tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21518340846628290652024-03-08T09:05:59.844-08:00Meredith's ELA BlogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-91562808159651914332014-03-30T13:37:00.001-07:002014-03-30T13:37:15.746-07:00Literary Essay #2<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i> We Grow Accustomed to the Dark,
</i>by
Emily Dickinson, and <i>Acquainted
with the Night, </i>by
Robert Frost, both have the theme of dark, which can be interpreted
as pain and/or depression. They both have very different points of
view. <i>We Grow
Accustomed to the Dark </i>is
said in the we-voice, unlike <i>Acquainted
with the Night </i>which
is narrated from an I-perspective. If the reader ties the two poems
together, he can extract that everyone has pain and depression. Only
the strongest, the bravest, have the power to swim through the dark.
If they're just strong enough, they might even find light, where they
no longer carry so much weight, and can fly again.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i> We
Grow Accustomed to the Dark </i>is
told from the we-perspective which makes the reader infer that the
narrator is a large group of people, or it is one person speaking for
all of mankind. The poem is about how “we” get familiarized to
the dark, which can be taken as pain. The poem writes that you must
spend time in it, and your eyes adjust, and you can soon see. “The
Bravest-grope a little-/And sometimes hit a Tree/Directly in the
Forehead-/But as they learn to see-” is speaking of how the bravest
of people are able to learn to see, though even them hit a bump or
two along the way. “Either the Darkness alters-/Or something in
the sight/Adjusts itself to Midnight/And Life steps almost straight.”
is speaking about a person adapting to the darkness, and finding a
type of light. This light represents hope that if you survive the
dreaded dark, it will fade slowly, and transform into light and
happiness. It is portraying something much like a bright butterfly
emerging from its drab cocoon.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i> Acquainted
with the Night </i>is
about one man or woman's (told from the I-voice) painful experiences.
“I have been acquainted with the night.” tells the reader that
the narrator has felt constant pain. The reader knows that it is
constant because of “I have walked out in rain-and back in rain.”
Rain symbolizes pain similar to dark, because like pain, if enough
is poured on top of you, you will drown. After some time, you are
too tired, and have no energy left to swim, to stay at the top.
Before a person can no longer stay at the top, they must lose hope.
The narrator of <i>Acquainted
with the Night </i>has
lost his/her hope. “I have outwalked the furthest city light.”
The city light is referring to the last sliver of hope they saw. The
last stanza, “Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right./I
have been one acquainted with the night.” reveals that the speaker,
whether it is Robert Frost, or “I” as in the world, has come to
believe that depression is a way of life. If something isn't wrong
or right, it is just normal, not bad nor good.</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At a certain level of depression, there is no light, or hope, to
brighten the dark. When there is no hope, you forget what the colors
look like, and what the rays of sun feel like on your arms.
Eventually, you believe that pain and sadness is a normality for
everybody, that there is nothing wrong in your life. When a person
is really depressed, it feels like there is no end to it. Every time
the person tries to help themselves, they sink deeper into it. The
pain is like quick sand with nothing to grab hold of, and normally,
no one to grab hold of the person sinking. If that person is strong
enough though, their will power will act like a thick vine, and will
slowly pull them out, and they can plant their feet on firm ground
once more.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-61233450909183912172014-03-09T08:50:00.004-07:002014-03-09T08:50:50.679-07:00Poem Essay<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i> Those Winter Sundays</i>, by Robert Haden, and <i>My Papa's Waltz,</i>
by Theodore Roethike, are about the love given from a father to a
son. Both are narrated by the son, telling the story of their
relationship with their father. They take place in the houses of
working class families. The reader can take the message that there
are different ways to love from comparing the two poems.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The father in <i>Those Winter Sundays</i> is showing his love for
his son by working very hard. The reader can infer that the son is
going back and realizing that his father did love him, just in a
different way, and he is wishing that he could go back and fix
things, but it is too late. One line from the poem is “Sundays too
my father got up early...with cracked hands that ached from
labor...No one ever thanked him.” When the narrator says this, he
is implying that it includes him as well. An additional line is
“Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out in the cold and
polished my good shoes as well.” These are acts of love that the
father had committed. The endmost line is “What did I know, what
did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?” The reader can
decide that the son is justifying himself, for he was young, and
didn't know enough to perceive that his father had another way of
loving him.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i> My Papa's Waltz</i> is about one specific event that expressed
how much his father loved him. It is a short story of a father
dancing playfully with his son in the kitchen after a long day of
work. The first line of the poem is “The whiskey on your breath
could make a small boy dizzy.” The reader can gather from this
line that the father drinks alcohol when he gets home after a
stressful day, possibly too much. Another line is “The hand that
held my wrist was battered on one knuckle.” People get battered
knuckles from doing tough physical work, and a large amount of it.
