The Comparison of City of Ashes and Sarah Bishop

 Author's Note: This is an essay about how Sarah Bishop and City of Ashes are very similar books, as mentioned more than once in the piece.

     Survival is a main theme in both Sarah Bishop and City of Ashes for a variety of reasons. There are many moments in each book where survival is needed, and used throughout the book. It is true that both books share the theme, although they are used in completely different ways. Both books show great examples of survival throughout the whole book.

     In both books, the main character is a teenage girl. During the first half of each book, important things happen to each girl, things that change their lives. Clary, the girl from City of Ashes, is in a relationship with Simon, which she thought would never happen. Later in the book, Simon becomes a vampire. It completely changes his life, as well as a big part in Clary's. In Sarah Bishop, both of her family members get killed, her father through an attack and getting caught under tar, and her brother being starved to death.

     Their lives are completely wrecked after that, but once they get it together, they find out how to cope with each of their completely different situations. Clary learns to deal with only seeing Simon at night, as she knows that  if he shows even a foot out in the sun, he will be burned into ash. This thought made Clary extremely cautious if what Simon did and when. Sarah, on the other hand, decided to live in the forest on her own. She thought it would be better than living with anyone else.

     Although they're relatively similar, they're also very different. They're meanings of survival are completely different. In Clary's eyes, she's surviving from her evil father Valentine, trying to destroy the world with demons. She's trying to save her friends while at the same time, save her own life. Sarah is just living on her own, in the forest. Sarah's meaning of survival is usually the first thing people think of when they hear that word. That makes them completely different.

     To finish off, these reasons are the key reasons as to why these two books are very different yet slightly different. Of course, there's more, these are just the main and most important ones. This is just one example of many that proves different books can be quite similar.

The Life Of Sarah Bishop

Author's Note: This piece was written based off the story Sarah Bishop, the historical fiction book I am reading for social studies.

     There are a lot of events that happen to Sarah in the book Sarah Bishop. There are things from living a normal life of happiness  to living a perilous life of survival. All the events that happen in between those are key points explaining the cause/effect.

     The book starts out with Sarah living with her father and her brother, Chad. Life was fairly well with Sarah, nothing really out-of-the-ordinary. Little did she know, she was about to experience the most tragic thing in her life. A few days after her brother decided to join in on the war, her house was invaded and burned, along with her father having a blanket of tar placed over him, killing him. She decided to set out on a journey to find her brother.

    She started on her journey, and she ended up being fooled by the officer of the prison, who decided to trick her into giving her money. He later became kind-hearted and returned the stolen money. He decided to help Sarah find her brother. She made her way onto the Scorpion, only to find Chad's friend, David Whitlock, who had told her the news about her brother. Chad was dead, and this is the cause that she could never recover from.

     She went to a place where she met a nice lady, who told her of the land of the wild, where there were trees, animals, and no people. This sounded pretty good to Sarah. She decided to work her way there, running into a few problems, but mainly being a strong woman and making it into the wild. She decided to make herself a home in a cave, and the story goes on from there.

     So the cause is how Sarah lost all of her family, and the effect is that she decided to live alone, completely alone, in the woods, far away from any sort of village, and especially far away from the war. She clearly wasn't ready to handle the company of others just yet, after the tragic event that took place in her life.

Sarah Bishop

Author's Note: I wrote this from what I understood because I think that the book is a little confusing. 

     The book Sarah Bishop is about a girl named Sarah Bishop, who used to live with her father and brother, Chad Bishop. After her own home being burned by the other side, and her dad being killed by having himself covered in tar. Her brother wanted to join the army, so he did, and so Sarah was all alone. She went on the perilous journey to try and find her brother, her only family member that remained alive, or so she thought.

     Her point of view effects the way you look at the story because she is neutral, and she doesn't necessarily have a side that she's on. She's basically neutral because the war isn't her top priority, it's surviving. All she's worried about is making a life out in the woods and avoiding the soldiers that want to track her down.

     If it were in the point of view of the soldiers, the war would mean everything to them, and it means everything to them to win. All they want is to have the land they were fighting for, and they don't care about Sarah as much as she doesn't care about the war.

     This can influence you because it can show you that maybe you don't want to have a point of view, you just want to stay out of the war completely. It can make you not care about wars, or maybe become one of those people who want to live in the wilderness to avoid it. There's many scenarios that people might do because of this point of view.

Graystripe and Mille's Journey

Author's Note: This isn't actually one book, because they're too short, so I wrote it on the series.

     All of the life you've ever known, you've lived in the forest. Happy, with your friends, and life is great.  Until one day, two-legs come and take all of your clanmates. Big machines take over, and you have no clue what's going on. So much has happened, and after losing your best friend in a forest fire, the fact that he was losing everyone else did not help. All you care about is the lives of others, so you jump onto the truck and release everybody, except for one. As you attempt to pry open the lock, the van starts to accelerate. You free your clanmate, but before you get the chance to make an escape, both of the doors slam shut and there's no way out. This is from the view of Graystripe, one of the many cats whose home was taken away from them.

     While in the van, Graystripe passed out. When he woke up, he was in a strange place he had not yet seen in his 9 lives. There were no trees, and it had a different aroma. Still in shock, he ran into a wall, waking himself up. He looked around, and observed that he wasn't dreaming. He jumped up onto a window sill, and looked out. It was cold and wet out there, yet warm in dry inside. He was happy to have shelter, but he would give anything to see his family and friends again. The very next day, when it was sunny, he decided to step outside and try to escape. There were too many loud noises, and none that he recognized. He ran back inside, as his first plan had failed.

