Hunched over the desk, I tapped my pen. The timer ticked. I was waiting for a synonym — any synonym — to save me from —
“Time,” the judge announced.
I trudged to the front of the classroom and began: “In The Color Violet, a woman named Celie overcomes oppression…”
“The lessons in The Color Violet epitomize...”
Before I knew it, I sat on a frigid yellow bus with a speech tournament ballot that read, “By the way, the movie is The Color Purple.”
But I knew the title. I could rattle off the differences between the movie and the book, and I could even recite important quotes. I was also a speechie and a debater who had practiced pulling out those kinds of examples as quickly as smooth-talking politicians. I debated genetically modified food, resource
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I started repeating purple in the shower. I practiced the tongue movements during class. I did pen drills while saying purple, I recorded myself saying purple, and I even wore purple.
Slowly, my purples became eights, nines, and — rarely — tens (my tongue has a hard time tumbling).
While I held that creased ballot on the bus, I replayed those moments in my head. I knew the judge was right — violet couldn’t replace purple (purple is redder) — yet I couldn’t bring myself to say the word publicly. My impromptu speech was about confronting challenges, but unlike Celie, I didn’t confront mine. I hid my impediment, even though I saw its effects whenever I explained how a word could upset a sentence, whenever I used a countless, innumerable myriad of synonyms, or whenever I admitted my love for language.
And I’m beginning to realize that maybe my “impediment” is nothing to be ashamed of. I may be the speechie who flusters her words, but I’m also the debater who sometimes forgets to flow her opponent’s arguments because I recognize how beautiful they sound. I’m the freshman who joined speech and debate because I knew how those sounds were created. And I’m the senior who needs to work on one of those sounds, because I still can’t say
The movie had the power to paint a picture your mind. But it didn't have that information that the book had. The movie didn't have the explaining that the
In Oklahoma, where there are bloody rumbles and serious crimes made here in this big city, but there is a tiny sixteen year old boy living in the middle of it all, and that was me, Johnny. The Greaser was like a second home for each other. They were rough, old fashion, and have been In rumbles where breaking your arm wasn’t a serious injury, but they help another out. I, in the other hand, was not like them. They say that heroes need a dark past in order to be stronger in the comics I read, but that didn’t happen to me. I was abused by my own parents and I got jumped by those rich Socs. They left scars and pain for me, I felt like I’ve gotten weaker after this, not stronger.
When the two men went to the same car dealership to see who would be helped in a decent manner, the salesman of the same racial descent as the African American tester, Glenn, was completely ignored. The white American tester, John, got help within the first few seconds of browsing from the same African American salesman that ignored Glenn (Harvey 1991). I was also surprised that Glenn was assumed to be attempting to commit a crime when browsing the record store, despite no obvious suspicious acts (Harvey 1991). Even when the two show the same need for assistance inside a store or in a parking lot, Glen was always ignored. Even the prices of items John asked about almost doubled when Glenn asked. Furthermore, when interviewed for job positions Glenn got lectured upon laziness, being late, and drug abuse, despite the preference on race over a criminal background (Pager 2007). Lastly, I was surprised they didn’t see who would be more likely to get help or hired in an inner city.
The Color Purple main character is a fourteen-year-old black girl, who talks to God through letting him know everything that is going on with her. Celie was a very bright young person. She grew up very quickly, because she had to help her father with the other children around the house. Celie was never treated equally to the others. Her father made her the woman of the house and even the mother. Celie’s dad was raping her, and he told her not to tell her mother. Celie's texts are born when she is raped and silenced; the epigraph to The Color Purple consists of an unattributed, pervasive threat against speech. These stark words initiate the entire text: "You better not tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy" (Weisenburger).
As I am riding in my husbands 2008 chevy cobalt I realize, this is exactly how I envisioned the perfect day. A soft gentle breeze wafting the sweet scent of jasmine over me, the sun radiating against my skin. The sky is clear as cleaned crystal and bubblegum blue. I settle back on the warm leather seat of the car and embrace the feeling. I am totally immersed.
