Timmy's Essay 18

Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
27 April 2009

The Preemptive Strike:

An Essay on a Poem, a Short Story and my Life

1. Kindness is an idyllic thing in life; with it almost anything is possible because of the people by your side [loose sentence]. 2. Although, in order to obtain this blissful state, you must face a different type of occurrence. 3. This tends to be of a different status – one of pain and despair. 4. The poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, the short story “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and my life all compare to this in some way.

TS In Nye’s poem, many insights on kindness are revealed. SD She says that people cannot truly understand kindness until they “lost things” and they won’t comprehend sorrow until their “future dissolve[s] in a moment.” CM She says that, unless people “travel to where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road,” people will never understand the “tender gravity of kindness.” CM This all means that people must endure the hardships before they can be rewarded. SD Nye could have some advice for Dexter Green regarding this. CM At the beginning of the book, he has done nothing but prosper with his business and love life, so he fails and ends up unhappy in the end, but this is the best place to start. CM She would probably tell him to get back on his feet because when you have nothing to lose is the best time to start all over. CS Nye talks of starting with nothing and ending with many things, which can be applied to almost anything, including Dexter Green’s life.

TS In Fitzgerald’s short story, Dexter Green is a young man with a full life ahead of him. SD He starts out as a golf caddy where many of his co-workers are “poor as sin.” CM His father is quite rich from his grocery store, and Dexter caddies “only for pocket money.” CM He meets a girl named Judy Jones and falls into what he thinks is love, but it all ends in disaster – he becomes rich from a business but he loses Judy in the process, which ends in losing his happiness as well [loose sentence]. SD This contrasts with Nye’s poem perfectly. CM Nye realizes that you have to start low and end high, like selling stocks, but Fitzgerald brings Dexter in the opposite direction. CM As a result of not following the natural law of losing before gaining, Green is destroyed by his own regret. CS Green exclaims, “I cannot cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back no more.”

TS These two works connect to my life because I have to never give up – life gives you many things, and you should hold on to every one [appositive]. SD I must be wary [SAT word] of the bad things but accepting of the wise, purposeful, joyous, worthy things that life gives me [tetracolon climax]. CM As Nye says, “ you must lost things … before you know what kindness really is.” CM I have to deal with the deleterious [SAT word] “road blocks” before the good can come to me. SD For example, my team recently lost a lacrosse game. CM It was a big loss, by at least 8 goals. CM I have to use this advice and go to the next practice hoping for a win in the next game. CS The possibility of a “kindness” after the “future dissolve[s] in a moment” has to keep me going.

1. In the end, the act of adversity [SAT word] is more important than the kindness. 2. If one does not fall a little lower than normal, they will not fully understand and appreciate the seemingly meaningless act that can boost them up again. 3. One doesn’t understand the full happiness of life until they’ve experienced the full despair of it, and without the that, what are they left with? 4. A little excess happiness that has no real meaning to them?

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Self-Assessment

1. Q: What am I most proud of in this essay?

A: I am very happy with my use of quotes in this essay. I tried my best to be specific and avoid being vague as much as possible.

2. Q: What was the hardest part of this assignment for you?

A: I had a hard time finding the right places to put the special tools. Sometimes they are a bit bunched together, but I couldn't find any other openings for them.

Ceilie's Essay #18

Ceilie Moore

Mr. Salsich 

English 9 

April 30th, 2009

A Simple Act of Kindness:

 An Essay on a Poem, a Short Story and an Event in My Life

Kindness, an act of generosity or compassion (SAT Word), is more than than simply holding a door for a stranger, but something that can truly change someone’s life. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams,” the main character lives life according to the girl he loves’ feelings, rather than his own aspirations and is eventually left waiting for some form of kindness to save him from his misery. Not too long ago, I was faced with a situation that pained me so much, but simple gestures of kindness pulled me through and left me feeling thankful. In Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Kindness,” she defines what kindness really is and it has it’s own separate connections with a short story, “Winter Dreams” and an event from my life.


TS A poem about the simplicity of kindness and a short story about loss, hope and heartbreak wouldn’t seem to have much in common, but in fact they do. SD Although I don’t see any obvious connections between the two, I see hints of a relationship in short lines and certain phrases. CM For example, in the first two lines of “Kindness,” Nye says, “Before you know what kindness really is …/ you must lose things.” CM These wise words relate to Dexter Green because although the story ends on a sour, cliffhanging note, we know that Dexter has lost a lot, including opportunity to be successful, a fiancée and the love of his life, Judy Jones. CM3 We never find out whether or not Dexter receives an act of kindness after his losses, but we do know that because of what he has lost, he now has a greater knowledge of what kindness really is. (Loose Sentence) SD At the end of the first stanza, Nye says, “You ride and ride …/ thinking the bus will never stop.” CM This reminds me of “Winter Dreams” because for the first chapter of his life, Dexter is taken on an emotional roller coaster with Judy Jones, and her unpredictable lifestyle and emotions. CM Dexter often felt as though his “bus [ride with Judy] [would] never stop” and continue on in this dicey fashion. CS Even though the themes of these two pieces of literature show no clear relationship, within the stanzas and paragraphs, there are hidden lines that bond the two together, creating a connection.

