2 february 2022 online/asynchronous post two

2/1/2022

Post your reading journal about Moth stories here

The second post for our online/asynchronous class is about the listening assigned for Wednesday, 2 February 2022. You can access all of the Moth Story Hour stories from our syllabus on our class website.

For this reading journal, please post no more than 300 words (because it is an online post). As you post, please consider not just the three stories I asked you to listen to from The Moth but think about the two stories from Monday's Snow Day cancellation. While "7th Grade" and "The Secret Letter" are specifically written for and, in the case of "Letter" written by, Young Adults, the other pieces are written for adult readers/audiences.And yet all of them work or could work as young adult.

For this post, please respond to this prompt using all five of the readings/listenings from this week: What makes something "young" and "adult"? Is there a spectrum? If so, where to the stories we looked at this week fall? As you answer, consider the characteristics of YA that we talked about in class last week from the readings for Wednesday's class.

NOTE: As this is an asynchronous assignment, you need to have this and all of the other posts from this week completed by class time on Monday, 7 February 2022.

8 Comments

Julia Sullivan

2/1/2022 07:04:19 pm

Julia Sullivan
2/2/22
“Is Your Dad Single?”, “Maybe”, and “The Secret Letter”

Reading Journal
In “Is Your Dad Single” from The Moth Podcast by Erin Barker, Erin talked about how when her mom left, it was more of a good thing for her family because it was just her, her brother, her dog, and her dad. She had pizza every night and played games with her brother and she was happy. Then some girl in her class asked if her dad was single and a year later her dad was married to that girl’s mom. Once her new step mom and her two kids moved in everything changed. She wasn’t the only girl in the family anymore, there was no more time spent with just her dad and her brother, and her dad gave her dog away because her new step sister was allergic. She began to not know her role in her family anymore, she was no longer the good or smart one because her step siblings were way better at those roles. She began to rebel against her family and became the “asshole” of the family. But when she grew up and realized that her step siblings were no better than her she decided that being herself was just enough. I think that Erin was trying to show people that even when people seem like they are doing better than you or smarter than you, except for the rare occasion, most people end up leading normal lives and it’s ok to just be yourself. I learned that this true story/podcast is a great way of using a hard time in your life and finding the good from it and seeing the positive in a situation.
In “Maybe” from the Moth Podcast by Jessica Lee Williamson, Jessica talked about the meaning of the song “Maybe” from Annie. She talked about how Annie sang about picturing her parents living a life together without her and one day waking up and they are there. Jessica was always a very reserved and shy girl growing up and she always connected to the feeling of loneliness in the song “Maybe”. She decided to perform this song onstage but she didn’t memorize the lyrics or prepare what she was going to do. She got on stage and didn’t remember the words and cried the whole time. When her mother urged her to try again next year she did as a ventriloquist. But two girls stole her jokes before her act was up, and one of her classmates ruined her ventriloquist dummy so she ended up crying on stage again. For years she didn’t go onstage again but after she realized that it’s far worse giving into that fear and staying invisible than overcoming that fear and doing something you love even if it scares you. I think that Jessica wanted to tell the message that it’s better to do the thing that scares you rather than hide from it. This short story taught me that even though I as a listener didn’t know much about the author I learned a lot about her just from her narrating two moments in her life.
In “The Secret Letter” from The Moth Podcast by Paola Ayala, Paola talks about her mom's excessive neurotic cleanliness and how she hated it as a kid. One day she got home and her mom told her to clean her room, but when she got down and saw the mess she realized she didn't make it. She also found papers all over the floor and in that pile was a letter from her girlfriend that her mother didn't know she had. She talked to her mom about it and she had no idea so she told her. The next morning she felt like she could breathe again because she had finally told her mother her truth and now she didn’t have to lie about where she was going after school. I think that Paola was trying to show that it is way better to tell the truth and be honest instead of being afraid of the response. This short story taught me that even in a circumstance like Paola’s that I can’t relate to, I can think of other times where it would have been better to tell my parents the truth instead of lying to them.

Alexa Delling

2/2/2022 09:42:55 am

Erin Barker’s adds a comedic aspect to what she has been through within life of step siblings and a stepparent and makes it easy for the audience and the listeners to relate. Erin is older and has put her life events into perspective but as well at certain points, Erin is expressing harder moments like when she wanted the one thing for Christmas and her stepbrother ended up receiving it. She then makes a joke of it saying she can take the role of the asshole in the family which I thought was brilliant. Erin’s overall goal seems to be allowing people to relate to her in a lighthearted way and the importance of looking back on life events in a comedic light.
Within “Maybe,” Jessica Lee Williamson discusses her early exposure to her love for comedy and how two performances had gone wrong, leaving her to not step on a stage for twenty years. I enjoyed when Jessica said, “one thing that feels far worse than humiliation that any failure can bring is giving into the fear the point where you don’t do the thing you love at all.” Her main point is no matter how bad one can be humiliated, giving up on what they love is worse. It may have taken her longer than she expected to realize this but now, she most likely believes it was worth it.
“The Secret Letter” by Paola Ayala is a lighthearted story about Paola’s mom finding out she has a girlfriend and is gay. This story screams “everything happens for a reason” since if Paola’s letter was never crinkled up, she would not have assumed her mom found it and read it and in result the feel the relief she felt after telling her parents. I as a listener felt the weight taken off Paola’s shoulders. I think what makes a piece young adult is characteristics following what a young adult may go through in life such as breakups, career paths, friendships, food, and diet etc. All these aspects would be linked to a young adult character in many cases. The spectrum for YA definitely ranges but I think the most vital part is the young adult characters within the story.

