Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum Meeting

On Tuesday we got to talk with author Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum and some of the aspects of her writing of “Ms. Hemple” and it was quite interesting. One question that was asked was about her characters, and if they related to the students? It is interesting that she did not draw from one of her students but from an array of all her students’ lives. The rest of her writings of Ms. Hemple she says she draws some of it from remembering her seventh grade teacher. This is pretty remarkable, because it points out how strange these characters are.
The reading she read from Mrs. Hemple was the chapter “Talent” which was quite strange. Mrs. Hemple is just a woman that has many deep issues in her life. The way she thinks of some of her students as being gay, or the one physics teacher being called the sexiest man of the year which goes beyond what one thinks of for a science person. This just makes the school seem even stranger that a school would pick a teacher to be in that category. It also seems like a gateway for inappropriate student-teacher relations. I did not particularly enjoy this chapter due to the fact that her views of her students where just utterly strange and just the miscellaneous details such as the bra strap lowering and pushing it back, just pushes the reader to really not like it because it does not make sense. And this is my take on the meeting of Sarah Bynum at least what I remembered.

Anthony Miller

I found the relationship that Rachel forms with Anthony interesting. At one point she is describing the place Anthony and her go before or after the school. She talks about how empty and dark this place is. This kind of reminded me of her relationship with him. The relationship is a huge secret so its definitely a lonely feeling when you can't tell anyone how wonderful this guy is. Her relationship is kind of dark because she realizes how empty this relationship is. He obviously doesn't love her if he is still with the other girl.

It also starts talking about the windows that are in this place. The man is kneeling down praying to an empty chair. All this is talking about emptiness and I believe this is ironic because Rachel feels empty. I think Rachel feels empty inside but won't talk to anyone about how she is feeling. It's really sad to think about how Rachel pretends to be someone who she really isn't just to try and fit in around this new environment. (Kelcey Summers, 6)

Miller Thriller

Anthony Miller is this boy that Rachel has a crush on. "Anthony Miller is handsome and has a broad nose and think lips, and those are the black things in a person" (Durrow 52). He is the kind of kid that will laugh at himself and does not get sad. Rachel says that Anthony Miller makes her a princess. In Rachel's eyes he is this person who makes her feel good and accepts her for who she is and helps her when she is in need. Finally Rachel has someone who she can go to and not feel out of place. It seems like she is starting to get a little more comfortable around people and maybe she is starting to find her way through life.

When the man who raised pigeons asked Brick what he told the reporter, he just stayed silent and started to shake. He was obviously afraid of the man and then the man started to get rough with Brick. Brick started to feel the man's ring going into his flesh which inflicted pain on Brick. Brick is seeing his world turn upside down when he realizes he may be in trouble. As Rachel's life is getting a little better, his life is getting a little worse. He made his name known now he has to pay for the consequences. When Brick tells the man he knows nothing, it does not help. This may be because he is the only witness and this puts a target on his back. (Mason Post 6)

Inner Layers

My blog post is in response to the question, What does Rachel mean when she says that she has "middle layers"? How does this relate to her being the "new girl" and her newly realized biracial identity? Does everyone have middle layers, or just Rachel? These are important questions that we need to ask for the first part of the reading.

Rachel believes in her middle layers because I feel like there are layers she doesn't really know who she is. She is still identifying herself and who she has become. She grew up completely different from the way she needs to live now that she is with her grandma and aunt. It relates to her being the "new girl" because she bottles everything inside her. She doesn't know how to identify herself with the people in her new environment. She mentions that her aunt has the middle layers as well. She keeps secrets from people and lives a completely different life. She acts differently and doesn't really tell people the real her. She also bottles up her anger into a specific bottle, so people never really see the real angry Rachel. (Kelcey Summers, 5)