TS There are both connections within the words, and outside the deeper meaning of the poem. SD This connection is between the two people that made these works happen-Naomi Shihab Nye and Dexter Green. CM It seems as though Nye vocalizes Dexter’s feelings about life, love, loss and learning through past mistakes (Tertracolon Climax) in a more poetic, symbolic way. CM Dexter felt his “future dissolve in a moment” and he “journeyed through the night with plans,” and it is clear in both these and other lines that Nye understands the life Dexter is living. SD If Nye were to ever give Dexter advice, she would advise him to be patient with life. CM She would remind him that with all the losses, come gains, which are even more beneficial than the things he lost. CM She would tell him that, “Before you know what kindness really is…/ you must lose things” and that once you are rewarded with that simple act of kindness, “[it] goes with you everywhere../ like a shadow or a friend.” CS There is not only a relationship between the themes of this story and this poem, but also between the main characters of the works, the author herself and the troubled soul being held back by his former love.

TS One distinct event in my life relates to both “Kindness” and “Winter Dreams. SD Two years ago, my grandfather passed away from cancer, and it put a lot of strain on my family. (Loose Sentence) CM While I lost someone who played such an important role in my life, I gained the knowledge of what it means to be genuinely kind. CM As I was going through this difficult time, people reached out to me and my family. CM3 They acted benevolent (SAT Word) towards us and tended to our emotional wounds, making the adjustment to not having my grandfather around much easier. SD This event also reminds me of the never-ending “ride” Dexter went on with Judy. CM For years, Dexter lived an inconsistent life, his emotions towards Judy changed erratically, and one moment they were in love, the next, they were both on separate paths with broken hearts. CM After my grandfather’s death, my feelings went on this roller coaster, unsteadily fluctuating. CM3 At first, I was torn inside, feeling mournful over my adversity (SAT Word). CM4 Soon, I learned to live without such sorrowful feelings about my grandfather, but once a memory of him popped into my mind, or an anniversary regarding his life showed up on the calendar, I fell back into the state of desolation. CS I haven’t experienced the pain of losing the love of my life, and on rare occasions am I graced with an act of kindness, and yet, a saddening incident in my life relates to both “Kindness” and “Winter Dreams.”

In the end, kindness is the ultimate gain from what one lost. It not only brings the person who lost something so special to them, a comforting feeling of happiness, but also something to look back on and realize how thankful they are. It is a simple act of kindness that can do something as special as brighten someone’s day, but it is also a simple act of kindness that can do something as great as get someone back on their feet after a terrible loss.

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Self Assessment

What Am I Most Proud Of In This Essay? 

I am proud of my use of the the writing tools. They were very difficult to blend into my sentences, but in the end, they are both used correctly and fit right in. 

What Was The Hardest Part About This Assignment?

The hardest part of this assignment was comparing the short story and the poem. The two works are nothing alike and it took me a while to really get into the deep meaning of each of them and yank out similarities between the two. 

Lydia's Essay 18

Lydia Schulz
Mr. H. Salsich
9 English
30 April 2009

A Kind Word:
An Essay on a Poem, a Short Story, and Kindness

        You don’t often hear the words sorrow and kindness in the same sentence. These words are almost always used separately as they mean such different things. But in Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, “Kindness,” she talks about both of these words, conveying them as closely intertwined concepts that go hand in hand. Her ideas about these two words also relate to “Winter’s Dreams,” a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and to my own life.
        Despite the title, Naomi Shihab Nye talks more about sorrow than she does about kindness. She describes the fact that in order to know and appreciate kindness, you must first endure the barren wasteland of sorrow. This gives you perspective about your situation and teaches you to recognize the value of a compassionate(SAT word) action. When you know how bad things can be, you will appreciate a sympathetic gesture that much more. Another subject that Nye discusses is the relation between kindness and sorrow. She describes sorrow as “the other deepest thing” besides kindness, which more clearly defines the relation between the two, classifying them as opposites yet still showing their similarities(loose sentence). Nye thinks of these two polar opposites to be tightly linked in that sorrow often leads to kindness. Although not many other people would make these connections, Ms. Nye depicts them well in her poem, “Kindness.”
        I found many similarities between “Winter’s Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye. A line that caught my attention from the poem was when Nye said that to know kindness, you must lose things and “feel the future dissolve in a moment.” This must have been how Dexter felt when Judy left him. Dexter loved her and thought they had a future together, but when she left, it was as if he had “seen her fade away before his eyes,” leaving him with nothing (loose sentence). After Judy had gone, the memory of what could have been haunted Dexter throughout his mundane(SAT word) life. Nye writes that kindness “goes with you everywhere,” much like the memory of Judy did after she left Dexter. Dexter, now an empty, reclusive(SAT word) man(appositive), will always remember the woman with whom he came so close just to lose it all. Though Nye writes about kindness and Fitzgerald writes of a catastrophic love story, their ideas in these works of writing are very closely correlated.
        In my life, I see kindness every day. One occasion during which I was treated with kindness was last year, on a bus ride, when I was sitting with Wiley Markham. Wiley and I had always been friendly with each other, but had never talked one on one that often. However, on that bus ride, Wiley talked and laughed with me as if we were best friends, and I will always remember that as the moment I really became friends with him. Even small, kind acts like this one can be meaningful in someone’s life. Whenever I see someone hold a door or help someone carry something, I think about the fact that they did not have to help. No one asked them to lend a hand, but out of kindness, they realized that it was the right thing to do. We may not always realize the compassion people show when they perform these small deeds, but it can make a difference in someone’s day, week, even life.
        A kind act is not always recognized, appreciated, commended, or even noticed(tetracolon). And yet, this is what makes them so noble: the fact that even if no one thanks you, you can feel good about it. Silently leading your peers to be better people, you can take solace in the thought that you did something good today. If everyone did something kind every day, imagine what a better place the world would be.

Sarah Essay 18

Sarah Shourds
Hamilton Salsich
English 09
27 April 2009

Simple and Complex Kindness:
An Essay on One Poem, One Story, and My Personal Life

Do you know where your kindness came from? Do you think everything can obtain kindness, even in the simplest forms? Kindness is everywhere from telling the truth, to making a mistake. In the poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, the short story “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and in my own life, kindness is found in simple and complex forms.


TS In the poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, she conveys her own thoughts of the definition of kindness. SD “Before you know what kindness really is[,] you must lose things [.]” CM In this quote, Ms. Nye says that you must undergo sorrow to fully grasp the meaning of kindness. CM “Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.” CM You must know that in order to obtain kindness, you have to have basic background information on its opposite- sorrow. SD If Ms. Nye could give any advice to Dexter, she would tell him to let his sorrows go, because once he is free from that burden, he can get a hold of his kindness and happiness. CM She would tell him that the pain he’s suffered is good, and that it’s a good basis layer for his heart, because kindness won’t always be there to “tie[] your shoes,” or hold your head up high when you need it most. CM Kindness will find its way to you once you really know the true meaning. CS Perhaps Nye would applaud Dexter, for knowing “how desolate the regions of kindness” can be, and tell him that he will now have a better chance at finding “[someone he has] been looking for.”

TS In the poem “Kindness,” Ms. Nye speaks of “what kindness really is [and how] you must lose things” to get its full meaning. SD In “Winter Dreams,” Dexter is no stranger to losing things. CM He’s lost the love of his life, his courage and his self confidence. CM The sum of losing all of these things has not led him to happiness or kindness, but makes him think about what made him happy and kind. SD In the end of the story, Dexter was miserable [FAST] and didn’t know what to do with himself, but there was some candle that burned inside of him. CM One flickering light that still had some fluid in it- Judy. CM He remembers “her confidence,” her sweet voice, her eyes gazing into his and her smile [Tetracolon Climax]. CM It was Judy’s happiness and kindness that led Dexter to love her, and it was her happiness and kindness that led Dexter to his state of unhappiness now. CS Dexter’s life hasn’t ended just yet- he’s on a rollercoaster full of emotions that “will never stop,” “learn[ing] the tender gravity of kindness.”

