Mudbound Short Story

AGENDA:

Vocabulary--Continue to study for quiz on Tuesday

Reading--Read to pg. 163 for quiz on Tuesday

Writing--FIRST DRAFT of story DUE end of class today

BOA DINE AND RHYME

Dine and Rhyme--10 tickets available

BOA EDITIONS 22ND ANNUAL DINE & RHYME
FEATURING NAOMI SHIHAB NYE

Friday, October 4th, 2019 
6pm-9pm (doors open at 5:30)
Rochester Academy of Medicine
1441 East Ave, Rochester, NY

Dine & Rhyme is BOA's one-and-only annual fundraising event. Featuring poetry readings, author talks, food & drink, and great company, it's a night to celebrate BOA's past, present, and future. All Dine & Rhyme proceeds support BOA's mission to bring exceptional and essential works of literature to the public.

Mudbound Story

AGENDA:

Morning Reflection:  Tali  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E9HmTfLl7k


Vocabulary.com:  Practice Mudbound Vocabulary List  Quiz on Tuesday 10/1

WRITING:
Work on Mudbound story

HMWK:
Read to pg. 163(and further if you can) for Quiz on Tuesday 10/1

Mudbound Story

AGENDA:

Morning reflection:
Madison:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U77UzIIvtHU

Reading: THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Discuss with a partner and post as a duo comment.  Cite examples and page number.
4. The story is narrated by two farmers, two wives and mothers, and two soldiers. Compare and contrast the ways in which these parallel characters, black and white, view and experience the world.

5. What is the significance of the title? In what ways are each of the characters bound --- by the land, by circumstance, by tradition, by the law, by their own limitations? How much of this binding is inescapable and how much is self-imposed? Which characters are most successful in freeing themselves from what binds them?


WRITING:
Work on your stories.  First draft due on Friday.

Eponymous ə-pah-nə-məs Part of speech: adjective Origin: Greek, 19th century

1 Relating to the name of something

2 Describing an item named after a subject in question

Examples of Eponymous in a sentence "Her eponymous album was a hit, and now everyone knows her name." "The biggest stars have names that draw wide audiences, which is why they get eponymous TV shows."

New vocabulary.com link

http://vocab.com/join/22E16SS

Mudbound Discussion Questions/Beware of SPOILERS!

Who is Laura McAllan? Why does she marry so late in life? How does Laura feel about this late marriage? Does Laura love her husband on their wedding day? How many children do they have? Why does Laura want to have a third child? What warning does Laura's mother give her when she learns that she is expecting a third child? What does this seem to foreshadow for Laura? Does this take place? What is the impact of this?

Who is Florence Jackson? How does she come to know the McAllans? How does she feel about the McAllans? For what reason? Is there tension between Florence and Laura McAllan from their first meeting? For what reason? How does Laura treat the Jacksons? Is Florence's attitude toward the McAllans a reflection of this treatment? In what way?

Who is Jamie McAllan? What is special about him? What does Laura notice about him upon their first meeting? What does she realize about Henry's opinions of his brother during this first meeting? How does Jamie's arrival at Mudbound impact Laura? For what reason? Why does Laura begin to fall in love with Jamie? How does she act on these feelings? What is the result of these actions?

Why does Henry want to buy the farm? Why does Henry not talk to Laura about this desire? How does Laura feel when she learns what Henry has done? Why does Henry refuse to be talked out of this action? How does owning the farm change Henry and Laura's relationship? For what reason? How does Laura eventually come around to accepting Henry's passion for the land?

Who is Ronsel? Why does he enlist in the Army? How does he react to the blatant discrimination against black soldiers during basic training? Why does Ronsel begin to lose faith that he will ever see combat? How does Ronsel eventually get to Europe? What surprises Ronsel about the treatment he and his fellow soldiers receive from the whites in Europe? How does Ronsel become involved with a white German widow? How does this relationship change Ronsel's life?

How does Hap break his leg? Why does he think it is God teaching him not to be so prideful? What does this say about Hap's faith? Why does the doctor refuse to come right away? Why does the doctor not set Hap's leg properly? Why does Laura believe the doctor has done this without seeing Hap despite Henry's refusal to believe it? Why does Laura find a new doctor for Hap? Is this a selfish move or an act of kindness? Explain.

