5 Comments
Jan 21, 2022Liked by Mark Isero

I liked how the author created the basis for different but possibly connected ideas that we might expect in the article. Adoption, strong friendships, journalism and writing, and how we deal with the government.

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I’ll jump in! I love the author’s first sentence. She’s alone in her apartment. She’s wondering what makes a good mother. I make an inference that she’s thinking about her own motherhood (real or potential). But instead: This wondering is for / about someone else.

Also, I feel a sense of foreboding, or maybe an anxious tone – either because of something she doesn’t know, or some past, or something that will be revealed.

And then I also appreciated this line: “It is more accurate to say that I am a person who asked for her story and to whom she then chose to divulge her secrets.” Here’s the truth, the author seems to be saying. And also: Does this questionnaire / the government really want the truth?

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Jan 19, 2022Liked by Mark Isero

I think the author truly understands Lissa yellow bird and her circumstances.

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Jan 19, 2022Liked by Mark Isero

I felt like I got a preview of the author's mind in those two paragraphs. What drew me in was the insight into the author's train of thought, especially in how she reflected on how to label her relationship with Lissa Yellow Bird. I found the thought process to be relatable as relationships can be so hard to describe. How do you describe the weight and impact of an entire human being?

What's buzzing at the back of my mind is how people are evaluated as suitable parents. I'm sure there's more to come as I read the rest of the piece.

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Jan 18, 2022Liked by Mark Isero

This excerpt made me really excited to dig into the rest of the article! I love the clear narrative/story element and how it already raises what I think will be some of the main questions of the article- what makes a good mother? what makes someone 'qualified' to judge if someone else will be a good mother? I also appreciate the nuance the author when wrestling with how to define the relationship she has with Lissa Yellow Bird- I feel like it's already highlighting problems in how we use labels to categorize things (like relationships) but those categorizations (like 'friend', 'interviewee' or whatever) reduce and erase complexity- I'm anticipating that these challenges will also come up when trying to think through what it means to be a 'good' mother, which feels much more complex than a good/bad binary could ever capture.

Anyways, that's a bit of brain dump- but very much loving this article from the outset and excited to dig in and keep reading and hear everyone's thoughts!

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