PASSAGE
THE LITERARY MAGAZINE
OF
THE ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE DIVISION
NORWALK COMMUNITY COLLEGE
SPRING 2014, vol. 8
2
PASSAGE
SPRING 2014
Editor
Dr. Forrest C. Helvie, Assistant Professor
Academic Enrichment and First-Year Experience Division
Advisor
Elaine Delvecchio, Director
Academic Enrichment and First-Year Experience Division
Front cover based upon original photograph of the Alaskan Inside Passage, Copyright Graphic Maps.
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Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up
and go to work. ~ Stephen King
You fail only if you stop writing. ~ Ray Bradbury
The purpose of this magazine is twofold: to showcase the writing of
students taking Developmental English courses and to offer models for
study and discussion in the classroom.
Editor’s Note: Adhering to the magazine’s purpose, which served as the
guide for the editing process, meant that few editorial corrections were
made to the original pieces aside from some basic standardization of
spelling, capitalization, and general use of punctuation. As a result,
these submissions may appear less polished than others found in
traditional literary magazines; however, these submissions also closely
maintain each writer’s voice within the essays and poems and preserve a
more authentic experience for the reader.
We seek to recognize and celebrate the work of all of our students at
Norwalk Community College, and the entries selected for this year’s
edition of Passage represent the unique and diverse voices of our
developmental student body.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
Page
The Survival Guides .................................................................. 5
"This I Believe" Essays ............................................................. 12
Song Lyric Reduction Poems .................................................... 19
Open Submissions ..................................................................... 22
Prose ................................................................................. 22
Poetry ................................................................................ 28
5
THE SURVIVAL GUIDES
Students in select sections of ENG 066: Foundation of College Reading &
Writing, ENG 074 College Reading were given a task during their last week of
classes. They had to reflect upon their experience in their course, particularly
the areas where they succeeded, struggled, and what role they played in these
experiences. Then, they had to write down these responses for future students
to read and benefit from these experiences.
Additionally, students from select sections of FS 101: Freshmen Seminar began
writing their own “survival guides” in response to those published in the 2011-12
edition of Passage.
From the Students of ENG 066 and ENG 088 (Spring 2013 and Fall 2013
semesters)
What were some of the difficulties you and your classmates faced in your English course?
"Deadlines are harsh, but they have to be there because of the time limit in the semester. Every
assignment or essay has to be completed by the deadline; otherwise there is a chance that a
student can receive a zero for that particular assignment or essay. Students also need to follow
directions. When our English professor would tell us to hand in assignments we had to have it
done without excuses. Some students need to realize that if they want to be successful they have
to work for it and stop being lazy." –ENG 088 Student
"During taking this course ENG 088 I faced a lot of difficult problems. When I first started
taking this class I had just graduated from high school. One thing you should know off the bat is
the amount of work you will receive is totally different and worse. I thought I would be able to
use the same strategies I used in high school to get homework done but that weren't the case. I
had to come up with and use new strategies. Another difficult aspect that I faced in this course
was getting the materials I needed for class. I paid for school out of pocket and didn’t have
money for books so I spent a lot of time in the library which was something I never did in high
school." –ENG 088 Student
6
"Our professor was intent on making our essay writing better and to open our minds to new
thoughts and ideas. He would have the class write rough drafts after rough drafts until our essays
were up to par with his standards. It became difficult and frustrating because every time we
thought we had a flawless essay, we had to go back and revise!" –ENG 088 Student
"Another difficult aspect of this course was definitely essay writing. Students had to say goodbye
to typical high school essay writing and hello to college writing! For example, in the beginning
of the course, many students made terrible essay mistakes such as getting off-topic, word choice,
grammatical errors, and many more." –ENG 088 Student
Were there any aspects to your class that were easy or enjoyable?
"One of the aspects we found to be easy were the quizzes and tests. They were straightforward IF
you did your homework, took notes in class, and studied. Then the quizzes and tests would be
easily passable." –ENG 088 Student
"What we enjoyed most were the activities that involved group projects because it would give us
an opportunity to connect with our fellow classmates." –ENG 088 Student
What were some of the biggest changes you faced coming either from high school or the
working world to college?
"After being out of school for a few years it is a confusing task at the beginning of the semester
to adapt to your new schedule and fitting in your study time for your homework, and just
adjusting to the assignments that are given to you daily. Students don't realize they are
practically taking two classes, and for every class you are taking it is advised for you to put in
2.5 hours OUT of class for every one hour IN class. So I highly recommend you manage your
time wisely." –ENG 066 Student
7
"The biggest change was coming from my work life to college. Now if you're in this position,
you need to make sure your good with time management skills. This is very important because
when I started college I was working all of the time, right after class and sometimes before
because I was living on my own. I would come home and make sure before I was doing anything
else I would start my work. This was a hard change for me to pick up on with all of the work
teachers would give me and all the personal job I had to take care of. If you start to get stressed
out and don't think you can do it you should stop and just focus on school and this class. School
will get your farther than the job you are in now. DO NOT GIVE UP, keep going on even though
it's a tough change you will be able to get through if you stay focused." –ENG 088 Student
"The biggest change coming from high school to college was probably not having anyone
constantly reminding you to do this and that. Also no one is telling you over and over that
something is due on such and such dates. You have to be your own alarm clock and know when
to have an essay complete or any of the notes. The professor will not baby you and feel sorry for
you if you didn't have enough time or had a bad day and couldn't get your work done."