Everyone growing up faces many struggles and/or obstacles, and that’s a fact. One of the obstacles that I faced while growing up, was that I could not hear properly. I remember my teachers from
When I think about my red house, a free and easy feeling rushes over. Worries consisted of macaroni being too hot, swinging too high, and Dora, my first dog, pooping in my room. With bookshelves filled with stuffed animals and countless Pooh Bear toys, I was always content. The playground in my backyard provided days of fun, and nights in my mom and dad’s bed gave me peaceful and comforting sleep, preparing me for the next day of work. The kitchen was where I liked to claim I “worked”. Although I didn’t do a lot of the actual cooking, I liked to be there while my mom was. A love for cooking and baking developed at a young age, around the same time I realized I wanted to be just like my mom. The song “Best Day” by Taylor Swift perfectly describes
When I was young my Dad would always remind me of how important these years as a kid are. He would always say watch how you act as a kid, for it will set the stage for the rest of your life. So many people I know ruined their lives when they were kids. This small, yet so important statement runs through my mind everyday. I love how everyone says they don’t care what people think of them, but I wish they knew how important it is to have a good image. I am not perfect, but I would like to be close as possible. But as Salvador Dali said “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it. “ The problem I see is everyone wanting to be someone that they are not. Sure, we all have our idols that we look
Cathy’s idea that its okay to be a late bloomer felt like an incredibly Grinnellian notions. While reasonable, I feel that it is used as an excuse for not making something out of your life and education, and I take issue with this. I understand that I am judging from a place of privilege, having never attempted to find work post-grad myself, however I simply cannot understand how individuals can “throw away” their education in this fashion. There are countless job opportunities out there, and while they may not fully encapsulate exactly what you want in your career, they do represent something else: the experience that is necessary to succeed. It felt to me like the majority of the Creative Careerists who spoke to us understood this, yet a
When I get ready for baseball, I do it slowly so I won't overlook or forget anything . First, I find my navy blue jersey with a big bright red "A" on the chest area. Then, I put my sliding shorts that's padded all inside on so it won't hurt when I slide. I grab my long white baseball pants that look like sweatpants, put them on to protect my legs, and zip them up. It's a different type of material that feels soft . Next, I put my rose red belt on and tuck my shirt in. After that, I place my navy blue cap on top of my head, grab my white Oakley's with a reddish orangish lens and set it on the bill of my hat. I go find my lucky gold chains, put them around my neck and slap my wrist bands on. I make sure I've packed all my equipment, for example
Emily Blunt is just one of many famous individuals who has been publicly open about their own personal stuttering problems; a problem that the star had struggled with from the age of 7 to 14. When recalling this event from her childhood, the actress remembers particularly having trouble with her vowels especially at the beginning of words (NPR). However, she was able to solve this problem after her elementary school teacher realized that she spoke fluently whenever she did accents and impressions. After this discovery, Blunt started to participate in theatre and eventually overcame her stuttering problem. She says that if it weren’t for her childhood stutter, she never would have pursued a career in acting. Since then she has been recognized by the American Institute for Stuttering and was given their Freeing Voices award, an award given to people who have achieved professional success in spite of their stuttering (Stuttering
After Finals, I came back to San Pedro for the summer. You wouldn't think the place would have changed that much in a year, but it sure as hell felt like I was living in another country. Most of the guys I went to high school had moved on by then and the whole town seemed so fucking strange.
If I were to be able to take, one book, one food item, and one famous person, dead or alive, with me on a deserted island; I would take Where The Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein, a GIANT bag of broccoli, and Ben Domian, an Air Force Reserve Survivalist. I would guess that this deserted Island would have trees with fruit in them or coconut trees. I would also assume that the person I had chosen to bring with me, they would have the same three options, except they would have to choose me to go with them since they were already chosen. That being said, they would be able to bring food as well to sustain themselves and a book for entertainment. If we were to combine our resources, we would be able to survive until help comes. Compiling our resources could also mean that when we finish our book we could switch and read each other's books.
Over the years, several experiments and tests have been devised to study how the Stroop Effect could manifest itself in ways other than reading colored words. One such example was an experiment conducted by Shor who used auditory stimulus to provoke a Stroop-like event (1975). In his study, participants listened to a recording of an individual either with a deep bass voice or a high falsetto voice saying the words “high” or “low”
I latched onto the two blue ropes above me. I hoisted myself up and balanced myself on the corner of the twine. I swung my legs over the next two ropes, and I climbed under the blue rope and over the red one. I paused for a moment and used my shirt to wipe of my sweaty, calloused palms. My muscles were sore and my heart was pounding in my chest, but I had to persevere. To my right, my cousin was catching up to me. He scaled up the outside of the rope obstacle until he finally reached my level. I quickly grabbed for the next rope square, and leaped through the top. One last push, and I finally landed on the metal platform. I made it.