The Twelve Presentation

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Kumalo's Learning Experience and Unrightful Guilt

In Cry, The Beloved Country, Stephen Kumalo is thought of as a realistic character. He is similar to most real-life parents as he has raised Absalom to be a good man. However, he has failed miserably. Also like real-life parents, he tries to straighten his son out by talking and lecturing to him on what the rights things to do are after murder and pre-marital sex if he wants to repent from his sins. He has a sit-down conversation with his son about what he has done, and is very concerned about Absalom’s lack of remorse. He is frustrated with himself about his not being around his son as much as he wanted in order to raise him. I believe, however, that he knows inside that he cannot control what his son does and his son’s actions are not his fault. Like a Christian man like Kumalo would do, he prays about he and his son’s situations.

                Kumalo is a good man with many positive attributes. Crimes are committed anywhere frequently in real life, but it is also very rightfully hard and shocking for him to have a son who commits murder. Pre-marital pregnancy is also very common in our world, but Kumalo’s becoming a grandfather before his son is married is nothing to shrug off. He is a great Christian man. He is faithful to praying, and he has tried his hardest to raise his son, Absalom, into a man like Kumalo himself. The fact that despite Absalom’s upbringing, he has not become a good man is hard for Kumalo, but that is hard for every parent, as they wonder if they could have raised their kid better. Studies show that seven out of ten children raised in the church leave the church when they are grown up and no longer under their parents’ rules and requirements, so Kumalo has not done a bad job of raising Absalom by any means.

                Kumalo learns a lot from this experience. He learns what can come with parenting and he especially learns more about his son. He learns about Absalom’s life with his girlfriend, and he sees that not everyone regrets their wrongs like those who you see in the movies, as his son is not remorseful at all for his crimes. He also learns that good upbringing does not guarantee a good, righteous life for your son or daughter, as Absalom’s upbringing is definitely not to blame for his crimes and what he has done and what he has become, and therefore realizes not to blame himself or be hard on himself for Absalom’s actions and attitude. Kumalo has done his job, and the rest is up to Absalom. His crimes are his own fault. However, although Absalom’s actions are not due to upbringing, in several cases, upbringing is most certainly to blame. Kumalo should be proud of himself for raising his son better than most parents do. Kumalo needs to focus on what’s ahead of him and help Absalom straighten his life out.

Growing Up In Marion

I have had a long week of school, but finally, Saturday has arrived. It is my one chance this week to rest. Hoowever, resting does not even cross my six year-old mind. Without hesitation, I find my dad, a baseball, and a bat. I feel like I’m never going to hit the ball, but I spend every day I can trying to hit it. My dad’s pitches go by me one by one, and this is turning into just another long day of failure. Finally, when my hope is as low as ever, I swing and hear a loud “Ding!” I did it! I hit the ball! My dad yells, “Great hit!” I felt very satisfied because all my work had payed off. This is one my favorite memories of growing up.

            I see everybody at my small private school playing basketball, and I, still just six years old, have a burning desire just to ake my first shot. The goal seems to me like it reaches the sky because I am very short at six years old, hoping I’ll have a growth spurt in a few years. My teacher sees me struggling shooting during recess, and she walks over to help, telling me, “You can make it!” She lets me keep shooting and shooting…and shooting. Finally, I make a shot! The swish of the net has never sounded better. I will never forget the ball going through the net as a memory of growing up.

            As a young kid of nine years old, I love to read in bed before going to sleep. There’s just something special to me about reading alone in my room. I am reading the Alex Rider series that one of my friends showed me. I feel as if I’m going through every character’s adventures with them as I am engrossed in the book. Reading in bed is the highlight of my day and a great memory of growing up.

At fifteen years old, I love to eat, and I feel like I can eat for days without getting full. My friends and I enjoy eating at Shake Shack, with the world’s best burgers! Today, I decide to order a Double Big-John Burger. A 140-pound guy eating a Double Big John Burger looks ridiculous, but I ate the whole thing! The hot, juicy burger was as big as Texas and is by far the best burger I’ve ever eaten growing up. Growing up in Marion is a great experience.