–ENG 066 Student
What sort of behaviors did you find led students to be unsuccessful in this class?
"Lazy behaviors led students to be unsuccessful. Also, some would treat college like its high
school, missing their classes, always coming late, not finishing work, or just not doing their work
at all. All you have to do is keep up with your work and be organized, you cannot treat this class
like high school. You have to put your all into these assignments." –ENG 088 Student
"Coming to class late can make a student unsuccessful. Tardiness plays a big part in the grade
you receive in class believe it or not. In the beginning of the semester I used to be tardy all the
time, because I commute from Stamford to Norwalk and I didn't have my license at that point in
time. The city bus was my transportation. One day my professor told me to stay after class and
said if I don't make it to class on time I might fail the course, and have to retake it. It's important
to come to class on time because I missed multiple pop quizzes and some good information that
was tested later." –ENG 088 Student
8
"The behavior that I noticed thought out the semester was that some students would show up to
class unprepared or they would come late or even handing in the work late. Those where the
students that didn't survive ENG 066. In the beginning of our ENG 066, our class started at 19
students but since so many of them would come to class late or weren't focused on getting work
turned in, those students had no other choice but to drop the class now our class remains at 7
students and those 7 students are the students that showed up to class on time, stayed focused and
handed in their work on time." –ENG 066 Student
"It's best to never procrastinate in college, especially in ENG 088 because it will eventually catch
up and some students either fall behind or get stuck. My professor would always tell students in
my class that it's best to always do your homework early and do it in pieces instead of doing the
whole assignment last minute. Also, most professors are very stern with handing work in on
time. For example, in ENG 088, if students hand in work late, most professors would not take the
work and give a zero for that grade, unless that students has spoken to that teacher about that
assignment privately. So it's best for students to just hand in their work the same day it's due to
avoid getting a zero for that grade." –ENG 088 Student
What did you do to be successful in your English class?
"I learned as a student to handle the workload by getting ahead on my assignments and make an
outline of what I was going to do that day. For example, if I was going to do an essay, I would do
the introduction one day, the next day the first body paragraph, and the next day the second body
paragraph, and so forth until completed. I would then send my paper to e-Tutoring.org, and
receive my corrections the next two days which give me enough time to revise and hand in when
the paper is due. Not only am I less stressed with having to do a whole paper the night before it's
due, it gives me good time management and organization for me to be prepared as a student."
–ENG 088 Student
9
"During the semester I found the best help and support from my peers and my professor. In my
opinion, gathering a small circle of friends in class helped me tremendously. My small circle of
friends made class exciting as well as being supportive and helpful when needed. They would
guide me through my essays and make comments where they thought I could improve on as well
as if they did not understand something I had written. For example, on my essays they would
point out if I had written a thesis-driven essay that has a clear and appropriate topic. This helped
get good feedback as well as getting the point across.
In addition, I found my professor was a great help and very supportive during the course. My
professor would help me with any questions that I had as well as being very clear about the
answer my professor would give me in the end. My professor was also very supportive on my
essays because my professor would give awesome feedback that made sense to me as well as
lead me in the right direction. All in all, this semester having a small circle of helpful friends and
supportive professor is what made this course so enjoyable." "I witnessed some students lacking
motivation and not caring about class and it was only the second week. This was a result of
falling behind on their assignments and starting the semester off with a low grade."
–ENG 088 Student
What were some of the most helpful resources that aided you in your pursuit of surviving
your English course?
"The best support you'll find to help your struggles is by communicating with your professor, no
matter the problem. He or she will be your best support in helping you accomplish your ultimate
goal, and that of course is passing on to upper echelons of the English courses."
–ENG 088 Student
"Students have the opportunity to go to the Writing Center. It's a tutoring center just for writing
and it's great! They have excellent teachers that can help you when you have an essay to write
and if you need help that's a place where you want to turn to." –ENG 066 Student
10
"Outside sources such as e-Tutoring and the NCC Writing Center on west campus had done
justice for myself and other students in ENG 088. E-Tutoring is a website where students
electronically send their essays to tutors online and tutors read and provide their essays with
great tips and advice for a much better essay. It was definitely helpful because I would get an
extra third opinion on my essays and to see the strengths and weaknesses of my writing."