Brick

When Jamie wanted his name to be Brick it kinda foreshadowed something to me atleast, the fact he wanted to be something important. A brick to me makes me think of a house and if one brick falls out the wall obviously won't be very sturdy in that spot. Wanting to be named Brick made it seem as though he was going to have an important part aside from the fact he is obviously one of the main characters. Brick told a lie to make himself important and become a bigger part of the action involving the incident of the boy who he thought was a bird. Brick was thinking of his life list of his birds and the accomplishments he would have and thought of adding to it with this accomplishment almost to be a part of a big story, and he puts the book he stole with the memorial which makes me think his life list is changing.
While reading the story it seems to me that all the characters that seem to be normal have weird names such as Brick, Nella, and Laronne, while Rachel who is considered to be the new girl because of how she looks is the odd one out in a way. This is strange to me because she is the main character since she has the biggest sections and therefor should be the normal one. She is the one who is always called the new girl for multiple reasons. One reason is because of how she looks different, second she is the new girl to everyone in town, and third she could also be seen as a new type of person being born from a black man and white woman. Rachel also starts off as being a girl who never saw a difference between people and since she is being introduced to a different setting and different people the difference in races is starting to show up more in her life which also makes her new in a sense, where as all the other main characters are used to this.
Kevin Ostempowski post 6

Jamie Who?

When the reporter asked Jamie what his name was, he hesitated for a bit. "Jamie thought of the great egret, of his life list, of his father James. He thougt of how much he wanted a new history to his name, and he said, 'My name is brick'" (Durrow 42). I think Jamie wanted a new name to be different from everybody else. Brick is a very unusual name so it stands out more. If he gave himself a different name, he might even act differently. Hr soon became a target though when his name appeared in the newspaper. I'm not sure if this is what Jamie wanted, but he got some publicity and was getting more attention. I take Jamie as a kid who is trying to break away from himself and try and become a new person and that is why he saw the opportunity to change his name from Jamie to Brick.

Rachel on the other hand is different from everybody else to begin with. It is like she is the girl who fell from the sky. She had a hard time fitting in and she even drew some negative attention from people like Tamika Washington. She does not really have a set tone of skin and she has pretty eyes and nice hair that make her stand out. Since it was hard for her to fit in, it made life more difficult. She had to do things on her own most of the time and she really did not have many friends to talk to. This is the same for anybody though. If a new person came to a school where they did not know anybody, it would be hard for them to fit in too so it is not just how they look like or how they talk, but how they react in certain situations that really shows who a person is. (Mason Post 5)

The girl who fell from the sky 2

Throughout the second part of our reading more and more pieces of rachels history are brought into context. We start finding out more about "brick" and his purpose in this story, his relation to rachel. I believe that the girl who is described as being "a deep purple, the girls left side resembled a birthmark. A tube jutted from her mouth. Wires and machines hung above and surrounded her bed."That she was rachel, and this is the accident that her grandmother had brought up briefly previously in the story, almost trying to apologize for it but she couldn't find the words to say it or the words to comfort her.

I believe the man in the military uniform was rachels dad, who became close with brick as he visited there everyday and learned how to play the harmonica and who rachels dad broke down infront of. That was indeed rachel, the lone survivor. There is evidence to that because in one point of the story it says how one side of her body was the color of red wine, from all the bruising. The question that does remain now is, why did her mother do it, and where is her father now.

Cali Simmons (Post 7)

Rachel

In the beginning of the first part of the book we read, we were slowly introduced to rachel, a character who is commonly referred as having unusually blue eyes, for her ethnicity. As the author slowly goes along telling the story of rachel, more and more mystery is revealed. Where did this character come from and why was she made to leave her home to live with her grandmother. As the story begins to unfold more and more clues are put together towards the mystery of rachel's life. Where is her family. I think that the story of the mother nella, falling off the roof with her kids is Rachels mom.

It isn't coincidence that rachel has a bad ear, obviously from some sort of accident, the story of the young mother is just coincides to much with what we know of rachels history. I think that she was involved in that accident and that young nella is really her mother. Since she was the only survivor. And that the author is slowly giving us clues as to rachels background, what was the story before the story. We are slowly starting to find out more and more of what really happened to small blue eyed girl.

Cali Simmons (post 6)

Laronne

Laronne is a typical mother in America who shows empathy to all other mothers going through problems in life. Her husband in the story tells her to stay out of the other people's busniess, but it is just in her motherly nature as would be other mothers who understand and go through the same problems. She even donated 50 dollars to Nella and her children one day to go to the fair. When Laronne first heard the accident she even made herself family by convincing the superintendent of the apartment building to go up to the room she lived in. Laronne went on to go as far as saying "They were my babies too,"(21). She might have done this in my mind because she felt that Nella and her family really was family because of the understanding of what Nella was going through. Nella asked what to do and since Laronne didn't believe in telling what a grown woman what to do she told her what she needed to here. Laronne told her in short to tell her to take care of herself and her kids and don't worry about the rest.
Another idea that popped into my head when thinking of Laronne is the idea of the American dream, which is also pointed out in this work. She does what noone else would, accepting all types of people to work in her library with her. Laronne understands that it is hard to get a golden opportunity in the US which is why she offers work to those who truely need it and more. She brings those people like Nella into her family and helps them more than a normal empolyer would. I mean to donate money to a woman and her children after knowing her for less than a month makes known how much everyone else means to her over herself. Laronne is truely in my mind atleast an American hero almost giving opportunity to those who are seen as lower class and don't deserve a chance in some peoples minds.
Kevin Ostempowski post 5