     The next time he tried , he hopped a fence into the home of one angry cat. His name was Duke. He tried to kill Graystripe for entering his territory, only Graystripe got away. On his walk home, he met Mille. She showed him the way to the house, instead of towards the forest. Graystripe seemed to like her. When they met up again, Mille showed Graystripe a small area of woods, and he was so excited. They went there everyday from then on, and Graystripe taught Mille how to do everything a clan cat would. To fight, hunt, and to survive. After a few more days of events and decisions, they decide to go on the perilous journey back to Graystripe's original home.

     After a day or two, they slip off the road into a cornfield, where they accidentally take separate paths. Graystripe sprints to find someone to help, and walks into a barn, where he finds some cats to assist him. When they find Mille, they find out that she managed to scratch her eyes to the point where she desperately needed help. They go back to the barn, and she is taken care of, and for lack of the ability to travel, they spend the night. They spend a few days there, and end up helping the cats there a great deal. The decide to move on, only to find disappointment and great tragedy.

     As Mille and Graystripe approach a once gorgeous place, Graystripe he heartbroken. All the trees were demolished, and the river had mostly evaporated. None of the other cats from any of the four clans remained, and there was nothing Graystripe could do. They spent the night in the only place that stayed standing, which was the medicine shelter. The next morning, Mille cheered up Graystripe, and motivated him to continue on their journey, and remind him that only the place was destroyed, not all of his friends. He agreed to continue and they moved on. They approached a different barn, where some of his old friends were settled. They pointed them in the direction of which they had seen the clans moving. They set off towards that direction, and soon, they find that they're very, very hungry.

     They reach a gas station, and they search there. They soon get into a huge fight, and while Graystripe storms off, Mille watches helplessly as he gets hit by a car. His shoulder is in a great deal of pain, and he has to be taken care of by Mille and the cat who lives there, who's name is Diesel. He helps them get back on their feet. There is when Graystripe realizes how he feels about Mille, but cannot find the fight time to tell her. As they leave to move on, he can't stop thinking about it.

     They end up at the beach, and they look around for possibilities of where they could've gone from there. A forested area is spotted, and that's the direction they head towards. They fun through the forest for a little while, until they run into a rogue. They ask if he's seen a large group of cats, and he is pointed in a certain direction. Standing at the top of a hill in the moonlight, they stare down at an island with moving objects on it. Graystripe was so overjoyed that he found his family. It was right then and there that he asked Mille to be his mate. She accepted, and both extremely happy, they walk down onto the island to be greeted by all of his long-lost friends. Life could not possibly be better than this!

Ponyboy's Dynamic Characteristics

Authors Note: Ponyboy is my favorite character, and he is a dynamic character, so I got the idea there to write this piece.

    Imagine yourself in this scenario; your friend had just murdered someone, and you're running from the cops. Of course, this is no surprise to the public society. Through time and thoughts, you've worked to become a better person, by doing good deeds and supporting others. These are the events that happened to Ponyboy Curtis all occurring in the time period of a few days.

    To get the ball rolling, Ponyboy is a greaser, one of the two gangs that don't get along very well. He is looked at by society as the bad guy who robs places, gets in fights and does bad things. He also has family troubles, and it seems as though he doesn't try very hard to fix them right away. Things got even worse when his parents died. Darry had to quit everything to get a job to raise money for the three of them. Things just don't go well and it makes Pony look like a bad person.

     Quite unexpectedly, Ponyboy starts doing things that change him. Hanging out with soc girls, his friend Johnny actually killing a soc, running away from his life and family.. He realizes this is no way to live. He works on living a better life. One day, a church happens to catch on fire, and the innocent children on the inside are in need of help. Johnny and Ponyboy decide to be heroes, and do something they've never done before; risk their lives for someone they don't know. Ponyboy comes out slightly injured, but mostly alright, but Johnny comes out half dead. It made everyone think differently about him, how he acted and what he was like. They looked at greasers differently, as people who care for others.

    After the event of Johnny unable to maintain life and Dally's suicide, Ponyboy realizes there's a lot more to life than just having the gang. He realizes it's good to be kind to others, and there's no need to fight. After his talk with Randy, he realizes that socs aren't all that bad, and life isn't always perfect for them like he thought.

     Ponyboy became a better person, and all it took was some eye-opening. It's possible for people to change, and in this story, Ponyboy clearly proves it to be true. Don't think things are impossible. The word itself says "I'm Possible!" This states why Ponyboy is a dynamic character.

What Family Really Is

     Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you were watching the news and all of a sudden, your parent's faces popped up on the screen? Would you be worried, or scared? After watching, you hear that they had passed away in a car crash. Would you freak out? Would you wonder what happened, or maybe run out the door to the crash site? This is what happens in the story The Outsiders. Family is an issue for Ponyboy, Darry, and Soda.

     Darry, the oldest, started out as a Soc. When their parents were still alive, they were somewhat rich. He had everything. Until Soda and Pony came, and their parents got in that huge car crash, and there was nothing that could be done about it. After that, Darry chose to be a good brother and he quit the school football team, which he happened to be the star of. He had to quit school for a little while to get a job and support his brothers. Once they were back on their feet, they were back at school, only Darry could never be a Soc again.