Readers can conclude that this time together makes the man and boy
very happy, and it would make this time that much more special and
precious if they don't see each other as much as they would like to.
Less time makes it harder to take things for granted.</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The two poems are similar to fire and ice, in that they are both
significant and appreciative ways to love, but are much different.
The father in Those Winter Sundays showed he loved him through things
like polishing his shoes and working hard to take care of him. The
father of My Papa's Waltz danced with the boy when he got home. The
father in Those Winter Sundays used the time away from his son to
love him, rather than taking the little time they had together and
making it special. There are many ways to show feelings, and many
are fair. The other lesson that may be extracted from these poems is
that you don't need to be rich to love. You can be anybody, in any
situation, and can love in the way you'd like. These poems portray
beautiful messages that should not be forgotten.c</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-64101058037751121532014-02-05T14:02:00.001-08:002014-02-05T14:02:26.653-08:00My New Song, Pain<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Pain is real,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yet it's in my imagination.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Does this mean,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That I don't know what to feel?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Look at my face,
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Can you tell what I am thinkin?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Cause I don't know,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What's going on inside me.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Please!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me what's going on!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Please!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oooooohhhhh.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Walking down the halls,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Why is everybody staring,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I doubt it's cause,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm so freaking amazing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I wonder how,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Humans got to be such haters,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've grown a fear,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of coming home in tears</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Please!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me what's going on!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Please!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oooooohhhhh.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Things have happened to me,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And I'm not saying this untruthfully,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I have notches in my heart,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marking my pain</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Is it everybody,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Though I can't wish it on anybody,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I wish life wouldn't be this way,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And I'm sorry to myself and everyone
else,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But it's never gonna happen,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
No, it's never gonna happen</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Please!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me what's going on!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Please!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oooooohhhhh.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tell me</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I have just finished writing the lyrics and guitar chords for my second song, <i><u><b>Pain</b></u></i>. As you may have guessed from the title, it is about my life's experience of pain from bullying. The song also hints that my worst bully happens to be myself. Without realizing it, people inflict mental pain on themselves when they question themselves. Self inflicted pain is worse than the pain brought to you by others, because the most important thing is what <i>you</i> think, not what <i>they</i> think. <br />
The first stanza is about how I have felt pain, so I know what it is, but my mind is astray because I'm not sure where it's coming from. The second stanza goes on to almost plead for help, because I need someone to tell me where my thoughts are going. They are swirling around my head, picking up the bad, and leaving the good thoughts behind. I feel as though finding bad is as easy as finding a lit flashlight in a small, dark room. Finding good thoughts in your head is like trying to make out what a tiny voice is saying under a roaring crowd. The chorus is finally asking why I can't find <i>me</i> inside myself, not the one that tells me I'm ugly, but the one that tells me I'm beautiful..<br />
The third and fourth stanzas are giving examples of what happens to me. I truly do wonder, why in the world are humans so hateful towards each other? When I wrote this line, I really meant everyone, including me. We are all hateful, and if not to others, than to our selves, like cats chasing their tails. These two stanzas are more about being hateful towards others than they are about being hateful to ourselves, though. The last two stanzas sound the angriest, express me the most. It first explains that I know what it's like, and I have scars to prove it. Each time I was bullied, it was like a little piece of my heart was carved out. The next stanza wonders and hopes that it's not just me going through it, though I don't really want it for anyone else because it hurts you so badly. At the end of the stanza, I speak the truth and say sorry, but that is the way humans were made, and unfortunately, they're not changing anytime soon, if ever. <br />
