Transcript Elaboration

8th Grade Prompt
*Write an essay explaining which skills are
valued and taught in your own family.
Thesis Option #1: Gardening and sewing are
skills that are taught and valued by my family.
Thesis Option #2: My family instilled in me the
art of reading and gardening.
Thesis Option #3: Two skills that were taught
and valued in my own family include reading
and sewing.
*During the Great Depression, people
literally starved because the one skill they
had was taken from them—growing food.
Even small gardens dried up in the drought.
People were forced to leave their farms and
look for work elsewhere. I empathize with
these people. Growing their own food was a
skill that they passed on from parent to
child. Like these people, I love to garden.
This skill was passed on to me by my own
parents.
*In history class, I identified with Betsy Ross.
I remember seeing pictures of her sewing
the first American flag. It was very like the
activities my mother gave me as a child to
learn how to sew. We took scraps from
clothes my mother had made my sisters and
me and cut large squares. I learned how to
sew straight lines sewing those squares of
cloth together to make a quilt. Eventually,
that quilt followed me to college and lay on
my dorm bed.
*I remember reading a biography about
Abraham Lincoln, who as a child living in
a log cabin with dirt floors, would read
books by firelight. He was a self-taught
man who managed to become a lawyer
despite having little to no formal
education. Although my father never
graduated from college, he was an avid
reader and encouraged all of his
daughters to go to college.
*I love watching period movies that
include costumes from another era. I
know how much time and effort it takes
to make those garments because I have
done it myself. When my mother taught
me to sew, I don’t think she thought I
would be making bodices, full length
court gowns, or men’s doublets and great
coats for Renaissance faires.
*I remember watching the scene in Pretty in
Pink where Molly Ringwald takes her
mother’s pink gown and remakes it for her
own prom. As a self-taught seamstress, I
can understand the process she went
through and realized how brave she was to
cut up her mother’s gown. I’m one of those
fortunate people who can sew. It is quickly
becoming a lost art.
*Despite being unable to read very well, the
main character in The Book Thief, Liesel,
begins stealing books. With the help of her
foster father, she becomes a more
proficient reader. I can identify with Liesel
because I wasn’t a good reader. In first
grade, I was in the low reading group, but
with lots of practice, a good elementary
library, support from my family, I became a
good reader.
*My favorite magazine as a child was
National Geographic World. It was written
specifically for children and had amazing
pictures and articles about animals, the
oceans, archeology, and the solar system. It
was the first time that I had a subscription
for a magazine that came in the mail, and I
loved perusing the articles. This is how my
aunt and uncle shared their love of reading
with me.
*I’m amazed by the designers on “Project
Runway” and their creations. Although I like
to critique their designs, ultimately I know
how difficult it is to sew a garment without
a pattern in a very short period of time. My
mother taught me how to sew as a child and
it has saved me thousands of dollars in
clothing alterations when I’ve gained or lost
weight, repairs when a hem comes undone,
and construction of new clothing and
costumes.
*I’ve watched many reality television
programs where people are dropped off in
an isolated area with little food or shelter.
I’ve watched them scavenge for food—
making meals out of what they can find.
Many of them lose huge amounts of weight
because they are not accustomed to
foraging for their own food. Born into a
family of gardeners, I have the skills to grow
my own food despite the challenges that
may arise.
*Prominently displayed in Trinity High School’s
library is a large poster entitled “Read” with a
picture of Coach Lineweaver and several of the
state champion Trinity football players reading
books. Other classrooms throughout the district
have similar posters with famous celebrities like
Oprah Winfrey or Orlando Bloom on them. All of
these posters encourage reading. This was a skill
that was taught and encouraged in my family as
well.
* In the news recently, newspapers have discussed the
change in the American diet. There is an outcry at the
number of additives, the increased fats and calories,
and the use of dyes and artificial sweeteners in our
food. My grandmother always kept a garden. She would
grow most of her own vegetables. Although my parents
didn’t have a formal garden, we had peach, lemon,
orange, and papaya trees in our backyard which
provided fresh produce to our diets. My father also
brought home fresh onions, cabbage, and tomatoes from
the farms he frequented. My mother canned fresh fruits
and vegetables and we always had a hose full of onions
on our back porch. I inherited my family’s green thumb,
and I, too, have a garden.
*On the news, I see families in poverty
stricken parts of the world who must
rely on subsistence farming—growing
enough food for their families. As an
avid gardener, I would like to think
that I could grow enough food to feed
myself and my family.
*Because cheaply manufactured clothing can
be bought from countries like China, India,
and even Mexico, Americans are no longer
learning how to sew their own clothing or
even make simple repairs or alterations.
Sewing is a lost skill in many homes across
the United States—many but not all of
them. My mother insisted that all of her
daughters learn how to use a sewing
machine.
*My father always said it doesn’t matter what you
do in life as long as you do it well and work hard
while you are doing it. As a little girl, I watched my
father work twelve to fifteen hours a day seven
days a week in the oil field. He made good money,
but he worked hard in a very messy, physical,
dangerous job. He didn’t want his children to
physically work as hard as he did, so he and my
mother insisted that we all get an education so
that we could provide for ourselves in the future.
Reading was ultimately the key to that education.
*I’m glad that my mother showed me
how to sew at a young age. My talent
as a seamstress has saved my family
thousands of dollars. My niece has
asked me countless times to alter
formal gowns for special occasions and
to take up the hems on pants that are
too long.
*When I was in elementary school, I remember
my mother making all of my school clothes. We
would go to a large fabric warehouse with
literally shelves and shelves of material. I
would choose a pattern and my mother would
make my younger sister and me two or three
new outfits. My dresses, shorts, and blouses
never looked like anyone else’s because every
aspect of my outfit was chosen by me. I’m glad
that my mother passed the skill of sewing on to
me.
*There is a great picture of me and my
younger sister leaning against our backyard
fence eating oranges picked from our very
own orange tree. You can see that our hands
and faces are sticky with the juice. We
always had fruit trees in our backyard.
Gardening was a skill that was a skill
instilled in me from a young age.
Materials provided by Lisa
Rowlette, Carolyn Wright,
and Cathy Kahlig
Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD