45 pages • 1 hour read
True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall
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Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Somebody”
Chapter 1 begins as Mark is being let back into the K/L unit of Central Juvenile Hall. He is returning from a trip to learn that one of his students has been put in the Box. His students ae all inmates at the Juvenile Hall and greet him enthusiastically and ask him about how he's been. Mark has been away at his sister's wedding in Connecticut; they students ask him if he has anything for them. Mark settles the class, and the students begin to write, the subject being "family gatherings," due to Mark's recent experiences. The students have a wide series of reactions to family gatherings, both positive and negative; many of these reactions—Mark can't help but notice—have to do with violence. Having been at the facility for a while, Mark is somewhat used to the presence of violence in his young students' lives, but still unprepared for how often it comes up. Despite this, he urges the inmates to reflect upon these stories and thoughts in their writing. After a short break, while the students read their stories and essays: two students—Raashad and Antonio—write about the ubiquity of gang life, even in these benign family gatherings: "Apparently my brother had shot one of the groom's cuzzins and he was paralyzed. And the best man was that fool's older brother" (6). The students are entertained by this story, as much by its fearful absurdity as because they can relate to it.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Just Say No”
Chapter 2 reintroduces Mark and revisits his decision to volunteer as a writing teacher. Mark Salzman is a writer, and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He is invited to a Central Juvenile Hall writing class in East Los Angeles by Duane Noriyuki, a writer for the Los Angeles Times. Duane suggests that Mark participate in the Inside Out program, which brings writers to juvenile halls to teach writing classes. At this time, Mark has only limited interest in even visiting these classes, much less teaching. Moreover, Mark does not care for writing classes, believing them to be a waste of time: "I taught creative writing once; at the end of that semester I vowed never to put the words ‘creative writing’ and ‘class’ together in the same sentence again" (10). Additionally, Mark is intimidated at the prospect of visiting with and teaching the inmates, and even more disinterested in what they have to offer as writers. He draws up a list of Pros and Cons, which reflects his indifference, and even hostility: "students all gangbangers; feel unqualified to evaluate poems about AK-47s/still angry about getting mugged in 1978/still angry about having my apartment robbed in 1986/still angry about wife's car being stolen in 1992/wish we could tilt L.A. County and shake it until everybody with a shaved head and tattoos falls into the ocean" (9). At the end of these deliberations, he is not convinced, but feels that he might benefit from the experience in his own writing.
Chapter 3 Summary: "Gentlemen"
In Chapter 3, Mark arrives at Central Juvenile Hall. He finds the facility to be a foreboding and frightening place; he describes the young inmates as "zombielike" (17). As Duane explains, Mark's students are HROs, or "high risk offenders."These HROs have all been charged with murder, rape, or armed robbery. As a result, they have been slated to be tried as adults. However, once the session starts, Salzman is blown away by the honesty and profundity of an essay called “Clouds,” written by Ruben, a "high risk offender.”The story is vivid and expressive, illustrating Ruben's disappointment on having missed out on so much, due to gang life. Ruben's story ends on a pessimistic note, one colored by the reality of incarceration. Central to Ruben's disappointment, is the opportunity lost in himself, and others like him. However, this pessimistic mood is broken by the final line of his essay, which bears some promise for the future: "At least I have come to a point where I can really look and stare at a cloud with gratitude and not be distracted by stupidity or nonsense" (20). Blown away by feeling and sophistication, Mark reverses his original prejudices and agrees to participate.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
Chapters 1-3 show a movement from simple expectations to more complicated realities, a movement aided by profound expression. The arrangement of the chapters aids in creating this pattern, showing first the maturing writing and expressive skills of the young inmates. However, the growth is not all one-sided: the author himself describes himself as indecisive, and prejudiced, and his initial motivations as self-serving. For instance, Salzman does not believe the inmates of Central Juvenile Hall have much to offer as writers, and can be defined simply by their alleged offenses. Also, his main interest is looking for context and flavor to help his own writing. With this, however, it quickly becomes clear that the opportunity for growth and maturation is not just for the young inmates, but for the author as well. While this is not his story, the author plays a large part; his surprise at the skill and emotional depth of the students writers is large. However, this pleasant surprise is also met by the uncomfortable truth that many of these individuals are responsible for serious and even horrifying criminal acts, and that this literary output may be only the demonstration of wasted potential.
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