     Soda and Pony felt bad, because they felt like it was all their fault that Darry couldn't be a Soc, or on the football team, or anything. But even though that was the case, they had the gang, and they treated each other like family. They supported one another and they loved each other, and would help no matter what. Nothing can come between them. The main point of family has nothing to do with blood, it is who you love and who matters to you that is your family and nothing else.

The Last of Bob

"I'm going to ring their necks," I said, as I drove at a slow pace. I was sick of those greasers, and it had crossed the line when they had stolen our girls the other night. I can't believe my girlfriend Cherry was stupid enough to go with him. I know I shouldn't be talking about her like that, but she's getting on my nerves. As I drove by the park, I spotted a couple of people walking. I thought, "What on earth are they doing? It’s 2 in the morning!" I drove up a little closer to get a better look of who it was, and then I stopped. It was those greasers. I parked the car and the boys and I approached them. They looked pretty scared; they were pale. As we met, I said, "Hey, whatta ya know? Here's the little greasers that picked up our girls. Hey, greasers." Johnny looked at me and said "You're outta your territory. You'd better watch it." Randy swore at them as we stepped closer. I was staring at Johnny. I said, "Nup, pal, yer the ones who'd better watch it. Next time you want a broad, pick up your own kind -- dirt." I could tell they were  getting more upset. I could see the anger boiling up inside them from the looks in their eyes and from their facial expressions. To top it off, I added, "You know what a greaser is? White trash with long hair." I knew that crossed the line. They were furious. There was no doubt about it. He opened his mouth and spoke. "You know what a Soc is?" His voice was filled with rage and fury. "White trash with Mustangs and madras." Then, he took a step forward, and the little culprit spat at me.  It must be embarrassing to have a comeback that lame. I smiled and shook my head. I said, "You know, you could use a bath, greaser. And a good working over. And we have all night to do it. Give the kid a bath, David." Then it got physical. David shoved Ponyboy's head into the water fountain, so I thought, "Okay, all I have to do now is beat up this one." I threw a punch, and he tried to block it. He slapped me, and I tried to grab him. I caught a glimpse of something shiny, before I felt something dig violently into my skin. The pain shot through my body, and I felt paralyzed. It then happened again, with more power this time. The pain was so intense, and I tried to grab his hand, but couldn't find the strength. I only felt it one more time before my eyelids got heavy. The last thing I saw was the guilt and horror on Johnny's face.

School Times

    School is an important part of a kid's life. But how are we to learn if we're tired and unresponsive in the morning? Older kids should get to sleep in. The younger kids should have to get up earlier. The times of what time school starts should switch, an the ending times should stay the same. It would be a benefit for the teens and honestly, the younger kids probably won't care as much.

     A proven fact by experts is the simple statement that teens need more sleep. The risk of fatal injuries or death is increased if it's an older teen that can drive. It can also slow down your reaction time, it causes lapses in attention, exacerbates emotional and behavioral problems. Also if they change their 'sleeping schedule' on the weekends, they stay up longer on school nights and sleep less. It also effects their school performance. Since it's difficult to pay attention when you're tired, they might not learn as well and might do worse on homework or a test. It also increases moodiness and the chance the teens will start into drugs and alcohol. Sleep amount has a huge effect.

     Teens get more homework than the younger kids. Teens stay up later doing their homework. They get tired, but to avoid trouble, they force themselves to stay up and finish the paper. In that case, teens stay up later, and get yet even less sleep. If they had an extra hour to sleep in, they could use that to finish their homework and still get more sleep. It would help a lot with both homework completion and attention in school. If teens had less homework, they would go to bed earlier. By choice.

     The younger kids have recess, so they basically have intermission. But since they're younger and have lots more energy, they could use it. We don't have a recess for more than 5 minutes. Recess eats up time in their day, and we spend the whole day working. Which makes us even more tired, working our brains all day. If they started earlier, they could have the needed recesses and at the same time, work as hard and as long as we do.

     The beginning times should switch for the main reason of sleep. Teens need more sleep, and it would be easier if they could catch another hour of it. It would help with a lot of things they do, and it would make life safer, easier, and it would help teens achieve higher grades. Sleep is basically what teens like to do!

Periwinkle the Panda

Periwinkle the Panda was having a good time. His mother was teaching him how to fight, and they were punching the fake tree planted in the middle of their cage. They were talking about last night’s football game, when suddenly, someone opened the door. “Dinner Time!” he yelled. They ran over to take the bamboo sticks out of his hand, and he jumped back. “I hate working with the pandas,” he said to his partner. “They’re big and scary.” “I don’t think they’re that bad,” his partner said. He replied, “Well, either way, we’re getting rid of them. The boss will never know.” Clueless, the pandas just sat there, eating and still talking about the football game.

            The Beijing Zoo was rather rich. A TV in each cage, lots of toys, and an overstock of food. Some were being tested on, like the pandas. They were seeing if they would act differently if they watched sports, drama, or comedy shows. The sports and comedy section stood out the most to them. Obviously, since they were talking about the football game, the watched sports. Interesting!

            That night, it was not calm. The wind was forcing the trees to scrape against the wall, and it was making Periwinkle scared.  It was raining rather hard, and it was not pleasant. That night, he had a dream. A dream the world of black and white became color. And all pandas were the glorious colors of the rainbow. If only it was like that in real life…

            Periwinkle woke up in a ball. He fell off his little panda bed and he was in a pile of long grass. He sat up, and he saw his mother sleeping. He started walking towards the food dish, sitting there, and waiting. About an hour later, the men came, and they fed the pandas. Periwinkle woke his mom up, and they enjoyed their meal. “Ready?” said the man. “No!” said his partner. “Let’s go.”

