Blog Question for "A Clack of Tiny Sparks"
Why does Cooper attend the "make out party"? What does he hope will happen? Why do you t hink he ends his description of the party wit the observation of the "clack of tiny sparks"? Why do you think he used that image for his title?
40 comments:
Cooper attends the make out party in the hopes that he will kiss a girl and have feelings for her, rather than for boys. I think he ends his description of the party with the 'clack of tiny sparks' because he seems as if he wants so badly to feel for people of the opposite sex what his friends do. I think it's sort of sad that he feels he can't even be honest about his feelings, when this is all he wants to do.
Sarah S.
He attends the make out party because he wants to see how it feels to kiss a girl. He hopes that if he does he will like girls instead of likeing boys. He ends the description of the party with the "clack of tiny sparks". He does this because when he was there he could see that every boy and girl had sparks for each other he could hear it as well. He just knew thats how they felt toward each other, but he didnt feel it at all. He used this image for the title because at first he was unsure if he really had feelings for boys or he could like girls. After attending the make out party he just knew if you liked the someone you would feel those sparks just like the boys and girls did. It came to be he had no spraks at the party so that's when he knew he really liked boys.
The main reason why Cooper attended the "make out party" was in hopes to kiss a girl. Cooper wants to kiss a girl so that it diverts his likeing of the same sex. He ends his description of the party because he feels the tension or sparks between each girl and boy, not including himself. The feeling was not mutual when it came to his emotions. Cooper used the image for the title because he was unsure whether he could like girls or if he was indeed interested in the same sex. Once he left the party he knew then that he did like boys and there was no stopping it.--sara j
Amanda B.
Cooper attends the make out party because he figured what he needed to do was kiss a girl and learn to like it. After kissing a girl Cooper hopes to/wants to have feelings for girls instead of boys, like Grady. I think that Cooper ends his description with the "clack of tiny spraks" because he realizes he has feelings for boys and is just not interest or fascinated by girls. I think he used that image for his title because it's the best way he can describe his phase of learning that he is homosexual.
Cooper attends a make out party because he wants to kiss a girl. He wants so badly to be like his friends and have feelings for the opposite sex and he doesn't. He hopes that he will find a way to be the same as everyone else.
Personally I think it is sad that he can't be honest with his friends. Friends should accept you how you are and you shouldn't feel like you have to change.
I think he ends the description of the party as a "clack of tiny sparks" because he knew that he was different. He didn't have any sparks for women he only had them for men. He used this image for his title because he realized who he was, and what he liked and wanted.
Christine L.
Cooper attends the make out party because he saw it as an "opportunity" to change his "yearning for boys into a yearning for girls." By going to the party he hopes he will feel something when he kisses a girl because he feels that no one will approve of his homosexuality, especially after asking his mother what the word "fag" meant;he saw she was "visibly relieved" when he told her that he was not the boy being called that.
I think he ends the description of the party with the "clack of tiny sparks" because that is what he imagined every other boy and girl were feeling while kissing each other..it is a common thing to hear someone say 'I felt sparks when we kissed' or something along those lines, so he was probably hoping to feel something like that but was only seeing it happen to others.I think he used this image for his title because it symbolizes the final point of accepance he had in his "Gay boyhood."
Krysten A.
Francis
Cooper decides to attend the party after he contemplates the thought of being a “fag” and his transparent response to the question, he figures that he needed to kiss a girl and learn to like it. When he asked his mom what the word meant she treated it like a taboo, and this made Cooper aware that his family was against it. Cooper also remembers what his father said, which are that one’s tastes are destined to change, which he also may apply in this case. When he describes the end of the party with the static electric sparks, it is a metaphor that all the guys and girls that were making out were straight and had a “spark” with each other except for him. This made him realize this isn’t who he was, he was a homosexual.
Cooper attends the makeout party in hopes of making his feelings of having attraction to the same sex disappear and he will learn an make himself like girls by kissing them. He uses the description " a clack of tiny sparks" for the end of the party to describe the attraction that the boys and girls felt towards eachother but he didnt feel any sparks towards any girls. He used the description for the title of the story to describe how he knew he felt sparks only towards the opposite sex or the people he was attracted to and no matter how hard he tried he couldnt force himself to be someone he was not.
Cait G.
In Benard Coopers "Tiny Clack of Sparks" Cooper attends the make out party because he wants to have attaction towards girls and to hopefully end up kissing one of them. He ends his description of the party with "clack of tiny sparks" because he can see and feel the sparks and connection between the other boys and girls. He uses this description because it gives good imagery of what is going on between the other boys and girls even though he dosen't feel the same connection with them.
Anthony E.