–ENG 088 Student
Pretend you can jump into a time machine and talk to your past self from the beginning of
the semester. What's one thing you'd tell yourself about this course?
"Go to every class!! Missing one day in this class can feel like you've missed a whole week when
you return because, we go over a lot of materials and information in these three hours."
–ENG 066 Student
"Something I wish I knew at the beginning of this class is how time goes by so fast in the
semester. Time has flown by and it's already at the end of the semester. In that I wish in knew
how much of planning time is important. You can't leave things to the last minute and expect to
get a good grade. Getting an A takes time and effort in the work." –ENG 088 Student
"What can help you to get through ENG 066 is yourself – the dedication you are willing to put
into it. If you're not ready to take this class serious then it is better if you think about maybe
taking it when you are ready. This class is to prepare you for college English class and it is hard
but not impossible to accomplish." –ENG 066 Student
"I witnessed some students lacking motivation and not caring about class and it was only the
second week. This was a result of falling behind on their assignments and starting the semester
off with a low grade." –ENG 088 Student
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"Your not in the minor leagues anymore, your in the big leagues and more is expected out of
your performance. There are new concepts and ideas to delve into when making your way from
high school English to college English. What we ascertained from going through this course, is
that what may have been an A+ paper in high school turned into a C+ paper in college.
If you're going to sleep walk your way through the course, don't expect leniency in the end. If
you’re the type to miss class, not pay attention, not participate in class, and don't do homeworks,
don't bother to take this class. It's a waste of your time and the professor's time. Once again, this
is the big leagues, not the minors." –ENG 088 Student
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THIS I BELIEVE…
“This I Believe is an international organization engaging people in writing and
sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Some
100,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived
here on our website, heard on public radio, chronicled through our books, and
featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio
series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.”
–ThisIBelieve.org.
The following essays take a similar approach as students discuss important
issues centered on what they believe.
"The Influence of Music"
William Gardella
ENG 066
I believe music is the most powerful thing in the world. Music has an influence on just
about everything. There is not one emotion or event that cannot be portrayed through music,
whether the music is jazz, rock, rap, etc. Throughout all genres of music, instruments and vocals
may sound different but one thing remains the same, the influence it has over people.
Walk in to a locker room before any sporting event and what do you see? Just about
every athlete in the room with a pair of headphones in their ears mentally preparing themselves
for the competition they are about to partake in. Many people use the method of listening to
upbeat songs to get themselves amped up, which works. As soon as you hear that beat drop or
your favorite artist hit that note that seems impossible to reach by a normal human being, you
can’t help but feel a rush of adrenalin shoot through your entire body. Throughout my life as an
athlete I always used music to take me to the next level which I thought was near impossible to
reach. For example, while working out by running, when I felt I could not go anymore I would
always put a song on that gives me an “I can’t be stopped” mentality. By doing so it always gave
me that extra push I needed to keep going and reach my goal.
A world without music is a world way too quiet to live in. There’s a reason that if you get
into any ones car there’s a radio or look in any ones phone and there’s an mp3 player. Even when
you think music isn’t around, it most likely is. Walk in to any store or place or business and
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watch your chances of hearing music played in the building are incredibly high. Can you imagine
watching a movie without any music in it? I sure can’t. The scariest part of a horror movie is the
creepy music that plays when you know something bad is about to happen, take that away and
you’ll ruin the movie.
What makes music so important to me is that it is an escape. My whole life I have been
using music as an outlet for my emotions. If I am ever feeling upset or depressed I know I can
always count on music when nobody else is there for me. When hearing a song that relates to a
situation you are facing the connection you feel with the artist is almost unreal. It’s like you
know this stranger better then you know anyone. The best example of this in my life I can give to
you was when my grandfather passed away. As soon as I got the news I didn’t want to talk to
anybody, I just wanted to alone. So I grabbed mu iPod and decided to go for walk. After putting
in my headphones and hitting the “shuffle” button, which plays songs in random order, the first
song that played was a song called “Poppy”. This song is about the artist’s grandfather who also
passed away, which seemed ironic to me because I also called my grandfather “poppy” and this
one song played out of all two thousand on my iPod. As soon as the song played chills instantly
inched up my spine and I couldn’t help but break out into tears. I felt as if this particular song
was telling the story of me and my grandfather because of how well I related to all of the lyrics.
Throughout my grieving process I listened to this song countless amounts of times every day
because it helped me remember all the good times I had and made me realize that even though
he’s gone he will always be with me in my soul.
I believe that music is the most important thing in the world. A world without music is a
world I do not want to be a part of. No matter what kind of music you listen to there is always a
song or sound that can be explain what’s going on in any particular situation. Times may get
hard but I always have a reason to live as long as I am under the influence of music.
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"The Teacher Who Changed My Life"
Kimberly Diaz
ENG 066
Elementary school for me was fun and also a little confusing. Being an ESL student and
coming to a new country with people who didn’t speak your language was a bit challenging.
Even with the challenges I faced, I learned how to speak fluent English and also made it out of
ESL my first year in Julia A. Stark Elementary School. Finally I reached fourth grade and met
Ms. Lynam. She was a fun loving and cheerful teacher who looked to help all her students and
make them better students. Ms. Lynam is the reason I know as much as I do because she’s the
one that taught me how to read and write.
Ms. Lynam was the teacher who changed my life and taught me the most important thing
in the world. She taught me how to read and write. Some how I managed to make it to fourth
grade without knowing how to read. I guess you can say my previous teachers didn’t really
bother to notice anything wrong. I passed my elementary years memorizing the words on the
page, but my brain wasn’t catching the meanings. By writing things down that I saw on the board
and things I saw on the book, somehow I tricked my teachers into thinking I knew what was
going on. There are many teachers that are great at what they do, but there are many that can’t
notice things when they’re straight in front of them.
I believe that in this world there should be more teachers out there like Ms. Lynam she
was the on that thought me one of the most important thing in the world and that is knowledge. I
thank her everyday that never gave up on me. My fourth grade teacher didn’t only teach me how
to read, she taught me that knowing how to read didn’t mean memorizing everything that was on
the page, but rather it was knowing the meaning of each word and what the whole sentence or
story meant. See up until I was in fourth grade I did not really understand what I was reading.
My writing wasn’t much better than my reading. I knew how to write some words but when It
came to writing a story or anything in my own words, I was stuck scribbling on the paper and
hoping no one would call my name because I didn’t accomplish writing anything on that paper
but my name. Ms. Lynam knew this was going to be a challenge, but she was willing to help me
and teach me to read and write.
Shortly after, Ms. Lynam realized I didn’t know how to read or write in the fourth grade.
She began to have meetings with different people in the school looking for ways to help me get
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to where I should be in the fourth grade. After going through different tests to find out why it
was harder for me to catch things as fast as others, they introduced a new word to me, which was
dyslexia. I began taking resource classes as well as speech classes to help me work more on my
disability. Dealing with dyslexia when you can’t even pronounce the word was a little difficult.
Having immigrant parents who could barely understand a “Hi how are you? It was even more
difficult for them to realize what was going on. But once it was explained to me and my parents
that this wasn’t something normal I had to work harder to get to a fourth grade level.
Mrs. Lynam taught me a lot but what inspired me the most about her is she never gave up
on me. She believed that I was going to learn to read and write and never once did she blame me
for not paying attention. She blamed the school system and fought for me, and I thank her every
day for that. My fourth grade teacher changed my life and made me a better person. I thank her
for all that she did, and till this day, she is my favorite teacher.
"No One Should Be Left Out"
Alexson Pierre-Louis
ENG 088
We all have many beliefs in life. I believe that it doesn't matter what type of person you
are. We all can come together and have a great time, and nobody should ever be left out.
I hate to see somebody left out alone and not enjoying their time. When I was 16, my
friends and I would go to the gym in the morning to play basketball for fun. It was the six of us,
so we played 3 on 3 basketball. First team to get to 21 points would win the game. We enjoyed
playing against each other. We were mostly talking to one another every time we made a shoot
over each other. We would say to each who's better and who is not better than one another. It
was funny. It wasn't just in the gym. There was other people playing their own basketball games
too. There was this one boy, he was always watching us play on the side of the court. He had a
disability, he was in a wheel chair. It was liked he loved watching us play basketball. Nobody in
the gym would ever ask him if he wanted to play. He just sat there doing nothing. I felt kind of
bad for him. Seeing him alone there and nobody stepping up to do something about it. I wanted
to do something about it. I hated seeing the boy in wheel chair sitting there along.
It was my time to be the person to make the first step to help the boy out. One morning
my friends and I went to the gym to play a game. The game was close. My team had 20 points,
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and the other team had 19 points. First team to get to 21 points would win. It was a close game.
We were playing so hard that game. Teammates were breathing heavy. My shirt was soaked
from sweat. We all needed a break. As we were playing I saw the boy in wheel chair coming up
the side of the court to watch us play some basketball. I had an idea in my head to have the boy
in the wheel chair take the last point for the team. As we were playing I called a time out. Then I
walked to the side of the court and approached the boy asked him to take the last point for us.
The boy just smiled and didn't know what to say. You could see his face starting to get red and
nervous. But he had a smile on his face. The boy said ok. So I went over to talk to my teammates
and told them we were going to have the boy take the last point for the team. They were ok with
that decision I made. One of my friends said "Let's have him dunk the ball in the hoop!" I said
"How are we going to do that?" "We could just lift him up, have him sit on our shoulders and
bounce pass the ball up high so that way he could catch the ball in his hands. Move him to the
basketball hoop, and then he could lift his arms up and dunk the ball right in." I said it was a
great idea. My friend and I went over, told the boy we were going to have him dunk the ball. He
eyes opened wide. He had such surprise on his face. We carefully lifted him up off his seat and
sat him on my friend and my shoulder. The other team we were facing was wondering what we
were doing. Once they saw us put him on our shoulders, a smile on their faces. Other people in
the gym were all looking at us as we lifted the boy up and sat him on our shoulders.