           Next thing they know, there’s a snare pole around Periwinkle’s mothers’ neck. She tried to break free, but there was nothing she could do. She was trapped. Periwinkle started to cry, “MOMMY!!!” She was tugged back, and with that, she smacked the man so hard, he fell to the ground. He didn’t let go. There was nothing she could do, and nothing Periwinkle could do.

            “Run!” She said. “Run, and don’t ever come back!”

            Periwinkle started to run, but saw nowhere to hide. There was an open door, and he crawled through. He ran until he could no more, and he found himself asleep on the floor of a bamboo forest. As he fell asleep, he couldn’t help but dream about his mother. Was she alright? Is she dead? Even worse, is she dead? Whatever happened, he couldn’t go back. Never.

            When he woke up, there was something very close to his face. He looked up, and saw another panda. “Mommy! You’re okay!” he happily screamed. He jumped up on the other panda, which now had a very confused facial expression.

            “What on earth are you talking about?” It was a female voice, but not his mother’s. He took a step back, also confused, now. “I’m Pinky! Not your mommy!” she said. Pinky looked at Periwinkle, who started to cry. “What’s wrong?”
            “My mommy is either in great pain, or dead.” He cried even harder at the thought, and couldn’t pull it together. How was he to survive on his own, knowing only the experience from his mother?

           “You can live with us, if you’d like!” Pinky offered. She ran off, signaling the ‘follow’ symbol. Unsure, Periwinkle slowly followed. “Come on!” she giggled.

           They walked through the forest for a very long time, talking about their lives, exchanging stories and such. They walked and walked, until they could no more. They found themselves lost, so they made a base and stayed there, never able to find anyone, or anything.

            They stayed there for their lives, eventually having kids and growing up to be one big happy family. But Periwinkle’s mother never left his heart.

The Duck Song!

A duck walked up to a lemonade stand and he said to the man running the stand, "Hey! Got any grapes?" The man said "No, we just sell lemonade, but it's cold and it's fresh and it's all homemade! Can I get you a glass?" The duck said, "I'll pass." Then he waddled away until the very next day. When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand he said to the man running the stand, "Hey! Got any grapes?" The man said "No, like I said yesterday, we just sell lemonade. Okay? Why not give it a try?" The duck said, "Goodbye." The he waddled away, until the very next day. When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand, he said to the man running the stand, "Hey! Got any grapes?" The man said "This is getting old. I mean, lemonade is all we've ever sold. Why not give it a go?" The duck said, "How about, NO?" Then he waddled away until the very next day. When that duck walked up to the lemonade stand he said to the mad running the stand "Hey! Got any grapes?" The man said, "That's it!!! If you don't stay away, duck, I'll glue you to a tree and leave you there all day! STUCK! So don't get too close!" The duck said, "Adios." And he waddled away! Until the very next day... When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand, he said to the man running the stand, "Hey! Got any glue?" "What?" "Got any glue?" "What? No, why would I--- oh." "Then one more question for you! Got any grapes?!" Then the man just stop, he started to smile. He started to laugh, he laughed for a while! He said, "Come on, duck! Let's walk to the store. I'll buy you some grapes, so you don't have to ask anymore!" So they walked to the store and the man bought some grapes. He gave one to the duck and the duck said, "Hmmm... No thanks! But 'cha know what sounds good? It would make my day! Do you think this store... Do you think this store..... Do you think this store, has any LEMONADE?!" Then he waddled away!
~Song Written And Produced By Bryant Oden

ESSAY --- ZACH'S LIE

   Have you ever asked yourself, "What would like be like if all it was, was running away?" Well, reading Zach's Lie by Roland Smith can give you an answer. Life for Jack started out pretty great. Running around, getting in trouble, having fun, everything of a normal child. Or at least that’s how it seemed, until his dad supposedly got involved in some drug business, and was sent to jail. This story is a tragedy, and there are lots of reasons to back it up.

    In the beginning of the story, as I said, they were living a very normal life. But when their dad, Neil, was sent to jail for an accusation of drug abuse, things got a little more mixed up than planned. Neil's boss, Alonzo, gave all the blame to Neil, even though he was the one to blame. He started threatening to kill the family, and so they had to go undercover, forever. They had to change their names, dye their hair, get contacts, move, and blend in like they were just another random family, keeping everything secret. That day, Jack became Zach.

     Later on in the book, Alonzo found out (through spies) what their new names were, and the new looks, too. Things started becoming disastrous, because they had to watch everything they do. One wrong move could've had them all killed, along with all of their loved ones. At one point, he had everyone under control, until he was the one who decided to make that bad move. Everything was taken under control by Zach, and all was good.

     In the end, they all had to go back into protection again. Alonzo just wouldn't stop. This story really is a tragedy. So many tragic things happen. And after you read this book, if you choose, that question buzzing around in your head will be answered. And you might even wish you never asked.

Creative Piece --- Scary Scene

Author's Note: Some of my inspiration was from the book series Darkest Powers. Some of my other inspiration came from the book City of Bones. Some, I just made up. Don't judge the names please.. I was just being random!

