If I Should Have a Daughter

“If I Should Have a Daughter”
by Sarah Kay

If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B,because that way she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me.

And I'm going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands, so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, "Oh, I know that like the back of my hand."

And she's going to learn that this life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach.

But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

There is hurt here that cannot be fixed by Band-Aids or poetry.

So the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isn't coming, I'll make sure she knows she doesn't have to wear the cape all by herself.

Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal.

Believe me, I've tried. "And, baby," I'll tell her, don't keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick; I've done it a million times. You're just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house, so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place, to see if you can change him."

But I know she will anyway, so instead I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby, because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix.Okay, there's a few heartbreaks that chocolate can't fix.But that's what the rain boots are for.Because rain will wash away everything, if you let it.

I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat, to look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind, because that's the way my mom taught me.

That there'll be days like this.

♫ There'll be days like this, my momma said. ♫

When you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises; when you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape; when your boots will fill with rain, and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment.

And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you.Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's swept away.You will put the wind in winsome, lose some.

You will put the star in starting over, and over.

And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute, be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.

And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting, I am pretty damn naive.

But I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar.

It can crumble so easily, but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it."

Baby," I'll tell her, "remember, your mama is a worrier, and your papa is a warrior, and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more."

Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things.

And always apologize when you've done something wrong.

But don't you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.

Your voice is small, but don't ever stop singing.

And when they finally hand you heartache, when they slip war and hatred under your door and offer you handouts on street-corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.
Sarah Kay on "Ted Talks"

Analysis

The personification of life that it will hit you hard gives that there will be many difficulties and challenges through out one's life, and so we have to be prepared. The extreme contract of the sizes of microscope and galaxy is a paradox, and it highlights the richness and colourful nature of the world. The metaphor that the world is sweet vividly tells the beauty and happiness that the world could bring. All together, this poem gives the idea that there are so many value and treasure to be discovered in the outside world even though it may be tough.

"And I'm going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands, so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, 'Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.'", "And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute, be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life." and "Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things." these three lines best express the poem's theme. The poem said that there are extensive things out there to be learnt and discovered. There are both good things and bad things, both happy things and sad things, and both sweetness and hardness. However, this is what makes our life colourful and meaningful.

Seven Ages of Man

Questions

1. Consider the metaphor of the world considered as a stage, with the people in it merely actors. In what sense might one consider, say, a student at this school as an actor on a stage? That is –

a) What kind of “costumes” do students wear?

b) What kind of “roles” do students take on at school?

c) In what way are students handed “scripts”, that is, prepared words and actions that they are expected to do and say on the stage of high school?

d) Sometimes people assume roles that don’t seem to suit who they really are, and so they seem “phony”. Can you give a (totally anonymous, please!) example of this.

2. a) List the “seven ages of man”, according to Shakespeare’s poem, and for each, provide a very brief description of that stage in your own words.

b) From our class discussion or on your own, think of an important stage or phase in life that is not mentioned in the poem, or that has changed in nature since the poem was written. Explain the importance of that omission or change.

3. What do you consider to be three key changes that students have to undergo as they pass from being children in elementary school to young adults in high school? Describe each of these three changes in at least a couple of sentences for each.

Answer:
1 a)Students wear casual outfits but appear to be young and vibrant. They would probably wear T-shirts, jeans and sport shoes, and they bring backpacks.

b)A typical student mainly study and learn at school and they behave properly according to the teachers' expectation as well as the school's rules and regulations. Also students socialize with each other and sometimes take on the leadership.

c)Students receive their 'scripts' from their early school life experience and from the guidace of their family.d)I know a person who pretend to be very rich and popular but he couldn't perfect his lie.

2 a)In this stage he is a baby that rely on others very much.In this stage he gets the first touch of the outside world. He perfers to be protected by his family rather than get to know the new world.In this stage he is annoyed by the loss of love, and he express his feeling by songs.In the soldier stage, he is taking on more responsiblities but also valuing the honor and reputation.He reaches the justice stage when he has acquired wisdom and rich experience and earned certain social status.In the old stage, he begins to lose his charm in both physical and mental respect.

b)I think there is a stage missing between schoolboy and the soilder, which should be teenage or adolescent. This this stage we get to know about the world in some points, but yet not fully developed. Many event happens during this stage will have enormous impact to the later life.

3The first key change should be the physical development. It doesn't take a great percentage, but it is a must that everyone has to undergo. In addition, this provides the basic condition for other changes to take place.

The second key change is the growth of knowledge. As students attending school every semester, they certainly know more about science, literacy, art and philosophy, and they gradually gain more social experience as they contact with the world. Those knowledge helps student to make more reasonable and proper judgements and decisions.

The third key change I believe it to be the much more work and responsibilities that a teenager would take. There is more school works to do in high school than in elementary school, and students have to share some housework and involve in family issues.