This is a project that I assisted my son with for his Language Arts (Honors) class.

1. The Broken Vase
By Justice Adams

2. Justice Adams
Language Arts
2nd Period/7-5
10/8/2012
The Broken Vase
Jonquil tied his shoes, sitting on the edge of his flawlessly made bed. “I’m up, Mom,” he
asserted before his mother could complete the clarion wake-up call. He’d hidden the vase that
he’d accidentally broken nearly a week ago beneath his bed, hoping that no one would notice
that it was missing. “Boy, what’s gotten into you,” Mrs. Anderson said yawning, and now
standing in the doorway with an amused look on her face. “Huh? What, Momma,” Jonquil said
standing quickly, and moving towards the foot of the bed where he’d hid the vase.
Mrs. Anderson walked into Jonquil’s room where the morning sunlight made her white
cotton robe appear to be that of an angel, and the multi-colored silk scarf on her head glistened
with luster. “Come here,” she said, straightening Jonquil’s shirt collar and looking him over.
“Well, I gotta go, Momma,” Jonquil said, standing in place as a cue for Mrs. Anderson to leave
his room. She gave him the amused look again and sighed before folding her arms. “You be sure
to eat breakfast now,” she said, walking out of the door. “I will Momma,” Jonquil said following
behind.
He rushed out of the front door without his book bag, which Mrs. Anderson would fetch
and hold out in front of the door, anticipating his return. “Thanks Momma,” he said, as he flung
the door open and grabbed the bag. “What’s gotten into him,” Mr. Anderson said emerging from
the hallway and peeking out Jonquil’s spotless room. “I wish I knew,” Mrs. Anderson said
locking the front door, and looking out of the window as the school bus rode by the house. It was

3. a beautiful and serene spring morning, and birds were chirping just outside of the window. “I’m
off to work now, Dear,” Mr. Anderson announced in his routine voice, and kissed Mrs. Anderson
on the cheek.
She walked into the kitchen as she heard the key turning in the door and the lock clicking
into place. She poured a cup of the coffee that she’d been brewing since earlier that morning and
flipped on the television, briefly flipping through the channels before turning the television off
again. She walked back towards the bedrooms, and decided that she would search Jonquil’s room
for whatever it was that he’d been hiding. She searched high and low, and found nothing.
Weeks had gone by, and still no one had noticed the missing vase. Mrs. Anderson walked
to the door after seeing and hearing the school bus drive past the window. She opened the door to
find a grinning Jonquil with a folded piece of paper in his hand. “I got all A’s,” Momma. “Boy
stop—you way behind on April fool’s day.” “No, I’m serious, Momma, look!”
Mrs. Anderson took and unfolded the piece of paper. Her jaw dropped, as though she’d
witnessed a miracle. She was determined now, more than ever, to get to the bottom of it. Despite
her efforts and the fact that she had long prayed for her son’s improvements, she simply could
not piece it together.
One day while Mrs. Anderson was dusting in the living room she noticed the void, but
couldn’t pin-point it, and simply gave up trying. She sat on the sofa to rest after cleaning the
house from top to bottom. She could hear Dahlia cooing away in the back room, and decided to
go and see what she was up to. She followed the cooing to Jonquil’s room, where she found the
baby frolicking with the top half of the broken vase. “Dahli No!” she said, rushing over to gently

4. remove the piece from her hand. “So that’s what it is,” she said, as she began to peruse the floor
for the other half of the vase.
Mrs. Anderson glued the pieces back together with some cement glue that she retrieved
from a shelf in the utility closet, where she would hide the vase for a span after it had dried. She
mentioned nothing of it to Jonquil when he returned home later that afternoon.
A week or so later, Mrs. Anderson placed the vase back on the living room table where it
had originally sat along with a letter with Jonquil’s name on it. He immediately saw them both
when he walked through the door that day. He trembled in fear as he extended his hand to take
hold of the envelope as his mother stood and watched with that now typical amused look on her
face. The letter read simply, “Who would have known that a broken vase would be the means
through which my prayers would be answered. I fixed this one, instead of replacing it, so that
you’ll be reminded when you see it to keep up the good work.”

5. The Broken Vase is a touching tale of how a
mother’s prayers for her son to straighten up
his act is answered after he accidentally
breaks a vase and attempts to atone for it
Justice Adams is a 7th grade student at
American Way Middle School aspiring, thus
far, to become a video game designer.

6. Justice Adams
Language Arts
2nd Period/7-5
10/8/2012
Reading/Design a Book Cover Project
Writer’s Statement
The object of this project was to borrow a theme from either of the six stories that we have read
in class thus far and to weave that theme into a story of our own. The themes that I have derived
from each of those stories are as follows:
All Together Now by Barbara Jordan (Building a truly harmonious and racially tolerant society
requires more than the enactment of laws, but the efforts of people working together to promote
it in their local communities—home, school, work, and/or in every facet of their lives.)
Rattle Snake Hunt by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Overcoming fear/preconceived notions
through research, observation, and interaction, just as the narrator overcame her fear of snakes
during a rattle snake hunt with a herpetologist (one who studies reptiles and amphibians.))
Luckiest Time of All by Lucille Clifton (Good things can come out of chaos, just as Mrs. Elzie F.
Pickens met the boy who would become her husband and her granddaughter Tee’s grandfather
during a chaotic moment; young Mr. Pickens caught and tamed a dancing dog that had resorted
to chasing young Elzie because she’d hit him in the nose with her “lucky pin” during the Silas
Greene show, descriptively a sort of circus that she and her late best friend, Ovella Wilson, had
joined.)
Treasure of Lemon Brown by Walter Dean Myers (Passing along a “treasure” (possessions or a
legacy) to one’s children is worth fighting for, just as Mr. Lemon Brown, a homeless former
Blues singer was prepared to fight some would-be robbers who’d heard him speak of his
“treasure,” which was actually a harmonica wrapped in some newspaper clippings of articles
about him during the height of his career, articles that he’d passed along to his son, Jesse, who’d
died in a war, and just as Greg Ridley’s father, building on his own experiences, endeavored to
instill in him the importance of an education.)
Amigo Brothers by Piri Thomas (Good sportsmanship, as was exhibited by close friends,
Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas, who had both fought and won bouts representing their
Manhattan (New York City) community, and who would meet up with one another in a boxing
match where the winner would represent the Boys Club in a Golden Gloves Championship

7. Tournament. Though both Antonio and Felix fought vigorously until the end, in conclusion, they
would leave arm in arm before a winner was announced…)
All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury (Do not treat anyone differently because of an
idiosyncrasy and/or because they may know/claim something that is foreign to a majority—their
claims just might prove to be true, just as Margot’s claim in this story of the sun rising upon the
planet Venus for an hour every seven years proves to be true. Venus is where Margot and several
other humans, including her skeptical classmates, resided…)
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Other Project Requirements
This project, which required typing, additionally required creation/designing of a book cover or
jacket that would be entailing of appropriate and colorful illustrations and a brief overview or
summary of the book/short story and the author, as well as a statement that promises the reader
an exciting or eventful reading experience. Typing the project was a must.
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Material Choices
Construction paper Marker Hot glue
Card stock? 3 hole punch Stapler
Printer Laminating paper Copy paper
Binding
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I decided to utilize the order out of chaos theme, incorporating a bit of the fighting to leave a
treasure for one’s children theme. Of the material choices I selected use of a printer, a stapler,
and copy paper.