02MAR13_Departments_Draft_08:HST_Departments_Winter_2013
3/20/2013
12:32 PM
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Draft 8 (02MAR13)
AROUND THE QUAD
Tweets, Text, and Sketches about A Visit from the Goon Squad
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ach summer, the holderness community is invited to
read a novel that is chosen by Mr. Durnan and the Secret and August Committee. The members of the committee are always anonymous, and their choices are varied and challenging. This year the selection, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, was particularly challenging for many and caused a great deal of discussion on and off campus due to its graphic portrayal of the punk rock scene, as well as its non-traditional approach to story-telling. “A Visit from the Goon Squad was discussed voraciously among students and faculty, inside and outside the classroom,” senior Maddy Cicoria wrote in an essay defending the reading of Goon Squad. “The racy topics, such as when Kitty is interviewed and almost gets raped, led students to passionately express their opinions. The book was even tweeted about numerous times by Holderness students over the summer, before classes had even begun. Not many books can do that.” The discussions continued when the students returned to school in September; in the classrooms, in Friday assembly, and even on a Saturday morning, students had the opportunity to hear from members of the community and learn about the book. And the assignments they submitted to explore their own opinions and thoughts on the novel, showed impressive insights and thoughtful reflection. Below are just two students’ final projects. In the chalk drawings, Lea Rice highlights important themes and moments in the novel. In the written piece, Hannah Durnan has rewritten a chapter of the book from a different character’s perspective.
Hannah Durnan reads her own version of Chapter 12 of Goon Squad during a Saturday morning discussion of the book.
A Visit from the Goon Squad Chapter 12 — “Great Rock and Roll Pauses” Bernadette a revision by hannah durnan Sasha didn’t expect her life to be like this, standing on hot asphalt with Ally and Linc (her kids —who’d’ve believed that she’d be a mother) after Linc’s ballgame. The heat was the kind that seeped up through the soles of her shoes, wornout Old Navy flip-flops (fifteen years ago, wearing those would’ve been a deadly sin). Ally’s still at the age where she worships everything her older brother does, even if Linc’s only a year older. Right now her arm’s around his neck—more a choke-hold than a hug. And when Linc’s teammates walk by, she replies to their hellos before he gets the chance. Sasha can see Linc’s scowl, even in the twilight.
l Today magazine. Finished size is 11.0 inches tall by9.0 inches wide.
Ally reaches down to touch the pavement (sometimes Sasha wonders if she should be tested for attention disorders, the way her daughter gets distracted), so Sasha reacts on instinct and watches Ally’s face fall when she hears her snap. Sasha can feel Ally’s annoyance as she drives home in the suv Drew insisted they buy— another thing Sasha wouldn’t have imagined before him, something that seems out of place even now. Finally, Ally speaks. “Why do you have to repeat people’s exact words when you say goodbye to them?” “What are you talking about?” Ally’s response reminds her so much of Drew that Sasha laughs. It’s bittersweet; the unwritten rule of their family: Ally is Drew’s, and Linc belongs to Sasha. Drew doesn’t understand Lincoln, and Ally—well, Sasha is fairly sure that Ally has a list going of everything that annoys her about Sasha.
“Any chance of easing up on the scrutiny, Ally?” “Not a chance.” At home Alison follows Lincoln to the living room, and Sasha hears the first few notes of “Bernadette” drifting through the hall. It reminds Sasha of Pakistan—the song that was playing in Drew’s run-down apartment the first day she arrived. It was the first time she has seen him since the funeral. After Rob died, Drew went through medical school—Sasha went through therapy. But none of that mattered, after a fivehundred dollar plane ticket and the thousandmile distance from the East River. So now “Bernadette” reminds her of Rob and Pakistan and the hours she spent alone in Drew’s apartment after she flew around the world for him. (But by then, it was too late to go back.) And of all the songs Lincoln plays, Sasha still likes “Bernadette” the best. CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
WINTER 2013 | HOLDERNESS SCHOOL TODAY
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