It was time to create a special moment for that boy. My friend and I started moving
towards the basketball hoop. The other team we were playing didn't bother to play defense
because they known how special this moment was for the boy. My other teammate was coming
down the court and bounce passed the ball hard to the ground, so that way the ball would go up
high. The boy caught the ball in his hands and we went close as possible in front of the hoop.
The boy lifted his arms up and placed his hands on the hoop. While he was doing that the ball
went straight into the hoop. The boy had such a big smile on his face. He was so happy and
everybody was looking at us nodding their heads. It was like a sign of respect for what we did for
that boy that day. I feel so proud for what I did for the boy that day. After that, the boy thanked
my friend and I for the special moment we gave him that day. Ever since that day, every time I
went to go to the gym, he wasn't ever sitting on the side of the court anymore.
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"The Effect of Music"
Danielle Perez
ENG 088
Music is a great way for one to express their self. Songs could make someone happy,
want to dance or burst out singing. I believe in the effect of music., it has the power to transform
one's mood from the beginning to the end of the day. Music can help relieve stress from test
taking, relax your nerves before an event, could bring a family closer and becoming energized.
I realized a few weeks ago while I was driving to school how music could affect one's
mood. I was preparing all night for my midterms; I couldn't have studied any harder than I did.
The next day when I heard my alarm go off for class, I panicked. Worried and all, I plugged in
my phone to my mp3 player for my car. The first song that came on that morning was "Brave"
by Sara Bareillies. Immediately, I started to sing along with pride, and from that moment on, I
hoped that I would pass my tests that day. Yes, this song has nothing to do with test taking; it has
something to do with standing up for yourself. However, it put me in a mood that I had to be
positive with the outcome of my exams. When I first received my exams, my nerves started to
get to me. I started singing "Brave" in my head over and over again to fight any test taking
anxiety I was experiencing. As I got my results back, I couldn't have been more pleased. All the
grades I received were passing. In the future when I study for tests, I will listen to "Brave" for
good luck.
I remember one day when I was a freshman in high school, I was on a Field Hockey
team. I felt so empowered that I belonged to a team. We were going to our first away game; I
remember feeling all types of emotions throughout that bus ride. Anxious, excitement, fatigued.
One girl had brought speakers on the bus to pump up everyone's mood for the game. Trying to
relax and calm down my emotions, "All We Do is Win" came on by DK Khlaed. After a good 30
seconds of hearing the beat of the song, my team and I had started to sing along. Our coach even
joined in. Every one of us on that bus was feeling pumped and thrilled to actually go into game
mode. The entire mood of the bus had changed from tired and anxious to that of cockiness.
However, we weren't ashamed of how cocky we were when we had won the game.
It may be silly to some people; however, music does change one's mood. It could also
affect the mood of those around you. For instance, I remember my family and I were going to my
aunt's house for Christmas Eve. We were stopped at a red light and were listening to the song
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"Dominick the Donkey" by Ray Allen and Lou Monte. The car next to us kept looking over at us
and making strange faces toward my family and I. In the front seat of the car, the family next to
us saw my parents bobbing their heads and singing along. The back seat was my sister waving
her hands around to the beat. And for myself, I was rocking back and forth in my seat and just
laughing of how crazy we might have looked. That other family next to us had just witnessed a
crazy family jamming out. Whenever this song comes on my family instantly gets pumped up.
Even though we might have looked crazy singing and dancing along to this song, it made my
family bond for those three minutes. Every time that song comes on, it comes on it connects us to
one another. My parents, my sister, and I immediately look at each other every year it comes on.
My parents and sister automatically remember that time of us all getting into the holiday spirit.
Finally, music has the power to increase one's energy level. For example, going to the
gym and listening to music could increase the performance of workouts. Most likely, the people
at the gym have a set playlist that gives them motivation to perform better. In my experience,
when the song "Roar" by Katy Perry comes on, I automatically feel the energy of the song. In the
beginning of my workouts I start on a treadmill and set inclines at sporadic moments. As I start
to feel myself getting tired, the phrase "Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar"
instantly wakes my inner self up. I start to run a little bit faster and increase the incline on the
treadmill. My mind set is to get to the "top" of the hill and feel like a champion as Katy Perry
describes in her song. The gym is a great place for music to be played in. It allows for people to
push their limits and challenge themselves by inspirational music.
