Half Beat

My chapter that I read was called "Half Beat," written by Elizabeth Gonzales. This chapter was interesting, and I think I am still in the middle of processing it. There was a lot to it, and I'm not sure I fully understand it all yet, but I'll give it my best shot. This story follows a little girl's story. It goes back and forth between two settings, and it never gives you a warning when it will switch, except for a quick paragraph change. The first setting is at her Piano teacher's house, and the second is a vivid description of her home town, and her friends at school.

Throughout the narrative, the little girl begins to develop a strong curiosity about her piano teacher, Miss Wood's life prior to college. The girl found out that Miss Wood had a suitor at one point before college, but Miss Wood never married. Every lesson, the little girl would ask Miss Wood questions about this man in her life that once was. The little girl became so intrigued about this that she would ask her best friend Genevieve and her sister Ellen all about Miss Wood. The reader eventually finds out through dialogue that Miss Wood told her suitor (Mr. Treski) that she could never marry him because it would be impossible. Miss Wood went to Julliard, and when she came back, Mr. Treski was married.

This news really disappoints the main character, and she continues to ask Miss Wood about the story. Miss Wood continues the story. Eventually, the little girls learns that she will be moving, because her father receives a new job. The little girl never returns back to her home town to visit her friends and family, and in the end, she says, "At my last lesson, over the garbled shuffle and the thump of Hello Dolly!, Miss Wood spent ten minutes writing elaborate notes for m next teacher, who didn't exist and never would. I didn't have the heart to stop her. She wasn't the first person ever to write to people who didn't exist or to play for a ghost. We were not so different, Miss Wood and I." I think that last sentence of that section really says a lot about what this narrative attempts to teach.

Themes to use with this chapter:
Identity
Love
Curiosity
Role Models
Doppelgangers/Foils

Activity:
-Students could find someone in their life that reminds them of Miss Wood and interview them or write about them
-If any of you have any good "identity" activities, I'm definitely up for hearing your ideas! I think this is an important theme in this chapter and in a lot of books/plays