Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog #5
December 16, 2009
ROAR Blog #5
Summary: In the book Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, Irene feels that she is not growing up compared to her friend Wanda. She never had a boyfriend and she continues to write her whole life in her diary, which isn’t very much to her. Wanda is two years older than Irene and Irene loves to read Wanda’s diary because she has experienced more in her 16 years, than Irene has in her 14 years of living. Irene has experienced her mother cheating on her father and her father leaving because loves someone else, but Irene chooses not to tell Wanda. In Wanda’s life her brother Puddin has been put into jail, because he got into trouble one day when he wandered away from home. Wanda was upset when she found out that Puddin was in jail, but she thought that it was for the best because she felt that her mother was trying to hurt him.
In school Irene begins to enjoy some of her new classmates, two of them are white and one is a Quander. She began to get close to Folami Quander, who family is a little different from the normal family. Her father has many wives and at first Irene couldn’t understand why, but Folami explained a little about her culture. Irene also became close to Folami’s brother, Obadele and he became her first boyfriend. Irene’s mom didn’t like that fact that her daughter was hanging out with the Quanders, because they had a bad reputation in the town. Later in the book, Irene noticed that Folami wasn’t coming to school anymore. Wanda told Irene that Folami was pregnant by Irene’s boyfriend, Obadele. Obadele was going to be a king in his town and Folami was going to have his first baby.
In the next chapter, the whole city is damaged because a plane had crashed near Irene’s high school. A few people were killed and after this even the town is never the same. Irene’s friend, Cece had told her to fill out an application for a black sorority, but Irene found out that Miss October Brown was a part of the sorority. Irene didn’t fill out an application, but after a few weeks she filled it out because she felt better about things in her life. Her parents were starting to get along and building their own business. Everything is going well for Irene and she was able to graduate from high school.
* Summarized pages: 127-213
Quote: “From my perspective, opportunity flaunted itself everyday” (Clair 205).
Reaction: My reaction to this quote is that in Irene’s life she was able to have opportunities to better herself if she just allowed herself to do so. Although the book, there were many opportunities to experience something new like puppy love with Nick when she was younger and then as she matured she experienced real love with Obadele. Irene had different opportunities to learn about different cultures than her own. This opened her mind to new thoughts and new people all at the same time. Maxine Clair has showed through Rattlebone that she is a strong writer and she keeps her readers turning pages, while teaching lessons.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROAR Blog #4:Rattlebone
Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog #4
December 11, 2009
ROAR Blog #4
Summary: In the book Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, the readers learn about Ms. Brown a little more. She moves in to a room at the Thomas Pemberton Proprietors because she had to leave her previous home. Thomas Pemberton is one of the owners of the place and he is married to Lydia Pemberton, who is the other owner. Lydia is unable to have any children, so one of the rules in the house is that no kids are allowed. Later in the chapter, the readers find out that Ms. Brown is pregnant. When her pregnancy is discovered, she gets a letter that says that she is getting a kicked out of the house by Lydia. Thomas becomes torn by his wife decision to kick Ms. Brown out. Ms. Brown later has to move out of the house and she moves into the reverend’s home.
In the next chapter the readers learn about Dorla Wooten, who is the most serene girl in Irene’s middle school. Dorla’s father had killed her mother, because the mother was seeing someone else while they were still married. This event happened over the summer and Irene was trying to be nice to her, so they could become friends. Geraldine is Irene’s new friend who spends a lot of time with Irene at her house. Geraldine lives in the basement of Miss Jones’ home. Miss Jones’ home is known as the house that people have sexual relationships at. This didn’t stop Irene from hanging out with Geraldine and trying on makeup, clothes, and just having fun with her.
One day Geraldine decided to take Irene up stairs, so they could spy on the people would was in the bedrooms. Irene and Geraldine continued to spy on people, until one day when Irene was looking through a keyhole and she seen a familiar face. It was Irene’s mother and she was shocked. She left Geraldine’s house quickly and she could not speak to her mother for days. Geraldine had got sick one day and she was unable to go to school for weeks. In this time, Irene started to have bad nightmares and she would sleep walk. Irene’s mother worried about her, so she started questioning her about her friends and school. When Irene started to tell her mother where Geraldine lived, her mother realized that it was the same place that she brought that man to. After Irene became well, she went back to school, but she became mean to everyone. She was no longer nice to her friends, Dorla and Geraldine.
*Summarized pages: 71-112
Quote: “Stopping by Geraldine’s house my routine. We taught each other a lot of things, not the least of which was how to do the turkey hop” (Clair 101).
Reaction: My reaction to the quote is that it foreshadows what will come next, because Geraldine’ house taught her a lesson and it was that she should mind her own business. This was the lesson that Irene learned because when she was looking through keyholes, she seen her mother cheating with another man. Maxine Clair’s style is writing is districted. She likes to write with many details and this helps readers visually her words.
ROAR Blog #4
December 11, 2009
ROAR Blog #4
Summary: In the book Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, the readers learn about Ms. Brown a little more. She moves in to a room at the Thomas Pemberton Proprietors because she had to leave her previous home. Thomas Pemberton is one of the owners of the place and he is married to Lydia Pemberton, who is the other owner. Lydia is unable to have any children, so one of the rules in the house is that no kids are allowed. Later in the chapter, the readers find out that Ms. Brown is pregnant. When her pregnancy is discovered, she gets a letter that says that she is getting a kicked out of the house by Lydia. Thomas becomes torn by his wife decision to kick Ms. Brown out. Ms. Brown later has to move out of the house and she moves into the reverend’s home.
In the next chapter the readers learn about Dorla Wooten, who is the most serene girl in Irene’s middle school. Dorla’s father had killed her mother, because the mother was seeing someone else while they were still married. This event happened over the summer and Irene was trying to be nice to her, so they could become friends. Geraldine is Irene’s new friend who spends a lot of time with Irene at her house. Geraldine lives in the basement of Miss Jones’ home. Miss Jones’ home is known as the house that people have sexual relationships at. This didn’t stop Irene from hanging out with Geraldine and trying on makeup, clothes, and just having fun with her.
