Journal Entry #5

5

• He now has his own place and can't be any happier. He bought his house in Maitland. He says that the house looked like one showed in MTV's Cribs.
• Also, he has now become the parent of two teen aged boys; Jeff and Martin.
• At the age of 29, the coaches are already seeing that Amaechi's abilities and getting weaker.
• Unfortunatly, he was sent packing because Sloan didn't understand him, he didn't understand his sexuality. This is just not a reason to discriminate because his sexuality doesn't ahev anything to do with his ability and gays know how to respect.
• It's been four years since Amaechi retired and he's been living in London and he's having the time of his life. He mentions that though he is extremely private specially with his sexuality, he had the courage to celebrate the Manchester gay pride parade with some friends. "After all, there is still much work to be done" (290).

4

• How did Martin and Jeff feel living with Amaechi?
• Did Amaechi being gay bother them?
• To this day is Amaechi afraid of his preference?
• Is Amaechi now more confortable with his life style?
• How did he think Americans compared to Europeans reacted to him being gay?

3

• Surrogate (224): a person appointed to act for another
• Demystify (224): to rid of mystery
• Innuendo (274): an indirect intimation of a person

2

• "Lord knows, given my teenage drinking exploits" (225). Man vs. Self.
• "His brain waves are constantly humming" (233). Personification.

1

• Amaechi went through a lot, but fortunately persevered through it all. I think that he gives those who are gays or lesbians a talk of his life and tells them not to be afraid because he now feels more relieved and they can live a better and a healthier life.

Journal Entry #4

5

• The NBA start liked playing in Britain because there the people didn't really cover basketball and there was no distraction or attention their personal lives.
• While in Manchester, Amaechi was invited to a gay club by a girl friend and she asked him to be kind, not knowing his likings. While at the club a guy came up to him and told him he knew he was gay.
• Amaechi is now getting a lot of recognition and being asked to sign contracts for larger amounts now up to $17 million.
• Amaechi is doing some flashbacks after he sees so many kids and he remembers that during the summers the family would go on camping trips because his mom worked so much.
• Amaechi decided to pass on one contract but he new there would be others and he was already financially set.

4

• How did he react to people who tried to get into details about his personal life?
• What did Amaechi think when the man came up to him so randomly?
• Did he ever want to go to a club again?
• What were the contractor's reaction when Amaechi said no?

3

• Forays (175): a quick or sudden attack
• Itinerant (176): traveling from place to place
• Jettisoning (220): to cast

2

• "There were many things I wanted to talk about with the beared, leather-jacketed Jackson" (208). Imagery.
• "Tired eyes tinged with envy, and I hate to admit I took some small satisfaction from it" (208), Imagery.

1

• Amaechi has been getting his mind out of the negative stuff and is learning to live his life.

Journal Entry #3

5

• Amaechi is in college and he has lost his mother.
  
• He is very down at this time in his life and all he wants to do is eat sweets. During this time was when he discovered the "American delicacies; Twinkies".
  
• There was a high possibility that Amaechi would not get drafted to the NBA and this would have been very bad because he would only see himself as a failure!
  
• Amaechi got to the NBA !
  
• He decided to play in Athens with former start John Salley.
  

4

• Where was he when his mother died?
  
• Who supported him during his mom's death?
  
• What would Amaechi have become if he didn't make it to the NBA?
  
• How can someone feel so insecure for such a long period of time?
  

3

• Chronicling (129): history
  
• Arsenal (132): a collection of supplies
  
• Drachmas (155): any of various modern weights
  

2

• "Mum's death still weighed heavily-and so did all those Twinkies" (127). Man vs. Self.
  
• "But the return of the baby fat meant my phone might not ring on draft day" (132). Man vs. Self.
  

1

• Amaechi's life is at least improving somewhat. He needs to keep turning all his negatives into positives.
  

Journal Entry #2

5

• Mr. Amaechi lived a very harsh childhood. His family was constantly moving and his mother had to be very aware because his father always wanted to kidnap them and take them to Africa.
  
• The kids never got along with their father and when they heard about his death they didn't really care. Amaechi even refused to speak at his funeral.
  
