Category: Senior Literary

This category features the works of senior literary students at Mississippi School of the Arts.

The Universe of Us

I just got done reading this book, and I’d be lying if I said it was any different than amazing. I’ve always loved poetry books, but I believe this one is my new favorite. It had versatility to the point where I believe absolutely anyone could relate to at least one of the poems.

The Universe of Us, written by Lang Leav is a book filled with poetry of all different tones. Some of them are sad, happy, and even angry.

One of my favorite poems was A Premonition on page 117.

It reads, “There are some people who you look at, and you can just tell how their story will end. I don’t know what it is; they have everything going for them, yet it will never be enough. But when I look at you, I just know instinctively, that despite the odds against you and although life will always find a way to test you, someday you’ll have everything you want. Your ending will be a happy one.”

This piece in particular really resonated with me due to the fact that I could relate to it heavily. Throughout my own life, I have had so many doors blocking my path, and to get through them, I had to figure a few things out and be smart about it. This piece was very motivational, and when I read it, it seemed as though I was meant to read it right then.

Another piece that stood out to me was Her Time on page 63.

It read, “She has been feeling it for awhile–that sense of awakening. There is a gentle rage simmering inside her, and it is getting stronger by the day. She will hold it close to her– she will nurture it and let it grow. She won’t let anyone take it away from her. It is rocket fuel and finally, she is going places. She can feel it down to her very core– this is her time. She will not only climb mountains–she will move them too.”

First, I’d like to point out Lang’s use of hyphens. It’s very interesting how and where she placed them. She only used them in sentences that started with “She has,” “She can,” or “She will.” She uses them when the character is doing something. Lang follows the dash with a clarification of the statement before it. It almost gives off a “cause and effect” sense. Overall, I loved her use of the hyphens, and I believe it really added to the overall tone of the piece.

Today, on page 25, I have to say, is my favorite within the entire collection.

It reads, “Today I am not in my skin. My body cannot contain me. I am spilling out and over, like a rogue wave on the shore. Today I can’t keep myself from feeling like I don’t have a friend in the world. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to pick myself up off the floor. My demons are lying in wait, they are grinning in the shadows, their polished fangs glinting, knowing today, it will be an easy kill. But tomorrow, tomorrow could be different, and that is what keeps me going today.”

This piece reminds me of the feeling of hope. Within the text you see someone speaking from the first person. They are explaining their physical struggles in a moment of despair, and how they feel as though they can’t continue. But, the last sentence, and it’s my favorite, reads, “But tomorrow, tomorrow could be different, and that is what keeps me going today.” This entire sentence is a sentence of hope. Even though the character is surrounded by disaster, they are continuing because they have hope that tomorrow is a better day.

The Universe of Us by Lang Leav is overall an amazing and inspiring collection of literary pieces. I encourage anyone looking for a good book to read right before you go to bed, to check this one out. You won’t regret it, and you will most definitely be enlightened by a multitude of motivation and inspiration.

Jada

This month, with the help of my sweet junior, Stephyne Weathersby, I chose to review Jada by Tupac. I highly recommend everyone retrieve the poem book, “The Rose that Grew from Concrete”. The poem Jada reads:

JADA

u R the omega of my Heart

The foundation 4 my conception of Love

when I think of what a Black woman should be

it’s u that I First think of

 

u will never fully understand

How Deeply my Heart Feels 4 u

I worry that we’ll grow apart

and I’ll never end up losing u

 

u bring me 2 climax without sex

and u do it all with regal grace

u R my Heart in Human Form

a Friend I could never replace

 

First, I would like to acknowledge that the poem speaks volumes on pure friendship. I truly admire how he was able to express his undying love for a person he has no desire to be with romantically. Anytime this is successfully done, I think it was one of the most beautiful things I could ever see. Him writing in what we call “text talk” captures the pure innocence of their relationship. But, I do enjoy the fact that he capitalized on the letters of the most important words in the poem. Because of this, the words that evoked emotion stuck with me. After reading this, I had a new found love and respect for platonic relationships. The metaphors he used to describe how severely he loved and appreciated her were perfect. They were some of what a married couple or puppy love staged relationship would be, but using them in a different context was genius.

