shel silverstein
... to know me it was different. My “sassiness” relates to Rachel’s, its cute but could get on anyone’s nerves. Like when I talked a lot someone would tell me to shut up and I really wouldn’t mind because I’ve never been someone to easily get mad. Rachel is the type of kid who takes control, I like doing that too. Not as much so in a bossy way, but more of a “listen to me I know what I’m talking about” type of way. Esperanza even says Rachel is the one who does the most talking out of both sisters. People used to say that about me when I was younger and sometimes still do. It depends on what type of people I talk to. Rachel didn’t care if the very fat lady was old; she went right ahead and commented on it. I would of too when I was her age, but not anymore. “Laughter” 1) My laughter is more of a hard giggle. It starts out with a hard Ha and eases into a soft mellow laugh, like a little kids. 2) The music box performs when the store owner start it up. The box pops open and lots of dust comes off with it, and then the music begins. 3) Meme’s other name is Juan; his pet has two names one in English and one in Spanish. Esperanza describes Meme’s dog as a small cat with its feet tucked under it. 4) Essay C) My nickname is Dopey. My mother gave me the nickname because when I was little I was a very small silly little girl and I also loved the cartoon. I don’t mind being called by my real name, which is Daniela or Dopey because I’m used to both. In school of course I have to head my paper with Daniela but in letters to friends I just write Dopey. Everyone knows about the Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The last dwarf, the very silly and goofy looking one is Dopey. I’ve always been very small, especially as a little kid I was always the shortest of everyone in my age group. My mom would tease calling me Dopey and when I was little I also always had very large ears, just recently I grew into them. People would call me Dopey and I wouldn’t really mind because I he was my favorite dwarf. Throughout the years my nickname has made me a Dopey fan. My room and house is flooded with Dopey and Seven Dwarfs collector’s items. My room had a big Dopey drawing on the wall and the only cartoon cloths I wear is of Dopey. It works out a lot when your nickname is on your cloths. I really do like my nickname and wouldn’t think of ever having another one. “Louie” 1) Louie’s most intriguing cousins are Marin and his other cousin who drove the yellow Cadillac. Marin baby-sits Louie’s little sisters and sings the same song. Louie’s other cousin is more of a rebel. 2) The other cousin seems to be more intriguing because you don’t know exactly what he was up to. He seems to have stolen a car, taken all the kids for a ride, crashed it and been arrested. 3) In “Marin”, Marin’s character, personality and eyes are the main focus, because they show what type of girl she is. Not caring what others say and taking compliments from boys when they talk to her. Esperanza admires Marin because she is older an always gives them advice about things like what cream is the best for removing moustache hair. 4) Essay A) I have 28 cousins and they have lots of kids, sum of about my age too, but of all of those I have two favorites. One of my favorites is a boy and the other is a girl, they are both brother and sister. Guillermo is the boy; he and I can always have fun together, although most of the time playing sports or video games. My other interesting cousin is Isabelle his older sister. She and I can talk about anything together. Guillermo is about my age if not a little older, we’re in the same grade and share almost the same friends. As little kids we went to the same school, liked the same foods and always made contests. I can always go to any party or place with him because we are at the same level when it comes to having fun. Of all the things I like him for, I like him for always being my sports partner. Most of the time we race, other times we’ll play one on one, or maybe football with a couple other friends. That’s my most interesting and fun guy cousin. Out of all my cousins and I have a lot, I have one favorite because she is the most interesting of them all. Her name is Isabelle she’s a senior and seventeen years old. When I was little we sometimes played together, but she would sometimes want to be with older cousins. As we grew older through our middle school years and on we got closer. We don’t have the same tastes in things or think the same way, you could even say we’re opposites at times, but we do have one thing in common. What we have in common is all the things we know the about one another. We can talk about anything and I have a lot of trust in her, which makes her my most interesting cousin. “Those Who Don’t” 1) In “Those Who Don’t”, Esperanza claims her neighborhood is frightening to some people because they think Esperanza’s type is dangerous. 2) Esperanza says that the people who are afraid of her in her neighborhood are stupid and got there by mistake. 