• Amaechi was constantly made fun of because of his race and the way he looked. He was very big and thick and during swimming class the kids called him whale. This is one reason as to why he is very insecure with himself and his body.
  
• Amaechi was at an all boys school and then he started his interest for basketball. Here he also found out that the opposite sex was no longer in his mind.
  
• Up to this day Amaechi is very insecure about his body because all of the comments have left him scared. He is a retired basketball player and used to play with Michael Jordan and even when he had a photo shoot for the NBA he refused to show his body.
  

4

• When did he tell his mother he was gay?
  
• What did his mom think about him not attending the funeral?
  
• Did his father's family start talking trash to his mother because he didn't attend the funeral?
  
• Why did Amaechi chose not to become a doctor anymore?
  

3

• Retrospect (64): contemplation of the past
  
• Euphemistically (64): a vague expression for a harsh thought
  
• Marauding (79): roaming around
  

2

• "As a brown kid raised by a white mother" (68). Man vs. Society.
  
• "It seemed everyone I met had been touched by gun violence" (73). Man vs. Society.
  

1

• Amaechi has always had a hard time finding himself.
  

Journal Entry 1 [ Man in the Middle by John Amaechi ]

5

• John Amaechi is a newly retired NBA basketball player.
• A British basketball scout was the one who discovered John Amaechi when he was 17 and asked him whether he'd be interested in basketball.
• His mother told him "[let it] be a guide not just to fame and fortune but to an ethic of good works" (Amaechi).
• Him and his mother had to move when he was only four years old because of his father's threats, "fear about my disgraced father's threats to hunt us down and make us disappear" (Amaechi).
• Unfortunately, Amaechi's mother died and she was always very silent so that her kids wouldn't know about the problems and have a hard time. He learned about most of the things going on after her death.
  

4

• Did Amaechi try looking for his father?
  
• Did he ever hear his mom speaking to his father?
  
• What would he tell his mother today if she were alive today?
  
• Did playing basketball make him feel free from his problems?
  

3

• Cacophony (2): harsh discordance of sounds
• Stewardesses (6):a woman flight attendant
  
• Stoicism (7): insensibility
  

2

• "I was to use whatever basketball status I achieved to become a role model" (4). Person vs. Self.
• "I was sheltered from the reality of escape in the cover of darkness" (6). Person vs. self.

1

• It's unbelievable knowing that people we see today with everything, having a past where they had nothing.
  

MOVIE

• Close up of Griet in the kitchen when a lady and a man appear in the kitchen
• Birds eye view of Griet when she's getting her things together
• Midium shot when Griet is cleaning the window
• Low angle shot of Griet's fearful face while the patrons make out
• Close up of Griet's face with the tear in her eye
• Then close up of the painter's face because they are talking
• A lot of fades from one day to another
• Long shot of Catherina
• High angle shot when Griet is getting her ears pierced
• Stablishing shot of Griet serving her master
• Griet is a lot of the time around the house alone and many of the shots are midium shots most of them enphasizing her face
• Fades from one place to another
• Extreme close up of the brush on the board

Journal Entry #5

5

• Griet has seen the painting of her and it's just of her face and shoulders. Though showing the new clothing she was wearing she mentions it looked like a "Griet from another town".
  
• The painter says there's something missing in the picture and Griet thinks so too.
  
• Catharina who didn't really like Griet, found the answer to the puzzle. So she brought out her pearls that everyone in the house loved.
  
• Griet is piercing her ear and later it gets infected but she still pushes the needle in because she needs to wear the pearl earrings so that the painting could be complete.
  
• Now Griet is part of one of the most famous and impirtant art works her patron's had to make.
  

4

• What's the painting missing?
  
• Why does Griet not want to wear the pearl earrings?
  
• Does Griet like her patron?
  
• Griet just did something with Pieter?!?!
  

3

• Plodded (194): to walk heavily
  
• Taverns (196): a public house for travelers
  
• Groping (226): stumbling
  

2

• "The light falling across my face but the left side of me in shadow" (191). Imagery.
  
• "I did not wrap the blue and yellow cloth differently or hide the top of my chemise. I did not bite my lips to make the redder, or suck in my cheeks. I did not set out colors I thought he might use" (192). Imagery.
  

