Saturday, April 5, 2014

Week 5: Option C



How exactly is the theme of personal growth treated in both works?

You must IDENTIFY the grammatical, literary, and syntactical terms (from this sheet in the middle column) by name and with quotes WITHIN your paragraph.   

Do not simply summarize and quote or retell Lily’s experience. 
This isn’t about the book; it’s about the writing in these two selections.  

“Walking the Boundaries of Change”
Sara Holbrook

Day by day
a tightrope,
walking on the boundaries
of change,
One step –
firm, familiar,
the next step –
shaky, strange.

Some friends
will dare danger,
mock or push each step.
Some friends
knock your confidence.
Real friends
form a net.
 
An excerpt from The Secret Life of Bees
By: Sue Monk Kidd (2002)


But I will tell you this secret thing, which not one of them saw, not even August, the thing that brought me the most cause for gladness.  It was how Sugar Girl said what she did, like I was truly one of them.  Not one person in the room said, Sugar Girl, really, talking about white people like that and we have a white person present.  They didn’t even think of me being different.

Up until then I had thought that white people and colored people getting along was the big aim, but after that I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan.  I thought of that policemen Eddie Hazelwurst saying I lower myself to be in this house of colored women, and for the very life of me I couldn’t understand how it had turned out this way, how colored women had become the lowest ones on the totem pole.  You only had to look at them to see how special they were, like hidden royalty among us.

(pages 208-209)

 

17 comments:

  1. The theme of personal growth is shown in these two pieces. In the excerpt from the secret life of bees, personal growth can be shown through the sentence "up until then I had the thought that white people Getting along with colored people was the big aim, but after that I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan". This shows that the narrator goes from thinking that people just had to deal with each other was enough to get by, to realizing being defined by the color of your skin is pointless and it would bring everyone closer if we weren't.

    In the piece "walking the boundaries of change" the theme if personal growth can be found in this sentence "One step –
    firm, familiar,
    the next step –
    shaky, strange. " this shows how change can be scary, and uncertain an how it changes a person. When the author describes the different kinda of friends, she shows how change can positively affect a person or negatively affect them.

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  2. Personal growth is a theme that is evident throughout “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd as well as “Walking the Boundaries of Change” by Sara Holbrook. In the poem by Holbrook, there are short lines that are not complete sentences. I think these represents that baby steps that you may need to take in order to accomplish any personal growth. When it says, “One step- firm, familiar, the next step- shaky, strange” the author is showing that growing and changing can be scary and different. You never know what may happen, as you yourself, whether is be your thoughts or ideas, are changing. The “friends” that the are mentioned, I think can be thought of as real friends, but also as the friends you find in yourself. I think the author is saying that you could find mocking within yourself, or you could find your own self confidence, and help yourself change. In the excerpt from “The Secret Life of Bees”, Kidd also discusses the topic of personal growth. In the excerpt, it says, “It was hows Sugar Girl said what she did” which shows that Lily’s growth was real and obvious. It shows that her growth was tested and shown in a real situation. Lily has grown personally and has crossed a crevice between two races. The use of a flashback in the second paragraph makes the reader think back to how Lily was in the beginning of the novel and how she is different now. In the second paragraph, it says, “I thought of that police man Eddie Hazelwurst saying I lower myself being in this house colored woman, and for the very life of me I couldn’t understand how it turned out this way”. This shows that Lily’s ideas are more fair and developed those of a police man’s. This all shows how Lily has grown. Throughout Lily’s growth, she has experienced many of the things described in the poem. She changed slowly and shakily, but was able to find confidence in herself to become a better person.
    #oneinamillion
    #oneinamillion6

