The Garden/Alabama by Sophie Anderson

This Padlet was created by Sophie Anderson, Sammy Dickenson, Bharath Muniraj, and Nimeo Dolal

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 15:33:42 UTC

Summary-Chapter 4: The Garden

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 15:42:33 UTC

Growing up Michele Norris learned a lot from her parents. Some of these things she learned at a young age others she didn't learn until later in her life. Around the time Michele was entering junior high her parents had gotten a divorce and her mom moved out of her house away from her and her dad. Although they did end their relationship they never argued or made a big deal about it in front of Michele, they actually rarely talked about it to her. This bothered her for a long time throughout her life and when she later confronted her mom about it she realized why her parents stayed quiet about this. She realized "I am grateful for this gift from my parents, who could not make a go of their marriage but still managed to teach me the importance of love, the importance of grace,"(49). While she did learn about her parent' marriage she also learned about each of her parents individually. She grew up believing her mom had left her dad she never knew it was her dad whose personality made her mom feel the need to leave. She always thought of her dad as a kind, calm man but she learned from her mom that "The man she was describing was not the man I'd known. I'd been living with confusion and anger for decades, for I'd assumed that mom had run out on dad to live her own life by her own rules. I didn't know she'd thought she was running for her life"(48). It took her many years to learn some details about her parents but in the end whatever negative or positive information she learned she was thankful for the things she did and did not know as she was young.

Summary-CHapter 5-Alabama

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 15:54:31 UTC

If there was a place where michelle felt at home it was in alabama. Birmingham was the city where her dad grew up in. Birmingham was not only a city to it’s residents it was a community. Everyone you turned to was nice to her and respected her. Birmingham gave her more than just a home it was a community that showed her what family was about.

Family

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 15:56:00 UTC

This is a picture of Michele's parents.

Family

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 15:58:59 UTC

This is the father of Michele when he was younger.

Family

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 16:00:49 UTC

Another picture of her parents when they were younger.

Chapter 4-Quotes

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 16:06:25 UTC

"Back when i spent hours sunning and daydreaming, if I had truly centered myself and listened even more intensely, I might have also heard a gossamer whisper: the flowers, speaking for my father, saying to his neighbors,'I belong'"(51).

Chapter 5-Quotes

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 16:09:46 UTC

“Until the end of his life, Dad was an infernally cheerful man, always trying to make others feel at ease”(59).

Links

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 16:14:09 UTC

This article talks about how media portrays race.

Links

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 16:15:19 UTC

This is a video of Michele Norris discussing race in her family.

Links

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 16:16:10 UTC

The history of Birmingham, Alabama.

Links

sophiaa17009 — 2014-09-01 16:21:28 UTC

Women of color in the media.