The Rising Sun

Author’s Note: This is my theme essay for the book Long Shadows. I tried to work on Introduction to bump up the grade on that.  

Sunshine glows throughout the forest and bounces slightly off the leaves, almost producing a sparkle. Day is clear; not even a fluffy cloud lays far away. Suddenly everything started becoming darker. You look up. The sun is disappearing! Frantically, you bound up a hill and into the bushes, trying to take cover, for you have never seen anything like this happen before. It’s an eclipse. Darkness seemed to take away everything as if a black hole had escaped from outer space. Would it ever come back? Of course it did, but that’s not what the cats in Long Shadows by Erin Hunter had thought. The author demonstrates that curiosity is essential for humans in order for us to understand the world around us.

Curiosity is like coffee- it’s the thing that keeps us running. If there nobody was curious, no one would wonder about anything and life would just be... weird. I mean, could you even picture life without curiosity? Not really. Everything just wouldn’t be right without anyone being curious. It’s essential because otherwise no one would ever know anything. That certainly wouldn't be good. How does Erin Hunter show this? She shows this by shaping the cats into adventurous, curious animals. If she didn't, the book wouldn't seem so read and it would be much harder to understand the book and picture it in your mind.

Other than just curiosity being an important factor, it is used all the time. Jayfeather wants to know about the past. The ancient cat leader sent him to the now abandoned camp of the old cats. He sees that these cats are actually the ancestors of the cats who now live in the mountains. People who are curious a lot find out more things and end up being more exciting to be around. Don’t you want people to want to be around you? That’s exactly why we need curiosity. Also, it makes you more of a well-rounded person because you want to figure things out. If you don’t want to figure things out, that just makes you like a blob of fluff collecting in a corner because no one wants to be around a boring person. Curiosity brings out your personality.

In addition to curiosity making you a well rounded person, the books Long Shadows and The Hunger Games have the same theme. All three of the main characters Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze are wanting to figure out who their real parents are after Squirrelflight admitted not being their real mother in a pit that blazed with fire, consuming the forest like a worm consumes an apple. This is a similar theme in The Hunger Games by the fact that Katniss was a little curious on what exactly was going to go on during the games and if she was going to survive or not. These books are connected because each have main characters are wondering about things. That in particular is curiosity.

In order to understand the world around us, we need curiosity. Erin Hunter portrays this in Long Shadows. Humans having curiosity is a horrible thought. No one would ever wonder about things, but above all nobody could just be themselves! Even if you don’t agree, curiosity is a necessity. I know that so far today, you have wondered about something. No matter what it is, it’s still a form of curiosity. Curiosity is used daily, therefore is essential. What have you wondered about today?

Winter

Author's Note: In the Writing Lab today, the sub asked us to write some kind of creative writing piece using the words we wrote to describe winter. I put all of my words into my short story.

My finger slips across the icy, frosted glass to draw a little happy face of the bus window. I smear the whole window until my hand is soaking wet to look out it. Crystallized water dripping down from buildings- icicles- look like they will fall at once to pierce the little rabbits who carelessly play underneath them. Unexpected was the snow storm that was like a magnet to the little children to make snowmen. Large, round, fluffy flakes drifted down from above. I opened up the window so I might touch these flakes. Chills crawled up my spine, eating at my insides. Nippy dust bit my face. I glazed my eyes to think of what I'd come to when I get home. Mom would be knitting scarves and hats while boiling water to make hot chocolate- not forgetting the marshmallows- with candy canes on the side. Picturing myself wrapped up in a soft blanket next to the blazing fire, I got hurled to the front of the bus to walk down the steps. Colorful lights amused my eyes and I thought about Christmas Eve. There would be murmurs of reindeer, Santa, and a sleigh. Although I didn't know what to think of all this. Winter is magnificent- that I know for sure. 

                                                                   

My Dreams Have Been Washed Away

Author's Note: I'm guessing most of you actually reading this know that I want a fish. VERY BADLY! Yesterday I asked my mom again and she said, "Where will it go?" I said, " On my desk..." "Where will Marshmallow go?" See I have no idea what Marshmallow has anything to do with this -_- "I guess we could move my big purple chair and he could be in my room, too. But where will the chair go?" "I'm not talking to you about this right now." "Why not?!?!?!" "We're not moving anything yet." >:| See this is what I deal with! :P Anyways, I wrote this poem that has a lot of symbolization in it. Please comment!

