The Key and the Board

[joann chen]

This story, "The Key and the Board" is my first try of using hypertextopia. It seems that I am given a useful key to unlock a door to get into a whole new world and I am also supported by a community, the NYC writing project team, that serves like cover boards to protect me not to be over-whelmed too much by the new world . . . You can also see the map of my story.

[Beth]

Hi Joann,

Thank you for sharing your insightful stories about keys--who knew such a small object could unlock such rich, meaningful memories! The strongest part for me was the first paragraph of "A Closed Door" when you connect the idea of some keys not being able to open doors, to your painful memory of a door that remain closed to you--a position at Stonybrook, and the thoughts and emotions that emerged from this disappointing experience. You express your reaction to this experience very honestly and openly, which pulled me in and enabled me to relate with the hurt and frustration such closed doors cause--I know I've been there before and I was able to remember my feelings/ thoughts that were similar to the ones you vividly describe. Some questions also arose in my mind as I read this fragment: How did your memories surrounding the key lead you to your memories about this closed door experience--What thought process got you from the key to the closed door memory? You explain how this closed door may have been a blessing since you later found out that the program is struggling, but has it been a blessing for your life in any other ways? What path did this closed door force you to take instead, and did taking this unexpected path turn out to be a benefit for you in any ways? I also wonder if there is any connection between you having to reroute your life path because of this closed door, and the rerouting your Dad did in his life in your fragment "Forty Years Later in Hua-Lian"? Is this closed door/rerouting one's path in life a theme you might want to explore further by connecting these memories? Thanks again--I greatly enjoyed reading your fragments!

[Margaret F]

Hi, Joann,
I enjoyed reading your story fragments, especially this part: "I always love Hua-Lian, a place I grew up. Now I have a stronger reason to love her: the urbanization did not wipe away people's simplicity and sincerity - even after forty years." You made me hungry to learn more about the "simplicity and sincerity." Then I was even more intrigued to read your shard that Hua-Lin is on the Pacific coast, so I wondered how present the ocean is when you're in Hua-Lin--did you swim in the ocean? Did you have abundant fresh seafood to eat? I am guessing that you were playing with the idea of keyboard, key and board, but your fragments about the school master and pass keys and your apartment key are also engaging, so I wonder if you're looking for "keys" into other rich memories?
Maybe you have more fragments to come?
Margaret