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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
- From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, choose Anonymous, then click "Publish."
- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
I enjoyed the story Kittens. I felt for the young girl Kaylee, I’ve always had an attachment to abandoned animals, or the one that seem like they need help. There have been to many times to count that I come across an animal that I want to help an my mom says to call animal pound. I think as children we all thought that they were saving animals, and sometimes they do, but mostly they’re always too full and have to euthanize animals. I felt mad at the dad for reassuring something he wasn’t sure of. I’m also kind of upset he did tell the man “never mind” after he found out the kittens would be euthanized, even after promising his daughter they wouldn’t. Maybe there is a hidden underlying moral to the story that I didn’t pick up on. I’ve been Kaylee before I think that’s why I loved the story so much. I also thought that the relationship between the two was sweet. I feel that Kaylee wanted to be a mother to these kittens because she herself didn’t have a mother. At the end of the story Mr. Mortimer questions wether he has seen the mother cat around and then finally gives up and says “Yeah, i don’t know where the mom is”, I felt as though it was a nod to the fact that he’s a single father and doesn’t know where Kaylee’s mom is. A look into the life of Mr. Mortimer, he may have been left with Kaylee as a baby, finding the baby kittens and not knowing how to take care of them, I feel brought back his memories about being a single father not knowing how to take care of a child. I feel that this was just as emotional for him as it was for Kaylee in some ways.
ReplyDeleteAisha Teegarden
I personally related a lot more to The Impression. Although the ending left me a bit confused, I can relate to the narrator overall wanting a place to be able to vent about your frustration anonymously without the fear of repercussions for what you might say. At the end of the story, we learn that the narrator is actually the anonymous YouTuber MikMoney that has posted weekly videos, commenting on the incompetence of the school’s teachers. The narrator takes us on a misleading journey of trying to find out the identity of MikMoney, in order to deter suspicion from herself. In the end, the narrator shares with us that the reason behind creating MikMoney was to release stress, something I can relate to. I feel like in this generation it has become somewhat normal to vent your feelings out on social media in order to de-stress but you also run the risk of your peers passing their judgment onto you as well so the fact that the narrator found a way to vent publicly while still remaining anonymous is something I wish I was able to do.
ReplyDeleteBethanee Campos
What I liked the story of ¨Kittens¨ by Michael McCormick is that Kaylees Father was very lenient with her. He was fair because he told his daughter, how about you doing half of your problems and then I let you go to your best friend's house. I feel so happy when Kaylee found three kittens underneath the hedge. Mr. Mortimer was so nice to let the kittens stay indoors. I liked that Kaylee really show love and affection to the cats. She loved the kittens so much that she gave them names. Midnight was the black cat, the gray was named Mibbles and Calicto cat was Maya. What I did not like about the story is that Mr.Mortimer could kept the Kittens. However, he did not want to keep them because they were newborn cats without a mother who can feed them. I did not like the idea that the man from the shelter say they have to euthanize the cats since they do not have a mom. Mr. Mortimer could save the Kittens life but he did not do it. I did not like when Kaylee was crying I was heartbroken because the man was taking the kittens to the shelter.
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked about the story of ¨The Impression¨ by the author Michael McCormick is that MikMoney was a good girl, she just wants to say the truth about her school. However, say it in a tough way to make her audience enjoy the show and laugh. I think it is very cool MikMoney is hiding his identity, now people are wondering who is her. What I did not like about the story is that a show called Skool Suks on Saturdays is talking bad about Jenkins High saying it is the worst school in the entire universe. Instead of talking crap about the school I think she should suggest good ideas in the show to improve her school. I think that show on Youtube is definitely a bad influence for young people because they havent completely mature yet so they will think they have the authority to judge the school and the teachers too. I did not like when the teachers were punishing students just because MikMoney was talking bad about them and also they did not who she or he was. As a result, teachers were tough with students giving them referrals for every little student did wrong. I don't like that Leah was asking who was MikMoney and she was MikMoney. However, she was trying to blame two guys like nick and Matt.
Oscar A. Jacome Serrano
I really enjoyed reading these two stories. I am not a big fan of cats, but in general I do love animals. Therefore, I sympathized with Kaylee and how attached she got to those kittens. "Kittens" was a very cute story probably created for the young children audience to feel connected to the events. The story is easy to read, very enjoyable and relatable. I t was so sad that though the dad meant well for the kittens that was not going to be possible. They tried saving them and it took so much from Kaylee to give them up to later learn that they were gonna be put down, even though she didn't know what euthanized meant, she knew it wasn't any good news. "The Impression" was very fun to read. As i read it I though to myself "how annoying is this school and that Mikmoney!" the author did a great job with the dialogue and details that it made me feel as if I was the one getting referrals for everything in high school. i loved that plot twist! Towards the ending when Leah keeps mentioning the impressions and how no one could probably do one better than hers, I began to think that that was indeed suspicious and how it could b=maybe be her. But then I snapped out of it to only reveal it WAS HER.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Rodriguez
I really enjoyed reading “The Impression” because to me it is very realistic, I feel like a lot of people have anonymous twitter/blogs/reddit any kind of website to say their true emotions or rant about something. It’s a lot easier to express yourself without getting the backlash of someone who might disagree with you. I also related with the fact that because someone was talking negatively about the staff and the staff didnt know who it was they were taking it out on everyone because a teacher in my high school did that. My junior year a student was talking about one of my teachers and word got spread so she started calling the students “snitches” and would dismiss them out of class. It also reminded me of the show “Gossip Girl” because the person who was behind this persona was also playing along asking who it was, just like in “The Impression”.