Cooper attends the "make-out party" in an attempt to scrutinize his sexuality by kissing a girl. Cooper anticipates that his feelings for boys will be displaced for an interest in girls instead. I presume that he ended the party with the description of "clack of tiny sparks," because he realizes that members of the opposite sex in his surroundings were doubtless in their sexuality and that he could no longer deny his affection for boys. When he says "All that shuffling across the carpet charged everyone's arms and lips with static.."(pg 125), he can sense the connection that each person had with their partner. I think that Cooper used that image for his title because, it was at that moment where he understood himself in his sexuality. Like fireworks bursting after being lit, the make-out party was his flame for his anew self.
- Christine Lam
Cooper attends the make out party in hopes of training himself to become attracted to girls. He figures that with practice he could guide his emotional being towards women. He illustrates the tiny sparks he felt while he was at the party between those of the opposite sex. He describes the electric feelings at the end of the party and leaves you with the image of sexual tension. This is an appropriate title for his story because it was the point in his life where he was trying to develop these “sparks” with the opposite sex to convince himself that he wasn’t homosexual.
Jennifer Haley
Cooper goes to the party so that he can make out with a girl. It it all part of a plan so that he will stop liking boys and feel that attraction for girls. He ends the description with a tiny clack of sparks because everyone there felt something for each other. However he is different and only feels attracted to Grady. He uses that image for his title because he did have "sparks" for someone, just not a person of the opposite sex.
Robert Lyons
He attends the make out party to change his "habit" of being gay. At one point in the essay, he was talking about how habits can be changed. He thinks his "yearning for boys" (p 123) is a habit. Cooper wants to convince himself that kissing girls is better, and that if he kissed a girl, he wouldn't like boys anymore. He ended the description with "clack of tiny sparks" because he see the sparks fly between the couples. The passion between the couples was practically visible. He doesn't have the same 'spark' for the opposite sex as the others. He used that phrase for the title because it still applied to his live. Even though he didn't have 'sparks' for girls, he did for boys. He realizes his homosexuality, and embraces it.
~~Heather C.~~
Cooper attends the "make out party" because he is hoping to kiss a girl. He wants to kiss a girls to try and make himself like girls and no longer have feelings for boys. I think that he ends his description of the party with the observation of the clack of tiny sparks because he is describing the sparks and chemistry that all the other boys and girls are having. After seeing how they feel towards each other he realizes that he does not have that spark towards girls. I think that he used this image for his title because he is saying that even though he does not have those sparks for girls it doesn't really matter because he has them for boys and has accepted that.
-Ashley Bosselman
The reason that Cooper chooses to attend the "make out party" is because he wants to have feelings for a girl. He feels that if he kisses a girl than he will be able to have feelings for her rather than for other boys. When he arrives, he sees that every other boy and girl have strong feelings for eachother, and he was envious of their "sparks"; hence the reason for the title, "A Clack of Tiny Sparks"
-Christina Coll
Copper attends the make out party, because he realizes he needs to experiment with girls, to see if there is any interest in them. He then realizes that he doesnt like girls adn has no interest/attraction to them. I feel that the author titles the story "A Clack of Tiny Sparks", because Cooper feels when he attends the make out party, he will feel the sparks fly when he kisses a girl, but they dont.
Lauren Chetta
Cooper attends the party so he can hopefully kiss a girl and prove to himself they he likes girls and not guys. He ends his description of the party with the "clack of tiny sparks" because he sees the sparks between everyone else but he is not seeing it with him self. He used the image for his title because I think it best described how he felt at the time of not knowing whether he liked boys or girls. He could see the spark between the others at the party but maybe wondered why he didn't feel the spark until he realized that he did in fact like boys.
-Maria D.
Cooper attends the make-out party because that is what everyone is doing and that was is normal. He is wanting to be normal-normal in this situation is him liking girls and not boys. He ends the description with the "clack of tiny sparks" because the sparks is what is happening between every boy and girl at the party. There were no sparks for him at that party.
Samantha S
Cooper attends the make out party because he wants to experience kissing a girl in hopes it will make him like girls instead of boys. He ends his description of the party with the observation of the "clack of tiny sparks" since he saw sparks coming from the ground and related that to the feelings each boy and girl had for each other. He then realized he didn't feel those sparks when he was with a girl, and it became clear he truly did like boys. I think he used the image of the sparks as his title because it represents how he found out about his sexual orientation.
Tracy Elwell
Cooper decides to go to the party after he thinks of himself as a "fag". He goes to the party with the hope that he will meet a girl, kiss her and have some sort of feelings for her, a "spark". I think he ends the description of the party with the "Clack of tiny sparks" because he sees all of the other people of the opposite sex mingling and creating "sparks". Cooper wants to feel a spark with a girl so badly but he cant seem to. The sparks only come when he is with other boys. I think thats why the tile is "A Clack of Tiny Sparks". Because the tiny "spark" only comes with boys, and not with girls no matter how hard he tries.