3) Esperanza does not fear her neighbors, because they are all of the same kind “brown all-around”. 4) Essay A) The people in my neighborhood who were most feared by outsiders were a couple who only lived here for about half a year. It was very suspicious what went on in that house, cars would come in and out everyday. The couple never seemed to leave the house only maybe to go out, but they didn’t seem to have jobs. Then everyone started wondering what was going on and thought they were drug dealers, so kids were warned to stay away form there and never to go in their house. One day when everyone was outside like a dozen police cars showed up along with the news and arrested the couple for growing illegal plants. If Esperanza were describing my neighborhood the comment about “all brown all around, we are safe”, would mean as long as we are familiar with each other then it’s all good. Since my neighborhood isn’t all Hispanic or all black or all anything we just familiarize with who we know and who we don’t. “We are safe”, well in my neighborhood that really isn’t the case, because even if you know a person really well you can’t trust anybody. When I ride into a neighborhood I don’t know it is most of the times scary, because you aren’t familiar with the place. If I know the place is dangerous and unsafe, my parents would probably lock the car doors and roll up the windows without a second thought. Other than that, experiences with people doing that in my neighborhood like Esperanza’s have nerve happened to me. I live in an average neighborhood where nobody is ever afraid of another person. “There Was an Old woman” 1) “There Was an Old Woman”, was about a woman who had lost of children. 2) Esperanza described the old woman as it not being her fault, because it was her against so many of them. 3) Esperanza doesn’t really think the old woman is lucky to have all those kids, but since she does try to take care of them all. Esperanza can’t help but to feel bad. 4) The woman’s children were all over the place. Some kids were in between cars, and dangling upside down. They would always break things as if it were a joke and most of the time they would just act uncontrollable. 5) Everyone used to look out and care for the kids, but they have no respect anyone. Everyone just stopped and gave up. 6) In “Alice Who sees Mice”, I think the mice don’t exist. The part that proves this, is at the end when Esperanza speaks about her being afraid about nothing more than four legged fur and fathers. 7) Alice’s mother died, and Alice inherited her sleepiness and rolling pi. 8) Essay B) Kids in my neighborhood that resemble Rosa’s children live about two blocks down. Of all the kids in my neighborhood, five of them are always in the street. No matter what form of day it is, they will always be outside. Their mother just keeps having one after another, that she forgets about the ones she already has. The older ones end up having to go somewhere to her than their house to get attention. The kids that resemble Rosa’s kids are a total of five. I’m almost certain that it’s three boys and two girls. The two older boys are about ten and twelve. The two little girls look about six and seven and the baby boy is not over three. They have been living in my neighborhood since before the birth of the youngest girl. All of them are rowdy and trouble makers, especially the two older boys. The people who have to put up with their foolishness is us, the neighbors. We can’t help to feel appalling for them. When its dinner time and all the kids go inside to eat, they are still outside making trouble. We see them not going anywhere, so we invite them in and offer our food. Usually it becomes habitual, that’s why we try not to do it too much. It would break anybody’s heart to throw them out, even if they are terrible at times. Their mother is like Rosa, their mother claims to love them, yet she doesn’t look out for them. Her kids appear dirty, resemble no manners at all and are a lot like Rosa’s kids. “Darius and the Clouds” 1) In “Darius and the Clouds”, my interpretation of Esperanza saying “you can never have to much sky”, means that you can never be too happy. 2) Esperanza describes Darius and dumb, stupid and at most times acting like a fool. She says that but also says he made a wise comment that day. 3) Darius’s wise comment was about the sky. He pointed up at a cloud and said it was God because the rest of the day wasn’t looking too good. This was wise because due to the day not looking to good, the only beautiful thing was that cloud and Darius called it God. 4) In “And Some More” Rachel’s comment about clouds is different than Darius’s because Rachel uses usual names given to clouds. Darius flat out say that the cloud was God. 5) Essay C) My view of high power is God, in relation with the sky. I know that past the sky is outer space and not heaven like you think when you are little. When I