Kyle's Parting Essay

Kyle Sebastian

Professor H. Salsich

English 9

4 May 2009

Doors Open and Close:

An Essay on Parting

TS: Sometimes something positive can also have negative effects. SD: An example is something called parting. CM: Parting is necessary to move on in life so one can grow, like leaving an old school to go to a new school. CM: However, sometimes it can be dismal and cause pain, like saying goodbye to a loved one for a time or for eternity.

TS: In Naomi Shihab Nye’s Poem “Adios” I saw several things that related to parting. SD: The first was that the poem itself revolved around a word that is often used in parting. CM: In Spanish the word Adios means goodbye. CM: The name of the poem itself is called “Adios”, which may give the reader a clue as to what the poem is about. SD: The second thing I noticed is the line “if you are known for anything let it be for the way you rise out of sight” had to do with parting as well. CM: I think that this line means that once you are finished with your work let people see how you are going to “rise” to bigger and better things. CM: Let people remember how you rose above expectations and went farther than they ever thought possible. SD: The third and final thing I noticed how Ms. Nye says “strap it to your back like wings”, which also connects to parting. CM: “Spread your wings and fly” is a commonly used expression for sentimental moments when someone is parting. CM: It’s also interesting that she chose the word “wings” because wings are often used in parting whether it’s the wings of an angel carrying a loved one off to heaven, or the wings of a baby bird flying away from the nest. (Loose Sentence) CS: These are several good paradigms relating to parting that I found in Ms. Nye’s Poem.

TS: Ms. Dickinson’s poem was more difficult to find connections in than Ms. Nye’s poem, but I successfully made some. SD: Dickinson relates parting to heaven near the end of her poem. CM: She says “parting is all we know of heaven” meaning that all people really know about heaven is that once you part you may go to there. CM: I find it ironic that something good like heaven, can come from something perceived as sad and depressing like death. SD: Near the end Dickinson related parting to the complete opposite of heaven; hell. CM: She explains that parting is “all we need of hell” meaning that all anyone wants or needs to know about hell is that once you part you may go there. CM: Hell is obviously a bad thing that people don’t want to know about so they choose to know as little as they can. CS: Heaven and Hell are examples of a negative and positive outcome of something good like parting.

TS: An example of parting in my life is a song by one of my favorite artists, Mariah Carey. SD: The song “Bye Bye” by Mariah is sung about one of Mariah’s loved ones who has passed on. CM: She sings about how she misses that person and how much they never got to experience together. CM: Songs that are so personal like this are often my favorite because they can really relate to someone’s own experiences. SD: This song reminds me of my Grandfather Ira, who died before I really got the chance to know him seeing as he lived in California. CM: My grandfather and I really only met when I was little and about a year ago before he died, but the time that I did get to spend with him I will cherish forever. CM: Mariah sings “and you never got the chance to see how good I’ve done” which is how I feel when I think of my grandfather because there is so much about each other we didn’t know and now won’t get the chance to. SD: The lines “There’s so much more left to say. If you were with me today face to face” really speak to me because this is how I feel with my grandfather. CM: If he was still alive there would still be so much we could do together that we’ve never done. CM: We could bake, we could dance, we could sing, we could laugh, we could cry, but now I won’t get the chance to do any of that. CS: The parting of my grandfather may have been a very sad and painful experience for me, but it really made me appreciate him and all he has done more.

TS: The yin and yang, good and evil, the Red Sox and the Yankees, partings and meetings, the world always has a balance between things (Periodic Sentence). SD: Parting with things is a daily occurrence for everyone in the world and it has its pros and cons. CM: When you go home after school you are leaving your friends and teachers behind, but you’ll be able to see them the next day. CM: When a family member dies you may be grief stricken, but you know they’re going to a better place.

SA

Something I Like-I think i did a really good job on relating parting to each of required things in this essay.

Something I need to improve on-Again I often have a difficult time fixing and identifying small punctuation errors.