One day Geraldine decided to take Irene up stairs, so they could spy on the people would was in the bedrooms. Irene and Geraldine continued to spy on people, until one day when Irene was looking through a keyhole and she seen a familiar face. It was Irene’s mother and she was shocked. She left Geraldine’s house quickly and she could not speak to her mother for days. Geraldine had got sick one day and she was unable to go to school for weeks. In this time, Irene started to have bad nightmares and she would sleep walk. Irene’s mother worried about her, so she started questioning her about her friends and school. When Irene started to tell her mother where Geraldine lived, her mother realized that it was the same place that she brought that man to. After Irene became well, she went back to school, but she became mean to everyone. She was no longer nice to her friends, Dorla and Geraldine.
*Summarized pages: 71-112
Quote: “Stopping by Geraldine’s house my routine. We taught each other a lot of things, not the least of which was how to do the turkey hop” (Clair 101).
Reaction: My reaction to the quote is that it foreshadows what will come next, because Geraldine’ house taught her a lesson and it was that she should mind her own business. This was the lesson that Irene learned because when she was looking through keyholes, she seen her mother cheating with another man. Maxine Clair’s style is writing is districted. She likes to write with many details and this helps readers visually her words.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
ROAR Blog #3:Rattlebone
Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog
December 1, 2009
ROAR Blog # 3
Summary: In the book Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, Irene’s father is back in the picture. He has moved back home because his relationship with October Brown is over. James continues to daydream about her, but he then realize that he has to come home to his wife who is now keeping a close eye on her husband. One afternoon after a long day at work James was supposed to go home to his family, but he decided to help Thomas Pemberton who was a friend to James. James was helping Thomas by going down to the river, so they could help put down sandbags because there was a storm coming. While James was down by the river, something went wrong and everyone was beginning to evacuate. This is when James lost his footing and the wind started to pick up because his light went out. James couldn’t see and he ended up falling in the river, this is when he thought that he should try to swim and maybe he would be able to get out of the water. As minutes pasted he didn’t get very far and Thomas finally came to his rescue when he pulled him out and brought he home.
In the next chapter Irene learns about growing up and becoming a woman, when a boy name Nick shows interest in her. Nick is about the same age as Irene, but when he wants to show Irene his love for her, he shows very little maturity. Irene doesn’t want Nick to act like a little kid, so she pretends not to like him, but she does write about him and her life in her diary. Irene writes all of her personal thoughts and feelings about growing up north of Kansas in her diary, but she only shares it with her best friend named Cece who she doesn’t see often because she lives far away.
The readers learn about Eddy who is the younger cousin of Irene. Eddy has a fake eye because one summer he had a cherry bomb and when he went to light it up, it exploded and a piece of metal flew into his eye. Eddy had one last cherry bomb, so he decided to give it to Irene. That was the first gift she ever receive other than Christmas gifts. A few days later when Irene and Wanda was hanging out and Nick and Eddy was down by the river, Wanda told Irene that she became a women. Irene didn’t say much about the topic, but she knew that she was growing and so were the people around her. When Wanda and Irene went down to the river to see the boys, Eddy was sleeping, but Nick was nowhere around. They started to call out to him, but there was not answer. Wanda went to get help and when she returned with Irene’s father, Nick’s mom, and Irene’s mother, James jumped into the water and he found Nick. Nick had drowned and later that night Irene lighted up the last cherry bomb as a way of saying goodbye to her first crush.
*Summarized pages are 41-67.
Quote: “I struck a match and lit the green stem. When it sizzled, I threw it high and far, exploding the whole summer.” (Clair 67)
Reaction: My reaction is that Max Clair’s style continues to show strong writing because she uses the cherry bomb as something more than a firework that the kids play with, it was a metaphor for the last summer of their youth. As the cherry bomb went in to the sky and exploded that was the end of their youth, because the kids lost their innocents as they experience death for the first time.
ROAR Blog
December 1, 2009
ROAR Blog # 3
Summary: In the book Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, Irene’s father is back in the picture. He has moved back home because his relationship with October Brown is over. James continues to daydream about her, but he then realize that he has to come home to his wife who is now keeping a close eye on her husband. One afternoon after a long day at work James was supposed to go home to his family, but he decided to help Thomas Pemberton who was a friend to James. James was helping Thomas by going down to the river, so they could help put down sandbags because there was a storm coming. While James was down by the river, something went wrong and everyone was beginning to evacuate. This is when James lost his footing and the wind started to pick up because his light went out. James couldn’t see and he ended up falling in the river, this is when he thought that he should try to swim and maybe he would be able to get out of the water. As minutes pasted he didn’t get very far and Thomas finally came to his rescue when he pulled him out and brought he home.
In the next chapter Irene learns about growing up and becoming a woman, when a boy name Nick shows interest in her. Nick is about the same age as Irene, but when he wants to show Irene his love for her, he shows very little maturity. Irene doesn’t want Nick to act like a little kid, so she pretends not to like him, but she does write about him and her life in her diary. Irene writes all of her personal thoughts and feelings about growing up north of Kansas in her diary, but she only shares it with her best friend named Cece who she doesn’t see often because she lives far away.
The readers learn about Eddy who is the younger cousin of Irene. Eddy has a fake eye because one summer he had a cherry bomb and when he went to light it up, it exploded and a piece of metal flew into his eye. Eddy had one last cherry bomb, so he decided to give it to Irene. That was the first gift she ever receive other than Christmas gifts. A few days later when Irene and Wanda was hanging out and Nick and Eddy was down by the river, Wanda told Irene that she became a women. Irene didn’t say much about the topic, but she knew that she was growing and so were the people around her. When Wanda and Irene went down to the river to see the boys, Eddy was sleeping, but Nick was nowhere around. They started to call out to him, but there was not answer. Wanda went to get help and when she returned with Irene’s father, Nick’s mom, and Irene’s mother, James jumped into the water and he found Nick. Nick had drowned and later that night Irene lighted up the last cherry bomb as a way of saying goodbye to her first crush.
