Response

Focus: point-of view
Alice Munroe’s “An Ounce of Cure”

In Alice Munroe’s short story “An Ounce of Cure” the theme and focus of -point of view- is explained. The fact that the whole story was in first-person narration provides a high sense of understanding that the story will reflect the theme of point of view. The main points throughout this story revolve around the coming of age of an ignorant and innocent teenager. The narrator deals with the average teenage problems such as the high school experiences which include the high school dances and the effects and influences of parents in daily life. Is Soon after, her problems have increased as she is dumped by her boyfriend, Martin Collingwood. This incident changes her to become an ignorant and innocent teenager. In the beginning of the short story, there is a great use of examples which are based on point of view. She was a person who was ignorant of everything else happening around her and mentioned only what happened and what is happening to her at that point in time. For example, while watching the Christmas play it seemed as if she couldn’t determine whether she was livid or distressed about her and her boyfriend’s breakup. Throughout the story the teenager’s attitude is shaped on the idea of what the people in the town think a typical teenager there should be. In the beginning she was also seen as a pretty happy, average teenager, but as the pressures of life and high school relationships start to turn against her, she begins to take ‘stress’ to another level. She does this, by attempting to ‘cure’ her problems by having an alcoholic drink at one of her babysitting jobs. As this wasn’t the smartest idea, she still kept it up regardless of the situation she was in; she took this as a way to help her escape from the issues of reality. This happening explains the title of the story being ‘An ounce of cure’.

Temagami Essay Experience

“A change in perspective”
Alisa Jiwani

The 2009 winter Temagami trip was one which provided new experiences for me. I remember when my family and I were talking and planning about how over the long weekend we were going to go somewhere warm and spend time with each other, but instead of sitting in the warm sun, I recall walking around shopping for winter clothing. Who would have guessed? This was my long weekend, shopping for clothes to ‘keep me alive’ in the cold, harsh conditions of winter in negative thirty degree weather.
Initially, before heading off on my trip, I was really excited. I had never been to Temagami in the winter time and I had never build or slept in a quinzhee before. This was something I was really looking forward to. I knew I was ready to go and that the previous weekend’s worth of shopping would do me some good. I remember that whole night, before I left, I couldn’t sleep, even though it was going to be the last night sleeping in my bed for a week, I couldn’t sleep. The bus ride the next morning was approximately six hours or so and yet seeing all the snow and hearing about how cold it was outside and how cold it was going to be up in Temagami, I was still excited.
When I stepped out of the bus I felt the cold chill of the atmosphere as if the wind itself turned and purposely flew towards me. I know by the time we were half way through our ten kilometre walk, my whole perspective changed. I still felt that this experience was going to be a blast being up there and learning new things for winter camping but at that same time I realized that it was going to be a challenge as well.
I’m not the greatest outdoor person and would rarely do these kinds of activities regularly or voluntarily, unless there was a reason. Through the entire trip, I think, overall, we walked over 70 kilometres. We walked an estimate of twelve kilometres a day on the thick, white, bare, frozen ice. This I never thought I could do. Therefore, this was definitely an accomplishment and something I can be proud of.
Throughout the remainder of the trip there were many events which were extremely fun but which brought a challenge to me in many ways. One example, would be building a quinzhee. This was a really fun activity and something I never thought I would enjoy. But, sleeping in a quinzhee for a night was the challenge. Yet, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, who knows when I’ll get an opportunity to do this again. Although I know I didn’t sleep more than half an hour the whole night, this night and trip overall, I will never forget. It was the coldest night I had to sleep through in my life. In the morning, my toes were frozen and trying to keep them warm with my boots was no help at all. My boots were as frozen as miniature icebergs. The challenge after melting the ice and loosening up the frozen bits of the boots, was putting them on in the end.
When I returned home, I realized how much I actually appreciated the challenging parts of the trip. It changed my attitude and as I reminisced about the entire trip, I realized that it made me push myself to my highest limits. I thought I would come back never wanting to live in or be near the winter weather or snowy days again, but on the other hand I think that I might just change my mind once again and look forward to another Temagami trip in the future. The winter Temagami trip 2009 is one I will never forget!

