Using Mentor Texts to Reckon with Nuanced Reactions: Aly Wane's "A (Complicated) Prayer for Kobe"

Aly Wane, Human Rights Worker in Syracuse, New York 

To acquaint students with using the texts they read as mentors for their writing, I chose as our first topic, Kobe Bryant. I wanted to pick a timely topic that would help students work through their complicated reactions to Kobe's death.  I selected what was initially widely disseminated on a Facebook post by Aly Wane, a peace activist living in Syracuse, New York. Published under the title of “A (Complicated) Prayer for Kobe.” Wane’s piece has subsequently been published in the online magazine America: Jesuit Review. 

Wane’s poem enacts a dialogue going back and forth between the narrator’s contradictory feelings about Kobe Bryant and the moment of national mourning. Was Kobe a hero? A villain? To whom? And why? The poem doesn’t definitely land on one side or the other. Instead, Wane asks us to recognize our own messy, imperfect human lives that can’t be reduced to a single moment or action. As Wane points out, “I will hurt and harm the people I love."  

Before introducing the poem, I asked students to think of a person, place, activity, or object about which they are "of two minds." I shared my ambivalent feelings about my relationship with my father, how as a kid, I saw him in terms of either/or rather than both/and. I asked them to talk with a partner, reminding folks to use discretion: don't' share if you don’t feel safe or brave enough. Topics ranged from family, specific family members, gender roles, work, and their majors - and as we discussed potential issues, I learned a lot about the people in my class. 

Writers next took out their writer's notebook to jot down a two-sided list with their topic as the headline, each column reflecting either the positive or negative aspect of that their focus topic. 

Then we read Wane’s poem, first for content, then to notice the moves he made. Many students wanted to share their feelings about Kobe's death, so we took a moment to begin reckoning with their reactions. Then we took a look at how Wane's used writing to work out, even provisionally, his own responses. 

Students noticed that structurally, the stanzas were often single lines. They noted that Wane alternated back and forth between positive and negative, sometimes layering several positive or negative statements about Kobe before dropping the opposite feeling. 

Students noted that this back and forth read like someone debating with himself and that this debate’s thesis ended the poem, making a broader point than merely passing judgment on Kobe. These moves, according to students, made the poem easy to follow and dramatic in the shifts in direction Wane took. 

After listing these moves, I challenged students for homework to take their two-sided list and compose their own version of that dialogue, emulating the moves that Wane used.

As a class, we practiced emulating “micro-moves” that Wane used to craft the title of his poem. I projected the title on the board and asked students to categorize the different elements (article, adjective within parenthesis, type of text, and topic). Everyone quickly noted the adjective within parenthesis, and several were able to easily state the effect those parenthesis had on the title, how that typographic choice simultaneously hid and emphasized an essential element of Wane’s argument with himself. 

I demonstrated composing titles using Wane’s as a framework. I point out how even though I was “biting” his structure, replacing my content made the title my own. 

Finally, I asked students to experiment with their own poems, crafting titles that used Wane’s as a model. Here are a few that they came up with on the fly: 

• Our (Prosperous) Song of our Feelings

• An (Ambivalent) Essay on the Internet

• My (Conflicted) Reflection on Work

• A (Complicated) Letter to Mom

• On my (Timeless) Love of Driving

• (Ambivalent) Feelings about being the Oldest Sister

• My (Contradictory) Feelings about Cooking

Students seemed to enjoy the experience, seeing that they can decode a writer’s moves and apply them to their own writing. I'm in the middle of assessing the final drafts, and I am excited to see that students have figured out what I mean by using mentor texts. Once I get permission to share, I'll post a few samples here, as well as writers' reflections on their experience with mentor texts.