Speak Memory - Journal Assignment - A Process For Recovering Memories

1. Pleasant time in the past - The birth of my nephew
2. Building in which you once lived - Rustic Village Apartments
3. Secret I onece had - That my best friend cheated on his SATs
4. Magical person - Substitute math teacher in 8th who singlehandedly taught me algebra.
5. Incident that filled me with dread - Having to tell my mother my father was going to die.
6. Something dangerous I did - Pulled by a car while wearing roller skates.
7. Something bad I did - Stole money repeatedly from my father's wallet.
8. Something that happened during a school vacation - I saw a man get attacked by a shark.
9. Something that happened in a classroom - My teacher slipped on the floor and broke her arm.
10. Something that happened near a body of water - A girl got badly burned falling into a bonfire.
11. First romantic infatuation - Baby sitter I had when I was 8.
12. Something funny - The first time I saw the movie "Airplane."

Poem 2 based on something that happened during school vacation

"Jaws" terrified me as a child;
I avoided the ocean for years.
Winter break and Florida beckoned; I answered the call.
The ocean beckoned, but I did not answer.
Seagulls soared and cawed and
vacationers swam and played in the water; I
sat on the beach, enjoying the sun
and watching others having fun.
Someone screamed shark;
and the whole beach seemed to scream at once.
People were running for the sand,
I saw a young girl get trampled.
I expected to see the ocean's blue turn to red;
it didn't happen.
Like viewing a car accident, I said I hoped everything was all right,
but secretly hoped I would see something "good."
The man beat off the shark and got awaywith a chunk out of his arm.
The ambulance took him away,
I saw in the paper the next day that he lost his arm.
Was this the answer to my wish to see something good?

Instructor Feedback
Nice use of line breaks; a clear message; sharp and vivid images. Nicely done, Jim. Couple of issues: title of movies are italicized or underlined, not placed inside qmarks; I'm not crazy about the two end rhymes: "sun" and "fun," for they stand out b/c you're not rhyming anywhere else (which is very good); using "away" twice seems like a bad choice of repetition--perhaps the ambulance took him for repair or to be stitched (play around w/ some changes.) Overall, excellent work. Gary