Why does Pappy organize a Klan posse to punish Ronsel? What has Ronsel done that makes it necessary to punish him? Is what Ronsel has done really a bad thing? Why does Jamie come to Ronsel's defense? Might Henry have done the same thing in Jamie's place? Would Laura? Why does Jamie choose how Ronsel will be injured? Why does Jamie choose for Ronsel to lose his tongue? How does losing his tongue impact  How does losing his tongue impact Ronsel's life? What does the final chapter of the book imply about Ronsel's future?

Mudbound

AGENDA:

Today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

MORNING REFLECTION:
Valerie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRwxphtoZxM


VIDEO:  Mudbound

WRITING: Work on Mudbound short story

HMWK:  Read to page 131 (end of Part 1) in MUDBOUND

vocabulary.com

AGENDA:

Join using this link:

http://vocab.com/join/P9HFF2

Mudbound Vocabulary

Mudbound vocabulary

https://quizlet.com/24619045/mudbound-by-hillary-jordan-vocabulary-list-flash-cards/

Writing Contests

SCHOLASTIC:
artandwriting..org

BENNINGTON:

https://www.bennington.edu/events/young-writers-awards

Morning reflections

Wesley, Degraj, and the class:

I am so proud of you! You're killing this exercise!

The "warm-up" writing prompt from the National Writing Project is working beyond my imagination for you as you TAKE OVER this and contribute.

I want us all to know more about what you value and consider important to share.

Wesley shared "What is Education For?"and Degraj shared his culture with the TED talk regarding Bhutan and environmentalism.

Two for two hits!

This is what we need as a community of learners.  I will try to respond and give you feedback, too, in the posts.

Mudbound/Multiple Narrative Perspectives

AGENDA:

1. MORNING REFLECTION:

Makenna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkz5UmXugzk

2.

WORD OF THE DAY

Omphalos äm-fə-ləs Part of speech: noun Origin: Greek, 19th century

1 A central point or hub

2 Navel

Examples of Omphalos in a sentence "The omphalos of his speech was a story about his rough childhood growing up in Ukraine." "Can you get to the omphalos of all this before I lose patience?"

2. MUDBOUND PROJECT
Continue working on your Mudbound Project.  Develop your padlet for images and history.  Work on your characters.  Who are they?  What is their relationship to one another?  Why are they your voices
in the story?

3. READ:
https://penandthepad.com/multiple-narrative-1808.html

https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/5-quick-tips-for-writing-in-multiple-perspectives

https://education.seattlepi.com/multiple-narrative-5829.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiperspectivity

http://www.the-writers-craft.com/point-of-view-in-literature-perspectives.html

4. PADLETS:

Post your padlet link in comments!




HMWK:  Read to page 93 in MUDBOUND

Historical Fiction and Mudbound

AGENDA:

1. Morning Reflection:
Degraj
https://youtu.be/7Lc_dlVrg5M

2. Show opening of Mudbound movie

3. Getting Started With Historical Fiction:
https://srcxp.com/how-to-research-for-historical-fiction/

4. Use padlet.com to store images and information links

5. How to Write Historical Fiction

How to Write Historical Fiction
By an eHow Contributor

Write Historical Fiction
You have a great idea for a story, but it's set in the Civil War, or perhaps during the Renaissance. The result is a work of historical fiction. Historical fiction mixes fact with fiction to make an historical event, person or place more interesting to readers. It takes research and patience to write historical fiction, but once you have the facts straight, let your imagination soar.