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  3. The theme of personal growth is treated in both of these works by knowledge. In both they learn new things. In the poem “Walking the Boundaries of Change” the author learns something new; friends. The author is figuring out who friends are and how they compare. She decides whether they are true friends or fake friends. As the text says, “Some friends will dare danger, mock or push each step. Some friends knock your confidence. Real friends form a net.” She compares friends in a scenario; walking on a tightrope. The author grows more as she learns about the people around herself. She becomes aware and matures. In the excerpt from The Secret Life of Bees Lily learns and realizes. She figures out how special and loving the women around her are; colored women. She learns a lesson, and grows. As the text says, “ I thought of that policemen Eddie Hazelwurst saying I lower myself to be in this house of colored women, and for the very life of me I couldn’t understand how it had turned out this way, how colored women had become the lowest ones on the totem pole. You only had to look at them to see how special they were, like hidden royalty among us.” Lily fixes her lesson, or dream. About how she wishes everyone was colorless. Instead she learns to love colored women, how they are better than colorless people. In the works the sentences are long when the author is confused. They are explaining and are confused, like they haven’t figured it out yet. As the sentences get shorter, they know and aren’t confused. In the poem, the sentences in the first stanza have no periods, they keep going. In the last sentence in the second stanza the author’s statement is short, like she knew then who real friends were. In the excerpt, Lily is confused the whole time. All of the paragraphs are long, like she isn’t done explaining, but is at the first step. She still needs to finish her journey, but hit the first stop. Both of the authors use things to symbolize the meaning. In the poem, the author used a tightrope, like you were balancing on a tight rope through life. You will find out the truth of your friends as you walk further along the rope. In the excerpt the author uses colored women as all colored people. About all people. Lily realizes that all people are special, but some are left behind. That everyone on this earth is royal, but some don’t wear their crown to show it.

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  4. In the poem, “Walking the Boundaries of Change,” by Sara Holbrook, the poet begins the poem with “day by day a tightrope, walking on the boundaries of change.” This relates to everyday challenges. The author knows that to experience personal growth, one has to live and experience both the good and bad in life. The words that follow are metaphoric. “One step –firm, familiar,” represents what we recognize and are used to. “The next step –shaky, strange,” represents what’s yet to come. The poet also recognizes the importance of friends in our personal growth. The end of the poem describes the types of friends that one meets over a lifetime. Sue Monk Kidd supports the idea that others affect our personal growth in her narrative rich with inner thoughts and dialogue. The theme of growth is apparent throughout The Secret Life of Bees. The piece chosen for Week 5, Option C, displays just how much Lily’s views have altered. When she is accepted as an equal by her black friends, she recognizes that the aim shouldn't be “getting along,” but ignoring color altogether. When Lily thinks,“…I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan,” she shows how she no longer wishes that she were black or Rosaleen white, but that color should be ignored just like Sugar-Girl was ignoring Lily’s color in this scene. Lily couldn’t have made such a decision about color until she’d lived for a while in a black family and experienced racism herself. It’s interesting that both writers seem to realize that real friends accept you as you are. Holbrook’s poem ends with the words: “Real friends form a net.” I believe Lily comes to the same conclusion and it shows in this piece when she says, “They didn't even think of me being different.” Lily believes that these black women were including her as one of their own. She has experienced great personal growth in their presence.

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  5. Option C:
    In both pieces personal growth was expressed through writing format, descriptive writing, and perspective. In the poem walking the boundaries of Change the author Sara Holbrook wrote about the difference of unreal and real friends and how real friends will change to be legitimate. “Some friends will dare danger, mock or push each step. Some friends knock your confidence. Real friends form a net.” This quote shows how real friends become of age and change creating a true relationship. The stanzas in this quote made it easier to understand rather than commas above. The stanzas emphasize the new idea in each sentence. Also in the Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd wrote a descriptive paragraph about Lily’s internal thought and her internal conflict. “Up until then I had thought that white people and colored people getting along was the big aim, but after that I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan…You only had to look at them to see how special they were, like hidden royalty among us.” Lily was addressing the postulation that the sisters were treating her just as equal as any other colored woman. Sue Monk Kidd made it clear with her vivid writing of Lily’s thoughts and her point of view. This quote shows how Lily has matured and become more aware of her surroundings. The sisters may have concluded that it was an ordinary gathering with a new member to join them whose name was Lily. These two texts displayed personal growth through their writing layout, rich writing, and the characters’ point-of-view.
    seveneleven16