Whether it's a test one's worried about, an interview or any other things that can ruin a
day, hearing your favorite song can instantly change your mood. Music can help relieve stress
from test taking, relax your nerves before an event, could bring a family closer and becoming
energized. I know for me I can always depend on music to cheer me up. Playing my favorite
songs helps me to express myself and put me in a better mood. Music is my savior. This I
believe.
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SONG LYRIC REDUCTION POEMS
In a song lyric reduction poem, writers create their poems from popular music
or poetry; others are simply inspired by these songs or poems. First, these
writers took the lyrics and cut out about half of the words in the song. Then,
they did this a second time. It was important that each writer maintained the
meaning of the original song while choosing the words that were removed.
Inspired by Cold Play's "Fix You"
Laura Salazar
ENG 088
Try your best, don't succeed.
Get what you want, not what you need.
Tears down face
lose something, can't replace.
Love someone goes to waste.
Try to fix you
too in love to let it go.
If you never try, you'll never know
what you're worth.
Lose something you cannot replace,
promise I will learn from my mistakes.
Inspired by 30 Seconds to Mars' "Up in the Air"
Gina Tiani
ENG 088
Out of my head,
emotion I've destroyed.
Laws I've broken, loves I've sacrified.
Is this the end?
A thousand times I tempted fate,
been up in the air, lost in the night.
Wouldn't trade an eye for your lies.
Your lust for my life.
Is this the end?
Love of my life, the darkness, the light.
A tortured you and I.
Up in the air, chasing a dream
take no more!
I'll take no more.
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Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G.s "The City That Works"
Reggie Edouard
ENG 074
The city that works.
In the city that works,
where I only have time wake up,
eat,
go to school,
and work.
It kind of hurts
Having my little brother see me struggle with all my work.
Working a 9 to 5 shift,
this can be long.
But the support from my family and friends is what made me strong.
Having to choose from what is right and wrong,
but that's the way life goes on.
Inspired by Alicia Keys' "Brand New Me"
Katherine Yoguez
ENG 066
I'm not who I was before.
Don't be mad.
It's just a brand new me.
Had to grab my heart back,
something to had to change.
I can finally breathe.
Inspired by Calvin Harris' "Sweet Nothing"
Karina Colon
ENG 066
Sweet nothing.
Every whisper, it's the worst.
Emptied out by a single word.
It's hard to learn.
It's hard to love.
Isn't easy for me to let it go.
I've swallowed every single word.
Eats away this heart.
Sweet nothing.
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Inspired by Vanessa Bell Armstrong's "Good News"
Levicta Dixon
ENG 066
We held it together
Made up my mind
A better someday
Love and Unity
Believe you receive
Stormy weather
Better
We heard
Prayer…still…works.
Inspired by Eminem's "Mockingbird"
Armando Moreno
ENG 066
I can see it in your eyes,
deep inside you want to cry.
No more crying.
Wipe them tears.
Daddy's here,
no more nightmares.
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OPEN SUBMISSIONS
In addition to many of the more structured submissions, Passage also
encourages open submissions from students. These may include fan fiction
pieces, poems, book reviews, or other in-class assignments students are
especially proud of writing.
PROSE
"The Lesson I Learned"
Ashley DePomar
ENG 088
Everybody learns different lessons throughout their lives. We all learn these lessons from
the time we are babies to the time we get older and even then we still continue to learn lessons.
When I was in the seventh grade I learned that in life you have to be patient and not rush things. I
wish I had learned this lesson sooner so I could have prevented losing half of my eyebrow,
looking weird, and having everybody stare at me.
I learned my major lesson in the seventh grade. It all started when I asked my mom if she
would take me to get my eyebrows done. She told me that she would take my next weekend
because she was busy. I told her if I waited any longer, I would begin to look more and more like
cookie monster. She just told me that they did not look that bad and waiting another week was
not going to kill me. I was very upset that my mom said she would not take me until next
weekend. I was too impatient to wait another week so I decided to do my eyebrows myself. I
could not find any tweezers at the time but I found an electrical razor. I decided to use the
electrical razor to try and give my eyebrows a girly look instead of a cookie monster look. I
turned on the razor and tried to shave off the excess hair above my eyebrow. Instead of shaving
off the excess hair I ended up shaving off half of my eyebrow.
I was in shock and I had no clue what to do or say to my mom about my eyebrow. After a
short time, I went to go tell my mom about what happened. When I told her I began crying, and I
told her how sorry I was for not waiting for her to take me. She started laughing because I had
looked ridiculous with half of my eyebrow shaved off. My mom said that if I had waited I would
not have shaved half off my eyebrow shaved off. I remember how I kept asking her if she could
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do anything to fix my eyebrow so I did not look dumb. She told me that there was nothing that
she could do and I would just have to wait until the hair grew back in.
