Are You–Nobody–Too? An Anthology of Essays, Stories and Poems Composition, Section 160 (Grade 10) September 2011 -- January 2012 Paul D. Schreiber High School Port Washington, New York Students: Ashley Barnett, Nathaniel Chu, Olivia Cisneros, Michael Correale, Alex Dover, Laura Eule, Joelle Feinberg, Alex Hadley, Sydney Heiden, Elizabeth Kallenberg, Helen Kim, Daniel Lee, Lauren Livingston, Derek Moss, Andrew O’Lansen, Kwan Park, Jillian Ring, Stephanie Short, Allison Stewart, Liz Wolf Teacher: Dr. Sara Brock Table of Contents Ashley Barnett A Free Therapist Nathaniel Chu Mr. Antolini (A Monologue) Straightening Out Your Life Olivia Cisneros Past or Present? Michael Correale In Love and Loss Alexandra Dover Seclusion Laura Eule A Pursuit of the Past Joelle Feinberg Another Harmless Lie Alex Hadley An Escape Sydney Heiden “The Folly of His Haste” Elizabeth Kallenberg A Strange Move (A Monologue) Helen Kim Stepping into the Real World What is “Opinion”? Daniel Lee Batman Lauren Livingston The Prostitute That Talks: A Monologue by Sunny Kings in the Back Row: A Monologue by Jane Gallagher Derek Moss A Place to Be Andrew O’Lansen The Taboo Kwan Park Escaping to Freedom Jillian Ring Fall From Grace (A Monologue) Like Looking In the Mirror Stephanie Short A House or a Home? Allison Stewart Then There’s a Pair of Us Elizabeth Wolf The Runaways NOTES: The title of this collection comes from a verse by Emily Dickinson: “I’m Nobody! Who are you? / Are you -- Nobody --Too? / Then there’s a pair of us! / Don’t tell! they’d advertise -- you know!” Cover photo by Sabrina Brennan. A Free Therapist by Ashley Barnett Modern day teenagers listen to music all the time. Some may love it more than others-- some live for it, and some will die for it. It’s a way to escape real life issues that are thrown at you in your life, all you have to do is turn up that I-pod or stereo and then your mind takes you somewhere else and you’ll forget all these little problems. This was also the case for a teenage boy named Paul in Willa Cather’s story, “Paul’s Case.” Paul has a love for the arts and music like modern teenagers. Art seems to be the only thing Paul really cares for in the story, even in his own life. Paul prefers to be alone while listening to music or looking at some sort of art, so he can calm down from daily life. The story seems to reflect that the arts are calming. They can uplift your mood, by making you feel less alone through a bad time. Paul has many problems. He hates and lives in a poor neighborhood, has trouble in school, hates his teacher, lives in a rough home. His dad also has high expectations of him, and Paul just hates and is miserable with his life. Though there is one thing Paul likes about his town, which is the concert hall he works at as an usher. Before work he would go up to the gallery and feel “delighted to find no in the gallery” (Cather, 199). The reason Paul likes this place a lot is that it’s very quiet, and there is art, and this helping him be at peace to free his thoughts. When Paul starts work, he ran down from the gallery passing statues and responds to their faces in a strange manner. Cather writes, “When he bethought him to look at his watch, it was after seven o’clock and he rose with a start and ran downstairs, making a face at Augustus Caesar, peering out from the cast-room an evil gesture at the Venus of Milo as he passed her on the stairway” (Cather, 199). Paul might be so alone with his problems that now he even only responds to what he loves the most, art. Teenagers today express their feeling through art or even towards art, like Paul. Then Paul starts work and must sit everyone down. Once he does he is exhausted from faking smiles to them all, so that once the music comes on he “sinks into one of the rear seats with a long sigh of relief” (Cather, 200). For many teens today once they turn up the volume to their music and then sit or lay down after getting through another day they let out a long sigh. Soon Paul can’t take his town anymore and runs away to New York for a week of its luxuries and art. While he is at a nice hotel alone, he doesn’t feel lonely cause he has music. Cather writes, “Nor was he lonely in the evening in his loge at the Opera. He was entirely rid of his nervous misgivings, of his forced aggressiveness of the imperative desire to show himself different from his surroundings. He now felt his surroundings explained himself” (Cather, 211). This is presenting how the arts are calming, and making you feel less lonely. Paul really cares for the arts more than anything. Like teens today, it helps him to free his mind from how he was feeling. Even though Paul acts strange by not wanting to meet people and talking to sculptures, it actually helps him a lot to not be restless and not have to fake a smile, or any of his emotions. The story reflects the idea that music and art uplift your mood, and can help to release any of your emotions you have about anything going on at that moment, like free therapy. 1 Mr. Antolini by Nathaniel Chu Frankly, I don’t know what the hell to say to you . --Mr. Antolini in J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Holden and I knew each other well At least I thought we did He came over right before Christmas We talked about his life I tried to give advice I don’t think he cared I tried to write it down I was drinking and couldn’t think of anything He went to sleep late Woke up early Ran out of the house before I could say anything It looked like he was scared I don’t know by what though 2 Straightening Out Your Life: A Look at Problems During Teenage Years by Nathaniel Chu A lady is driving quickly to a meeting, and she is running late. She decides to take a short cut that drives through mountains, even though the road is more dangerous. Signs along the road warn her about dangerous cliffs and to go slowly around turns, but she takes no notice to them and continues driving quickly. She takes to sharp of a turn and falls of the cliff. This passage describes the life of teenagers in today’s world. They are speeding through their lives and are taking no notice to the warning signs about them. If they ignore these signs the consequences could be devastating. Holden, from J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and Paul from the short story Paul’s Case, by Willa Cather, are both teenagers going through this very kind of situation. Holden and Paul start out, go though and end in similar situations and their stories describe the downfall of a teenager in modern-day society. Even though these stories were written during two different time periods, there are signs that show a teenager is headed down the wrong path. Holden and Paul have many likenesses, which makes it seem as if the authors are describing the same character. Both characters seem to have a similar outlook; they are pessimistic and not being able to appreciate anything in their lives. An example of this is when Holden is talking to his sister Phoebe who asks, “`Name one thing [you like]’ `One thing? One thing I like? Okay.’ The thing is I couldn’t concentrate too hot. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate” (Salinger, 169). Here you see that Holden cannot think of anything that he enjoys in his life. He may say that it was “hard to concentrate”, but you can infer that he just couldn’t answer the question. A similar example from the story Paul’s Case is a passage where the author talks about many of the physical things that Paul dislikes in his life. “After each of these orgies of living he experienced all the physical depression which follows a debauch; the loathing of respectable beds, of common food, of a house penetrated by kitchen odors; a shuddering repulsion for the flavorless colorless mass of everyday existence; a morbid desire for cool things and soft lights and fresh flowers (Cather). Paul has a desire to live a luxurious lifestyle and he is afraid that he may never experience this because he lives in a poor household. Both of these characters refuse to look for the positive things in their lives. In Holden’s case, it seems that it is impossible for him to find anything that he enjoys in life, and he always critiques everyone that he meets. Paul, on the other hand, has found things that he enjoys in life such as the concert hall, where he “[sinks] into one of the rear seats with a long sight of relief,” but when he comes home he cannot find the anything that he enjoys compared to the concert hall (Cather). Both boys dislike their lives because they cannot find enough in their present circumstances to be happy, which can be a sign that teenagers are going down the wrong path. Because of these negative outlooks, both characters are depressed and do not want to continue their lives.