A wave of despair

Has washed up on my shore   

Consuming everything

In sight

It loves to toy with things

And then burn them in a fire

My feelings are just mixed in

A large bowl

Happiness has seemed to jump out

I've tried to make it come back

Making fish backgrounds on computers

Shoving at chairs

Moving them around

Making room for happiness

Except something seems to interfere

It's a dragon that breathes fire

Who stole my happiness

When I try to ask it for my happiness back

It just barely misses me with

The balls of burning fury

Happiness come back!

My happiness is a fish

Lionblaze vs. Jayfeather

Author's Note: This is a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Lionblaze to Jayfeather to show proficiency in the category of Comparisons. 

Swimmy

Author’s Note: This is an essay that I wrote to bump up my writing skills. I’m working on Word Choice. But the purpose of this essay is to persuade my mom to get me a fish which I don’t really know the reason why I can’t (I mean, I even offered to pay for it and clean it once a week...). My main goal is to just tackle my mom’s reasons why to not get a fish so then maybe once they’re all gone, I could. Oh, and the fish on the bottom isn't the kind of fish I want, I would like a tiny rainbow neon one- like the ones from Wal-Mart. I just couldn't find a picture of one of those...





Rainbow-colored fair lights flash before your eyes and the aroma of corn dogs, caramel apples, and cotton candy fill your nose. You glance at the wide variety of games spread throughout the fair isles. What game should I play? you ask yourself. After a few minutes of pondering, you decide on a game where you throw a ball to win a fish. Sounds easy enough. As you reach for your dollar, your hand starts to shake. Don’t mess this up, don’t mess this up, you tell yourself. Once about six dollars have washed down the drain, you see a fish. Well of course you see a fish, but this one is... calling your name almost. It’s also the color rainbow, so you just have got to win this fish. At that moment you know that fish is for you. Only a couple more dollars have vanished before the man working at the smelly booth finally hands you it. The fish is perfect. His name is Swimmy. I think I should get a fish.

Everyone wants something- anything from a cell phone to a car to a piece of string. Such examples are from the book Hunger Games, Katniss wants freedom. Except I want something different that I wouldn’t normally ask for. I would like a fish. One of your problems is cleaning it, right? Well my friend, Anusha, told me that I could buy a bottle of algae preventer so I don’t have to clean it as often and it doesn’t smell so bad. Now this may seem like a plus for me, but it means for you that I won’t be making such a racket downstairs all the time, so you can just get back to your studies of scrapbooking. This also means that the fishtank won’t smell like “vomit” as you put it as often. Plus, I’d clean it whenever you ask me to so if the smell seems to waft over to you, it won’t be long until the smell of peppermint wallflower from my room fills the house again.

Not only would I just clean it, but I’d also take care of him, give him love, and do whatever he needs such as buying food/cool tank decorations that glitter like sparkles. This way, you can spend precious money on food for the family instead of my obsessive needs. Back to the first situation, though. I would love a fish so much- just as much as Marshmallow! In fact, here’s a complete list of what I’d do: I’d look at all the fish, study them thoroughly, ask for my favorite, ask the worker if it’s a boy or a girl, look at him (or her) all the way home, name it Swimmy, set him/her in a pre-setup place, and just let him/her be awesome. Also, I think that I’m going to write a journal about the fish which will improve my writing skills for Language Arts which will improve my likelihood of becoming an author.

Rather than just stating I want a fish, I’m going to describe what extra I’d do. I know right now usually when you ask me to do the dishes I just walk away, but if I got a fish, I would definitely help you dry when you ask me to. Most likely I would also sweep the floor sometimes. Plus I’d help you make dinner, (which actually isn’t bad and I think is kind of fun,) when you ask. Don’t you think a fish is a reasonable- and even possibly overpay on my part- price to pay for this luxury for you?

Everyone has had a dream. We all want something. Mr. Luther King Junior’s dream was for all people be equal, Molly’s dream was to have a squishy calculator, and now I have a dream. Although it’s small, that just makes it easier to come true. I’m positive the you’ve had some dream- probably more than one- and they’ve more likely than not came true. Right now at this point of my life, my dream is to have a fish. In fact, it’s one a the few things that I’m asking for Christmas. If you’re trying to say no, ask yourself this: What would I have wanted my mom to do if I wanted something that badly? Don’t crush dreams. Be a good person. Let me get a fish. Is it really all that hard?