TS My life relates to both “Kindness” and “Winter Dreams,” but in two different ways. SD In “Winter Dreams,” Dexter say’s this nurse that made me think of my life- "Oh, that's all right. I'll fix it up.” CM In many instances, people take risks and don’t think of the negative outcome. CM They think Oh, well my daddy’s rich and can fix any of my mistakes, but boy are they wrong. CM I admit that I’ve made mistakes, but I never pushed the consequences out of the picture- I knew I was going to get into trouble and I owned up to it. SD I have also gone through a lot of pain and found the better side of it, like Ms. Nye says in her poem “Kindness” [Loose Sentence]. CM Two years ago on May fourth, I received the most dreaded phone call of my life- a phone call from my grandmother telling me that my grandfather had passed away. CM At the moment, my mother and I were in line for my pageant, paying and getting registered- the news shook us up so much [Loose Sentence]. SD My mother had gone home to mourn with her brothers and sisters, but wanted me to stay in Cape Cod with my Aunt, and told me “to win the pageant for [my grandfather]!” CM I stayed for the rest of the weekend, and brought home over ten trophies, all in honor of my grandfather. CS It was hard for me to get up on stage pretending to be all happy when truly I was heartbroken, but going home and showing my mother my awards and seeing her swollen eyes fill with joy, it was worth it. CS “You must know sorrow as the other deepest thing,” in life, and learn how to deal with it- may it be a family death, or simply making a mistake.

Kindness is found in the smallest of things that you may not immediately see, but eventually you will. Ms. Nye says it’s “the deepest thing inside [a humans heart,]” Mr. Fitzgerald thinks it’s hidden among each and every one of us, and in my life, it is too found hidden in the smallest of things. It can be found in death, or found in the simplicity of telling the truth. Wherever kindness may be, hope that one day you will realize kindness is found everywhere.

Timmy's Essay 17

Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
20 April 20009

Sentiment or Lack Thereof:

An Essay Relating Two Poems and a Short Story to Sentimentality

1 Sentiment is found naturally in life. 2 You can see it in a person volunteering to help the community, a simple donation to a just cause, or a person crying over a loved one’s death, but what would happen if it all disappeared? 3 Things could change drastically, but it would bring about a new meaning to everything we do. 4 In “The Traveling Onion” by Naomi Shihab Nye, there is much sentiment to be found, whereas “I’m Nobody” by Emily Dickinson has a distinct lack of sentiment and “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield has a strange mix of the two.

TS The whole of Nye’s poem is based on sentiment. SD Nye uses her emotion to think about the life of the onion that is about to “enter [her] stew today.” CM She knows not how far the onion has traveled, so she idealizes the fact and considers the unknown distance to be a very large one. CM She then uses her excess of emotion to feel compassion [SAT word] for the lonely onion she is about to eat. SD Furthermore, Nye pities the onion because it does not get its proper recognition. CM She sits at a table and “comment[s] on the texture of meat or herbal aroma, but never on the” onion’s great deeds. CM She sympathizes with the small vegetable and says “it is right that tears fall for something small and forgotten.” CS Ultimately, Nye feels bad for the anonymous [SAT word] glory that is an onion.

TS In Dickinson’s poem, there is more of a lack of sentiment. SD Dickinson, along with Nye, recognizes ignorance, but she sees a different side of it. CM Nye looks upon the onion’s lack of recognition with pity, but Dickinson wants to remain a “nobody.” CM She tells us not to “tell” because “they’d advertise – you know,” making it seems like she would rather stay hidden [participle phrase]. SD Also, one definition of sentimental is “having an excess of sentiment of sensibility,” but Dickinson seems to go in the exact opposite direction of that. CM She seems to spit out “how dreary” it would be to “be somebody.” CM Instead of sympathizing, she likens somebodies to “frogs” and tells how “public” it would be – public is regarded as a negative aspect of life [appositive]. CS Instead of trying to be sentimental towards people who are “somebody”, she would make fun of them in the shadows and remain a “nobody.”

TS Mansfield’s short story seems to be a mix of the two poems by and Nye and Dickinson respectively. SD When Laura hears about the man’s death, she feels compassion for his family. CM Contrarily, Jose thinks it should be let go and they should continue on with their party. CM This contrast of too much sentimentality and too little sentimentality rival throughout most of the book, but eventually Laura – the person with too much sentimentality – comes out on top [appositive]. SD She travels to the poor part of the village to pay her respects to the dead man. CM This little act of kindness lets her live happily for the time being. CM It even grants her a new look on life, which she can’t quite describe. CS This short story shows that even if you are overrun with sentiment, if it is all let out, you can be happy again.

1 Sentiment, or lack thereof, can be a powerful tool. 2 It can bring out a feeling of strange contentment or a dissimilar feeling of utter defiance. 3 Either way, it can have a huge impact on the lives of you and others, making feeling a powerful source [participle phrase]. 4 Sentimental people are sometimes ridiculed, but, in the end, are we not all emotional at some point or another?

Sarah Essay 17

Sarah Shourds

Hamilton Salsich

English 09

21 April 2009

Finding Sentiment:

An Essay on a Short Story, a Poem, and Sentiment

Most people think of onions as overpowering, bitter vegetables tand don't admire its past, but not Naomi Shihab Nye. Most people think a dead, poor, grimy [FAST] old man should be left in his dirty little town, but not Laura. Most people think that being a “nobody” is terrible and unsocial, but not Emily Dickinson [Purposeful Repetition]. Naomi Shihab Nye, Katherine Mansfield, and Emily Dickinson all inscribe the word “sentiment” into each of their writings in different ways, yet none of them have the same opinions.