For the next couple of weeks until the hairs grew back in, I had to part my hair differently
so I could put hair over my eye to cover up the missing brow. I had a hard time trying to hide my
eyebrow so kids in school would not see it. One day I was in class and I had dropped my pencil
on the floor so after I picked it up my hair was pushed back. The hair that was covering my
eyebrow was out of my face and a couple of kids saw my half shaven off eyebrow. All I heard
were kids laughing and asking, “where is the other half of your eyebrow?” I began explaining
what had happened with my eyebrow. Some kids understood while others laughed at me.
From that day on I learned that it is best to just wait for things to happen, rather than
doing it yourself. Also, patience is the key in life. If you are too impatient and you think it is best
to do things on your own, you could end up messing up things. When somebody says that they
will do something just wait until they do it. Good things happen to those who wait and are
patient. I obviously learned the hard way but I am glad that I did that because now I know that it
is best to just wait and be patient.
"Book Review: Fun Home By Alison Bechdel"
Jeffrey Kravitz
ENG 088
The title of my graphic novel is called Fun Home, it was not a fun home, to say the least.
The author of the graphic novel is Alison Bechdel. I would classify this book as a graphic novel
memoir because a lot it’s content has to do with the author Alison Bechdel. The story is of a girl
named Alison and the main nucleus of the story is the relationship between Alison and her
closeted homosexual father Bruce. The term fun home was a term in the book to refer to funeral
home that Bruce Bechdel was the director of. Bruce was suspected of committing suicide after
being hit by a truck, the reason being was the possibility of his pending divorce of the fact that he
could not handle his double life. Bruce was a horrid father, he was an obsessive compulsive
about the home, the Bechdel family home. Instead of obsessing over his family, he would spend
his time trying to make the home more artsy and decorative. He would lash out his children
when they would not follow along with his autocratic way of living. The story follows Alison on
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her discovery of her father’s sexuality and the discovery of her own sexuality. It turns out that
Alison is gay as well. As the story unravels you uncover the secret relationships Bruce had with
men and the scandalous relationships he attempted with young boys. Simultaneously, I learned
about the relationships that Alison had with girls including the far – flung relationship she had
with her mother. Throughout the story you come to find out how the homosexualities of both
Alison and Bruce affect not only themselves but there friends and family. Overall, the story had
its high moments of intrigue and low moments of pure boredom and confusion, which I will now
highlight.
I am first going to tell you what I relished about this graphic novel. As an unseasoned
reader of comics, this was a new thing for my brain to explore. The conspicuous should be
pointed out first, that the illustrations were marvelous. They told a story and each comic panel
had a motive. There are many intricate details put into each comic panel to succor this story. It
really helps me understand a story when I can conjure up what is going on through visuals on the
page. To be specific, the cover page of the book is the first example that stood out to me. It
features Bruce and Alison, they are sitting next to each other, on the steps for which seems to be
their home. Bruce sitting with his legs crossed and head turned away from Alison, while she
herself is sitting as though she is looking right at the reader. I can tell just by the illustration that
there is a problem with the relationship because of the expressions on there faces and how they
both look to be uneasy. There are countless examples of illustration in this novel that tell a deep
story. As you read along the images in the story really help the reader visualize the pain Alison
and her father go through. The second thing I was fond of was the universal connection this story
can convey. When I said this story features the lives of a homosexual father and daughter, one
would automatically assume that this story is geared to an audience of homosexual people, but I
found out by reading that anyone can find an emotional connection toward this rather tragic and
melancholy tale. I am straight, young male and I was able to find a connection between the story
and my own personal hardships. This story has many themes including sexual identity, coming
of age, life and death, etc. It is certainly a compliment to the genius of the author that even
someone like me can find a connection to a story of this nature and subject matter. Sexual
identity was the most prominent theme recognized in this graphic novel. Alison had a feeling all
through her young life that she had urges for the same sex. Bruce was a husband and father
who’s sexual identity was the lynchpin for everything that unfolded in the novel relevant to
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Alison’s coming out, his own death/suicide, and the struggle for the family unity among the
Bechdel household.
As well written as this novel is, it did contain its faults. The main plot of the story was
clear to me as the reader however, I did find myself becoming astray at tines. The novel had
many characters and it was laborious to follow and keep track of who is who, and who is
significant and insignificant. The confusion arose when the author would entail a flashback
moment in the story. In other words, the story would move from present tense to past tense, this
would happen several times during the story. I found it vexing because I would reread pages to
make sure I knew what was going on. As a warning to future readers of this novel, a background
in literature and a dictionary should accompany you for the sake of your understanding of the
novel. Ms. Bechdel uses droves of “big” words and makes reference to “older” novels including
The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. This can become troublesome for anyone with a weak
vocabulary or someone who is not fined tuned on famous literary works like the aforementioned.
The final critique I have of this graphic novel is that some of the images shown in the book are
racy. The term graphic novel may have two meanings to someone after viewing the images
drawn in this book. The images shown feature some characters in the buff and performing sexual
acts. This book should not be read by anyone under the age of sixteen.
