Mosaic, Volume 8, Issue 1

mosaic an online magazine of the literary and visual arts at Holderness School

Winter 2010

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mosaic, fall 2009

Highlights of this Issue:   

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College Essays AP Literature Essays Ceramics Sculptures and Dishes Wire Sculptures Self-Portraits

Kevin Michel

Welcome to the Fall 2009 issue of Mosaic, the bi-annual magazine that celebrates the literary and visual arts at Holderness School. In this issue, you will find a mix of written and artistic work.

The art in this issue spans a wide variety of mediums. From charcoal to paint, from wire to clay, from photography to print-making, the students at Holderness have been busy this fall experimenting with a wide range of artistic tools in order to express their emotions and display their talents.

This issue provides a sampling of essays written primarily by seniors. The first section of essays contains students’ college essays. The remainder of essays were written by students in AP Literature. Lastly, connected to several works of art, are students’ responses to their pieces.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

Cover artwork by So Hee Park

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Thai Dao

“The self-portrait project allowed me to experiment with color and design. In one print I used a picture of my tattoo which is the giving tree. Next to it is my grandmother‟s signature. Both have given me inspiration throughout my life.”

- Liz Hale

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“While I was creating my two self-portraits, I learned to love to draw the human face, and it made me appreciate the features of people in everyday life. I now notice the sculpture of someone‟s hair or the shape of their eyes and face.”

- Kristina Micalizzi

Ruohao Xin

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During the fall semester, students attempt to put into words what makes them unique and what matters most to them as they fill out college applications and pursue admission into the colleges of their choice. In the following pages are a sampling of essays written by seniors for their college applications.

College Essay

By Chelsea Stevens Paradox: a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true. I am completely boring and normal, but totally insane and interesting. I live in a small New England town and am seemingly the epitome of average. I am in no way deformed, and I frequently fill in a bubble indicating “Caucasian.” A film of my everyday life probably wouldn’t be seen in theaters. Here’s a short list of profound differences that set me apart: I’ve gone 74 mph on skis. I lived in the woods for ten days in New Hampshire in the winter, three of which were spent entirely alone. Elegant rhetoric and profanity coexist harmoniously in my diction. I’m an obsessive compulsive with a messy bedroom. I don’t mean it when I say, “I don’t care,” because I care about everything I take the time to do. I live in the moment.

Onomatopoeia: a word that is representative of a sound. Click. My skis are on. I slap my goggles against my face. With two loud stomps on the tails of my skis, I plant my poles and take a deep breath.

The shrill beep of the start timer echoes in my head.

Suddenly I’m flying. The whoosh of the wind slashes my cheeks as I scramble around blurs of blue and red gates. I can feel the unstable ice crumbling beneath my feet. My elbow smacks a gate; I yelp in pain, but continue down the slippery slope.

The finish is here. I slam both skis sideways as I chatter clumsily to a stop, but my entire body hits the ground with an awkward thump. I sit up and realize that my hand is tingling. Not quite the finish I had hoped for: this race ended with a crack.

Euphemism: a mild or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or harsh. “We feel as though you’re playing at the JV level.” Translation: “You aren’t good enough.”

Euphemisms are feeble attempts to make bad news sound more pleasurable. Unfortunately, this particular example was stunningly unsuccessful in assuaging disappointment. It seemed as though no matter what I did, the results of my varsity tryouts were never congruous with my effort and perseverance.

The truth is, failure and disappointment cannot be evaded by slightly less caustic wording. Everyone will inevitably experience failure in life. To embellish failure with a façade of politesse accomplishes nothing.

Hamartia: fatal flaw. A scarlet letter or a blemish on one’s personality or existence can change the entire context of that person’s life. For Oedipus, it was his blasphemous relationship with his mother. For me, it is my indecision. I am what most people would mosaic ● Volume 8, Issue 1

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call a neutral party, because I’m afraid to choose a side. I avoid conflict like the plague, and because of this, my ideas are rarely heard and my objections seldom made known. Some people even go as far as to consider me an introvert. My boisterous personality does not take well to this sort of erroneous categorization. I am slowly learning that standing up for myself is perfectly permissible. After all, life is much less vibrant when you take it sitting down.

Irony: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected. I learned these literary terms during my sophomore year. We had a pop quiz on them and I got a D.

Denouement: the outcome of a situation or series of events. Life’s little slip-ups mentioned above have managed to resolve themselves, as they always seem to do. My broken thumb has healed and my skiing career is sure to be back on track this winter.

My non-varsity woes have faded to disappointing memories, tucked on a top shelf collecting dust.

Each day I try to find a way to define myself as a dynamic figure with a voiced opinion, rather than a follower with unspoken personal beliefs. Everything seems at ease. It appears as though the only lingering task on my short term to-do list is my college application.