I was sneaking around, looking for the knife when I was knocked off my feet again. I scanned the room, seeing nothing but the flapping curtains, soaked from the rain at the open window, spotted with blood. When I finally got myself up to my feet, I could see it in the doorway of the other room. It was rummaging through the boxes of the house, and here I was, sitting here and letting it. I grabbed the lead pipe off the counter, and I started walking towards the thing. It was a dark, tall figure, like a person, but taller. I stepped into the shadows, hoping to be unseen. The pain crawling up my arm stung, and I could feel the warm blood running down. I can admit that I was scared, although I was trying my hardest to hide it. Something came up behind me and dug a knife into my leg. I fell and I held back my tears, wrapping a cloth around it and hoping it would stay. I jumped out at it, knocking it over. It screamed, and its looks were horrible. Pure red worn out eyes, mud all over the skin, the flesh rotting in small spots, and the bone of his nose was peeking through. Scared out of my mind, I panicked, and ran away. Little did I know that there was a graveyard right outside of the apartment. I grabbed the keys and ran outside. There were holes all over. I hesitated for a minute, then took off as fast as humanly possible. To make it even worst, it was about midnight and the moon was hidden by a bundle of clouds. I started running to a secret place.. a fort that me and my friend built before he... well, never mind that. It hurts me so much to even think about it.. Anyway, as I ran to the fort and grabbed the nearest weapon. There, I found the dead body with a note sitting next to it. I pulled out my flashlight, and tried to cover the beam so no one would see me. I walked over, but stumbled on a loose board. I fell right in front of it. I held my flashlight up and saw my friend's dead eyes staring into mine. I held in a scream and started crying. I just couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I grabbed the note and it read:

Trina, 
I hope you will be able to read this note in the near future. There is a story behind all this, and I wanted to explain, but I just couldn't. You might cry, you might not. Remember that one time I told you that I really liked you, and you just laughed? And then the week after that, I asked you to go to the prom with me and you said no because you didn't want to ruin our friendship? Well, I didn't think it would. You broke my heart. A whole part of me died inside, because just the night before, I realized that you were my life and the only reason I wanted to live. And when you said no... I just couldn't look at myself in the mirror. I was hopeless. I was drawn to this.. and I'm sorry. Please forgive me.. No matter what you do, I'm going to love you forever. Please remember that I love you, and I'm sorry.
 --- Jojo

I was crying so hard that the note I was holding was nearly smeared ink and a soggy paper. I felt just so guilty, and everything was going horrible for me. I even stopped caring what would happen to me. I screamed "WHY, GOD?! WHY WOULD YOU LET HIM DO THIS?! DON'T YOU CARE ANYMORE?!" After yelling and crying my eyes out, I heard clawing at the walls, and decided it was time for me to run. I sprinted away, ignoring the scratches I got on the way out. I kept running, until I could run no more. I stumbled and fell, flat on my face. I blinked hard, and the whole vision changed, I was at home, with the sun gleaming through the window and Jojo sitting at the end of my bed. He said, "Are you OK? You were shaking in your sleep.. and I was worried." I smiled and leaned up to hug him. He whispered in my ear, "I love you." and I said "I know. And I love you too."

Metaphors

Author's Note: This was really just a piece for school. I was just thinking and typing. Giggle(:

I am a Doormat,
everyone who comes tramples me.
I am a Target,
hoping everything fired at me will miss.
I am a Ninja,
invisible to everyone.
I am Crazy,
with everyone giving me strange looks all the time.
I am a Friend,
crying when you cry and being happy when you're happy.
I am a Duck,
flailing my wings and being amazing!
I am a Cat,
going MEOW!!!

Second Creative Piece!

I love soccer. It is so awesome! My friends Ali, Brittany, Meg, and Jessie are all on my team this year. It is so much fun! I REALLY hope we're on the same team again, though, because it's so much fun to play with your friends in a sport you love.

My Amazing Childhood Memory that you are JEALOUS of!

     When I was little, about 2, I used to go to my dad's work parties. One time when I was there, my dad was walking around the building with me, video taping. We walked by this one office with a bunch of Halloween decorations in it, and it all belonged to a guy named Dave. So I walked into the cubicle, and I saw this rubber rat (it was a pretty scary rat for kids my age, then!), but I wasn't scared of it. So i walked up to it (and considering how small I was back then, this rat was about my size, just a little bit smaller) and I started shaking its hand. So then my dad said we had to leave and find my mom, but I was so amused by the rat. So I said "Dad! We have to take the rat with us!" He agreed and I started walking the wrong way, but then he helped me figure out where to go. I then ran up to my mom and the other workers yelling, "MOM! MOM!!! LOOKY, ITS A DINOSAUR!!!!!" Everyone there started laughing, and my mom said "No, that's a rat. That's Dave's rat." So I giggled, and my mom got a straight face. She yelled, "Kasia, that's Dave's rat. You need to give it back now." So my face went from happy to sad and I said "No, this is Kasia's rat, mom!" So everyone started laughing. Eventually I gave it back, but apparently I liked it so much, I made my dad buy me one exactly like it. Later that week, while we were in our basement, I was looking for the rat, and my dad was looking for his cable. He said, "Hey, Kasia, have you seen daddy's cable? It's like a black string, but thinker." While looking for my rat, I replied, "No, dad!" As I was walking around, my dad was moving the camera around, he zoomed up on a random thing in the background and said, "Actually, daddy just found it." Then as I was walking around, I got bored and asked my dad if we could go outside, so he said sure. When we were outside, I was walking around with my rat (because I FINALLY found it) and i was talking to him and hugging the rat and it must have creep-ed  my dad out, because later in my life, he ended up throwing the rat our because he thought it had a bad influence and I would grow up liking nasty, horror, scary things. But, I don't. Look at me now, dad! I'm scared of basketballs! Way to be overprotective. Laugh laugh! Good times, good times... I miss that rat, though.