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  6. 4musketeers18
    Both the excerpt from The Secret Life of Bees, and the poem, “Walking the Boundaries of Change”, depict themes about personal growth. In the excerpt, Sue Monk Kidd writes, “…I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan.” The phrase “colorless together” emphasizes Lily’s personal growth, because it shows that she has grown from acknowledging and accepting differences to realizing that sometimes there are no differences to overcome. The excerpt also states, “…like I was truly one of them.” The word “them” was chosen to accentuate the crevice between people of different races. Sue Monk Kidd also employs figurative language throughout the excerpt. For example, Kidd writes, “… how colored women had become the lowest ones on the totem pole.” The syntax of the excerpt features long descriptive sentences that complement Lily’s inspiring tone. Conversely, the poem’s syntax features sentence fractures. Sarah Holbrook employs figurative language in her poem as well. For example, Holbrook writes, “Real friends
    Form a net.” Holbrook’s poem also incorporates repetition of phrases such as: “Some friends”. Both of these pieces of literature regard personal growth and employ figurative language.
    4musketeers18

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  7. The theme of personal growth is treated quite differently in both pieces. The theme is similar because both pieces show how friends are changing. In the poem by Sara Holbrook, it shows the stages of the friendships by using stanzas. The stanzas create different stages, each stanza being a stage of the personal growth. In the poem, the stanzas go like this,” Some friends dare danger. [Next stanza] Some friends knock confidence. [Next stanza] Real friends form a net.” This shows the progression of personal growth and how the friends increasingly get better. In the poem, the tightrope symbolizes choices and your different friends are all pressuring you to make choices. “The real friends form a net,” is portraying that in any situation, they will always be on your side. Sara Holbrook has very short sentences, to get the point across to the reader. In the excerpt from Secret Life of Bees, Lily talks about the growth of her friendships with the sisters. She tells a story with very long sentences which indicates that the piece is more descriptive and detailed. She talks about a totem pole, which symbolizes the social classes. “……how colored women had become the lowest on the totem pole.” Lily talks in this excerpt with great revelation to show that the theme of personal growth is important in this story. She says,”
    But I will tell you this secret thing, which not one of them saw, not even August, the thing that brought me the most cause for gladness.” This sentence is stressing how surprised she was at the personal growth of her friends. Both pieces are portrayed very differently, but deliver the same message of personal growth.


    SK8-9

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  8. The theme of personal growth is depicted in both “Walking the Boundaries of Change” and “The Secret Life of Bees”, although they are portrayed very differently. “The Secret Life of Bees” shows Lily’s realization of how colored people are just as great as other people. This excerpt is written in paragraph form, and shows Lily’s realization fairly straight forward. For instance, she writes, “…and for the very life of me I couldn’t understand how it had turned out this way, how colored women had become the lowest ones on the totem pole.” “Walking the Boundaries of Change” is a poem that depicts the theme of personal growth a little more vaguely. It uses more grammatical elements, such as punctuation and repetition to emphasize its significance. As stated in the text, “One step – firm, familiar, the next step –shaky, strange” The repetition of steps, and the dash after it, show how personal growth feels, and how it progresses. At first, it says how change can be easy, but then it goes to explain how change can be foreign, and uncomfortable .One clear similarity between the two works is they both use figurative language. “Walking the Boundaries of Change” uses alliteration such as “firm, familiar” and “dare danger.” “The Secret Life of Bees” uses similes such as, “You only had to look at them to see how special they were (colored people), like hidden royalty among us.” The figurative language makes the piece more enjoyable to read and also emphasizes the theme of personal growth. All in all, both pieces clearly depict the theme of personal growth.