My Short Story : "Aasia" - Hope

Screams of Khadija’s voice permeated the border line. People did not even bother helping poor, pregnant Khadjia and her son, Hafeez, as they watched her husband get shot. This was the usual occurrence which happened at the borders of Tajikistan, so no person wanted to get involved.

It all began the day this Tajik family received their immigration papers. Khadija, her husband, Mustafa, and her son, Hafeez, were in the midst of migrating to Montreal, Canada, to start a new life. They were so ecstatic since they had received their immigration papers to move to Montreal. Soon, the negative aspects of their home country would be left behind and a new life would be made in Canada, with new foundations forming. As they packed their belongings, Khadija explained to her five year old son the importance of the move.
“Hafeez, you know how difficult it is for all of us to move but I promise you we will have a much happier life there and you will make so many more friends.”

Hafeez was sad and did not understand what was going on, he was too fidgety to even listen to his mother for a full two minutes. Instead of giving his mum a proper response he started talking about other unimportant things.
“Can I take my toy bear with me?” Shouting this, he eagerly awaited an answer.

He was purely concerned only about the friends he would have to leave behind and the toys he would no longer play with. He told his mum how he would miss walking through the market buying fruits each morning with her. Regardless, his mother assured him that bigger and brighter things awaited him in Montreal.
The next evening, two days before Khadija and her family were leaving; she held a dinner gathering at her house. She invited all their family and friends. In a way, they were all jealous because this family had a chance to leave legally instead of escaping illegally, but then again they were also very happy for them.

“You will write to us, wont you?” Cried Khadija’s aunt.
“Of course we will!” Exclaimed Mustafa. “Our roots are here and maybe one day we will all return to a safer Tajikistan.”
“Inshallah” Shouted the rest of the family.

During dinner, the families pondered and conversed about memories of Tajikistan. Soon after, the guests began leaving and said their goodbyes.

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Mustafa, Khadija and Hafeez made their way to the border, where they had to wait for clearance in order to get to the other side.

“I’m hungry!” Cried Hafeez. Khadija pulled out some snacks from her bag.
It was a hot humid morning and she, being only three months pregnant, was still encountering morning sickness.

“Take a seat, I will go get some water for you.” Mustafa said to Khadija.

As he began walking, Khadija turned to Hafeez and caressed him on his head. All of a sudden, the loud sound of gunshot was heard throughout the area. Everyone fell to the ground, in fright. Khadija’s heart stopped for a minute and as she turned with Hafeez tightly held against her chest, she noticed Mustafa lying on the ground, as blood gushed out of his body.

The eagerness burned through her to yell for her husband but she knew she couldn’t, for Hafeez and for her safety. As the shooting ceased, crowds gathered around the bodies. A young man and his wife were walking through towards the exit of the border when Khadjia asked the woman if the man, closest to them, lying on the ground was dead. The woman nodded and walked on with her husband. At this point, her family name was called by the immigration services officer. She didn’t know what else to do, she had to leave Mustafa behind in order to sacrifice for the betterment of her son and unborn child’s futures. It was now or never. She grabbed Hafeez and ran towards the immigration officer who escorted her and her son across the border into a bus.

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The bus took the people to a nearby airport where they embarked on their planes towards Montreal.

“Could this really be happening?” Thought Khadjia.

She had to deal with her husband just being shot dead in front of her, and now the responsibility of looking after her son, Hafeez, and her unborn child all by herself. She had no one. No one to lean on. No one to cry to. No one to speak to. No one. Khadjia felt her world falling apart at that very moment, but she knew she had to be very strong and pull herself together for the sake of the rest of her family. As they landed at the Montreal airport, they were greeted by a relative of a close friend who they stayed with for a month. The family had told her how lucky she was to have reached safely, because the events of 9/11 had just passed that month. She told them of the painful ordeal she had to go through and about Mustafa’s death. They were very sympathetic to her and opened their house to her and Hafeez for as long as they needed. Khadija was then put in touch with a social worker who helped her tremendously into setting up her new life in Montreal. They eventually moved out and found a place of their own and with the help of the government the rent for the apartment was subsidized. Khadija knew that she had to work twice as hard without Mustafa, she immediately enrolled Hafeez in school and began looking for work. As soon she would be supporting a new member in the family – her unborn child.