Matthew Marini

2/2/2022 10:43:54 am

In “Is Your Dad Single”, “Maybe”, and “Secret Letter”, the narrator of each clip tells a personal story that takes place during their childhood or teenage years. All three stories have themes of conforming to socially acceptable ideas, and all of them end in the narrator breaking free from these ideas. This parallels the themes seen in “7th Grade” and “Girl”, except in those stories the main character fails to separate themselves from social etiquettes.
In “Is Your Dad Single”, Erin Baker details the time her father separated from her mother and re-marrying a year later. Erin explains that she had a difficult time finding her role in her new family. At first, she feels as though she must have a distinct personality to separate herself from her siblings, even if she must act drastically out of character. Erin decides to be the “asshole” in the family, her reasoning being “the smart one and good one was already taken.” By the end of the story, she comes to the realization as an adult that she doesn’t need an arbitrary “role” in the family, that she can be herself and be appreciated just the same.
In “Maybe”, Jessica Lee Williamson narrates about the time she had a meltdown during a talent show when she was eight years old. Over the next year, she tries her best to improve, only for unforeseen circumstances to ruin her act again. Williamson says her shyness and anxiety following the situation made her petrified of public speaking. However, despite taking twenty years, she concurred her fear.
In “The Secret Letter”, Paola Ayala describes the time she came out to her mother and stepfather. She explains that at first, she was petrified of being shunned for her sexuality by her mother, stepfather, and society. However, after coming out of her comfort zone, she reveals that truth and feels a massive amount of relief.

Gabby Curtin

2/2/2022 06:50:28 pm

The three Moth Stories we listened to all had a recurring Y/A theme. All of them had to do with new experiences and coming of ages. They had to do with finding yourself. In “Is Your Dad Single?” we learn about Erin’s life after her parent’s divorce. Life was great for her until a classmate asked if her dad was single. A year after she said yes, their parents got married. She lost her place in the family. She soon decided to become the asshole of the family because they pushed that onto her. She was being used as a guinea pig for the other kids. Now being an adult, she learned she is a mix of everything that makes someone good. In “Maybe” we hear about Jessica’s disaster of a talent show. She gave herself no preparation and it led to her crashing and burning. A year later she got a puppet and was prepared with an act and jokes. The day of the show, two girls stole her jokes. She was heartbroken. After that a bully destroyed her puppet. She went on stage and cried again. In “The Secret Letter” we listen to Paola’s coming out story. She had a letter that her girlfriend wrote to her on her birthday. She thought her mom read it, so she hinted that he knew. Her mom was immediately alarmed, she thought Paola was going to say she was pregnant. After that she knew she had to tell her. All of these stories, along with “Girl” and “Seventh Grade”, talk about coming of age. They talk about what it’s like to go through adolescence and experience new things and feelings. To face new emotions and scary truths.

Monique Santos

2/3/2022 08:45:32 am

“Is Your Dad Single” is a young adult story due to how Barker talks about her experience of a teenager who had once lived with just her father and younger brother. However, her life soon changes and before she knows it, her dad is remarried, and she has a new family. From hearing this story, I can tell that Barker is trying to make the audience side with her rebellious acts. Just like the audience, I was also invested and felt sympathy for Barker, just like I easily felt sympathy for Williamson in her story, “Maybe”. In this next story, Williamson informs her audience of how much she watched ‘Anne’ and how that movie made her want to get on stage. Throughout the rest of the story, she uses a sarcastic tone of humor to describe her young, middle school life that consisted of her preparing to perform for the talent show in an attempt to do better than the last show, however, her jokes were stolen, and her ventriloquist doll was ruined. Despite that, towards the end, Williamson mentions her overcoming her past humiliations and now being able to comfortably go on stage despite some fear lingering. Lastly, in “The Secret Letter”, Ayala’s story is essentially her coming out story. She talks about how she sees a letter from her secret girlfriend laying out in the open in her room, so she assumes her mother saw it. However, it turned out the mother didn’t see it but since she already said something, she had to tell her about it. Despite her anxieties, Ayala comes out and finally feels like she can breathe. Regardless of the differences of these stories, the authors all shared the ability to grow from their pasts and move forward in a more positive light. I feel as if this is one of the many defining factors of the young adult genre as there is always some kind of lesson to learn from.

