[Prof. Masiello]

Please see the separate Docs about “Girl” and “Salvation,” and post your replies in this discussion board.

I suggest you write them down before posting since there are several questions.

Once you post, I think Grammarly — if you downloaded it — will show you corrections that your writing software may have missed.

Grammarly is a free app that can help with your grammar, spacing, and spelling if you can get it to work.

• This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Prof. Masiello.

[Tiffany O]

Girl Responses:

1.) I think the characters are the narrator. Well, that should be singular–one narrator.
2.) The narrator could be a young girl. yes
3.) I think the girl could be from the age of 10 to about 18. 10 to 13 more likely
4.) I think the girl, who is the narrator is doing most of the talking. yes
5.) You know when another person is talking because they use certain words. No–different type face.
6.) I think Kincaid uses semicolons because she is joining different sentences together. She is making the sentences ramble on, like how a person would verbally speak. I also think she is trying to set the mood or fully convey her message. The other person never stops talking is the effect!
7.) I think this story is about a young girl being told how to act or carry herself by the ideals of how a person feels a young girl should act.
8.) Yes I identify with the girl. Growing up and even to this day my parents and various family members always remind me on how a young girl growing up should act, dress, take care of herself, etc. They would tell me their ideals on how a lady should act like the girl was told in the story.
9.) I think there could be surprise or irony during the baker bit but I can’t see it or understand it, if there is. Maybe the girl was being told that after receiving the ideals on how a young lady should act, she’d still be the lady a baker won’t allow to touch bread..? Let’s see how others responded to this one, Tiffany.

Salvation responses:

1.) The author is Langston Hughes and this is his story.
2.) Langston is 12 years old in the narrative.
3.) I’ve never been “saved” but I have been in church when people go up to the front to be saved or to dance.
4.) On that particular day in the church, a “big revival” was going on. specifically for the youth
5.) He says he sees Jesus because he doesn’t. He had been theres sitting there for a long time and didn’t see the results he was expecting. So to get it over with, he lied and stood up even though he didn’t feel anything or see anything.
6.) I’ve joined things due to my peers around me persuading and “convincing” me.
7.) I would define peer pressure by saying that it is something that happens when you are around a group of people and they want you to do something that you don’t want to and could harm you. Or it is something good that could benefit you.
8.) peer pressure could go both ways. Good peer pressure could make someone do something that is good and beneficial for them and bad peer pressure can make someone do something that won’t benefit them and end up bad. Yes.
9.) Connotation is like a second meaning of a word. Denotation is the actual meaning of the word wether people use it as a meaning of a word or not.
10.) His mistake that he took his aunt literally. He expected to physically see Jesus, not knowing it’s more of a spiritual thing.
11.) I think a person that young is old enough to have thoughts about things that will or change or influence the way they see things growing up. So if he had that expeirence at the young age of 12 and it affected him greatly it could change his beliefs later on in life. OK.

Good work!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Prof. Masiello.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Prof. Masiello.

[Shane Osbourne]

“Girl” Responses:

1) I think the two characters in the story were a young girl and her mother.
2) I think the narrator was the mother of the young girl.
3) I’d say she’s around the ages of 12-13.
4) the mother of the young girl is doing all the talking.
5) the author uses quotation marks and italicized letters to switch from character to character.
6) the author used semicolons to make it seem like whoever was speaking was saying what they were saying all at once, like all in one breath because there was no period mark in the story meaning their sentence never ended.
7) the story is about a mother telling her daughter how to be a lady/woman as she grows up and to not become a slut or bad girl once she is older.
8) No, this story doesn’t relate to me because I haven’t grown up in a household where my parents were enforcing how I should behave as a man when I get older to the extent of how the author’s mom was telling her how to become a woman. I learned how to become who I am from outside experience and how I view a man should behave and it turned out good.
9) I think the irony about the girl not being able to touch the bread is that this whole story was about a mother teaching her daughter how to be a good girl and if the baker doesn’t allow her to touch the bread means that the daughter didn’t listen to what her mother was telling her and became a slut like her mother was trying to avoid her from being.

“Salvation” Response

1) The author of the story was “Langston Hughes” and this story is about him.
2) Langston Hughes was 12 years old in this story.
3) No, I don’t have any similarity in any house of worship.
4) “The young sinners were being saved” and sent to christ in what the story calls a revival.
5) The boy says he saw Jesus because he didn’t want to sit anymore.
6) I’ve said that I liked something that I did not like because I felt that the person asking was reliant on my approval.
7) ill describe peer pressure as being forcefully persuaded into doing something that you do not want to do but will do it to please the people around you. my peers are my friends and family.
8) I think you can be peer pressured into doing good because imagine a scenario where you are afraid of joining a school club because you have social anxiety but your friend pressures you to join the club because its something that you like to do; that would be considered a positive peer pressure scenario.
9) Connotation is the social meaning of a word, it is what we generally accept as the “feeling” behind the word. Denotation is the literal meaning of the word.
10) he took his aunt’s words thinking that he was supporting to see light but that’s not what she meant, it was more of a metaphor.
11) I think kids from that young age could have faith because a lot of kids have a set goal to who they want to be from a young such as a doctor, rapper, teacher, ect… and that would be considered their “faith” in life so for this 12-year-old boy to know his faith in weather he wants to believe in a god or not could be True but he just has to figure it out for himself and not let the people around him pressure him into being someone he’s not.

[Manahill Arshad]

Girl

1 It is about a girl who has to follow society norms and her family, also the church people.
2 The narrator is Jamaica Kandida.
3 The girl is in her teenage years.
4 Most of the talking is done by the girl who goes to the church.
5 I know when the other person is talking to us when there’s a name and the girl says they said something to her.
6 The author uses semicolons to tell the trader where they can take a break or stop in time.
7 The story is exactly about a girl and the expectations she has to live up to as a young girl in a society where there is gender discrimination.
8 Yes, when she was taught a way to walk as a girl, we were told to close with our legs closed and not open them wide when we are in families.
9 Yeah, why would he not let a girl touch the bread what is wrong with women touching the bread.

Salvation

1 It is about a boy going to church. The author is Langston Hughes.
2 The narrator is 13-year-old.
3 Yes because in our household we are told we pray a lot you will be near god and feel him be with you.
4 On that particular day he is told by his aunt that he is a great man and is really close to Jesus.
5 The boy says he is seeing Jesus because he thinks that Jesus is really close to him by his worship to God.
6 One time I said to a girl to not be my friend because my bestie said if I was her friend, she would never talk to me.
7 I define peer pressure by having to force someone to not do something that they are not willing to do.
8 Peer pressure is not wrong all the time because sometimes someone can have you do something that is good for your benefit, but you are afraid to do that thing.
9 Connotation is a word or feelings to find their meaning. Denotation is the opposite of a feeling or a word.
10 He just believed his aunt and moved on thinking that Jesus is with him without realizing his mistakes.
11 No because in that we are still learning about our faith and are still finding out what we want to believe in and what not to believe in.

[Elin Louz]

Girl

1) The girl and her mother/ mother figure were the characters in the story.
2) The story was in the point of view of the girl.
3) I suppose the girl is in her early teens , maybe around the age of 12 or 13.
4) The Mother figure was doing most of the talking. The girl had some questions throughout the story.
5) We know the girl is talking when the words are in italic.
6) The semicolon was used to show more examples of rules the daughter was instructed.
7) The story is about a young girl being taught very toxic mindsets at a young age by her mother.
8) Yes, I do identify with the young girl. Growing up in a Arab household these toxic ways of thinking were put into young girls head in the community.
9) I am not too sure on the irony of that remark but I can assume that , The mother was trying to enforce these rules on her daughter the entire story in hopes of her growing to be the ” perfect girl” . After the girl asks this question the mother is shocked the daughter is even asking the question.

Salvation

1) The author is Langston Hughes.
2) The author is 12 years old in his story.
3) I can’t say I relate to the author I grew. up in a jewish sephardic home. I haven’t had an experience like the author.
4) A “Big revival” was going on that day and the church goers were being saved.
5) Langston says he sees Jesus because he didn’t want to look like something was wrong with him because the rest of the church saw Jesus.
6) I have drank alcohol under pressure to not look like the odd one out.
7) Peer pressure is a form of forcing and or mocking someone into doing something.
8) I believe you can be peer pressured to do something good. An example of this is if someone who drinks gets into a relationship with someone sober the other partner can feel a sense of peer pressure to better themselves.
9) I can sense the author was very anxious and upset because he wasn’t joining the others and feel what they were feeling. We can have a sense of that from the authors writing.
10) The boys mistake was lying and going up regardless , he should have told his aunt how he was feeling. Although it does seem like a high pressure situation.
11) I don’t believe you need to be a certain age to have questions about faith. I actually think that is the prime age for it to happen, when your mind is Developing.

