The Road Not Taken Short Response

In the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, a man is undecided between two paths. He decides to take the path which has never been taken. It is a path of unworn grass. I think he chooses this path because he wants to be different and start a new life. When it says "In leaves no step had trodden back." it means there are no signs that anyone returned from this path. I think a symbol in this poem is the two paths.

Mouse

Miniature

Old

Ugly

Squeaky

Energetic

The Lottery Response

Who would expect a lottery to end so devastatingly? Something as terrible as death. Early on in the short story, boys were collecting stones and putting them in a pile. You would expect the boys to play with the rocks or use them for a fire. But why would they mention that in the story? Towards the end of the story, the rocks turn out to be a weapon and the villagers use them to kill the lottery winner. The author used the clues of the boys collecting rocks and brought it up later in the story. This is an example of foreshadowing. Even the baby boy held some pebbles in his hand to throw at his mother who got the black dot on her paper; a sign of death.

My opinion of this book was good in the beginning but I didn't really get the point of it if the lottery was going to end in happiness. I thought something was going to pop out of the box because it was so beat up and scary. When Mrs. Hutchinson protested for winning I knew something was wrong. She didn't really win. At the thought of throwing stones at someone to kill them makes me sick. What government would do that? It was surely a surprise ending.

The Place I Call Home

             Can you imagine being stranded at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma with no money, place to stay, and expecting a baby? What would you do? This is exactly the kind of trouble Novalee Nation was in. There were some major events that changed everything in her life. But what would happen to Novalee after all of this?

            Taken in by a kind woman named Sister Husband, Novalee and her baby girl lived there now. Novalee created friendships that would last a lifetime. Forney, a librarian, helped Novalee from day one. He became close to her and her new family. Helping out with the baby and housework was done with the love in his heart. Over the years he became close to Novalee and loved her. On Novalee’s birthday one year, Forney cooked up her favorite meal and gave her a colorful bouquet of flowers. He also stayed with her baby when she worked and always had a smile that could cheer up anyone. This shows how much Forney loves Novalee. I predict that at the end of the book Novalee will fall in love with him and realize that all along, her true love was really him. In the book, It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han, Belly, the main character, was out searching for the perfect guy when all along it was really the boy she had grown up with. Sometimes people look too hard to find love.

            Willy Jack, the man who dumped Novalee off at the Walmart had his mind set to be something more important than her at the time. All he intended to do was get rich, get famous, and get out of town. Well, he got out of town alright. And became famous too, but not rich. He couldn’t even afford a quart of milk. He wrote a song called The Beat of a Heart which was based on Novalee’s baby’s heart. On late nights, Willy Jack remembered his last day with Novalee and him feeling for the baby’s heartbeat. One of the lines in the song is "No matter what troubles you have, there's someone in the world who cares." Willy Jack knows in his heart that Novalee still cares for him.  Every once in a while Novalee would think back to her experiences with Willy Jack too. I predict that Willy Jack and Novalee will cross footsteps again at the end of the book. Since Novalee is a photographer I think she will be assigned to take pictures of Will Jack’s concert. Similarly, in the movie Lion King, Simba gets separated from his friend Nala. They meet again in the jungle towards the end of the movie. No matter how much you try to avoid or forget someone, they always seem to come back again.

            Even though Novalee might have gotten off to a rough start, everything turned out for the better. When you are in a situation like that, try to make the best of it and find your way out like she did. The best outcome is what you choose to do.

           

Live Life to the Fullest

            There are only slim chances that people with cancer will live a long life. Kate Fitzgerald from My Sister’s Keeper was a needle in a haystack. She survived the odds of leukemia through some rough times and battled through it. But what happened to her beyond the pages of the book?

            Anna, Kate’s sister, just died in a car crash. Kate could have given up her fight through cancer but she pushed through it. Toward the end of the book, the setting takes place about five years in the future. Kate was cooking dinner for her family. Kate’s mother had just mentioned that the cancer was temporarily gone and that she was doing better than ever. I think that the cancer will stay away based on how long she has lived already and I predict she will have a long life. My friend Daniel got brain cancer in 7^th grade so he couldn’t go to school for awhile. He is very smart and kind to everyone. I knew he could fight through the cancer and surgeries. Now, he is back at school and the cancer is gone. This shows how the most impossible things can come true. Jodi Picoult is a very surprising writer for keeping Kate alive so long.