*Summarized pages are 41-67.
Quote: “I struck a match and lit the green stem. When it sizzled, I threw it high and far, exploding the whole summer.” (Clair 67)
Reaction: My reaction is that Max Clair’s style continues to show strong writing because she uses the cherry bomb as something more than a firework that the kids play with, it was a metaphor for the last summer of their youth. As the cherry bomb went in to the sky and exploded that was the end of their youth, because the kids lost their innocents as they experience death for the first time.
Monday, November 30, 2009
ROAR Blog #2:Rattlebone
Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog
November 27, 2009
ROAR Blog #2
Summary: In the book Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, Irene and her friends Wanda and Puddin who are brothers and sisters, are playing a game called lemonade. To play this game they were supposed to act like they were famous and then they would show their talents. While they were playing this game they met a white woman that was dressed up in all white clothing. This woman looked unfamiliar to the kids, because they didn’t know too any white people in their community because Irene lives in an African American community. Ms. Joan was the women’s name and she started talking to the kids to find out more about them.
Ms. Joan was there to teach the children that they could pray to the mother of Jesus who is Mother Mary. At first Irene being the tallest, but not the oldest knew that her mother wouldn’t stand for her praying to another god, but she still stayed a listened to Ms. Joan. Over a small period of time, Ms. Joan was teaching the kids to repeat prayers and she gave them little gifts that helped them feel close to Mother Mary.
While Ms. Joan was stopping by to teach the kids, Irene began to take piano with Wanda after they had their meetings with Ms. Joan. Wanda began to lose interest in piano because Mr. Heltzberg, the piano teacher had spent a large amount of time with Irene. One day after Mr. Heltzberg was playing a song that Irene would learn; Puddin played the same song on the piano. This came to a surprise to everyone because Puddin has learning disabilities and he never was able to learn how to talk or how to do any activities that most people his age were able to do. When Ms. Joan heard about Puddin’s performance she said that it was all of Mother Mary’s doing and Puddin’s family should thank her. Puddin and Wanda’s mother along with Irene’s mom, Pearlean started to yell at Ms. Joan and told her that it was not Mary’s doing that made Puddin played the piano, but it was God’s doing. Ms. Joan tried to defend herself, but she soon realized that she couldn’t compete with the angry mothers.
*Summarize pages are 23-38
Quote: “Over and over again they said prayers to statues, which everybody knew was a sin. I knew my mother would have a fit if she knew we were putting some other god before God, even if it was Jesus’ mother.” (Clair 28)
Reaction: My reaction is that this quote shows how the two different races (white and black) were different. The Black community believed that God is the only person who is the most important and the white community that Ms. Joan represented believed that Mother Mary was the most important person. This is a important quote in the story because it shows that Irene’s mother didn’t want Irene to put another god before their God and Irene knew that there was problems between people who different believes then her family. Max Clair’s style is creative because she showed the glitches between the two different communities by showing how the characters felt about their gods. Clair’s style continues to show strong writing that keeps the readers reading more.
ROAR Blog
November 27, 2009
ROAR Blog #2
Summary: In the book Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, Irene and her friends Wanda and Puddin who are brothers and sisters, are playing a game called lemonade. To play this game they were supposed to act like they were famous and then they would show their talents. While they were playing this game they met a white woman that was dressed up in all white clothing. This woman looked unfamiliar to the kids, because they didn’t know too any white people in their community because Irene lives in an African American community. Ms. Joan was the women’s name and she started talking to the kids to find out more about them.
Ms. Joan was there to teach the children that they could pray to the mother of Jesus who is Mother Mary. At first Irene being the tallest, but not the oldest knew that her mother wouldn’t stand for her praying to another god, but she still stayed a listened to Ms. Joan. Over a small period of time, Ms. Joan was teaching the kids to repeat prayers and she gave them little gifts that helped them feel close to Mother Mary.
While Ms. Joan was stopping by to teach the kids, Irene began to take piano with Wanda after they had their meetings with Ms. Joan. Wanda began to lose interest in piano because Mr. Heltzberg, the piano teacher had spent a large amount of time with Irene. One day after Mr. Heltzberg was playing a song that Irene would learn; Puddin played the same song on the piano. This came to a surprise to everyone because Puddin has learning disabilities and he never was able to learn how to talk or how to do any activities that most people his age were able to do. When Ms. Joan heard about Puddin’s performance she said that it was all of Mother Mary’s doing and Puddin’s family should thank her. Puddin and Wanda’s mother along with Irene’s mom, Pearlean started to yell at Ms. Joan and told her that it was not Mary’s doing that made Puddin played the piano, but it was God’s doing. Ms. Joan tried to defend herself, but she soon realized that she couldn’t compete with the angry mothers.
*Summarize pages are 23-38
Quote: “Over and over again they said prayers to statues, which everybody knew was a sin. I knew my mother would have a fit if she knew we were putting some other god before God, even if it was Jesus’ mother.” (Clair 28)
Reaction: My reaction is that this quote shows how the two different races (white and black) were different. The Black community believed that God is the only person who is the most important and the white community that Ms. Joan represented believed that Mother Mary was the most important person. This is a important quote in the story because it shows that Irene’s mother didn’t want Irene to put another god before their God and Irene knew that there was problems between people who different believes then her family. Max Clair’s style is creative because she showed the glitches between the two different communities by showing how the characters felt about their gods. Clair’s style continues to show strong writing that keeps the readers reading more.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
ROAR Blog #1:Rattlebone
Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog
November 16, 2009
ROAR Blog #1
Summary:
In the Bildungsroman book, Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, the readers meet a young girl named Irene “Reenie” Wilson. Irene is a nine year old, African-American girl who lives in a black community north of Kansas City. She lives at home with her mother and father as the story begins, but as the first chapter continues her father leaves her home and starts to spend more time with Irene new teacher, Ms. Brown. Before Irene met October Brown, she had heard stories from other people in her community about her. The stories where about Ms. Brown’s bizarre family and how she received a “devil’s kiss” on the side of her cheek. Irene thought that Ms. Brown would have a bad temper and be a weird person. When Irene finally met Ms. Brown she was a level-headed teacher, who really wanted to teach her students everything she can. A few days later there was a snow storm had forced Irene’s father, James to come to the school and bring some food for the kids. When James came to the classroom Ms. Brown started to talk with him and there was some flirting that was happening between the two, but Irene thought nothing of it.
