<div style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>love this piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I hated the professor for his hubris and
lack of a third dimension. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">He was narcississtic . <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">His writing was probably mediocre. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I believe that suffering is necessary for
growth in life, <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">but being unkind and using that as an
excuse for creating artists<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is trite,
ineffective and shallow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Your minimalistic writing in those short
episodes describing the student’s experiences and development<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is my favorite part of the piece. Good
writing. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">By DeAnna Quietwater Noriega<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"I
was ringing up this guy's books in the bookstore and you wouldn't believe what
he said," exclaimed Angie, shoving her granny glasses up on her snub nose.
She flipped back a wayward strand of hair the color of sandalwood. Widely
spaced blue eyes and a pair of faded dungarees gave her the look of a Wisconsin
farmer's daughter—not the fine arts major from <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:state> that she was. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"So,
tell!" coaxed Dee, a petite, dark haired girl with the high cheekbones of
her Chippewa ancestors. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Well,
he was talking about you and Tansy. He’s in your psych class and was
complaining about you bringing her."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Why
would he do that?” <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place> said. At her feet lay a
large, black <st1:place w:st="on">Labrador</st1:place>. The dog's golden amber
eyes were fixed on the girl, following her every move. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Well,
he said to his friend that if you kept bringing that huge dog to class, he was
going to start bringing his horse. Then his friend said you had to have her
there because she’s your guide dog. The guy said, ‘No she wasn't’ because he’d
seen you running down a hall with her coming along behind you on a leash."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"I
wonder when that was." <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place> mused. "I
sometimes answer the dorm phone without bothering to put her harness on. I
guess I might have run a few steps after a friend inside a building without
telling Tansy to guide me. It's not like I need her help in a familiar setting
like I do out on a street. Look, I've got to run,” <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place>
said, lightly sliding slender fingers over the face of a braille watch. “I've
got English Comp in ten minutes." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Who've
you got?" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Anderson</st1:city></st1:place>." <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place> sighed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">That word sigh says a lot in a minimum of
space. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Tansy
moved to press close to her girl and growled softly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Angie
giggled. "Sounds like Tansy doesn't like him any more than you do!" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"I
don't dislike him," said <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place>. “It's the
other way around. He seems to hate my writing. I get an upset stomach every
time I know he’s returning an assignment. He can be so sarcastic!" She
dropped her hand to the handle attached to Tansy's harness, straightened her
shoulders, and stepped away in a swirl of long skirts and dark chestnut hair
that nearly reached to the backs of her knees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I’m <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not sure<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I believe that you don’t like him. You feel ill when he is around, your
dog doesn’t like him, and you hate how he makes you feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, that sounds like you don’t like him.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">A
few minutes later, Tansy wove confidently through the crowd of college freshmen
to a desk in the front row. She dove under the attached seat, curling herself
into a compact ball. <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place> let her backpack
slide to the floor and started to sit on the seat her dog had located for her.
Too her embarrassment she discovered it was already occupied. She attempted to
haul Tansy out from under someone’s feet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Girl,
when I said chair I meant an empty one! Sorry! I think my guide dog wants to improve
my social life by making sure I meet more of my classmates. I'm <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place> and this devious female in the dog suit is
Tansy," she said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Clever recovery.</span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The
young man occupying the chair, moved to the next desk.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Ah,
no problem, I'm Dave Cross."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Dave
Cross? Aren't you in my biology class too? I heard you tell my friend Angie
you’re premed,” said <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place>. "I was going to
ask you if you’d be my lab partner. If you could do the dissections and
microscope work, I could take all of the notes and keep the lab books up to
date."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"That
sounds great. I've already started working on becoming a doctor by having
handwriting so lousy sometimes even I can't read it."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Professor
Anderson strode across the front of the room to the far wall. As he talked, his
steps kept tempo with the rapid fire of his speech. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">That’s something that would be more
apparent to a blind person.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"You
write like grade school <i>children</i>! These essays are what I would expect
from naive prepubescents, not college students." He tossed all but one
paper onto his desk as he swept past. Pausing in front of <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place>,
he ripped her paper dramatically in half and threw it contemptuously in the
wastebasket. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"With
your disability and minority heritage, I expected better of you, young lady!
