Week 3 Story: Joseph and the Rolex
There once was a foster home located in Dallas Texas that was run by the kindest man in the entire city. His name was Theo and he dedicated his life to helping those in need and caring for as many children in search of a safe home as possible.There were currently 50 children between the ages of 7-18 that Theo was housing. One day, Theo walked through the front door with a young , 18 year old boy by the name of Joseph. He introduced him to the rest of the kids and told them to make Joseph feel at home. Joseph was immediately welcomed and soon became extremely popular.
He even found his clique hanging out with 10 other boys close to his age that quickly grew to become like his brothers. They went everywhere and did everything with each other. As the weeks passed it became evident that Joseph excelled in numerous ways. He had a naturally athletic build to him accompanied by good looks, charisma and humility. As he joined the kids in the first semester of the school year he became beloved by everywhere in the school, classmates and faculty alike. He was a shy individual who did not enjoy all the attention he was acquiring. He was not only dominant socially and athletically, but also was one of the top students at the school, passing all of his classes with flying colors. His best talent of all was his musical ability, he would sing and play the violin with such precision and grace, everyone in earshot would rush towards him to witness it. Joseph rarely performed in public because of his shy nature, but loved to in the privacy of is room. Although Joseph was met with so much success, the thought of finding a true home and family haunted him. He had been a foster child his entire life and was hesitant to let people close to him in fear that they would soon abandon him. Theo talked to him about how the foster home could be a permanent family and home for Joseph and how much everyone enjoyed having him around. Theo assured Joseph that if he ever wanted to leave he could do so with no explanation, and at any time. Unintentionally, Theo favored Joseph, who made it easy to do with his easy going attitude and many accomplishments day-to-day. After Joseph led the HS football team, which had many of his fellow foster brothers on it, to an undefeated season, Theo bought Joseph a Rolex watch. Up until this point the other brothers had felt only slight jealousy towards Joseph but this act of affection Theo displayed towards Joseph rubbed them all the wrong way. This act by Theo also boosted Joseph's confidence and made him feel more secure at the foster home. Joseph had a dream that during the next season there would be a moment when the crowd would chant his name and the big screen would display his name in bright lights met with thunderous applause. When he shared this dream with the brothers they became furious. They could not believe the audacity of their new family member to share such a self glorifying idea. They agreed that they were tired of Joseph and in a fit of rage conspired to have him leave the house. The next day after school they met him with bags of his packed belongings and told him that he was unwanted in the house. They then push him around, shoved him to the ground, and took his rolex watch. They went back to Theo and showed him the watch claiming that Joseph had taken the choice to leave the foster home. Theo was distraught but accepted this as truth. Meanwhile, Joseph dropped out of school and decided to stay in an AirBnB hosted by a man named James and his wife Rachel. They were extremely gracious to him and even started letting him stay there rent free, as long as he assisted James with his retail job. James owned a chain of retail stores and Joseph had quickly become one of there most dependable and respected employees working for this chain. A year passes by, and one night James announces to Joseph that he wants to promote him to a regional manager position. Joseph happily accepts, as he, James and Rachel buy a bottle of wine and celebrate. James passes out on the coach exhausted. Suddenly, Rachel becomes extremely flirty and affectionate towards Joseph who is now alarmed and disturbed by her actions. He bolted towards the door but Rachel grabbed his shirt with such force that it ripped. Joseph slept in his car and returned in the morning. He was met by a heartbroken and angry James who believed that he had tried to seduce his wife, holding the torn shirt up as evidence. Despite Joseph denying these accusations, James was forced to kick him out of the house and fire him. He threatened to file charges if he ever saw Joseph near his house again. At this point, Joseph began to perform on the streets, displaying his incredible voice. His unnatural talent was quickly noticed and in less than a week a music agent found him and offered him an opportunity to pursue this full time. Fast forward two years and Joseph had become the number one R&B singer in the entire nation, He had completely changed his physique and style in order to compliment his new mold as a singer. He now went by the stage name Rolex and was completely unrecognizable. Nevertheless, Joseph had remained humble and kind despite his now nationwide fame. Joseph had been on tour and was happy that he would be performing in Dallas that night. He decided that this would be the best night to integrate the violin into his performance which he had not done up to this point. The performance was going great until he saw none other than his former family sitting front row at his concert. He was so shocked that he stopped singing for what felt like an eternity. He then snapped out of the daze and continued to play as the crowd chanted his name and the big screen displayed "Rolex" in bright lights met with thunderous applause. When the part for his violin solo arrived he poured his soul into every note and motion, resulting in a harmonious sound that left the crowd hysterical. At this point it became evident to his family who was playing as they, along with Rolex became overwhelmed with emotion.
