Greetings CPI Students! 

Your very first assignment in this summer program is as follows: Read The Simply Ridiculous book or Flip Book which is being provided to you as a link below so that you can read it conveniently and fulfill on the rest of the creative writing assignment below. Take time to reflect on what you read and enjoy this process. Remeber, everything is about communication, relationships and choices, and that starts with the communication and relationship you have with yourself!

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Please read the instructions carefully and follow them appropriately. How you do on this assignment reflects your ability to follow instructions and fulfill on the assignment. The quality of your work is a reflection of you. If you have questions, ask your RA or send me an email at millicentstclaire@gmail.com. 

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Assignment #1

Read the book and write a short essay on your impressions of the book and the impact it had on you. Essentially do a book review.  Share authentically. Each essay should be at least 2 paragraphs.

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Assignment #2

Write an essay on what you know you've learned to let go of and how you did it. Include some of the SAT words so that you can practice using those words in the context of your writing. This is an introspective writing exercise .

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Assignment #3

Write an essay on what you know you you STILL need to let go of and the impact that carrying that stuff around is having on you based on what you know

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Formatting:

Begin now using a universal format for writing and submitting papers. This will delight and impress your future professors. This assignment can be all in one document with each essay following the next or on separate pages if you wish.

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• Margins: 1 inch on both sides, 1/2 inch top and bottom.

• Header: Name, Date, Class, Email (Telephone) City and State.

• Footer:  To name and identify your document on the first page is great but to do so in the footer means it will be identified on each page and helps keep it organized. The pages can also be numbered for ease.

• Font: 12 point Times Roman or Helvetica. These are the easiest and cleanest fonts to read. 

• Subheadings: Bold and /or Italicized.

• Name your Document: Rachel-Davis-SimplyRidiculous Essay-July 2016 - This is an important habit to develop so you can learn to keep up with things and file them electronically in the right folders.

• Save as a PDF if you know how to. If not, no problem.

• Email all essays to: millicentstclaire@gmail.com - Identify yourself in the header:
  Rachel Davis: June CPI 1 - Essays.

• Due Date:
  
   

Example:

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Rachel Davis

June 30, 2016

Simply Ridiculous Book Report & Essays

RachelDavis@happymail.com | 770-777-5555

Hails from: Dallas, Texas (this personalization is for me so I can appreciate where you're from)

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Review of “Negativity and Drama is Simply Ridiculous!"

 

    “Simply Ridiculous!,” by Millicent St. Claire, coaches readers through the phases of confidence in oneself. By sharing the authors personal experiences/mindset helps the reader better relate to the novel. “Simply Ridiculous” has taught me to stop listening to all the negative things in my past, and instead to live life through it’s positive moments. When one stops listening to “the other” in their head they release a level of dukkha in their lives. Overall the reader must learn to “LIGMO”, let it go and move on. Simply Ridiculous is an enlightening material that should be used to coach young teens on how to become comfortable in their shoes. 

 

What have you learned to let go and how did you do it? 

    

    I was finally able to accept the beauty of my skin color in this day and age. Over the past few years I have struggled with my identity of being a black girl. Always to white for the black girls in my school and never fully accepted by the white girls. I struggled to find my place during middle school; I never really had friends beyond the classroom settings. Always being told that I sounded  “white” when I spoke, and my white peers would generalize me before getting to know my personality.  Overall I struggled in the skin color I obtained; this messed with my self confidence and I developed an introvert type attitude. 

 

    Although I struggled with my skin pigment during middle school years, when high school started everything was completely different. I finally saw the beauty in my chocolate drop skin tone. Once I became confident in my looks a lot of my insecurities washed away; I felt like I  was finally able to speak up in a classroom setting and I would never let someone belittle me. 

 

    How did I gained this confidence back? Before when people told me I was pretty I would never think twice about it, however one night I sat in the mirror and observed my features. I thought, "how can anyone respect someone who does not respect themselves?" I finally realized that I had to take myself seriously, as well as my appearance in order to survive my high school environment and in life. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      What do I still need to let go of? 

 

Poem

I fell in love with a boy, 

a boy who could not respect me, 

a boy who saw me as a piece of object, 

never understanding my mind nor my heart, 

verbal abuse seemed to be the outcome of situation, 

he tried to break me down, 

he tried to say I wasn’t worth it, 

he tried to say he settled, 

but he also tried to say he cared, 

he said I was the best thing that ever happened to him

that I could help him change his ways, 

however,  

how can you change someone who doesn’t see themselves changing? 

how can you change a boy that so heartbroken

and insecure inside that he lashes it out perfectly on you?

how can you change someone who was never properly raised on how to treat a women?

How can you accept the lies he started to tell?

Every night would turn to a fight, 

tears would willow down my face, 

homework became a pain, 

and little miss thang would never stay in her lane, 

your friends had words for our relationship, 

seeing the wrong in everything you done 

they were always on my side,

however you could never see your mistakes. 

But night you broke up with me 

I felt a sense of release 

my smile soon spread across my face,

my friends no longer had to fight for first place, 

and the river I was crying before dried up, 

however I cannot see myself moving on, 

because your insensitive still sticks with me, 

your unkind words run throughout my head, 

your insensitive touch still haunts my body,

and now I’m confused on how a boy is suppose to treat someone he loves, 

my biggest mistake in that relationship was 

not removing myself when the situation  was long done, 

I still cannot detach from you, 

and detachment is my biggest issue.