            Jodi Picoult is not your average writer. She has written many wonderful books that have inspired people all over the world. She always adds a twist to them like in My Sister’s Keeper. You would expect Kate Fitzgerald to die because of the rare leukemia cancer, but that is not the case here. She adds a twist to the end where her sister dies from a complete and unexpected accident instead of her. In this case, Jodi Picoult shows that Kate lives for a couple more years and from the tone of the book, it sounds like she may live a long life. This reminds me of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest where a pirate named Barbosa died but then in the second movie he comes back. This shows how no one was expecting it but it happened. Family plays a huge roll in support when it comes to cancer and being sick.

            Kate’s mother, Sara, played a huge role in Kate fighting through cancer which is another reason why I predicted she would live so many years. Sara was always at the hospital in case of an emergency with Kate. She would stay awake long hours just to be with her and support her and talk to her. Money was a huge problem with all of the medical bills but Sara always spent more on good medicine and advanced surgeries for Kate. This is why I think she lived longer. This reminds me of the movie College Road Trip where the father was always way too protective of his daughter.  When she left for college the father completely fell apart and wanted her to stay with him forever. Just like if you found out your daughter had cancer you would do anything for her just like Sara did. You would never want to let them go.

            It would be “A Christmas miracle” if someone who was sick with cancer made it through. There were many reasons why the author had made Kate continue to live after the book was done. Remember to always expect the unexpected and never lose hope.

           

           

Responce to "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Field Below"-journal

The two songs "Field Below" and "Big Yellow Taxi" have very similar meanings. When reading the lyrics without listening to the song, the mood is sad and depressing. Both of them tell a story of someone or something leaving them. In the song "Field Below", you can immediately tell by the voice of the woman and sad playing instruments that it is going to have a sad meaning. Where as in "Big Yellow Taxi", the man who is singing it has a happy voice and the music is up beat. That is, only until a certain part where he is singing about his father being taken away.

Family

            Family. They are the people that mean the world to you. They will do almost anything to help each other. But what if that something was donating your own kidney to your sister? You might have different point of views on this than your sister who desperately needs a kidney. Kate and Anna Fitzgerald from the book My Sister’s Keeper are two completely different people with two different personalities and two different heartwarming stories to tell about being there for one another.

            Her calm bright eyes stared up at the cloud white ceiling of the hospital yet once again. How much longer would she need to do this? Having blood taken out of her and put back into her body for a couple of hours straight. These are the circumstances of which Kate Fitzgerald has to face almost every week or month. Kate is just like any other 16 year old but with a rare case of leukemia. She is bald but you are automatically drawn to her bold eyes which sparkle like the brightest star in the sky. Receiving a kidney might just save her life, but there are many risks of the transplant. At this point of her leukemia stage, it is worth the risk. When her mother asked her about the option, she hesitated just because her sister would be the one providing it for her. This shows how she cares about what her sister thinks of the option too. But what does Anna think of all of this?

            Could the choice be any clearer than looking through air? Give your older sister the kidney to save her life! But Anna doesn’t want to because she is tired of giving bone marrow and blood and now a kidney? Losing a kidney would mean no more hockey for her. It is her dream. She always wants the best for Kate and wants her to keep holding on. It is not that she is selfish, just tired of giving up her body is all. When Anna was asked the simple question of “Do you love Kate,” she started bursting into tears like a water fountain and cried out “yes”. This shows just how much she loves Kate. Anna would always visit her in the hospital and be a great supporter to her family. There was a time in the book where they thought Kate was dead. Anna had faith and Kate’s pulse started to beat again. This shows that she would never let Kate go without a fight. Just like Kate wouldn’t let herself die.

            In times of triumph, family are the people that will lift you up and give you hope to keep on trying. Kate Fitzgerald’s family is like gold. They are strong and will never split up and they are bright. Shiny pieces of gold stand out just like the Fitzgerald family. No other family is quite like their determined one. Even though Anna and Kate are two unalike people, they will always be together no matter what.

Chocolate Milk

Delicious

Nutritious 

 

Dreamy

Creamy 

 

Heaven in a cup

Waiting to be drank up

Drink me now

I'm from a cow

Mother to Son Short Response

In this heartwarming poem by Langston Hughes, there are many examples of figurative language. Metaphors were very common in this poem. An example would be "Life for me ain't been no crystal stare". You don't actually stare at crystal your whole life. The purpose of the figurative language is to create description in writing  and to create an image in your mind. This poem is very inspirational and emotional to some people. It creates a feeling of sadness and hope. The mother who is suppose to be the narrator, does not have very good speaking language and you can guess she is probably not very educated. 

