Essay 11

Madeline

English 9

Mr. Salsich

December 15, 2009

Reversed Worlds:

An Essay about E. M. Forster's "The Other Side of the Hedge"

In some places of the world, a wet season brings water surging up above the banks of rivers and streams with a deluge of rain and life. In these places, during the dry season, the rivers and streams are dry, void of life, thirsty. In E. M. Forster's "The Other Side of the Hedge," two near opposite lifestyles exist, just as the wet and dry seasons are opposites. The tiresome, dry road and the relaxed, lush "other side" are present in my life, as well as Forster's story.

TS The "road" and "the other side of the hedge" are as different as night and day in the story. SD The dry, dusty land of the road is bland, tiring, and stressful. CM The road is "dusty under foot, with brown crackling hedges on either side as far as the eye could reach," and the people of the road carry heavy loads as they forge ahead towards an unknown goal, never stopping to enjoy the journey itself. CM The combination of the monotonous, arid, tedious, interminable (catalog of modifiers) environment and the nagging anxiety about the need to keep moving forward made the road a seemingly very uncomfortable place; it is no surprise that the narrator was thirsty for something different when he scrambled through the hedge. SD On the other side of the hedge, life is contrasting with that of the road. CM The landscape is lush and green, with "clean, bare buttresses, with beech trees in their folds, and meadows and clear pools at their feet." CM The people on the other side of the hedge are not rushed or competitive; they act simply, to please themselves or to help those around them, with no thoughts of advancement or achievement. CS The two lifestyles on either side of the hedge are near opposites; while one side is dry and demanding, the other is refreshing and easy.

TS I almost always live on the road, but I dream of living on the other side. SD My life is filled to the brim with things to do, and I hardly have enough time to pack everything into one day before I fall lifeless into bed, only to then lie there awake, worrying about another hectic day on the horizon. CM My education and my friends and family are like the dust of Forster's road; they fill up my life, and their overwhelming presence can make me feel like I am choking. CM I am always rushing to finish something, get somewhere, or find someone, and I hardly ever encounter those precious moments of nothing, when I am free from the burdens, responsibilities, and expectations that are always pressing me down and tying me up. SD In the future, when I have finished school, I hope to live on the other side of the hedge. CM Right now, I try to practice for this dream lifestyle by doing my best to stay calm when my life is especially tumultuous, and by trying not to be selfish or self-centered. CM I long to live in that world of flourishing harmony, and hopefully, my grueling days on the road will be over when I graduate from college. CM I want to live my adult life in contented comfort, helping others and doing what I enjoy, like playing the piano or swimming or lying still in a field to watch the clouds and birds go past. CS I look forward to the day when I can leap from the dry, cracked road, where parched air sits stagnant, to the place where it is green and bright and the air flows softly, and there is water everywhere (adjectival color an clarity); I want to jump from busy blindness into peaceful awareness.

In the dry season of some places, the Earth calls out for water for its dehydrated soil, and the skies answer with torrents of rain. Just as these wet and dry seasons are so different, the two ways of life in "The Other Side of the Hedge" are also quite contrasting. Everyone on the road is rushing to nobody knows where, and life is exhausting and boring, while on the other side, everything is bursting with life and water and energy and calm. In school, I'm always busy, always on the road, but someday, I will find my way to the other side of the hedge.

Essay 10

Madeline

English 9

Mr. Salsich

December 8, 2009

The Great Plains and Florida:

An Essay about N. Scott Momaday's "The Way to Rainy Mountain"

N. Scott Momaday was drawn back to his homeland on the Great Plains, shadowed by Rainy Mountain. As soon as he arrived in the place of his ancestry, he was changed. I flew away on a jet to the vibrant vacation world of Florida, brightened by the blazing sun. I, too, was changed.

