And Still We Rise - Assignment 3

Miesha: "My Talent is Perserverance"
*What is your talent/gift?
*What are you going to do with it?
*Compare your talent with Miesha's

Literary Connection: Jesus' Parable of the Talents NOTE: In ancient times, a measure of gold was called a talent: There once was a master and he had three servants. He goes on a trip and gives gold to each of them. The first one spends it having a good time, the second one purchases a rug in the market place. The third one goes out into the fields and buries it. When the master returns, he asks them what they did with the gold. The first one says, "I spent it and had a great time with my friends." The master says, "Very Good." The second one says, "I purchased a rug in the marketplace." The master says, "Very Good." The third one says, "Master, you will be most proud of me! I buried it in the fields and here it is!" The master beats him and send him out of his house.

What do you think is Jesus' point? What lesson does he teach and how does it connect to you and Miesha? How does this story work on more than one level?


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A talent can be anything, from being great at soccer to being a public speaker. It could even be something completely different.  In Miesha's case, her talent is perseverence.  Compared to what others consider their talents to be, this isn't the normal thing to be talented in.  But that's what makes it unique.  As for me, I consider my talent to be compassion.

There are times in life where people need compassion in their lives.  It could be during a hard time in their life where hardships seem never-ending, or when they just need someone to confide in.  I'm usually the person they would confide in, no matter what the situation is.  I would listen to their problems and help them whenever they needed it.  I would bend over backward for the people I cared most about, and I wouldn't mind doing it.  There were cases when I would be having a hard time in my own life, but if I saw my friend hurting to the point of crying, I wouldn't put much importance on my problems.  They weren't as important as what my friend was going through, even if that was true or not.


I would use my talent the same way I have always used it: to help others in times of need.  It wouldn't be good if I kept my talent to myself, because it wouldn't be a useful talent by itself.  I would be the person my friends needed when they need a shoulder to cry on, or another person to talk to when they feel like their world is crashing down.  I would always be there for them, no matter what.



My talent is similar to Miesha's in a certain way, but it is also different.  It is similar in that both are more characteristics than physical talents.  They are both things that most people would take for granted or not put as much importance into it.  They are different because they deal with different situations.  Miesha's talent deals mostly with being able to deal with every hardship that she has to face and making sure that she will survive throughout it all.  My talent deals more with the lives of others and making sure that they will be able to make it through their hardships.


I think in the literary connection, Jesus's point is that most people only care about immediate gratification and when there are those that delay gratification for something better, they are the ones that get shot down by others.  The ones that delay gratification are those that are high achievers and that care about the future and work hard to achieve their goals.  In this case, the one that buried his talent is the one that will persevere the longest compared to the other two.  It connects to me and Miesha because we both are focused on the far future rather than the immediate satisfaction of getting what we want and we will wait for our goals to be reached and not rush or anything like that.  This story works on multiple levels in that it has an underlying meaning and an obvious meaning.  It's obvious meaning is that most people only care about material things when they should be thinking about other more important things in life.  The two servants and the master only did things that had some material value to it or didn't require any hard work at all.  The last servant worked hard to bury his talent and he was beaten for it.  The underlying meaning is that it is better to delay gratification rather than seek immediate satisfaction.  If you only think about what you will get in the near future, you won't think about the consequences that could happen later on in the future because of the decision you made.

Prompt 1 (Auntie Lisa's Beloveds Wiki)

Task: Read the following prompt and answer to the best of your ability! Choose a symbol used in a novel or play of your choice and discuss its function in the world of the work. Be sure to give the title of the work and its author in the Introduction paragraph. You should strive for 4 - 5 paragraphs. Good Luck! After posting, read and comment on 4 other postings. Your comments should be helpful to the writer and may be things you noticed, something for them to think about, and some words of encouragement. You must complete your essay and your comments by Tuesday, January 12th!

Even the smallest object that seems insignificant to the average reader can be the most important symbol in the world of a novel.  A symbol isn't always the most noticeable thing of a novel; it would take away from its meaning.  The real symbols that have a high level of significance in a novel are the ones that don't immediately catch your eye.  This is the case in The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.  Although this novel is one that has multiple narrators with different story lines, there are key symbols that reveal the importance of each main character.


Jing-Mei's character in the novel finds life's importance reflected in the form of her mother's pendant.  Suyuan (Jing-Mei's mother) gave the pendant to her before she knew that she would die.  Throughout the course of the novel, this symbol went through many different changes, all having some sort of meaning to Jing-Mei, whether it was positive or negative.  It started off being an object that was not stylish to her.  It also went deeper with Jing-Mei seeing it as the cultural differences between herself and her mother.  Jing-Mei never thought of herself as being more American than Chinese, and that her mother was fighting a lost cause.  She knew that she wouldn't be able to embrace her Chinese heritage, but Suyuan kept trying.