Emily Bachman

2/6/2022 05:08:28 pm

In all of the stories that I had to listen to or read this week, I think these are all classified as young and adult because they all told stories that had a purpose to them. They all had lessons learned. The story called, “Is your dad single?”, was about the daughter of a family who had her mom leave at some point in her childhood and when her father got remarried to her new stepmother, she had to deal with having a few more step siblings. She did not enjoy having her step siblings because she got jealous that they were getting the attention.She ended up acting out on it and then ended up finding that she ended up with a better life in the long run and there was no reason for being jealous. The story called, “maybe” was about a girl who embarrassed herself really badly at a talent show in front of hundreds of people. I feel like in this story it is more about the reader learning about the author. She told a story that said a lot about her as a person and that seems really difficult to do in a single story.The last story called “the secret letter” was about a girl who had gotten home from some place and saw that someone had gone through her room. She saw that her letter from her girlfriend was in her room out where people could see it and she wasn't telling anyone about her girlfriend. She got scared that someone had read the letter and ended up in the end telling her family about her girlfriend.The story ends with her learning that she should have just told her family the truth that she had a girlfriend.

Tyler Solomon

2/6/2022 08:38:52 pm

Tyler Solomon
Professor Torda
ENGL 389: Young Adult Writing Workshop
February 02, 2022
“Is Your Dad Single?”, “Maybe”, and “Secret Letter”
After listening to “Is your Dad Single?” by Erin Barker, was an extremely captivating story. It was a great representation of having to adjust to having relatives and showed how swiftly life can change for someone. It started off with black humor which made the story engaging. The fact that the speaker was able to openly mock how their mother departed from their home showed how care-free and how she was able to satirize a situation that is often characterized as depressing. Then when the story starts discussing how her Dad finally had a relationship with another woman, she gradually began to hide her life more challenging than before. The speaker announced to the crowd that she threw eggs on her own house. This story obviously made for young adults because it relates to the family hardships that could happen at a young age when a parent walks out.
“Maybe” by Jessica Lee Willliamson started off while reciting how she remembered how the musical Annie went. She noted how open tha these characters were in the musicals. The speaker got the strength to get up and sing the song “Maybe”. She informed the audience that she instantly regretted performing the song since she forgot the lyrics and had stage fright. The speaker also makes fun of the fact that she was crying in front of her audience and openly mocked herself. Much like the other speaker she mocked her own past. She purchased a doll and was able to be more comfortable performing the next time. The doll was named “Hardy”. Unfortunately a boy got a hold of the doll, and ripped it off the mouth. This is a story that young adults and even older adults can relate to because it is about someone who is facing their fear. A common fear which is public speaking.
“The Secret Letter” by Paola Ayala, was a story that focused on a letter that she had found was from a girlfriend and the narrator was concerned if their mother found it. The Narrator is extremely concerned that the mother found out the letter. Afraid to inform her mother that she is gay, and the mother assumed she was pregant. Then th narrator finally informed her mother that she was gay, and after that she felt relieved. This story relates to and is apart of the young adult style because there are times when adults are hiding something from their parents.
While Reading “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, it is another young adult story that revolved around what woman is expected to do and how different things such as sow a button. This story primarily focuses on the responsibilities that a woman has.
Then there is “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto, which focused on Victor as he navaigates his way through the seventh grade. This is a great story and provides a relatable protagonist as he shows that he quite nervous to experience seventh grade.

Brandon Gebhart

2/7/2022 09:23:27 am

What makes something ‘adult’ is probably a varied perspective. What makes something ‘young’ is probably a focus on the perspective of those who have not yet reached the cultural norm in life experience. These concepts operate on a spectrum because nobody is ever done growing as a person until they die, and the dead have not been very forthcoming about their perspective. Combining these things gets us ‘young adult’ which can be thought of as something that focuses narratively on the core feelings, thoughts, and concerns that ‘young’ people have. As the content of ‘young’ is often relatively consistent between generations, the unique part of a ‘young adult’ story comes from the ‘adult’ section. The ‘adult’ is the feelings, thoughts, and concerns of someone who has already gone through the affairs of the ‘young’ and is often used to impart specific knowledge, thoughts, or concerns into the more common ground perspective of the ‘young.’

The stories from Moth feature young adults who describe issues that they had when they were younger and focus upon the relatability of those experiences. Whether it be the anxiety of holding a secret, changing family dynamics and standards, or the paralyzing feeling of stage fright. All of these stories cover a very simple story that many of the audience would have experienced in some fashion already, yet they are kept entertaining by inserting doses of hindsight and ‘adult’ experience. All of them compare and contrast as the center of their story, offering something new for the young and something familiar for the adult.

2 february 2022 online/asynchronous post two

Post your reading journal about Moth stories here

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