From FOOT Book to FOOTball

Reading has benefited me in several ways, from the time I was born and still today. By the time I was six months old, it was evident that I enjoyed being read to. Not even being able to crawl, I would roll to the stack of books in anticipation of my mom reading to me at nap time. A favorite book of mine during the rolling phase was Dr. Seuss's The Foot Book.
I learned basic colors when I was eighteen months old because my grandfather read a book about colors to me every day. For a long time after that, I described everything by its color, whether the description was necessary or not.
Later, but before I began pre-school, my favorite books to hear my mom read became Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. I also enjoyed hearing my dad read The Berenstain Bears-The Big Road Race and The Berenstain Bears Go Out For the Team.
In pre-school, I learned letter sounds and during the following summer, I learned to read three-letter words like "dog," "cat," "rat" and "bat." Once I started kindergarten, I began to read. I could read sentences, paragraphs, and complete stories; and it made me feel very smart!
I still enjoyed listening to my mom read despite being able to read myself. We read the Little House On the Prairie series. In elementary school, I started reading novels on my own. Some of my favorite novels were The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. In eighth grade, I read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and understood why these Twain books are so famous. For a ninth grade summer English assignment I read Silas Marner, by George Eliot. The book I most recently read was Through My Eyes, an autobiography of NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.
Not frequently, but occasionally in my free time, I used to enjoy reading joke books and church bulletin bloopers for a good laugh. I also enjoyed reading comic books with my dad. Now in my free time, one of my favorite hobbies is reading college football news, which has given me the ability to argue with the best about who the next Razorbacks coach should be, how the national champion should be determined, and anything else to do with college football. In both serious and trivial ways, reading has been a great benefit to me and a big part of my life.

I Am Pip

I am a skinny sleepyhead.

I wonder what it would feel like to be able to fly.

I hear voices in my head.

I see what is racing through my mind.

I want to grow more.

I am a skinny sleepyhead.

I pretend to be aware of everything.

I feel like I'm always busy.

I touch the sky in my dreams.

I worry about the most ridiculous things.

I cry when the Razorbacks lose.

I am a skinny sleepyhead.

I understand that I'm not the best.

I say what feels right.

I dream of succeeding in life.

I try to improve my basketball skills.

I hope I'm not done growing.

I am a skinny sleepyhead.

How Would We Treat an Angel?

In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” an angel is found in a courtyard! And the people of the town use him as much as possible to help themselves. Marquez uses satire to make fun of the behavior of people in the story as they decide what should be done with the angel. With satire, Marquez demonstrates the human tendencies towards selfishness and arrogance.

Marquez uses satire first by telling of Pelayo and Elisenda’s response to the angel.
Pelayo and Elisenda hear from their neighbor that they should club the angel to death, but they are nice and decide to send him to sea on a raft with three days’ provisions. However, when they see the attention their neighbors give the angel, they begin to treat him worse and worse, starting by putting him in their chicken coop. Pelayo and Elisenda selfishly charge admission for the public to see the angel and therefore become very rich. Despite the money that the angel earned them, Pelayo and Elisenda upgrade every part of their house except the chicken coop, where the angel stays. Marquez uses satire again to tell of Father Gonzaga’s response to the angel. Father Gonzaga decides to test the angel by asking him if he speaks Latin, which Father Gonzaga thinks is the “language of God.” Father Gonzaga is arrogant to think that he could test an angel of God.

Humans do tend to be selfish and arrogant. In several situations in life, people do not consider anyone but themselves. People look at how they can best benefit themselves and get the best out of every situation.

Reading Marquez’s story might make us look at Pelayo, Elisenda, and Father Gonzaga like they are selfish and arrogant. However, imagine if we were to have an angel appear in front of us. Would we treat the angel the same way?