There were countless quotes in this story that I’ve could have described as my favorite.
The front runners are as follows, this first quote was the most telling. “Its tempting to suggest, in
retrospect, that our family was a sham. For Alison to do this, she must really believe that her
family is in utter shambles. The second quote I picked out is “Who embalms the Undertaker
when he dies”. This was said by Alison referring to her fathers death. I found it to be
philosophical, thought provoking and compelling. It was a paradox that Alison had come up
with, who embalms the dead person who embalms dead people. It was certainly an eyebrow
raiser and it gave me goosebumps every time I read that line. My third favorite quote was also
said by the narrator Alison, “Grief takes many forms including the absence of grief”. This was a
telling quote because it was in response to the death of Alison’s father and her lack of sadness
after his tragic death. She was neither happy nor heartbroken. When someone you know passes,
the natural response is absolute sadness and mourning. Alison’s father was killed and it did not
seem to faze her. It tells me the reader the extent of how strained their relationship was and the
extent of her family dysfunction altogether.
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The reason I chose to read this book was because I was intrigued by the title Fun Home.
It already made me ponder. The title stood out to me and because it conveyed a sarcastic tone. It
turned out to be that I was correct in my feeling. The term fun home was sarcastic. There was
nothing fun about the home where Alison and her family lived. This was a sad and tragic tale but
ironically concluded with a bittersweet ending. To get to the point, would I the reader, someone
who has read this novel three times over, recommend this book to my fellow man. The answer to
that question is yes but proceed with caution. This book may not be for everyone, I honestly
hated it at first because of its graphic nature and for some of its content. If a reader can get past
those problems, then go ahead and read this awe-inspiring story. It will certainly evoke emotions
good or bad from anyone reading. I never thought I’d be writing that after the first time I read it.
"How Education Plays a Role in World Peace"
Bruce Rosa
College Forum
How education plays a role in World Peace. The sad truth is education doesn’t play a role
in world peace. This is a wonderful dream, a subject of hope and wishful thinking. From my
experience serving in the United States Army it’s not education that we need to create peace on
earth. It’s compassion for others, respect of one another’s beliefs and their choice of religion.
Because a person has an education doesn’t mean they have these qualities to an open mind.
Many Taliban soldiers and Al-Qaida enforcers are very well educated and their only mission in
life is to terminate the lives of innocent people who don’t share their beliefs. World peace will
take understanding, compassion, respect and love from each and every one of use to complete
the mission in creating peace on earth. Common sense is really all it takes, an open mind and a
passion for all living things will and can bring us closer to this common goal. If we think about it
what do all of us want? A job to feed and support our families, financial comfort to well educate
our children and the time needed to spend with the ones we love. It’s pretty simple if we think
about this issue. It’s because of the extremist our goal of having world peace is made harder to
grasps. Extremists from all different religions and ways of life that throw obstacles in front of us
to discourage us causes irrational thinking. What we need is critical thinking from all of us, this
will help us to figure out what’s really important and how to go about achieving world peace.
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Children of the revolution was an interesting documentary and if paid attention to, we see that
out of the three person’s that this documentary was taken by each one of them had a different
agenda. All three were educated and had different opinions and goals. The one goal they did
agree upon was freedom not world peace. United we stand Divided we fall, this stands for us and
all.
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POETRY
"Untitled"
Darryl Boake
ENG 074, College Forum
Bombs here bombs there
Bombs blast and explosions everywhere
By illiterates and hypocrites quoting from the holy book
That creates hate for religion.
"Life Poem"
Troy Yarish
ENG 074
It's August 1st, 1994.
My dad left to knock on my neighbor's door.
He said "Please come, my wife's in labor,
but whatever you do, don't bring your tazor."
Entered the world in my house
Doctor came and said I look like a mouse.
Turned two and had a breathing problem.
Had a sister who wasn't even ten.
Turned six and swallowed a quarter.
Swallowed it while watching Law and Order.
Rushed to the hospital and nearly died.
At some point I wished I wasn't alive.
Finally sixteen and got arrested.
Afraid my mom would cut off my head.
Went to court and I was afraid.
Finally became a man when I got laid.
This is my life, better yet my story.
Finally became famous and with it came glory.
Best friend joined the Army and finally enlisted.
That's my story, so don't get it twisted.
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"Up with the Birds"
Christine Caceres
ENG 074
She hears the birds.
She hears the birds sing.
She sees her dream
become a lie.
It's a black and white lie
in a pond of grey.
She can't hear the birds.
She can't hear the birds sing.
The lie she tells
becomes a dream.
It's a grey dream
in a pond of black and white.
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THE LITERARY MAGAZINE
OF
THE ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE DIVISION
NORWALK COMMUNITY COLLEGE
SPRING 2014, vol. 8