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  9. “Walking the Boundaries of Change” Is about the life and how people on your path that are not nice but there will be others too that are kind. This shows personal growth in a social life. There are people that are mean and will not ever care about you and then there are people that you grow with to be best friends. It is in a poem structure. It is in first person view. It is all rhyming from line to line. The other gives you a picture of kids that are mean and bully you but there are also friends that will always be there for you. They use a symbolism when they say friends will catch if u falls like a net.
    In The Secret Life of Bees Lilly is lead to believe that colored people and white people are the same. Candy shows personal growth by helping people see things differently. The excerpt is in a paragraph formation. Lily is speaking in a first point of view as a young white girl. This piece is very dialect because of the civil rights movement and how Lilly is the only white person. The tone of Lilly when she speaks is in aw because of how convincing Candy is. She repeated I thought to herself as Candy gave her Speech.

    option C
    7-eleven #1

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  10. Day by day everyone is growing. Even, though it may not be noticeable or it may just be a little tiny thing like your nail getting a little longer, people are still growing every day. Both the poem “Walking the Boundaries of Change” by Sara Holbrook and an excerpt from the Secret Life of Bees page 208-209 by Sue Monk Kidd both strongly represent this topic. In the last few lines of “Walking the Boundaries of Change” it demonstrates parallelism by stating, “Some friends will dare danger, mock or push each step. Some friends knock your confidence. Real friends form a net.” This shows that even though you may feel nervous your real friends will always help you gain confidence and grow as a person. Also, in the poem there are very short lines and sentences, the author does this get her point across and catch the audience’s attention. The author also does a good job creating the imagery of someone walking on a tightrope and how in just one step they can go from being sturdy to shaky. Next, in the excerpt from Secret Life of Bees, Lily says, “Up until then I had thought that white people and colored people getting along was the big aim, but after that I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan.” Her overall, thoughts grew up as she realized that everyone was the same. Also, in that quote from the story it shows symbolism that everyone is equal. This passage is more of an informal conversation compared to the other poem. In the end, growing is a part of life.

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  11. Everyone goes through personal growth. The two pieces clearly depict this. In terms of sentence structure, the pieces differentiate. The poem uses short, choppy sentences such as, “Day by day, a tightrope,” opposed to the excerpt which has fairly long sentences like,” Up until then I had thought that white people and colored people getting along was the big aim, but after that I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan.” No matter what the sentences structure, both works clearly illustrate their beliefs. In addition, the poem gives the reader a simple setting, while the excerpt only gives us thoughts without a setting. The poem says we are on a figurative “tightrope”, while the excerpt gives us thoughts about personal growth. Another difference between these pieces is that the poem gives both the risks and benefits of growth, specifically friends, while the excerpt only looks at the positives. The poem talks about friends harming one’s confidence, while the excerpt looks on the bright side of life by saying,” You only had to look at them to see how special they were, like hidden royalty among us.” This shows how the excerpt mainly focuses on the benefits of personal growth. Personal growth is inevitable, as shown in the pieces.

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  12. The growth of a person comes from their experiences and surroundings. Lily, in The Secret Life of Bees, lives with her father who does not raise her with the beliefs that African Americans are equal to whites. “They didn’t even think of me being different.” shows that Lily had originally thought that she was different than the Boatwright sisters because of her skin color. This also has to do with the setting and the time period taken place. When Lily had started living with the Boatwright’s it was 1964, right after the Civil Rights Act was passed, still when there was a lot of prejudicial thoughts towards African Americans. “One step- firm, familiar, the next step- shaky, strange.” This quote from Walking the Boundaries of Change has to do with Lily’s personal growth. At first, staying with T Ray was familiar to her and later, living with the Boatwright’s was strange to her. In both texts, figurative language is used to further demonstrate ideas. In The Secret Life of Bees, “You only had to look at them to see how special they were, like hidden royalty among us.” In Walking the Boundaries of Change, “Real friends form a net.” The first quote was a simile comparing the colored women to royalty and the second quote was a metaphor saying how real friends form a net. Parallelism is in Walking the Boundaries of Change in the form of “Some friends” to contrast different types of friends. The two texts both symbolize the growth of people in different ways.

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  13. You can see how personal growth is symbolized in these two works by looking at the metaphor in the secret life of bees piece. Lily compares black woman as too the lowest on the totem pole, even though the totem pole is made out of the same wood. In the poem, change is a tightrope, daunting, scary, and dangerous. Just as Lily sees August as a net, Sara Holbrook compares friends to a net, something to catch you when change happens. The different dialects show that even though change happens to different people, it still happens.