Writing Circles! --- SPRING

Spring is my favorite season. Wanna know why? I think you do! Well, first, it has my birthday in it. Second, it's the last season to see your friends before summer starts. Of course, you can still see them, but you see them a lot less in the summer. Third, there are no mosquitoes!!! Fourth, it gets warmer, but not too warm. So it's just about perfect temperature. Fifth, it's when school ends!!!!! There are more reasons, but these to me are the most important to me. I love Spring! TEE HEE!

Essay --- The Reckoning

 Trapped in a house full of old supernaturals, demi-demons and poltergeists. For Chloe, Derek, Simon, and Tori, there was nowhere to turn, and they thought they could trust those people. The adults. The ones that have gone through the modifying and terrifying world of what they are going through. Until breaking into the computer system was the only way to find out the cold, dirty truth. They read the emails, and the people they have know for a while, and trusted, were betraying them. Since they were genetically modified, they are more powerful than the others of their kind. That startled the adults, because they were now ready to kill them. This story The Reckoning by Kelly Armstrong has a lot of action and betrayal, and that is why it is a tragedy.

     In the beginning, they are hiding from people called the Edison Group, with 4 other supernaturals, Gwen, Andrew, Margaret, and Russell. Gwen being a witch, Andrew being a sorcerer, Margaret a necromancer, and Russell is a healer. The story starts out nice, with trust and honesty. But once they start finding out the truth, there is nowhere they can  hide and no one they can trust. For all they knew, anyone could be part of the Edison Group, the ones that tried to kill them. They are scared of them, because of all the power they hold. They are running for their lives. Either they succeed, or die trying.

    The main character, Chloe, seems to have a lot of tragic moments. When she was a graveyard, she warned her trainer about how she could raise the dead. But all Margaret said was, "Oh, you can't raise the dead, silly. You're too young, and your powers are still developing." But later they soon discovered it. When Chloe was trying to pull a spirit through to the real world, she accidentally started to raise an army of dead corpses, all scratching and trying to get out of their coffins. They moved so much that the ground started moving too, and the ground in the cemetery split right through the middle. Later that day, as Chloe and Derek went for a walk in the woods, they were attacked, and almost killed. That was the night Derek killed someone, for the first time, and hopefully the last.

    There are many tragic moments and such included to this book, and that clearly states itself as a tragedy book. All the parts are tragic, actually, with trouble at every corner. Tragedy is what describes it.

Essay --- The Awakening

Life used to be good, going to art college and everything. But now, Chloe's whole life is running away. She has no one to turn to but her group of supernatural friends, and she can't even contact her dad, to let him know she's alright. When she finally meets up with Simon and Derek, they are running for their lives in a perilous fight against the Edison Group. This story has a lot of action, some tragedy moments too. That is why this story is a tragedy.

   There are a lot of moments in this story where someone gets hurt, or really close to hurt. Everything is tragic, and something bad always happens to them. Some symbolism is that the places they are in are usually dark, and the house they are temporarily living in a old, dusty house. From the text clues, it is about winter time, and that is part of the tragic mode. Also, there is some violence, like people shooting at them, and grazing the stitches on Chloe's arm. There are dogs barking and a huge back-and-forth chase, one catching another, then escapes, them more chasing, and vise versa.

     They have a lot of travelling in this book, and they don't travel by choice. They are trying to run from the group that tried to take them at first, but soon got so angry with their plans to escape, that they are now trying to kill them. The death symbolism kind-of ends the story, you could say. She sees someone run in front of her and whisper, "come with me!" so she followed it, and realized that is was only a ghost that was trying to help her. She wondered, "was that my aunt? Is she dead?" She was feeling both the confused and sad emotions, and she hoped that her aunt wasn't dead.

   These are just some of the reasons to why this story is a tragedy. This is a very interesting tragedy book, and the text is clear to clues and which mode it is. Therefore, this story is a epic tragedy.

Essay --- The Summoning

 Trapped... cold... alone... Unconscious in a basement crawl space... Everything around you is dark, unwelcoming, and... moving..? Then, suddenly, something cold and boney grabs your ankle. You think, "What is going on here?" You try not to panic, but a part of you says panicking may just be the best choice. You scream and roll around in the dirt helpless, fear overcoming your body as you scramble to find a flashlight, matches, anything to be able to see. When you finally find a box of matches, you struggle lighting them. When one is finally lit, you can see something grabbing your ankle; a person, maybe? No. You summoned a zombie from Lyle House, and you can't put it back to rest. An empty eye socket, and the flesh coming off its arms. You can feel the boney grasp on your ankle, and you try to shake it off. Suddenly, you hear a voice, sounding familiar. Something else grabs you, but with a stronger hold. You look up to see that it's our friend Derek, trying to help you out. He tells you to concentrate, and before you know it, the zombie drops, once again lifeless. Think this is scary? In the book The Summoning by Kelly Armstrong, this is the everyday life of 15 year old necromancer, Chloe Saunders. This story includes a lot of action, and that's why I would recommend it for anyone who likes mystery-action books.

     

 The book starts out as living a normal life, going to art school, writing plays... until she comes out of the bathroom to find a janitor, one she's never seen before, just standing there. He walks towards her, and she starts to see the facial features. A melted face, torn clothes, and black burn marks all over him.

