Sierra Singer

Ms. Deborah Kabwang Makuma

English 101

30 November 2021

Parents

My inspirations are the people who gave me life, the people who keep me motivated,

which are my parents. My mother is a Navajo lady about 5’6 and my father a 5’10 Navajo man.

Both loving parents to their three kids.

These two people loved me to the moon and back. They seemed like giants who couldn’t

be beaten or messed with. Their hair was both long and light brown, with glasses that had thin

frames, and a smile that will be printed in my memory for the rest of my life. Their voices were

very softly spoken and calm when I called them at work on multiple occasions just to bug them

or hear their voices. I waited for them at the foot of the porch everyday as they drove back from

work to greet them with a hug or ask a million questions about their days. I would feel comforted

by them in my surroundings because I felt their love. The smell of my mom’s office clothes and

the little stench of oil or gas from my dad’s work clothes at around 5:00pm every day filled our

home, which meant my parents were back. They would come inside and change their clothes to

clothes that were just a tad baggy than their work clothes. My mom would pick up her Ipad to

play Candy Crush even though she had already beat all the levels available. My dad would take

his shoes off and sit at the couch to watch UFC or impractical jokers. Those two humans look

like the strongest people I know. I felt like life would feel like this forever, I didn’t want to grow

up at all.
 I drove home after not being home for a month due to college. I drive up to my home and

my parents are outside waiting on the porch for me. I see them with those smiles. I walk inside

and sit down, that sense of being loved and cared for is with me once again. I can smell a home

cooked meal, which makes my taste buds tingle. I stare at my parents who look tired. Their hairs

have strands of white now. Their faces appear to have wrinkles. I cuddle up to my mom just to

feel the warmth of her hug. I watch football with my dad because that is our favorite thing to do,

he cheers loudly when the Steelers make a good play. My parents and I grew older in a blink of

an eye. I now know they struggled making ends meet but their love for their kids got them

through it. I still think they are those giants who can't be messed with even though I’m taller than

them. The feeling of being 5 years old is back, but now I sit here thinking I just want a few more

minutes till I leave back to Phoenix.

I didn’t want to grow up because that would mean my parents would grow older too. I

look back at the past and know it took so much work to keep us kids fed, clothes, and satisfied.

Fast forward to the present, they still help with whatever their kids need. My parents are really

out of this world and can’t be messed with by anyone or anything.

Choose a topic: a place or a person.
● You should have a long history and significant experience with the topic you
choose.
● The topic could be a specific person (family member, friend, a public figure...)
or a 'type' of person (firefighters, teachers, servers) or a specific place (a
childhood home, a city park, a mountain) or a 'type' of place (swimming pools,
sidewalks, classrooms, hospital beds).
● If you need help thinking of a topic, go to this announcement and chat with
each other. I'll chime in too if needed.

Write
Your job in this essay is to describe the person or the place in 2 ways and to explain
what deeper insight you've learned by having your perspective changed. This is much
like what Mark Twain does with his "Two Ways of Seeing a River."

Organizational Tips
Organize your essay by mimicking Twain's structure. Here's a sample outline:
● Para 1: Introduce the topic and make it sound interesting to your reader
● Para 2: Jump right into describing the person/place in the way she/it
appeared to you at one time
● Para 3: Transition and describe the person/place in the way she/it appears
now.
● Para 4: Your thesis and the deeper insight that the reader should learn from
your ideas...here you tell the reader what you've lost, what you've gained,
what you've learned, and why it all matters

Thinking Tips
● Reflect on Mark Twain's essay about the river. He describes the Mississippi
River as it appeared to him as a child (sights of intense beauty and wonder
dominate the description). Then he describes the same river as it appears to
him now, as an adult and captain of a riverboat (the sights become utilitarian
and a bit jaded because of how much responsibility he now has and what he
feels he's lost).
● Think about your topic like Twain thinks about his: What has been gained/lost
in your changed perspective? What should it make the reader think
about/realize?
Minimum Requirements
Use descriptive writing concepts and skills to invite readers into your perspectives.
Write between 500 and 800 words.
Format the essay in MLA style -- Don't submit until you've accomplished what is
instructed on this page.
Study the rubric so you understand more about your overall learning/writing goals in this
essay