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Transcript

The Color of My Words

Introduction

Dear middle school students,

The novel The Color of My Words is about the journey that a young girl named Ana Rosa goes on to discover herself. Lynn Joseph describes her as a young girl from the Dominican Republic who has an undeniable passion for writing. Even though she is not allowed to write, she explores herself through her words. Throughout this book, Ana Rosa faces many hardships as she deals with tragedies such as loosing her brother, finding out who her real father is and, finding love. As Ana Rosa embarks on her journey of finding her true self, she learns many important lessons which I will explain here in my project.

By Jessica Molitor

Concluding Thoughts

Learning from her past experiences, when Ana Rosa faces new challenges, she is always able to find creative ways to solve them. The novel The Color of My Words shows that valuable lessons can be learned through bad experiences. Every time when Ana Rosa is afraid that she is loosing a part of herself, she actually becomes stronger as a person.

Five Most Important Lessons Learned

Words Can Be Powerful

Don't Let Anything Stand in the Way of Your Dreams

Words can be powerful. Some people abuse the power of words and others use it to help and inspire people. The words of Ana Rosa inspire people to be courageous. Being curious about what she writes in her stories, readers come to her peaceful town in the Dominican Republic. For example, as Ana Rosa is sitting in her beloved gri gri tree one day, she realizes that what she is seeing in her head is a magical sea creature in the water. People of her town convince her to write about this sea monster. Soon after, the little town attracts many foreign tourists. But also in this story, she cites the words which the government uses to hurt innocent people. Ana Rosa sees how the government uses "a lot of words I didn't understand but the ones I did scared me to death. Words like the government owns the land; and the government has the right to sell it to whomever it wants." These words are being used to deprive people of their power. Words can posses a power beyond anything else, and it is a person's choice on how they use them.

Even though Ana Rosa knows that her dreams are very different from the people around her, she doesn't stop believing in her passion, writing. Although she knows that the president is the only person who is allowed to write books in the Dominican Republic, she never gives up on her dream of becoming a writer. Her family also helps her fulfill her dreams by always encouraging her to never stop believing. Ana Rosa knows that her mom is a great supporter of Ana's future when she "was telling me that there was no reason why I couldn't try and be the first writer who wasn't President of our Island." Her family is very poor and can't even afford a notebook for Ana Rosa to write in. But, even if it means that she has to take her brother's notebook, Ana Rosa won't give up her writing. With her relentless efforts, her writing soon becomes very well known throughout her town. We can see that Ana Rosa never let anything stand in her way of her dreams. This persistence helps her tremendously live her dream of being a successful writer.

Enjoy What You Have While it Lasts

Ana Rosa is usually a person who enjoys life but, maybe she would've taken advantage of the smaller things in life if she knew what is going to happen in the future. For example Ana Rosa spends much of her time frolicking in the blue waves with her siblings. And on some starry nights she is "a balloon finally free of its string" while dancing on the beach. But most of all, Ana Rosa loves spending time in her gri gri tree. Ana Rosa treasures these moments. Unfortunately, all good things come to and end. Later on, Ana Rosa has to see her beloved brother Guario's losing his life in a battle against the government. Nothing is the same after Guario's death. Ana used to love her tree gri gri with all her heart, but then she "knew in [her] heart that [she] would never feel comfortable in that tree again." If she could see the death coming for her brother, Ana Rosa would spend much more time with him in that tree and treasure the time together forever. But, she cannot foresee the future; no one can. That's why it's important for people to enjoy what they have while it is still lasting.

Don't Let Little Things Change Who You Are

Fight for What you Believe In

Ana Rosa loves her Papi. But on this particualr Sunday, something happens that makes her question herself about who she really is. On that Sunday, while walking home alone, Ana Rosa encounters a strange man dressed in white and sitting on top of a mule. The strange looking man gives Ana a five-peso bill and makes a very good impression on her. She doesn't think anything more than a kind man of him. He tells her "'Buy something nice, anything you want.And take you Mami her favorite yellow-and-black cake."' She was overwhelmingly happy. However, to her astonishment, she finds out from her mom that this unfamiliar man on the donkey is her actual father. After she learns the "big" news, she all of sudden "saw [her] swift-dancing Papi turn into a clumsy old man." For a while, Ana Rosa looses herself and feels like that her life is very different. But soon, she comes to the realization that her Papi is the one who cares for her and loves her. She realizes that even if she now knows who her real dad is, it doesn't change anything in her life.

At the end of the novel the government brings up a tension among the people of the Dominican Republic. And, the Government officials threaten to take away the land on which people live for generations to build hotels. Ana Rosa's brother Guario believes that taking away innocent people's homes is extremely unjust. He decides that he cares about his friends and family more than anything on the earth and is willing to fight to keep his town peaceful. Guario believes that the townspeople "all lived side by side, neighbors, friends,sharing, and no one giving a shake of the head to what some big-mouth politician was suddenly saying about dividing up our land." Guario ends up fighting against the politicians and is able to protect his beloved land. However, he looses his life for his rights. Benefiting from Guario's bravery, people of the Dominican Republic are able to live a peaceful life.

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