Rolex Image
Author's Note: This story was based off the story of Potiphar's Wife which I read this week. In the original story, Joseph is assisted by a man named Potiphar who eventually entrusts him with great privileges and honors. Potiphar's wife then phrames Joseph which causes him to lose everything. He then becomes the king of Egypyt, but not before being sold into slavery by his brothers out of Jealousy and being thrown into prison by potiphar. I decided to take a modern approach. Rachel is Potiphar's wife in this version.
Bibliography: This story is part of the Bible Women unit. Story source: King James Bible (1611): Genesis 39 [LIBRIVOX AUDIO].
He even found his clique hanging out with 10 other boys close to his age that quickly grew to become like his brothers. They went everywhere and did everything with each other. As the weeks passed it became evident that Joseph excelled in numerous ways. He had a naturally athletic build to him accompanied by good looks, charisma and humility. As he joined the kids in the first semester of the school year he became beloved by everywhere in the school, classmates and faculty alike. He was a shy individual who did not enjoy all the attention he was acquiring. He was not only dominant socially and athletically, but also was one of the top students at the school, passing all of his classes with flying colors. His best talent of all was his musical ability, he would sing and play the violin with such precision and grace, everyone in earshot would rush towards him to witness it. Joseph rarely performed in public because of his shy nature, but loved to in the privacy of is room. Although Joseph was met with so much success, the thought of finding a true home and family haunted him. He had been a foster child his entire life and was hesitant to let people close to him in fear that they would soon abandon him. Theo talked to him about how the foster home could be a permanent family and home for Joseph and how much everyone enjoyed having him around. Theo assured Joseph that if he ever wanted to leave he could do so with no explanation, and at any time. Unintentionally, Theo favored Joseph, who made it easy to do with his easy going attitude and many accomplishments day-to-day. After Joseph led the HS football team, which had many of his fellow foster brothers on it, to an undefeated season, Theo bought Joseph a Rolex watch. Up until this point the other brothers had felt only slight jealousy towards Joseph but this act of affection Theo displayed towards Joseph rubbed them all the wrong way. This act by Theo also boosted Joseph's confidence and made him feel more secure at the foster home. Joseph had a dream that during the next season there would be a moment when the crowd would chant his name and the big screen would display his name in bright lights met with thunderous applause. When he shared this dream with the brothers they became furious. They could not believe the audacity of their new family member to share such a self glorifying idea. They agreed that they were tired of Joseph and in a fit of rage conspired to have him leave the house. The next day after school they met him with bags of his packed belongings and told him that he was unwanted in the house. They then push him around, shoved him to the ground, and took his rolex watch. They went back to Theo and showed him the watch claiming that Joseph had taken the choice to leave the foster home. Theo was distraught but accepted this as truth. Meanwhile, Joseph dropped out of school and decided to stay in an AirBnB hosted by a man named James and his wife Rachel. They were extremely gracious to him and even started letting him stay there rent free, as long as he assisted James with his retail job. James owned a chain of retail stores and Joseph had quickly become one of there most dependable and respected employees working for this chain. A year passes by, and one night James announces to Joseph that he wants to promote him to a regional manager position. Joseph happily accepts, as he, James and Rachel buy a bottle of wine and celebrate. James passes out on the coach exhausted. Suddenly, Rachel becomes extremely flirty and affectionate towards Joseph who is now alarmed and disturbed by her actions. He bolted towards the door but Rachel grabbed his shirt with such force that it ripped. Joseph slept in his car and returned in the morning. He was met by a heartbroken and angry James who believed that he had tried to seduce his wife, holding the torn shirt up as evidence. Despite Joseph denying these accusations, James was forced to kick him out of the house and fire him. He threatened to file charges if he ever saw Joseph near his house again. At this point, Joseph began to perform on