1

• It's fascinating how life revolves. Griet went from a maid to an asisting model in the same house she was being a maid.
  

Journal Entry #4

5

• Pieter brings the pearls and earrings to Catharina every evening.
  
• Someone has taken something and the do it to get Griet in trouble and she thinks they won't stop this until they see her gone.
  
• Griet thinks she won't see her grandmother's comb ever again but to her surprise she gets it back and it gets thrown at her. The following Sunday, when she went to see her family, she gave the comb back to her mother and told her that the comb was to fine for a maid to keep. I'm starting to feel bad for Griet it's like her self-esteem is going down too.
  
• Griet's mother tell her that she has been hearing gossip about her in the market. It's being said that he master is going to paint her.
  
• They're painting Griet! He doesn't want to paint her how she is dressed as a maid and Griet tells him that she is a maid thaqt maybe he shouldn't be painting her and that she's not going to wear his wife's clothing as much as she'd love to feel the fur in her neck. He replies to her that he will just paint her as the first time he saw her. Just her! =]
  

4

• Why all this hatred towards Griet?
  
• Why is the patron only doing paintings with only one person not with multiple like he used to?
  
• What will Griet's mother say when she sees the paiting of her daughter?
  
• What will be the reaction of everyone in the house when they see the painting since they dislike Griet?
  

3

• Tingeing (146): tint
  
• Bravado (156): a swaggering display of courage
  
• Harpsichord (168): an instruments with strings
  

2

• "Cornelia once again trailing behind her like a cat thinking it is about to be fed" (146). Simile.
  
• "Now my shoulders twitched of their own accord, as if I were shaking off a shawl" (186). Simile.
• "Van Ruijven's mouth is looser than a whore's purse" (189). Methaphord.
  

1

• Griet is loving the painting life and she is now being painted something she had not thought about since she was "just a maid".
  

Journal Entry #3

5

• Griet is with the patron and he is painting and teaching her about the colors and the way he paints.
  
• Now Griet sees more than one color on everything even light.
  
• Griet has now been moved to sleep in the attic. She likes it better there and fells more comfortable, also because there are no Crucifixions. But she feels lonely because the girls at least used to visit her in the cellar.
  
• Griet is home and she is speaking to her parents. They tell her that they have lost her even since she became a maid.
  
• Catharina doesn't like Griet and is always suspicious of her.
  

4

• Is Griet going to become a painter now?
  
• Will her parents want her to come back home already?
• Will She fire Griet because she doesn't like her?
  
• Will the patron be on Griet's defense or his wife's?
  

3

• Embroidered (97): to decorate with ornaments
  
• Linseed (97): used for source of oil
  
• Feebly (103): physically week
  

2

• "No one but Cornelia had become suspicious" (102). Man vs Man.
  
• "the tears that pricked my eyes" (118). Personification.
• "My heart grew heavy like a stone in my chest" (142). Simile.
  

1

• Griet and the patron are getting along and he's teaching her about the colors and painting.
  

Journal Entry #2

5

• Griet is beginning to feel comfortable in the new house where she is serving as a maid.
  
• Griet asks why there isn't another maid or cook since the family has so much money. I think her patrons are going to be a bit mad at her when they hear this.
  
• Griet is often alone and when she's not she barely speaks to the girls and some of them try to intimidate her.
  
• Grite feels ashamed of giving her back to her sister!
  
• While going to buy meat, Griet is told that there is a plague in her home town and she is now very scared!
• Griet and the patron are now getting along well and speaking to each other.
  

4

• Does she complaining about being left alone to finish most of the work?
  
• Are the girls ways going to make Griet want to leave the house?
  
• Can Griet's parents visit her?
  
• How does her family feel about her now?
  

3

• Steadied (51): firmly placed
  
• Quarantine (62): isolation to help prevent the spread of a disease
  
• Rummaged (62): to search thoroughly through
  

2

• "The plane trees lining the canal stood perfectly still, like sentries waiting for me" (45). Simile.
  
• "Playful and funny one moment, then turn the next, like a purring cat who bites the hand stroking it" (52). Simile.
  

1

• Griet is living in a new home, but still has to worry about her family back home.