Personal Essays: Exploring the Human

Side of Weather

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2011:

A Block Honors

C Block Honors

F Block

2009:

Block A

Block C

Block E

Block F

2008:

Block A

Block C

Block E

Block F

Commenting on Student Work 4/18 in Library:

The goal for today is to give constructive feedback, not generic comments like "I totally liked your story LOL" or "your story wasn't good."

Read 3 essays, from any class section, and cover the following in your comments at the bottom of the page:

1. Does the essay have a "hook" that grabs the attention of the reader?
2. Is there a clear beginning, middle, and ending to the story?
3. Are the 5 W's covered?  (who, what, where, when, why, and how)
4. Point out spelling and punctuation errors.
5. Are there run-on sentences? 

Introduction

(politely borrowed from "Soul of the Sky" a collection of weather-inspired personal essays)

     Take a breath.

     Go ahead...a really deep one...

     You just inhaled about a tenth of a pound of weather.  Well, a tenth of a pound of atmosphere actually.  A concoction made mostly of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor that surrounds the earth like a bubble.  The bottom few miles of the atmopshere is where weather happens.  There it's a living, breathing organism, at times peaceful, angry, generous, unforgiving.  And you just drew a part of that inside you.  On average, you'll do that about 12 times or so in the next 60 seconds.

     Now, take a look at what you're wearing today.  Is it a sweater day?  Did you dress in extra layers with a raincoat to top it all off?  Or did you opt for a t-shirt and shorts?  Your fasion choice was heavily influenced by what the atmosphere was doing over your head this morning.

     And how are you feeling?  Pretty good about life?  Is there a little spring in your step?  Or do you feel, as they say, a little under the weather?  Your mood has a lot to do with today's sky.  A stubborn layer of stratocumulus clouds may have blocked your view of the sun for days, or maybe this is the fifth day in a row of high humidity and you wonder when you'll get your next deep, clean breath.

     We literally breath the weather.  It affects what we wear, what we eat, how we feel, where we live, how we spend our time.  The weather is a major character in the drama of our culture.  Imagine reading a history of mankind from a meteorological perspective.  Was it a sultry day when Antony first wooed Cleopatra?  Did the rhythm of rain drops on a dreary afternoon inspire Cole Porter to write "Anything Goes"?  Did the movement of birds and clouds coincide with the image of a flying machine taking shape in Da Vinci's mind?  Did a winter storm rattle the window in Bob Dylan's room when "Blowin' in the Wind" first popped up on his guitar?

     We can guess, with some confidence, that the weather played some part on those landmark days and millions of others in human history.  And we can explain the weather mechanics that can lead to moments of terror, appreciation, or epiphany.  What we need are stories that somehow bring the two together.

     People often say that the one truth about weather is that you can't do anything about it.  But let's look at another truth.  There are two things everyone can do about the weather: observe it and understand it a little better every day.  These essays help us to see that thinking and feeling are both critical prerequisites to understanding ourselves and our world and one cannot effectively do one without the other.

     So take another deep breath and join in these reflections and adventures.  Then, next time you're outside, stop, look up for a little while longer than you usually do, and open yourself to the possiblity of wonder and understanding there.  The sky will do the rest.