Journal #9

It was the day before the concert, the day when she always practiced the most. Mother would complain all day, waiting and praying that she would start to play her violin, but she wouldn't. She would wait, complaining, playing, toying with the idea of beginning to practice, but she never would. Mother began to plead, "you have a concert tomorrow, and I swear, if you don't practice, I will stop your lessons immediately, and tell Martha that you don't want to play anymore." My sister would start to protest and stall, promising "mom, you know I'll do it! Just give me a chance to relax for a little while." In her mind, she had been working all day, which I supposed she had. It is hard work avoiding something that you feel is inevitable. In her mind, the hardest part of the whole play was that she had to keep coming up with new lines. Sure, some could be reused, like her insistence that a friend needed help with a project. I especially loved how the project always seemed to require instant gratification. There were other lines, some better than others. She had to read. She had to relax. She had to prepare for volleyball. And always, my mother would relent, aware that there would be another act.
The second part of this comedy relied primarily on threats. I heard mother's opening broadside: "If you do not start playing right now, you will not be able to go to your friend's house tomorrow. " My sister would begin to sob, knowing her part as the artful dodger was coming to a close. She would respond hesitantly, "mom, please let me go! I swear I'll start!" She didn't know why she didn't start. It was always a mystery to me, I recalled, and then again it wasn't. She was 12, and she was in middle school, and her friends told her things and wishes that mystified the rest of us. She was always changing her mind, and I recall thinking that she was indecisive.

The theme of my story is that you have to be able to understand your goals in life in order to make decisions, otherwise you risk allowing others' judgments and wishes to dictate how you live your life. (theme was from in class)
I used diction to indicate the theme, similar to how Hurston uses it. In the last sentence, I use the word indecisive, which is almost too blatant a clue as to the theme. I'm sure Hurston would have been a little more obscure in her use of diction, but I felt it necessary.

I also used dialogue to highlight the conflict between the two characters in the story. It brings the conflict into the open, out of the internal conflict growing within each of the characters. Hurston uses this strategy frequently, in order for the reader to be able to see that some of her internal conflicts are becoming external conflicts.

I also used connotation to emphasize the theme. I used the word "play" as a theater performance, or a facade, as well as the actual meaning in the story, to play the violin. I felt that the use would highlight how the whole situation is just acting, with one character knowing her goals, and one character not aware of her goals. Both, however, continue on with their lines, despite this critical part of the play.