Where are your passion, your anger and pain? You are obviously sublimating
because no one with your problems could possibly be so full of sunny,
optimistic tripe. I want you to forget all of that attention to sentence
structure, punctuation, and elements of style bunk and give me truth. This
Pollyanna sweetness and light is crap."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>I find his protestations of how someone
is supposed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to be based on their ethnic
and visual background to be offensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How did you feel about it?<o:p></o:p></u></b></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Anderson</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> strode toward the door, spun back to resume
his diatribe. He was forced to skid to an abrupt halt by a black bulk sprawled
directly in his path. The dog hadn't been there moments before when he had
stomped past the little blind girl with her tape recorder. He liked dogs. Guide
dogs were supposed to be gentle and friendly. Didn't <st1:place w:st="on">Labradors</st1:place>
have big, sad brown eyes? This dog stared up at him with the feral, yellow eyes
of a wolf. The expression in them didn't look the least bit gentle or friendly.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Apparently Tammy also took offense.<o:p></o:p></u></b></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Where
was I? Oh yes, for your next assignment I want you to read chapter two of my
book and write about a painful experience. Make me feel your anguish. Class is
dismissed." He turned his back to exit the room. A pretty blonde freshman
cut him off, skipping ahead to block his exit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Sir,
how long does our essay have to be?" she chirped. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Before
he could snarl at the empty-headed little bimbo, something slammed into the
back of his right knee. He staggered to avoid landing unceremoniously on his
backside. The damned dog shouldered by him with her little blind waif in tow.
That buffoon who headed the music department had dubbed her the wood nymph.
With her long, flowing chestnut hair and childlike face, she did resemble one.
It was witches, not wood nymphs, who were supposed to keep familiars. After
twenty years of teaching freshman English classes, he usually enjoyed
challenging the one or two students who showed promise. But there was something
uncanny about how the dog glared back at him each time he tried to push that
little girl she guided to reach her potential. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>I find this parragraph a little
confusing in terms of who are the various subjects of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>its contents from sentence to sentence or
from phrase to phrase. <o:p></o:p></u></b></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">On the other hand, it is potentially one
of the best parragraphs..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">As the two of them sped off down the hall, <st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place> was torn between wanting to laugh and feeling she
should have apologized. Instead, she murmured to her companion, "That's
one way to remove a writer's block!"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">***<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Professor
John Anderson scanned the pages of the print-out on his desk. Frowning in
concentration, he read:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Resolution</span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">By Delia Stillwater<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The Vow</span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> "I won't ever let anyone make me
cry again," said the little girl with welts on her back and legs. She had
been so excited when Isabel came over, bringing her new jump rope to play. It
had bright red plastic handles with silver jingle bells on its ends. When the
girl's baby brother wanted it and she tried to give him her own jump rope
instead, he threw himself down—hitting his lip on the bottom step. His screams
of anger turned to ones of real pain. Daddy came out on the porch. She started
to cry too, because she knew the blame would fall on her. Crying never made him
stop. It made it harder to talk and explain. Daddy grabbed Isabel's jump rope
from her hand and used it for the spanking. He yelled that he would teach her
to be mean to the baby. That didn't make sense. Shouldn't he have said that he
would teach her not to be mean? Isabel ran home. Now she would never want to come
over to play again. It wasn't fair! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The next time her daddy got angry, he
spanked her with a piece of wood until it broke, but she didn't cry. She held
her breath until the pain and yelling went away. When she woke up, mama was
holding her and crying. Didn't she understand that tears didn't help?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center; line-height: 150%;"><i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">She Couldn't</span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> "I'd love to dance," said
the teenaged girl through her gritted teeth. "Could I catch a ride home
with you and Beth after the party? Danny seems to have forgotten he was my date
in his eagerness to make that new girl Jean feel welcome. If I let him take me
home I will have to kill him!" She tossed her head and stepped out onto