TS Momaday made both physical and emotional journeys as he traveled back to his homeland, and his ancestors had made a journey many years before. SD The Kiowa "were a mountain people, a mysterious tribe" who made a journey "toward the dawn." CM They had been living in primitive darkness, but on their journey from the mountains down to the sweeping blanket of the grassy Great Plains, they found the sun, and "bore Tai-me," their god, and the Sun Dance culture. CM They left their life of meaningless gloom behind and stepped into meaningful enlightenment. SD Momaday was enlightened similarly when he returned to the land of his history. CM His "journey of the heart" let him see his homeland in a new light; he could see the "green belts along the rivers and creeks, linear groves of hickory and pecan, willow and witch hazel" in such clarity as he had never before experienced. CM His feelings of uneasiness with his heritage also receded into serenity, which can be seen in his touching description of the last time he saw his grandmother; he was at peace with his past. SD Momaday also journeyed in the physical sense. CM When his grandmother died, Momaday felt her home, the land of his ancestors, calling him. CM His qualms needed to be resolved, and he "traveled fifteen hundred miles to begin [his] pilgrimage." CS Momaday's journey, and the journey of the Kiowa tribe many years before, was affecting, illuminating.

TS A similarly important journey in my life was my trip to Florida; it was a broadening journey for me both physically and emotionally, just as Momaday's journey was. SD Last March, my family and I went on a vacation to Fort Meyers, Florida. CM The vacation marked the first time I had ever been on a plane, and the distance from Rhode Island to Florida was the farthest I had ever been from home. CM When the plane bounced onto the runway in steamy Orlando, I was jolted upright; the palm trees, amazingly flat landscape, and piercing sunlight were all very peculiar and disparate from my familiar New England habitat. SD Not only did Florida present me with a novel climate, it presented me with emotional challenges that I overcame during a journey within myself. CM Because I was forced to sit in a very small car with them for a week, I became much closer with my parents, if only for that short span of time; I learned about their childhoods, their travels, and how they met each other, and this made me feel older, more respected, as if I were a trusted friend instead of an untrustworthy teenage daughter. CM Also, I was the youngest person in a motel full of adults, so I tried to act more mature, like I was one of them, in the evenings when we all sat outside in the warm, still night air. SD I also experienced a "journey of the heart" because my grandfather, whom I had not known very well before the trip, came with my family on our journey. CM I learned to be more patient, especially when he wanted to watch a show about World War II when I wanted to watch comedy shows; when I started to whine and fidget about his choice, I stopped myself, and tried to be more patient, because I knew that he deserved to watch what he wanted more than I did. CM I also formed a bond with my grandpa that had been nonexistent before the journey; we talked more, and he told me stories, and I helped him buy a new pair of flip-flops, and now our relationship is much more comfortable and convivial. CS I am glad that I went on this family vacation to Florida, because it watered me, as if I were a seed, and I grew.

Both Momaday and I traveled great distances, literally and in our minds. Momaday saw a land he had only heard about, and he was enlightened, just as his Kiowa ancestors had been before him. I, too, saw a land I had only dreamed of when I arrived in Florida, and I matured and forged new family bonds. We both experienced special journeys, journeys into the light.

Essay 9

Madeline

English 9

Mr. Salsich

November 24, 2009

Restrained Fury:

An Essay about Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

People are like puffer fish. When people are provoked and angered, they explode and deploy their spikes. These spikes can come in the form of lethal thoughts, as in the case of Maya Angelou in her essay "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," or in the form of thoughts of rage, which is the case when injustice angers me. Also, the spikes might not be deployed at all; Maya Angelou's grandmother was calm and strong as she was spewed with disrespect, and I am trying to learn to act similarly when I begin to feel anger brewing within me.

TS In Maya Angelou's essay "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," the author shows how infuriating racist treatment can be, and how being forced to hold the anger inside oneself worsens the pain. SD When the "powhitetrash" girls insulted Momma, Maya Angelou's grandmother, rage boiled under Ms. Angelou's skin. CM The girls' brazen display of disrespect made her lose her temper, and she felt volatile, like she might explode. CM The fact that Momma, "who owned the land [the girls]lived on, who forgot more than they would ever learn," was shown such downright indignity by these "dirty, mean, and impudent girls" made Ms. Angelou break down in tears of enmity. SD The anger Ms. Angelou felt was worsened by the fact that she had to hold it inside; there was no means by which she could release her explosive rage. CM Ms. Angelou did think "about the rifle behind the door," but she decided against such drastic measures, because she knew she would "never be able to hold it straight," and I believe she knew that shooting the girls would induce unwanted consequences. CM The only way for Ms. Angelou to cope with her anger were the tears that streamed down her face as she watched, "imprisoned behind the scene" of the crime. SD On the other hand, Momma seemed to deal with the situation quite well. CM Though she was being shown absolute insolence, she stood her ground, humming her hymns and keeping quiet, which shows her unwavering strength and confidence. CM After the girls retreated, Maya Angelou realized that "whatever the contest had been out front, Momma had won," and that made her pain disappear and her anger melt away. CS The "powhitetrash" girls tried to squash Momma and Ms. Angelou, but Momma was steadfast and brave, and the stormy sea of anger churning in her granddaughter's heart was calmed.

