Author: Isaiah Griffin-Sparrow

My experience with writing dialogue before this class was pretty much nonexistent. Now that I’m writing dialogue for this class it is a little bit tricky. There’s something about assigning someone something to say that is a little bit difficult. Previously, everything that was said in my stories were mostly in the narrator’s head, eliminating the need for dialogue. Now that I’m using it I struggle to put a lot of dialogue in a story because I’m used to not using it. I have discovered that dialogue can be very important for character development and just advancing the story in general.

Two poems that I used to absolutely adore were “Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep” by Mary Elizabeth Frye and “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou.

I loved The first one because it was surreal. At a young age, I had trouble coping with death and this poem helped me do so. I interpreted the message of this poem to be that even when someone close to you dies they are still with you in spirit. The author chose to say that the dead person isn’t dead but many objects around the person that was alive. I think it’s an age-appropriate message for a young child.

The second one was very inspirational. I remember having to analyze this poem In middle school. It served as a confidence booster and taught many of us to take pride in our features, flaws, and success. It showed us to continue to push on even if someone continues to antagonize you. It was just very inspiring for young adults all around.

There is one poem in Staceyann’s big book of poems that stuck out to me the most. Its the poem entitled, “OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA,” and it spans from page 74-76. The author mentions that  “a few seconds of fame is a lot of power.” Personally I agree with her because there are a lot of examples in real life. It’s just the way that society works, people figure that if you are on the news then it must be worth listening to. In this day in age, there is a lot of deception and reliance on technology. I think that people rely too much on the media or famous people in general. I think that it is absurd that it may never cross someone’s mind that someone of status is deceiving them. This one line made me like the whole poem because it is the line that sort of made the poem. I’m not saying that its the strongest line in there but it made me think and actually realize that this is true.

My experience with short story writing has been fairly easy. I already had ideas for short stories but never saw the sense of actually getting said ideas out on paper. Now that it is homework I can let my imagination roam. I like to think of myself having a filing cabinet in my brain full of ideas for any occasion. Fiction writing is a lot easier than memoir writing because fictional writing can be extremely exaggerated and even made up. Memoir writing is about you, and sometimes I just find certain experiences in my life to be boring. I like fictional writing better because there is much more that can be covered than memoir writing will ever allow.

My house is very eerie being that no one is home. The lights are always on and the house is filled with ambient noise. There are a lot of pictures around my house which makes it look like a fallout happened and it is the sight of history. There are wooded floors that don’t creek and carpets in separate rooms that cover floors.  Overall my house is a place that I generally don’t like being in and I don’t take the time to observe because I am generally outside. But since this virus hit I’ve been forced to see nothing but the damn house.

1. A kid’s friend goes missing! Overwhelmed with guilt because of what he did last week, he decides to take the investigation away from police and into his own hands, only to discover a terrible reality.
2. One friend will have to make the ultimate sacrifice in order for all of her other friends to survive. The worst part is that no one will ever remember what it was.
3. A genius inventor has built up his empire from nothing, and now someone is sabotaging him. Will he find out who was sabotaging him or will he watch everything he built crumble before his very eyes
4. Love is in there air, this February. The person that this young man wants is unfortunately taken and its looking like its going to be a lonely valentines day. But there seems to be hope.

Before this class, I haven’t really written many memoirs. I thought that writing only consisted of more beautiful pieces such as poems. I didn’t really want to explore what else was in the writing world. I was scared of anything that wasn’t familiar. As I was writing these memoirs in class I realized that I actually enjoy writing them and that I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable because something challenges me. I have a fear of feeling incompetent, so in this case, if I were to write a memoir, I wouldn’t want it to not make sense. My peers have been pretty supportive though and my professor has what I feel, to be honest, respectful feedback. Just what I need to continue this new world I’m beginning to explore.

One recent time that I recall being anonymous by choice is when I gave honest and true advice to someone who was not my friend. In fact, it was relationship advice and what makes it worse in some people’s eyes was that it was advice to one of my friend’s girlfriend. Long story short I could see that together they were toxic and they weren’t making each other happy. I told him already that they should break up, but he is hanging on to it and just hoping things work out. So one day while his girlfriend was crying I talked to her and long story short told her that they should end it, listed the evidence and she agreed. After she ended it there was a brief period of sorrow, but then there was no more crying, heartbreak or off and on. Now the beautiful thing is that despite all the disagreements they had, they became friends again shortly after the breakup. I told them both to focus on themselves and they did. The twist is 2 years had past and they both grew and got back together. They have been together for 3 years and counting. My friend doesn’t know that I told her to break up with him, please don’t tell!

That faithful year I was in need of a friend. My state of mind was not the best and I felt myself slipping from reality. I didn’t really put up a fight because I thought I deserved it. My senior year of high school was when she was sent before me straight from Heaven. She picked me up and turned my life around. Who would have thought that I and someone who was in my school, right under my nose would have similarities? We shared a lot of laughs, tears and weird moments together. She is the most genuine person that I know and she was just real when no one else was. She would call you out if you were wrong. The type of person to tell you when there is a booger hanging out of your nose. I soon realized that I actually had some feelings for her and so we took our relationship to the next level and began to date. It was and still is amazing to this day. It never gets old and the one thing that united us both was the fact that we were there for each other when no one else was, when no one else wanted to be. I will always love her for that.