 He says in a terrifying voice, "Help... Me... Please..." It isn't until he's closer that she can realize that she can see right through him. A ghost? You try running, but he follows. She can see him becoming more visible and she can see his burned face melting behind, trying to catch up. She run up the stairs, but he came faster and faster. Chloe runs into a supply closet and slam the door behind, hoping she lost him. But teachers came instead. When she sees the ghost again, and he comes closer, she backs into the wall. He comes closer until they're face to face, and he moans, "Will you talk with me now?" Chloe screams as the teachers try to hold her down, and she squirms like crazy trying to get out. The ghost bends down through the teachers, and says, "Are you having fun, now?"

     When she wakes up, she is in a hospital. She doesn't know what's going on, but she blinks and looks up to see her dad and her aunt Lauren. Chloe can see her aunt crying, but she's very confused. Aunt Lauren mumbles something, but Chloe is unable to hear. Lauren then says louder, "You have to go to a group home." Within the next few days, she is transferred to the group home that her dad and aunt picked out for her, called the Lyle House. When she gets there, she is showed a divided room. One yellow with daises bordering the ceiling, make up and hair gel on the dresser, and posters on the wall. The other was the exact same arrangement, but empty, dull, and gray. "This is your room. You will be staying here with another girl about your age," the nurse says to her. She looks around and can't believe what she got herself into... She would do anything to get rid of her unwanted powers. But there was nothing she could do, now...

     This book is personally one of the best series I have ever read, and I am happy to recommend it to anybody. This book is very interesting and fun to read. If you do choose to read it, please enjoy it and if you like it, recommend it to everyone you know!

Chain Story

She looked up and all she could see was smoke. Lying on the cold, hard ground made her realize, "What am I doing here?" She had a headache, and she could feel something crawling up her leg. She tried not to scream, but when she looked down, she could see a skeleton climbing up on her, skull clinking back and forth... Not thinking, she said, "P-please  stop..." and with that, the skeleton started to fade back into the smoke. She said, "N-now go b-back to where y-you came from, b-back to the a-afterlife..." Just then, it went blank. No scrambling to get up, no clinking, it just lay there. I could see a mist forming out of it, but I couldn't picture it until it manifested itself and floated over to me. "Did you think that was funny???" it had said. She forced out, "N-no, I didn't mean to-" "ENOUGH!" It screamed at her. She tried to back down, but could only stand there. She knew that skeleton wasn't listening to her because he wanted to; it was because she was necromancer, and he had to. She started to run, but she couldn't. Just then, she could see more bodies forming behind the man, like a pack of wolves, almost. "Now, you will pay for what you have done to me," and with that, all the bodies grabbed and scratched her skin. He snickered, "I didn't want to be brought back into that old thing. I died with no shelter, food, water, or warmth here. I guess your story will be different." The girl screamed and called out for help, but her voice grew more faint with each yell. Soon enough, within 15 minutes, she was one of them.

Creative Story! (a.k.a. writing circle)

TEE HEE. Bob was a failure-ish little man. He went around town asking random people if they had any milk. They wouldn't let him have any. So he spazzed out and fell in a puddle. he was very confused, because the water was up to his knees and he was on the concrete. Weird, huh? What a confusing life Bob has!!! :O

Cannibal Parody!!! (Yammibal)

Rwar
Rwar
I have a heart, I swear I do, but just not yams when it comes to you,
I get so hungry, hey! You're lookin' yummy!
If you know what's good for you...
I think you're weird
but you're so cool
you're the kind of yam I'd stalk in school
You're from Uranus
Hey, that's not famous...
Now I'm gonna eat you fool!!!
I eat yams up, such a great use...
Then when I'm thirsty, I drink their juice!!!
Vegetable, animal, I am a Yammibal,
I eat yams up. You better run!!!
I... Am... Yammibal!!! I AM!!! I... Am... Yammibal! I'll eat you up... I AM!!! x2
Whenever you tell me I'm pretty,
that's when the hunger really hits me!
You're little heart goes *Pitter Patter*
I wanna see you on a platter!!!
Use your stem to stir my tea,
then for desert I eat you leaves!
Be too sweet and you'll be a goner, (Yep!)
You can't be any dumber...
I eat yams up! Such a great use!
Then I'm thirsty I drink their juice!
Vegetable, animal, I am a Yammibal,
I'll eat you up... you better run!!!
I... Am... Yammibal! I AM! I... Am... Yammibal! I'll eat you up... I AM!!! x2
Woah woah woah oh oh! x8
I... Am... Yammibal! I AM! I... Am... Yammibal! I'll eat you up... I AM!!! x2
I love you...
I warned you...
RWAR!

Time to Ski!

if there's something, anything, i'm bad at, it's a lot of things. but one of the biggest fails i've ever made was in gym yesterday. we went cross country skiing (as all of you would know), and i had such a hard time with it. i fell every few minutes, and when we were done skiing, i looked like the yeti or something, covered in thick layers of piercing cold snow. it was very cold!!! my butt was very, VERY cold! i really wished they had heating pads and hot chocolate!!! also, i kept tripping on stuff. the first time, i accidentally crossed my skis and and i epicly failed. later on, i fell down a hill. it was NOT funny! STOP LAUGHING. natalie was laughing so hard at me, so when she fell, revenge laughing was pretty funny! sure, i fell a bunch of other times, but the main one, the last time i fell, i got stuck... i could've sworn i was on the ground for such a long time, it felt like forever. i had so much trouble getting up, and it was pretty funny. well, at least i had a good time even though i think i was temporarily frostbit on my waist below (thanks to all my 'falling down' skills). the only suggestion for next year would be, HOT CHOCOLATE AND BUTT WARMERS!!! tee hee!