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Lukewarm Ramen Noodles

By Aubrey F. Tyler My stomach knotted. I couldn’t believe how cold I was. Snow fell from the blue-grey sky and landed on my nose as I looked up the snowy trail into the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire-a place I would live for the next eleven days. I have never been intimidated by snow; I’ve never had a reason to be. Every encounter I have ever had with snow, whether it was falling from the sky, melting in my boots or sliding under my skis, has been followed shortly by a warm building and dry clothing. The day I was dropped off for Out Back I was intimidated.

One of the most important rites of passage at Holderness School is Out Back. Out Back is a wilderness training program in the White Mountain National Forest during which the junior class spends eleven days in March camping in small groups.

There are no warm buildings to escape to during Out Back; the only shelter available is a plastic tarp suspended with rope.

Watching from the inside of the yellow school bus, the day looked a little windy yet sunny and inviting, despite the three feet of snow on the ground. However, as I watched the bus pull away, it began snow

ing, and snowing hard. Ten minutes into Out Back I was cold. It was not the usual, escapable cold I was used to toughing out during ski practice or walking to class. This cold felt deeper and unrelenting.

Within the Out Back adventure there is a rite of passage: solo. Solo is the four days in the middle of Out Back when each student is dropped off at a small plot of land to spend time completely alone in the wilderness. Out of the entire trip, it was solo that I was most anxious about. My biggest fear was that I might not be able to build a fire, forcing me to live four days and three nights on only two Nalgenes of water, and cold, uncooked food. On Out Back, a fire is not just a comfort, it is a necessity. Without fire, I would be unable to dry my boots, heat my food, or melt snow for drinking water.

My first night on solo was a fireless one; the subfreezing temperature and hard animal crackers for dinner left me dreading the remaining two days. I went to bed cold that night. Not only was I tired, but also I was upset and alone. The next morning I was determined to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. Although running through twelve matches without success was frustrating, it made my two-match fire on the following night that much more of a triumph. “I did it!” is how my journal entry started on day two, shortly followed by “FIRE FIRE FIRE!” Suddenly, the day and a half left of solo seemed much less daunting now that I knew a fire was possible.

The most important lesson that I took away from solo was that success comes in many forms, and occasionally at the most unexpected times. My most successful moment did not come on a stage, or athletic field, or even in front of an audience; it came while I was absolutely alone, with nobody as a witness. After solo, I began to view success differently.

I now know that an achievement is no less profound if it goes unrecognized by others. Building my first fire on the second day of solo gave me an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. I even smiled to myself as my fire melted the snow I would later use to make the best lukewarm, half-cooked Ramen noodles I have ever tasted.

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Fear

By Sarah Fauver “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” ~Winston Churchill A hoof flew before my face. “Darn,” I murmured to myself as my life flashed in front of me. The only thing separating me and 1,000 pounds of sheer power was eighteen inches of cool summer air.

Adrenalin rushed through me, and I coiled the lead rope. The twisted cotton missed my target (his chest) but managed to subdue him until I regained my bearings. This was the first hour of my first day working at a horse farm, that I would later nickname “The Eaton Village Zoo.” With 28 horses, four dogs, a cat and a rabbit, I knew it would be a long summer.

I first saw him as an underweight, lanky, chestnut gelding. He was tall, 17 hands (5’ 8”) to be exact. As he tore around the paddock trying to get the other horses to play, fear welled up in my chest. When I walked up to the gate, he charged, narrowly missing a head-on collision with the fence. On the way up to the barn, my nerves sent him into a fit of spooking, bucking and rearing.

This gelding had just been rescued from a less than humane trainer. As he stood munching on hay, safely back in the barn, I wondered what kind of riding horse he could be. At three years old, he was structurally old enough to carry a rider, but I soon learned that his maturity was another story.

Later in the week, I went and stood with my back turned to him in the corner of his stall. After about ten seconds, I felt warm breath grace my neck. Turning around, I put my hand on Barforlease’s forehead.

When our eyes locked, he lowered his head. What seemed like hours passed before Bar raised his head and went back to his hay.

I have never managed fear and anxiety well. The first time a horse bucked me off, I got back on but sat there crying. The horse and sensed my tension immediately. After ten minutes of shaking, the horse jumped to the side and tried in vain to get all that stress and fear off his back.

In the weeks that followed, I led Bar up the dirt road on walks and tried to get him comfortable with life

Thai Dao again. I realize now that this was more an exercise for me than it was for him. He tested me for everything I was worth. In the beginning, Bar would take off while I led him and rear if we walked too far from the barn. At these times, I would fight the urge to run the other way. Fear will ignite anxiety in horses, but respect gives them confidence and strength.