TS I feel angriest when a person accuses me of something I did not do or treats me with cruel malice. SD Injustice makes me seethe. CM When another person jumps to conclusions about me, and tells me that I am bad, that I have done something wrong, without even knowing the facts of the situation, anger burns inside me. CM When something unfair happens, I become more than upset; I become manic with rage. SD When someone looks at me with a sneer and insults me, I have to fight with myself to keep from "burst[ing]...a firecracker July-the-Fourth burst." CM My insides boil, but I hold in the lava of retaliation that could come pouring out; it is on the tip of my tongue, but I try not to let it burn the person who has hurt me. CM I feel absolute rage towards people who are unnecessarily hurtful, who treat other people like unwanted garbage, who toss around sharp words as if they were harmless jokes, when in reality they are sharp shards of glass that cut the spirit, and I struggle to hold back the anger I feel at their disregard for other people. SD However, I am becoming more adept at calming myself when I encounter these unfortunate types. CM I am learning to breathe, and extinguish the fiery comebacks that erupt from my aggravated spirit; I know that they would not do me any good. CM I also try to counteract the times I feel enraged towards others by doing my best to treat the people I know with respect, patience, and kindness; I try to show the opposite characteristics of the people who infuriate me when I interact with other people. CS When I am falsely accused, or when I am the target of acrimonious people, at first I feel intense anger, but soon, I am able to clear my polluted spirit and treat others with kindness by learning through my negative experiences.

Maya Angelou was a very passionate puffer fish, trying to release her pain and resentment through her tears as she watched the "powhitetrash" girls throw insults at Momma. Momma was able to alleviate Ms. Angelou's anger through her serene, accepting ways; she was a more mellow puffer fish. As for me, my spikes shoot out, but I try to retract them, and not cause harm to anyone; I am a puffer fish who learns from her anger. When a certain person or situation triggers intense anger, each person reacts differently, and whether or not a person is able to rise above the rage defines their strength.

Essay 8

FINAL DRAFT

Madeline

English 9

Mr. Salsich

November 17, 2009

An Unforgettable Fight:

An Essay about William Manchester's "Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All" and My Life

One event can change our lives forever. One experience can strike us, and that feeling can stay within us for the rest of our lives. In William Manchester's essay "Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All," the battle Mr. Manchester was forced to endure changed his life, and his youth became wrapped around this event. Similarly, my young life has been wrapped around my experience at Pine Point School.

TS In William Manchester's essay "Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All," I think the author describes the horrific battle as "the central experience of [his] youth" because the battle changed him, and this change was so drastic that it became the central point around which his entire young life revolved. SD The author's body recovered from the traumas of war, but his mind did not. CM Manchester was left completely disabled after a shell exploded next to him, but he was strong, and his body healed itself; however,"the invisible wounds remain[ed]." CM The gruesome images of war, trapped in his memory forever, would not let the author forget his experience; his emotional wounds still festered long after his physical wounds were gone. SD Another aspect of the battle that made it so important, besides the physical and mental injuries, was the devastating loss Manchester experienced as he watched his friends die. CM It is difficult to imagine being stranded in such a nightmarish world, where one is left helpless, watching friends, and brothers, die painful deaths, and nothing can be done to save them. CM All this grief has been branded on Manchester's mind, and he "will mourn them until [his] own death releases [him]" from the pain of loss. SD The impulsive grudge Manchester held against Japanese people is yet another way in which the battle changed him. CM The author became so used to thinking of the Japanese as the enemy that he cannot rid himself of the automatic hatred he feels for former Japanese soldiers; when the war was finished, Manchester must have found this instinctive grudge difficult to deal with. CM Being unable to forgive an entire race would certainly change a person, and could certainly become a nagging issue for a young man, as it did for Manchester. CS The battle of Okinawa left Manchester with a broken spirit, burdened with the weights of hatred, violence, and loss, and because the battle was so horrifying, Manchester just couldn't recover; it was impossible for him to leap over the hurdle of the battle, so it became the obstacle that held up his youth.