[Viviana]

Girl

1) The characters is the mother and daughter.
2) The narrator is the mother of the girl.
3) The girl is 13-15 years old.
4) Her mother is doing most of the talking, bluntly explaining how her daughter should live her life. Down to her mentality and how she acts.
5) We know when someone is talking when they use italic.
6) The author uses semicolon to separate the mother’s advice to her daughter, and illustrate the daughter’s harsh feelings against her mother.
7) The mother is very entitled, self-centered and cold hearty believes that she can “fix” her daughter. She believes that her daughter has entered the road of living a promiscuous life. She projects her harsh knowledge upon the girl to keep her respectable.
8) I do identify with the girl, due to how I was taught when I was younger. Growing up in a Christian household I was taught how to speak to the people in my church, how to act and dress.
9) The irony is that with all that explaining that the mother took to educate her daughter to preventing her from being a “slut”, went to waste because the daughter didn’t have interest into what her mother was teaching her.

Salvation

1) This is Hughes story
2) He was twelve years old
3) Growing up in a Christian pentecostal strict household, I’ve witnessed many people experience the same thing as Hughes; or encountering the same disappointment due to not being on the same spiritual level as others.
4) For the lost souls who are considered “sinners” to accept Jesus upon their life and be saved.
5) He says he saw Jesus, though he didn’t; it was due to how late it was getting in the church, and how he was the only one left in the mourners bench
6) Due to growing up with other females who were well into makeup, I preferred styling my hair. So when my sisters weddings arrived, I was pressured into wearing makeup to fit in with the other females.
7) Peer pressure is when the people around you to do something you don’t want to do.
8) Peer pressure is known for having a negative impact on oneself, however it can be a good thing by your peers encouraging you to do bigger and greater things for your yourself.
10) His actual mistake was lying to his aunt because now he’s emotionally damaged from his aunt giving false information.
11) Yes, a young person as twelve years old can make a decision in having faith, having hopes in someone that is life changing, not come forward when need at most is emotionally painful. If that pain is not healed properly, it will always be there.

[Haider]

Girl

1 It is about a girl who has to follow society norms and her family, also the church people.
2 The narrator is Jamaica Kandida.
3 The girl is in her teenage years.
4 Most of the talking is done by the girl who goes to the church.
5 I know when the other person is talking to us when there’s a name and the girl says they said something to her.
6 The author uses semicolons to tell the trader where they can take a break or stop in time.
7 The story is exactly about a girl and the expectations she has to live up to as a young girl in a society where there is gender discrimination.
8 Yes, when she was taught a way to walk as a girl, we were told to close with our legs closed and not open them wide when we are in families.
9 Yeah, why would he not let a girl touch the bread what is wrong with women touching the bread.

Salvation
1) The author of the story was “Langston Hughes” and this story is about him.
2) Langston Hughes was 12 years old in this story.
3) No, I don’t have any similarity in any house of worship.
4) “The young sinners were being saved” and sent to christ in what the story calls a revival.
5) The boy says he saw Jesus because he didn’t want to sit anymore.
6) I’ve said that I liked something that I did not like because I felt that the person asking was reliant on my approval.
7) ill describe peer pressure as being forcefully persuaded into doing something that you do not want to do but will do it to please the people around you. my peers are my friends and family.
8) I think you can be peer pressured into doing good because imagine a scenario where you are afraid of joining a school club because you have social anxiety but your friend pressures you to join the club because its something that you like to do; that would be considered a positive peer pressure scenario.
9) Connotation is the social meaning of a word, it is what we generally accept as the “feeling” behind the word. Denotation is the literal meaning of the word.
10) he took his aunt’s words thinking that he was supporting to see light but that’s not what she meant, it was more of a metaphor.
11) I think kids from that young age could have faith because a lot of kids have a set goal to who they want to be from a young such as a doctor, rapper, teacher, ect… and that would be considered their “faith” in life so for this 12-year-old boy to know his faith in weather he wants to believe in a god or not could be True but he just has to figure it out for himself and not let the people around him pressure him into being someone he’s not.

[Tahreem Imran]

Girl
1. The characters are the mother and the daughter.
2. The narration is the daughter as if recalling the memory of her mother from a distant future place.
3. The girl is 12 years old.
4. The girl herself is doing the most talking.
5. I know the other person was talking when the mother was giving commands and also the use of semicolons for example “don’t walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil”.
6. Kincaid’s use of semicolons is to separate the mother’s advice and commands
7. The story is about a mother and daughter’s relationship.
8. Yes, I identify with the girl in a way that I was told to set up the table in a certain way too as a youngster
9. The irony is the baker not letting her touch the bread.

Salvation
1. This story is Langston Hughes.
2. He was 12 years old in his narrative.
3. Yes praying more makes you loser to god.
4. He expects to see Jesus at the revival because the adults in his life have told him that he will see Jesus.
5. The boy says he saw Jesus because he did not want to sit there anymore and it was getting late.
6. I have joined a yearbook club because my friends asked me to.
7. Peer pressure is the process in which individuals within the same group influence others in the group to engage in a behavior or activity that they may not otherwise engage in. A peer can be anyone who has some type of influence over you.
8. Peer pressure is not always wrong because you could be told to do something good too for example:- pushing a friend to do better.
9. Denotation is when you mean what you say, literally. Connotation is created when you mean something else, something that might be initially hidden.
10. The boy’s actual mistake regarding what his aunt told him was lying to her at first place.
11. I think a person as young as he is can actually make such a decision in having faith because he lied and now he believes that is why Jesus did not help him.

[Shane Osbourne]

Reading #3 (Young goodmen brown)

1) I don’t know anything about Salem Massachusetts but according to Google, it is the land of the witchcraft trials.
2) I think the names were unusual in this story because it was about Devil’s work but all the characters’ names were names of god or good people for example “goodman” “faith” ” and “goodly”.
3) No, I can not recall a story where the characters’ names had a symbolic meaning behind them.
4)
5) I’d say goodman and his wife faith were about 16-17 years old.
6) He left in the middle of the night because he was invited by a traveler to look at an evil ceremony in the forest.
7) When Goodman traveled along a dark narrow road with gloomy trees along the sides and immediately when he passed the tree, they closed behind him, that’s when we knew something wasn’t right with this place.
8) He saw gloomy trees and a dark narrow road.
9)
10)
11) the double meaning behind “my faith is gone” could be used physically and metaphorically because his wife’s name is “faith” and she just got sucked into the ground, goodman screams “his faith is gone” meaning that his wife’s faith is gone from him but it could also mean that his belief in god “faith” is also gone now because he’s a religious boy and that he believed in is gone now too.
12) Hawthorn is the author of the story but it’s being told from a third-person perspective about goodman brown.
13) no I don’t care if the story this story was a dream or not because it doesn’t affect me what’s so ever. no, I can not recall a story where it turned out to be a dream.
14) no I have not let a dream that I had influences me to take action because 1, it’s just a dream so it’s not real, and 2, I forget a lot of my dreams most of the time.
15) I feel like everyone is born good and can’t be evil until they learn evil or grew up around evil, but some people would try to do good deeds but won’t realize that within them trying to be good they are harming the people around them and doing more bad than good.

[Viviana]

Young Goodman Brown. (Reading #3)

1) Salem Massachusetts, is known for huge witchcrafts trails and they are known for being devil worshipers. It’s more of the evil kind that you don’t want to be around, since it can get dangerous.

2) What I find unusual is that these names all are all connected to evil. The name seems “good” and harmless but there is a mask hidden within these names because they are all connected to evil. The devil is known to be very horrific, although that is not how he represents himself. He can portray anyway he wants to be, as long that it grabs your attention. Until the truth behind the mask is revealed and there is nothing but evil. However Goodman represents more to be naive, and lives a life where he serves God.

3) I couldn’t think of any story that had unusual names.

4) The pink ribbon which represented her innocence, and when the story mentioned it again it’s based on the ribbon falling which is a sign that faith has fallen in the evil.

5) I believe that Goodman and his wife Faith, are both in their early 20’s or maybe younger.

6) Goodman Brown went to the forest to meet evil (the devil). He fools his wife into thinking that he was running an errand. However he’s curious into tapping in the dark side, even though his wife is pious; as so he thought.

7) I noticed something odd was happening when Goodman cam across a “man with a staff” who claims to know his father and his grandfather. Had me thinking how can someone who is present in Goodman’s life know so much of his family’s history.

8) For starters, Goodman sees a man with a staff, and the man claimed that Goodman gets a hold of the staff that it will help him walk faster. Especially the woman Goodly Cloyse, who is known for being religious and respected in her town, but in fact she is a witch and she was on her way to the devil’s evil forest ceremony.

9) When he arrives to his destination which is the devil’s evil forest ceremony. This place is revealing the truth about his family who serves the evil and his wife, who converted into the decision to reveal all the wickedness of the world to her.
10) I truly don’t understand this question? can you explain this to me so perhaps I can answer it.

11) When Goodman cries out that is “faith is gone” means two things. His own faith has vanished, since everything he knew was a lie. He lived in a fantasy because the devil’s evil forest ceremony revealed it’s truth about who truly worships the devil which is almost everyone that he knows. Especially his wife faith, who he believed was a true pious woman for God, instead he saw her converting to evil. He doesn’t fully love his wife and he can’t trust anyone.

12) This story is being told from a third person perspective and I believe that he author Howthorn is omniscient, since it seems that he knows a lot about the Salem back in the 1600’s. The narrator asks if the story is a dream because there are people who are non believers out there. However there are people like myself who do believe that is real. So this is a valid question to make people question their own beliefs.

13) No it does not matter to me, since everyone may have a different perspective. The Great Gatsby, it’s quite a debate wether it was a dream or a lie. No I was not disappointed, since this gave me an opportunity to expand on my imagination.

14) I usually forget my dreams very quickly, however I don’t forget the feeling. At times I am disappointed a dream allows you to live all types of lives.

15) I feel that all people are born to be good–however, based on how people grow up, the parents you have, your peers and your environment can have an influence on how you change.

[Daniel]

Reading (1) “Girl”
1) The characters are probably a Mother and Daughter (Girl)
2) The narrator is a Mother talking to her daughter. (Girl)
3) The girl could probably be in her teenage years.
4) Mother is doing a lot of the talking and especially to the girl. The girl only says a few phrases.
5) The mother talks in regular wording format, when mother is talking the words aren’t written in italic. However when the girl talks her words are written in italic.
6) Kincaid uses semicolons to excess because the mother has so much to say about the girl, rules she must follow, what she must do as girl at home.
7) I think the story is based on how girls are taught to be traditional women. Traditional women basically have the role of staying home, providing for their children, keeping the household organized etc. I believe this is what the mother discusses with the girl, the basics of how to be a provider as a “Girl”.
8) I don’t think I was never forced to be a certain way growing up by my parents, however I was taught to not be lazy and always make sure if you ever have a family to provide for them and make sure your responsible for them. And I have always agreed with this. Personally I think it’s an important role for me.
9) I honestly don’t know if there was irony with the baker and the girl.

[Zacarah King]