ReplyDeleteI was emotional with the story “Kittens” because not all parents would let you keep an animal that you found outside, I know my parents don’t and even if I want to bring them in I can’t because I still live under my parents roof. But to me I felt that the dad might have done that to make his daughter happy and didnt fully think of the responsibilities a pet comes with.
-Cecilia Cantu
I really enjoyed the story Kittens, and I really felt for Kaylee. Although I think she whined a lot, it seemed like she had a good heart. Finding abandoned animals always feels like you’re doing something right, but it feels even better when they’re given a proper home and food. It upset me how Mr. Mortimer kind of made an empty promise, because he even had me thinking that the kittens would be okay at the shelter. Also, it was funny to me how as soon as she found the kittens her homework and the trip to Emery’s house was completely forgotten, something a child tends to do! The Impression was my favorite piece of all! At the beginning, I had no clue the narrator was a female, let alone finding out she was actually MikMoney! The plot twist was so unexpected yet pure genius! I really enjoyed how “Youtube” was incorporated letting the students of today understand what was going on, singe kids nowadays are always on Youtube observing their favorite creator. Furthermore, Kittens gave me an innocent middle school vibe, while The Impression reminded of the end of Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video where he unexpectedly turns out to be the monster at the end!
ReplyDeleteClarissa Partida
When reading “Kitten’s” I felt there was some underlying things going on. I don’t know why but I feel the father is almost a young father, since there was a line in the story that made me think that way. I really felt my heart drop when the animal shelter got the kittens and said they were going to be euthanized. It breaks my heart but that is the sad reality of sometimes calling the pound especially if they are tiny kittens. I couldn’t really be angry with the father as well since the situation was hard for them probably money wise. “The Impression” was interesting as well, it makes me wonder about the main character more. I feel like they made themselves into two people, and maybe that’s why she can’t give up this you tuber personality. It is a form to release stress for him, then again she is also the one causing herself her own stress as well. It was very interesting to see the point of view of the “villain” I don’t think that’s the right word for this character but it was still refreshing. Did I kind of figure they were the you tuber, yes I did? But leading up to it was a ride on its own.
ReplyDelete-Alyssa Rangel
I had a love/hate feeling with the story “Kittens” by Michael McCormick. I loved how the little girl wanted to take good care of the kittens because I would have been the same way. I was in a similar situation with a puppy that I found on the street when I was little. I wanted to keep it, but my parents had said no, so we ended up finding a good home for it. However, the part that I hate in this story is when the animal control man says that the kittens will have to be euthanized if the mom wasn’t found. It bummed me out because the little girl grew an emotional attachment to them, but that didn’t matter in the end. In the story “The Impression” by Michael McCormick, it reminded me of my high school experiences. In the reading, the author talks about the Skool Suks on Saturday! Show, where many things about the school are discussed. He mentions that in the show, they discuss things like Mrs. Baker being the worst principal, or Mr. Mayfield being a train wreck of a teacher. When I was in high school, the students would always talk about the things they hated or loved, which included me. Overall, this story is funny and cool to read about because I can relate to it.
ReplyDelete-Alec De La Garza
These stories are a little bit more difficult for me to critique. Since I tend to be a bit harsh in these discussions I didn’t know whether or not I should address the stories as if they were written by a peer. Given that there is very little to contextualize these stories for us I decided to do just that.
ReplyDeleteKittens is a rather harsh story that seems to be mostly about a girl who can’t manage to get what she wants, regardless of whether or not what she wants is good. I suppose that this is rather typical of younger children, but it draws attention away from the titular point of the story – the kittens.
The Impression is an interesting piece and quite relatable to boot. I think all of us would have loved a show like Skool Sucks on Saturday! While we were in high school. The story does have some strangeness to it. I’m not sure if the narrator was intended to come off as a crazy person, but the whole story revolves around it. The story also seems to be intentionally misleading us into thinking that MikMoney is a guy. This does not turn out to be the case and the author manages to make good use of it. I assumed that MikMoney was the narrator until they were revealed to be a girl. It turned out to be a pleasant subversion of expectations.
Christopher Hinkle
I did prefer “Kittens” out of both of the readings. Kittens, to my belief, gives a representation of what may or may not be the first memory of a child, from the homework struggles to the realization of death. I don’t know if this is being too nitpicky and may not even be relevant, but I believe he should choose a direct audience. If the audience is children, then the word choices should be that of the level of comprehension of the target audience. The impression was okay, it was not a story I would want to pick up on my own time, but worth the read regardless. I found myself dreading having to read each and every line, but that’s just my own personal feelings toward specific things. I prefer to read stories or narratives that fall under the creative non-fiction as opposed to complete fiction. I am impressed that the author was able to have us read and give him critiques, not many writers are up to that challenge and I am eager for a student from The University of Rio Grande Valley to be successful as a writer, especially with all the doubt that comes from our family members.
ReplyDeleteJonathon Morin