A Life Changing Moment

Aunt Loretta is a very interesting character in this story. I feel like she is the only one that Rachel really connects with. She is there when Rachel has nightmares, she helps her with her unruly mass of hair, and she is the person that makes Rachel comfortable in Grandma’s house. When Aunt Loretta takes Rachel to the waterfalls with Drew, Loretta has a life changing moment. She realizes that she is exactly like the waterfall, frozen in place. Her life has been the same for years, always in the same place, doing the same things. She cries when she realizes this, and she tells Drew, “I want to be that girl again”, meaning the girl that had so much energy for life, the one who lived in New York, who wasn’t afraid of trying new things, and who had so much potential (Durrow 76).

When she gets back from seeing the waterfalls, she sees everything with new life. She takes the old things, like used tea bags, and Rachel’s old, stubby crayons, sees new promise and life in them, and turns them into something new and beautiful, much like she sees new promise and life in herself, and wants to recreate her life into something new and beautiful. The young Aunt Loretta wasn’t concerned with her race nearly as much as the Aunt Loretta right before the waterfall was. The young Aunt Loretta believed she could have done anything and been anyone she wanted, no matter her race. Aunt Loretta wanted to be that girl again. So she starts putting up African things all over the house. Everyday there is something new that is decorating the space. This was partially an expression of African pride. She wanted to be someone who was proud of her heritage, not someone who was stuck with it. I think that this was partly an artistic expression as well.

She also started painting again. Painting was a release for her creativity and troubles. She paints the waterfalls from memory, and titles them “Untitled 1” and “Untitled 2” and so on, like she won’t put a name on this feeling of release she gets from painting her life changing moment. She names later paintings things like “Figure by the Falls”, or “Woman on Bridge by the Falls”, which describe her life changing moment, as she was both a figure by the falls, and a woman on the bridge by the falls, but doesn't put words to the feeling she felt while looking at those waterfalls. Race doesn’t matter in painting, or any of the arts for that matter. Artistic talent doesn’t pick and choose people based on race. It can manifest in anyone, no matter who or what they are.

Aunt Loretta’s injury is appropriate to these recent changes in her life. It was truly a terrible accident, but it also doesn’t depend on what race you are. Something like that could have happened to anyone. It also is appropriate because it leaves her without a physical manifestation of race. While race may not actually have any basis on skin color, it is the one of the first things that pops into people’s minds when they think of a deciding factor on what race someone is. This injury leaves her without her brown skin, leaving giant white patches in its place. She no longer has a race to define who she is. She can be anyone she wants to be, without having to worry about people defining her based on what color she is.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 6)

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky 2

Racism can sometimes push people over the edge, i feel like this story shows a very tragic example of that. Rachel's whole family was dead, she is now living with her grandmother but how and for what reasons they are dead are still unknown. I believe there was no one person who killed them but the motive for their death was racism.
Rachel's family is found dead in what at first seemed like a homicide death, someone pushed them out of the apartment building and killed them. But i looked beyond this at a more underlying cause. I think the Rachel's mother could not deal with the racism anymore and did not want her family to suffer, especially her young children so she herself killed them and then herself. Racism can play a very big role in someone's life, in this case a very deadly role.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky 1

Racism is a very wrong yet present aspect of both today's society and society in the past. I believe racism is very strongly shown in the first 50 or so pages of the book. I feel that the young girl Rachel has been sheltered from racism while living with her mother and father in Germany. When she moves in with her grandmother it is a huge wake up call to her.
Rachel's grandmother is very proud of her African American background and is not afraid to let Rachel know this. One example of this was in the first few pages when Rachel noticed all of the pictures on the mantel and her mothers was not there because she was in an inter-racial relationship and her grandmother was not happy with this. She showed her displeasure in a lot of ways, most of them being very subtle hints at it. Another example was when she gave Rachel two ragedy Ann dolls, the book seemed to emphasize the fact that they were black ragedy Ann dolls as opposed to white ones. These are just a few of the ways racism was shown in the first part of this book.