look at the sky I think of God. God is the highest power to me, and on Earth the biggest thing other than the ocean is the sky. In both symbolic and spiritual ways, the sky represents something of high power to me. It represents God to me. When you are little you are usually told that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. If you had a grandmother like mines, she would say that if you want to make a castle in the sky you better start building it from the ground up. Up is meaning good, and when you think of good and upward you think the sky. The sky symbolizes heaven and God is heaven. Since my most high power is God, I think of the sky in many ways. One of them, the most special way is peace. The sky is very peaceful to me; the clouds are white giving it a calm neutral appearance during the daylight when it’s clear. And at night it’s dark, yet still very calm. The darkness and light mean life and how you have easy and hard days. Just as the sky represents God and all that God means to me, the sky plays the most important role. “The Family of Little Feet” 1) In “The Family of Small Feet” grandpa’s feet were fat and doughy, like thick tamales. He also powdered them and stuffed them into white socks and brown leather shoes. 2) Grandma’s feet are described as very lovely. They were pink as pearls and dressed them in velvety high heels. 3) The baby’s feet were different from grandma’s in the sense that they had ten tiny toes that were pale and see through not pearly pink. 4) Mother’s feet were described as polite by Esperanza. She implies that mother’s feet were plump and descended like extravagant birds. 5 ) Rachel’s lesson about walking so that the shoes talk back to you teach Lucy and Esperanza that you shouldn’t try to act older. If you act older, you are going to get attention from older men and it could be dangerous. Dangerous like bum man. 6) Mr. Benny’s concern for Rachel, Lucy and Esperanza is that it is dangerous for girls to be wearing shoes like the ones they had. Mr. Benny warned them to take them off before he called the police. 7) Bum man offers Rachel a dollar if she would give him a kiss. 8) Lucy doesn’t like Bum man’s proposition because she doesn’t want her sister kissing an old drunk man 9) The shoes were thrown away by Tuesday the girls’ mother, who is very clean. The girls didn’t complain because they saw the problems the shoes had brought them. 10) Essay A) A time I was so afraid I had to run away from the situation was when a car was following my cousin and me. We were on our way home from school and there was a car slowly driving along our side. We noticed it kept on going slower and slower, we were scared and tried to ignore it. Once we noticed the car was actually following us we ran to the closest get away. I felt like both our lives were in danger. One day coming home from school, my cousin and I decided to walk because we had missed our bus. The house wasn’t too far from school and it was a clear day, so as we were walking we saw a black old looking ford model, it past once then we saw it again, we saw it three times and then realized the car was following us. At least that what it seemed like. We picked up the pace and walked a little faster and the car imitated us. It was hard to see who was driving because their tints were dark. Not wanting to take any chances we ran to the nearest shopping plaza. That day was very scary, both my cousin and I feared for our lives. We weren’t sure what was happening or why it was happening but the situation made us very uneasy. That day I felt my right were violated in such a way that a random stranger wanted to do something to me for no reason. There was no reason for that car to be following us the way it was; it was a very terrifying experience. “A Rice Sandwich” 1) A canteen is a place to eat. 2) Esperanza wanted her mother to agree to write a letter to the principle asking if Esperanza could eat in the canteen. 3) Esperanza’s mother objected to her wish, because she did not want the other kids to be asking for a bag lunch. 4) Sandwiches with no meat were sandwiches with rice, because they didn’t have any meat. 5) Esperanza persuades her mother to let her take lunch by telling her all the benefits about it, like not washing as many dishes. 6) Esperanza persuaded Sister Superior to give her what she wanted by mentioning how skinny she was, and she might faint if she didn’t eat. 7) Essay A) When I was about eight, I went through the stage when you want attention. I wanted to feel special all the time, because my sister had just bee born. Since she was a baby and got a different type of attention, I wanted it too. I wanted my mom to feed me lie a little baby. I wanted toys like a baby and I wanted to most importantly be treated like a baby. When my little sister Jasmine was born everyone seemed to give her attention they didn’t give me. She was new, a baby, and everyone gave her special attention. I wanted to feel the same way so I acted like her. I told my mother to feed me like she did her. For about a month my mom fed me in the mouth. For about the same time I played with baby toys and acted younger than what I really was. After a while the stage went away, it was like any other phase that just faded away. I look back on being an eight year old and acting like an eight month old and laugh now, because it was silly. It was silly to be a little kid and act like a small baby who can’t do anything for itself. My mother was caring about it though, she understood it was just a time I wanted to feel special too. “Chanclas” 1) Mama forgot to buy Esperanza shoes. 