the streets, displaying his incredible voice. His unnatural talent was quickly noticed and in less than a week a music agent found him and offered him an opportunity to pursue this full time. Fast forward two years and Joseph had become the number one R&B singer in the entire nation, He had completely changed his physique and style in order to compliment his new mold as a singer. He now went by the stage name Rolex and was completely unrecognizable. Nevertheless, Joseph had remained humble and kind despite his now nationwide fame. Joseph had been on tour and was happy that he would be performing in Dallas that night. He decided that this would be the best night to integrate the violin into his performance which he had not done up to this point. The performance was going great until he saw none other than his former family sitting front row at his concert. He was so shocked that he stopped singing for what felt like an eternity. He then snapped out of the daze and continued to play as the crowd chanted his name and the big screen displayed "Rolex" in bright lights met with thunderous applause. When the part for his violin solo arrived he poured his soul into every note and motion, resulting in a harmonious sound that left the crowd hysterical. At this point it became evident to his family who was playing as they, along with Rolex became overwhelmed with emotion.
Author's Note: This story was based off the story of Potiphar's Wife which I read this week. In the original story, Joseph is assisted by a man named Potiphar who eventually entrusts him with great privileges and honors. Potiphar's wife then phrames Joseph which causes him to lose everything. He then becomes the king of Egypyt, but not before being sold into slavery by his brothers out of Jealousy and being thrown into prison by potiphar. I decided to take a modern approach. Rachel is Potiphar's wife in this version.
Bibliography: This story is part of the Bible Women unit. Story source: King James Bible (1611): Genesis 39 [LIBRIVOX AUDIO].
I thought it was really interesting how you came full circle with Joseph's dream of the crowd cheering his name. The part about Joseph constantly being kicked out of his temporary homes made me sad, however I'm happy that Joseph achieved his dreams at the end, all while staying humble about his talents! Joseph's character was extremely well developed in your story. I wonder what his life was like before he stayed at Theo's house? Since he was 18 when he began staying with the boys at Theo's house, I wonder where he had been before and what his situation with his family was? You might want to separate the text into more paragraphs. I think that some separation would make the story much easier to read and follow along with since it is pretty long. You could also maybe add some dialogue to break up the text more and better develop the characters. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteHi Donovan! I thought your story was very interesting. I really like it when students take an older story and change it so that it becomes much more modernized. I haven't read the original story, but your storytelling made it easy to understand. Joseph really has some bad luck in the beginning, so it was nice to get to see him be successful and happy in the end. I wonder what the last confrontation between himself and his family would have been like, after they figured out who he was. Would Theo have realized that Joseph had used Rolex as his stage name because he missed Theo and the foster home? What would Theo have done to the jealous boys that kicked him out? I bet he would have been so angry, but happy to have Joseph back in his life. That would have been an interesting way to end the story for sure.
ReplyDeleteHi Donovan! I really enjoyed how you took the original story and set in modern times, particularly Dallas, Texas. I do not know much of the original story, but based off your author's note, it seems your retelling is very similar other than for the setting and time frame. I like how the rolex given at the beginning of the story is used as a symbol throughout the story as it becomes' Joseph's stage name while he is a singer. I cannot wait to read your other stories!
ReplyDeleteHi Donovan, wow this story was rivetting! I almost cried! I was amazed by how the story ended when he saw his family member on the stage and the stage was silent for "an eternity." I can only imagine what that must be like to be on stage and time freezes for that moment of emotional charge. I wonder what happened to him after that story? Did he end up doing more stuff? I have not read Potiphar's Wife yet but this story has encouraged me to get on it at some point!
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