Read more: How to Write Historical Fiction | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2070437_write-historical-fiction.html#ixzz1FRj7rqyz

Instructions
1. 1
Pick a topic. Choose an historical event, person or place, or perhaps all three, that you wish to write about. Create your story line around that topic.
2. 2
Conduct research into the historical elements of your story. Go to your local library or search online. Make note of language, style of dress, types of transportation and other details about the time period or era.
3. 3
Read other works of historical fiction. See what's been done before, and how. Don't plagiarize, but get a sense of how historical fiction is written.
4. 4
Create an outline of your story while doing your research. Form the story in your mind, create characters and scenes, but hold off on writing until you are as familiar with the time era in which the story takes place as you can possibly be.
5. 5
Write your story. Merge fact and fiction. Bring emotion to the factual aspects of the history depicted in the story. However, never lose the importance of the facts. Use just enough information to stress the historical time period, but let the characters and story rule

Read more: How to Write Historical Fiction | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2070437_write-historical-fiction.html#ixzz1FRiOBSUq


HMWK: Read to pg. 70 in Mudbound

Mudbound Writing Assignment

Mudbound Writing Assignment

EQ: How does reading Mudbound relate to your major writing assignment? 


Mudbound and the other literary works we will read are models for your writing.  They are EXEMPLAR TEXTS.  Your writing assignments correspond each marking period to aspects of contemporary style and themes.
STYLE:   Multiple perspectives and historical fiction
THEMES: Racism post WWII in the American South, families,
African-American soldiers in WWI, life in the Mississippi Delta farming 

DUE DATE: week of Sept. 26, first draft 

What we're actually looking for in your short story now that you have brainstormed an idea and have begun working on it: 

1. Length: minimum 5 pages, Times New Roman 12 pt. font, double-spaced

2. Historical Setting: Set your story in the time and place you are interested in and have done research about.  The details of this time period should be apparent in your story.  Use a padlet or the graphic organizers to take notes.
http://padlet.com/wall/ihgzk6ztes 

3. Characters:  Just like Mudbound, your story should have multiple perspectives and be told by at least 3 characters whose voices are interwoven throughout the story.
Switch between characters by skipping a space and putting the character's name in capital letters centered above his or her section.   Write in the first person point of view from each character's unique perspective.

4. Conflict:  Your story should have a significant conflict or incident that involves your characters.  Create a key moment for the characters to interact if possible.  Be sure to resolve the conflict.

5. DETAILS: As always, SHOW, DON'T TELL

HMWK:  Read to page 48 in Mudbound

MUDBOUND/Historical Fiction

AGENDA:

1. Morning Reflection:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PsLRgEYf9E
Wesley Bruce

2.Historical Context:

African-American Soldiers in World War II

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppjipVpGCAU

3. View opening of Mudbound on Netflix

Mudbound Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions:

Discussion Questions

1. The setting of the Mississippi Delta is intrinsic to Mudbound. Discuss the ways in which the land functions as a character in the novel and how each of the other characters relates to it.

2. Mudbound is a chorus, told in six different voices. How do the changes in perspective affect your understanding of the story? Are all six voices equally sympathetic? Reliable? Pappy is the only main character who has no narrative voice. Why do you think the author chose not to let him speak?

3. Who gets to speak and who is silent or silenced is a central theme, the silencing of Ronsel being the most literal and brutal example. Discuss the ways in which this theme plays out for the other characters. For instance, how does Laura's silence about her unhappiness on the farm affect her and her marriage? What are the consequences of Jamie's inability to speak to his family about the horrors he experienced in the war? How does speaking or not speaking confer power or take it away?

4. The story is narrated by two farmers, two wives and mothers, and two soldiers. Compare and contrast the ways in which these parallel characters, black and white, view and experience the world.

5. What is the significance of the title? In what ways are each of the characters bound --- by the land, by circumstance, by tradition, by the law, by their own limitations? How much of this binding is inescapable and how much is self-imposed? Which characters are most successful in freeing themselves from what binds them?

6. All the characters are products of their time and place, and instances of racism in the book run from Pappy’s outright bigotry to Laura’s more subtle prejudice. Would Laura have thought of herself as racist, and if not, why not? How do the racial views of Laura, Jamie, Henry, and Pappy affect your sympathy for them?

7. The novel deals with many thorny issues: racism, sexual politics, infidelity, war. The characters weigh in on these issues, but what about the author? Does she have a discernable perspective, and if so, how does she convey it?