<br />
I hope you enjoyed reading my song and short essay about it.<br />
<br />
-Meredith</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-23030426450498022102014-01-29T13:33:00.003-08:002014-01-29T13:33:36.648-08:00Should College Athletes Get Paid?<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Middle School 51 Meredith
Lunceford</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
English 1/27/2014 707</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u>Should College Athletes
Be Paid?</u></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The NCAA has a rule that college athletes aren't allowed to be paid,
and this rule is being heavily debated by many people. They have
been looking at the athletes' busy lives that include of many hours
of practice. Their schedule is so full, between school and their
practice, that they have no time to make money for themselves, wrote
Aaron Cheslock. If a person can't make money for themselves, someone
must give it to them. Aside from that, some players make billions of
dollars for their schools, and don't get anything out of that. It's
not fair to the students that young adults, some still in their
teenage years, give everything of themselves to their sport, and then
they don't get enough out of it.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Micheal Wilbon implies throughout <i>College Athletes Deserve to Get
Paid </i>that any student who makes
money for their school deserves to get some of it. He writes that
the NCAA makes $10.8 billion because of the players who don't see any
green at all. That is almost $11 billion, too much money to be
ignored. Aaron Cheslock says in <i>Should College Athletes Be
Paid?</i> that a student athlete,
Fluker, who had experienced homelessness and poverty stated that
he,“just like every other player, didn't see a dime” and another
athlete, Rojers, was said to never had been paid as well. That's
just two students among many that don't get payed though they
practically pay for their school to continue to run. CNN Money
published a video that has multiple people say that everyone can make
money but the players.Cheslock said that they made “45 million in
profit that year.” That's only what one school made.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are many alternatives in how
the players could get payed because in the video <i>NCAA Holds
Firm:No Pay for Play </i>people say
that not every school makes money. They could be given food after
every practice, no matter what time it is, because they don't have
cash. Sports are dangerous, so if an injury stops an athlete from
playing anymore, they shouldn't have their scholarship revoked. They
could also be given the promise that their kids and grandchildren,
etc. could go to that college for free. The video made by CNN also
said that they have a room with nice and comfortable furniture, which
might be a good place to hang out in after practice. Maybe schools
could make their players' rooms nicer and more comfortable, supplied
with a small refrigerator filled with food. These are only a few of
many ways that colleges could pay their athletes.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are also many people on the
NCAA's side that believe that student athletes shouldn't be paid, and
there is no disagreeing with some of their points. Jeffrey Dorfman
believes that with their training, scholarship to the school,
physical therapy, tutoring, and other things that they already
“benefit greatly.” He also says that all of this stuff can add
up to a total cost of 125,000 dollars. He writes “That sounds to
me like they are getting paid.” Thinking about it that way, they
are getting paid, but what if a student needs some shampoo or some
more toilet paper and they don't have any cash to go to the store and
buy it? If they want to go out for dinner once in a while, they
can't afford it, and if they are at practice late and they don't make
it back in time for dinner, they don't eat. As well as that, they
miss some school when they're making time for their sport.</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The student that wrote this essay can only hope that this will make
a difference in such a large debate. The issue will most likely
continue for months, if not years, until a choice is made, and the
rule is changed or kept. The stories will be changed, and people's
opinions will be changed as well, but this essay will always stay the
same, nothing changed in it's opinion. It states that college
athletes deserve to get paid, and it stands strong.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-20730137593893062352014-01-23T13:09:00.001-08:002014-01-23T13:09:17.727-08:00Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Reading<i> Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie </i>over the past few months has been very interesting because it is such an intriguing book. Steven changed so much in the book, and the changes weren't expected, as they are in many books. Another thing about this book that made it special for me is the fact that I can relate to it so deeply. Steven had so much pain because his little brother, Jeffrey, had cancer, and this touches me because my mom had cancer just over two years ago, and it was quite hard. Seeing how another person might cope when they see a loved one having cancer was very <i>different.</i><div>
