3 Dialectical Journal

#3 Dialectical Journal - All Summer in a Day This is the story about Margot and her community on planet Venus which is always raining, and the sun comes out every seven years. What makes her different from other 9-year-old friends is that she used to live on Earth instead of being given birth by the local civilization. She is bullied by the friends by their jealousy and her unique characteristics that in the end, they lock her up in the closet not letting her to see the sun on the day it shines. In “All Summer in a Day” (Bradbury, 1954), Bradbury describes Margot’s pale appearance using hyperbole. According to the text, the girl is portrayed by her special characteristics and family background which makes her different than the other students. She is a typical girl but only that she is massively less talkative and less lively. Her appearance looks more dim and depressed. Also, she has moved to Venus when she was five years old, but others were born in the local area. According to the story, Margot is described that, “She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would be a ghost” (Bradbury, 1954). This can be seen that there is an exaggeration in how the author describes her appearance. The author uses imaginative local natural phenomenon describing her paleness as the rain washes away all her pigments, in which, in reality, it is impossible. Also, her way of speaking and voice is described as a ghost which means that it is very light and so quiet. According to these hyperboles, they emphasize and express her looks to be clearer and more visible for the readers to imagine. Moreover, she is portrayed, by all these descriptions, to be pitiful and unfortunate that leads the the bully she faces every day on Venus. Rewrite the story from a point of view different from the point of view presented in the short story: I look at my friends talking to each other, predicting whether the sun would shine today. I am Margot. All of us are nine years old. We live on Venus and it has been continuously raining for seven years. It rains thousands and thousands of days. The storms create aggressive waves flowing against our island. Massive amount of our forests are torn down and they grow up over and over again as a loop. This is what happens always on our planet Venus. We are in the classroom at school. All the students were born by the astronauts that early came here and began civilization. We wait for the sun to come out every day. Many of my friends have dreams about the gold beam and warmness , but they are woken up by the sound of showering all over the roof, and their dreams vanish. Yesterday, we have studied about the sun by its appearance and heat. We also wrote some essays or poems about it. I came up with a fascinating poem of my own. I presented my poem aloud. “I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour,” I said. Suddenly, there was a mocking voice coming against me, "Aw, you didn’t write that!" said William, one of the boys. “I did,” I replied quietly. “William!” My teacher shouted at him. Today we are stuck in our classroom and it is raining lightly. The crowd are wondering where the teacher is as they are hoping to see the sun coming out and they will miss it as the teacher does not make it in time bringing them out. I stand alone isolating from them. I stare at the window looking outside to the rain. “What’re you looking at ?” asks William sarcastically. I reply nothing. ​This boy again. I think quietly. “Speak when you’re spoken to,” William then pushes me, but I do not move anywhere unless I am pushed by him force. I wait until all of them leave. I never want to associate with any of them. No matter what they try to make me do, I

response nothing back. I think this bully happens because I am different. I was not born on Venus, but I moved here. I moved from Earth five years ago. I can still remember the sun and the sky landscape on Earth when I was four year old in Ohio, but these people cannot remember because last time they saw the sun was when they were two years old. “It’s like a penny,” I told them once in a quiet voice. “No, it’s not!” others shouted. “It’s like a fire,” I said, “in the stove.” “You’re lying, you don’t remember!” they cried. I stayed quiet glancing at the window. A month ago, I did not want to take a shower at school and tried to cover my head. I screamed loudly. I started to realize that I was different, also other kids. They isolated from me. There is also a rumor about me that my parents are taking me back to Earth as they think that it is healthier for me. These classmates may hate me for these reasons. Suddenly, I am pushed down by another boy. This time, I glance at him seriously. “Nothing’s happening today. Is it ?” he asks others. They blink at each other and laugh. Anyhow, I do believe that today, the sun will shine, as the scientists predicted. “But this is the day, the scientists predict, they say, they know, the sun…” I have not finished my last word, a boy cuts my conversation, “All a joke! Hey, everyone, let’s put her in a closet before the teacher comes!” Everyone catches my up. I cry and try to protest but it does not work. I am too weak. They lock me in the closet. It is dark and cold like a heavily-raining day. I become quiet. I hear my teacher’s voice, “Ready, children?” and all my friends shout “yes” loudly. “Are we all here?” “yes,” they shout. I cannot even say a word to describe my feeling at the moment. ​How can these people be so mean? I do not hear the showering sound anymore. Everything is silent. When that moment ends, I hear a big yelling of joy from my friends. Maybe, the sun has come out! I try to break the door, but no one can hear me. They forget about me. I wait and wait. I try shouting, but my teacher cannot hear me. I am exhausted. I am stuck in this dark place, isolated. ​Why me?, I wonder. I hear a cry of someone outside. I think the sun is going away for now. ​It will be another seven years of raining again, won’t it? “Margot!” someone shouted my name. They now realize about me. There follows by a silence. I hear footsteps slowly approaching to my closet. The thunder starts to rumble again. I see lightning beam leap into my closet. I feel tired. I cannot even stand straight. I hear the unlocking sound and the door is opened slowly. My friends let me out. References: Bradbury, R. (1954). ​All summer in a day​. (n.p.): The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.