Precious
grows both emotionally and mentally through chapter four of the novel. She
begins by writing journal entries about everything in her life, and it’s
evident that her reading and writing skills have improved since her start at
Each One Teach One. I think she was truly inspired by Ms. Rain and the girls at
school. She never had this persistent support from teachers and classmates at
her old school, and it’s clear she needed this “push” to initiate her
self-confidence.
Her friends
at school play a huge role in Precious’s life now. Ever since she was diagnosed
as HIV positive, they have had her back. Precious was concerned at one point
about the people she was compared to who are also HIV positive, and “Rita kiss
[her] forehead, hold each [her] cheeks with her hands, look [her] in [her] eyes…”
(p. 108). As the reader, I can see that Precious has become closer with her
classmates, and now they have all become caring friends. Precious now has a
source of affection and love in her life, which is vital for every human being.
Precious
attends helpful meetings now for people who are HIV positive and Survivors of
Incest Anonymous. At first, she’s somewhat skeptical to go to these meetings
because she feels that there won’t be anyone like her attending. She says, “We
are going to Tuesday night Survivors of Incest Anonymous. I never been here
before. Ms. Rain, Rita, Rhonda, and Jermaine and house mom, all say GO. So I am
good to go!” (p. 128). It’s apparent that Precious has a huge support group
behind her, and she takes their advice into great consideration.
Precious’s
love for her son has also grown. She wants to be a better mother than her
mother was to her. She reads to him each day because she wants a better life
for him, where he can read and write at the “normal” level. Precious loves
Abdul, and having this love in her life seems like it could be the start of a
better relationship-filled existence for Precious Jones.
What other type of steps will Precious take to create a better life for herself and Abdul?
-April Cust
I agree with April that Precious has grown emotionally and mentally through chapter four of the novel. She has also grown academically which I think has helped her grow in the other ways. Her reading and writing score jumped almost 6 points.We also learned that the girls she has become friends with in the chapter now are big influences on her life. They are true friends and are loving as well as care for Precious. They even help her go to a Incest Anonymous meeting.This sense of love she is feeling from her classmates is going to help get precious through this rough period in her life where she found out she is HIV positive.
ReplyDelete-Sam
I felt that the part of the chapter that was the most meaningful to me, that was also mentioned in Aprils blog post, was the meeting that Precious attended: Survivors of Incest anonymous. As a reader, we witness Precious realizing that not all rape victims are "fat" "black" and "ugly". She is amazed and in disbelief to see the variety of people who admit to being raped including a beautiful blonde girl with white skin and red lipstick, an old woman, other white women, and a rich Jewish girl. Precious questions these girls, wondering if they are lying or not. nI think it was important for Saphire to include all types of different stereotypes of girls at the meeting to show that such a terrible thing can happen to anyone.
ReplyDelete- Stephanie
As April clearly stated, Precious has grown tremendously in chapter 4. Everyone needs friends, love, and healthy relationships in their life. Precious is finally starting to get all three of these. Her friends from Each One Teach One are starting to finally be there for her. For example, when Precious calls Jermaine to meet up after she stole her file, Jermaine does not hesitate to show up. I agree with April when she says that Precious is also growing academically. She first scored a 2.8 on her test but then later jumped to a 7.8. All this attention and love that Precious Jones is finally receiving is finally going to improve her life for the better, along with her self-confidence.
ReplyDeleteI agree with April! This chapter demonstrates just how much Precious is growing as her own strong individual. Through Precious’s hardships through her AIDS condition, her friends never left her side or ignored her feelings. The fact that her feelings were not put aside like her mother and father did to her shows just how much Precious is loved. When Precious read her poem, “Mother to Son”, in front of her class, she received encouragement from everyone by saying “…Go Precious! And clapping and clapping and clapping. I felt very good” (113). This, to me, is a critical point in this chapter because for the first time we see others showing their support to Precious and her not only accepting it, but believing in it.
ReplyDelete