Anthony DiChristopher
post 5

Racial Issues a Mainstream problem

I think the most important message that Heidi Durrow is trying to convey is that even in the 80's long after slavery and Jim Crow laws there is still a hostile environment amongst different races of people. Not only was this a problem in the 80's, but in my own personal opinion a problem today. Rachel had to face issues dealing with her ethnicity and background when in reality we are all human beings and no one, especially a child should have to go through that. Rachel was half Danish, a predominately white culture and half black. Growing up with her Danish mother she learned the lively tendencies of white culture, which is quite different from black or African-American culture. After the family tragedy she was forced to live with her Grandmother and Aunt who live in Portland, Oregon. Their neighborhood is predominately black and you get the feeling from her grandmothers home that she neither liked or cared for her sons chose of spouse (Rachel's mother).

Although Rachel's mother (Mor, Nella) was part of the family, you still get the image that the grandmother had hard feelings, possibly only because she was white. She makes excuses for Rachel's appearance (mainly her eyes) so the other black people in the neighborhood don't realize that she is part white and become outcast. Through the first part of this novel, Rachel becomes aware of her true history and how special or different she really is from the others around her. At times it seems as though Rachel needs to escape because she is different from those around her, which is why I think she relates well with Brick (Jamie). At times they both need to escape their situation that they are in because they are living in a place were the necessarily don't fit. (Shawn Parkhurst, 6)

Jaime the Brick

Jaimie is an interesting character as he doesn't really have an affect on Rachel's family in the story, yet he witnessed the bodies fall from the sky. I would like to go out on a limb about Jaime's personality and spirit. I think that he changed his name to brick because a brick is heavy, weighted down with no ability to fly away. A brick blends in with all the other bricks even if it has its own unique personality on the inside because it has to be able to survive in a hostile environment.

However, it is my belief that Jaime becomes fascinated with birds because they have the ability to fly. Birds can fly and escape their situation if needed. Although the book states that the things that Jaime saw were never really birds, but the garbage bags from the upper apartments. I still think that he thought if he were able to reach one of those places like a bird he would be able to escape and his fascination with the family that fell comes from this. It could be that he is so engrossed with the family because he might of thought that they had the same idea as he did, reach a high place like the roof, similar to the birds and then you may fly away and escape your situation. (Shawn Parkhurst, 5)

Who Is To Label?

Throughout the book, Rachel is faced with one main issue. The issue that faces her is the fact that she is half black, and half Danish. Throughout the book, Rachel is told she is a very pretty girl. Rachel's blue eyes makes her, her. The girls in school, would pick on her. She was not white, nor was she black. Rachel faced this, she knew the other black girls did not have pretty blue eyes.

Rachel was picked on and teased a lot. She cut her hair, and yet no words were said, because I think the other girls were jealous of her looks. People are not accepting of people that are not like them. This story was told in the 80's and still I see people to this day the same way. It is sad because everyone should be getting along by now. But we all know it is not going to happen. Durrow shows how it really is in society and how people treat others not matter what, skin color they are. (Nicole Butzke, Post 6)

Bird Boy

The character Jamie, who was really James, plays a major role in the story. From the way the story is wrote, Jamie never really sees birds. The book states, "The things that he'd see fly by were never birds, but garbage bags hurled out the window from higher floors" (Durrow 17&18). I feel as if Jamie, just listens to sounds and wishes they were birds. I think that the word bird is a symbol in the story. Jamie, I believe just wanted to find piece due to his family issues, so therefore resorted to birds.

There are not many birds in the city. They are in parks but the birds there are usually seagulls and pidgins. Birds are peaceful place animals. Jamie saw something that he would never forget. He referenced the bodies as birds, because he wish he could see a bird, like the ones in the book. Jamie used his name was Brick because that is was made him feel comfortable. He did not like the life he is living, and searching for birds and changing his name gives him a different life. (Nicole Butzke, Post 5)

Layers

I'd like to discuss what Rachel meant when she said she had "middle layers". I think she is talking about the things she has had to hide or didn't know about herself over the years. While living with her her dad and mom it seems she was not allowed to learn about her african side. We discussed the the passage where Rachel talked about how she wasn't allowed to watch certain movies and learn certain aspects about black history through her parents. Now maybe her parents were just trying to protect her or maybe in the society they were living in it was better if she just lived the european culture. I think though she is learning more and more about her culture now. This maybe one of those middle layers that shes been hiding and now she sees. I'm sure her family dying is another one of those middle layers she has been hiding. Her culture, her heritage, her past all of these could be the middle layers she is speaking about.

