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Reading Journal By Siwen Bian 6031006287This journal is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor English reading and writing 1 course of Liberal Arts in English Program, Mae Fah Luang University First semester 2018

A Sandpiper To Bring You JoyShe was six years old when I first met her on thebeach near where I live. I drive to this beach, adistance of three or four miles, whenever the worldbegins to close in on me. She was building asandcastle or something and looked up, her eyesas blue as the sea. \"Hello,\" she said. I answered with a nod, not reallyin the mood to bother with a small child. \"I'mbuilding,\" she said. \"I see that. What is it?\" I asked, not caring. \"Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand. \"That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off myshoes. A sandpiper glided by. \"That's a joy,\" the child said. \"It's a what?\" \"It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come tobring us joy.\" The bird went glissading down the Page 2 of 12

beach. \"Good-bye joy,\" I muttered to myself, \"hellopain,\" and turned to walk on. I was depressed; mylife seemed completely out of balance. \"What's your name?\" She wouldn't give up. \"Ruth,\" I answered. \"I'm Ruth Peterson.\" \"Mine's Wendy... I'm six.\" \"Hi, Wendy.\" She giggled. \"You're funny,\" she said. In spite ofmy gloom I laughed too and walked on. Hermusical giggle followed me. \"Come again, Mrs. P,\" she called. \"We'll haveanother happy day.\" The days and weeks that followed belong toothers: a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings,and ailing mother. The sun was shining onemorning as I took my hands out of the dishwater.\"I need a sandpiper,\" I said to myself, gathering up Page 3 of 12

my coat. The ever-changing balm of the seashoreawaited me. The breeze was chilly, but I strode along, trying torecapture the serenity I needed. I had forgotten thechild and was startled when she appeared. \"Hello, Mrs. P,\" she said. \"Do you want to play?\" \"What did you have in mind?\" I asked, with atwinge of annoyance. \"I don't know, you say.\" \"How about charades?\" I asked sarcastically. The tinkling laughter burst forth again. \"I don'tknow what that is.\" \"Then let's just walk.\" Looking at her, I noticed thedelicate fairness of her face. \"Where do you live?\" Iasked. \"Over there.\" She pointed toward a row ofsummer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter. Page 4 of 12

\"Where do you go to school?\" \"I don't go to school. Mommy says we're onvacation.\" She chattered little girl talk as westrolled up the beach, but my mind was on otherthings. When I left for home, Wendy said it hadbeen a happy day. Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her andagreed. Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach ina state of near panic. I was in no mood to evengreet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on theporch and felt like demanding she keep her childat home. \"Look, if you don't mind,\" I said crossly whenWendy caught up with me, \"I'd rather be alonetoday.\" She seems unusually pale and out of breath. \"Why?\" she asked. Page 5 of 12

I turned to her and shouted, \"Because my motherdied!\" and thought, my God, why was I saying thisto a little child? \"Oh,\"she said quietly, \"then this is a bad day.\" \"Yes, and yesterday and the day before and-oh,go away!\" \"Did it hurt? \" \"Did what hurt?\" I was exasperated with her, withmyself. \"When she died?\" \"Of course it hurt!\" I snapped,misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strodeoff. A month or so after that, when I next went to thebeach, she wasn't there. Feeling guilty, ashamedand admitting to myself I missed her, I went up tothe cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. Page 6 of 12

A drawn looking young woman with honey-coloredhair opened the door. \"Hello,\" I said. \"I'm Ruth Peterson. I missed yourlittle girl today and wondered where she was.\" \"Oh yes, Mrs. Peterson, please come in\" \"Wendytalked of you so much. I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was anuisance, please, accept my apologies.\" \"Not at all-she's a delightful child,\" I said,suddenly realizing that I meant it. \"Where is she?\" \"Wendy died last week, Mrs. Peterson. She hadleukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you.\" Struck dumb,I groped for a chair. My breath caught. \"She loved this beach; so when she asked to come,we couldn't say no. Page 7 of 12

She seemed so much better here and had a lot ofwhat she called happy days. But the last few weeks,she declined rapidly...\" her voice faltered. \"She left something for you...if only I can find it.Could you wait a moment while I look?\" I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something,anything, to say to this lovely young woman. Shehanded me a smeared envelope, with MRS. Pprinted in bold, childish letters. Inside was adrawing in bright crayon hues-a yellow beach, ablue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath wascarefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that hadalmost forgotten to love opened wide. I tookWendy's mother in my arms. \"I'm so sorry, I'msorry, I'm so sorry,\" I muttered over and over, andwe wept together. Page 8 of 12