Having something like this to keep in remembrance of Tupac, along with his legacy, is priceless. All generations should be familiar with who he was, what he stood for, and the creative approaches he took to get his point across.

 

Khaos

I have been reading this book almost all nine weeks, I’m pretty sure. The app I read it on is called Radish, and it has a system where readers can either wait x amount of time to read a chapter or they can use coins. I’m broke, so I wait every two days to read this book. Chloe has heard me rant about Khaos several times because of its contents. 

Before I begin, there are several warnings that go along with this book. Are you ready? Too bad.

Khaos has mentionings of rape, murder, physical and mental abuse, and probably some other things that I don’t know about because I have not finished it yet. In case you could not tell, it is definitely not school appropriate, but I’ll skirt around most of that stuff; however some of it is essential to the plot.

Audrey “Jamie” Seo has been on the run from her exceedingly abusive and possesive ex-husband, Julian, who happens to be the heir to some Russian mafia.  She crashes in a small town and meets this man named Khaos who saved her from a possible rape. Turns out, Khaos was a member of a cult called Right Way and was one of the four Horsemen. Wild. They move in together because Audrey wants extra protection from Julian. That’s all you’re getting from me because I don’t want to spoil everything.

Now for the grittier stuff. The author has this magical way of making everything in the story feel real. And it’s awful. If you’re empathetic or just emotional, you probably shouldn’t read it because you will feel everything. Audrey often has flashbacks of her relationship with Julian and something about it is so immersive. The author makes it obvious who is meant to be the villain and who is the hero, so that makes it so much easier to hate Julian. He’s done plenty of horrid things to Audrey and even strangers when it came to her. At one point, she remembers going to a restaurant with Julian and talking to a man about the menu. The fact that she smiled at the stranger made Julian mad, so when they left, he caused a scene. That’s not the terrible thing though. They end up inside of a elevator with that man from the restaurant, and he happens to smile at Audrey, and that set Julian off. He grabbed the man and yelled at him for looking at his girl before stabbing his eyes out. Yeah, not the healthiest relationship… Of course, that’s not the worst thing Julian did to her. I won’t spoil that.

Enter Khaos. I love his character and that might include a bit of bias, but that doesn’t matter. Khaos has a bad past, so bad that he doesn’t even know how old he is. He was “adopted” into Right Way by the leader and was raised to become one of the Horsemen. As a Horseman, he was meant to keep all of the members in line, and if they acted out, he and his “brothers” had to dole out the punishment. I don’t remember if there’s a definite number of people that Khaos killed, but I’m just going to say that there’s at least ten. 

Anyway, I’m not going to give away too much of the story. Here’s a gist though: it’s violent, rated 18+, and it’s great. I’m not your mother, so I can’t tell you to not read Khaos, however, I’m not responsible for anything. Happy reading!

The Heroin Diaries

The Heroin Diaries. Pretty dark book title, huh? Well, he was a pretty dark man when he wrote them.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of a little band called Motley Crue, but if you have, a book like this produced by one of the members wouldn’t surprise you. Motley Crue was one of the biggest bands of the 80’s, and they were most defiantly the wildest.

Motley Crue was the headliner for all things rock; the poster child, perhaps, of the common phrase of the time, “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.” They had the biggest parties, the most girls, and more money than they knew what to do with. Nikki Sixx, the bassist of the band and the author of this book spent it the only way he knew how: drugs.

The Heroin Diaries came out on shelves when I was five years old, obviously long before I knew anything about this man. Nikki Sixx had been clean for years by this time, but he had found the courage within himself to publish his most private journals from the darkest point in his life: when he was addicted to heroin.

One of my favorite quotes from Nikki about his addiction is: “Alcohol, acid, cocaine… they were just affairs. When I met heroin, it was true love.”