Three days before returning to school, I was told to get on Bar’s back. I had been putting this off. We had been working with verbal commands and leading with a girth on his belly. My concern was his attention span of twelve minutes. This was an improvement, but it was not ideal. Despite all that, I knew I owed it to Bar to trust him. In a relationship, trust cannot be one sided and sometimes you have to take a leap of faith to develop it.

Once in the saddle, I swelled with pride. Not only had I trained him well, but I had kept going back.

The point is not that once I got on Bar, he just stood there, or even that once he walked off, he was calm and emotionally collected. The point is that a barrier had broken down that day. For the first time in my life, overwhelming fear had not held me back. I never thought about exactly what I was afraid of, nor does it matter. Fear was just there, like a cage. The next day I got on Bar again. This time I took my feet out of the stirrups, dropped the reins, leaned over and wrapped my arms around his neck. As my gaze met his infinite brown eyes, I knew both of us had come further than I could have ever imagined.

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ground. I spy a small office organized inside one of the trailers. The stench of cigarettes stains the air inside it. My hand twitches as I sign six pages. One line stands out to me: “WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INJURIES OR EVEN DEATH.” People die every day.

“Are you sure about this now? You’re willing to risk your life for this?” my dad asks sternly.

What was I supposed to say, “No?”

Haleigh Weiner

Sky Bomb

By MJ Germanos You never know when your last day will come.

“Are you nervous?” My dad’s voice breaks the quiet sound of the Dave Matthews Band playing “#41” softly on the radio. The frogs in my stomach bounce frantically, striving to reach my throat. My voice remains silent.

The sky is a brilliant blue, clear as crystal. There is no wind, just air; hot air. “I think we’re here…” My dad pulls onto a long, rocky driveway. Clouds of dust circle our black Explorer cruising down the dirt road.

Ahead in the distance stand parked trailers that look as if they have been sitting there for years. A few open tents are pitched on the surrounding grounds, complete with oriental rugs and beat-up couches. A segment of desert randomly placed in the middle of New England. “Okay, here we go!” he offers optimistically. When I get out of the car, the sun beats down hard as if trying to push me closer to the

I look above me and glimpse spots of bright colors filling the sky: lime green, high-lighter yellow, cherry red - hundreds of them. It looks so beautiful…I must be hallucinating. I hold a sweaty jumpsuit that I have been asked to put on. Some stranger wore it maybe five minutes earlier. I am trapped by the damp cotton that sticks to my body – I can feel the screams still echoing inside the suit. From here, there is no turning back. We climb into an impossibly small space and fit tightly squeezed together – all twelve of us. Now it starts. Or is it ending?

The intense screech of the motor begins, growing louder and louder until the voice in my head becomes just a whisper, asking over and over again, “Why are you doing this?”

The man behind me introduces himself as he stuffs me in closer and embraces me firmly – almost seductively. We were atoms apart from each other, the closest I think I will ever get with any stranger, ever.

I had to trust him with my life, and I did. Everything about this whole thing was just so different, so weird.

“READY? ON THE COUNT OF THREE! ONE, TWO…” “…fuck.”

I don’t think he ever said “three.” Like the release of aching feet from the tight squeeze of soccer cleats, my body is suddenly released from all the tension in the world. The music in my head quickly switches from the screaming of the Vines’ “Get Free” to Tom Petty’s “Free Falling.” I am floating in space, in a mosaic ● Volume 8, Issue 1

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dimension where nothing is applying force on the body except for a strong, powerful gust of wind pushing up from below. It is so confusing, but so liberating. I have never felt so free in my life. My nerves relax, and my body enters a state of tranquility.

“Ouch!” Suddenly, it stops. I look up to see the large, rainbow-colored parachute holding our lives threethousand feet above the ground. I look down; I am slowly landing on a giant map. Things are not so peaceful anymore as my mind and body finally realize exactly what I am doing. I am so dizzy, watching the world spin beneath my feet. The wide, grassy field approaches getting closer, closer; faster. “Oh God,

we’re going to crash.” The stranger behind me yells, “LEGS STRAIGHT, LIFT ’EM UP. ARMS CROSSED. HEAD UP. SLIDE IN!” Faster, faster.

Too fast.

About 80% of injuries and death in skydiving are due to improper landing. I close my eyes and hold my breath.

And then, it’s over. The next thing I know, there is a paper in my hand, just a thin little sheet of paper.

“Congratulations! This certifies that Mary Jo Germanos has completed her first tandem skydive!”

“Written in the wings [of my wire self-portrait] is the message „Sleep with the angels.‟ Originally the quote from my mother was „Sleep with the angels and let the angels sleep with you.‟ She has been reciting this to me every night since I was a baby.”

- Victoria Sommerville-Kelso

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Athenians used vases in various ways. Some vases were made for everyday use—storing food, drinking wine, or drawing water. Other vases were used for rituals, and some vases were so elaborately painted that they were only used for decoration. Athenian artists initially used the black figure technique and only later developed the red figure technique. Drawings on the elaborately decorated vases included scenes from Athenian life and literary texts.

During their study of Athenian history in the new course Western Civilization, students were asked to draw a scene from the Odyssey on one vase and a parallel scene from their own lives at Holderness School on a second.

Victoria Kelso

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Taylor Watts

Hannah Foote

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Most Holderness students participate in the national Poetry Out Loud recitation contest in which they choose from a list of exemplary poems and recite them before a panel of judges. In preparation for this contest, students in Advanced Placement Literature wrote literary analysis papers of their chosen poems.

On Monsieur‟s Departure

By Elizabeth I

I grieve and dare not show my discontent, I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, I do, yet dare not say I ever meant, I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.

I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned, Since from myself another self I turned.

Wes Mitchell-Lewis

My care is like my shadow in the sun, Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done.

His too familiar care doth make me rue it.

No means I find to rid him from my breast, Till by the end of things it be supprest.

Some gentler passion slide into my mind, For I am soft and made of melting snow; Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.

Let me or float or sink, be high or low.

Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die and so forget what love ere meant.

Manny Smith

Shadow of a Queen

By Sarah Clarkson Queen Elizabeth, better known for her reign in England than her poetry, expresses her true voice in her poem “On Monsieur’s Departure.” The monsieur, an underlying character in the poem, is most likely the Duke of Anjou, the last courtier of the “Virgin Queen.” Struggling with being a young female ruler of a country torn by religion, bankruptcy and war, Elizabeth expresses, through poetry, her anguished feelings towards the public image she is forced to portray. A major theme within this poem is contrast; Queen Elizabeth contrasts the image she displays for the public with what she inwardly feels, especially towards the Duke of Anjou.

Queen Elizabeth’s poem uses contrast in order to emphasize her discontent towards being forced to put on

a different personality, opposite of what she feels, for the sake of public opinion. The line “I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,” shows the divide between who Elizabeth is, a loving woman, and the person she must appear to be, a hateful, merciless ruler. Elizabeth uses “love” and “hate” to contrast her feelings. She seems to love the “monsieur” of her poem, yet the public is forcing her to turn away from him. Without historical context, the poem can merely be interpreted as a lost love due to someone else’s opinions and feelings.

The subject of the poem, the mysterious monsieur, may well be the Duke of Anjou. The Duke of Anjou, the last suitor to the Queen, was 24 while the Queen was 46. Although Elizabeth liked the duke, the entire mosaic ● Volume 8, Issue 1

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English nation was against the relationship. The English people did not like that he was French and Catholic. It is a topic of hot debate whether or not Elizabeth actually intended to marry the duke. Some think she merely entertained the idea to show Philip II of Spain the alliance she was capable of making with France; “On Monsieur’s Departure” is evidence that Elizabeth did have real feelings for the Duke. Elizabeth’s affair with her first love, Robert Dudley, can also be applied to her poem. Robert Dudley, a childhood friend of Queen Elizabeth, later became her lover. He was married, yet people speculated that when his wife died of a “problem in her breast” that Elizabeth and Dudley would be married. After his wife’s death, however, Dudley married another woman, causing Elizabeth great pain. The contrast within the poem illustrates that Elizabeth wanted to marry the Duke but that her country would not have supported her, and to Elizabeth, England trumped everything.

An extended simile used in Elizabeth’s poem discusses Elizabeth’s “care” as a “shadow in the sun.”

“Care” may be interpreted as her unhappy feelings towards not being able to be with the duke; Elizabeth is upset, and her feelings seem to follow her like a “shadow,” yet when she tries to rid herself of them, they “fl[y].” Elizabeth’s simile leaves a resounding feeling of hopelessness, as if she will never be able to rid herself of the deep love she feels. She thinks that only death will end her feelings of discontent. In the ending couplet of the poem, in which Elizabeth asks for her love back, naming it “sweet content,” or

death, she is reinforcing how strong her feelings are for the duke, and the internal havoc her love has caused her. This one simile represents the wide internal divide that Elizabeth feels between who she is and how she feels for the duke, and who her country wants her to be.

Elizabeth’s motto for ruling was “video et taceo” meaning “I see, and say nothing” (Wikipedia). This saying is echoed in her poem as Elizabeth describes her dual personality; she “inwardly prate[s]” yet is “mute” due to her status as a woman. When she first came into power, Elizabeth’s advisors tried to convince her to go to war, but she refused to act rashly.

