Students in the sophomore class at Chireno High School are making a name for themselves this year by publishing a book filled with their own versions of a Greek tragedy story. Led by the high school's English teacher Michael Powell, the 18 sophomores at CHS hope to have the books bound and ready to go by Thanksgiving, he said.
So far, they are looking to publish about 100 copies, with each student receiving a copy of his or her own, and then that student will try to sell four additional copies to help pay for their prom next year. Any left over proceeds may go to help fund scholarships when the students are ready for graduation.
Andrew Rogers/The Daily Sentinel |
Sophomores in Michael Powell?s English class at Chireno High School are publishing a book of their own Greek tragedies, which they hope to have ready by Thanksgiving.
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It was already in the curriculum for them to study Greek tragedies and to write their own. After seeing the interest the students had in the assignment, and utilizing his background in publishing, Powell decided to take things to the next level and make a book out of their stories titled "No Easy Way Out."
"When we started studying Greek tragedies, the students thought it was really cool that everyone died at the end, so they wanted more of that," Powell said. "But when they started writing them, I saw that they were really good. The kids blew me away with the pride they took in writing their tragedies."
For those who have forgotten what all is involved in a Greek tragedy, it's actually rather simple, yet timeless in its intrigue.
In Greek tragedies, noble heros start off with a normal and rather pleasant life, then disaster strikes. That crisis must be overcome and then the hero's life returns to a sense of normalcy yet again. The kicker is, just as the hero's life gets settled down, they suffer yet another disaster even worse than before. That's what has kept people over the last 2,500 years, coming back for more of the ancient stories of Oedipus and Electra.
Among the tragedies penned by CHS students, includes a story about an African man who longed to play soccer, but was brutally attacked and lost both arms, rendering him unable to keep his balance on the ball field. Once the man finally became an exceptional tailor using only his feet to sew, he was tragically beaten to death by a crowd of people who mistook him for a thief.
Another tale is about a girl whose father goes into a coma, and just as her life returns to normal, her fiance dies on the eve of his bachelor party. Incredibly distraught, the girl drowns herself in a river. During an out-of-body experience the girl has as she is dying, she sees that her dad is no longer in the coma and is sitting next to her mother alive and well.
One tragedy hit a lot closer to home Powell said. At least one student used the assignment as a way to talk about a domestic violence situation that changed the student's life forever.
"It was probably very therapeutic for that student to have the ability to express a horrible crime that happened in their family," Powell said. "I thought the student was joking because they ended it with, 'All of this is true.' And I thought that was just part of the story, but then I found out it was true and just thought what happened was horrible."
Special permission from the student's guardian was granted to include the story in the book, and Powell felt it was important to include the real-life tragedy because it was ultimately that student's decision to share their experience.
"He wanted to tell his story, and I actually let him break the rules because his story doesn't end with an ultimate tragedy," he said. "He ends by saying that 'life is great' and I thought I'll just let it end that way."
CHS Principal Daniel Johnson said the entire group of sophomores should be proud of themselves for this project.
"The thing I like most about this is to see the kids get so excited about trying to perform above the normal level. They're doing an excellent job, and Mr. Powell mentioned that they're not just concerned about writing a story for class, they're concerned about writing well because everyone's going to see it.
Anyone looking to purchase a copy of the book should contact Chireno High School for details.