He had a horrible addiction; so bad, in fact, he got to where he was spending up to one thousand dollars a day on heroin. Sick, right? He thinks so, too.

It took over his life; his music, his relationships, his friends. Ruined him, really. His first diary entry begins with him bundled beneath a Christmas tree stark naked beside a bent spoon and a rifle. Alone.

I feel as if he has grown a lot since that day beneath the Christmas tree. He had to die twice before he decided to get clean (I’m absolutely not kidding- he died- on record twice.)  He’s clean, he has a beautiful wife and kids. I think he’s happy. I hope he is. God gave him a lot of chances.

I’ve recently written him a letter. I hope he gets it. He inspires me a lot, and I hope he stays clean and stays happy.

 

She-Ra Season 4

As you all may or may not know, I have a tendency to get overly obsessed with things. She-Ra, is one of these things. This show follows Adora and her magical princess crew as they strive to save the world and defeat evil. Theres a bit of an unclear line between what is considered good and evil, as multiple characters have switched side. but, hey, I think it just makes it more interesting!

Season 4 specifically, focuses on each characters personal growth and ability to  overcome obstacles. For example: Glimmer adjusts to being the queen of Brightmoon, and Perfuma learns to work with cacti. That might be a bit vague, but, Perfuma just doesn’t like cacti.

 

Story 8/10

The story is, of course, a take on the old She-ra. This She-ra goes very in depth with characters, their motives, and their stories. Each plot point seems very fleshed out, and is not left unfinished. Even background characters have a full story within the show.

This season does a great job of giving us more insight into Scorpia’s life. In previous seasons, her past was vaguely mentioned, or hinted at. (Ex: getting an invitation to princess prom) This season explains Scorpia’s connections to her runestone, and how it came into the possession of the Horde. Scorpia has a breakthrough, and begins to stand up for herself. I am proud of her.

My one complaint for this season is the absence of Frosta. Frosta, like Glimmer, has dealt with grief. I feel there was a lost opportunity this season, in which Frosta and Glimmer could have strengthened their bond, and benefit each other through the power of understanding. Instead, there was a focus on the disconnection of Glimmer and Adora. The two were almost constantly arguing, which may have taken away from the plot.

Music 10/10

The background music in this show is absolutely phenominal. The music I would like to focus on, though, are the songs in the musical episode, “Boys’ Night Out.”

The song “Friends with Friends” is just the right level of chaotic and cursed.   I highly enjoy the fact that nearly all, if not every song in the entire series has been sung by Seahawk and Mermista. They’re the most musical characters in the show, and that in itself can be a crucial part to their personalities, and, really, it just makes it super fun to watch.

animation 6/10

I want to say upfront that there are some stunning sequences of animation in this show. I did notice that with this season, there tended to be more mistakes. A character may be wearing a flower crown in one shot, but then it suddenly disappears. The more I got into the episodes, the less I noticed. The first through third episode, though, had quite a few.

The episode with the coolest animation, in my opinion, was Episode 9, which focuses on Razz, and her memory. Seeing the world switch from present to past was quite trippy. A bit sad, too. I’m not sure if it was meant to evoke sadness from deep within me, but it sure did! great work, She-Ra team!

Overall, in conclusion, watch She-ra.

White Flag – Bishop Briggs

White Flag by Bishop Briggs is currently my fight song. The song personalizes what it’s like to have a person or people in your life determined to bring you down, but deciding for yourself that no one can you back. It’s a very sharp-edged song, but it is so impactful and I am honestly in love with it. 

 

Take a hit, shoot me down, shoot me down

I won’t ever hit the ground, hit the ground

Playing dead, I’ll never do

Gotta keep an eye on you

Patience is wearing thin, paper thin

Promises broke again, what a sin

But it only feeds my energy

So don’t expect no sympathy

Smoke, fire, it’s all going up

Don’t you know I ain’t afraid to shed a little blood?

