Preview

From Latin Mass to Being an Ass: Author Recounts Growing up Catholic in the '70s

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
583 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
From Latin Mass to Being an Ass: Author Recounts Growing up Catholic in the '70s
From Latin Mass to Being an Ass: Author Recounts Growing up Catholic in the '70s

(1888 PressRelease) Press release to announce online memoir, "Sophmoron."

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI - While the current pope makes the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine, the pope back in the '60s and '70s made headlines from a renewal of Catholic doctrine. The renewal, called "Vatican II," swept through the Catholic church and changed the way priests held church services. Catholic education changed, too, often toward experimental approaches. Growing up through that change is recounted in the humorous and poignant online memoir entitled "Sophmoron," by the author, Gerald Sedgewick.

Sedgewick, a 58-year-old consultant and author, posts weekly, chapter by chapter, to geraldsedgewick.wordpress.com. He started posting in December, 2013. When the memoir is completed, he will look for a company to publish it as a book.

"I'm doing it myself and taking care of the marketing beforehand by building readership," Sedgewick said.

The memoir recounts pre-Vatican II, elementary school stories from Mount Morris, Michigan, a suburb of Flint. The teachers at that school were left to their own devices. Sedgewick recounts a teacher who locked a Mexican-American student into a locker, repeatedly thumped a classmate's head with his knuckle-buster ring, and lifted a girl by her hair off her feet. In Sedgewick's account about the Mexican-American student, he sneaks in wry humor:

"The bell rang and we went to our next class, each of us knowing our classmate was in the locker, but none daring to open it up to let him out. I don't know if he yelled for help, if he banged on the metal locker to get our attention, or if he remained mute like that woman in the movie 'The Pit and the Pendulum.' Her locker was riddled with sharp spikes ready to pierce her when she could stand no longer. So he had it way better."

Sedgewick also recounts the cultural change overtaking the country and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Maria Anna Barbara was a devout Catholic and felt the call to religious life as a young girl living in New York. Her heart’s desire was to enter the religious life. However, her dreams were delayed. Being the eldest of ten siblings, she…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    September 2009. It’s his first day in his new school with his new classmates. After a rough last year due to an unsupportive group of people around him, he is unsure of what is going to happen this year. However, when he looks into his teacher’s eyes and engages into a conversation with her, he knows that this year was going to be the exact opposite rough, and he was immediately happy. Moments like these show how much a teacher can impact a student’s life in a positive way. Everyday, thousands of kids who are neglected by their parents like author Lynda Barry go to school which is more of a home to them due to the amazing teachers and classmates creating a stable and safe environment for them to thrive in. Whether it be comforting a child or…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When it comes to the traditional education, John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School” questions whether we really need the nine month, drawn out, traditional curriculum. Gatto goes on to name several successful people through history that were not products of a contemporary school system. When I think of Gatto’s theory of forced schooling, a friend of mine named John Smith who goes by the alias of Viper comes to mind. Viper is in his late 20’s, lives in South Philadelphia, and has worked as a Roofer for the past 10 years.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Children of Room E4

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Susan Eaton, the author of The Children in Room E4: American Education on Trial, writes narrative brilliantly. She starts the book by introducing a Puerto Rican boy, Jeremy Otero, who lives in the inner city of Hartford. Over the course of the book, Eaton follows him and his classmates’ third, fourth and fifth grade trajectories at the racially segregated Simpson-Waverly Elementary School. Every so often, she switches to following the Sheff v. O’Neill case from the 1990’s. Initially, this book is engaging; Eaton’s writing style contains a subtle touch of humor alongside her clear messages. I especially enjoyed the way she carefully crafted the images in Jeremy’s world. The first time Eaton meets Jeremy, she describes him as a “chubby, grinning third grader waddling up the corridor toward us [who was] too wide for little boy clothes [but] too short for bigger sizes” (7). The image of the child Eaton immediately brought to my mind stayed with me for the rest of the book, and made me feel connected to the children on a more personal level. By the end of the book, I really cared about the children in room E4. I wanted them to succeed in their lives, despite the heavily stacked odds against them. My favorite parts of the book were the parts that included the kids and their vivacious teacher, Ms. Lois Luddy, who won Hartford’s Teacher of the Year Award in 2002. She really pushed Jeremy’s class to succeed, battling the expectations set in place for the children entering these very racially segregated schools.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bibliography: “Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice”. Vol. 9, No. 3. March 2006.…