Cooper attends the make out party in hopes of kissing a girl and liking it, so he would know that he didn't like boys. He want sit so badly I think because he already knows he is truly attracted to the same sex not the opposite and wants to change it so he'll be like all of his friends. I think that he ends his desciption of the party with the 'clack of tiny sparks" because at he parrty he saw when the other girls and boys were kissing eachother there where sparks of chemistry shooting between eachother. He now knew that he liked other guys becasue he didn't have those sparks for the opposite sex. Jessica C.
Cooper attends the make out party in hopes of kissing a girl and liking it, so he would know that he didn't like boys. He want sit so badly I think because he already knows he is truly attracted to the same sex not the opposite and wants to change it so he'll be like all of his friends. I think that he ends his desciption of the party with the 'clack of tiny sparks" because at he parrty he saw when the other girls and boys were kissing eachother there where sparks of chemistry shooting between eachother. He now knew that he liked other guys becasue he didn't have those sparks for the opposite sex. Jessica C.
Bernard attended the make out party in hopes of having an opportunity to kiss a girl. He struggled with the possibility of being homosexual, a concept that he feared would separate him from his fellow classmates. Bernard thinks that if he kissed a girl he may enjoy it and thus not be different (homosexual) from his classmates. Acceptance from fellow peers is vital for adolescents. Nobody wants to be singled out as "different" at a young age, so many kids will do whatever it takes to fit in. From Bernard's perspective, "a clack of tiny sparks" is what was happening all around him that night at the party. The other boys and girls were kissing one another and feeling "sparks" or connections between them. Since Bernard was (whether he acknowledged it or not) a homosexual, he could not feel a connection kissing a girl. The image is appropriate for the title of this passage because its theme is maturation. Bernard is discussing his experiences along his path of sexual self-discovery. When we think of "sparks" we typically think of either something pertaining to fireworks or love. Two individuals can feel [emotional] "sparks" between each other (like the boys and girls at the party). At the conclusion of this passage, Bernard accepted being a homosexual through the act of playing rough with Grady, trying to express the connection he desired with his close friend.
Jessica Wood
Cooper has high hopes in kissing a girl and having feelings for her so that he could be sure whether or not he only had those feelings for boys. Throughout the whole make out party, the person Cooper was watching was Grady. He watched him go back and forth to many different girls, recieving hickeys all over his neck. He uses the quote, "All that shuffling accross the carpet charged everyone's arms and lips with static, and eventually, between low moans and soft osculations, I could hea the clack of tiny sparks and see them flare here and in there..."(125). This discription made me picture sparks from the static of the rug sparking while all these immature kids are switching partners at this party, static of immature curiousity. Cooper used "a clack of tiny sparks" because of the charged static from the shuffling accross the rug. He used this for the title because after the makeout party experience, he was able to realize the person he is, and to accept it.
Copper attends the "make out party" to see if kissing a girl will help him turn his sexual preference away from boys. Copper ends his description of the party with the observation of the "clack of tiny sparks" because as he watched everyone switching around the circle he could see and hear the sparks between each "couple". He wanted to be one of them to be able to feel the sparks as well but he couldn't erase the desire he had towards boys. I believe that Copper used that image for his title because it is how he finds out that he truely likes men and that he has no control over how he feels.
Kristina Bliss
Why does Cooper attend the “make out” part? What does he hope will happen?
Cooper has realized that he likes boys and he knows that isn’t accepted by his family and friends. So he is determined to kiss a girl and like it. He hopes doing this will make him attracted to girls and stop liking boys.
Why do you think he ends his description of the party with the observation of the “clack of tiny sparks”?
I think that Cooper was so bored with the make out party that he was noticing and paying attention to things like the sparks from static electricity. That observation was definitely a sign that he was a homosexual because most teenage boys would be too occupied with kissing girls to really pay attention to something like that.
Why did he use that image for his title?
I think he used that because it was a defining point in the essay. It was his first time kissing other girls and he kept picturing his friend emerging from a pool when he kissed them. This was the point where he knew that he could not change the way he felt for boys.
Cooper attends the “Make out party” in hopefulness to find his sexual preference. He is confused whether or not he is attracted to male or female. After Theresa’s comment “fags” he has come to believe he is a homosexual because of his attraction towards Grady. By kissing a girl at the party he hopes that he can find his confusion at peace. He ends the description of the party with “a clack of tiny sparks” because he wants to show a vivid image of the party. The description is meant to help the reader understand the feeling he wants to receive from kissing a girl, the “sparks” flying in the air. After kissing several girls at the party there were no "sparks" no feelings, no nothing, just the thought of Grady on his mind.
