Liat  Greenwood  

English  11H1  

Mrs.  Wiener  

Darkness  is  nothing  but  the  absence  of  light.    

 

There  was  a  void,  and  then  on  the  first  day  of  creation,    

God  said,  “Let  there  be  light,”    

and  there  was  light.  

 

Abraham  was  desperate  to  escape  the  shadow  of  his  

father’s  pagan  darkness,  but  by  leaving  everything  he  

knew  for  God,  he  kindled  a  great  light.    

 

Joseph  felt  alone  in  a  life  darkened  by  favoritism,  but  by  

taking  his  life  in  his  hands,  he  shined  a  multi-­colored  light.  

 

Moses’  identity  was  left  in  the  dark,  but  appearing  to  him  

through  a  bush  that  refused  to  burn,  God  showed  Moses’  how  to  foster  a  nation’s  light.    

 

The  Jews  were  pushed  to  their  breaking  point  every  day,  their  lives  darkened  as  they  were  

forced  into  slavery  at  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians,  but  on  the  14th  of  Nissan,    

they  freed  their  inner  light.    

 

The  Maccabees  crawled  through  ruins  of  a  Temple  darkened  by  Greek  paganism,  but  on  the  

25th  of  Kislev,  they  ignited  a  light.  

 

The  Pilgrims  were  consumed  by  the  darkness  of  starvation,  but  in  1621,  the  Native  Americans  

brought  them  the  light.  

   

In  The  Scarlet  Letter,  Hester  is  suffocated  by  the  darkness  of  her  community’s  ideals,    

but  she  overcomes  the  torment  and    

shines  her  own  light.    

 

In  The  Adventures  of  Huckleberry  Finn,  Jim  is  trapped  by  the  darkness  of  southern  slavery,  

but  he  escapes  and  Huck  helps  him  find  freedom    

in  the  light.    

 

In  the  Gilded  Age,  immigrants  fled  the  dark  of  their  home  countries  to  chase    

the  ‘American  Dream’  and  found    

inspiration  in  the  light.  

 

Escaping  your  darkness,  how  have  you  found  your  light?  

 

 

 

“My  Breath  Fogged  Up  the  Glass”  Digital  Photograph  by  Liat  Greenwood  2012  

Based  on  the  song  “I’m  Yours”  by  Jason  Mraz  

“I've  been  spending  way  too  long  checking  my  tongue  in  the  mirror  

And  bending  over  backwards  just  to  try  to  see  it  clearer  

But  my  breath  fogged  up  the  glass  

And  so  I  drew  a  new  face  and  I  laughed”