Last week Macomb Middle School students were asked to write a descriptive short essay about a common aspect of their community (place, sport, or school ritual) using 'distanced' language. They had to describe what people are doing without using the actual names of the objects or activities.
The Foreign Lens: Guess What or What?
In the center of an open rectangle space, a thin barrier is stretched tightly from one side to the other, dividing the territory into two equal halves. On each side, group of individuals gathers standing alert with knees bent and eyes raised toward the air above them. Their clothing is unform, often marked with symbols and number that distinguish rank and identity within the group. The atmosphere is tense, yet ritualistic, as participants prepare for a repeated exchange that demands precision, cooperation, and endurance. Paisley M.
Today I visited a tribe, and it was the Llabtfos. They performed quite odd routines and rituals. I was very confused when I talked to them. They were extremely loud and rowdy. After they finished the ritual, I was very confused about their Celebratory yelling. They also chased each other when they ran around, but only after they smacked a yellow orb. So, I’m going to tell you about the practices that I witnessed in this essay. When I talked to this tribe they were talking about wanting to “Beat the other team” I believe that the other “team” is another tribe. Why would they want to hit the other tribe, because that's what “Beating” Is? After they chased each other around and smacked the yellow orb, they yelled and were extremely rowdy. I just couldn’t stand their screaming they were yelling, “We won We won, we beat them!” Although they never hit the other team, this made me so confused. What happened before this was a very odd ritual. They would smack the yellow orb and then run. Why were they running maybe so they didn't get “Beat”? After they ran for a long time, they would make it to A “Plate”. Is what they called it, but I didn’t see any dinner plates?
After a long time with the Llabtfos’ I was very confused, but they seemed to be very close with one another. After they “Beat” the other team, they performed a ritual of running, dancing, and partying in their shrine which they put their clubs. The Llabtfos where a very odd tribe, but I would watch them again. Kandice R.
In our town there is a special place that is designated for a sport that takes place in the Spring and early Summer. This place has a flat surface that is covered in black compacted grey bites, where you stop your oversized metal moving object. To get to the main area that this sport takes place you have to walk up a grey-brown crunchy path that has millions of slim green blades covering the ground. The main area that this sport takes place in is surrounded by grey metal linked screen that has long grey metal cylinder holding it all together, the front of this area where most of the action takes place is taller so that it keep spectators from getting hurt.
In the middle of the grey linked screen there are millions of small brown circles on the first half of the ground and the rest is covered in millions of slim green blades. There are fou r white stained square puf fs at a certain distance from each other places on the ground in a pattern, there is an orange square puff placed next to a white stained puffs for player safety. The objects that are used in this sport are a yellow and red circular object that gets thrown and hit around, a piece of leather that goes on your hand for catching the yellow and red circular object, and a long skinny composite stick that gets swung in the air. There are several objectives of the sport, one is to get a player out by catching the yellow and red circular object with the piece of leather that is on your hand while it is still in the air after it has been hit by the long skinny composite stick, another way is after a catch with the piece of leather on your hand, of the yellow and red circular object is to touch the opposing player with it before they get to the square white stained puffs. Have you guessed the sport I’m talking about? If you guess softball then you are correct! Jasmine Mc.
Little children every day go into an enclosure for many hours on end and they get to the learning temple before the Phoebus is alive. They participate in multiple learning exercises to help them with their health. Although it may not be applied in the real world. The children are in a small square box while one person speaks over and controls each and every one of them. Normally they get to see the yellow orb in the sky for about 30 minutes each day.
Another thing the children get is food in a brown sack, cold and small. The dictator goes over multiple subjects with the children telling them everything they need to know to survive in the wild. These kids get to sit in things that hold them into one. A lot of children claim they are uncomfortable, but they say nothing because the ruler speaks to them while sitting. At the end of the day, the little children climb into more boxes, in multiple colors. Each kid has their own box. but they move on their own, not needing help.