<i> </i>When my mom was originally diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, all I knew was that was a disease. The not knowing may have hurt me more than if I had known. Steven knows exactly what it is when he finds out, and it makes him feel like someone had just punched him in the stomach, and it put him into denial. When I found out, I went straight to the guidance counselor's office, because I am the kind of person that must talk about the pain to let go of the pain. Steven keeps it a secret for weeks, until someone tells a teacher. It is strange that how people deal with their pain can be so different from how you might. Another thing that's different between us is that he had to man-up so much, where I didn't so much because I was younger, and my older sister was given that responsibility. I now wonder how that may have affected her, and she doesn't like to talk about her pain, like Steven. Maybe she was in a silent denial, similar to him. The last difference between us is that it didn't change my place like it did for Steven.</div>
<div>
Steven changed enormously, almost like he was a new person. He had for many years been in love with a girl named Renee Albert, the eighth grader who was sought after by all the boys. He hadn't realized that a beautiful girl that liked him very much was sitting right next to him. Renee was also on the top of the schools hierarchy, unlike Steven, a geek with "inch thick glasses." It is slightly ironic that they got to be best friends throughout the book. He also really stepped up in his family trying to keep Jeffrey busy and watched after, made him feel comfortable when he was at doctor appointments. He became a man to everyone, and that is admirable, and I know that if there was a sequel, carma would come around, and give him something special.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-59824601528234330572013-12-18T17:51:00.002-08:002013-12-18T17:51:56.167-08:00Book Club Response How does society put pressure on the characters in our books? Pressure put on the characters in our books caused them to have trouble with finding where they belong. It causes them to make decisions that are not great, or make decisions they don't want to make. The lesson that can be extracted from this question and statement is that you need to make decisions for yourself, for your needs, and these decisions can't be affected by the people around you. There are many paths a person can take, and that is why there are books. Books show you through real and fictional examples how you will be affected by your choices, and help us decide what to do.<div>
The book I read was <i><u>Wonder</u></i>, a book about a boy named August. August's face is deformed, and has trouble with people accepting him because of how he looks. He had been home-schooled all of his life and 5th grade is his first year in "real" school with other kids. Jack is one out of two friends he is able to make in the beginning of the year, but on Halloween, he hears something different. Jack says to Julian, a popular boy, that he isn't really friends with August. He actually does want to be friends with August because he is so nice and fun, but he is scared that he will not have any other friends. Pressure was put on him by popularity, and he broke under the weight.</div>
<div>
There are many other people in this book that are socially affected by August's appearance. His sister, Via or Olivia, depending on who you are to her, is one of those people. She has carried the "sister of a deformed kid" for so long, and this is her first year in highschool, and a chance to have a fresh slate. Olivia doesn't tell anyone about her brother for a while because she wants to be known for herself, and have real friends, not just people who feel sorry for her. Through out this book, I wondered what Auggie's parents were thinking, wondering if they thought he was normal, that they weren't emotionally affected by it. The only person that you got to truly see and read about that doesn't care what August look like is Summer. She first sits with him because she feels bad for him, but it blossoms into true friendship. Honestly, I would have trouble with maintaining a friendship with Auggie, and in a way, I'm amazed that she can do it.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-52598583161850694372013-12-11T13:33:00.001-08:002014-01-08T14:20:31.067-08:00Juvenile Offenders Prosecuted as Adults Should juvenile offenders be prosecuted as adults? This is a very serious matter affecting many minors' lives. There are many people voicing their opinions on this situation. These opinions have helped me build what I think. I believe that juvenile offenders shouldn't be charged as adults unless they have committed first degree murder or rape, what I think of as the worst crimes.<br />
Juvenile offenders should be given a second chance. They are under aged, and if they are under eighteen, they are not adults and shouldn't be accounted for as one. Adolescents have a greater chance of rehabilitation, or getting mentally better than adults have. The article states that ninety percent of teen offenders do not become adult criminals, and this is a large cut. That is only a tenth away from being one hundred percent. The article also says that scientists have proved that the part of the brain that provides impulse control isn't yet fully developed in teenagers. Looking at what a young teenager did doesn't secure what he will do in the future.<br />
For serious crimes like first degree murder and rape, it is largely unfair to the victims for that person to not be punished. If your sibling, child, or relative was killed by a person meaning to do so, it would hurt all the more, wondering why in the world someone would hate them like that. You would want to seek revenge, and I believe that you could do something horrible in the process. When a person is raped, it puts a large mental scar in you. It could be very hard to feel comfortable again with anybody.<br />
<br />
People should be punished fairly to what they have done.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-46388108209746485332013-12-04T14:18:00.000-08:002013-12-04T14:18:13.500-08:00How to Salsa in a Sari Character Change How To Dance In a Sari is by Dona Sarkar. The book is about a sixteen year old girl named Issa who is not accepted in the social circuit at school because as most people would say, she's a nerd. Issa is living happily as a wallflower with perfect grades and three great friends, one of them being her mother, Alisha. The one thing she isn't happy with is the future with twists and turns she has no idea about.<br />
It all begins when her boyfriend Adam dumps her for popular Cuban beauty, Cat Morena, her arch enemy. Issa's insides twist into a not she thinks will never untie. It then hits her quite hard when Alisha tells her that she is engaged to Cat's father, Diego. All she wants is to break them up and ruin Cat's life in the process. Cat pretends not to care that she has to share everything with her soon to be sister, including her dad, which is the most important thing to her. Issa uses this and all the money Diego has to her advantage. She becomes a new Cat, complete with designer bags, a posy, and a voice used specifically bringing people down. When she finally and completely switches places with Cat and s badmouthing her in front of many people, her friends see her as the person she has become and leaves her. After these incidents, she realizes how bad she has gotten and how good Cat is, especially with her mom, Alisha. Issa misses the people she loves and must work herself hard to return to the nice, straight A person she was, and must find a relationship with Cat.<br />
I have seen this particular kind of character change in many different books and movies. I have noticed that most people in these books and movies do switch around their lives in anger and resentment. This book was slightly repetitive for me, but was no humdrum. I have come to realize that there is a major lesson in them. Sometimes, the most horrible people need love to become better, not hate, and in the end, loving is the same amount of work.<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-77812052652436603642013-11-20T14:45:00.001-08:002013-11-20T14:45:55.947-08:00Character Change in Elsewhere<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin, is about
a fifteen year old girl hit and killed by a cab. Liz, the girl
killed must understand her new life in Elsewhere, her after and
before life. In Elsewhere, time travels backwards, so every day, Liz
gets younger. When she first gets to Elsewhere, she hates everything
about it. All she wants is to go home, but without realizing it, she
will going to find almost everything she wanted on the Earth.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When Liz gets off the boat bringing
her to Elsewhere, she is surprised to see her grandmother and wonders
whether it is all a dream. On the ship there, she didn't understand
anything that was going on at all, and when she did realize that she
was dead her heart split into two. Liz spent hours at the binoculars
that let her watch her friends and family. I noticed that watching
the people she loved every minute of every day hurt her more. When
she left the binoculars to work her avocation as a dog interviewer,
therapist and welcomer for new dogs in Elsewhere, she found
happiness. I think that her job numbed the pain because she was
focusing on other problems that weren't hers. It brought her
attention away from what she could be doing if she was on Earth and
living in the now, or then.
</div>
<br />
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Another thing that helped her was
Owen. Owen arrested her for going to the Well, a forbidden place
where you can make contact with people. After this incident, Owen
did Liz a favor and they became fast friends. Owen was still getting
over is wife from Earth, but he fell in love with Liz anyway. They
both got younger, and they always stayed together. Though they might
have looked different, I believe that their hearts stayed the same.
This unexpected love, along with the love from her grandmother filled
the holes in her heart and stitched the two pieces together. This
book explained to me that anything can happen. Any love, and any
happiness.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-37221253022921326432013-11-13T13:59:00.000-08:002013-11-13T13:59:11.043-08:00The Green in Christmas<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Middle School 51 Meredith
Lunceford</div>
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English 11/5/13 707</div>
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<u><b>Memoir:My Christmas Tree</b></u></div>
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When the jolly Christmas music begins
to play on the radio, I know that I can get excited about decorating
a beautiful pine tree in our living room. I am always there to pick
out a tree. I love that feeling where you can think <i>Isn't that
tree beautiful? I helped chose it. </i>I
look for a tree that is singing for me to come to it. I try and find
a tree that wants me to find it. As we go through the place where my
dad decides to get the tree that year, he feels each one looking for
a tree that isn't too dry. Dad checks the body to make sure it's not
lopsided or too tall. I just make sure that the tree seems <i>right.</i></div>
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If
Carolyn, my younger sister, doesn't join us to get the tree, she
makes sure to see it as soon as we are home. She sprints to the door
with a smile covering her entire face. Carolyn then pulls on my
jacket repeatedly saying <i>Can I see it?!</i>
She always chooses then to help us carry it. My dad puts the tree
in the green and red base as I go to the kitchen to get a cup of
water to fill the base. My older sister, Myah, and my mom find the
box of ornaments and our Madame Alexander china angel doll that sits
on the top of the tree watchfully.
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As
the box of ornaments is opened, it feels like the paper wrapped
objects in that box fill the room with happiness and excitement. The
paper makes a dry crinkling noise as I find my favorites. I look for
my snowflake decorated with <span lang="zxx">tiny
bells among many others. My dad always has to tell me to slow
myself. My mother reminds me to be careful with the things that I
love. I have never broken any of them and sometimes I wonder why
they don't trust me with them. At least they let me do anything at
all. I am always the first to place an ornament on the tree after
the lights are stranded over the tree. Finding the right branch can
be tricky, but it all pays off. </span>
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Once
the lights are turned on, the room comes to life. I want to pause
that moment and keep it alive forever. We are all smiling, or at the
very least having a nice expression. The ornaments shine reflecting
the light. You can smell the pine and it always makes me feel like
I'm back in Maine, the place where I feel most at home. We have the
red, green, and white Christmas candles adding cinnamon to the mix of
smells and putting a comforting dim, yellow light in the room which
puts shadows that are almost graceful on the walls. Carolyn's brown
eyes reflect the image of the tree and Myah is actually looking happy
though she may be tired from homework and school. This Christmas, I
will be sure to make a wish that it could always be that way.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-57688122499974682582013-11-06T14:19:00.001-08:002013-11-06T14:19:41.412-08:00Where Your Cellphone Goes to Die<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Americans alone throw away an average
of 150 million cellphones a year. Almost none of the people that
are throwing them know where their cellphones going when their put
into their garbage. They don't know that these phones can kill a
child or even a pregnant woman in Ghana, India, and/or China. I
didn't know either, and that's why I am writing this piece. People
in the US and many other places need to be informed of this problem
and act on it.</div>
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While children in the United States of
America go to school daily, children in the countries listed above
are working long hours extracting metal out of electronics. The
children in China and the other countries are quite poor and need the
copper, gold, and silver that is in your cellphone, even if it only
sells for a few dollars. Boys in India sit in toxic flakes of
cadmium while recovering this same thing from the inside if
batteries. They must use mallets that could potentially hurt them.
I don't believe that this is right. All children, internationally,
should be getting an education. Women should be doing a job that
doesn't hurt them, rather than sitting over a boiling pot of led,
which is toxic, extracting gold from circuit boards.</div>
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The article states that scientists
agree that it is quite dangerous to people's health and that a low
level of a toxic chemical can stop a child's growth or cause
neurological damage. The US needs to act further on the Responsible
Electronics Recycling Act, which would make it illegal for toxic
waste to be exported to countries with very few or no safeguard. The
Basel Convention is a similar treaty that makes it illegal to export
toxic waste of any kind. The US is the only country that has yet to
sign. I think that we need to think about others and stop being so
selfish as a country. The children in China, India, and Ghana matter
just as much as us.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-83590777939590930252013-10-30T14:50:00.001-07:002013-10-30T14:50:50.369-07:00Saving Their Skins Tigers and leopards are getting lower and lower in their population because of illegal poachers in Asia on the black market. People in India are trying to stop these beautiful species from going away entirely by having protests consisting of burning leopard and tiger skins. The amount of both leopards and tigers separately has gone down by nearly one third in the last nine years. I believe that these innocent animals should stay in the world for longer than eighteen more years.<br />
China has the largest illegal market for tigers and leopards. A single live tiger can sell up to $50,000 because their uses. The beautiful coat of these animals is considered a perfect ornament for your house. Though I agree that the fur is in a pretty print, it should be kept on their alive bodies as long as possible.<br />
The bones of tigers and pelts of the leopards are used for traditional medicines. There are only about 10,000 leopards and 1,700 tigers remaining. The population of these important animals should be fought for, not taken away.<br />
I know that there are many other animals that are becoming extinct. One animal is the African elephant, which is killed for it's ivory trunks that are thought to be very valuable, though I believe that they are not as valuable as an animals life. Two thirds of the elephants' population has died in the last decade. 5,000 of these animals lives were taken in two years by poacher who want their trunks. In the beginning of the twentieth century there were 500,000 rhinos roaming the earth which has dropped to under 29,000 today. This animal was wanted for it's horn. I believe that the human race needs to stop taking creatures' lives for their bodies. If you truly think an animal is amazing or beautiful, you should leave it to live it's life.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-59745288540646340062013-10-23T14:41:00.000-07:002014-03-09T08:53:44.727-07:00My 4th Birthday Present At three years old, I was content with my life. I had my mom and dad almost all to myself because I was smaller than my then six year old sister Myah. I had plenty of love and plenty of play time, everything a little kid wants. I remember that when my mom was 7 or 8 months pregnant, I was sitting with her on her bed and we were talking about names and I wanted to name her Honey Bird. Those were the days when I thought she would be a cute, innocent little thing that would never bother me. I had no idea what I was in for.<br />