Smoke, fire, flares are going up, flares are going up

 

The mood is set. You are preparing for war, and all the misfires are only making you stronger. There is no mercy. You’re fed up and red-eyed. There will be no surrender from you, this is do or die. 

 

Oh, won’t wave my white flag, no

This time I won’t let go

I’d rather die

Than give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight

Won’t wave my white flag, no

Oh, I won’t go down slow

I’d rather die

Than give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight.

 

You are fully aware that you may not win this battle, but you refuse to be coward anymore. It’s time to be ruthless, there is no way for the enemy to break you. 

I love the determination this song brings to life. It truly captures the breaking point, when you can’t take being pushed around anymore. That adrenaline kicks in and it feels like nothing can stop you. 

 

Put an X on my chest, on my chest

But I’m still standing ’cause I won’t forget

The hell on earth you put me through

I’ll save myself in spite of you.

 

They won’t target? Fine, you will be a target, plain as day. Good luck hitting the bulls-eye because you are fueled up, and there is nothing they can throw at you that you haven’t swallowed before. 

The last line hits really hard. It really approaches the “what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger” ideology in a different way. To me, this line is saying that she is going to prove to the enemy that she is not as small as they have tried to make her believe. She will be better, and that is the best revenge. 

The song continues the repeat the chorus a couple times, but the entire song just puts you in the mood to exceed expectation. We all have been belittled and pushed around at some point in our lives, and this song, for me at least, is a big IN YOUR FACE to those people. “I’ll prove you wrong. I want give up until I have established that I am great.” It’s very impactful and empowering, and because of the way it gets you kind of angry, but in a good way, and makes you believe in yourself and your abilities, I find it very inspiring.

I Wish – Tom MacDonald

I wish I wasn’t fat, I wish I wasn’t gay
I wish I was’t black, I wish that I was brave
I wish, I wish, I wish with every candle on the cake
That I could quit doin’ these drugs, but I can’t and I’m afraid
I wish that I was smart, I wish that I was rich
I wish it wasn’t hard for me to grow up and forgive
I wish that I could help, I wish I wasn’t sick
I wish that I was Tom MacDonald, I’d be just like him.

The song begins by going through many types of people who wish they could change something about themselves. This intro instantly makes the song relatable. The last line is a child wishing he could be like the Artist, Tom MacDonald. This is a big moment for the song, as we enter the rap and learn more about Tom MacDonald and how even he has things he wishes he could change about himself.

I wish I wasn’t sober, I miss it when the party wasn’t over
Happiness was right around the corner
Every single night was like the best one of our lives, now we’re older
The good ol’ days are out of reach, I wish that they were closer
I wish I wasn’t anxious, and I wish I could fast forward
And I wish that I could rewind but they don’t make that controller
I wish the nights were longer, and I wish the days were shorter
And I wish that I could sleep enough to maintain my composure
I feel crazy, I wish that I was normal
I wish that I could **** but also be immortal
Take me to the oracle, I heard that time is borrowed
Can you give me back my yesterdays, I’ll give you tomorrows?
Forget all of my morals and just live like I cannot remember sorrow
Before all of the tattoos and the cornrows
I was different, I was happy
I was calmer, I was young and full of hormones
Now I’m wishin’ for a time machine
I’d step into that portal and be gone

The first verse allows us to enter his life, and all the ways he suffers. It is a very vulnerable moment for the Artist, as he opens up about how even he wishes he could be a kid again and not as broken.

I wish on shooting stars, or were they satellites?
Maybe they were too far, hey-oh-nah-nah
I must have blown apart a million dandelions
Now they don’t grow in my yard, hey-oh-nah-nah

The chorus has a cry-for-help vibe to it. He talks about wishing on shooting stars, but there must be a problem because it’s not working. Maybe they were to far away, or perhaps not stars at all. He has wished on so many dandelions that he has used them all up. The chorus really shows how hopeless things can feel, no matter how hard you try, there is sometimes just not enough wishes to wish on, or not a possibility of getting what it is you desire most; your childhood back.

