in the supermarket.

2. Sammy's character is only somewhat drawn up. You get an idea for what he finds interesting, what draws his attention and the boredom his job brings. He seems polite in that he doesn't snap at the "cash-register-watcher" when she gets angry with him, but later seems lacking in respect for his boss, although quitting and trying to make a good point. I don't know if he is less of a hero for wanting the girls to notice his heroism, but I wouldn't call him a hero anyway because his boss didn't really act like Sammy quitting would make any difference in how the store manager would handle a similar situation in the future. Because the story is told from his point of view, you of course get a better idea of his mindset, as well as a few personality traits than you did of the doctor in "Godfather Death."

3. The exposition would be the introduction of Sammy and the description of the setting in the A & P. When he first spots the girls and the interaction with the lady at the register gives you an idea of what is to come. The detail to the description of Queenie is very important to the story because he shows that Sammy is thinking highly of her, placing her on a pedestal and in turn, explains why he wanted to stand up for her.

4. Sammy's feelings do seem to change about the girls. The "chunky one" who first caught his eye becomes less important to him. When he first talks about Queenie, he explains her almost like she's a snob who ordered the other girls inside and made them follow her around. He sounds like he might not like her already, but as he goes on and continues to watch her, her slow movements, her money placement and her voice, you begin to see that he finds her very attractive and in fact, likes her.

5. Dramatic conflict was when Lengel, who misses nothing, walks toward his office door and stops to look at the girls. You right away know that something is going to happen. The author says "Then everybody's luck begins to run out." When he tells the girls they aren't at the beach is the crisis and tension begins to rise in the girls and Sammy, as well. The climax occurs when Sammy tells Lengel he quits as the girls are leaving.

6. Sammy quits his job both to prove a point to the boss that embarrassing the girls was unnecessary, as well as to become a hero to the girls and win their affections.

7. I expected Sammy to stand up for the girls because he earlier stated that he felt sorry for them when the meat man appeared to be checking them out. He thought "Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn't help it."

8. The conclusion of the story shows that Sammy did not get the girl and is now unemployed. He thinks the world is going to be harder now because he no longer has an income and could be feeling immediate regret. He also could have been thinking about how his parents would be disappointed like Lengel suggested.

9. Updike talks about the supermarket in a funny way, making the customers appear as animals and with the mean, bitter manager. The whole story works around the "No shirt, No shoes, No service" rule most stores abide by. All of the customers and employees seemed shocked and distracted by the lack of clothing on the girls.

Syllabus questions

1. Why is the term paper only worth 15 points when it involves multiple drafts and revisions and a long length requirement?

2. Do you teach many other English classes or different courses other than English 150?