When Irene came home she found out that her mother had the baby and he was coming home a few days later. Irene was happy that she was a big sister and she was surprise how small Junie was. A few months later, Irene’s parents were continuously fight with each other and James had enough, so her left his family. At first he came back to visit all the time, but slowly these visits only happened at Sunday dinners. One day Irene decided to go to take a shortcut through the hollow, so when she arrived early at school she seen a man who had the same car as her father at her school and Ms. Brown walking from the car into the school building. Irene didn’t think that the man in the car was her father, because she thought that her father would be at work by that time. Irene began to disconnect from school, because she was not doing any of the work. Ms. Brown was noticing how Irene behavior changed and she tried to get her to do her work, because she knew that she was a smart girl, but Irene just didn’t care.
*Pages 3-15 are summarized
Quote:
“Intuition is the guardian of childhood; it was keen in us, and we were right.” (Clair 4)
Reaction:
My reaction is that Maxine Clair This quote is important to the story because it foreshadows what is coming up in the story and it tells the readers that the characters are going to use their intuition to help them later on. Maxine Clair’s style has a strong tone that will keep the readers’ attention and having them reading more. She writes with many details, so the reader will be able to picture being there with the characters.
ROAR Blog
November 16, 2009
ROAR Blog #1
Summary:
In the Bildungsroman book, Rattlebone by Maxine Clair, the readers meet a young girl named Irene “Reenie” Wilson. Irene is a nine year old, African-American girl who lives in a black community north of Kansas City. She lives at home with her mother and father as the story begins, but as the first chapter continues her father leaves her home and starts to spend more time with Irene new teacher, Ms. Brown. Before Irene met October Brown, she had heard stories from other people in her community about her. The stories where about Ms. Brown’s bizarre family and how she received a “devil’s kiss” on the side of her cheek. Irene thought that Ms. Brown would have a bad temper and be a weird person. When Irene finally met Ms. Brown she was a level-headed teacher, who really wanted to teach her students everything she can. A few days later there was a snow storm had forced Irene’s father, James to come to the school and bring some food for the kids. When James came to the classroom Ms. Brown started to talk with him and there was some flirting that was happening between the two, but Irene thought nothing of it.
When Irene came home she found out that her mother had the baby and he was coming home a few days later. Irene was happy that she was a big sister and she was surprise how small Junie was. A few months later, Irene’s parents were continuously fight with each other and James had enough, so her left his family. At first he came back to visit all the time, but slowly these visits only happened at Sunday dinners. One day Irene decided to go to take a shortcut through the hollow, so when she arrived early at school she seen a man who had the same car as her father at her school and Ms. Brown walking from the car into the school building. Irene didn’t think that the man in the car was her father, because she thought that her father would be at work by that time. Irene began to disconnect from school, because she was not doing any of the work. Ms. Brown was noticing how Irene behavior changed and she tried to get her to do her work, because she knew that she was a smart girl, but Irene just didn’t care.
*Pages 3-15 are summarized
Quote:
“Intuition is the guardian of childhood; it was keen in us, and we were right.” (Clair 4)
Reaction:
My reaction is that Maxine Clair This quote is important to the story because it foreshadows what is coming up in the story and it tells the readers that the characters are going to use their intuition to help them later on. Maxine Clair’s style has a strong tone that will keep the readers’ attention and having them reading more. She writes with many details, so the reader will be able to picture being there with the characters.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
ROAR Blog #5:Grace After Midnight
Courtney Patterson
October 27, 2009
ROAR Blog #5
Summary:
In the memoir Grace After Midnight by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Snoop is serving her time in jail. The jail has two nicknames that the inmates made up. The nicknames are: “The Cut” and “Grandma’s House,” so while in jail Snoop planned to keep to herself. Snoop’s plan worked at first, but overtime Snoop started to tell her story to the other inmates and the inmates also opened up to Snoop. One inmate’s story was that she was in love with a man that didn’t like children, but she had children from a previous marriage. The inmate decided to burn down her house with her children sleeping inside; because this would have been the only way the man would be hers. Another inmate was addicted to crack, but she didn’t have enough money to buy drugs. She tried to steal from her grandmother’s purse, but the plan went wrong when one of her grandmother’s friends had started scramming and trying to stop her. The inmate ended up killing her grandmother and her grandmother’s friends, because they were trying to stop her from getting her drugs. The rumor was the jail’s nickname: “Grandma’s House” came from this inmate’s crime.
While Snoop was in jail she started to misbehave, but Uncle had come to visit her and he to her to stop misbehaving. He wanted Snoop to server her time and move on with her life and misbehaving was not going to help her make a better life for herself. Snoop started to behave better and there was a change in her. Snoop wasn’t the only person who noticed that she was changing for the better; there was also her girlfriend, a police officer. All of Snoop’s hard work of becoming a better person was almost ruined when she found out that Uncle was gunned down. Snoop didn’t take this news very well and she was sent to the mental ward after she had a meltdown. As days turned into months, Snoop began to heal from the death of Uncle and one night after midnight, she felt a presence. She didn’t know what it was, but she explain what she felt to her godmother who started to work in the jail and her godmother called Snoop’s feeling grace. Grace after midnight.