Bouncing Off the Walls

Author's Note: I am sooooooo excited for tonight that I felt it was only but necessary to write a poem about it. I was inspired by Andie to hide letters in the poem, which I thought would be a really cool idea to try. It's just a different kind of poem that I haven't written before. (Although it may be better to add my own touch, I think it was still cool to try.) Anyways, I hope that tonight comes quickly, but NEVER end O3O

I'm so excited

For tonight

I feel like

I could do anything

Anything and everything

Travel to the moon

Touch nuclear fusion

Walk around the Earth

Run 1,000,000 miles

Talk forever and a day

Shop until I drop

Dance until I faint

Fly just like a bird

Swim just like a boat

Feel like I could touch the sky

Or something else

Just like I am

Right now…

Christmas

Author's Note: It's coming around Christmas time again! :D So I decided to write a little piece about Christmas. It's an acrostic poem, but it has more than one word for each letter.

Come gather around the Christmas Tree

Have a good time

Review the reason why you're there

Is that the real reason?

So make sure you know the real meaning of Christmas

Take some presents and pass them to each other

Make sure everyone is happy

Always do this again every year

Spend it with each other

Aurora Borealis

Author's Note: I've always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis, but I haven't been that far up north to see one. So I decided to write a poem, but in an interesting way. I mean, it isn't exactly in my point of view because I never had a dream with that in it, but it still could happen... Anyways, I do wish to see it one day. 

Up to the north we went

All warm in our car

We drove and drove

From far away

To the place where

Beauty lays

I look from the car

Into the sky

I see nothing but blackness

Plus a few stars slightly glowing in the distance

My Mother says, "Wait patiently

And it will come."

But as I wait

I grew very tired

As if a bus

Had run me into a wall

So I slept

Like a bunny

Suddenly I was shook

Just softly

Something barely brushing me

I look up

The car roof is gone

And beauty is showing

The lights dance around

All happy like on Christmas Day

The lines of hues of blues and greens

Flow in an ongoing system

That never stops

I didn't want to look away

Of course though I had to

For I had woke up

With a violent jolt

I was back to reality

The sun is creeping into my room

Like a cat to a mouse

Although I do wish

It was for real and not merely a dream

The Northern Lights

Are waiting

For me to come

I am here

A Bumpy Ride

Author’s Note: This is a short story that I wrote so that I can write a little bit of  a character development on it. I tried to make the characters change a lot, but not something that has already been written. It also was a challenge not to go overboard with the writing because I love to write <3 My character development for this piece is below:

In this story, although Ashley is the main character, Kevin was also the main focal point. He changes like a day from dark to light due to Ashley. Even though it really doesn’t seem like Kevin would change, he did. This story that I wrote reminds me greatly of my brother. He’s so much like Kevin that it was a little scary, but I did make sure that Kevin was even more “extreme” because of course my brother isn’t that crazy. Only a brief reflection of each other. Sometimes he runs throughout the house when he’s full of energy, but other times he’s sitting nicely in a chair without even moving at all. Connor is kind of up and down, just like Kevin. But in the end, they’re both wonderful, and my brother. (I only have one.) Back to the story, though Ashley affects Kevin just by being there. I can relate this to many things, but the most I can relate it to is my brother and me.





Early in the morning, before many people were awake, I slipped down the stairs of my house as silently as a black cat, hidden by a few remaining shadows that were left by the night. Looking at the window outside, I was quite surprised to see the scene. All of the color seemed to be sucked from the earth, the blue sky clashing against it. I could see gray clouds rolling in from the horizon that will soon blend with the rest of the world.

I tip-toed back up the stairs again, hanging up my fluffy robe. Today was a big day for me, and the weather sure wasn’t helping the nervousness. My very first babysitting job is going to be for a family on the street in the back of our house, Noodle Avenue. I’m not exactly sure if I really want to babysit kids, but I think it will be fun. Besides, I need the money to save up for college, not to mention things on the side such as clothes, and just things that I buy when I see them.

When I walking into the McDealie’s house, I didn’t exactly know what was coming for me. I hoped that I had brought enough to keep the kids occupied in my backpack.

Kevin opened the door once I finished walking up the brick path. “Mom, there’s someone here for you!” his yell would have been able to be heard from one hundred miles away. The screech hurt my ears, and I found it hard not to cover them. Then he charged up the stairs and pounded on a door until Mrs. McDealie came to the door. He was obnoxiously chewing a piece of gum.

