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More than cool extract from David Yoon's "Super Fake Love Song"
The story is about a boy named Sunny and a girl named Cirrus. Cirrus has just moved to the neighbourhood. Cirrus visits Sunny at his house to get to know him before she starts at Sunny’s school the next day.
1
My big brother’s door was always open, because that’s how Gray liked things. The door to my room was
2
always shut, because that’s how I liked things. My door was boring. My door could have led to anything – a
3
closet, a brick wall, a strange universe.
4
You only get one chance to make a first impression, Mum liked to say. It was usually shallow advice, but
5
there was a truth to it that I only now realised.
6
I followed Cirrus, turning left into Gray’s room instead of right into mine.
7
Cirrus made herself at home in my brother’s steel swivel chair. She drummed her fingers on her legs, as if
8
she was waiting to be introduced to the room’s history.
9
I started to say something, then stopped.
10
I started to say something else, then stopped.
11
I started to –
12
Cirrus looked at me with a worried look on her face.
13
“So are you –” she said.
14
“These are guitars,” I said suddenly. I realised I was getting ready to tell a big lie. “They’re my guitars.”
15
Cirrus’ eyes grew big. “Wait. Are you in a band?”
16
“Yup,” I said. “It’s just a little band, but yes: I am.”
17
Cirrus looked at the guitars again, as if they had changed. “Very cool.”
18
I heard none of this, because my lie was still busy bouncing around the inside of my big empty head like a
19
ball. Shocking, how easily the lie had come out of my mouth.
20
“You’re more than cool,” continued Cirrus. “You’re brave. Most people don’t really have hobbies, if they try
21
anything new at all. Most people don’t follow their dreams. They forget about them and only remember them
22
again when they are old and lying on their death bed. Then they wonder, ‘what was I so afraid of this whole
23
time?’”
24
“Wow, heavy,” I whispered.
25
Cirrus noticed something behind my guitars [Gray’s guitars]: an old Mortals flyer. “Is that you?” she asked.
26
I cleared my throat, which was already clear. “That’s, uh, my old band,” I said. “We split up. I’m working on a
27
new thing.”
28
“Cool-cool,” said Cirrus, nodding.
29
Then she flashed me a look.
30
Not just any look.
31
The Look.
32
I recognised the Look from when Gray was still at school. The Look was a particular type of look Gray got
33
often – a combination of burning curiosity and faked disinterest. Everyone wanted to know my brother;
34
everyone pretended they didn’t.
35
The Look was the expression people gave to someone who was doing something well, and with passion. It
36
was an instinctive attraction to creativity – expressed by emojis with little hearts on their eyes. It was falling a
37
little bit in love with people who were making something new with their hands and their imaginations.
38
I had always wondered what it would feel like to get the Look, and now I realised I had just found out.
39
The Look was pure deadly sweet terror, and it felt incredible.
40
I instantly wanted another.
Aus: David Yoon: Super Fake Love Song (2020)
- Read the tasks carefully.
- Make sure to write about all the aspects presented in each task.
1.
Describe the situation Sunny is in and how he deals with it.
(8 Punkte)
2.
Analyse how Sunny behaves towards Cirrus and how she reacts.
In doing so, look at the way the way the story is told (narrative technique).
In doing so, look at the way the way the story is told (narrative technique).
(12 Punkte)
3.
Here you can choose between three different options. Do only ONE of them!
option a)
In the text Sunny remembers his mother telling him: "You only get one chance to make a first impression". What do you think?
Comment on this statement.
Include the following aspects:
You might be a little surprised to get this e-mail from me. ...
- Sunny's situation,
- possible consequences for Sunny,
- further situations in which this is good advice.
(10 Punkte)
OR
option b)
Sunny's brother, Gray, suddenly walks into the room where Sunny and Cirrus are talking.
Write a continuation of the story.
Include the following aspects:
- how Gray reacts when he sees them,
- how Sunny deals with the situation,
- what Cirrus does.
(10 Punkt)
OR
option c)
In the evening, Sunny decides to tell Cirrus the truth and writes her an e-mail.
