Hi there,

Today, I created a found poem for the purpose of identifying the conflict of the short story “Tuesday of the Other June” by Norma Fox Mazer. All the words and phrases used in this poem was taken from that story. I used Canva as a tool to put the words and phrases together and to make it more visually appealing. I used Microsoft Words and Notes to put my ideas together. I as well Dragons Gate to access different resources.

As the assigned task was to identify the conflict of the story, I tried my best to pick out words that directly and specifically pointed out the conflict. The conflict I identified is an external conflict, which is the event of the protagonist June being bullied by the other June, just due to the reason that they have the same name. Throughout the story, it can be seen that the other June, the antagonist has consistently caused mental and physical trouble to June. This is a man vs man conflict as the struggle is occurring visibly between the two characters. One of the quotes from the story states “’Fish Eyes, you are really stupid.’ She shoved me into the pool”(Mazer 3). This quote clearly demonstrates how the other June was being unreasonably mean to June. In addition, throughout the story, the other June continuously pinches, knocks, hits, punches, steps on June. She also keeps on saying means words such as “You guys see that bathing suit Fish Eyes was wearing? Her mother found it in a trash can”(Mazer 3). Those clearly indicates that June is being bullied by the other June as those actions are indeed not kind, and falls under bullying. I included those previously mentioned quotes in my found poem, as it is the very direct evidence of bullying. I also included the parts about June calling days of a week Awfuldays, Baddays and more in order to make it more clear that June is indeed getting mental damage from the bullying. Conflicts often tend to cause trouble and struggle to the protagonist, which is the case for June as well. The part about slaves and masters were included as it is also one of the pieces of evidence that suggest verbal bullying by the Other June. I decided to end the poem with the quote “…you lost your tongue” (Mazer 7) to once again empathize the mean words of the Other June, the damage June is getting, and how the conflict has led to the consequences of June being hopeless.

I also tried to create a background that connects with the idea or the conflict being shared in my poem. I used clouds, rain and thunder as a symbol to represent the gloomy mood of June when she was being bullied by the other June. The clouds and rain are showing how her life is dark, difficult or depressing. The thunder is showing the difficulties of her life and possibly her anger towards the other June. The black shadow of a person was a visual representation of June, who is depressed and hopeless due to the conflict. The fingers pointing at her are the people who are bullying June, not only the other June but her classmates who made fun of her as well. Lastly, I titled my poem the Awful Day as it somehow connects with the title of the story and is one of the words that was frequently mentioned in the story. I hope you enjoyed reading my found poem!

Click HERE to read  the story “Tuesday_of_the_Other_June”

Click HERE to learn more about the story “Tuesday_of_the_Other_June”

Click HERE  to learn more about Norma Fox Mazer