Stories from an Empty Classroom

Choices

You read two poems in the lesson that both deal with choices one makes in life. In one well-written paragraph, discuss the importance of decision making in life by making a text-to-self connection as well as a text-to-text connection from Nikki Giovani's "Choices" and Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken." Use at least one line as an example from each poem. Use the outline to develop your sentences, and then put them together in one paragraph.

Decision making is important to everyday life in ways that are both minuscule and large. (BORING!) Wake up America! You've got a choice to make. To get out of bed or not to get out of bed, that is the question. Y'all've got no idea how many choices you make in a day. Do I get out of bed? Do I go to work? Do I eat breakfast? If so, what? and How much? We make the decision of what to wear, what to eat, what to do, every single day. So you all should be proficient at it. If you decided to read this, you've... well, you've made a decision and are prepared and capable of the task I'm about to set you. If not, what are you doing here? Get out! (No, please don't I need a good grade.) The thing is that you may be required to read it but it's your choice whether you actually do (Unless someone has a gun to your head, then you may need some help. Please call 911.)

Your task is to write a poem about someone crying. Why? For how long? What type of crying? Are those happy tears I see? You decide every little thing about it and BAM! Big decision machine creation. The thing is that everyone has a choice to make. Do I turn this for the better? Or for the worse? It defines who you are, Not who your parents are, or who your sister screwed, or how many laps your brother can run. Your decisions make you and that's what you need to rely on. "Choices" by Nikki Giovanni illustrates this perfectly. "if i can't have/ what i want then/ my job is to want/ what i've got/ and be satisfied/ that at least there/ is something more/ to want," She says you've got to turn it for the better, make life your- (This word has been censored due to inappropriate language)- and make sure you're happy with it. (Please note that all commentary is the authors take on things. Not all of it will be entirely accurate.) Robert Frost's "The Road not Taken" as much of a joke as it is, also points this out. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—/ I took the one less travelled by,/ And that has made all the difference." The meaning could be that you've got to take risks and make a stand, do things you wouldn't normally do, that others wouldn't normally do. Yeah, you'll get hurt. But now you have a scar that shows that you did something, tried something new, and you've survived. Congratulations.