When Suyuan died, the pendant became an entirely new symbol completely.  Her "life's importance" became a symbol of her mother's love and concern for her.  Unfortunately, Jing-Mei only realized the significance of her mother's teachings after it was too late to learn everything from her, which seems to be the case in a lot of situations.  Her pendant also became an additional symbol in a larger scale.  It became a symbol of the human power to give new meaning to what is happening around them.  The fact that Jing-Mei was able to change the meaning of the pendant showed her ability to change the meaning of other objects as well.  In the end, this would a good thing to have because she could change the meaning of her mother dying to something that will empower her.


Any tangible object or abstract thought can serve as a symbol in the novel world.  Suyuan's pendant showed that a small object can become the embodiment of an important worldly theme.  Tan shows  her symbols in a subtle way that can lead to various interpretations, allowing her readers to have a stronger understanding of her work as a whole.

And Still We Rise - Assignment 2

Period 4 Assignment #2: After reading this book review, what do you think your experience reading this book is going to be like? Do you tend to look at book reviews before you purchase a book? Do you use book reviews to influence your book purchases? Are you more apt to listen to a friend who recommends a book to you? Your response should be at least 250 words.


The main purpose of a book review is to show someone's opinion on a book and recommend that book to other potential readers.   Usually this strategy is able to help a book get more readers, especially if the book reviewer is as famous as someone like Oprah Winfrey.  But not everyone reads book reviews and choose books based on what they feel is interesting, regardless of what others think.  I am one of those people, and I wouldn't have read this book review normally.  But after actually reading it, I am grateful that I get to see the benefits of book reviews.


From what Mark Welch talked about throughout his review, And Still We Rise was a book unlike any other.  There have been other books that were written about the injustice about the education system in different places.  To Welch, they all had the tone of being artificial and unrealistic.  It is well known that the system isn't as great as it could be, but it doesn't require authors to give the false impression that it could be fixed so easily.  And Still We Rise was a totally different story altogether, and it was obvious.  I enjoy reading books that don't follow the norm, so this aspect that Welch touched upon intrigued me from the beginning.


I am not the type of person to use book reviews to influence my book purchases or borrowings.  To me, if I read the synopsis of a book and it catches my attention, I will get it.  Anybody can say that a book is good, but everyone has their own opinions on what they like.  So I didn't think I would find myself reading a book review on And Still We Rise, but here I am.  This book review was unlike any other that I have briefly read before.  Welch appealed to me through his opinion on the book's uniqueness and its reason for being written.  I understand that the system isn't at its best, and yet I am tired of people just complaining about it.  I feel like if people really feel like it should be improved, then take the actions to make a difference, no matter how hard it seems or how long it takes.  Welch points out that Miles Corwin wants people to realize that no matter how gifted children can be, they still need the assistance that they deserve and need in order to succeed.  In a way, they are both calling America to action to get these and other children the resources and help they need in order to get higher in life.  By just reading the review alone, I felt inspired to make changes in the system in any way I can and get others to change the system so that every child can have an equal chance at success.  I think that with my passion to make a difference and the inspiration I felt from this review, I will definitely enjoy this book in its entirety.

And Still We Rise - Assignment 1

Assignment 1: Read pages 1 - 61 in the text! Write a response to the 1st 61 pages with this prompt: What is Crenshaw High School like in comparision to Mililani High School? You may write in terms of the community, the layout/enviornment of the school, and the students/faculty/teachers? This needs to be at least 300 words. You may use quotes from the text to support you.

I want you to go and look at at least 4 responses from your classmates and to comment on them as well!

Have fun!!

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Gang shooting in Mililani, three students found dead. That kind of news doesn't exist here, because Mililani is a safe neighborhood. And where there is a safe neighborhood, there exists a safe high school: Mililani High School. Crenshaw High School isn't so lucky, and the students there don't have the luxury of safety, something most people take for granted. Just the worry of making it home alive is enough to make someone's life a living hell. These students live in that hell, and it's not going away like a bad nightmare.

The students at Crenshaw High School have an unfair disadvantage that the students of Mililani High School won't ever have to worry about: coming from a rough neighborhood. A neighborhood where drugs, gangs, and “bad kids” are the norm, nobody expects there to be kids that actually give a care about where they are going in life. To most people, those from Crenshaw will end up in prison or dead by the time they turn thirty, if they even make it that long. Already these kids won’t be taken as seriously as a Mililani High School student, where academics are taken seriously and no life-threatening events happen behind the scenes. Miles Corwin knew what they faced when he said “I wanted to show how truly slanted the playing field remains, how inequality is built into a system touted as a meritocracy, how students from places such as South-Central face such great obstacles that they still need the step up from affirmative action (pg. 2).” Mililani students don’t have the playing field against them like Crenshaw students do.

Despite the hardships that students from Crenshaw have to go through, they possess similarities to the students from Mililani. There are those that actually care about where they are going to be after high school and want a better life than what they have now. It could be said that Mililani and Crenshaw students are on a similar level in regards to dedication and passion. If anything, they have to work harder to prove that they can go above and beyond their current situations, and they have just the drive to pull it off.

Although there are major differences between Crenshaw High School and Mililani High School, they share some important aspects that show the world that there is something worthy about both. Even in the worst of neighborhoods, there is still a little hope that somebody is working to persevere through their hardships to have a chance at a better life.