2) Esperanza’s little cousin’s baptism is being celebrated, because he is getting baptized. 3) Uncles Nacho says too many “tamales”, this means your face is hot like when you eat tamales. 4) Saddle shoes are shoes Esperanza wears to school that are brown and white. 5) Esperanza describes her feet as very ugly when she is dancing with Uncle Nacho. 6) While dancing Esperanza forgot she was wearing ordinary shoes. 7) Essay B) My shoes make a statement about me all the time. I love for my shoes to draw attention. I purposely always try to match my shoes with what I’m wearing all the time. If it’s possible for me to get a comment on my shoes, then I know I got what I wanted. People often comment on what I wear and say whatever they think I want to hear, but honestly I don’t care. I have shoes in every color. Red shoes, orange shoes, white shoes black shoes, purple, green and blue too. My shoes are colorful, attention getters and in some ways stylish. The Air Force I’s are what kids my age wear a lot. I have about four pairs of the same kind of shoe, including those. My mom tells me to stop wasting money on shoes, but I like having lots of them. If the shoes don’t match what I’m wearing than the outfit isn’t daring. Having all colors, types, and styles of shoes is something I’ve been doing since early middle school. I guess you could say that in a way I collect shoes, especially sneakers. In reality I do have lost of sneakers but I love sandals, clogs and boots most of all. “Hips” 1) In “Hips”, Esperanza says hips are good for scientific reasons. 2) Lucy says hips are good for dancing 3) Nenny says Hips are to make you look more a woman and not a man. “The First Job” 4) In “The First Job”, Aunt Lala found Esperanza her first Job. 5) Esperanza’s work at her first job was to wear white gloves and match photo prints. 6) Aunt Lala sent Esperanza to the boss to learn how to do her new job. “Papa…Wakes Up” 7) In “Papa Wakes Up…”, Esperanza’s papa mourns the death of her abuelito. 8) Esperanza plays the role of the big sister, she has to go and break the news to her younger siblings. 9) Essay 1) A myth I heard about Hips is that the older you get the more they broaden. Usually when women talk about these types of things the situation gets carried away, but I’ve heard many myths about hips. The most common ones are that you get them after you go through your first period or that when you have kids they really take on a shape of their own. The most common one though, is the one about the older a woman gets the bigger her hips get. I remember my aunt talking with my mother about that when I was smaller. I over heard my aunt telling my mom that her hips were getting bigger and it might have been because she was already getting old. My mother agreed and they told me I asked why that was and they told me that when a woman goes through life, and has kids her body changes. They explained the body changes like the breast sagging, the belly popping out and most of all the hips getting bigger. I don’t’ know whether to believe it or not, but it’s just a myth. After all when woman go through life you completely change, not just body wise. Everyone grows up and matures in different ways. Maybe most girls will end up having broader hips after their first period or after they have kids, but you can’t always believe what you hear. Sometimes myths aren’t actually true. “Born Bad” 1) In “Born Bad”, Esperanza’s mother says that she was born on an evil day. 2) Esperanza and her friends imitated Aunt Luce, when she was dying and on the same day they did that she finally died. 3) Esperanza shared stories and poems with Aunt Luce. 4) After Aunt Luce’s death Esperanza began to feel bad. “Elenita, Cards, Plam and Water” 5) Elenita is the witch woman who wipes tables. 6) Esperanza’s palm reading message was home in the heart. 7) In “Edna’s Ruthie”, Ruthie is related to Edna because Edna is Ruthie’s daughter. Ruthie’s problem is that she is easily distracted by silly things and doesn’t want to leave her mother’s home. Essay D) Back in Middle School I was an all around person. Even if I didn’t like you, I would talk to anybody. Many of my friends weren’t even popular or had anything special to them. Most of us just hung out together and did things normal kids do, all of us except this one girl name Elizabeth Geraci. Elizabeth was more of a strange girl; she seemed to have something wrong with her. Like Ruthie, Elizabeth was easily distracted by anything. She would many times not complete her work for the purpose of fooling around. Talking about silly things like Ruthie, Elizabeth always commented on things. I remember one time she said the book was smart and we asked her why the book was smart and she told us it had all the answers. Elizabeth was a little weird but very nice. I thought she did that for attention, maybe she didn’t get enough at home and wanted people at school to notice her. Now I realize Elizabeth had some type of emotional disorder. She would cry for no apparent reason and then pretend like nothing happened. Since I was such a nice friend at the time, I tried comforting her. I have to say Elizabeth has been the only person I’ve met to have that type of disorder that makes one desire attention. “The Earl of Tennessee” 1) The Earl of Tennessee lives next door to Edna’s basement. 2) The Earl works nights. 3) When the Earl opens the door he comes out and tells us to be quiet. 4) The Earl owns two little black dogs. 5) The Earl’s pets leap and summersault unlike ordinary animals. 6) The Earl speaks with a Southern accent. 7) The Earl’s wife looked like a skinny blond and pale woman. 8) Essay I know a boy named Manuel; he is a very mysterious person. Manuel doesn’t talk or speak or communicate with the rest of the world, or so it seems. Like the Earl of Tennessee he much keeps to himself. He usually stands next to the vending machines, minding his own business or looking at his watch. It’s almost as if though he isolated himself from every one and everything that comes near him. His silence is frightening, he scares me. When I first met Manuel it saddened me that nobody talked to him, but in a way I don’t make an effort to either. Manuel concerns me sometimes. He should be a regular school student and instead is labeled as a “nerd”. I’m afraid that he might take out all his anger on our school one day and get crazy. In my opinion, Manuel is a victim of stereotype. He’s been called a many names. Maybe the ridicule has got to him, to a point where he sees himself as that type of person. He is the kind of person who’s destined to be a certain label the rest of his life. I think Manuel’s mysterious ways are due to the way he was brought up. In order to be successful in life you need to build social skills. He has got to be the quietest person I ever met. In the two years that I’ve known him, he’s said “hi” and the time to me. If only he had a couple true friends the situation would be different, maybe he could open up and stop being so mysterious. “Sire” 1) In “sire”, when Esperanza walked past the Sire’s house him and his friends were sitting on their bikes in front of the house. 2) To avoid Sire and his friends other girls cross the street. 3)To prove that she did not fear Sire she walked right past him without even looking at him, and when he rode up next to her she looked him dead in the eye to prove she was brave. 4) Esperanza calls Sire a punk, because he always want to make people feel bad. 5) Sire’s girlfriend name is Lois. 6) Lois is very tiny, has baby pale toes and wears make-up. 7) Esperanza’s mother say’s Sire’s girlfriend is one of those types of girls that goes in the alleys. 8) Esperanza feels she is going to explode because she too wants to be new a shinny. 9) Essay E) To overcome kids like Sire, I simply act like I don’t care. Acting like you don’t care will usually get any kid like Sire upset. Ignoring people who think they are better than you is the best way to let them know you have no interest for them. When it comes to me, I’m extremely good at that. Everyone wants to be like Sire, so they imitate him and that makes him happy. When you don’t want to be like all the other kids and imitate Sire, it makes you weird. Other kids call you strange, but the kid who is like Sire realizes and does everything he/she can to get you to want to be like them. At school there are varies different type of so called “cliques”, everyone is part of one. The kids who aren’t are rejects. Since the leaders or kids who everyone wants to be like are so caught up in themselves, they think everyone wants to be like them. Once they realize you don’t, they either get you to really notice them and like them or they’ll just talk about you. It’s in your best interest to never be a follower, because you get stuck doing things other are doing so you can just fit in. Sire and his friends are together and when they do things they all go by what Sire says. In a group of friends most of the time, there’s always going to be one kid who the rest want to mimic, but its wrong. I don’t like to follow what anybody else is doing, if anything I’d consider myself a Sire. If other kids don’t like me, then that’s their problem. “Four Skinny Trees” 1) In “Four Skinny Trees”, Esperanza describes the trees in different ways. Fist she says they are the only ones who ...