8. We know very early in the book that something terrible is going to befall Ronsel. How does this sense of inevitability affect the story? Jamie makes Ronsel responsible for his own fate, saying "Maybe that's cowardly of me, making Ronsel's the trigger finger." Is it just cowardice, or is there some truth to what Jamie says? Where would you place the turning point for Ronsel? Who else is complicit in what happens to him, and why?

9. In reflecting on some of the more difficult moral choices made by the characters --- Laura's decision to sleep with Jamie, Ronsel's decision to abandon Resl and return to America, Jamie's choice during the lynching scene, Florence's and Jamie's separate decisions to murder Pappy --- what would you have done in those same situations? Is it even possible to know? Are there some moral positions that are absolute, or should we take into account things like time and place when making judgments?

10. How is the last chapter of Mudbound different from all the others? Why do you think the author chose to have Ronsel address you, the reader, directly? Do you believe he overcomes the formidable obstacles facing him and finds "something like happiness"? If so, why doesn't the author just say so explicitly? Would a less ambiguous ending have been more or less satisfying?

Mudbound--Multiple Perspectives/Historical Fiction

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan

AGENDA:

Morning Reflection:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbnzAVRZ9Xc

Sign up for Morning Reflections/Post comment

Warm-up:  go to quill.org.  Take diagnostic.

Go to website:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88195380

Listen to interview on NPR
Read excerpt

Interview with Hilary Jordan:

http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm/author_number/1538/Hillary-Jordan

More about Mudbound:

http://www.hillaryjordan.com/books-mudbound.php

About this book

In Jordan's prize-winning debut, prejudice takes many forms, both subtle and brutal. It is 1946, and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm --- a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family's struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura's brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not --- charming, handsome, and haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery in defense of his country, he is still considered less than a man in the Jim Crow South. It is the unlikely friendship of these brothers-in-arms that drives this powerful novel to its inexorable conclusion.

The men and women of each family relate their versions of events and we are drawn into their lives as they become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale. As Barbara Kingsolver says of Hillary Jordan, "Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still." 

Discussion Questions

1. The setting of the Mississippi Delta is intrinsic to Mudbound. Discuss the ways in which the land functions as a character in the novel and how each of the other characters relates to it.

2. Mudbound is a chorus, told in six different voices. How do the changes in perspective affect your understanding of the story? Are all six voices equally sympathetic? Reliable? Pappy is the only main character who has no narrative voice. Why do you think the author chose not to let him speak?

Crtical Praise

"A supremely readable debut novel... Fluidly narrated by engaging characters . . . Mudbound is packed with drama. Pick it up, then pass it on."

— People, Critic’s Choice, 4-star review

"A compelling family tragedy, a confluence of romantic attraction and racial hatred that eventually falls like an avalanche... The last third of the book is downright breathless... An engaging story."

— Washington Post Book World

"In Hillary Jordan's first novel, Mudbound, the forces of change and resistance collide with terrible consequences."

— The New York Times

"Stunning... You are truly taken there by Jordan's powerful, evocative writing and complex characters."

— Boston Globe

Hillary Jordan reading an early chapter of Mudbound

Follow along

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hillary+Jordan&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=053D91D37942704B565D053D91D37942704B565D

Multiple Perspectives:

http://www.the-writers-craft.com/point-of-view-in-literature-perspectives.html 

Objective: Part 1 The author of this book wrote in a first person narrative. These first chapters introduce us to all the different the narrators, and we learn that this book will be told through their perspectives.

1) 1) Genre Introduction: Give a short introduction about first person narrative and other POVs. Explain what it is, how it is used, and why an author might choose this form of narrative for a story like this one.

2) Personal Reaction to Text: Read the introduction with the class. How does this kind of narration make you feel? Do you like it? Do you think it will enhance the plot? Why or why not? What do all the different viewpoints do to the narrative? Why is this not through the eyes of one main character?

3) Small Group Activity: Split the class into groups and assign each group a different form of narrative -- i.e.: third person, second person, omniscient, etc. Have each group re-write this short chapter using their assigned form of narrative. Have each group present their work. Discuss which one was the most effective. Do you think the author made the right choice? Why or why not?