These "middle layers" may relate to her being the "new girl" in many ways. Perhaps it's her newly found cultural backround that makes her feel like she is a new person since now she actually gets to live that culture. It could be she feels new to this world she is now discovering. Maybe now instead of hiding behind the notion of being a "new girl" she's actually enjoying it. In a way she could feel somewhat reborn. Reborn into a new world a new society. She talks of layers maybe she is starting to peel away the top superficial layers and embrace some of the things she learned from her parents and the thing she is learning now creating this "new girl".
Thomas Moss (post 6)

Writing Prompts: The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

Below are some prompts for the reading from The Girl Who Fell From the Sky for this week:

1. Describe the character of Jamie. Why does he change his name to Brick? Why is he fascinated with birds and with the family that fell from the roof (Rachel's family)? Why might Durrow have chosen to tell portions of the story from his perspective? In what ways is he similar to Rachel?

2. What does Rachel mean when she says that she has "middle layers"? How does this relate to her being the "new girl" and her newly realized biracial identity? Does everyone have middle layers, or just Rachel?

3. How does Aunt Loretta change when she views the frozen waterfall? Why does she begin painting again? What is the significance of the accident she suffers?

4. Discuss the chapters told from Roger's perspective. Describe his relationship with Nella. How might the revelation of Charles's death relate to the events occurring in the present of the novel? Why might it be that Roger has been absent from Rachel's life?

5. The Bellwhether Prize, which The Girl Who Fell From the Sky won in 2008, is awarded to works of fiction dealing with issues of social justice. Discuss the major issues represented within the novel. What are some of the central issues that Rachel as well as the other characters face?

Happy Blogging!

--Jeff

Lost Love

On pages 63-66, we our introduced to two characters Brick and the Soldier. This chapter seems so tragic and sweet. On one hand you have brick coming everyday to see Rachel who is in the hospital. Then we a strange man, who is a soldier sitting by the bed of Rachel with his harmonica. Both love her, one is there to support Rachel with an innocence kind of love, the other with support to but a lot of sorrow.
I see Brick showing a kind of love that just wants to be there and make her happy by learning to play her a tune. The soldier on the other you see a man with inner turmoil just slowly losing himself in the alcohol. It gives the idea that he is in some way blaming himself for what every happen to allow Rachel to be lying in the hospital. It is very strange at the end of the chapter, the statement he made to Brick. It hints at that maybe he is the one responsible for losing his love.

Those Eyes

In the first chapter of the book, there is a lot of focus on Rachel’s eyes. This is focus on her eyes is repeat throughout the chapter on pages 3,10, and 15. The author starts giving me the idea that this is a wonderful thing to have on a pretty young girl. Then through the rest of it, describes it like something distasteful, appalling, and just a downright abominable to have. These blue eyes seem to be a problem for a lot of people.
My wife’s family has nothing but brown eyes and they always tell me how much they want my green eyes. But for Rachel, the kids at school, the scarf lady, and even grandma see it as something to far out place. Grandma, though she says in runs in the family to have blue eyes. She makes it very clear through her statement that it should never be there. But I think it just show the beauty of the characters soul.

Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum

The fireside lounge reading was pretty good. Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, author of Ms. Hempel Chronicles had a chance to speak to the young readers at Canisius and explain the significance of her famed book. It was interesting to find out that many of the characters she used from her story actually resembled many of the past students and teachers that she had. Also, how she came up with the name Ms. Hempel was based upon another author by the name of Amy Hempel. Sarah Bynum said that she had no thoughts planned when she wrote the Ms. Hempel Chronicles and had no idea that it would become such a hit with the public. She even read chapter one of her story to the audience, which described the school talent show and the students who were performing. It was great experience and very informative onto the process of how she became such a successful author.
(David Roberts, Fireside Lounge Speaking)

