One word from Hamilton’s essay that I had to look up was pachysandra. A pachysandra is a type of subshrubs evergreen that belongs to the boxwood family Buxaceae. It is native to eastern Asia and southeast North America.
One passage from the essay that struck you as important or interesting was “my dad was animated with disgust at his dropout daughter- so morose and unfeminine, with the tips of her braids dyed aquamarine, and unable even to kill a chicken properly.” The author is describing her failed accomplishments. By dropping out of school and a common practice for them, killing a chicken. She realizes that she has disappointed her father. She uses imagery to vividly portray the killing of the chicken and create a visualization of her almost failed attempt. A question I have is what was her dad’s thoughts during this moment.
One discussion question that I would like to raise about this essay is why did she choose this moment as a moment that impacted her?