Write Sunny's e-mail.
Include the following aspects:
- the reasons for his behaviour in Gray's room,
- how he experienced the situation,
- promises he makes and hopes he has for the future.
You might be a little surprised to get this e-mail from me. ...
(10 Punkte)
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1.
Cirrus, the new neighbor's girl who will start going to Sunny's school, comes over to his house to get to know him. Sunny and Cirrus accidentally end up in Gary's room (Sunny's brother) instead of his own. They start talking about music once Cirrus notices the guitars on the walls.
Sunny pretends that they are sitting in his room and does not make it clear that it's not his. He keeps on lying and tries to impress Cirrus by telling her that he's able to play the guitar and that he's part of a band. In general is he prentending to be his brother because he sees that it's impressing her.
2.
The story is told in the first-person perspective, so everything Sunny experiences was judged from his point of view.
In the beginning, Sunny behaves cautiously and shyly toward Cirrus. They sit in his brother's room without him clearing it up. He starts to say something three times without getting a sound out - the repetition of the same sentence shows how unsure he is and doesn't know what to say (l. 9 - 11). He doesn't dare to tell her the truth about the room and starts telling her a lie instead. He claims that the guitars in the room are his and not only that he completes the story by continuing that he plays in a band. Even though he feels remorse because of his lie, he does not tell the truth. The metaphor about the lie "bouncing around his head like a ball" (l. 20) emphasizes how shocked he is by his behavior.
You can tell that Sunny's shy and restrained behavior irritates Cirrus at first → she has a "worried" look on her face. Cirrus's behavior, however, changes, once he told the lie and turned from worry into admiration. She repeatedly mentions how very cool and brave she finds that he has a hobby and that he's playing in a band.
Cirrus exaggerated admiration further encourages Sunny to embellish his lie and finally claims that he was a member of the Mortals (a band) and can be seen on a flyer. The lie has thus reached its climax which was rewarded by Cirrus with "The Look". After receiving "The Look" from Cirrus the shock, the remorse, or every other bad feeling about having lied to her, have faded.
3. a)
The first impression of a person can have a significant influence on how we perceive them later. However, it is questionable whether the first impression actually overshadows the overall impression and this can never be changed again, or whether there are incidents that irrevocably damage it.
Introduction
The first impression you get from a person is very important, because it directly causes sympathy or antipathy. It gives us a feeling whether one would like to stay in contact with this person in the future or not. In Sunny's case it is difficult, because Cirrus first has an impressive first impression of Sunny because of his lie. This first impression creates a feeling of sympathy and admiration and makes her want to spend more time with him.
The consequence, however, is that if Sunny's lie is exposed, everything Sunny ever told Cirrus would be called into question. His credibility is destroyed for the time being and needs a lot of time to be restored. This also counts for everyone, to get a good first impression of a person, one must be real and honest.
Further situations in that the first impression counts, could be a job interview for example. In a job interview one has only the one chance to make a good first impression. If someone does not succeed in presenting a good image of themselves, they will not be invited a second time. They've got only one shot.
Main Body
Ultimately one can say, a good first impression is definitely very important, as it lays the foundation for a possible future relationship. If the first impression was negative, there is a possibility to revise and turn it around in the future, but this possibility is not always available. In Sunny's situation, for example, the sympathy is based on a lie, the discovery of which could destroy the friendship.
Conclusion
b)
Suddenly my brother entered the room. He looked at me. He looked at Cirrus. His mouth opened and closed again. Completely shocked, I stared at him, watching in fear as he probably formulated the words that would blow my cover. Cirrus would never speak to me again, I would never get that look from her again. Finally Gray took the floor, "Are you having a good time? Sorry to bother you, but I just need my guitar." I kind of expected him to yell and was almost surprised that he didn't. And yet, it was over.