The precious little picture is framed now andhangs in my study. Six words- one for each year ofher life- that speak to me of harmony, courage,undemanding love. A gift from a child with sea-blue eyes and hair the color sand--- who taughtme the gift of love. Week 3 Title: A Sandpiper To Bring You Joy (1020) Author: Ruth Peterson Source: http://m.enread.com/?mid=3&aid=104271 Summary The text tells a story between a miserable dishwasher and a little girl. By looking at the title, you may think it is a descriptive paragraph introducing you a kind of bird. But actually a sandpiper is only a symbol of “comfort” used by the girl and the woman throughout this sad story. Mrs. Peterson met a six-year-old pretty girl called Wendy on the beach, who was very delighted every day and regarded a sandpiper as a joy. The girl was positive and talkative, but Mrs. Peterson thought that she was a nuisance. One day when Wendy caught up with Mrs. Peterson, Mrs. Peterson shouted at Wendy because of her mother’s death. A month later, when Mrs. Peterson tried to find Wendy in the cottage, she got to know that Wendy had died of leukemia. Wendy left her a letter with a picture and six words: A Sandpiper To Bring You Joy. Page 9 of 12

My reaction/reflection: This article is easy for me. It is a narrative story. I like to read thiskind of articles. There are not too many complex sentences. But thereare some words that I am not very familiar with. Once I meet a newword, I will be eager to know every detail about it. So I would spend alot of time on checking its meaning, part of speech, synonyms and theexample sentences presented in dictionaries. For example, the word“nuisance”, it is pronounced [ˈnusəns]. It means a bothersomeannoying person. The example sentences in the dictionary are veryuseful, such as – “Sorry to be a nuisance.” “Stop making a nuisance ofyourself!” It took me a lot of time to finish reading this article. I feel so frustrated after reading this story. I have some sameexperiences. It seems a person in a bad state has the right to mistreatothers. You should know that sometimes you may hurt one personjust by opening your mouth, why not trying to be kind? When youdecide to be a person full of complaints, you become judging otherpeople as annoyances by the first sight easily. If you always complainabout everything, you may own no friends in the end. When thingsare going towards a bad condition, you may feel guilty easily as well.But remember that regret means nothing. It cannot help cover themistakes you have made. It cannot heal the wounds torn deeply byyou either. A sandpiper is not to bring you joy. It brings joy tooptimists. Hope you all can be grateful to life and try to see the worldfrom a different perspective.New words learned: (At least five new words that you have learned) Page 10 of 12

New Words Definitions1. drawn (adj.) showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering A drawn looking young woman with honey- colored hair opened the door.2. Underneath (n.) on the lower or downward side; on the underside of3. Serenity (n.) Underneath was carefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY a disposition free from stress or emotion4. Smear (v.) The breeze was chilly, but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed. stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance She handed me a smeared envelope.5. Depressed (adj.) low in spirits I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance. Page 11 of 12

Rubric for Independent Reading Journal (10%)Articles 123 4 51. Summary(4 %)2. Reflection(3%)3. VocabularyLearned (3%) Scores Total scores _______ ÷ 5 = _____ marksCriteria for the above categories1. Rubric for Article SummaryCategory 5-4 3 2 1-0Summarizing Provides a very Provides a clear Provides a clear but Provides a somewhatthe content thorough and clear and concise shallow summary of muddled, unclear and and concise summary of the the article; may be rambling summary of summary of the article context and excessively brief or the article. article context and content. may include some content. extraneous information.Identifying Student recalls Student recalls Student is not able to Student cannot locateDetails several details for details for most locate most of the details with accuracy. each main point. main point. details of the main point. Is characterized by theParaphrasing Is characterized by Is characterized substantial copying of paraphrasing of the by paraphrasing Is characterized by indiscriminately main idea and of the main idea the substantial selected phrases or significant details and significant copying of key sentences. details phrases and minimal paraphrasingSpelling & There are few or no There are some There are serious Serious errors inGrammar errors in usage, errors in usage, errors in usage, mechanics, usage, grammar, grammar, grammar, grammar, or spelling punctuation, punctuation, punctuation, sentence that make the sentence fragments, sentence fragments, or summary difficult to or spelling. fragments, or spelling. understand. spelling.Total ________/20 ÷ 5= 4 %2. Reflection on the Articles (3%)Students who have completely and clearly responded to the guided questions stated in the reading journalform will get 3 marks.3. Vocabulary Learned (3%) ≥ 70% correct = 2 marks 1 ≤ 70% = 1 mark All correct = 3 marks Page 12 of 12