Hey look, it's me! :D

Deep Water

When you first step into a pool, what is your first expression? Are you relaxed? Happy? Maybe scared, or angry? William O. Douglas, author of Deep Water, felt the need to run away from it, until his early teens. That, he thought might've been a mistake at first, but with time, he was very happy/proud. Swimming is an important thing to learn, because if you ever get in a situation like William, you would've wished you had learned.
Ever since he was a young boy William could never swim. When he finally has the guts to try and learn how, something rather demonic happens to him. As he is sitting at the side of the pool, someone much older comes and pushes him in the deep end of the pool. As the chaos stirred, William felt paralyzed and helpless. The next thing he knew, he's at the bottom of the pool. He was unconscious. When he finally wakes up, he hears, "But it was only a joke!!!" and another voice, "But this kid almost died!!!" He was surprisingly not mad at anyone, although the incident made him try a lot harder in his swimming courses.
Later in his life, he was already swimming across lakes, miles, and long water distances. Sometimes, bad things motivate you to be prepared for the next events. For William, it just happened to be becoming a stronger swimmer so that the chances of him drowning are very, very slim. It's good to learn how to swim, because if you don't, well... you don't want to be someone who has to pay that price.

The Pearl essay

Today starts as a normal day, until the song of evil plays in your head. You have no idea what's going on, until you look around and you see a scorpion, heading straight for your baby. You get up, and you try as fast as you can, desperately, to slap the scorpion away from your child, so he doesn't get stung. You're too slow, and your baby is stung. The reaction is horrible, and his life is flashing before your eyes. You feel very guilty and scared. You rushed to the doctor, and you had no clue that he lied when his servant said to you, "I'm sorry, but the doctor has just been called to a more important job." when really, he's inside getting pampered like a spoiled jerk. How would that feel? Welcome to Kino's world. In this book by John Steinbeck, something tragic/epic happens every day to them. In this period of time, many evil things happen, therefore, this story is a tragedy.

In the begging, this tragic thing happens. Their baby is stung by a scorpion and they're panicking. When they find out that that the doctor won't help them unless they can pay, they go into their ancient boat made by Kino's grandfather made. While they're searching for pearls, Kino find a very large clam. He pulls up the clam, and is amazed by his discovery. As he claws open the clam, eager with a knife, Juana hides her excitement. They had found the pearl of the world; and little did they know, they were in for a LOT of trouble! As Kino arrives to his house, it's crowded with people from all over their area, trying to see what all the commotion is about. As said in the book, luck brings bitter friends.

This story shows much symbolism, because there are many things that relate to the tragic plot line. The "World is in Conflict for the Main Character" is that Kino's world is being partially destroyed because Coyotito is stung. Then, the rise to power would be when Kino finds the pearl. The tragic flaw would be when people are being nice to him ONLY to try and get the pearl. The tragic fall would be when the pearl buyers are cheating Kino and he knows it. Last, but not least, certainly the saddest, the death or death symbolism would be when that stalker man shot of Coyotito's head, and he died. That, and Kino killed the man who killed Coyotito.

These are the convincing reasons why this story is more than likely to be a tragedy. This story is a great example of how people should be careful with the things they earn/receive, because bad things can happen. Be careful of what you do with your life, and never make mistakes over and over again. This story is clearly a tragedy, and anyone who reads it, is likely to agree.

Overall of The Pearl

I think this story was better than it looked. Like they always say, don't judge a book by it's cover! I guess I did, because i really thought this book would be really boring. The begging, I have to admit, was pretty boring, but the story got better as it went on. The ending was surprising beyond belief, and i was amazed by what happened to Coyotito. He was my favorite character! He was only the connection I really made, gurgling, laughing, getting bit/stung by bugs(stung by bees, bit by ladybugs). I liked how Kino and Juana were able to defend themselves, and they outsmarted the smartest people native to their area. I thought that was pretty cool. But I'm mad at them, because they killed Coyotito! *Sad Face* Overall, I liked this book more than I thought I would, and it turned out to be pretty good. I hope the next story we read is a mystery; so it won't be very predictable. Much thanks to Mrs. Mundt for having awesome taste in books! *Happy Face*

Juana and Kino... Destroyed?

I think that Kino and Juana might be destroyed by the pearl because at the moment, the pearl is mostly what Kino is concerned about. Juana might feel sad and mad at the same time that Kino is all concerned about this pearl and she wishes that Kino had never found the pearl he did. What might happen is that Kino will get so overwhelmed with the pearl and the people that he might just move away without telling anyone, not even Juana, so that no one can steal the pearl. Don't do it Kino!!! DON'T DO IT!!!

Review of chapters 1-3

I think this book is kind of boring. It is predictable, like when they say the doctor is mean and lazy, it gives the impression that he won't help them in their times of need. Similar to the picture on the cover, you can tell that in some point of the story, they are going to find a pearl of good fortunes. I guess this book has good descriptive words and all, but I don't like how you can pretty much predict most of it. I don't really like predictable books all that much. To me, when you know what's going to happen in a book, it feels like you've already read it, even though you haven't. Some parts were very confusing, too... Some of the descriptive parts were very confusing, like when he was describing where they lived, on page 1. I personally thought that they were living in a barn, NOT a brush house! I don't really like how the author is writing this so far, but I hope it will get better.