Historical fiction

Objective: Part 1 "Mudbound" fits into a unique genre of literature called Historical Fiction.
 1) Introduction of Genre: Introduce to the class the concept of the historical fiction style of writing. Present the pros and cons of this style of narrative and list some of the reasons why an author would choose this style to write in. Present some examples of this style from books that they have read, or will read later with the class.

2) Group Activity: Split the class into groups and assign each group a different part of these chapters. Have each group study their portion and work together to write a short response to the historical fiction style of that portion. Allow each group some time to present their prepared information.

3) Class Discussion: Read aloud with the class the part where the narrator, presents the different facts about the climate in the south at this time -- i.e.: the politics, the war, the different occupations, the crops, the weather, the relations with the north, etc. Discuss this with the class. How does this language enhance the historical fiction style of the book? How does this make this information a little more believable? Why do you think keeping this informational tone was so important to the author? What did you learn through this dialogue that helped you understand this book and setting better?


WRITING:
Finish the POV exercise from the last class
Print out "Why I Write" and place in envelope

HOMEWORK:  Read next "Laura" section

Welcome back, CW Juniors, Class of 2021!

AGENDA:

EQ: Why do writers write?

1. Welcome/Intro to course/Find blog and bookmark/ Get Grammarly/First novel: Mudbound by Hilary Jordan

Sign in Google classroom (6r0mlef)

2. First Morning Reflection (you will be signing up for these and getting full classwork credit when you present ):
The Twin Poets:

http://whyiwrite.org/aboutfilm.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVQgYkZUEzA

https://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3660
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaB3cGeJz1I&t=113s

Jericho Brown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DsG-tMZjK

First Blog Quickwrite : Your thoughts and post a comment (5 minutes) for credit/DISCUSS

3. 1st Activity: Read Hirshfield "Why I Write" and "The Poet"

Write Your Own "Why I Write" Letter/Poem to Your Self"/others--put in envelope for next year

Why I Write: Jane Hirshfield Writes about Life's Profound Mystery

Date: October 10, 2011

Summary: Prize-winning international poet, translator, and essayist Jane Hirshfield's poetry speaks to the central issues of human existence: desire and loss, impermanence and beauty, and the many dimensions of our connection with others. She tells NWP why she writes.

JANE HIRSHFIELD

Why do I write?

I write because to write a new sentence, let alone a new poem, is to cross the threshold into both a larger existence and a profound mystery. A thought was not there, then it is. An image, a story, an idea about what it is to be human, did not exist, then it does. With every new poem, an emotion new to the heart, to the world, speaks itself into being. Any new metaphor is a telescope, a canoe in rapids, an MRI machine. And like that MRI machine, sometimes its looking is accompanied by an awful banging. To write can be frightening as well as magnetic. You don't know what will happen when you throw open your windows and doors.

To write a new sentence, let alone a new poem, is to cross the threshold into both a larger existence and a profound mystery.

Why write? You might as well ask a fish, why swim, ask an apple tree, why make apples? The eye wants to look, the ear wants to hear, the heart wants to feel more than it thought it could bear...

The writer, when she or he cannot write, is a person outside the gates of her own being. Not long ago, I stood like that for months, disbarred from myself. Then, one sentence arrived; another. And I? I was a woman in love. For that also is what writing is. Every sentence that comes for a writer when actually writing—however imperfect, however inadequate—every sentence is a love poem to this world and to our good luck at being here, alive, in it.

The Poet
She is working now, in a room
    not unlike this one,
    the one where I write, or you read.
    Her table is covered with paper.
    The light of the lamp would be
    tempered by a shade, where the bulb's
    single harshness might dissolve,
    but it is not, she has taken it off.
    Her poems? I will never know them,
    though they are the ones I most need.
    Even the alphabet she writes in
    I cannot decipher. Her chair --
    Let us imagine whether it is leather
    or canvas, vinyl or wicker. Let her
    have a chair, her shadeless lamp,
    the table. Let one or two she loves
    be in the next room. Let the door
    be closed, the sleeping ones healthy.
    Let her have time, and silence,
    enough paper to make mistakes and go on.