I wish I didn’t care about the day that I’d be buried
Used to live like I was ready for it, always in a hurry
Now I’m worried, all my memories are blurry
I’m just barely turnin’ 30 and the voices in my head are tryna hurt me
The choices that I made make me feel dirty, I was 25 at 13
I was smokin’ with the seniors, drinkin’ beer and gettin’ flirty
Now the **** ain’t workin’ I need somethin’ even stronger
Give me childhood, my mother and my father and my sister
And a Christmas to make up for all the recent ones I’m missin’
While I’m tourin’ the country for a livin’
Give me a hug and a Nintendo and a toy box in the closet
Give me everything I wish I had, oh wait I think I got it
I’m a rapper like I always promised them I would accomplish
This is awesome man, I wish I had a friend to tell, I’d call ’em
And I wonder if I jumped from here if I’d survive the bottom
And would everyone believe me if I told ’em I had fallen?
I’ma jump

This verse hits really hard, as it discusses his fear of dying, how he grew up too fast and never got to enjoy the simple childlike pleasures, and then goes into how part of him doesn’t see the point of living.. even if he is terrified of what is on the other side. He has no friends, his life is just about his career. He feels like he has nothing, and he wishes more than anything, he could just have another chance at being a kid.

I wish we were kids again
Before everything was on Instagram, hey-oh
Things were so simple then
Me, my tree fort, all of my friends
Way back when, on Beaver Drive
When the floor was lava, I could fly, hey-oh
Wished I was big like them
Never thought I’d wanna be a kid again

The bridge adds more to the nostalgic feeling of the song. We all remember having a club house with our friends, and feeling invincible. We all also remember wanting nothing more than to grow up. Now that we have, can we just go back?

the stars are lines that were too vivid and were taken out for respectability.

O R A N G E – Takano Ichigo

“An epic love story across time.”

Over the years, there has been on-going excitement in the anime community. On March 13, 2012, a well written and illustrated manga – Orange – debuted in Japan by mangaka Takano Ichigo. The manga is illustrating the story of a group of friends, Naho, Azusa, Hagita, Suwa, and Takako, sending letters to themselves in the past – their junior year – in order to prevent the suicide of their short friend, Kakeru. When Naho, the main character, receives her letter, she takes it lightly. The letter entails what she should and shouldn’t do on that day. She disregards the letter as a prank and goes to school. However, she notices that everything the letter said would happen that school day, happened – including that Kakeru’s mom would commit suicide if he were to hang out with them after school. Naho begins to take the letters seriously and reads them. The letters give her a daily task to do in order to stop the future that had already occurred once. As the story goes on, Naho and her friends – who also received letters – fight to make Kakeru’s life bearable. They want to take his burdens off of his shoulders. All the while they help him, Naho’s love for Kakeru grows stronger by the day and vice versa. It becomes an emotional roller coaster for the audience, for they don’t know what will happen next or if Kakeru’s life could be on the line at any moment. It’s a balance between personal needs/wants and sacrifice to help friends.

 The writing style is amazing and the art helps the reader become more invested in the story line. Instead of writing generic endings and conflict, Takano Ichigo allows the story to stray from the cliche situations as needed. It makes the reader become addicted to the story and want to know what comes next. The story fits under the “slice of life” genre of writing. It gives realistic situations somewhat unrealistic qualities and sends the audience on a journey of feeling as if we were actually in both Naho and Kakeru’s shoes. The manga does, however, deal with some very touchy topics that can be very difficult to write about. One topic is time travel. Science fiction is already a difficult topic to touch on. Although the genre wasn’t the main type of genre the author was trying to go for, the entire plot line evolved around it. They didn’t elaborate on the specifics of how the letter got to the past, which some were fairly disappointed in, but if the author were to elaborate, it would take away from the story. It also emphasizes the effects of depression and how those around a person suffering from poor mental health are affected. Mental health is taken fairly lightly in Asian countries, which is why Orange has become such an iconic manga. The only issue with the story was that the ending was very abrupt. It wasn’t satisfying. There were a lot of things said and planned in the story that seemed to guarantee and longer ending filled with what happened throughout the years. However, right after the climax, there wasn’t much of a falling action or a definite resolution. It was rushed and seemed to be thrown at the end almost as if the author didn’t know how to end it. 