Unlike her father and many English rulers before her, Elizabeth was very careful in what she chose to do, usually acting at the last minute in order to fully consider all possibilities. A cautious leader, Elizabeth was very careful in her actions and words, part of the reason she was able to bring England into its “Golden Age.” The intimacy that poetry is able to display, different from speeches and letters, allowed Elizabeth to portray herself as a woman, not just a ruler. Torn between her duties as a queen and her feelings towards the duke, Elizabeth faced a tough personal decision: choose love, or choose England. A levelheaded ruler, Elizabeth chose England, but was left broken hearted.

Poetry was the outlet into which Elizabeth poured her emotions, leaving the world with a beautiful tribute to the hardships of love. 

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By Andrea Fisher

Ghazal

By Agha Shahid Ali

It’s hell in the city of gold in real time.

Feel the patient’s heart Pounding—oh please, this once— —JAMES MERRILL

God’s angels again are—for Satan!—forlorn.

Salvation was bought but sin sold in real time.

I’ll do what I must if I’m bold in real time.

A refugee, I’ll be paroled in real time.

Cool evidence clawed off like shirts of hell-fire?

A former existence untold in real time ...

The one you would choose: Were you led then by him?

What longing, O Yaar, is controlled in real time?

Each syllable sucked under waves of our earth— The funeral love comes to hold in real time!

They left him alive so that he could be lonely— The god of small things is not consoled in real time.

Please afterwards empty my pockets of keys—

And who is the terrorist, who the victim?

We’ll know if the country is polled in real time.

“Behind a door marked DANGER” are being unwound the prayers my friend had enscrolled in real time.

The throat of the rearview and sliding down it the Street of Farewell’s now unrolled in real time.

I heard the incessant dissolving of silk— I felt my heart growing so old in real time.

Her heart must be ash where her body lies burned.

What hope lets your hands rake the cold in real time?

Now Friend, the Belovèd has stolen your words— Read slowly: The plot will unfold in real time.

In Real Time

By Abby Alexander In Agha Shahid Ali’s poem, “Ghazal,” the name reflects the structure of the poem. A ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain with each line sharing the same meter. The refrain for this poem is the phrase “in real time,” and it is repeated at the end of every couplet. Ali takes that structure and applies it to a poem that reveals, through short eleven-syllable lines, the hellish nature of life in India, Ali’s home country. Pain, suffering, and injustice are all intertwined to create powerful meaning within the complicated structure of a ghazal, which relates directly to the complicated social structure that is central to the underlying meaning of the poem.

The Indian culture and way of life manifests itself throughout this work, as well as in much of Ali’s other writings. The majority of his poems are written in the ghazal format. First developed in the 6th century in pre-Islamic Arabic verse, this style of poetry has close personal ties with Ali as it pays homage to his Hindu and Muslim heritage (Poets.org). Concurrently many of the themes that Ali uses correlate with that heritage as well. “… [E]xile, nostalgia for lost or ruined landscapes, and political conflict” inform Ali’s works and expose his heritage (Poetry Out Loud). In this poem all of these themes are evident. In the second line of the first stanza the word “refugee” brings the themes of exile and political conflict to life. Ali could have chosen to use “wanderer” or “migrant” mosaic ● Volume 8, Issue 1

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which have similar if not identical denotations. The connotation of “refugee,” however, is much more powerful and alludes directly to exile and political conflict. A refugee is defined as a person who has been forced from their home, or exiled. The connotation of the term refugee has a political significance as well. Refugee often refers to a person displaced as a result of armed conflict within their country. Ali uses this politically charged word to evoke not only exile but governmental turmoil as well, emphasizing the situations and emotions of people around the globe.

The theme of lost or ruined landscapes is initially less evident, yet equally powerful. However, it not only specific to landscapes but also to the larger themes of loss and ruin. Ali primarily uses imagery to demonstrate this theme. The first line of the second stanza contains a powerfully vivid image: Cool evidence clawed off like shirts of hell-fire?

A former existence untold in real time…

The clawing off of evidence as one would rip off a burning shirt leads to the idea that human flesh is being destroyed to cover up illegal or inhumane acts.

The human body isn’t a landscape in the technical sense of the word, but it is still a naturally occurring form. Later in the poem this idea of loss and ruin reappears when Ali describes a “body [lying] burned.”

Once again the loss of the human figure as a result of fire creates a powerful image, which begs to be explained. Ali leaves that up to the reader to interpret, which allows the unique and potentially biographical experiences that he has turned into verse to be applied to any person in any place in life. This can be India, but it can be innumerable other places around the globe as well. Anywhere that fear, injustice, oppression and destruction rule the social and political landscapes can be described within the lines of “Ghazal.”

can stereotypes that have caused so much tension within the country, as well as around the world, in the aftermath of September 11th.

