Grade 10 Literature: Build a Reading Journal

1. At the cloth market, Orin laid his widest woven cloth across the counter. He had made its centre in small green squares. Sena, the adult craftworker who shared his workshop, had finished the border while he visited a supplier. Her blue knots curled around the squares like a line of tiny waves. Orin placed his own name card beside the cloth and turned Sena’s sample book face down.

2. The first customer ran a finger above the blue edge. “Those knots make the whole cloth move,” she said. Orin straightened the card. “I am glad you noticed my work.” Behind him, Sena folded a length of plain material twice, then folded it again. When the customer asked how the border was made, Orin began describing the green squares instead.

3. Another customer opened Sena’s sample book. The same blue knots appeared on its first page. “Could the person who made these explain them?” he asked. Sena stepped towards the counter, but Orin reached for the book. He stopped with his hand above it. “Sena made the border,” he said. “I made the centre.” He moved his card aside.

4. Sena explained how changing the spaces between the knots changed the pattern. The customers leaned closer. Orin collected two stools for them and fetched a length of spare thread. For several minutes he stood at the back of the stall, rubbing a loose thread between his fingers. When one customer looked over, he smiled quickly.

5. After the customers left, Orin asked whether Sena wanted her name beside his on the next cloth. “Beside the work I do,” she replied. He nodded and opened the order book. Against the next order, he wrote which parts each of them would weave, then turned the book so she could read it.

6. Before closing, Sena began a new border. Orin sat opposite her and worked on the centre. A passer-by admired the blue knots. Orin looked up, opened his mouth, and then pointed across the table. Sena answered. He returned to his green squares, though he kept one ear turned towards the conversation.

S1. Before the neighbourhood repair meeting, Mira placed one chair behind the demonstration table. She had practised explaining the broken lamp three times. Arun arrived with a small notebook containing the measurements he had taken. Mira put it beneath her own notes. “I can do the talking,” she said.

S2. A visitor asked why the replacement part was shorter. Mira reached for Arun’s notebook, then stopped. Arun was standing beside the door. She carried a second chair to the table and opened his notebook between them. “Arun measured it,” she said. “Will you explain that part?”

S3. When he finished, Mira continued with her demonstration. The two notebooks stayed open. At the end, she folded her own notes neatly but left the second chair where it was.

Title and reference: The second chair, S1–S3. Quotation: Arun measured it (S2). Observation: Mira brings Arun a chair and leaves both notebooks open. These details contrast with hiding his notebook in S1.

Interpretation: The chair turns acknowledgement into a place at the demonstration. It is more than a spoken credit, though it does not prove how every later meeting will work. Reflection: I initially read Mira’s wish to speak as confidence; the concealed notebook made me reconsider whose contribution was visible. Her changed arrangement suggests she can continue speaking while sharing recognition. Question: Will the second chair become part of future planning? This story leaves that unanswered.