Kaylin Signor

Melinda Schroeder

10-20-16

Blog Post 3

Summation of “Fish Cheeks”

“Fish Cheeks” is an essay written by storyteller, Amy Tan. When she was a girl, Amy’s parents invited the minister’s family to their “Chinese Christmas”. Amy was frustrated and mortified that her family didn’t seem to care what others thought: her family would reach across the table, burp, and the table was filled with Chinese food. I think that the purpose of these texts was to teach you an important lesson while also giving you a relatable scene; such as embarrassing holiday moments. After the minister’s family had left, Amy’s mom told her that “…You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.” (Amy’s mom, par. 7). This is the main point of the essay: she meant that Amy should never be afraid of whom she is as a person, and that she should never try to hide a part of herself from others.

Summation of “Superman and Me”

Sherman Alexie, an award-winning poet, fiction writer, and filmmaker wrote in his essay “Superman and Me” a story about how as a child, he fought through the stereotype about "stupid Indians". His father was a lover of books and Alexie overcame that stereotype through learning to read his father's books and a Superman comic; the comic helped because he could look at the pictures and guess what they were saying. Now, Alexie visits schools to teach creative writing to kids. He does this because as a kid, he never had anyone do that for him so he visits other schools to teach students there. Throughout this essay, he states: “I was trying to save my life.” (Alexie, par. 7) and then in paragraph 8 changes to "I am trying to safe our lives." I think that's what the purpose and point of this essay are that you shouldn't let people's ideas define you. He broke through the "stupid Indian" stereo type and then worked to save others as well.

Works Cited:
 Tan, Amy. "Fish Cheeks." The Bedford Reader. 12th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 110-11. Print.
Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." 2014. The Bedford Reader. 12th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 582-85. Print.

My choice

     While I was writing this, I first thought that I would choose Fish Cheeks because I can relate to it on a personal level; I have those moments where my family is embarrassing and I wish I could just crawl into a hole and die. I struggle often with being proud of whom I am and so I thought that I would be able to put a lot of passion behind it. Plus, the simple childhood aspect appealed to me, how it was an adult looking back on a lesson she learned as a child. But then as I was writing out the summaries for these two stories, and I got deeper into them, I decided that I liked Superman and Me a lot more. There was more detail I could pull out of it to put into my essay. I’ve seen what people’s stereotypes and assumptions have done to people I love and so to me: Superman and Me is the best decision. What finally sold me was when he went back to try and help others, he sounded resentful that nothing had been done for him and so he made sure that other children would get that opportunity.

I commented on Shelby's blog.
I commented on Hannah's blog.

Kaylin Signor

Melinda Schroeder

10-3-16

Blog Post #2

     I finish walking up the short but steep hill onto the cement pad in my driveway, the burning sensation in my legs reminding me (once again) that I should probably be in better shape than this. I grip the rubber basketball in my hands, dust from much use outside rubs off on my hands and I debate between rubbing it off or not, but I decide that they’re about to get worse anyways. The best time to shoot hoops at my house is in the middle of the afternoon on a cloudy day. If it’s raining, your hands tend to go numb which makes doing anything with a basketball difficult. But if it’s sunny, you can’t see the back board over the piercing rays of the sun, making you squint like you’re blind for several hours.

     Like I said, the afternoon on a cloudy day is the best time to play, I can look at my target (the hoop) without fear of losing my eyesight, and I don’t get frostbite from the cold either, the clouds keep it at the perfect temperature where I can enjoy my time. I bounce the ball in the cement a few times to test out its air pressure, the ball bounces back into my hands right away and I start warming up. I shoot a few shots right by the hoop, each one bouncing off the slanted hoop into the net that’s hanging on by a few threads. With each basket made, I expect the hoop to get knocked right off its base pole, it’s not exactly the strongest hoop... The cement pad works because it’s a hard surface, and if you’re determined then this is all you need. You just have to look past the cracks, the bumps in odd places, the part where it decides to become a hill instead of a flat surface, and just play basketball.

     The best part about this place is when my little 4’ something brother comes to scrimmage with me. His determination to not allow me to go easy on him makes me laugh, I always ask him if I should go easy on him and he’ll answer with an emphatic “no!” But then a few minutes into the game and he’ll say “maybe just don’t go your hardest.” Have you ever seen a Chihuahua go after a bigger dog? That’s how my brother plays against anyone. Vicious, scrappy, and not very willing to give up, he’ll come running (slightly awkwardly) at you, try to steal the ball, and then when you dribble around him and make the mistake of thinking that you’re in the clear, he’ll come at you from behind and grab the ball. Playing with my brother is always interesting and can guarantee some laughs.

     The worst part about this court is having it right beside the highway… If the ball goes in the hoop and falls just right on to the edge of the base of the pole, it’ll bounce right off of it and start rolling (more like racing) towards the road. This means that there are a few rules involved with shooting: Rule 1. Don’t shoot if there’s a car coming. Rule 2. Don’t shoot if there’s a car coming. Rule 3. DON’T SHOOT IF THERE’S A CAR COMING. If you fail to heed these rules then you will have to frantically run after the ball while at the same time straining your ears for engine noises and looking both ways down the stretch of highway 112. If you hear or see a vehicle coming, then you have to pray that the ball rolls faster and makes it over the road before the car gets there, then you carefully cross and retrieve it later. Needless to say, playing basketball up there has added to my gray hairs…

     It may not be the best court, but it’s my court. It’s where I can go that’s quiet and I can clear my head of thoughts. The repetitive motion of dribble towards the hoop, shoot the ball in the direction of the net (hope it goes in), then run to catch your rebound, and repeat, is calming and mindless so that I can relax, and in a family of 8, relaxing is a good thing.
I commented on Eve's blog.
I commented on Emma's blog.