Throughout the poem, the meaning of “real time,” changes from stanza to stanza. In terms of the terrorist and victim, “real time” can best be interpreted as a fleeting instant of time. Polling an entire country in a single instant to see who is the terrorist and who is the victim is an impossible notion. That impossibility, however, emphasizes the idea that it is also impossible to place those labels permanently as each instant has the potential to change who is who. Ali’s inclusion of this concept demonstrates the complexity of the Indian social structure. Each second any single person could be placed in a different group, creating a turbulent atmosphere in which to live. This turbulence contrasts directly with the stableness reflected in the American stereotype of terrorists, a contrast that reveals Ali’s personal battles being an Indian in America.

The true beauty of “Ghazal” does not lie in the words themselves, but rather in the opportunity for interpretation that the words allow. There is definite pain, suffering, destruction and ruin but who, what, when and where are not defined. This allows Ali’s work to be interpreted in countless ways. As a poetic form a ghazal is defined as “a poetic expression of both pain of loss or separation” (Wikipedia). The pain is clearly evident through Ali’s writing. Pain is a complicated feeling whether physical or emotional, and likewise ghazals have a complicated structure. The complexity of the themes, with the complexity of the structure, allow for immense meaning within each line. As a floor covered in bits of glass, the light of meaning can be reflected in any direction( Mr. Durnan).

Exile, loss or ruin of landscapes, and political conflict reflect Ali’s Indian heritage; however, his American experiences (he has attended and taught at several American universities), also shape the poem (Poetry Foundation). Ali brings common day American stereotypes about terrorism into the poem and simultaneously turns the American assumptions on their head. In the ninth stanza this reversal is revealed with the contrasting of “the terrorist” and “the victim” and the implication that who is who can change at any instant. These are not titles set in stone, but rather protean labels that can pass from person to person with ease, a notion that contrasts directly with the Ameri-

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By Paul Clark

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By Paul Clark

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Students in the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition course are expected to stay current on issues of national and international concern. To that end, each member of Mr. Durnan's class researched and wrote essays examining an issue that had meaning to him or her. The results were varied in content but uniformly engaging.

The BCS

By David Caputi The BCS system has always been a controversial issue when talking about college football. Football fans, Division I coaches, ESPN analysts, and even President Obama have all given their support for either an eight-team or “plus-one” playoff to decide the best team in football – not a computer (Dodd). The BCS has been called a “rigged” and “un-American system”

by Joe Biden and the “Britney Spears” of college football (Hildenbrandt). Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah even asked President Obama to launch an anti-trust investigation of the BCS after his unbeaten University of Utah team had to watch two once-beaten teams play in the BCS Championship.

In 2008, Texas lost one regular season game to Texas Tech, who had lost one game to Oklahoma, whose only loss was to Texas. Thus, there was a three-way tie for first place in the Big 12 South. The Big 12 South champion was to be determined by the week 14 BCS poll. Texas had been ranked #2 by the BCS during week 13 and Oklahoma #3, but when the poll was released, Oklahoma jumped Texas in the standings, thus declaring Oklahoma the Big 12 South champion.

Oklahoma went on to win the Big 12 championship

Olayode Ahmed

game against Missouri, who had also lost to Texas.

The win secured them a spot in the BCS Championship. Texas still was rewarded with a BCS bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl, which they won 24-21 against Ohio State. But they were forced to watch Oklahoma, whom they had beaten 45-35, lose to Florida in the BCS championship, 24-14. In 2008, LSU defeated Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS championship, a game that was essentially decided on the first drive of the second half. In 2007, Florida also trampled over Ohio State 41-14. In the 2005 Orange Bowl, Southern Cal outscored Oklahoma by 36. Going back to 2008 – if there had been a play-off, Texas might have been able to prove that they deserved to play in the BCS Championship over Oklahoma. It is undeniable how flawed the BCS is. But, it is also the best thing for college football.