Months after Snoop felt grace for the first time, she was free from jail and she told herself that she was would never return. Snoop was eighteen when she was release from and she went back home to her loving Mama who was always there for her. Snoop tried to continue her relationship with the police officer, but Snoop realized that love inside the cut, is not always love outside of the cut. Snoop’s new positive attitude was beginning to get her everything that she wanted. She got a job and she was very happy with the change in her. When Snoop got fired from her first job, she was mad. Snoop didn’t understand why she was getting fired, but she was getting fired because of her past criminal record. Two jobs later, Snoop felt that she should go back to selling drugs because that was the only thing she was good at.
While selling drugs Snoop had started to get more charges added to her record, because there was a cop that was determined to get her locked up. The cop even decided to plan drugs on Snoop, but the false accusations were dropped thanks to Snoop’s lawyer. Later on Snoop dodged another bullet when the plaintiff never showed up at court to press charges for Snoop treating her. Snoop went back to selling drugs, but on one night Snoop went to a club with a friend and her life had change from that moment. Snoop was introduced to Michael K. Williams who was an actor on the HBO’s hit show The Wire, and he told her to come down to the show’s set. When Snoop when down to the set, she did two screen tests over a period of two days and she got a part on the show. Snoop didn’t know what the show was about, but she soon found out when she was introduced to the cast and crew. Snoop decided to stop selling drugs and change her life after some of her fans were telling her how proud they were of her. Snoop like the feeling of doing positive things and having people look up. Felicia “Snoop” Pearson was becoming the great person that Mama, Pops, Uncle, Father, and her godmother all knew that she could be. It was “the Miracle of Love” or “Grace after Midnight” as Snoop calls it, that helped her on her journey called life.
(Summeriare from pg 111- 233)
Quote:
Snoop said: “I not only worked, I worked my a** off. I worked until I was sore from my head to my toe. Every muscle ached. Every good feeling I’d had went bad. Positive turned to negative. Sunshine turned to sh*t. All my eagerness, all my go-for-it energy, all my it’s-gonna-turn-out good energy turned rotten.”
(Pearson and Ritz 199).
Reaction:
My reaction is that the authors Pearson and Ritz’s style expresses the characters feelings in many details, without going off topic. The details allow the readers to understand the character and this helps the story, because the readers are able to relate to the characters. This quote is important to the story because it expresses Snoop’s feeling toward getting and keeping a job after she was release from jail. She explain how difficult it is and how the way she feels will help her decide to go back to selling drugs to the people in her community.
October 27, 2009
ROAR Blog #5
Summary:
In the memoir Grace After Midnight by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Snoop is serving her time in jail. The jail has two nicknames that the inmates made up. The nicknames are: “The Cut” and “Grandma’s House,” so while in jail Snoop planned to keep to herself. Snoop’s plan worked at first, but overtime Snoop started to tell her story to the other inmates and the inmates also opened up to Snoop. One inmate’s story was that she was in love with a man that didn’t like children, but she had children from a previous marriage. The inmate decided to burn down her house with her children sleeping inside; because this would have been the only way the man would be hers. Another inmate was addicted to crack, but she didn’t have enough money to buy drugs. She tried to steal from her grandmother’s purse, but the plan went wrong when one of her grandmother’s friends had started scramming and trying to stop her. The inmate ended up killing her grandmother and her grandmother’s friends, because they were trying to stop her from getting her drugs. The rumor was the jail’s nickname: “Grandma’s House” came from this inmate’s crime.
While Snoop was in jail she started to misbehave, but Uncle had come to visit her and he to her to stop misbehaving. He wanted Snoop to server her time and move on with her life and misbehaving was not going to help her make a better life for herself. Snoop started to behave better and there was a change in her. Snoop wasn’t the only person who noticed that she was changing for the better; there was also her girlfriend, a police officer. All of Snoop’s hard work of becoming a better person was almost ruined when she found out that Uncle was gunned down. Snoop didn’t take this news very well and she was sent to the mental ward after she had a meltdown. As days turned into months, Snoop began to heal from the death of Uncle and one night after midnight, she felt a presence. She didn’t know what it was, but she explain what she felt to her godmother who started to work in the jail and her godmother called Snoop’s feeling grace. Grace after midnight.
Months after Snoop felt grace for the first time, she was free from jail and she told herself that she was would never return. Snoop was eighteen when she was release from and she went back home to her loving Mama who was always there for her. Snoop tried to continue her relationship with the police officer, but Snoop realized that love inside the cut, is not always love outside of the cut. Snoop’s new positive attitude was beginning to get her everything that she wanted. She got a job and she was very happy with the change in her. When Snoop got fired from her first job, she was mad. Snoop didn’t understand why she was getting fired, but she was getting fired because of her past criminal record. Two jobs later, Snoop felt that she should go back to selling drugs because that was the only thing she was good at.
While selling drugs Snoop had started to get more charges added to her record, because there was a cop that was determined to get her locked up. The cop even decided to plan drugs on Snoop, but the false accusations were dropped thanks to Snoop’s lawyer. Later on Snoop dodged another bullet when the plaintiff never showed up at court to press charges for Snoop treating her. Snoop went back to selling drugs, but on one night Snoop went to a club with a friend and her life had change from that moment. Snoop was introduced to Michael K. Williams who was an actor on the HBO’s hit show The Wire, and he told her to come down to the show’s set. When Snoop when down to the set, she did two screen tests over a period of two days and she got a part on the show. Snoop didn’t know what the show was about, but she soon found out when she was introduced to the cast and crew. Snoop decided to stop selling drugs and change her life after some of her fans were telling her how proud they were of her. Snoop like the feeling of doing positive things and having people look up. Felicia “Snoop” Pearson was becoming the great person that Mama, Pops, Uncle, Father, and her godmother all knew that she could be. It was “the Miracle of Love” or “Grace after Midnight” as Snoop calls it, that helped her on her journey called life.
(Summeriare from pg 111- 233)
Quote:
Snoop said: “I not only worked, I worked my a** off. I worked until I was sore from my head to my toe. Every muscle ached. Every good feeling I’d had went bad. Positive turned to negative. Sunshine turned to sh*t. All my eagerness, all my go-for-it energy, all my it’s-gonna-turn-out good energy turned rotten.”