I saw Cirrus looking back and forth between Gray and me in complete confusion "Your guitar?" she whispered, "Yeah, I left it here the last time I and Sunny played". I saw her face relax again and form an O around her mouth. "Can I talk to you for a minute Sunny?" Out in the hallway he hissed at me "What are you doing? Thought you could impress her by bringing her to my room instead of yours, you got yourself into something. What did you tell her?" "That I play in a band," I admitted, ashamed. Suddenly he started laughing and said, "Well one thing is for sure now, you definitely need to learn to play guitar. You're going to have to figure out how to get out of this whole band thing yourself." With these words, he turned around and headed for the living room. I slowly turned around and walked back to my [Gray's] room. Cirrus was standing at the window with her back to me, when I walked in she slowly turned around and looked at me angrily.
"Did you lie to me?" Despite Gray offering to teach me how to play guitar.
Despite that, I might have gotten away with lying.
Despite that -
I noticed myself slowly starting to nod. Stunned, she stared at me and said "why?!" and then ran out of the room.
Dejected, I sat on Gray's bed and thought about how badly I had screwed up my chance to make a good first impression.
I saw Cirrus looking back and forth between Gray and me in complete confusion "Your guitar?" she whispered, "Yeah, I left it here the last time I and Sunny played". I saw her face relax again and form an O around her mouth. "Can I talk to you for a minute Sunny?" Out in the hallway he hissed at me "What are you doing? Thought you could impress her by bringing her to my room instead of yours, you got yourself into something. What did you tell her?" "That I play in a band," I admitted, ashamed. Suddenly he started laughing and said, "Well one thing is for sure now, you definitely need to learn to play guitar. You're going to have to figure out how to get out of this whole band thing yourself." With these words, he turned around and headed for the living room. I slowly turned around and walked back to my [Gray's] room. Cirrus was standing at the window with her back to me, when I walked in she slowly turned around and looked at me angrily.
"Did you lie to me?" Despite Gray offering to teach me how to play guitar.
Despite that, I might have gotten away with lying.
Despite that -
I noticed myself slowly starting to nod. Stunned, she stared at me and said "why?!" and then ran out of the room.
Dejected, I sat on Gray's bed and thought about how badly I had screwed up my chance to make a good first impression.
c)
Dear Cirrus,
You might be a little surprised to get this e-mail from me.
I wasn't fully honest with you today and I wanted to apologize. When you came over, you walked straight into my brother's room. I wanted you to have a good impression of me and was too nervous and shy to tell you right away that this was not my room. I was afraid that you would find me boring and not interesting at all. My brother is usually the cool and interesting one, and I kind of wanted to be like him for once. When I told you that I was the one to play the guitar and I was the one being part of a band and saw how impressed you were, I for once also wanted to be admired. And for some reason, I got more and more tangled up in the lie, especially when I learned that you were impressed. From now on I will be absolutely honest, I promise. I've really learned that it's much more important to be real and show someone the real you than to pretend to be someone you're not just to impress. In the end, it comes down to who you are and I hope so much that you'll give me a second chance to get to know the real me. I hope I'll earn your trust back and can show you that I'm still an interesting and fun person to spend time with.
I'll hope to hear back from you soon.
All the best,
Sunny
You might be a little surprised to get this e-mail from me.
I wasn't fully honest with you today and I wanted to apologize. When you came over, you walked straight into my brother's room. I wanted you to have a good impression of me and was too nervous and shy to tell you right away that this was not my room. I was afraid that you would find me boring and not interesting at all. My brother is usually the cool and interesting one, and I kind of wanted to be like him for once. When I told you that I was the one to play the guitar and I was the one being part of a band and saw how impressed you were, I for once also wanted to be admired. And for some reason, I got more and more tangled up in the lie, especially when I learned that you were impressed. From now on I will be absolutely honest, I promise. I've really learned that it's much more important to be real and show someone the real you than to pretend to be someone you're not just to impress. In the end, it comes down to who you are and I hope so much that you'll give me a second chance to get to know the real me. I hope I'll earn your trust back and can show you that I'm still an interesting and fun person to spend time with.
I'll hope to hear back from you soon.
All the best,
Sunny