                          Jane Hirshfield

Discuss her essay and poem. 

 https://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3660

Joan Didion:
http://genius.com/Joan-didion-why-i-write-annotated

RELATED ARTICLES ON NWP.ORG

• Why I Write: A Celebration of the National Day on Writing
• Poet Laureate Kay Ryan: Poet as Teacher, Teacher as Poet
• Billy Collins: A `Reader's Poet' Reads at NWP's 2009 Annual Meeting

About the Author Jane Hirshfield is the author of seven collections of poetry, including After (shortlisted for England's T.S. Eliot Prize and named a "best book of 2006" by the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the London Financial Times), Given Sugar, Given Salt (finalist for the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award), The Lives of the Heart, and The October Palace, as well as a book of essays, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry. Her most recent book, a collection of poems entitled Come, Thief was published in August 2011. Hirshfield has taught at UC Berkeley, Duke University, Bennington College and elsewhere, and her many appearances at writers conferences and literary festivals in this country and abroad have been highly acclaimed.

EQ: How does POV effect narrative storytelling?
4. 2nd Activity (preparation for Mudbound):
POV Writing exercise--Writing in POV and the voice of the "other"

Write 4 paragraphs exploring point of view.
a. 3rd person limited
b. 1st person
c. 3rd person omniscient
d. your choice--another character, second person/
example:

MODEL:
3rd person Limited
Her feet dragged in the dirt as she swayed back and forth on the playground swing set she used to soar on when she was younger. Her head hung low as she watched her dusty shoes trace circles beneath her. The rhythmic creaking of the rusted metal chains mixed with the patterns in the sand were enough to put her into a trance while she waited for a tap on her shoulder. When it came, it startled her, shocking her out of the coma she let herself fall into. His touch wasn’t warm like it used to be, the fingers that ran over her knuckles and along the lines in her palm felt forced, contrived. He sat beside her on the next swing and adjusted his feet to sway in sync with her. He smiled at her and she tried her hardest to smile back, feeling like the corners of her mouth were held up by string.

1st person
I made piles and lines in the sand with my shoes because they were dirty anyway. The screeching sound of the metal chain dug into my head. My hair would always get stuck in the links, ripping it out in pieces. The longer I swung back and forth the more my stomach would ache, but I couldn’t stop. The silence would be too much without anything to test it. I felt his icy fingers on my shoulder, exposed in the summer heat. My chest ached and my stomach fell into the dirt. I wish he didn’t come. I wish he never showed. There was no way to feel close to him anymore, even when he tried to swing in sync without me noticing. He was trying to get me to look at him. I could see from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t want to. Instead, I forced myself to smile, facing down the patterns in the dirt. I thought that would be good enough.

3rd person omniscient
A girl hopped over the fence into the playground, then she looked around more a minute, grinning slightly when she saw that it was empty. She walked over to a bench that stood under a red maple tree. Her fingers glided over the bark as she passed it. She sat down on the bench for a moment, her legs crossed and her head resting in her hands, but she quickly got up, taking a new place on the swing set. She started to swing back and forth fast, her legs kicking back and forth to propel her higher and higher until there was slack in the chains when she went up. She smiled big as the wind whipped her hair back. After a minute or so she started to slow, eventually coming to a hard stop. Her face looked pale and her smile was gone. From then on, she just swayed slowly, dragging her white shoes in the dirt. A boy hopped over the fence behind her, but she didn’t seem to notice. He tapped on her shoulder and sat down next to her. That smile didn’t come back.

2nd person
You hop over the chain link fence, expecting her to hear you. Of course she doesn’t though, she’s always lost in her thoughts. That’s one of the reasons you love her. You tried to make as much noise as you could as you walked up behind her, but still, she stared down at the ground. You didn’t mean to scare her, but when you tapped on her shoulder you could feel her jump with fear. You know that you should’ve just called her name, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it without bringing tears too. You touched her hand as softly as you could because you know she loves it, holding on until you take the spot next to her. She didn’t notice as you adjusted your swing to align with hers. You stared at her as you swung in exact sync. She smiled and you smiled back because you knew that as long as she was smiling she was still yours.


5. Sign out books:  Mudbound

HWK: Get Course Criteria signed for credit