(Pearson and Ritz 199).
Reaction:
My reaction is that the authors Pearson and Ritz’s style expresses the characters feelings in many details, without going off topic. The details allow the readers to understand the character and this helps the story, because the readers are able to relate to the characters. This quote is important to the story because it expresses Snoop’s feeling toward getting and keeping a job after she was release from jail. She explain how difficult it is and how the way she feels will help her decide to go back to selling drugs to the people in her community.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Roar Blog #4- Grace After Midnight
Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog
Oct. 19, 2009
ROAR Blog #4
Summary:
In the memoir Grace After Midnight by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia “Snoop” commits murder when she tries to defend herself. After she killed the victim, “Father” and “Uncle” warned and tried to keep Snoop away from her neighborhood because it was too dangerous for her to be there. Snoop didn’t like the plans that Father and Uncle had for her, so in time she went back to her neighborhood. Snoop was arrested and put into city jail, but Snoop didn’t like jail, so she tried to escape. One of Snoop’s roommates got the plan from TV and the plan was to make a hole in the wall, so they could use sheets to help them land safely on the ground. Snoop had another roommate that went by “S” and she told one of the officers about Snoop’s plan to escape, so Snoop was sent to administrative lock 23/1.
While Snoop was in her jail cell she had a dream that something bad was going to happen because in her dream she was looking for someone, but she couldn’t find them. In her dream there were many rappers on the Las Vegas Strip and they were at a party with Snoop, but someone was missing. Snoop started to look for the person who was missing, but she couldn’t find them. A few weeks after Snoop’s dream, 2Pac who is Snoop’s idol, was gunned down in Las Vegas. Snoop was crushed because she met him before and she also looked up to him.
After Snoop lost her idol, she had to face the judge that determined her future. Snoop’s lawyer tried to get her the best deal, but there was a witness that was willing to testify against Snoop. The trail was put on hold for two years and when the witness finally testified, Snoop knew that she was going to lose the case, so she took the best deal that she could get. Her sentenced was reduced to second- degree murder and she received 8 years in jail. In the first five years of her sentenced she was without parole and the other three years she had a possibly for parole. When Snoop was sentenced, she was 15 years old and she thought that she was going to be 20 years old when she got out of the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup.
*(Pages summarized is #94-104)
Quote:
Snoop said:“For those of us sitting around city jail, it was like the President was shot. Only worse. We couldn’t relate to the President. But all of us could relate to Pac.”
(Pearson and Ritz 99).
Reaction:
The authors Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz’s style of writing is very frank. Their style is frank because they express themselves by telling the readers how they feel without adding in pointless details. This quote also express how Snoop and people she knew felt about 2pac. He had a good impact on his fans’ lives and they felt like they could relate to him, because he was just like them. This is a quote that is important to the memoir because 2Pac was Snoop’s idol and 2Pac also went thought some of the same events that Snoop had to experience.
ROAR Blog
Oct. 19, 2009
ROAR Blog #4
Summary:
In the memoir Grace After Midnight by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia “Snoop” commits murder when she tries to defend herself. After she killed the victim, “Father” and “Uncle” warned and tried to keep Snoop away from her neighborhood because it was too dangerous for her to be there. Snoop didn’t like the plans that Father and Uncle had for her, so in time she went back to her neighborhood. Snoop was arrested and put into city jail, but Snoop didn’t like jail, so she tried to escape. One of Snoop’s roommates got the plan from TV and the plan was to make a hole in the wall, so they could use sheets to help them land safely on the ground. Snoop had another roommate that went by “S” and she told one of the officers about Snoop’s plan to escape, so Snoop was sent to administrative lock 23/1.
While Snoop was in her jail cell she had a dream that something bad was going to happen because in her dream she was looking for someone, but she couldn’t find them. In her dream there were many rappers on the Las Vegas Strip and they were at a party with Snoop, but someone was missing. Snoop started to look for the person who was missing, but she couldn’t find them. A few weeks after Snoop’s dream, 2Pac who is Snoop’s idol, was gunned down in Las Vegas. Snoop was crushed because she met him before and she also looked up to him.
After Snoop lost her idol, she had to face the judge that determined her future. Snoop’s lawyer tried to get her the best deal, but there was a witness that was willing to testify against Snoop. The trail was put on hold for two years and when the witness finally testified, Snoop knew that she was going to lose the case, so she took the best deal that she could get. Her sentenced was reduced to second- degree murder and she received 8 years in jail. In the first five years of her sentenced she was without parole and the other three years she had a possibly for parole. When Snoop was sentenced, she was 15 years old and she thought that she was going to be 20 years old when she got out of the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup.
*(Pages summarized is #94-104)
Quote:
Snoop said:“For those of us sitting around city jail, it was like the President was shot. Only worse. We couldn’t relate to the President. But all of us could relate to Pac.”
(Pearson and Ritz 99).
Reaction:
The authors Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz’s style of writing is very frank. Their style is frank because they express themselves by telling the readers how they feel without adding in pointless details. This quote also express how Snoop and people she knew felt about 2pac. He had a good impact on his fans’ lives and they felt like they could relate to him, because he was just like them. This is a quote that is important to the memoir because 2Pac was Snoop’s idol and 2Pac also went thought some of the same events that Snoop had to experience.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
ROAR Blog #3:Grace After Midnight
Courtney Patterson
October 13, 2009
ROAR Blog
Summary:
In the memoir Grace After Midnight by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia “Snoop” found out that her mother had die and she didn’t know how to mourn over her death, because she only seen her biography mother a few times in her life. Snoop thought about her mother’s beauty and how she was so addicted to drugs, but Snoop knew that she was not like her mother. She said that she was not a fool to take drugs like her mother was, so Snoop turned to danger as her way of addicted. Mama started to notice that Snoop was doing dangerous things and she tried to talk to Snoop about how she shouldn’t be running the streets, but Snoop didn’t listen. Uncle was another person who warned Snoop about her dangerous ways, but even after Mama and Uncle tried to warn Snoop, she still continued to fight, have a gun, and hang out with the wrong crews…until it went too far.
