ECR Paired Passage "Light" and "Rise Again"

Light

(adapted from Scholastic)

In the 1870’s, inventor Thomas Edison built a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Edison and his men were on the cutting edge of technology. Oil and gas lamps were hazardous and he hoped to create a safer way to illuminate homes.

Scene 1:

Lights up on Thomas Edison’s cluttered workshop. Wires, glass tubes, and broken bulbs scatter the workbench. Edison and his assistant hover over a flickering lightbulb.)

Assistant: That’s the third time today. Maybe it’s impossible, Thomas.

(Edison frowns, adjusting the wires, sweat on his brow.)

Edison: No. It’s not impossible. I just haven’t found the right filament.

(The bulb sparks, then goes dark. Edison sighs but quickly grabs another material to test.)

Assistant: You’ve been at this for months. What if people are right? What if light isn’t meant to last?

Edison: (firmly) We have not failed. We have successfully found thousands of ways that won’t work. Every failure is a step forward.

(The assistant crosses their arms, frustrated, pointing at a pile of discarded materials.)

Assistant: You’ve tried horsehair, coconut fiber, hay, fishing wire, carbonized paper, and different metals! What else is there?

Edison: (gritting his teeth) There’s always something else. I just need to find it.

(The lights dim as Edison rubs his temples, exhausted. Lights fade on adult Edison.The stage shifts to a soft spotlight on the other end of the stage showing a young Edison.)

Scene 2

(Lights up on a warm kitchen. A young Edison sits at the table, frustrated, a broken gadget in his hands. His mother sits beside him, calm and encouraging.)

Young Edison: (frustrated) It’s broken. Again. I’ll never get it right.

Mother: You only fail if you give up, Thomas. Keep going. One day, your light will shine for the world to see.

Young Edison: But what if it never works? What if I waste all this time?

Mother: Time spent learning is never wasted. Every mistake brings you closer to success.

(Young Edison hesitates, then nods slowly. The warm light fades on young Edison. The spotlight shifts back to adult Edison’s determined expression as the scene transitions back to the workshop.)

Scene 3:

(Back in the workshop. The investor watches as Edison prepares another test. The assistant holds a notebook, skeptical but hopeful. A pile of failed filaments sit nearby.)

Investor: Mr. Edison, your ideas are fascinating, but people are losing patience. You’ve failed over a thousand times. This is your last chance.You said you were on the verge of making incandescent light! You claimed gaslight would be obsolete!

(Edison exhales, steadying his hands as he connects a new filament. The assistant watches anxiously. The bulb flickers… then goes out. The investor sighs and begins to stand up.)

Investor: I’m sorry, but I can’t keep funding this.

(Edison slams his hand on the table, desperate.)

Edison: Wait! One more try. Just one more.

(The investor hesitates, then sits back down. Edison takes a deep breath, carefully inserting a thin carbonized bamboo filament.)

Assistant: Bamboo? That won’t last any longer than the others.

Edison: (quietly) It just might.

(Silence. Then—a flicker. The bulb glows steadily.)

Assistant: It’s holding… it’s holding!

(The investor leans in, eyes wide as the glow remains steady.)

Investor: Incredible… you actually did it.

(Edison exhales, eyes shining. He looks at the bulb, whispering to himself.)

Edison: Every mistake brings me closer.

(The assistant grins, the investor shakes Edison’s hand, and the light remains steady as the stage lights fade, leaving only the glowing bulb illuminating Edison’s face. Blackout.

Rise Again

1 Through storm and trial, fierce and long,
2 I stumbled, thinking I’d gone wrong.
3 A mountain stood, so steep and high,
4 Its peak was hidden in the sky.
5 Was this the end? Should I retreat?

6 I climbed with hands both torn and sore,
7 Yet every step, the doubt grew more.
8 The wind would howl, the night would call,
9 A voice within said, "Let it fall."
10 But hope still whispered, soft yet strong.

11 Like rivers carve the stubborn stone,
12 My will refused to stand alone.
13 Each scar, a story, bold and bright,
14 Each loss, a lesson wrapped in light.
15 I rose once more, despite the pain.

16 The path was jagged, cold, unkind,
17 Yet something burned within my mind.
18 Not all who fall will stay so low,
19 For strength is built through what we know.
20 I pressed ahead—through doubt, through rain.

21 Now at the peak, I see so wide,
22 The world below, the fear denied.
23 I stand where once I feared to be,
24 And know that strength was born in me.
25 For those who rise will rise again.