the dance floor with Marty. She couldn't cry. She wouldn't give Jean the
satisfaction. She didn't want her friends to pity her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center; line-height: 150%;"><i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">She Wouldn't</span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> "Why can't you understand? I
need to go to college for at least one year. I have to be myself and find out
who that is before I step from being my parents' oldest daughter to being your
wife." <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chad</st1:place></st1:country-region>
was ten years older. He had a good job. He owned a home, and her parents were
so thrilled she had found a man to take care of her. All of her friends were
envious of the half karat diamond he had given her. She was a senior in high
school and had won a scholarship. Was she asking too much? Why couldn't he
believe she would come back to him after she had proved to herself that she
could make it on her own? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"You had
better take back this ring if you can't trust me out of your sight," she
said, slipping it from her finger. Entering her parents' quiet house, she
closed the door. She took deep calming breaths. She wouldn't allow herself to
cry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I am thinking this story needs to end when the
college student walks away, but worry that the professor comes across as a
single dimension jjerk without the office scene. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-align: center; line-height: 150%;"><i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">She Could</span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">"How can you think I would be so shallow as
to pretend to be his friend because he has a car and can drive me, whenever I
need a ride? I thought we were friends!" said the college girl to her
roommate, before she fled the dormitory room. For twelve years, she hadn't
cried—no matter how much they’d hurt her. It had never been safe to cry. If you
shed tears, they had won. They had made you give in to the struggle and they
hurt you more because you were weak. She knelt on the cool grass, pressing her
face into the glossy, black fur of her dog and let the tears flow. For the
first time since she had been a child, she wasn't afraid to let someone else
know she was hurt. She wasn't alone against the world. She was safe within the
shelter of her dog's love. It was finally alright to cry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">
Professor Anderson laid the manuscript back down on his desk. He studied his
student. She sat stroking the silky head of the dog resting on her knee. Her
long dark hair screened her face from him. The black <st1:place w:st="on">Labrador</st1:place>'s
gaze was fixed on the downturned face of the girl. The dog's eyes shone with a
golden glow of devotion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">
"Miss Stillwater, this piece is very different from what you usually
write. It is almost minimalist in its lack of description. It doesn't have the
vivid texture and color of your other work."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">
<st1:place w:st="on">Dee</st1:place> lifted her head to face the man who never
seemed pleased, no matter what she wrote. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">
"You asked for truth. I don't think there was much color in that girl's
life. She was like a spindly weed struggling to find some sunlight and
nourishment in a vacant lot. I'm not her anymore. If I choose to glory in the
bright, beautiful things all around me, rather than pick at old wounds to watch
them bleed; then that is what is true for me. I won’t keep exploring the past
when there are so many tomorrows to anticipate. I have always loved the poetic
beauty of Steinbeck, rather than the stark realism of Hemmingway. Maybe I will
never achieve the elegance of the one, but I don't intend to be a mediocre
imitator of the other. If it means failing your course, I will write the way
that seems real to me."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dee</span></st1:place><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> rose. Her hand dropped to the handle of Tansy's
harness as the dog swiftly fell into position at her left side. The two whirled
out of Professor Anderson’s stuffy little office. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">John Anderson watched them flee. He was only
mildly irritated. The stupid child had missed the point entirely. Only by
forcing her to stretch and struggle would she reach her potential and find her
voice as a writer. Even the ones possessing a grain of talent were too
egotistical to see that he was trying to bring out the best in them when he
demanded more effort. If he wasn’t going to write the next great American novel,
then he was going to keep prodding and pruning in the hopes that one of his
students would write it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv8634114050msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">At the beginning of this
parragraph,you use the word,’flee.’ I think you were describing <st1:city w:st="on">Anderson</st1:city>’s faulty perspective<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Stillwater</st1:city></st1:place> was not running away. She was
leavig in triumph for claiming herself.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
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