Every single game for every single team is always a must-win game. College football is unique in the sense that the regular season is a “week-by-week” playoff (Cummings). Sure, Oklahoma did lose to Texas by 10 points in 2008. But that was just the fifth game of a twelve game season, and with four games left Texas lost to Texas Tech 39-33. Oklahoma then beat Texas Tech, hot off of their win over Texas the next Saturday in convincing fashion, 65-21. This win suggested to the various polls that as the season wound down Oklahoma was the best team in the Big 12 South – though it was debatable – and possibly the best in college football. When the BCS ranked Oklahoma higher than Texas to put Oklahoma into the Big 12 championship game, it added an elevated level of suspense to the BCS drama. Oklahoma needed to beat Big 12 North champion #20 Missouri in order to land a berth in the BCS Championship game. On the contrary, if they lost to Missouri, they would lose a chance to play in any of the four other BCS bowl games; due to a BSU rule, only two teams from any of the six major conferences can earn a BCS bid. Mismosaic ● Volume 8, Issue 1

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souri would have been the Big 12 champion, and earned an automatic bid as a conference champion, and Texas would have filled the void at the #2 spot left by Oklahoma, giving them the BCS championship berth.

The BCS system “gushes with controversy and speculation” – drama and commotion that can’t be replicated by any other sport or system (Lopresti). College basketball has March Madness. College football has September, October, November, and December Madness. In college football, the regular season is just as intense – just as important – as the bowl games. Why would the BCS want to tamper with the system they have in place? Entertainment? Every Saturday – not just during the bowl season – college football attracts the attention of millions of Americans. One Saturday night football game drew three hundred fifty thousand more viewers than the World Series game when they played on the same night. The BCS is undeniably flawed, but its flaws make it undeniably addicting and appealing. As much as people complain – politicians, analysts, and fans – it just doesn’t seem to deter them from tuning in on Saturdays.

The BCS system is very similar to the offensive sys-

tems used in college football today. It’s like the spread offense that it has its weakness and makes fans groan when those weaknesses are exposed. Booster clubs will denounce the coaching staff and call for some change in the system. But the spread offense is always exciting, just like the BCS. It is only as good as the performance of those within the system. The BCS is the exact same way – as long as a team shows performance, they will end up where they deserve to be. The BCS is what’s best for college football.

Works Cited Cummins, Denis. “Debating the Bowl Championship Series – Again.” Finding Dulcinea. 31 Dec 2008. <http:// www.findingdulcinea.com/news/sports/2008/December/ Debating-the-Bowl-Championship-Series-Again.html> Dodd, Dennis. “BCS Brokers Criticize President-Elect’s Comments on Playoff.” CBSSports.com. 17 Nov 2008. <http:// www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/ 11113859/rss> Hildenbrandt, Ty. “Campus Quick Slants.” SIONCAMPUS.com.

17 Oct 07. <http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/ sioncampus/10/17/quick.slants/index.html> Lopresti, Mike. “Hey to the Chief: BCS Better than Playoff.”

USA Today. 17 Nov 2008. <http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ columnist/lopresti/2008-11-17-college-playoff_N.htm>

Kevin Michel

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Sam Cloud

Judgement From the Sky (Drone Warfare)

By Leah Peters The long history of unmanned aircraft first began in 1916 with A.M. Low’s “Aerial Target,” a radiocontrolled monoplane designed to combat zeppelins (“Aerial Target”). Throughout World War I and II, unmanned aircraft continued to develop as technology advanced. Today the MQ-1 Predator drone, a 27foot, remotely controlled aircraft is equipped with high-tech surveillance technology, including infrared satellite cameras that give their pilots a real time view of the flight, and hellfire missiles (Airforcetechnology.com, Predator RQ-1/ MQ-1/ MQ-9 Reaper). The Predator has been used by the United States military since 1995, and later by the CIA, for surveillance and combat missions in Middle Eastern countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Yemen, and Iraq (Wikipedia, MQ-1 Predator).

The drone’s ability to accurately hit its targets, often hidden in rough terrain that is difficult to approach on foot, without endangering the lives of American soldiers, has made it militarily ideal for conflicts such as the Afghanistan war. Despite the accuracy of its missiles, however, the drone’s use has also brought up concerns regarding the morality and consequences of using such a weapon in modern warfare.

After eight years of warfare in Afghanistan, the American public’s tolerance for the lack of demonstrable progress and rising number of American casualties is diminishing. The Predator offers an effective method for fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban with-

out risking the lives of American soldiers. Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA, has endorsed the use of drones, saying they are “the only game in town in terms of confronting or trying to disrupt the al-Qaeda leadership” (Engelhardt). The Predator also helps to contain Pakistan’s growing anger and frustration at the American troop incursions by eliminating some of the need for ground troops. The relatively cheap price of the drones, only $4.2 million per plane in comparison to the F-22 (a manned fighter aircraft), which are nearly $160 million per plane, makes the drones a primary tool for the U.S. military, and one whose use and technology is likely to grow quickly with the Army’s $200 billion funding for Future Combat Systems. In Pakistan alone the drones have successfully targeted and killed many lower-ranking leaders from Al Qaeda and the Taliban in addition to ten high-ranking leaders. Furthermore, the drone’s hellfire missiles cause far less collateral damage (civilian mortalities and property damage) than missiles from fighter jets.

