Jenna Podgorny

March 22, 2019

Ms. O’Keefe
AP Literature

AP Prose Passage Timed Writing #2

C.E. Morgan uses literary elements such as diction and repetition to describe Aloma’s
new changes in her environment and how they make her feel about herself as well as her
family. ​Aloma, a twelve year old girl at the time, always wanted more than what she was given.
Morgan has shown the audience throughout this passage what she wants and why she feels the
way she does through literary elements in order to convey her responses while she’s going
through multiple changes. When her household became too full, her aunt and uncle, who have
taken her in and “had always been fine to her” (line 6), she is sent away to the mission school.
First arriving, the audience is able to tell the hurt and anger that Aloma felt when Morgan states,
“Only that first night she found that her eyes stung and to make them stop she turned face down
into her pillow and let them tear with her mouth open raged against the cotton ticking.” (lines
11--15). This is important because it shows the hurt the Aloma felt the first night she was away
from her usual environment. As the story continues, the author begins to describe how Aloma’s
aunt and uncle barely reached out to her once she was moved out of the house. Morgan states,
“...but they’d cared… from their church.” (lines 19-24). This is also important because this could
lead Aloma to believe that she wasn’t appreciated or good enough for her aunt and uncle, even
though they took her in when they had very little money.

The more and more she is at this school, the more she begins to wonder about who she
really is. It states, “She wondered what kind of luck was required to be someone other than the
person you were born to be.” (lines 31-33) This quote emphasizes that Aloma is unhappy with
who she is and wants to do something to change that to possibly feel good enough for herself. As
Morgan continues to write, he uses the word dark multiple times in one sentence while
describing where Aloma was living. Lastly, this is important because when you are in a dark
place literally, it can lead someone to go into a dark place mentally meaning that her emotions
aren’t as bright and beaming as one would hope. Instead, someone tends to become upset as
Aloma is. Throughout the passage, Morgan has used literary elements such as diction and
repitition to have the reader understand the changes the Aloma is facing while being in a new
environment.