Three weeks later, she was fortunate enough to find a job at a car dealership where her duties were mainly to do with the filing department, so it was easier on her health. Khadija’s pregnancy was taking a toll on her as it was her last trimester and she was facing the winter months. With the help of her new friends, Khadjia would make her way to work until the last days of her pregnancy. The day had now come where she rushed to the hospital to give birth. Tears ran down Khadija’s face as she starred at her new born, baby girl, who looked just like her husband, Mustafa.

“What do you want to name your baby sister?” Khadija asked Hafeez.
He replied innocently and said “Aasia.” With the name Aasia meaning ‘hope’, Khadija agreed for she knew that only hope for a better future, had brought her to Canada.

POEM RESPONSE
Sarp’s Outdoor Poem – City in Haze:
Sarp’s outdoor poem, City in Haze, continuously interested me as I was reading it. Each stanza I read led me to read another and the other following it. I really liked the way he incorporated similes and imagery throughout his poem. Imagery such as ‘behind gray clouds, behind blue skies’, ‘great old trees’, and ‘[..]white snow’, were clearly understood when read. Similes such as “Like wise sages, the great old trees” and “Like crumpled paper, the crunchy ground” helped me grasp the concept and images he was trying to explain. Also, the repetition clarifying the title of the poem was a great idea. The fact that Sarp added multiple stanzas was also another great poem technique. The words of Sarp’s poem clearly portrayed something to do with a very special city which in my opinion has now become something else. His poem helped me envision a city that once was but which lies there no more. He speaks of us all considering it is all now decayed. This makes me think of our failure to respond to this city’s needs. In conclusion, Sarp incorporated poem techniques, similes, etc made his poem provide great imagery and understanding.

Lakeshore Poem Response

Lakeshore is an interesting and symbolic poem to me in many ways. I immediately chose to respond to this poem because the title grasped my attention since I once lived on Lakeshore Road for four years and had an opportunity to experience living by the lake. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it because of the poet’s use of in-depth descriptions of Lakeshore itself. The first few lines of the poem captured my attention to keep on reading. The lines which F.R Scott stated in the poem were described such that “The Lake is sharp along the shore trimming the bevelled edge of land”. These lines provided me with flashbacks to my past when I used to live on Lakeshore Road alongside the Lake. His choice of words being complicated and thought-provoking, demonstrated the vast intricateness of Lakeshore. F.R Scott’s use of incorporating his own feeling or the use of ‘I’ within the poem added a more meaningful and personal touch. In my opinion, I feel as if it provides any reader a chance to read the poem and reflect and understand it in the point of view of the poet himself. Another theme explained throughout the poem is the descriptions of the shoreline, stones, waves, water, swimmers, and animals. This brings good imagery to the reader’s mind. Therefore, with the ‘techniques’ used throughout this poem, Lakeshore, any reader would be interested in trying to fathom the poet’s views on their topics of interest.

Concrete Poem

Exploration Poem
-Outdoor Classroom Inspiration-
Alisa Jiwani

The snow is white
The footprints are deep
The ice is slippery
It’s cold on our feet
The water and Geese bond together
The snowflakes falling as white as a feather
The squawking of geese are heard all around
Ducks swimming and floating are found
Water glittering, sparkling in the distance,
From the shimmering sun’s magnificent existence
The trees stand tall with all their might
The creek is frozen and what a lovely sight
This is our nature,
This surrounds us each day
We shouldn’t take it for granted
What dismay!

My poem on Canadian Identity

By: Alisa Jiwani

The colour of our flag is red and white

Standing tall and proud at any height

Our maple leaf will always stay

A trademark of the Canadian way

Our home, our house our native land

We stand strong and brave at any command

The snow, the mountains, the tall evergreens

Are landmarks that can always be seen

When travelling by plane, land, or sea

Canada is the place to be! ...

Metamorphosis
BY: A.J.M Smith (1902-1980)

This flesh repudiates the bone
With such dissolving force,
In suck a tumult to be gone,
Such longing for divorce,
As leaves the livid mind no choice
But to conclude at last
That all this energy and poise
Were but designed to cast
A richer flower from the earth
Surrounding its decay,
And like a child whose fretful mirth
Can find no constant play,
Bring one more transient form to birth
And fling the old away.