And they move away from the learning temple and back to the place where they sleep, and the cycle repeats itself. Avery P.
I came to this really weird place. They give you yellow cardboard tringles that sometimes you either dip it in lotion or spicy red marker ink with chunks of green marker and red marker. I think this ritual is called eat or starve to death. It is really weird that they have people that look like skeletons and skeletons are really creepy. Most people that are dressed in black speed walk really fast. I think they are running from the smoke. They have these things called I think called meantus.
They have different pictures of what I think are called eatables. The people around me are chewing on like fire food with the smoke. The specie is like fingers mixed with lotion and toenails that are colored orange and are soft. They have brown deer poop on their meantus with a turtle shell and vegetables. YUCK!
They even have turtle shells with lotion, and that is probably my favorite thing on the meantus. The people in black went around a table and performed a ritual with clapping and singing babby hirthbay. They brought out this weird food with red blood, and chocolate blood; they put eye cream on it with a mix of dead skin. They think that if they don’t eat all of their food, they will die. Most of this society comes here on special days. Their weird eatables cost a lot of paper. I heard that somebody gave the people in black 50 papers. Their weird rituals creep me out. It is crazy what this society does to not starve. This society looks very unhealthy with all of the fingers, lotion, fire thing, and deer poop. Charlotte W.
I saw a labyrinth, where young people sit at small areas, preforming a ritual where they are looking at an older person teaching on a green rectangle with white items used to leave marks on the green rectangle, and there was nonsense on the green rectangle. And the young ones were leaving marks with a yellow object on stacked white rectangles stitched together. Why are they sitting at these brown areas? Why are they looking at a green rectangle with nonsense on it? Why are they using a yellow object? Why are the young ones using a stitched together stack of white rectangles? It seems like magic with how the objects can leave marks on these other objects. And they can get rid of these marks with a thick rectangle. How can the marks be removed from these rectangles with other rectangles!? It all ju st doesn’t make sense, it’s like MAGIC! And then a noise just came randomly, and all the young ones folded their white rectangles and left the labyrinth and went to another labyrinth with different nonsense on another green rectangle and the young ones grabbed another stacked white rectangle and unfolded it, and left even MORE marks on them. Jaxsin K.
The humans wake up and one specific one is happy there are weird signs in the eating room. The human is wearing a hat with signs on it. The caretaker gives one guy a special meal for eating time while the others fend for themselves. The people hop in a black moving object and head to a place. People make a weird foamy drink and give it to the guy with a weird hat on. He walks away and doesn’t even give them a green note. When he got to school, everyone talked to him and gave him wrapped boxes. The guy seemed really happy.
At lunch the lady gave him bouncy bread with weird cream on top. After he gets home from school, more wrapped boxes are on the eating time table. The guy waits and waits until the caretaker walks through the door. The guy waited until a car came and another one to open the boxes. When they had eating time at the table it was a fancy eating time meal. After that the caretaker brought out a bouncy fluffy bread with lots of cream on it with sticks and fire. They started chanting a weird ritual and the guy blew the sticks and fire out. Then everyone had time to eat. The people had slept over and looked tired. They hide everything in a shrine. The tribe leader told the people to leave the house. He looked charming.
Nick M.
In a rectangular arena, divided by an elevated horizontal banner, two groups of participants engage in a structured ritual. A single sphere is the main point. Members on each group employ rapid, percussive strikes using mostly their upper limbs, to propel the sphere. Most of them aim the spere over the dividing banner so they opposing group cannot return it within certain counts. Participants exhibit remarkable agility, often launching themselves up and extending their limbs to intercept the sphere before it touche s the ground within their d esigned side of the rectangle. The sounds of sharp impacts loud calls fill the space as the sphere travels through the room. A successful deflection or a failure to return to the sphere results in a point in a number for the opposing side of the rectangle. The pattern of the force, interceptions, and awarding continues creating a display of coordinated physical effort put in. Gracelyn L.