Despite such, the manga is a very good read and is very intriguing. It definitely paved the way to a different type of manga genre. 

 

The Yellow Wallpaper

My review this month will be on The Yellow Wallpaper.

We read this story last week and watched a screen adaption of the story. It initially stuck with me because it gave me a glimpse of some of the natural traumatic things that women experience, especially after birthing children. Throughout my life, I have heard a lot of stories about women who have emotional and mental spirals after giving birth, but I think putting that feeling into words and having a visible representation gave me a much better understanding. I do recommend this piece for males who need a better understanding of what women go through, and for women who are mature enough to handle the truth about the aftermath of bringing another human into this world. I think it is also important for women to know and understand that they are not alone.

The way that the author described not only the feeling but give examples of some of the events that take place during this time period was essential to the development of the story. She gave us the freedom of being able to visualize the trauma for ourselves. It was almost like she provided the outline and foundation to build from and it is up to you to form your own vision of the pain.

The screen adaption though got me to look at it from a different perspective but gave the same message. It evoked a different set of emotions. The written piece gave me room to imagine the pain, but the screen adaption gave me the pain and gave me permission to feel for the woman. The actions that added to the pain she was already enduring were clearer and hit a lot harder.

Overall, the story was a perfect way to evoke feelings that would get people to understand women. I already respected women a lot, but the more I learn about what they deal with and the things their bodies go through, I respect and think higher of them. Read this story, your heart will melt, but it’ll also make you appreciate the strength of a woman!

The Adventure of the German Student

As you all may know by now, I love October. It’s an amazing month to me because the temperature goes down, the leaves change from green to golds and reds, and Halloween is right around the corner. Halloween is, by far, my favorite holiday. Christmas and Thanksgiving are awesome in their own ways, but they aren’t on the same level as Halloween. You can dress up as anything you’d like, so if there’s a dream you never got to fulfill, for just one night out of the year, you can live out that fantasy. Kids get to run around and go to strangers’ homes to get free candy, and adults, ranging from 20 to 40, are most likely at a friend’s house or a club drinking the night away. October and Halloween are a time for horror and things that go bump in the night, which brings me to the topic of this post: “The Adventure of the German Student” by Washington Irving. I thought it would be more appropriate to review a ghost/scary story for this spook-takular part of the year.

“The Adventure of the German Student” is about a young man named Gottfried Wolfgang who is likely suffering from depression, and his friends send him to Paris during the French Revolution. Not really the greatest time or place for a person who has a “melancholy temperament” to be, but kudos to his friends for trying to help. To be quite honest, the story really isn’t scary. In fact, it doesn’t even border on creepy – the baby version of scary. It’s more like a funny ghost story. I don’t know what was Irving’s purpose in creating the story, but I still enjoyed it in some way. While I didn’t like how Wolfgang’s story ended, I like the actual end of the work. It kind of left me with the questions: Who the man was talking to? and Who was the narrator of the story?

I think Irving’s “The Adventure of the German Student” is a perfect story to tell to kids because it’s not meant to be scary in my opinion. It’s given a dark history and backdrop, but when you actually get into the story, the atmosphere lightens up. Wolfgang has become so melancholic that he’s become fascinated by this strange beauty that haunts his dreams, and suddenly he meets her. Absolutely nothing about would scare a child unless they were still in that stage where they think girls or guys are icky. But besides that, it’s perfect to read to a group of kids around a little fire while they roast marshmallows and make smores. As an official rating, I give the story five jack o’lanterns out of five jack o’lanterns for children, and one rotten jack o’lantern out of five jack o’lanterns for anyone else who decides to read it. I do encourage you to read it though to find out what happens to Gottfried and his mysterious beauty!