LYric Essay

What is a lyrical essay? it is a form of writing that combines qualities of poetry, essay, memoir, and research writing, a notable quality of these essays is that they often attempt to break many formatting rules of the traditional paragraph essay, as a storytelling device.

After reading “Citizen” by Claudia Rankine, we were assigned to make one of our own, here is mine.

MK1

 

Moving from one country to another is a tall order 

for a small child,

 

To a place with people who don’t 

look anything like you,

 

Who don’t even speak 

the same language,

 

This new school feels like being pushed into a busy city street

 

The honking of horns scream as you struggle for breath trying to get onto the sidewalk.

 

Separated

 

Based on nothing they can control. 

 

Learning a language is a long, frustrating, and difficult process, but this… this is like learning to swim, 500 feet out to sea, with someone draped lifelessly around your neck

 

Putting

More 

And 

More 

Responsibility, pressure, isolation 

Stacking

Up

 

Makes it a whole lot harder to do much of anything. It’s easy to lose hope with no one to tell you to keep going, when they go to sit down for lunch and no one wants to sit near you.

 

They will look at you because what you are eating isn’t the same as them, because you don’t have enough money for anything else. 

 

Back in class, everyone is partnering up in class, and you can’t even express what they want. 

 

The teacher will put you in a group, but it’s no help as you still can’t talk to anyone. 

 

Motivated not by what pushes most people forward

 

Using their pain as a push, as a fire underneath them, 

 

Pushing, working, harder and harder

 

The isolation only motivates

 

“Great results!”

 

Don’t show the process

 

The sheer motivation that it took to keep pressing through the rejection has molded a strong person

 

But one that knows the value of true kindness

 

The kind of strength 

That not many can even think of

 

With a caring spirit a careful         balancing act