Snoop started to have dreams about a lead bat, but she didn’t have a clue what it could mean. One of her dreams was that she was driving in a car when a lead bat would fly through her window and hit Snoop. The dreams continued until one day Snoop was walking and minding her own business when she noticed a fight that was happening down the street. Snoop decided to get a closer look at the fight, because there was a sense of danger that she like about it. When Snoop arrived at the fight, a girl noticed her and she came swinging a lead baseball bat at Snoop. Snoop cried for the girl to stop, but she continued to swing the bat at Snoop, so Snoop decided that it was going to be her or this girl. Snoop pulled out her gun, but the girl did not back down and Snoop decided to pulled the trigger. The girl was shot and she fell to the ground, dead.
*Summarize of pages 70-83.
Quote:
Snoop said:“The eyes. The eyes always give it away. This stranger’s eyes are showing nervousness. And before we know it, he starts shooting at B.”
(Pearson and Ritz 76).
Reaction:
The authors Felicia “Snoop” Pearson an David Ritz’s style continued to say the same throughout the chapters because they add in a lot of details, but they are still right to the point when that write. This is an important quote because Snoop was always good at guessing what someone might be thinking or going to do next, so this always put her one step ahead of everybody else. This trait that Snoop developed had allowed her to get away from danger at the right moments and it had helped to save her life.
October 13, 2009
ROAR Blog
ROAR Blog #3
Summary:
In the memoir Grace After Midnight by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia “Snoop” found out that her mother had die and she didn’t know how to mourn over her death, because she only seen her biography mother a few times in her life. Snoop thought about her mother’s beauty and how she was so addicted to drugs, but Snoop knew that she was not like her mother. She said that she was not a fool to take drugs like her mother was, so Snoop turned to danger as her way of addicted. Mama started to notice that Snoop was doing dangerous things and she tried to talk to Snoop about how she shouldn’t be running the streets, but Snoop didn’t listen. Uncle was another person who warned Snoop about her dangerous ways, but even after Mama and Uncle tried to warn Snoop, she still continued to fight, have a gun, and hang out with the wrong crews…until it went too far.
Snoop started to have dreams about a lead bat, but she didn’t have a clue what it could mean. One of her dreams was that she was driving in a car when a lead bat would fly through her window and hit Snoop. The dreams continued until one day Snoop was walking and minding her own business when she noticed a fight that was happening down the street. Snoop decided to get a closer look at the fight, because there was a sense of danger that she like about it. When Snoop arrived at the fight, a girl noticed her and she came swinging a lead baseball bat at Snoop. Snoop cried for the girl to stop, but she continued to swing the bat at Snoop, so Snoop decided that it was going to be her or this girl. Snoop pulled out her gun, but the girl did not back down and Snoop decided to pulled the trigger. The girl was shot and she fell to the ground, dead.
*Summarize of pages 70-83.
Quote:
Snoop said:“The eyes. The eyes always give it away. This stranger’s eyes are showing nervousness. And before we know it, he starts shooting at B.”
(Pearson and Ritz 76).
Reaction:
The authors Felicia “Snoop” Pearson an David Ritz’s style continued to say the same throughout the chapters because they add in a lot of details, but they are still right to the point when that write. This is an important quote because Snoop was always good at guessing what someone might be thinking or going to do next, so this always put her one step ahead of everybody else. This trait that Snoop developed had allowed her to get away from danger at the right moments and it had helped to save her life.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
ROAR Blog #2:Grace After Midnight
Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog
Oct. 8, 2009
In the book Grace After Midnight: A Memoir by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia learns at a young age about revenge. One day while Felicia “Snoop” was watching dishes, there was someone knocking at the door and when she answered there was a guy who called himself “T.” He wanted to speak with Snoop’s cousin, so Snoop went to get her cousin. Her cousin told Snoop that he was coming out of the bathroom, but when he came out of the bathroom he would regret it. “T” had shot Snoop’s cousin and paralyzed him. “T” had shot Snoop’s cousin because he was getting his sweet revenge. After that day Snoop had realized that anybody could try to get their revenge on her at any day or anytime, but this didn’t stop Snoop from running the streets and doing what she wants. Mama and Pops still didn’t think that Snoop was a bad kid, but there were also other people that wanted to protect and care for Snoop like Mama and Pops did. There was a man that Snoop met that she called “Father,” but he wasn’t related to her. He was the king of the drug game and Snoop admired that he was so powerful. There was another person who wanted to take care of Snoop and her name was Denise, but she is also known as Snoop’s Godmother. A few days later Snoop experience her first sexual relationship with a women thanks to Uncle and Snoop also witness death up close for the first time, when Pops dies of cancer. This event lend to Snoop slowly sprawling out of control, because she joined gangs and started fighting more often.
The pages that are being summarized are from #45-67.
The Quote:
Snoop said:“Menace II Society was another story that spoke our language. Probably the freshest was New Jack City. We saw that one until we knew every line. Wesley Snipes chewed that up, Ice T was cold, and Chris Rock had us believing he was a f***ed-up crack head. We were seeing our lives up there.” (Pearson and Ritz 66).
Reaction:
My reaction to this quote is that Pearson and Ritz, (the authors) used the literary term of allusion to express Snoop and her friends’ lives to a movie. They wanted to show the readers how difficult and dangerous their life was, so the movie New Jack City had expressed that perfectly. This quote connects to the story as a whole because Pearson’s life was hard and she had seen many of the same events happen in her life that had took place in the movie that she describe her life to.