-Leslie Segura
In "Tiny Clack of Sparks" by Benard Coopers, Cooper attends the "make-out party" in hopes of making out with a girl. He also hopes that after making out with a girl he will like girls instead of boys. Why I think he ends the description of the party with "clack of tiny sparks" is because he ended up not having "sparks" and he came to accept that he really liked boys.
- Melissa H
Cooper attends the make out party in hopes of kissing a girl, and hopes he will realize he likes girls. If likes girls he wont be "different", as he sees it, from his friends. I think the description at the end where he describes the party with, "clack of tiny sparks" is describing almost an epiphany which he has in realizing his true thoughts about himself, and who he feels attracted too.
-Michelle K
Cooper attends the "make out party" because he hopes that he will learn to like kissing girls. He hopes that if he kisses girls at the party then his feelings will change and he won't be attracted to boys, but instead he will like girls. He ends the description of the party with "clack of tiny sparks" because he could sort of see and feel the sparks between the boys and girls at the party. But he didn't feel sparks at all while kissing the girls. I think that he used that image for his title because like everyone else at the party, he wasn't feeling the "sparks" for the opposite sex. It was that point in his life when he realized that his feelings weren't going to change.
-Sarah C.
Cooper attends the “make out party” to try and change his attraction from boys to girls. He hopes that the feelings he has for boys will change by kissing a girl, and that he will learn to like the opposite sex after he does to be like all of the other boys. I think that Cooper ends his description of the make out party with the “clack of tiny sparks” because he is not into girls at all and realizes that he doesn’t have any sparks for the girls he kissed, but for the boys still. Admitting the fact that he was a homosexual was hard for Cooper because he knew he was so different from everyone else around him. It is hard for him to be truthful with people about the fact that he is what he is and cannot change it. I think he used the image of tiny sparks for the title to describe the very small feelings he has for women compared to the sparks between every other boy and girl at the party.
Erin P.
Cooper attended the “make out party” to determine if he was really attracted to men, and that he wasn’t lying to himself about being a homosexual. By going to the “make out party”, it allows Cooper to be experienced near girls, and help him decide, even though you could tell he already knew that he was a homosexual. Cooper ends with the “clack of tiny sparks” because he notices while he is at the party that every guy is with a girl, and he doesn’t have that. Seeing two people be together and be able to express their feelings hurts Cooper because in a way he knows he can’t do that.
Jamie R.
The reason Cooper attends the make out party is because he wants to find out who he is in his life. He is hoping that if he makes out with a girl he will feel sparks and it will reassure him that he is heterosexual. I understand why he is hiding his feelings from his friends. Society tends to look down on 'gay' couples. He probably feels like his friends will think of him different and he doesn't want that. I think 'clack of tiny sparks' is meaning that he was trying to get just that small spark to reassure him of his sexuality.
Ashley d'Entremont
Cooper attends the make out party in hopes of kissing a girl, and learning to like it. Instead he still has feelings for boys instead of girls. He describes the party with "clack of tiny sparks" because thats when you know when people click. He didn't feel the sparks when he kissed the girl. Thats how he knew he liked boys.
Cooper goes to the party because he wants to know if he will enjoy kissing a girl. I believe that he was ashamed of his homosexuality and the best way he could express it was a clack of tiny sparks.
Jonathan M
Cooper attended the make out party to experiment with girls to see if his attraction to men are really real feelings. He hoped he would end up attracted to girls so he wouldn't be called a "fag". In my opinion he ended the description of the party with the "clack of a tiny spark" because the party served as a conformation to him. It proofed that he was only attracted to men.
Nordian D.
Copper attends the party because he wants to see what kissing a girl feels like, and hopes he will like it. He ended his decription the way her did because thats how he saw the party, a bunch of boys and girls feeling "sparks" for eachother. This is when he found out he liked boys because he wasnt feeling any sparks toward any of the girls at the party.
Lydia Mojkowski
Cooper attends the "make out party" because he was trying very hard to adapt to girls, this party was a way he could actually practice doing so. I think he ends his description of the party by saying "clack of tiny sparks," because he was comparing his feelings towards girls to sparks. He tried to make his feelings towards girls real, like a star, but they would not stay lit because that is not how he truly felt. I think he used that image for his title because it is the best way to show that tiny sparks can not always become larger into what people want to see, they can die and show a true identity.
Cooper attends the "make out party" because he was trying very hard to adapt to girls, this party was a way he could actually practice doing so. I think he ends his description of the party by saying "clack of tiny sparks," because he was comparing his feelings towards girls to sparks. He tried to make his feelings towards girls real, like a star, but they would not stay lit because that is not how he truly felt. I think he used that image for his title because it is the best way to show that tiny sparks can not always become larger into what people want to see, they can die and show a true identity.
-Meghan Kearney
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