TS Thankfully, my experiences in life so far have not been as horrifying as Mr. Manchester's; however, my move to Pine Point School has changed me in many ways, just as the battle at Okinawa changed Manchester, and the changes have become a very important part of my youth. SD Before I came to Pine Point, I came home from school each day feeling angry and unappreciated. CM The school I attended was going through some difficult times, and it left me feeling terrible; school was a dreaded misery, and I remember wishing that I could leap out of the window of the classroom. CM When my parents saw that I came home from school every day with a scowl plastered to my face, they decided a change was needed. SD So, I came to Pine Point School, and, unlike the terrors of Okinawa, the "central experience of my youth" has altered my way of thinking for the better. CM The nurturing environment at Pine Point has encouraged me to embrace education and try to exceed my limits; instead of anger, I feel accomplishment at the end of the day. CM Pine Point has made me "bright...strong and inspired by ...[a] love of" new knowledge; my school is helping me grow my wings so that I can soar later. SD These days, my entire life is centered on Pine Point. CM My education, friends, athletic experiences, accomplishments, and my past and future are all contained within the single "Pine Point School experience." CM Without Pine Point, my life would be void of all the happiness that I have found through learning. TS My move to Pine Point has let me out of my gloomy cocoon into the light of education, and the changes brought about by this light are the most important things that have happened to me.

The battle at Okinawa scarred William Manchester, and changed his outlook on life. In contrast, Pine Point has cured my frustrations about education, but has also changed the way I look at my life. Both Mr. Manchester and I have been captured by these experiences of our youth, and our lives have been redirected, for better or for worse. One event changed our lives forever.

Essay 7

FINAL DRAFT

Madeline

English 9

Mr. Salsich

November 10, 2009

Clinging to Nothing:

An Essay about Loren Eiseley's "The Brown Wasps"

Change is terrifying. It is a natural instinct to prefer the warmth and comfort of something familiar to the murky fog of the unknown. So, when well-known things change, humans and animals cling to the leftovers, as a means of escaping the frightening adjustments in our lives. In Loren Eiseley's "The Brown Wasps," the author discusses this instinct through observations and personal experience, and Eiseley's essay reminded me of something that happened to me when I was young.

TS To me, the theme of Loren Eiseley's essay "The Brown Wasps" is change, and how change affects life. SD Whether it be due to natural causes or human disturbances, the world around us is always changing. CM Seasons continue to flow in their eternal cycle of death and regrowth; bulldozers and backhoes are always present, reshaping fields into parking lots. CM In fact, the natural world can "[modify] its appearances so fast that everything takes on an aspect of illusion," because nothing ever stays the same for more than a moment. SD "The Brown Wasps" also shows the unwillingness of humans and animals to accept change, and how this aversion causes us to "cling to a time and place because without them [we] are lost." CM In his essay, Eiseley seems to be suggesting that living things are scared of change, so they try to find familiarity wherever they can, just as the lost field mouse tried to dig "a remembered field" in a flower pot, or as the pigeons of the El "returned [to the abandoned train station] because the hubbub of the wreckers had convinced them that [their] river [of food and life] was about to flow once more." CM Living things fear change because they instinctively fear the unknown, so when inevitable changes occur, creatures of all sizes desperately search among the frightening new to find a fragment of the comforting, well-known old. SD Change also evokes feelings of sadness and sentimentality, shown when Eiseley returns to his childhood home to find the tree that had "been growing in [his] mind" for all those years was gone. CM When things we expect disappear, we humans feel lost, abandoned, because it seems as though all we know has been stripped off and taken away. CM Change affected Eiseley so much that he suddenly felt as though he can't depend on anything anymore, as though the world was rolling forward, but he was being left behind; change devastated him. CS The foundation of "The Brown Wasps" is the idea that the world will never stop its metamorphosis from one thing to the next, and this lack of stability creates a human and animal need for a place that is known, a place that never changes, a safe haven amidst chaos.

TS The theme of change in "The Brown Wasps" reminded me of something that happened to me when I was in fourth grade. SD A new gymnasium was being built at my school, and in order to clear the land, construction workers cut down two towering maple trees on the school grounds, and my classmates and I were deeply upset. CM We found the change cruelly unnecessary,and we fervently chanted, "Down with construction! Up with trees!" until we were scolded by our teacher. CM My friends and I had played in the shade of those trees every recess, hunting for pillbugs and leaping from root to root, and as I watched out the classroom window as my beautiful tree-friends were destroyed, I remember feeling pain and anger, because memories, my memories, were being destroyed along with them. SD Just as the wasps cling to their hives and the homeless men cling to their benches in Eiseley's essay, I tried to cling to my trees, but I failed. CM When the trees were gone, their strong, majestic branches having been reduced to feeble wood chips, I felt helpless, abandoned by a change that I did not want. CM I "quiver[ed] with fear in the great open sun" when I went outside that day, because my maple trees were gone, and they could not wrap me in their cooling shade, just as the creatures of the field must have felt when their world of green weeds and wildflowers was replaced with harsh, "blazing concrete." SD Another similarity between "The Brown Wasps" and my childhood experience is the trees themselves. CM Our trees both stood for our childhoods, and they were both taken away from us. CM Eiseley was crushed when he returned to his home to find that he "was attached by a thread to a thing [, his tree,] that had never been there," and when my maple trees disappeared, I felt like a bridge attaching me to my memories had been washed away. CS The change that I experienced in fourth grade is similar to the changes the homeless men, wasps, mice, pigeons and the author himself experienced; an important, familiar thread was broken, and we were all left feeling lost.

When something changes, when something we know goes away, we are left with a gaping wound, a hole that was once filled, but is now empty. We search desperately to find the remains of something familiar, or to create an imitation of what we once knew. For both Loren Eiseley and myself, trees stood for stability and safety and the carefree days of childhood, and when our trees were taken away, we were both devastated. We were both left with the urgent longing for something else to cling to, for something else to protect us. The change was terrifying.

Essay 6

FINAL DRAFT

Madeline

Mr. Salsich

English 9

November 3, 2009

An Inner War:

An Essay about the Last Paragraph of James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son"

Our minds never stop thinking. Even when we sleep, we think, because we dream. In the last paragraph of James Baldwin's essay "Notes of a Native Son," the author says that our minds will never stop struggling, either, because we will always be fighting to accept or reject life's injustices. To me, this observation is very perceptive, and I can relate to Baldwin's distress at the thought of a constant internal war.

TS Baldwin's final paragraph in "Notes of a Native Son" is a powerful idea, full of wisdom and emotion, for both Mr. Baldwin himself and for me. SD The paragraph puts forth the idea that, in life, a person will always struggle internally with two enemy forces: acceptance and rebellion. CM To me, this means we will always be fighting to choose between putting up with evil or fighting it, our minds seized in fear over the choice between oppressed safety or dangerous freedom. CM Baldwin places right and wrong at the center of the conflict, for "injustice is a commonplace" when one accepts "life as it is," but when one revolts against these injustices, "hatred and despair" can arise in the soul. SD Baldwin's view of this war between good and evil shows great wisdom. CM He must be intelligent and observant, for he is able to describe what could be the essence of life itself in one short paragraph. CM However, this wisdom is tainted by grief, because beneath his description of the war between good and bad, Baldwin seems to be saying that there is no escape, no peace, from the constant battle. SD The author's last sentence is especially infected with grief and regret, saying that the idea that he must always be fighting to keep his head above the black waters of evil "made [his] heart heavy;" I know how he feels. CM Baldwin's father was gone, and only when he was gone did the son realize that his father was needed as a steady protector, and all this agonizing grief and guilt, mixed with the thought of a lifetime's war, must have left Baldwin feeling absolutely distressed. CM My heart feels heavy when I open my eyes in the morning and I see pain and waste and apathy, and, like Baldwin, I wish I had someone "beside me so that I could...[search] his [or her] face for the answers which only the future [can] give me now." CS "Notes of a Native Son" is one man's journey on the treacherous path of grief, and the powerful conclusion, spoken from sage lips, sums up what could be the meaning of life, and my spirit feels burdened for Baldwin, because he had lost his life raft that had kept him, unknowingly, afloat; he was left to fight evil alone, and I understand his despair.

Just as our minds never stop thinking, they will never stop fighting. We will never be able to choose between acceptance of or rebellion against injustice. The last paragraph of "Notes of a Native Son" is James Baldwin's moment of enlightenment. Death made Baldwin realize this struggle, the seed of all life's conflicts, and he was saddened, because his father was gone, and he would have to fight the endless inner war without his father's strength at his side.

Essay 5

FINAL DRAFT

Maddy

Mr.Salsich

English 9

October 24,2009

A Broken Limb:

An Essay about Death in Essays by John Jay chapman and James Baldwin

A twig seems small and unimportant, but a closer look reveals a complicated, beautifully formed masterpiece of nature. This little piece of wood, torn from the tree, with twists and turns and rough bark, can be asreconditeas human emotions. Evil contort sand breaks the spirit, just as a twig can be bent and destroyed. In "Coatesville," by John Jay Chapman, and "Notes of a Native Son," by James Baldwin, many similarities can be found between a twig and the human emotion described in the writing.

TSThe twig is twisted, like human minds and morals polluted by evil, and the twig's bark is a hardened outer shell that can be peeled off to reveal a softer inside, like a person's hardened outer shell of hate can be peeled off to reveal more compassionate innards.SD Humans, except for John Jay Chapman himself and the two noble souls who came to listen to his speech, seemed to have spiraled away from everything good and right.CM Chapman's essay describes the "wickedness of all America and of three hundred years" that had "tinctured" the people who killed the black man.CM The resolution of slavery was not a real escape, because the wickedness still dragged people under, andpulledthem into darkness and uncertainty.SD This darkness unleashed their claws and twisted their view of what was right.CM They became defensive, and out of this defensiveness came atrocity towards those who were blamed for the darkness and confusion, atrocity like the lynching inCoatesville.CM The twig is bent out of shape, like minds oppressed by a history of cruelty, the cruelty of slavery, which "makes men cruel and leaves them cruel." SD Take away the tough bark of the twig, and the inside is light and soft; similarly, if a human's shield of hate could be taken off an inside that is more compassionate and tolerant would be revealed. CM All the evil of slavery made humans rigid and cold; they saw themselves doing things that weretotallywrong to other humans, to their own kind.CMThrown into this black sea of wretched things, humans did not know what to do but hate, and they were left with a callous outside, a skin made numb so the evil would not hurt so much, eyes blocked by red confusion, and an inexplicable, uncontrollable urge to hurt, because the thought was maybe, just maybe, the hurt would lift up their hearts from the pits they had been dropped in. CS John Jay Chapman's essay shows how evil can disturb someone so much that he or she becomes twisted in mind, like the twig is twisted in body, and apathetic and hardened on the outer layer, like the twig's rough layer of bark.

TS The twig is also broken, akin to James Baldwin's father's broken communication and broken mind, and Baldwin's broken spirit in the essay "Notes of a Native Son." SD Baldwin's father lost touch with his children, like the twig was ripped from its branch. CM Something inside the father's heart had cracked, and he could no longer reach out with words to his children, bringing sadness into his life and the life of his son; after his father's death, Baldwin realizes he "had hardly ever spoken to him." CM His father'sbitter, acrimoniousnature put his children in an unreachable, foreign place, where his words were never heard in agentle, lovingtone.SD All this bitterness in his life caused by the lack of love from his children made Baldwin's father broken inside.CM His soul must have been in so much pain that his mind became clouded with feelings of doom.CM The father's strong belief in the apocalypse shows how pessimistic his cold life had made him, and the streets ravaged by hateful rioters on the day of his funeral seemed to be a finalacknowldegementto this man filled with depression.SD His father's death opened up a trap door beneath Baldwin's feet, and he went plummeting down into a place full of regrets and sorrows, just like a twig torn from its life source tumbles down to thebarrenground below.CM Baldwin wished he had found a way to love his father, found a way through all the emotional cobwebs, found a way to see through the film of everything superficial to his father's deeply-buried heart.CM He felt so grief-stricken, and his thoughts were so dark with remorse; he felt cast aside, pulled down a drain into an irredeemable brokenness of spirit, like the twig that has been torn from its nourishing mother tree.CS James Baldwin's essay is a pitiful cry in a world that had ended, where a father's communication and mind had buckled and collapsed, and the child of this father felt lost and forlorn, like a pathetic twig hurled away from the branch into the unknown.

A twig on the ground might not draw much attention. If one picked up the twig, though, he or she would discover intricacies as complicated as the maze of the human heart and mind. Cruelty, violence, hardened hearts, and death produce destruction. When humans experience this destruction, they become twisted, and they put up a shield to protect their depressed insides, like a gnarly twig grows its abrasive bark to protect its inner life.