Alexis+Sargent

Passage Picker

 * Passage One **

Muilenberg and his wife described the story of a neighbor’s cat Nadia who was left unattended after her human left for greener pastures because of a love affair gone bad. The cat was driving the entire family crazy stealing food and making a nuisance of herself. It even got so bad that they threw her in the ocean, only for her to find her way back after a few minutes. Once she did that the family decided to feed her. They later found out that she had kids and Dorothy stated, “the poor thing was desperate. She must have had them right after Bo left. There she was no food, with those rapidly growing kittens. That’s why she was so ravenous...(77).”

The quotation shows that sometimes there is no end to what a mother will do. Nadia risked life and limb to feed herself in order to feed her babies. She even went as far as to jump on a grill out of desperation. Dorothy understood because she is a mother. I understand because I am a mother. I understand the need to survive and starvation is a good motivator. My friends often applaud me for working hard, but the truth is as a single mom (like Nadia) I do whatever is necessary to feed mine. Thinking of her homeless and hungry makes me do a little bit of everything.


 * Passage Two **

During a particularly treacherous storm Peter was intent on keeping the boat intact while his young son Diego was intent on adventure. Against his father's edict he released the sails on the boat and they had quite a bit of trouble. After Peter had to fight with Diego to set the ship aright he had to provide some words of wisdom saying to his son, "Always remember, we are out here at the sea's sufferance - not as equals, certainly not as challengers. Because the sea can't lose, only we can lose(139)."

Muillenberg's words can serve as a reminder that even though we are the top of the food chain, we are no match for nature. Nature trumps everything. It is sometimes easy to forget because we often go very far to manipulate our environment to be more comfortable for us. We need to learn to have a healthy respect for our environment. This is something Diego lacked at the time. It could also be a reminder that life is so tenuous. The sea could have wiped out Peter's whole family and would still have kept on moving and making waves. This passage is a great reminder how life is not promised.


 * Passage Three **

Muilenberg seems to love stories about animals. He personifies them very well. He tells the story of Old Luke. His moniker was true - he was a 17 year old dog simply waiting his human to return. As he describes him he says, "He was waiting for Any, his master, to row up in his dinghy and tie it once again...(96)."

Time and again this story speaks about the love between humans and animals we keep as pets. Santos is most certainly a member of the family but it is obvious that they view us the same way. More and more people call themselves pet parents and the name fits for many. The void in Old Luke's life is blatant as he waits for the return of someone. Much the way the author's family is frantic and waiting for word of Santos on more than one occasion.


 * **Criteria** || **4** || **3** || **2** || **1** ||
 * **Context of Quotation** || Thoroughly explains the context of the quote and what is transpiring in the text at the time the quotation is given. || Adequately explains the context of the quote and what is transpiring in the text at the time the quotation is given. || A cursory or succinct explanation of the context quotation that is incomplete. || No explanation ||
 * **Explanation of Quotation** || Thorough interpretation of the quote the underlying meaning of the author’s words. || Adequate interpretation of the quote, however the writer fails to sufficiently delve into the underlying meaning of the author’s words. || Cursory interpretation of the writer’s words. May have a great deal of summary along with analysis. || No analysis. Writer may fail to analyze or only summarizes what is found in the text. ||
 * **Importance of Quotation** || Thorough explanation of the rationale for choosing this particular excerpt. || Adequate explanation of the rationale for choosing this particular excerpt. || Cursory explanation on the rationale for opting for the quotation || No explanation on the rationale for choosing the particular quotation. ||
 * **Spelling and Grammar** || No more than one error in punctuation and grammar || 2-3 errors in punctuation and grammar || 3-4 errors in punctuation and grammar || 5 or more errors in punctuation and grammar ||