    • 3148 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    References: Champlin, J. M. (1999). What It Means to Be Catholic. Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press.…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In comparison to the Catholic religion, the Lutheran reformation is based on the Bible. The central teaching is through faith in God alone. The Catholic’s believe that the church was founded from the Apostle Peter. Jesus’ famous statement to Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church,” is what lead the Catholic’s to believe this. They believe the authority is passed down from Peter to the bishops of the church. Lutherans do not believe that the Pope has any authority and do not think of him as the divine authority (www.goodshepardscollinsville.org). Both religions do agree that Christ’s blood and body are present in the Lord’s Supper.…

    • 2039 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    influential speeches from the highest religious authority in the world. The pope’s doctrine was a…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    For me going to Catholic Central is so much more than a school, it’s a tradition. The family legacy that I hope to carry on, like my brothers, dad, and grandfather before me. It is extremely important that I am able to follow in the footsteps of my family.…

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby Alternate Ending

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “What are you doing near my locker, dweeb?” Mason, the schools toughest jock yelled as he shoved me into the wall, causing a groan to escape my lips. I didn’t have time to answer as he threw me into the tile floor and the laughs of his delinquents echoed through the hallway. I felt like I couldn’t move, but I had to. I collected my scattered books and stumbled forward, holding on to myself more than I have before. My eyes were full with tears, but I couldn’t let my emotions slip more than they already have while everyone could see. I ran out of the school, and didn’t turn back. I had to get out of that hell.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People’s lives were molded around their religion, whereas now, most people’s religion is molded to fit their lives. Recalling her frustrations about not being allowed to watch the movie she wanted to, Doris wrote, “As Catholics, we were expected to be guided by the assessments of the National Legion of Decency, established to protect Catholics from immoral films.” Religion was a big part of life; it determined what movies people were and were not allowed to watch. Another example of religion being a big part of people’s lives is, while remembering the other families that lived in her neighborhood, Doris wrote, “Their church or synagogue was central to their social lives...everyone seemed to be deeply involved in one religion or another.” Religion was more of a way of life than it is now. Religion was allowed in school, whereas now religion is not supposed to be a part of school. Recalling her days at school, Goodwin wrote, “Having paid homage to country, we bowed our heads to ask God’s blessing, repeating aloud the Lord’s prayer.” Religion was so big a part of life that they had a moment in school for the children to pray. In conclusion, religion was a bigger part of life in the fifties than it is now, even in school.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To prove this, I conducted several observations of customary rituals, celebrations, and genres in the Catholic community, interviewed a seminarian working towards becoming a priest in the Catholic Church, and analyzed the findings of a multitude of authors who have studied literacy within communities or have studied Catholic community itself.…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I wouldn’t consider school a second home even though it did take up a majority of my life. Remembering of a place that meant so much to me was hard because I’ve only known so much. The place that came to mind is a place that I would have never thought of revisiting because once I left I never looked back. It may sound silly to think that a middle school can be such a dangerous and gut-wrenching place, but that is how I felt back in the seventh grade in 2007. Edward P. Jones and his short story “Old boys Old girls” highlights Caesar Matthews as someone who had to struggle with change, losing friends and nearly dying while making a home for himself at Lorton’s prison. Jones also characterizes Pancho Morrison as the vulnerable repenting…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This should cover it.” and handed us two crisp dollar bills. We got the skittles and returned to our seats. Lexi took the shiny change, jiggled it in her hands and put it back into her wallet. “ Do you wanna come with us back in the locker room with us, Lexi?”, Chase asked. “No thanks.”, Lexi replied most likely because of the group of teenage boys that seemed “too cool for school” who strolled in way too late. Chase ignored them and jumped down step to step, somewhat in a hurry. I followed her down into the locker room running my fingers across the braille once more. The locker room was in some way a mysterious place full of wonders eight year olds never knew existed. We played childish games throughout the locker room. Whenever someone came in we pretended we were washing our hands, holding back laughter. Around the beginning of the fourth quarter, Chase and I started playing truth or dare. “ Charlie, I dare you to get in one of the lockers.” I got up fearlessly, opened a locker, and got in…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lunch was over and students were filing into the classroom. As soon as we got inside the atmosphere felt really uncomfortable. I looked to the second row of desks and saw Katrina, a long-time friend, digging through her desk, Mrs. Nakigawa, our homeroom teacher, looking over her shoulder with concern.…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays