Saturday, August 29, 2009
Group C Golden Lines
Golden Lines "Golden lines" are powerful quotes that automatically provide interesting discussion material. Many students find it much easier to select something the author said than to come up with their own reactions. Therefore, Golden Lines are an easy and effective strategy for gathering information to discuss.Post your Golden Lines for Marshfield Dreams to invite discussion.Please respond to each others' golden lines entry.
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page 51: "Appa's blood began to creep across his light Lucknow kurtha -- bright, angry, fresh and red. Not the tired rusty stain of someone else' blood. Then the lathi hit Appa's skull again, with a sound like the priest cracking open a coconut at the temple -- the sound of my father's final scarifice".
ReplyDeleteI found this description so vivid, and the suspense within the words completely captivating. As I read this page I found myself holding my breath. When I finally did exhale I couldn't read on without reflection. I was shocked. This wasn't the direction I was picturing the book to take. Vidya was supposed to go to college, she was just so happy, and now so destroyed.
In the classroom I tell my students to think of a good book as a rollercoaster. We connect with the characters the author has created and we can see both highs and lows. And that quote brought me down so quickly.
I too found that quote descriptive, yet disturbing. The author did a great job of painting a picture for the reader. Although it was graphic, I enjoy when an author gives that much detail so that the reader really gets a true picture of what is happening in the scene.
ReplyDeleteThe quote that I chose to reflect on is on page 29. "In whatever way people approach me, even so do I bless and love them. For many are the paths of worship, and all end in me." This was a passage that Hindu's often refer to. This quote, along with some other information in that chapter explained many of the Hindu beliefs. I thought this quote was important because it helps the reader to gain an understanding of the culture. Putting it at the beginning of the book helped me understand some of the characters, the father in particular, better. I also thought that this quote would be beneficial in the classroom in reminding students that although we are all different, we do have some beliefs that are the same.
I also agree that the first quote posted was very descriptive. The author paints a very clear picture where you can’t help as a reader to quickly read on and find out what was to happen next. What was going to happen to Vidya, and was this the end of appa?
ReplyDelete“Inside me was an emptiness that cried our for Raman, an emptiness that even the promise of college could not fill.” (229) After reading this quote I felt as though we were seeing a turn in Vidya and how much she had changed within the story. At first when we met Vidya she had wanted nothing more than to go to college, then things drastically changed and that dream seemed shattered. Yet, now with the opportunity present once more, she still had felt emptiness inside of her. It made me realize that even though we think we have what we want, it somehow isn’t always what we expected. Vidya had lost her father, her brother, and now the one friend and love she had in the house. At this point in the book, she has realized how she cares for Raman. The quote summarizing to the reader the piece within her that once again will be lost if she doesn’t speak to Raman again.
The author seems to present the idea that life isn’t always what we expect it to be, and experiences and people we meet will forever change our lives. My favorite part of reading is reflecting on the text and the lessons it teaches us. It keeps things in perspective. I think that is one way we can continue to interest our students through the lessons in stories and how they relate to our lives. The lesson I learned was to remain grateful for all of the wonderful things in life. In a second things can change and we will never be the same.
Meg, that quote struck me the same exact way. I too found myself gasping for air. I did not see that coming at all. Appa was such a strong character, seeming to be the only person who could make Vidya's dreams come true. I went from feeling so excited for Vidya that she was going to be able to attend college, to pure shock.
ReplyDeleteThe quote that I chose was on page 156. "I walked toward her and laid my hand on her head, but I didn't know what to say. Her back shuddered. Her tears were wetting her sari. I tried gingerly to wipe them off with the pallu, the free end of my half sari." This passage referred to Vidya's attempt to console her wicked aunt. I felt myself getting so angry with Vidya for showing this woman compassion, when all that periamma ever did was treat Vidya and her family horribly. I thought that this passage showed what an amazing person Vidya was. After being thrown into a home where nobody welcomed you, she was still a very kind person. I admire Vidya for this because I feel that in her situation, it would have been natural to have turned into a very bitter, angry person. By performing this act, it showed that even know Vidya had occasional outbursts and negative thoughts, she was still a very sweet person and did not resend her father’s family for their lack of hospitality.
On page 63 Vidya thought,"I had been thoughtless for a few minutes and those minutes had changed our lives forever. " Those are words and thoughts that are a part of humanity . Those thoughts are voiced over and over again by many if not everyone.
ReplyDeleteThere are many beautiful similes and imagery in this book. On pp. 47, I watched as the flood of people came closer and closer like a rising tide. Our Austin was no more than a tiny pebble in the river of protestors who flowed around us.
ReplyDeleteThere were so many lines in the book that struck me as poetic and powerful. Meg your quote was especially descriptive and really caught the intensity of the situation happening in the story. I also thought that the quote on page 209 in the St. Thomas Mount chapter was profound. After Vidya speaks with her brother Kitta about fighting in the war and they say goodbye, Vidya says "I gazed for a while at the swinging roots of the banyan tree and the thought of how we had played as children, hanging on to banyan roots and trying to push the other off. How amma had always been worried we'd get hurt doing it. How appa had always let us play as long as we wanted." I think this is the point in which she realizes that the happiness of childhood is short lived and how the things that happen in a person's life can make one miss those care free days and wish they could revisit them. How Kitta had become a man, making decisions that he felt were necessary for his path in life. How now without Kitta, Vidya also had to grow up and face whatever life was going to put in her path.
ReplyDeleteI think we all feel this way sometimes. I often look at my children, who are 11 and 8, and tell them to slow down and not rush to want to grow up. I encourage them to go outside and play. To enjoy the free time they have now and I admit, not to stress out about school and homework. I remember wanting so bad to grow up so I could do whatever I wanted and now I realize, that it's when we are children that we really get to do what we really want. It's not so easy to do the things we want to as adults because we have so many responsibilities that we never seem to find the time to swing on banyan tree roots.