“Oh, I must apologize for Kevin, he’s a bit rambunctious today. Please come in,” she motioned with her hand to enter. Tying my hair back, I looked around for Rosey, a perky four year old girl. Without any luck, I walked into the living room to find Mr. McDealie holding Opal, the three month old baby. She was so unbelievably cute, but... she was drooling. That’s absolutely disgusting. I could hear Kevin pounding on the floor upstairs. Sighing, I asked Mr. McDealie what time they were going to leave and come home at, plus things like when the kids go to bed, when they eat supper, what do do, etc.

“Here’s a list,” he said, handing me a piece of paper, “Make sure to follow everything on it.” Then he gave me a look that said something like, “You mess with my kids, I’ll mess you up.” It was really pretty scary. I was happy when the McDealies left in their small car to the SteakHouse for their anniversary.

What scared me the most now was if something happened that I won’t be able to call them or maybe not even contact them at all. I mean, I wouldn’t want to disturb them. Hopefully that won’t happen...

“Tag, you’re it!” screamed Kevin at the top of his lungs, practically shoving me to the ground. I watched him as he bolted back up the stairs again. I sighed, seeing that he probably wasn’t going to calm down. Then I remembered something- maybe I could just let him sit in front of the TV.

“Kevin, do you want to watch TV?” I asked. flipping through the channels to see if there would be anything appropriate for him to watch. Racing up the stairs behind him, I found Rosey and took her back down the stairs to play Barbies with her and fed Opal while Kevin watched TV. Luckily I had found a fun, educational show that wasn’t violent at all. In fact, it was rated G.

Except Kevin kept fake burping and attacking Rosey. It was very difficult to break them apart when I also was holding Opal. Finally, I was so exhausted that I looked at the clock and noticed it was 5:30- time to start making supper so it would hopefully be ready by six. I plopped Opal in her lavender bouncy chair so I could prepare some kind of meal out of macaroni and cheese.

Good thing the kitchen counter where I was preparing the gloppy meal was looking over the living room because Kevin started to shoot the TV with his Nerf Gun. Even though he wasn’t shooting the actual TV, just the stand, and they were little foam bullets, I knew if Mr. McDealie found out, he’d throw some kind of mental fit. I took it away from him after the last warning. But as soon as I’d turned my back again, he was out with another one! We kept playing this “game” until I couldn’t take it any longer and there were ten Nerf Guns up on top of the fridge.

“How many do you have?” I asked him when I was ready to explode with frustration like soda after a Coke bottle that was shaken up with a Mentos.

“I’m not telling,” he said in a rather creepy voice which was at the same time very mischievous. Sort of like this face that I love to use when texting my friends >:D
Although I like to use it on my phone or over the computer, it’s much better to see it on the screen than in real life.

As you might have been thinking, supper was just a disaster waiting to happen. Kevin was blubbering with his mouth open and Opal was smearing cheese all over the wall. It was a hassle to clean it up with just a wet washcloth- it felt as impossible as climbing Mount Everest.

Before long, I had Kevin, Rosey, and Opal sleeping in their proper beds. I must have tuckered Kevin out because even though he complained, he was out like a light. Although, I wish I could’ve spent more time with Rosey- she was a really sweet girl, and I know she likes to be with me. Maybe she’ll rub off on Kevin. Now that I’m actually saying that, it sounds pretty strange, with Rosey being the younger child...

The next morning, after Mrs. McDealie payed me kindly for taking care of her crazy kids, she said to me, “Kevin says that he had a really good time last night.”

I was so shocked I thought I was going to fall over. “He really said that?” I managed to get out.

“Of course he did! Would I lie to you?” she questioned with a puzzled look on her face.

“No... it’s just that it doesn’t sound like him.”

“That’s exactly what I thought! Now, you should probably run along home now, Ashley.”

“Yeah, I think I should.” The grayness of yesterday was washed away by a sea of color. The sun rising above the houses was spewing streaks of orange across the sky. It almost blinded me, but I didn’t care one bit because what Mrs. McDealie said had put me in the best mood that I had been in a while.

Over the next few days, I had been gathering up a present for Kevin because I was so surprised he had actually changed just a little. I thought that maybe this gift would go a long way just as my mom always used to teach me. Finally, it was done, so I brought the huge surprise over to the McDealie’s house.

“May I speak with Kevin?” I asked as Mr. McDealie answered the door. He gave me a look like: What the fluff? But he called for Kevin to come.

“Hi, Ashley!” he looked pleased to see me. This was seriously a first.

“Hi. I brought you something.” I handed Kevin the hand-wrapped gift.

He laughed, opening up the Nerf Gun. I was happy with myself- I thought it was perfect. Except he said, “Thanks, but I have a lot of these.”

“That’s okay, because I also brought you something else,” I said, handing him a large bag which contained many things. “Except you can’t open it just yet. Wait until I go off to college, and you can think of me.

Kevin gave a pouty look, but muttered a thanks anyways. I guess he was still glad to receive yet another Nerf Gun. Although I’m not so sure about his parents. Grinning, I hopped across the beautifully carved stepping stones on the way back to my house.

Creative Ending

Author's Note: I thought this story would end this way because I think it would be only logical if the purple slime sucked out his soul- the thing that made everyone different from each other. 

Molly peered around the corner to see if what she feared what happened did. Realizing now that of course it would happen, she sadly started to walk home. She dreadfully wished Troy would be his old self. The rocks collided into each other as she kicked them with her feet, bringing up dust. Coughing, she tried to remember if her brother, Kyle, would be home yet.

Meanwhile, at the school, Mr. Mason felt something he hadn't felt in a long time- sorrow. But he couldn't undo what he had done, and he never could. Troy was now taken over by a creative-less alien- they all were. Although Mr. Mason didn't regret one bit about letting that happen to the other kids he had alien-ized, he wished there was something he could do. 

An Alternate Ending

Author's Note: During the writing lab, Mr. Graf asked us to write a prediction to what might have happened at the end of "Thank You, Ma'am" if the last sentence hadn't been "And he never saw her again". Look at my word choice for this piece. I've been working on it lately, because I'd like to get a 10 in that category.



He barely managed to say “Thank you” before she shut the door.

Roger was too astonished to do much right then. He tried to think what to do with the money. Although he had told the lady he wanted to buy a new pair of shoes, many different thoughts came into his mind. Of course, Roger was a changed young man, so he knew he had to use the money wisely.

Roger headed back down the street to a small market Mrs. Jones had dragged him past. Now, he hadn’t ever actually been inside any kind of market, but he knew what it was relatively like. Paint was peeling off the sign so no one could ever read the sign. He slowly walked through the fabric doors.

The air inside smelled delicious, nothing like Roger had ever smelled before. There were fresh bushels of various fruits laying about, bread baking in the ovens in the back, and different material goods being sold throughout the market. Fresh bread was being taken out of the oven, and Roger felt like a magnet had been attracting him to it, lead by his nose. He let his feet whisk him over to the other side of the market.

“What’ll you have?” asked a woman with a wide variety of different kinds of bread.

“Um... whichever kind,” Roger shrugged. The lady handed him a loaf of bread that looked so delicious it made his mouth water. No, he told himself, This will be brought back to Mama and Gabriel. The rest of the nine dollars and ninety nine cents clinked together like a new pair of high heels knocking on the wooden floor of a mansion during a dance.

What Roger had told himself came true, as he traveled back to the run-down shack that was a make-shift home for his family. The roof was almost completely ripped off, which made the cold pretty much unbearable in the winter. Even though the roof was gone, there were still plenty of patches of grass growing to make three small beds. It was definitely close to nothing, but it was home, of course.

“Oh, my, is that... fresh baked bread!” exclaimed Mama. “Where on Earth did you ever get a penny to pay for that? Were you lucky and found it on the ground?”

Not knowing whether to tell her his experience with Mrs. Jones or not, he said, “Actually, I came across a 10 dollar bill. That was only a thousandth of what I found today,” Roger exclaimed proudly.

Mama looked so happy he thought she was going to cry. “Wow. That’s just... wow. I’m so happy, this will do so much for us.” she leaned over and practically squeezed the breath out of Roger. He was very glad to see that it felt great to give, and that’s what he was going to do.

Roger, a Changed Person

Author's Note: During the writing lab today, Mr. Graf wanted us to write a few paragraphs related to the story "Thank you, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes. This demonstrates a character analysis/development from the writing rubric.


In the beginning of the story “Thank you, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, Roger was a dirty, cold hearted thief. Rough was him homelife, where no one was there, and no one cared about him. We know he was a thief because he tried to steal Mrs. Jones's pocketbook. He had admitted that there wasn’t anyone at his house, giving off the feeling that he had a rough homelife.

What Mrs. Jones’s did to Roger made him rethink his life and society. She gave him love. Although it was tough love, he hadn’t ever felt anything like it before, so it didn’t matter. Roger was curious to why she had been treating him that way, so he hung around instead of running off. Another reason why he stayed was because he wanted to earn her trust. Eventually, he did earn her trust completely, and she gave him ten dollars to buy new shoes.

Now we know that it didn’t say so in the story, but Roger most likely became a whole different person. He could’ve found a job, been a successful man... there’s a lot of things that he may have done at the end of the story. This is what we’d think, however, because of what had been written in the story. Mrs. Jones changed Roger’s life.

Donuts

Author's Note: I was pretty bored today, so I looked around me for inspiration. That's when I do the best writing/drawing. Except today, I just did it to be fun. Molly loves donuts, so she inspired me to write this.

I devour the

Sticky substance

Which has delicious slime

Oozing out

Although it's really wonderful

Not disgusting

Because

It's full of sugar

Which makes some

Specific people hyper

But that's okay

Every once in a while

Because

Donuts

Are amazing

Our Founding Fathers

Author's Note: As instructed by Mr. Graf, I wrote an essay with the prompt "If you could go back in time and meet our founding fathers, what would you say?". I'm trying to work on word choise, so please let me know how to improve that in this piece. I tried a little, but it's rather difficult to express that in a piece like this.


Time surrounds us, even traps us. Every so often, people wish they could go back in time and re-do one thing. Others think back and wish they could have been the ones in charge and are able to change it. I would want to go back in time to meet our founding fathers because that would be a truly exceptional experience. If I really could go back in time and talk to our founding fathers, I’d ask them if they would’ve been able to choose what was written in the constitution, what would they have written?


There has to be a reason for everything. So, I have my own reasoning for asking the question “What would you have written in the constitution if it were just for you to decide?” Of course I’d like to know, that’s why I asked the question. Except I just think it’d be interesting to see what they’d respond. Do they like how it is now, and keep it all, would they write the whole thing over, or keep some of it? Well, that’s why I’d like to go back in time and see.


To choose a specific founding father, George Washington would probably be one of the most important ones to ask. Not only he was the first president of the United States, he was asked to be Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during Revolutionary War. Overall, he was a very important man in founding our country. This would make it a once in a lifetime chance to talk to him. Of course it would, because as of right now it’s not possible to go back in time.


I’d ask our Founding Fathers if they’d had the chance to write everything that went into the constitution, what would they write, if only I could go back in time. Others may want to say “good job” or “why didn’t you learn to read and write?”, but surely I wouldn’t. That’s too expected of people to ask/say things like that. In fact, if I really could go back in time to meet them, I’d want to be remembered for asking such a question- wouldn’t you?

Cause/Effect on Pictures of Hollis Woods

Author's Note: This is something that was asked from Mrs. Mundt- to write a cause/effect short response to a book we read or an event that happened.

One event that happened in the book, Pictures of Hollis Woods, is that Hollis ran away from the Regans. Because of this, Hollis was sent to other homes again- those of which didn't offer her a real family. Of course she ran away from these, too, but the run that really matters is that of the Regans.

If this little detail (well sort of a huge one) was changed, and Hollis stayed at the Regans house instead of running away, everything of course would be different. Hollis wouldn't have the experience of being with Josie with her cat, Henry, being all cozy in their house, watching old movies, carving a wood sculpture of her… the list drones on. Mostly just that she wouldn't have met Josie or would have done anything that had to do with her. Either option would've been fine, or the right one, but I personally think that Hollis shouldn't have taken the chances of  being placed in another stupid house, like all the ones before the Regans. Even if this meant not meeting Josie at all, I think it would have been the right choice. Although, it was the author's choice, and the book would have been quite boring without this major event happening.

This story reminds me of The Runaway bunny. I don't know how I thought of this book, as it's a picture book that I was completely obsessed with in 2nd grade. In this book, the bunny runs away from its mother- and his home. That means it's similar to Pictures of Hollis Woods because they both run away from their home.

Conflict/Resolution on Pictures of Hollis Woods

Author's Note: For Language Arts, Mrs. Mundt asked us to write a conflict/resolution on a book we recently read. I did mine on the book, Pictures of Hollis Woods.

In the book, Pictures of Hollis Woods, there is one main conflict which is the fact Hollis Woods doesn't yet have a permanent home/family. She runs away from each of the foster homes she is sent to, including one that actually offers a real family that she likes. Of course, she is always sent to a different home after she ran away. Except the main conflict is that she keeps running away.

This book reminds me of a movie "Hotel for Dogs" that I saw a few years ago where two kids who are ten and fifteen- a boy and a girl- that have been through many foster homes. Eventually they come to the person that had found the other homes for them. This is similar to the book, Pictures of Hollis Woods, because in both instances, kids are spending time in foster homes that they really don't want to be in.

This conflict of running away is solved throughout the book, piece by piece. About every other chapter is the present, (with about every other one being the past,) and it all starts out where Hollis is taken to a new house with an older woman, Josie. Realizing they will take Hollis to a different house because Josie has been forgetting a lot of things lately, she makes a plan. She takes Josie to the Regans' summer house- without their permission. Eventually, Josie becomes homesick, and the end of the book leads the reader to believe Josie went back her own house to live with Beatrice, and Hollis goes to live with the Regans. 

                                                       

Early Jamestown- Why did so many people die?

Author's Note: I wrote this for Social Studies, and I decided to put it here. Title pretty much says it all, but everyone had to write an essay on why so many people died in early Jamestown. It was relatively boring, but I tried my best to try to add some life to it.



Imagine this- you’re on a swaying boat in the middle of the ocean. For months on end all you see when you look from the cabin window is water. With miles upon miles of tumbling waves. Or at least until one day you hit land... except you die within a month. Have you ever thought about why things are? Of course you have, once in your life. We’re humans- we want to know, and be curious. Well I’ve been thinking why did so many people died in early Jamestown. So, why did they? The answer is there were many different reasons include brackish water, no food, and disease.

One of the reasons people died in Jamestown was caused by brackish water. You probably wouldn’t think brackish water would matter, but you also probably don’t know what brackish means. Brackish water is salty, and is caused from the alignment of the moon. People would think the freshwater wells were still that- fresh water, but indeed, they were wrong. Also, some human and sometimes animal waste, too was dumped into the rivers which was the main source of fresh water. Of course, people began to become ill from the disgusting mixtures.

Another reason the colonists died right away was due to the drought. It didn’t rain much, obviously. Except the drought wasn’t the key reason to why there weren’t many crops to eat. Too many of the first settlers who came were gentlemen- men who didn’t like to get their hands dirty. There were little to no farmers washed upon the shore, so everyone was pretty much out of luck. But they did have their ways. Of course, they stole from the Indians. That leads to another reason.

 If someone was stealing your crops, would you kill them? Even if not, that’s what the Indians did. Although, it didn’t work quite like that. Then settlers offered to trade for the Indian’s grain, but they didn’t want to. As you could most likely guess, the settlers attacked. Except the Indians weren’t too helpless- they killed people as the settlers killed others from their tribe. Very few people died from Indian attacks, but it still adds to the overall 500 out of 600 settlers dead.

One last reason many settlers died was from the harsh weather. They were in the middle of building some houses, so some people couldn’t find any shelter during the winters. The winds blew hard, and everyone huddled together, but of course that didn’t stop sickness and disease from spreading around. More people died from sickness that anything else.

Too many people died in early Jamestown from no food, brackish water, disease, and Indian attacks. All those deaths add up. Approximately 500 out of 600 of the first settlers died within just a couple of months. It truly is a miracle for those who survived. Luckily, it was enough for them to become our ancestors.  


References
"Colonization & Settlement, 1493-1763 | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. . Jacobsen, Karen. "Refugees' Environmental Impact: The Effect of Patterns of Settlement." Journal of Refugee Studies 10.1:: 19-36. Print. John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England & The Summer Isles (Glasgow, Scotland: James MacLehose and Sons, 1907), Vol. 1: 158–59 Documents A, B, C, D, E

Scary Moments

Author's Note: This is my narrative for the Writing Center. I tried to enhance my vocabulary, but you can decide if I achieved that. I personally think I could have tried a little harder, but I think I did okay. I was also of course trying to get a high score overall on the writing rubric.


In life, one must experience certain things to know what life is all about: getting an F on a paper, riding a bike for the first time, playing some kind of sport. One last one is being truly afraid. Thinking you're going to die isn't exactly the best feeling, but it is a necessity, since so many people have currently already experienced something similar to the time I first went tubing. Yes, I of course was afraid. Maybe not so afraid I thought I was going to die, but somewhere sort of close to that aspect.

Of course, it was a nice day to go boating- the sun in the sky, no clouds as far as the eye could see, birds chirping, the gentle waves lapping on the sand like cats lapping milk. But it was also the first time to go tubing. Other times, I'd been on Sarah's boat, except never tubing.

The second Mrs. Calderon threw the giant blow-up tube into the water, I wanted to go first. I like to try things out. Since it was a two-person tube, Sarah went with me first. The feeling was magnificent: my hair was blowing behind me in all directions, the tube bouncing lightly on the shimmering water.

Next was the time for Diana, Sarah's sister, and I to go together. Something that is important to know for this explanation is while you are tubing, a signal for "all is okay" is where you put two arms above your head. Well, as Mrs. and Mr. Calderon got farther out on the lake, the boat went faster. It glided quickly across the water, a long wake stretching out far behind it.

On the tube, it was a different point of view. We were flapping in the wind like a kite, bouncing three feet up above water, only to come down and straight up again. After a while of quite rough jumping out of our seats, there was a couple of huge jumps. So when I thought the huge waves were over, I reached my hands over my head to show we were okay, but suddenly a gigantic wave scooped up the tube. I rose far out of my seat, and I tried to reach for the slippery handles. It made me so afraid that I was going to fall out. Mr. and Mrs. Calderon even stopped the boat because Sarah saw me fly out of my seat. Luckily, the sea didn't suck me under, leaving me helpless, sinking to the bottom of the dark water.

Everyone has had something scary happen to them. No matter what they say, even if they can only think of something like when they thought someone was watching them. Scary moments aren't great (obviously). Although, scary moments will happen.

Book Advertisement on Stargirl

Author's Note: During the reading lab, Mrs. Mundt told us to choose a book to write a retelling, or book advertisement. I chose the book Stargirl to do it on.

Stargirl 
By: Jerry Spinelli
                                                        

A girl's life- Stargirl- is told from the eyes of a boy. Everyone loves her... or at least until Leo interviews her, and no one wants to talk or look at her. She dreams of giving, and just for once wants to receive...

The Goat Incident

Author's Note: First off, I totally forgot to put this on my blog when I made it about a week ago, so I'm putting it here now. "It" is a personal narrative that Mr. Graf showed us how to make. I often like to write about hings that people talk about, so this is what I did. I wrote it based on a day in St. Thomas when my family went on a cruise.

All animals are unique and different. I think we can all agree on that. Except not all people are fond of animals. That includes my mom, who seems to not like animals. Strangely, she claims she likes them sometimes, but I know from experience that she usually just says that because I love animals. This particular experience is known as "the goat incident". 

Towering above us in St. Thomas was a sky-ride which glided along slowly up the tall, luscious hill covered in flowers. If you listened closely, you could hear the soft chirping of insects in the distance. Quickly, my dad, my mom, my brother Connor, and I hopped onto the car before it went without us. All the way up the hill, it creaked and shook from old age, luckily not too violently.

Eventually the car stopped at a mini zoo. It couldn't be called a zoo because the cages filled with regular old parrots were small octagons. A little farther along the boardwalk was a fence. Inside were three goats (two large ones, one small one) and two or three chickens/ducks.

A younger man started feeding the goats a long, green leaf which he picked from the leaves. He handed me some, saying that I could feed it, too. (I know what you 're thinking, but there wasn't a sign that said "DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS").  All of a sudden, the large, brown goat leaped over the fence. It really started to scare me, and it walked down the boardwalk. Even so, I found myself quickly snapping a picture with the camera in my hand. As the goat clomped down the boardwalk toward the fence bordering the mini zoo, I crept backwards. Closer to my mom. Just when the goat had leapt the fence, my mom had scooted toward a slope. Well, that's where I was headed since there was no where to go.

"Jim. Jim. Get the goat away from me." My mom's eyes widened, and she tried to sound calm, but I could still hear it in her voice that she was secretly panicking on the inside. Slowly, I set down the leaves I was still carrying on the ground and circled my way around the end of the mini zoo, veering the goat as much as possible. Then I just went down the stairs which led back to the sky-ride. All I could picture was the terrifying look on my mom's white face.

Thinking back, even though my mom repeatedly told me it was not funny, and she was seriously afraid, it still makes me smile. But at least now I know she's not in danger.

I still don't completely understand why my mom dislikes animals so much, but I guess it might me due to the bad experiences she had with them, including when she was younger and a goat leaped onto her shoulders… I shouldn't go much into any kind of details, although I can clearly picture in my mind what might have happened. Still, I must respect that she just doesn't like animals.

Graceful Giraffes

Author's Note: I had started to write this poem and then Mrs. Mundt said to not write a poem for the writing piece. So, I finished up this poem.


Something is towering
High in the sky
Is it a building?
No it's a giraffe.

You watch as it
Walks toward you.
It's graceful legs
Far longer than any other.

The spots on it
Are dull and brown
But the beauty within
Is more pretty.