Intertwine

I thought that this next section in the book was kind of confusing, because it jumped around a lot from talking about Rachel, Brick, and introducing Roger (Rachel's father). It not only jumped around from talking about each individual, but it also would flash back and forward between time periods almost expecting the audience to know eactly what is going on. This was actually interesting, because we were slowly introduced to the charcters with Rachel being most significant, and we would soon discover that each of these characters were someone related to one another. Roger was only but a mystery in the first section of reading, but now he is believed to be Rachel's father, who has been absent due to the military. Brick is even seen communicating with Roger at the hospital while he is visitng Rachel, however, we do not know why Brick is there to begin with. It seems as though the author is trying to paint a bigger picture for us as the audience to see, because each character has such a diverse background, which are all slowly coming together. They are connected in some way, shape, or form only for the true story yet to be revealed.

While viewing the many characters in the story, I found Roger to stand out the most. Up until now, there has been no real mention of Rachel's father, until we are given what appears to be a flashback to Rachel's appearance in the hospital. It is unknown as to why she was there, but Roger is seen at the bed side weeping for his ill daughter. There was also a mention of a flask that he frequently drinks from while visiting Rachel. I feel as though he might be a possible alcoholic, because in an earlier flashback, he is seen drunk at a bar where he hits his wife, Nella. The rest of that night ends in disaster when a fire catches the place where he is staying and he loses sight of his son. It's almost as if he uses the flask at the hospital to not only calm his nerves, but to also remind himself of the past. Rachel seems to be the only person he has left, and is scared of being alone in this world. It is this fear that drives him back to visit his daughter, and to sort of reconcile to himself about what has happened.
(David Roberts, Post 6)

Hide and Seek

I find Rachel's character in the story to be quite intriguing. She seems lost not only in this world, but in herself as well. She is the "new girl" quite possibly meaning that she is neither black nor white, but rather a new race in her own mind. It is evident that Rachel is very much affected by this and she comes across as being very sensitive in nature. She tries to hide her feelings about her position in life, but is desperately seeking to find her true self. It would be heart breaking to not know who you really are in life, but only to be lost in your thoughts and feelings, which is how Rachel is portrayed to be. Still, Rachel has her grandmother and Aunt Loretta, who seem to be her true anchorage in this world.

Jamie is another character in the story who seems to troubled in a way similar to Rachel. He seems rather reserved and quiet, and he appears to be alone. His mother is constantly having male suitors over at the apartment, thereby leaving Jamie (a.k.a. Brick) to fend for himself. I felt sad reading about his story, because he has no real possessions except for his bird book, which he stole from the library. It's almost as if he is looking beyond everything around him, as if he his position in life does not bother him. He wants nothing more than to examine the different birds from his book and to forget about everything around him. It is not until he discovers the bodies in the courtyard do we see a slight change in Jamie. He gives up his most prized possession, the Peterson Field Guide, and places it on the shrine. It seems as though he has seen the harsh truths of reality, and he no longer needs a book to tell him about the world, when he can see it and witness it first hand.
(David Roberts, Post 5)

Why birds?

This was a sad passage but one filled with great imagery. His account of the shadow of the bodies falling was quite intriguing to me. Can you imagine running to the window filled with glee and the thought that you are about to see this magnificent bird only to see bodies. The author describes the bodies as birds as an example "bird-boy's right arm, which was folded like a wing beneath him.". I wonder if maybe the author isn't trying to foreshadow something or give hint to why this happened. Was the family trying to get away from something? Why were they leaving the nest? I think that Jamie is so infatuated with birds because he himself wants to fly away. He wants to be more. He lies to the reporter to feel important. He changes his name. Jamie puts himself down for thinking the shadow was that of a bird. Jamie or James decides that now he will learn about birds by there sound and yet again starts to compare the sounds of people he hears.

I really like what the author did in this section. She took something so horrific and made it into imagery that was easier to stomach. This section to me makes me picture the spirits of these children and mother flying away going to a peaceful place. I compare this story to the Red Convertible both stories had death in them however in someway the deaths were made to seem like a release. I don't mean the deaths seemed good but the way they were described seemed as if there shouldn't be anything to worry about. This family was a a family of birds trying to fly away, but why? Maybe this was the only option. Maybe this was there way to escape. I don't know.
Thomas Moss (post 5)

Keeping Yourself Protected

In this portion of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Rachel is truly making an effort to hide her real self. She mentions two different kinds of feelings at the beginning of the novel: the “new girl” feeling, and the “girl in a new dress” feeling. This distinction between the two is very important because the “girl in a new dress” feeling applies to the old Rachel, while the “new girl” feeling is all about the new Rachel. At the beginning of the book, the old Rachel is still stronger than the new. She has not had much time to build up this new persona, which is why her new girl feeling had completely disappeared when the puddle water splashed on her. She continues to build up this idea of herself as a “new girl” throughout the rest of the reading.