ROAR Blog
Oct. 8, 2009
ROAR Blog #2
Summary: In the book Grace After Midnight: A Memoir by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia learns at a young age about revenge. One day while Felicia “Snoop” was watching dishes, there was someone knocking at the door and when she answered there was a guy who called himself “T.” He wanted to speak with Snoop’s cousin, so Snoop went to get her cousin. Her cousin told Snoop that he was coming out of the bathroom, but when he came out of the bathroom he would regret it. “T” had shot Snoop’s cousin and paralyzed him. “T” had shot Snoop’s cousin because he was getting his sweet revenge. After that day Snoop had realized that anybody could try to get their revenge on her at any day or anytime, but this didn’t stop Snoop from running the streets and doing what she wants. Mama and Pops still didn’t think that Snoop was a bad kid, but there were also other people that wanted to protect and care for Snoop like Mama and Pops did. There was a man that Snoop met that she called “Father,” but he wasn’t related to her. He was the king of the drug game and Snoop admired that he was so powerful. There was another person who wanted to take care of Snoop and her name was Denise, but she is also known as Snoop’s Godmother. A few days later Snoop experience her first sexual relationship with a women thanks to Uncle and Snoop also witness death up close for the first time, when Pops dies of cancer. This event lend to Snoop slowly sprawling out of control, because she joined gangs and started fighting more often.
The pages that are being summarized are from #45-67.
The Quote:
Snoop said:“Menace II Society was another story that spoke our language. Probably the freshest was New Jack City. We saw that one until we knew every line. Wesley Snipes chewed that up, Ice T was cold, and Chris Rock had us believing he was a f***ed-up crack head. We were seeing our lives up there.” (Pearson and Ritz 66).
Reaction:
My reaction to this quote is that Pearson and Ritz, (the authors) used the literary term of allusion to express Snoop and her friends’ lives to a movie. They wanted to show the readers how difficult and dangerous their life was, so the movie New Jack City had expressed that perfectly. This quote connects to the story as a whole because Pearson’s life was hard and she had seen many of the same events happen in her life that had took place in the movie that she describe her life to.
Friday, October 2, 2009
ROAR Blog #1:Grace After Midnight
Courtney Patterson
ROAR Blog
Oct. 2, 2009
ROAR Blog #1
Summary:
In the memoir called Grace After Midnight, by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia “Snoop” Pearson’s life had many hardships. Her biological mother could not take care of her, due to the fact that she was addicted to crack. Felicia was born a crack baby and she had died twice, but she still wanted to meet her biological mother. After meeting her biological mother and sending only a small amount of time with her, Felicia realized that her mother was not the best person. Felicia’s mother had invited Felicia into her home and decided to lock her in a closet and take her clothing that she was wearing, so she could buy drugs. Soon after this awful event, Felicia decided that her forester parents, Mrs. Pearson and Mr. Pearson, were going to be her only parents because they actually loved her. Growing up was difficult because Felicia lived on a rough street named Oliver Street and she would fight people for her respect. She would fight because people would make fun of her because she would dress in boy’s clothing and she would also small. Felicia would also fight to keep the boys away from her, because she didn’t like boys in a sexual way like most other girls her age did. She was interested in girls. Felicia had also started to get involve with the drug scene that was taking place on her street and this is where Felicia had become known as “Snoop.” She received this nickname from a drug dealer that she called Uncle and he gave Felicia the nickname because she was sweet, but was sad like Snoop from Charlie Brown.
The Pages that are summarized is from pg #3-32
Quote:
Snoop said:“If you studied the streets like me, the truth was up in your face: Money made it happen.”(Pearson and Ritz 32).
Pearson, Felicia "Snoop", and David Ritz. Grace After Midnight. 1st ed. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing, 2007. Print.
Reaction:
The authors, Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz writing style was that there was a use of slang or dialect. Pearson and Ritz used slang as a way of trying to truly interact with their readers, because most people could relate to the use of slang. Their written style was that they would tell you what the chapter was going to be about by the first few sentences, because they were straight to the point. The details were giving later in the chapter. The quote from page 25 was telling the readers what was coming up in the chapter and this quote is important to understand because on Oliver Street, money always made things happened. Money meant power on Oliver Street, but it also meant that people will have to fight to keep their power and this would be seen later on in the book.
ROAR Blog
Oct. 2, 2009
ROAR Blog #1
In the memoir called Grace After Midnight, by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz, Felicia “Snoop” Pearson’s life had many hardships. Her biological mother could not take care of her, due to the fact that she was addicted to crack. Felicia was born a crack baby and she had died twice, but she still wanted to meet her biological mother. After meeting her biological mother and sending only a small amount of time with her, Felicia realized that her mother was not the best person. Felicia’s mother had invited Felicia into her home and decided to lock her in a closet and take her clothing that she was wearing, so she could buy drugs. Soon after this awful event, Felicia decided that her forester parents, Mrs. Pearson and Mr. Pearson, were going to be her only parents because they actually loved her. Growing up was difficult because Felicia lived on a rough street named Oliver Street and she would fight people for her respect. She would fight because people would make fun of her because she would dress in boy’s clothing and she would also small. Felicia would also fight to keep the boys away from her, because she didn’t like boys in a sexual way like most other girls her age did. She was interested in girls. Felicia had also started to get involve with the drug scene that was taking place on her street and this is where Felicia had become known as “Snoop.” She received this nickname from a drug dealer that she called Uncle and he gave Felicia the nickname because she was sweet, but was sad like Snoop from Charlie Brown.
The Pages that are summarized is from pg #3-32
Quote:
Snoop said:“If you studied the streets like me, the truth was up in your face: Money made it happen.”(Pearson and Ritz 32).
Pearson, Felicia "Snoop", and David Ritz. Grace After Midnight. 1st ed. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing, 2007. Print.
Reaction:
The authors, Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz writing style was that there was a use of slang or dialect. Pearson and Ritz used slang as a way of trying to truly interact with their readers, because most people could relate to the use of slang. Their written style was that they would tell you what the chapter was going to be about by the first few sentences, because they were straight to the point. The details were giving later in the chapter. The quote from page 25 was telling the readers what was coming up in the chapter and this quote is important to understand because on Oliver Street, money always made things happened. Money meant power on Oliver Street, but it also meant that people will have to fight to keep their power and this would be seen later on in the book.
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