Introduction

Welcome to Break Through! This website contains a creative writing booklet that I worked on for my AHS (Art, Humanities, and Social Sciences) Capstone project. The booklet contains three writing pieces, which are all centered around a general theme of breaking through the shields we put up and the bubbles enclosing us. Each piece is matched with a writing prompt, included at the end of the story, and some related recipes. The recipes either involve a food item that is depicted within the story or are closely related in another aspect.

When I was brainstorming booklet ideas at the beginning of the semester, I started with a theme of extending beyond boundaries. However, as I started writing the stories, I realized that they didn’t quite fit the theme. For a period of time, my booklet was theme-less. After I finalized the pieces, I read them over again and realized that they all have something to do with the dynamics between human connection and our personal bubbles. Personal bubbles can mean different things: a safe haven where we are protected, a feeling of isolation from the rest of the world, or a perspective that we are stuck in. All of the pieces involve some form of personal bubble being broken but with varying perspectives.

“Soul Mirrors'' tells the story of a young woman who grew up with a literal bubble (i.e. soul mirror) around her. The bubble prevented her from seeing the world around her and forming connections with others. With the help of her Grandma, she begins to learn more about her surroundings. However, after her Grandma passes away, she breaks her soul mirror in anger. Without a bubble surrounding her anymore, the main character can see and connect with other people’s soul mirrors. This story describes a personal bubble being broken almost impulsively but with positive outcomes.

“The Asian Fail” talks about my personal experiences with growing up in the Bay Area, where getting a grade less than an A is considered a failure. There are several bubbles in this story. Chapter 2 describes the bubble of a carefree childhood that wrapped around me in elementary school. I stubbornly tried to protect that bubble by not caring about the outside pressures of getting good grades. However, when I entered middle school, the bubble shattered as I started to adapt to the Asian studying culture. In place of the childhood bubble, a new one formed, which involved being a perfectionist who feared imperfect grades. A majority of the piece discusses this new bubble, and my desires to slowly break through it.

“Shortbread Cookies” describes home as a bubble that is bound to burst. Growing children are like gases that keep pushing on the walls of the bubble, and the pressure eventually becomes so great that the walls burst, and the children are released as adults into the greater world. The narrator in this story left her bubble three years ago but feels nostalgic about it. She decides to bake some cookies to bring with her as she visits the home she left behind so long ago.

Table of contents

Instead of browsing the cards on the home page, you can use this table of contents to access the stories or recipes you are most interested in

Annotated bibliography

I referenced a bunch of different sources while writing my booklet.

General inspiring and how-to sources

  • Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean by Kirsty Murray: this anthology was a huge source of inspiration for me because it includes short stories from a bunch of different authors all focused on the theme of women empowerment. I really like how there are stories with a bunch of different genres (e.g. historical and science fiction), and I tried to emulate that in my own booklet

  • Masterclass “Writing the Middle and the Ending” with Margaret Atwood: I followed this Masterclass course to get advice on completing my longer short stories. I wanted to learn how to create an engaging middle and ending since I typically struggle with outlining those parts in a story

  • Masterclass “The Art of Storytelling” with Neil Gaman: I love Neil Gaman’s work and wanted to listen to his writing advice. I followed this Masterclass whenever I was in a writing slump and needed to feel motivated again to work on my booklet

Sources for “Soul Mirrors”

  • “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: this is a magical realism short story that describes a realistic reaction to a character having large wings. The story also has a detached tone that makes the story seem sadder. I read this story before writing “Soul Mirrors” to find examples on how to naturally blend reality and fantasy

  • The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton: this is one of my favorite magical realism stories because its imagery is breathtaking. I tried writing my flashback description scenes in “Soul Mirrors” based on this book’s writing style since it’s so effective

  • The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: this is another book with beautiful imagery that I admire. The story takes place in Russia during the 14th century and blends historical events with Russian fairytales. The story vividly describes the Russian winter season to the point where I can almost feel it as a reader. Arden personifies nature and the weather masterfully, and I drew inspiration from her writing for the imagery within "Soul Mirrors"

Sources for “The Asian Fail”

  • Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua: I read this book a few years ago, and the extreme parenting methods described in it still seem fresh in my mind, especially when I hear various crazy things that Lynbrook parents did while I was in high school. The author’s daughters are also half asian and half white, which relates to my personal experiences

Sources for “Shortbread Cookies”

  • How Baking Works: Exploring the Fundamentals of Baking Science by Paula I. Figoni: this book explains the baking science that I used to explain an analogy in my story. I paid particular attention to the chapters on what happens when a baked good is in the oven

  • “Angels and Blueberries” by Tara Campbell: this short story was recommended to me by my friend, Jessie. The rationale behind the story is similar to what I tried to do in “Shortbread Cookies” by explaining a scientific concept in a creative way. I really like the second person format of the story and how adorable and hilarious it is. I attempted to do something similar in my story

A big thank you

Thank you for coming this far in the introduction! I hope you enjoy browsing through this booklet. In case you have any questions, you can email me at coverney@olin.edu. I would also like to thank a few more people for all their help throughout the semester

  • Gillian: thank you for giving so much amazing feedback on my stories. They wouldn’t have been as good without your guidance

  • Jessie: thank you for being an amazing writing buddy. You encouraged me to keep on writing even when I was in a slump

  • Mom, dad, and bro: thank you to my family members for bearing with me when I asked a bunch of questions about my childhood. Also, thank you for making so many cameos in my pieces

  • Yichen: thank you for giving me amazing feedback on my story ideas. I loved sharing them with you and hearing your reactions

  • Everyone in the AHS Capstone class: thank you to everyone in the AHS Capstone class for giving me a ton of feedback on my work throughout the semester (special shout out to Amy, who read all my stories and gave me some great reader impressions)