“Girl” by Jamacia KIncaid

1.) The characters of “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid are a young girl and her mother.
2.). The narrator of the story is a young girl.
3.) The story does not say for certain how old the narrator is, she may be entering adolescents.
4.). During the story, the character doing most of the talking Is the narrator’s mother,
5.) Kincaid uses two different fonts when the mother and narrator are talking. when the narrator is responding to her mother, the sentences are written in italic font ( slanted typeface), When her mother is talking (most of the story), those sentences are in a standard font.
6.) Why do you think Kincaid, the writer, uses semicolons to excess?
I believe that Kincaid uses semicolons to surfeit and emphasize all the things that the narrator’s mother is trying to inform her of, both commands and advice. the excessive of semicolons conveys how the daughter hears these commands and advice, as a long run-on sentence. This discloses the irreconcilable feelings that the narrator is having toward her mother and what she has to say.
7. ). The story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is about a mother teaching and advising her daughter. She starts with advice that will help her daughter someday in a house of her own. She tells her how to do household chores such as sewing, ironing, cooking, laundry, making herbal medicine and etc. Her mother then tells her how to carry herself, and how to be a respectable young woman. How to walk, not to talk to pilferer boys, how to eat, what not to eat, and to not sing Benna song (an uptempo Antiguan folk song regarding scandalous rumors and gossip founded after the abolishment of slavery.) during Sunday school. In addition to how to have a fulfilling life, and how to develop a relationship with a man. Her advice is very practical, the mother tells her daughter that men and women sometimes Bully each other and some relationships do not work out. she makes the metaphor about how to catch fish, and how to throw it back if she does not like it; to prevent the bad that will follow the undesirable fish. this metaphor is also applicable when looking for a spouse. all of this circles back to being a respectable woman.
8.) I do identify with the narrator in way of how my mother taught me how to cook and clean, to take care of a home of my own. my mother also taught me to carry myself both in and outside of the church. My mother also did not like me singing any kind of corrupt music any day of the week, she said it was the devil’s music that would mutilate my mind. However, the only difference between my mother and the narrator’s mother is she taught me all of these things so that I would be able to take care of myself, not a man. My mother wanted to be an independent woman just like her. Everything she taught me was for my benefit.
9.). Within that last part of the mother gives the advice to squeeze the bread to make sure that it is fresh, and the girl asked what to do she the baker won’t let her feel that bread, her mother then responds after all you are going to be the kind of women who they baker won’t let near that bread? The irony within the last part of that story is that Her mother is telling her about all the things she would need to do to be a respectable woman. If the girl follows the advice that her mother gives her and tries to be the best woman that she can be, she won’t ever have to question if she is the kind of woman that a baker will trust and be allowed near their bread.

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes

1.). The narrative essay “Salvation” was written by Langston Hughes.
2.) Langston Hughes was twelve years old in this narrative.
3.) Yes, I do have experience in a similar place of worship. In my congregation, the youth have diligent roles to play within the church. every last Sunday of the month is directly run for the youth of the church. However, I have never had any event similar to bringing ourselves to Jesus because it can happen at any moment during the service. At the end of every service, a person can come up to the altar to be saved but it is not pressured any matter that age.
4.) On this particular day in Langston Hughes’s narrative, he is twelve years old and going to his Aunt Reed’s church revival. Moving towards the end of the revival, the church held a meeting for the youth of the church to become saved and be brought to Jesus. Langston has a great exception for seeing Jesus and is very patient and honest, then he starts to doubt, and his faith wavers.
5. ) After all that other younger kids stand up and say they see Jesus, Langston was still sitting along with another boy named Westley. This boy tries to make humor of that situation. He says he was tired of sitting, so he stands up and pretends to see Jesus, causing a sense of impiety, and showing a lack of reverence for God and Christianity.
6. ) Something that I may have done because of the peer pressure was not to invite a friend to a gathering. also, dress a certain way, and leasing my own apartment before I the age 19. Another thing that I may have done due to peer pressure was hanging out all day and pushing my assignments and doing them last minute at night. I have also been under peer pressure to complete work and get off of social media, also to just completely delete the social apps.
7.) I would define peer pressure as an influence on a person to do something that they wouldn’t normally do, or that they feel is wrong because the people around them are doing that thing. My peers can be my friends, my family, my coworkers, and my classmates.
8.) Peer pressure is not always wrong all the time, a person can be pressured into doing something good like taking a beneficial risk and getting out of their comfort zone. Examples could be pushing a friend to study more to get better grades. Mother example could be to save money or to apply for a scholarship or job.
9.) Connotation is the emotional suggestion of a word, that is not literal. it is a feeling or indirect meaning when an individual means something else from what was said. While denotation is the direct definition of the word. when you mean what you say, It is the literal meaning of the word that can be found in the dictionary.
10. ) The Langston’s actual mistake regarding what his aunt told him was that Jesus cannot be physically seen, only felt. In addition to the fact that Jesus does not directly come up to you, you have to go and surrender to Jesus.
11.) I honestly believe that a person can decide their faith at any age as long as they fully understand all that there is to understand. As for Langston at that age, he didnt understand that Jesus is a spiritual being and to believe in him requires blind faith.