"Something Precious to... me"

Class date: Thursday, Jan. 14th

Today's lecture topic: my soccer ball.

The topics for today's writing assignment: a stuffed seal, a baseball glove, a diamond ring, a children's book, soccer cleats, a blanky, and nine others of equal idiosyncrasy.

So, what happened to our study of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

This was, actually, our way of getting to better know Quasimodo!

Our picture of him, so far, hasn't been pretty! We've marveled at his hideousness. We've seen, that in the eyes of the Parisian populace, he's demonic. And, furthermore, he attempted to kidnap our adored Esmeralda!

Today, we got to know another side of this apparent monster.

Universally derided and shunned by the populace of Paris, the deaf Hunchback has made Notre Dame his home; its statues, his friends; the bells, his dear family. He loves the bells, especially the largest one--he calls her "Marie". Being made the bell-ringer of Notre Dame by Claude Frollo "was like giving Juliet to Romeo." When it’s time to ring the bells, he runs up the narrow stairway to the top of the bell tower. Getting there out of breath, he caresses “Marie” as he would a horse he is about to ride, whispering and comforting her. When the bells start ringing, he runs back and forth gleefully as she “speaks” to him the only sounds he can hear. And, all of a sudden, he leaps onto the bell, riding and spurring it to ring more loudly. There are no objects more precious to him in the world than those bells. They sometimes even give him "a feeling of happiness."

I started class, not by going over Quasimodo's personal passion, but by describing my favorite soccer ball as a kid. Soccer was my passion and the new ball I received became my dearest possession. It was glossy and sleek, and I remember the feel of its surface as I would caress it. It was the only ball I’d play with, and, on the field, I’d never leave it by itself. Even when the coach was calling us over to stretch or talk, I’d always have it at my feet. And when I went home at night, well, I’d curl up with it in bed (yep, I did). I loved that ball, like Quasimodo loved his bells!

Having told them my childhood recollections, I asked the students to think of their own dearly valued possession. They wrote paragraphs entitled: "Something Precious to Me". Below is a sampling of what they wrote about.

One student doesn't go on any trips without her seal plushie. When she feels sad she hugs "her stuffed animal, and that makes [her] feel a lot better."

Another has kept the first book he ever read, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, in pristine shape: "I have never bent a page, given it a scratch, and keep it safe in my bookcase. It looks like it just came out of the bookstore." And, he still reads it.

One boy is dazzled by the beauty of his soccer cleats: "[E]verything on them is shiny white except for the tiny, tiny Italian flag. My brother told me that my feet shine when the sun hits [them while] I'm playing!"

Another student would sleep with her baseball glove every night and "shine it twice a week."

As for the girl with the blanky, she takes her everywhere, but feels bad that she has to put her in an "uncomfortable" backpack. She even takes her on sleepovers in spite"how embarrassing it is [considered] to have a blanky".

I loved how open in their adoration the students were.

After they had written their paragraphs, we read the description of the hideous hunchback and his bells. And, Annie, having the last word in class, explained perfectly that the bells were Quasimodo's "most precious objects".

By getting to know themselves, they were getting to know Quasimodo.

After the class ended, the students kept discussing with each other their most precious objects.