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  14. In the poem "Walking the Boundaries of Change" it is showing how you grow after every step you take. It states "Some friends knock your confidence" this shows that your personal growth will allow you to ignore friends who knock your confidence and keep walking. I also noticed in the writing that there were dashes and commas in the text. The mood of this poem seems to me like it’s serious because it separates friends who knock your confidence and real friends who form a net. In the text it also states "One step firm, familiar, the next step shaky, strange." This shows that growth will occur when you face new challenges that make you feel shaky and strange. From the excerpt of "The Secret Life of Bees" it states "after that i decided that everyone being colorless was a better plan." This shows that Lily grew to think that there was no difference between being white and being colored. In the excerpt i saw a metaphor comparing colored people to the bottom of a totem pole. I also saw a simile comparing how special colored people were, like hidden royalty. Both pieces of writing showed how one grows in different ways.

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  15. The idea of personal growth is explained in a relationship between both pieces of writing. The first piece is a poem titled Walking in the Boundaries of Change by Sara Holbrook. This title is important to the poem because it explains what the poem will be about. In this poem, it tells about how personal growth or change is difficult to accomplish and how it is accomplished in steps, as the author repeats the word “step” a few times. “…A tightrope, walking on the boundaries of change…” This quote from Walking in the Boundaries of Change explains how walking on a tightrope, which is difficult to walk on, is similar to change, which is difficult to achieve. Lily takes these “steps” of change in the excerpt from The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. You can tell that the setting of this excerpt is in the south around the 1950’s because there is still segregation. In this excerpt, Lily explains how her thoughts had changed. “Up until then I had thought that white people and colored people getting along was the big aim, but after that I decided that everybody being colorless together was a better plan.” This quote shows how Lily’s thoughts about integration/ segregation have changed over time. Some of Lily’s “steps” of change were her life living with August, May, and June and going to the Daughters of Mary meetings. These “steps” changed Lily’s thoughts and opinions as she grew mentally throughout the book. In both pieces, the language is informal and the tone is serious. Both of these pieces deal with thoughts. In Walking in the Boundaries of Change, it is the author’s (Sara Holbrook’s) thoughts about change. In The Secret Life of Bees excerpt, it is Lily’s thoughts on equality and how people are treated.

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  16. As each day passes, each person grows in some way, both physically and mentally. The theme of growth is clearly portrayed in “The Secret Life of Bees” and “Walking the Boundaries of Change”. In the poem, “Walking the Boundaries of Change”, it describes how things change as people grow and everything won’t always be familiar. The excerpt from the novel, “The Secret Life of Bees”, represents the theme of growth in a similar way because the Daughters of Mary are maturing with having a white girl around and therefore changing the way they view her. The poem is very relaxed and smooth which makes the theme of growth and change seem natural and something that happens to everyone. On the other hand, the mood of the excerpt is cheerful and hopeful. Because of this, it makes the theme of growth seem like a good thing that could bring new beginnings. Lily is also representing the theme of growth because she is starting to have a philosophy about her life and the world around her. It’s showing how as you age, you don’t only become smarter, but you become wiser as well. The titles of the two passages signify growth on their own. “Walking the Boundaries of Change” could mean that as you grow, you change. “The Secret Life of Bees” is saying that the life ahead of you [Bees] is a secret until you actually experience it.

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  17. Personal change happens to everyone. Some experience or event will cause them to stop for a moment and take a look at life. More times than not, this leads to personal growth. The first piece, Walking the Boundaries of Change, is a poem written by Sara Holbrook. This poem is a very good example of personal growth. “Day by day a tightrope, walking on the boundaries of change” is a very good metaphor to describe change. Using a tightrope gives the reader the image of change being a very delicate and unstable thing. In order to succeed with it, you need to tread carefully. “Some friends will dare danger… real friends form a net.” Friends are some of the larger factors in personal growth. Since friends are with you almost all the time, they will affect your life and how you grow. The second piece, which is an excerpt from The Secret Life of Bees, is a paragraph about how the main character has grown throughout her experiences. As a white person, living with colored people was a completely different experience for her. Almost every white person looked down on colored people. The main character of this book, through personal growth, has managed to overcome that. Personal growth changes a lot of things in someone. All of them are essential for life.

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