On July 25th, 2005, shortly after my birthday on the 16th, the baby came. I remember holding her in my lap the day after she was born with my dad's reassuring arms around me holding her head and side, making sure that I didn't drop her. I decided I loved her, and that I always would. I kept that promise to myself to this very day and is still in play. But when she came home, things changed for me. When I wanted or needed something, it was always Carolyn who needed some thing else before that I got what I had asked for. My mom was too tired to do the simplest of things, like reading a story. And then came the biggest change of all.<br />
Leaving in the middle of kindergarten was strange for me, not understanding that I would never see any of these particular friends again. We had run out of space, and my parents decided to try something new. That something was Maine. Friends weren't a problem, for I'm a natural at meeting new people. I loved going home in a bus and walking down my dirt road driveway feeling so grown up. The crisp smell of the air in autumn is amazing, nearly overwhelming. I could venture into the woods by stepping out of my doorway. Moving back to New York was the hardest part of it. I had to leave the place I love most to go to a ghost of a memory, something that is alive to me now, but still isn't what I would chose if it weren't for my friends here. All of this because of one person. What if there was no Carolyn?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-2845488534033098932013-10-16T14:37:00.000-07:002013-10-16T14:37:07.217-07:00Watching You It is amazing how many things our country, the USA, does for us to keep us safe from terrorist attacks from other countries. The president has people check phone calls from foreigners, do body scans in airports, and has put many surveillance cameras in every major cities. You may think that people working for The National Security Agency are invading your privacy, but these acts keep us safe day to day.<br />
The article says that the United States of America has increased our security standards since the deadly and devastating 9/11. Edward Snowden, who was a former contractor of The National Security Agency, leaked the information that the US has been looking at citizens phone records and tracking foreigners on Facebook and Yahoo. Edward showed this information to the public because he believed that "the public needs to decide whether these program and policies are right or wrong. But as Barack Obama stated in June, Americans can't have both 100% privacy and 100% safety. In 2009, the NSA intercepted an e-mail from an Al Qaeda operative who was planning on bombing the NYC subway. Suspects from the Boston bombing were found and captured within a week because of surveillance cameras in the area of the bombing.<br />
Many Americans believe that the NSA is invading their privacy, but it is to keep every citizen safe. Cameras are mounted on many buildings, but they are only searching for possible terrorists could be fatal, not for a normal and an actor of safety. Improved technology has helped people secure America's safety in the past few years. Travelers go through more accurate scanners in airports and smartphones have made every situation into a "possible video fodder." These new technological advances have made America the "surveillance state," and this is not creepy as it sounds, but safe. Rob Johnson a 21 year old living in Chicago agrees that it is okay for them to track us if it can save American's lives. The government tracking people should not alarm you if you are following the laws and doing right.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-37594410424935489542013-10-08T16:27:00.000-07:002013-10-08T16:27:25.394-07:00Anna and the French Kiss I have recently read <i><u><b>Anna and the French Kiss</b></u></i> by Stephanie Perkins. <b><i><u>Anna and the French Kiss</u></i></b> is about a 17 year old girl named Anna who moves to Paris for her senior year. Anna has never truly been in love, and when she meets charming Etienne St. Clair, she is utterly unprepared. In this book she learns to understand, and even trust her feelings. No one can pass up love in the most romantic city in the world.<br />
When Anna first arrives in Paris, she wants to go home, to the place that is comfortable, She wants to go back to her kind-of boyfriend who she doesn't feel anything for. Anna wants to go home to her best friend Bridgette, she wants to go back to everything she knows. When she meets a girl, Meredith, Anna thinks that she might have a new friend. While in Meredith's room, who has paper and picture covered walls and things everywhere, Anna tells Meredith that she wished that she could have a room like hers but she thinks to herself 'I need clean walls and a clean desktop and everything put way in its right place at all times.' When the author wrote this, I think that she was hinting more at the fact that Anna likes everything the same.Anna was upset about the move, about the fact that she wasn't being put away in the right spot. <br />
