Finn Bourke

Professor Garcia

English 134, Section 8

January 17, 2024

Listen With Your Heart

Growing up, I was surrounded by a family that loved stories. Stories were told daily by

people recounting snippets of their lives and even more stories were read to my siblings and me. Commented [AO1]: *siblings and I

A great story could fill the dinner table with laughter and warmth and unite our family. When my

siblings and I were too young to tell our own stories, our parents would fill the time telling us

adventurous tales of their lives. The love for storytelling extended past our parents though.

Grandparents, aunts, and uncles all proudly would share anything with the large boisterous

Bourke clan. During holidays, poetry would flow back and forth between eager relatives with

many participants reciting the poems from memory. Occasionally, songs were sung with the

passion of a trained opera singer but no one was truly a trained singer. Being encircled by that

environment as a child, I too fell in love with how captivating a good story was. Commented [AO2]: Like the ending of the first
paragraph, good detail describing Bourke family

Even though most of the stories I was told were from the perspective of the family

member telling the story, a solid proportion of them were myths, legends, and other nonfiction

stories of magical lands and beings. My thoughts were filled with dreams of being the ruler of

the sea like Poseidon, being cunning like Raven, and being wise like Thoth. My excitement for

stories of adventuring in faraway lands was fueled by elementary and middle school friends who

also marveled over mythical tales. Our wonder was powered by the stories we heard and as well

complicated board and card games kept adding logs to the fire of our imagination's quests for

glory. Unfortunately, as high school rolled around, the love for mystical mischief seemed to fade
away as people became interested in other activities. The stories never left me though. Each story

had its own message and theme to convey to readers like me. Those stories had characters that

were brave, courageous, loving, strong, smart, and so much more. Being older and more mature,

meant that I could draw more meaning from the stories I read as a child. Each story had a deeper

meaning that resonated with me more than the younger me who dreamed of being able to have

superpowers and conquer worlds. I came to realize this as my grandfather slowly passed away

during my sophomore year of high school.
During the early summer of 2020, my grandfather was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
He had been living with Parkinson's disease for years so everyone expected that to eventually
Commented [AO3]: While the paragraph is enticing to
read, I feel as if it is slightly too much of the same idea, as in
restating the same concept over and over again. Maybe it
would be beneficial to slightly expand on a certain couple of
these memories

cause his passing. The doctors did not think he would be able to live much longer after his

diagnosis yet month after month passed and he was still around. Those few months were filled

with hours of family time and meals followed by poetry readings until late into the night. My Commented [AO4]: Good literacy sponsor, however
maybe provide specific details with times you felt connected
grandfather served in the Navy as a pilot for almost 10 years and had always had a deep passion to his poetry that he recited from memory, instead of
generalising.

for poetry. Ever since he was young, he was hooked on the beauty of poetry and became a very

knowledgeable poetry fanatic. While many family members would pull out a sheet of paper to

read a poem off of, my grandfather could recite poem after poem from memory. Surrounded by

such a wealth of knowledge of literature, it was easy for me to take such beautiful prose for

granted. I loved listening to the poetry my grandfather preached yet most of the time I did not

absorb the words he was saying. I loved hearing him read poems but I focused more on his

booming voice and expressive tones than the words he was saying. There are benefits to both

absorbing the words from poetry and feeling the emotion and sound in the reader's voice kind of

like listening to music. For me, it was like a meditation to hear my grandfather read poetry. I

would zone out partway through the poem and reach a very peaceful state until a word would

catch my ear causing me to focus back in on the eloquent prose. I realized that art such as poetry,
music, paintings, and more can bring people to a different state of mind that can promote

reflection and peace. My grandfather knew this well and it seemed as if all the literature in his

life helped dying not be as scary to him. After a four month long battle with cancer, he passed

away in a state of tranquility. The following months were not too different from those before his

passing. They still consisted of lots of family time and a surplus of stories, poems, and passages Commented [AO5]: Did your grandfather's passing
influence the amount of literature you began consuming?
from favorite books of my grandfather. The key difference was the lack of the presence of a now Can be either positive or negative

resting giant. The child inside me still hoped that something could bring him back yet in real life

not everything can be controlled.

From then on, I have put more effort into consciously trying to find meaning in the words

I read or listen to. It can be very easy to take things for granted and unfortunately, sometimes it

takes major change to realize what one appreciates in life. Even though going through loss can

be incredibly painful, it pushed me to focus on what I have and take the time to cherish what is

right in front of me. Too often people can start something so that they can finish it and not focus

on the process and joy of being in the moment. It can take a lot of effort to center on the present.

Through poetry, I have gotten better at being in the now. Even though my grandfather is no Commented [AO6]: Possibly give an example of what
type of specific poetry has helped you. This will help reader
longer here, his love for poetry has influenced his offspring and given us a way to always be able visualise and add detail to your writing

to connect back to him. When something is written down, it stays forever. Not always literally

“forever” but it becomes more real than just thoughts floating around in someone's head. It

allows people to refer back to it time and time again. Just words on a piece of paper can make

someone cry, laugh, and smile, sometimes all at once. Older family members of mine who I Commented [AO7]: This collection of sentences is fairly
hard to read/understand, maybe word the sentences
think of as stoic will read a poem or paragraph that they find powerful and share it with everyone clearer.

they know. That’s the effect my grandfather has had on all of us and I don’t think it will be going

away anytime soon. As much as it can get tiring to hear poem after poem during holidays, I still

appreciate those moments of all of us surrounding a table and listening to words artistically put
together. In the end, poetry and literature are just words but there still is deep meaning to be

found in those words. My family has found the meaning in words to be something of value even Commented [AO8]: Good ending, ties in the main theme
of the story and how you have reflected on literature since
when it doesn’t feel worth it, I still try to make an effort to actually listen to those words. Not just your grandfather's passing.

listen to them with my ears but let the words flow through my heart and soul and bask in them to

pause and just take that moment as it is like my grandfather would. Commented [AO9]: Overall well written, but I think the
theme of the narrative is a bit too general. Go in detail,
expand what exact poems your grandpa loved, how the
bonding moments with your family were, what types of
specific poetry have helped you with your literacy... etc
Commented [AO10]: Don't forget to double space