TS In “The Garden Party,” Laura, the protagonist, is a very sentimental girl, and has different opinions than the rest of her family [Appositive]. SD Just down the street from Laura’s bustling [FAST] party-house, a man past away. CM No one else in Laura’s family cared because they were so preoccupied with the party, but Laura knew she needed to do something about it. CM Laura’s mother claimed to be ever so “sorry about it as [she was],” but still went on planning her huge party. SD In the mix of her mother’s words and the garden party, Laura still had the dead man on her mind. CM She knew the best thing to do was to visit the family and pay her respects, despite what her mother told her. CM The dead man’s wife guided Laura to the body, where she saw him “sleeping so soundly” and peacefully, that “[she” had to cry”. CM Seeing the blissful man “being [taken by] his dream” made her realize that she had done the right thing. CS Laura, normally and uptight, shy woman, left that house feeling even more content then she ever was, and having a better understanding of her life that “she couldn’t explain [Appositive]. CS In the end, Laura’s sentiment was a natural essence [FAST] that affected her and her brother.


TS In “The Traveling Onion,” Ms. Nye writes with a vast [FAST] amount of sentiment that you must look between the lines for. SD Ms. Nye begins her poem with a quote from a recipe book, giving the reader background information about the onion. CM She then tells about how “far the onion has traveled just to enter [her] stew”. CM Ms. Nye feels so sentimental for this poor onion that is filled with “small forgotten miracles,” and feels that “[she should] kneel and praise” the onion for its wonders it has brought the world. SD Most people look past the onions astonishing past, but Ms. Nye see’s the onion in a different perspective. CM Like Laura in “The Garden Party,” Ms. Nye doesn’t realize the onions magnificent past until “[her] knife enters [the] onion and [it] falls apart on the chopping block,” and when she does realize it’s beauty, she cannot hold back her tears. CM Ms. Nye thinks “it is right that tears fall for something small and forgotten”. CS The sentimental value of the onion was as pungent as the odor itself, and Ms. Nye feels compassion [SAT Word] for the lonely, diligent [SAT Word] onion.


TS Unlike Naomi Shihab Nye, Emily Dickinson is a little more upfront with her rendition [FAST] of sentiment. SD In the poem “I’m Nobody,” Dickinson speaks of how she is a “nobody,” but that she is happy of her loneliness. CM Many people think of being a “nobody” in a negative way, but Dickinson speaks of “how dreary [it would] be [to be a] somebody!” CM She says that living “public like a frog” would ruin the simplicity of her live, to which she holds great sentimental value to [Participle Phrase]. SD Maybe, like the definition of sentiment, Dickinson has an “excess of [emotions]”. CM Dickinson is so preoccupied with staying away from the public, that she catches herself always being with another “nobody” because they are “a pair”. CM As much as Dickinson wants to hide from the public, no matter where she is, the public is haunting her. CS Dickinson’s “excess of [emotions] is dragging her to her feet, and maybe one day she will be “public like a frog” and realize that she is a “somebody”.


Everyone holds something close to their heart with sentimental value. May it be an onion, seeing a dead, blissful man, or driving to be a “nobody”, it’s in all of us. In the short story “The Garden Party,” and in both poems “The Traveling Onion,” and “I’m Nobody,” each piece of sentimental value dearest to them is hidden in between the lines of their context, waiting to be found. Waiting to be found, sentimental value is important in everyone’s life [Participle Phrase].

Lydia's Essay 17

Lydia Schulz
Mr. H. Salsich
9 English
April 26, 2009

Cleaning My Room:

An Essay on Two Poems, a Short Story, and a Word

        1. If I were cleaning my room right now, I would find a wide assortment of objects: journals, boxes of little treasures, hats, even old t-shirts. 2. If you saw all these commodities, you may think it was just a random collection, but the one thing they all have is sentimental value. 3. Some people find sentiment in objects and souvenirs while others find it in a memory, but wherever it may be found, the feelings are strong, powerful. 4. Some, like Emily Dickinson in her poem “I’m Nobody,” do not feel much of this, but others, such as Naomi Shihab Nye in her poem “The Traveling Onion” and Laura in “The Garden Party,” are exceptionally sentimental.
        TS: In “The Traveling Onion” by Naomi Shihab Nye, there is a great amount of underlying sentiment hidden among her words. SD: In the first stanza of the poem, Nye offers a description of the onion. CM: Most people would see it as just an onion with nothing particularly remarkable about it, but she talks about it so lovingly that it makes one wonder. CM: Perhaps something happened to her involving an onion and now whenever she sees one, she feels sentimental toward that memory. SD: Nye goes on to say that “it is right that tears fall for something small and forgotten.” CM: The initial reaction to this statement is the fact that onions make people’s eyes water, but maybe she was going for something more meaningful than this. CM: Perhaps she is saying that an onion deserves for people to feel sentimental toward it. CS: It may be subtle(SAT word), but Ms. Nye seems to be determined to vouch for the onion’s right to be felt for.
        TS: Nye’s poem is very sentimental, but while reading “I’m Nobody” by Emily Dickinson, I didn’t feel this at all. SD: If I were to define “sentimental,” I would say that being sentimental about something means having strong feelings about something that happened in the past. CM: This would usually be used to look back on something with fond memories, not negative thoughts. CM: I would use sentimental to describe someone’s thoughts about something meaningful. SD: For these reasons, I see no sentiment in “I’m Nobody.” CM: The poem is so short, simple, fresh, as if two people are meeting for the first time(asyndeton). CM: There is no baggage to weigh this poem down; it is light and clean with no memories to look back on. CS: Like a new friendship, there is nothing to reflect lovingly upon, only a blank future for them to fill.
        TS: Unlike “I’m Nobody” by Emily Dickinson, the feeling in these passages from “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield was almost tangible. SD: In the first passage, Laura was trying to show her emotions to Jose, being almost too sentimental for a man she did not know(participle). CM: Of course, as Jose said(appositive), you cannot try to stop the world for every death that occurs, but it seemed that Laura did not know when to let go. CM: She cared a little too much, for eventually, Jose had to tell her that “you [can’t] bring a drunken workman back to life by being sentimental.” SD: The second passage contained a different kind of sentiment: Em, the dead man’s wife, mourning for her lost husband(appositive). CM: Having just lost a spouse, a soul mate, and a best friend,(participle, purposeful repetition) there is no way she wasn’t thinking about him. CM: In her grief, she was looking back on the memories she made with him, being sentimental to his memory. CS: The way Katherine Mansfield writes, it is as if you can feel every twinge of emotion passing through the characters’ minds.
        1. Some days, I find myself sitting on the floor, sifting through boxes, photos and old memories. 2. These are the times when I feel most sentimental. 3. And though I have to look back on the sorrow and adversity(SAT word) along with the happiness, I am glad I can feel these strong emotions that show me that I am alive. 4. Sentiment is a powerful thing; it may not be able to bring a man back to life, but it can come close.

Ceilie's Essay #17

Ceilie Moore

Mr. Salsich 

English 9 

April 26th, 2009 

A Sentimental Feeling: 

An Essay on Two Poems and a Short Story 

Sentiment is displayed in many ways. It can be shown out of the act of kindness, such as giving a friend a shoulder to cry on, or it can be displayed through tears and be the one in need of a listening ear and a tissue. Being sentimental is feeling sincere emotion about something or someone, but it can also be excessive to the point where your life revolves around only your feelings of deep compassion and sympathy for others. In Katherine Mansifield’s short story, “The Garden Party,” Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, “The Traveling Onion” and Emily Dickinson’s poem, “I’m Nobody,” there is a common theme of sentiment.


TS In “The Garden Party,” Laura, a young girl who is hosting a garden party, has a natural tendency to be sentimental. (Appositive) SD Before her party starts, she finds out a man was killed outside her house, which gives her second thoughts about continuing her event. CM “If you’re going to stop a [party] every time someone has an accident, you’ll lead a very strenuous life,” her sister, Jose, informed Laura, after she announced her intentions to cancel the soiree. CM Both Laura’s deep concern for the dead man and Jose’s reaction to the situation indicate that Laura was acting irrationally sentimental over the death of someone she didn’t even know. SD In the end of the story, Laura visits the dead man’s family and this time acts accordingly to the situations she is in, as opposed to the way she initially overreacted when she was given the news about the dead man. CM The man’s wife leads Laura in to see his resting body, “sleeping so soundly, so deeply.” CM Laura, reacting as anyone who is as unexposed to the idea of death as she is, and is put into a state of sentimental shock as she leaves the house, “sob[bing].” (Participle Phrase) CS Laura’s sentiment is out of pure compassion for everything and everyone, but there are times when it is almost too extreme and affects her, as well as those around her, negatively.


TS In the poem, “The Traveling Onion,” the author, Naomi Shihab Nye, shows sentiment over something as simple as a vegetable, in a way that really makes you think before you eat. (Appositive) SD Nye describes the effortless action of cutting an onion as a sad moment, and even recognizes something that even the most wary (SAT Word) chefs wouldn’t. CM “The way my knife enters the onion /… and [it] falls apart on the chopping block” she says, giving a somber connotation to what she’s doing, almost as though she is committing murder to such a beautiful, natural source of satisfaction. CM She adds, “A history revealed,” reminding us that each layer of an onion represents each year it has been alive, like the height of a tree or wrinkles on a human. SD Nye also feels sentiment for the onion as it is being eaten, not because it will no longer be seen, but because it is “small and forgotten” as it is mixed in with all the other foods. CM “[While eating] [we] comment on the texture of meat or herbal aroma /… but never on the translucence of onion,” she writes. CM She feels this raw, sorrowful emotion for the onion, as it spends its life growing with such potential, only to be picked and thrown into a “stew”, adding a sublime zest to the meal without any adulation. (SAT Word) CS Nye writes in a sentimental way that recognizes the little things in life, such as an onion, and gives it credit for everything it has given us, and apologizes for the fact that we have given nothing in return.

TS In Emily Dickinson’s, “I’m Nobody,” she recognizes and feels sentiment towards someone who is so little, that they are “nobody,” much like herself. SD “I’m nobody,” Dickinson writes, “Are you nobody too? /… Then there’s a pair of us.” CM Dickinson feels compassion towards this “nobody” because they are similar to her in the way that they feel nonexistent. CM She understands how the person feels being “nobody” and decides to befriend them, due to their likeness. SD Dickinson also expresses sentiment towards the “somebody[s] of the world.” CM Talking to the other “nobody”, Dickinson says, “How dreary [it is] to be somebody.” (Participle phrase) CM Dickinson’s comment is quite contradictory to society’s perception that being “somebody” is something to strive for, and to be known is something everyone wants. CM3 Instead of feeling envy towards the “somebody[s],” Dickinson actually feels sentiment and sympathy for those who are so “public” and known by everyone. CS Dickinson interestingly vocalizes her liking for being “nobody” and pity for those who are “somebody,” in a way that convinces readers to change their minds about the fame and fortune “somebody[s]” supposedly have.

Sentiment is an ambiguous concept that has a certain time and place. Sometimes, it is seen as the simple feeling of compassion towards another. Other times, it can be felt so excessively, it is unnecessary and overdramatic. In “The Garden Party,” the main character acts as though the sky is falling because of the unfortunate death of an unknown man, while in “The Traveling Onion,” the author feels this slight, subtle sentiment for a vegetable that doesn’t get enough recognition for its worth. Being sentimental can be depicted in many different ways, but it is always definite that if you feel even an ounce of sentiment, it is only because you have a heart.

Timmy's Essay 16

Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
15 April 2009

The Figurative Connections:

An Essay on a Poem and How it Relates to a Short Story

How do you express yourself? Is it through singing, performing, speaking, painting [asyndeton]? Is it straightforward or somewhat evasive [FAST]? In “The Little Brother Poem,” Naomi Shihab Nye uses writing to express herself. James Baldwin has also chosen writing over the others, and his story has a lot in common with Nye’s.

In her poem, Nye uses figurative language to express the multiple themes. First, she uses many metaphors. She says, “You’re Wall Street and I’m the local fruit market” to express the differences between herself and her brother. Differences are a key part of this poem because they are one of the reasons that her brother ran away. Nye also uses imagery to express a theme of paying attention to the little things. She “poke[d] [her] finger through the rusted hole in the bottom [of the jug].” This act showed her remembrance of her brother and how the little things can cause the most sadness. Equally important is her use of figurative language to show the theme of forgiveness. In the first and last stanzas, she talks about going through her brother’s old things. She has to dump out the boxes, sort through them, and put them back into a shape that her brother will remember, so that if he ever finds it, he will know she cared and hopefully forgive her. Without figurative language, this poem loses much of its meaning.

In addition, “The Little Brother Poem” has a lot in common with James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” In both writings, pieces of the past come back to haunt the characters. For example, Isabel “still hears [the scream] sometimes in her dreams.” In Nye’s piece, she sees her brother’s car often, which reminds her of the past and how things could have been, making her regret past actions [participle phrase as a closer]. Moreover, both stories involve pain, but require the characters to move on. In “Sonny’s Blues,” Little Gracie dies, and they are dropped into a state of anguish [FAST]. In her poem, Nye hurts her brother and has to deal with “[his] eyes hard on [her] from under the bandages.” Lastly, both stories take their time with certain things. Sonny finally takes his time with a song and it becomes “beautiful because it wasn’t hurried.” In “The Little Brother Poem”, Nye starts “dumping out [...] whole drawer[s]” and slowly sifting through them, trying to make something beautiful out of them. These two masterpieces are built on many of the same themes and therefore have a lot in common.