As the book progresses, Anna becomes more open to change and people. She becomes best friends with St. Clair, the heartthrob of the school and Merediths crush. When Anna is falling in love with him, she comes to realize that home is not just a place or a house, it's the people within. Spoiler alert. In the end of the book she says she has finally come home, referring to Etienne, her new boyfriend. This made me think a lot about how certain people are home to me, and I couldn't feel comfortable without them. Anna unlocked a thought for me, and I loved this book.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-41429813125477612712013-10-02T14:15:00.000-07:002013-10-02T14:15:41.858-07:00Book Report on "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"<i style="font-weight: bold;"> Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret </i>is about a girl named Margaret who moves from New York to New Jersey. She is in a new school with new friends and is happy to join a secret club where her and three others talk to each other about growing up. She experiences the ups and downs of being a pre-teen and learns lessons on the way.<br />
This story shows a lot of inner thinking because Margaret tells the story in the third person. It helped me to feel her emotions and understand what she is going through. For example, when she says rude things to Laura Danker because she heard a rumor, I would have thought that she is mean. When the book shows her inner thinking, I understand that Margaret made a mistake and that she felt really horrible about it. As I read through the book I learned about her different qualities, both good and bad. Listening to Margarets thought guided me through the book and helped me understand the other characters. I enjoyed reading from Margarets point of view, and I would recommend this book to others.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-44133258137913631342013-10-01T05:12:00.000-07:002013-10-01T05:12:05.933-07:00My Name Piece My name connects to me through both the sound and the meaning. <i> Meredith. </i>It sounds unique and different, just the way my personality is. Meredith means lord which connects to princesses and nobility. I have always loved the Disney princesses in their flowy, shimmery dresses, and their perfect hair. I specifically loved, and still love, Sleeping Beauty or Aurora, as she goes by name. I thought that I looked very much like her when i was little. We had the same long blond hair and i decided I was a princess, too. I would prance around the house claiming my name was Sleeping Beauty, and my dad decided to have a little fun with it. He made a name that I thought was like a sparkly tiara or a beautiful gown into a disgusting bug. He called me 'Stinky Booty.'<br />
Though I had a nickname that I hated, I have always loved the name Meredith. Besides the fact that the name connects to princesses and being noble, people have written on what people named Meredith are like, and it's ridiculous how much the writing describes me. SheKnows.com states that people named Meredith tend to be leaders rather than followers and I am very different and do what I want to do instead of what everyone else does. The website also says that we have creative goals and ideas and we work very hard to get them, and I am a person that is very determined to get or achieve what I set my eyes on. It says that we can be aggressive, impatient, proud, and/or stubborn, and I can't argue with any of that, and I can't fight with the fact that they say Merediths are courageous and unique. My name is like a key that unlocks my inner self, and I would never want to be called anything else.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151834084662829065.post-61115818116538055872013-09-17T14:32:00.004-07:002013-09-17T14:32:48.312-07:00The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane This summer I read a book by the name of <u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane</u> by Kate DiCamillo. It is a tale about a china rabbit by the name of Edward Tulane. He begins his journey as the property of a wealthy girl named Abilene. When Edward is lost on a ship to England, he discovers that there is more to life than he had thought. Edward goes through many owners all with different lives and all have different opinions and uses of him.<br />
In the beginning of the book, Edward is spoiled and thinks of himself so highly, it's as if he is a king, and with good reason. Abilene gives Edward all the love she could possibly give him. He has a wardrobe almost large enough for a human. He has the finest handmade silk suits and leather shoes. Edward has beautiful hats made specially so that his ears may go through the top. He has the life of a true gentleman. When he is lost, he finally sees that without dark there is no light in life. <br />
Edward is found by a fisherman and goes home to his wife. When she mistakes Edward for a girl and he's dressed in dresses he feels like his pride has been dented. But when he was thrown away his heart called out to him and said to him two names <i>Nelly. Lawrence. </i><br />
After two more owners he again finds love when a boy takes him home for his sister, Sarah. Edward brought joy to a small dying girl with not much money and a alcoholic father that doesn't seem to love her. For the first time he felt warmth in a touch. Edward liked Sarah holding him. He didn't mind that he was called by a different name. When she leaves him along with the rest of the world he is heart broken.<br />
In the end he is found by a new old friend. This book shows love in the small world we live in. I would strongly recommend this book. You are able to feel the emotions in the words. It is a exciting book that you never want to put down and you can read it again and again. You can't stop turning the pages, wanting to know what will happen next. I loved this book and anyone else who reads it will love it too.<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463310961255202296noreply@blogger.com0