This new Rachel is her public self: the one who is visible to the rest of the world. She keeps the old Rachel buried deep beneath layer of protection, like the promises she has made to herself about not feeling sad, and being okay. I think she wants to hide her true self because there isn’t anyone that she feels comfortable enough to share all of her true feelings with, or someone who won’t judge her. I feel that there is a lack of sympathy in her new surroundings. No one wants her about how she is really feeling. Her grandmother and aunt avoid talking about what happened, especially anything concerning her mor. So Rachel gathers information on who this new Rachel should be from everyone she meets, she continues build up this protection around her true self. She keeps her true emotions hidden in the blue glass bottle inside the protected part of her old self. She hides all of this from everyone because she feels the need to fit in with all of the people surrounding her in this new life. Her old self certainly didn’t fit in with all of these people’s expectations, which is what prompted her to keep her true identity and emotions locked up. It is common knowledge nowadays that keeping all of this bottled up inside can be quite dangerous, so it will be interesting to see if and how it affects Rachel through the rest of the book.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 5)

The Double Nature of Rachel's Grandmother

When Rachel first moves in with her grandmother and aunt, she is flooded with new information about her African American background. Before this time, Rachel had not considered that this part of her ethnicity was so vastly different from the Danish part of her ethnicity that she understood so well. Once Rachel moves to Oregon she is faced with the fact that she is biracial; a fact that she never considered before this time. The minute she arrives at her grandmothers she is told, in both insidious and obvious ways, that she must embrace her African American heritage and forget about her Danish past. Her grandmother plays a very large role in relaying this message. For example, the gift she receives from grandma upon her arrival is a pair of black raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. Also, her grandma does not acknowledge Rachel's Danish mother. She does not have a single picture of her, and won't even utter her name or make reference to her. Its as if Nella did not even exist in grandma's mind. Lastly, grandma embraces all the parts of Rachel that reflect her African American ethnicity, such as her hair. In these subtle ways grandma is sending Rachel a very strong message; although she is biracial, she must embrace her black heritage and deny her Danish background. Once Rachel begins school this message is further reinforced by her classmates in a much more direct manner.

Grandma showed Rachel that although she is of biracial decent, she cannot culturally be both black and Danish. Rachel must choose one ethnicity, and grandma made it very clear which choice she should make. Although grandma is so adamant about denying Rachel's eastern European decent, in certain instances grandma both acts in ways and encourages her family to act in ways that would be considered "white" by their community's standards. For example, grandma was the first black person to own a house in their Portland Oregon neighborhood. Rather than remain content in their Texas home, she decided to integrate herself and her family into a predominantly white neighborhood. Grandma also encouraged Loretta to play tennis; which was considered a white sport at this time, and her son to play piano; which was considered to be a white instrument. These behaviors by grandma markedly conflict with the message she is trying to send Rachel. Grandma's hypocritical actions further Rachel's identity confusion as well as cause Rachel's view of the world to become based on race.

Cailee Januszkiewicz-1

Sonny and the Piano

The passage that interested me the most was the part when the writer is talking about music and what music does for the musician. He talks about how it looks like everyone else on the bandstand was holding him back but then once he took a deeper look, he realized it was Creole that was holding everyone back. He was holding them back because he wanted Sonny to really give it his all. The way he talks about music it really shows the importance that music has on our society, and always has had. It is a way for the musician to tell a story but without words. The author does a great job at describing how important music is for the musician and how hard it is for them to tell the story but it is also empowering. The author also describes the difficulty that Sonny is having.

The way that I read the section about "Creole watching Sonny and wanting him to leave the shoreline and strike out for the deep water," was he wanted Sonny to break out of his comfort zone. Creole wanted Sonny to really prove himself as a musician. Sonny needed move out of this place where he started to break free but at the same time he was very cautious. Creole was waiting for Sonny to really shine to show his brother how good at playing the piano he really was. He wanted this to be Sonny's time to shine. (Kelcey Summers, 4)