“listening to her practice: my middle daughter, on the edge of adolescence, learns to play the saxophone”
by barbara cooker

for rebecca

her hair, that halo of red gold curls,
has thickened, coarsened,
lost its baby fineness,
and the sweet smell of childhood
that clung to her clothes
has just about vanished.
now she’s getting moody,
moaning about her hair,
clothes that aren’t the right brands,
boys that tease.
she clicks over the saxophone keys
with gritty fingernails polished in pink pearl,
grass stains on the knees
of her sister’s old designer jeans.
she’s gone from sounding like the smoke detector
through old macdonald and jingle bells.
soon she’ll master these keys,
turn notes into liquid gold,
wail that reedy brass.
soon, she’ll be a woman.
she’s gonna learn to play the blues.

source: cooker, barbara. “listening to her practice: my middle daughter, on the edge of adolescence, learns to play the saxophe.” ordinary life. new york: byline press, 2000. el camino college. web. 6 may 2011.

which line from the poem illustrates a simile?

a.) “she clicks over the saxophone keys”
b.) “she’s gone from sounding like the smoke detector”
c.) “she’s gonna learn to play the blues.”
d.) “her hair, that halo of red gold curls”

Write an argumentative paragraph answering does technology make us feel more alone?

Which statement about “the jitling of granny weatherwall” most clearly describes streak of consciousness? a)in her narration, granny often gets distracted by random thoughts. b)granny feels disillusioned from her jitling from many many years ago c)brief moments of dialogue break up otherwise long sequences of description. d)the narrator often relies on metaphor to convey granny’s thoughts and feelings

Read the excerpt from "the storyteller." the smaller girl created a diversion by beginning to recite "on the road to mandalay.” she only knew the first line, but she put her limited knowledge to the fullest possible use. she repeated the line over and over again in a dreamy but resolute and very audible voice; it seemed to the bachelor as though some one had had a bet with her that she could not repeat the line aloud two thousand times without stopping. whoever it was who had made the wager was likely to lose his bet. "come over here and listen to a story,” said the aunt, when the bachelor had looked twice at her and once at the communication cord. the children moved listlessly towards the aunt’s end of the carriage. evidently her reputation as a storyteller did not rank high in their estimation. in a low, confidential voice, interrupted at frequent intervals by loud, petulant questionings from her listeners, she began an unenterprising and deplorably uninteresting story about a little girl who was good, and made friends with every one on account of her goodness, and was finally saved from a mad bull by a number of rescuers who admired her moral character. which instances of situational irony occur in the passage? select two options. a.) “whoever it was who had made the wager was likely to lose his bet.” b.) “‘come over here and listen to a story,’ said the aunt, when the bachelor had looked twice at her and once at the communication cord.” -- c.) “the children moved listlessly towards the aunt’s end of the carriage.” d.) “evidently her reputation as a story-teller did not rank high in their estimation.” -- e.) “in a low, confidential voice, interrupted at frequent intervals by loud, petulant questionings from her listeners, she began an unenterprising and deplorably uninteresting story about a little girl who was good.”