On that note, many of these themes are not just part of two stories but of life as well [periodic sentence]. When a friend wrongs you, what do you do? You forgive them eventually, and there are many more examples for each of the themes listed above. Life is just made up of countless little themes that are rolled into one big world.

Ceilie's Essay #16

Ceilie Moore

Mr. Salsich 

English 9 

April 16th, 2009                                  

A True Bond: 

An Essay on a Short Story and a Poem

There is nothing that you will ever have to question less, feel more, never consider stopping, permanently hold in your heart, than the love for a sibling. (Asyndeton) The love comes naturally from the day the other one is born, and from then on, it’s like a bond that is technically forced, but no less genuine. In both “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “The Little Brother Poem” by Naomi Shihab Nye, we experience the euphoric (FAST) moments they remember from their childhoods and the sour moments that tested their brotherly bonds.

In “The Little Brother Poem,” Nye uses many types of figurative language to express both her past and current relationship with her younger brother. In the third stanza, Nye refers back to an incident when she was so frustrated with her brother, she pushed him in front of a bicycle, and he suffered serious injuries. (Periodic Sentence) She uses personification as she states, “For weeks your eyes hard on me under the bandages.” She gives human-like qualities to her brother’s eyes by stating this, thus making the statement more powerful and the idea of the pain her brother is feeling more real. Nye also uses a few metaphors to describe her relationship with her brother, one being in the fourth stanza. Nye says, “You’re Wall Street and I’m the local fruit market. You’re Pierre Cardin and I’m a used bandanna.” Although her brother isn’t actually Wall Street, and she isn’t physically a used bandanna, she uses these characteristics and objects to describe who the two siblings are as people. Her brother left home to become successful, while she stayed home in this small town, patting down her sweat with a bandanna and purchasing food at the local market. A final metaphor she uses to both begin and end the poem, is the one referring to Nye “cleaning the house.” She talks about organizing “the pieces of junk [her brother] saved” and how “it’s a large order[…]dumping out a whole drawer at once[…]trying to put [things] back in some kind of shape.” Although at first glance it seems as though she’s simply cleaning out her house, reflecting back on her bond with her brother, she’s actually using the “drawer” and the “junk” as symbols for their life together and every bad thing she’s done to him that she wants to be forgiven for. (Participle Closer) In the poem, it’s sometimes a little difficult to tell whether the language Nye is using to describe her and her brother is figurative or literal, but when you think about it, a majority of it is symbolic one way or another.

Both “The Little Brother Poem” and “Sonny’s Blues” are strong stories about the author’s relationship with their brother, but there is more of a relationship between the tales than the plot of a bond between two siblings. First off, in “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator describes the day his daughter, Grace, fell to the floor and died of Polio. “When you have a lot of children you don’t always start running when one of them falls,” the author explained, “[But] Isabel (the author’s wife) says that when she heard that thump and then that silence, something happened to her to make her afraid.” He is saying that Isabel has this instinctive feeling that when her daughter fell, it was much different from the ordinary trip to the rug that resulted in a bruise or two. This reminds me of when Nye’s brother “disappeared into the streets of Dallas at midnight on foot, crying, and [she] realized he’d been serious.” This quote indicates that there could’ve been other moments when her brother had run away, upset, but there was something specific about this time that made her realize he wasn’t coming home like he usually did, and she was right. In the final scene of “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator has reunited with his brother, who “fill[ed] the air with his life” as his fingers glided up and down the piano. At this moment, the two brothers connect through the achievements of Sonny and reflect back on the dreams they’ve both had, how far they’ve taken them, and how the dreams have reunited them as a family. This scene has a similar plotline to sixth stanza of Nye’s poem, although the outcome of the reunion between the siblings is a little less heartwarming and a little more heartbreaking. (Parallelism) Nye calls up her brother, who is now working as a “Wall Street”-like businessman, something he has always pined for. Out of pure concern and curiosity, Nye called her brother to check up on his new life that he’d left her behind for, and when asking “Are you happy?” he replied with an unsure answer, sounding “small, younger,” and he questioned whether fighting for his dreams was worth it in the end. “Sonny’s Blues” and “The Little Brother Poem” have more similarities than just their storyline, but also the problems the two main characters face and the outcome of their lives.

The relationship between two siblings is one of the purest, most honest relationships you can ever have with anyone. There is no shame in saying how you really feel, no judgment when the other has a moment of shortcoming (FAST) and no question as to how much you love each other. (Parallelism) Although the bond between two siblings is expected to have a fair amount of ugly days, they can never outweigh the beautiful ones.