The Predator’s air strikes, used to effectively target high-ranking Taliban and Al Qaeda members, come at the cost of significant civilian casualties, largely due to inaccurate information. One source estimates that ten civilians are killed for every militant death, while another reports as many as 50 civilian deaths per militant. The high toll of civilian casualties creates doubt for many about the morality of hunting down targets

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at such a high cost to innocents, especially when the pilots sit half a world away watching on a computer screen.

Even the killing of the militant, while effectively disrupting the enemy’s plans, is still not ideal when compared to a simple arrest that can provide information from the prisoner. Recently the list of targets was updated to include 50 Afghan drug lords who are thought to finance Al Qaeda. However, no concrete evidence has proven that significant funding exists, making many question the necessity of using drones for such purposes. The military is responsible for determining the guilt of targets, who are then killed without a trial or investigation.

The increased death of civilians due to drone attacks may, in the long run, create more anti-American sentiment and bring increasing numbers to join the Taliban, who use the drone attacks as propaganda to gain support. David Kilcullen, a counter-insurgency warfare expert, argues that killing high-ranking members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban cause only “short-term” solutions whereas “every one of these dead noncombatants represents an alienated family, a new revenge feud and more recruits for a militant movement…” (Mayer, 45). It also undermines America’s goal of legitimizing the unpopular Pakistani government and fostering goodwill among the people.

Experts also worry that the new age of robotized combat is not an “honorable way of warfare” (Mayer, 45). Many people believe that removing the risk of American deaths undermines the classical sense of warfare and removes the public from the “flesh-andblood investment” that makes creating a war such a serious undertaking (Mayer, 45). In addition the operators’ distance from the scenarios detaches them from the act of killing innocent people involved in most of the air strikes.

but the American machines. This separation between the people fighting the war and the victims of war hinders peace negotiations and eliminates our urgency for them. The reality behind such a ruthless weapon is assassins killing dozens with a touch of a button and a public further removed from the atrocities of war. People are rightfully appalled over the suicide bombings in Afghanistan and Pakistan and our blooming 24-hour “non-suicide bombers” who assassinate civilians in the name of freedom.

Works Cited Engelhardt, Tom. “Tomgram: Drone On”. TomDispatch.com.

2009. The Nation Institute. Nov. 10, 2009 <http:// www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175155/tomgram:_droning_on/> “MQ-1 Predator”. Wikipedia. Dec. 12, 2009. <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQ-1_Predator> “Aerial Target (A.T.)”. Encyclopedia of Science. <www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Aerial_Target.html> “Predator RQ-1/MQ-1/MQ-9 Reaper – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), USA”. Airforce-technology.com. 2009 <www.airforce-technology.com/projects/predator/> O’Connell, Mary Ellen. “Combat Drones: Losing the Fight Against Terrorism”. Peace Policy. Oct. 1, 2009. <http:// peacepolicy.nd.edu/2009/10/01/combat-drones/> Byman, Daniel L. “Do Targeted Killings Work?”. Brookings.

July 14, 2009. <www.brookings.edu/ opinions/2009/0714_targeted_killings_byman.aspx> Mayer, Jane. “The Predator War”. The New Yorker.

The Predator drone represents the beginning of a new era in warfare, dominated by machines and fought by people with joysticks hundreds of miles away from the bombs. Consequently, the number and strategic importance of drones has dramatically increased during recent years. Drones may be effective at killing the enemy but this does not mean they facilitate peace. America’s growing reliance on drones in place of troops separates us from our enemies and strengthens their resolve to defeat, not the American troops,

Yejin Hwang

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This fall the Holderness School photography class read Einstein‟s Dreams by Alan Lightman which explores the nature of time. Students were then asked to choose a passage from the book and develop a picture to illustrate that passage. The photographs on this page were taken during that project.

“How long will it take the pile to grow?

When the snow falls and covers the earth does the memory leave?

I think that thine is a secret to be buried.

The people have covered their feeling with lies.

And the time that flows deepens the secret.

Some day the capsule will be buried.

How long will that be?”

Excerpt from Einstein’s Dream chosen by Jaclyn Vernet

“They wear dark indistinct clothing and walk on their toes, trying not to make a single sound, trying not to bend a single blade of grass.”

Excerpt from Einstein’s Dreams chosen by Will Hoeschler mosaic ● Volume 8, Issue 1

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Thai Dao

Eric Rochefort

Eric Rochefort

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Stephanie Symecko

Ruohao Xin

Haleigh Weiner mosaic ● Volume 8, Issue 1

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Holderness School Plymouth, NH 03264-1879 www.holderness.org 603.536.1257