Hits and Misses

     Purple Hibiscus involves a Nigerian family that is very religious and very different from the rest of the Nigerian families we have been introduced to. They are very different because there is an abusive dad and husband. We have seen that the dad gets very angry when somebody does not agree with him. We do not really know why he is like this and we don't have many clues yet either. This is something that will cause the conflict as the book goes on.
     I believe the dad abuses his family like this because he feels it is his duty to make his family very Christian. We can see that a he is very scared of his family members being exposed to anything that doesn't involve Christianity.  When he feels they are not being good Christians he wants to take matters in to his own hands. He does not view him beating his family as negative because he feels as if he is truly helping them become better Christians. Papa in Purple Hibiscus wants his family to be good Christians so bad that he doesn't't realize what it's doing to them.

This piece of writing was a hit because I used the skills at analyzing literature and made an accurate prediction about the book. I also did well setting up the context for the abusiveness of Papa to then state my theory.

Factory working was very dangerous for all who were not high ranking. Factory working was dangerous because of abuse from overlookers, the hours worked, and the dangerous machinery. The workers in these factories would be brutally beaten according to Birley. He was beaten in the temples until the overlooker was scared that he had killed him. Another time he broke his elbow while beating him with a stick. These people worked in physical fear of their bosses. They also worked an excessive amount of hours. According to Birley, they worked sixteen or seventeen hours a day on the weekdays and eighteen hours on Saturday. They did not have time for breakfast and when it was time to eat their dinner they were not allowed to sit down. There were very many injuries in the factories due to the dangerous machinery. Dr. Ward says he has to deal with people whose hands are shredded all the way down to the bone from the machinery. In a school that he went to there were one-hundred and six people who worked in factories. Forty-seven of these experienced injuries while working there. Factory life was obviously very dangerous and abusive causing a miserable life.

This piece was a hit due to the thesis statement and then the organization being very good as well. I also thought this was good because I had good transitions in between points.

We ride home listening to the Fela tape to avoid the silence that has rooted itself into our lives since Papa’s death. We turn onto our street after what seems like seconds thanks to the absence of the silence. I see Mama’s hands start to shake against the inside of the car before I see the black van parked outside of our house. She thinks Jaja is coming home and we’ll be together again but I know better. I know they’ve come for Mama. Somehow I just know that they know the truth. The man in the suit with the nice glasses walks up to her and puts her under arrest, I would expect her to be upset but her eyes told a different story. I knew she was so happy that they had finally figured out it was her and Jaja would be free. I felt so mad my skin boiled. Why did Mama have to do this. Why did she have to break what little we had left of at our chances of being like Aunty Ifeoma and her family. I start to feel heavy as I remember them; heavy with the thought of not seeing them again. Jaja sauntered out of the van as if his shoes were cinder blocks. I know immediately it wasn’t him who admitted that it was Mama who killed Papa.

 Sisi walks out of the car slowly afraid of what is to come. She is crying hysterically, “I’m so sorry.” Sisi looks shocked as Mama exclaims “Thank you Sisi.” Before she gets into the van to be taken out of our sights she walks to us “Jaja I am so proud of the remarkable person you have become my son, never stop fighting for what you believe in and remember I did this because I love you.” She turns to me with the first smile I have ever seen on Mama’s face and and I struggle to make eye contact through our glassy eyes. “Kambili you have always given me a reason to keep fighting and I’m sorry it had to be this way but it was for you and Jaja. I will always love you and I hope you find a better life than what we could give you.” The smile she still has on her face looking at me and Jaja through the windows of the armored van as she leaves is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Jaja and I go into the house and pack up our things to head to wherever the government men are taking us. Jaja’s eyes tell me he thinks we’re going to an orphanage. I just hope we go somewhere loud so the silence won’t plague me anymore. I pack barely any of my clothes so I don’t remember my old life. So I don’t remember the silence at the dinner table and the trying of Papa’s new products. So I don’t remember the sound of Mama hitting the wall repeatedly. So I no longer see the swirling red images of a baby I never met. So I will live. I don’t remember getting into the black Mercedes with the rough looking man with the hard eyes or falling asleep. I remember Jaja nudging me awake and the car standing still. We get out of the car and I realize we were driven to an airport and I don’t know why. This time I ask the man in the suit where we are going without feeling nervous and my throat clear. He looks annoyed as he mutters “to catch your flight.” I felt so confused all of a sudden “where are we flying to” I quickly asked as if I never would know if I didn’t ask quickly. This time it’s Jaja who answers with a rare smile on his face “we’re going to America, to live with Aunt Ifeoma.” I didn’t even know what to say when we were taking our bags out of the car. I knew for the first time in my life that things were only going to get better.

This was my biggest hit of the year mostly due to my sensory details and vivid imagery. I thought I also did very well impersonating the voice of  Adichie and the way she had made Kambili.

One of my biggest misses was the French DBQ. I did not add in a thesis statement and it threw off the organization of the entire paper.

A big miss for me was the personal narrative where my attempts at imagery sounded like sarcasm. I also had poor transitional phrases making my paper hard to follow.

My last miss was my blog post on addiction where I sounded like I was just listing off things that were obvious about the book. I had no transition and organization making my paper choppy and not much of a paper at all.