Anna Fitzgerald

 Author's Note: This is a figurative language description on Anna in My Sister's Keeper. I would like feedback on the descriptions I used.

Anna  Fitzgerald walks through the door. Taking long lunges with her flamingo legs and striding through the door with every step. Her light brown hair waves back and forth like a pendulum on a grandfather clock. Swoosh. Skinny as she is, she looks like a twig. Even though she is 13, she looks young for her age.

Her eyes sparkle like the brightest star in the sky, leaving everyone in the room blinded by the shine. She smells like a fresh hospital scent of cleanliness. No one really notices her walk in and no one has a clue who she is. Then with one blink, she is gone.

Lily Verses The Giver

             When it was breakfast time Lily walked down the stairs, looked at the table, and her food was already there for her. She didn’t have to cook anything or worry about buying food. Then, when it was time for school she would take her bike and ride it there. No car or bus. Things were very simple for her and many people of the community. In the eyes of The Giver, however, things were much more complicated.

            Being only seven years old, Lily thinks things are perfect and that there is nothing else to worry about but school and a job later on. In a family that supports and cares for her, she feels safe, not knowing what lies outside of the community. Children of other families have the same knowledge as her. When Lily came home from school she would always feel great and nothing bothered her during discussion time amongst the family. She didn’t really know anything. This reminds me of the movie Little Women where the youngest daughter, Amy, followed along with everything and thought things were going fine at home when there were things outside to be discovered. This shows that younger children go with the flow and don’t know as many things as adults. Now, The Giver has more knowledge than anyone in the community.

            Knowing almost every memory and everything there is to know about how things use to be, The Giver has the highest ranking job in the community. He sees most of the people in the community to be clueless. Old as he is, he must transfer the memories that he has to Jonas so he can understand the outside world. When Jonas would come in for his job, the Giver would explain colors, music, and other things to him so he could give those memories to the next receiver. This reminds me of the movie The Tooth Fairy where someone got the job of learning all about being a tooth fairy. He had to understand that it was a very important job and learn the history of it. This shows that he had to learn things that no one else knew. He is very similar to The Giver.

Lily and The Giver were two people of the same community but one knew things unimaginable and the other had the knowledge of a dog. They saw things differently than the other. A world of simplicity and cluelessness, or a complex and mysterious point of view.

           

Letter to Jonas

Dear Jonas,
I know that you have gone through many harsh days shivering to death and trying to keep Gabe alive. Now that you have spotted a house that you have seen in your memories, you are probably going to go inside. When you get to see all of the colors and lights, let me know all about them. Also, could you hear the music? Did you try singing yourself? I hope there is a bright future for Gabe and yourself. Hopefully someone will take you in to their house and adopt you. Are you going to tell the new people about your old community and how you use to live? I advise that you should so the people from the new community can go rescue them and bring them to where you are now. Just a little advise for you.
Sincerely, Taylor

Important Paragraph From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Author's Note: I am taking a part out of Harry Goblet of Fire and analyzing it.

In the graveyard, Harry stood there gazing at Voldemort rise to power again. Voldemort suddenly became human and rejoined with his Death Eaters. When Harry got challenged to a duel with Voldemort, Harry somehow managed to escape and arrive back to Hogwarts. Now that Voldemort was back and living again, there was no turning back since Voldemort was the most powerful wizard, aside from Dumbledore. The point at which people start freaking out is when Harry tells Dumbledore and the audience what happened at the graveyard. The truth is then released. This scene is towards the end of the book and is a major part of why J.K. Rowling wrote the other books.

Roger's Wake-up Call

In the short story "Yes Ma'am", Roger could have done many things with his life after the incident with Mrs. Jones. From where the story ended, you can come to a conclusion that his life was going to change. After attempting to steal Mrs. Jones’ purse, he paid a visit to her house. Then he left without getting a chance to say thank you. Now what would become of his life? Off to stealth again or realization of his actions?

            My prediction is that Roger can turn his life around. There is always a second chance for people and maybe he would take it. He could do this because of the fact that while he was in Mrs. Jones’ house, he started feeling guilty. The door was wide open and he could have scampered out at any time, but he stayed put like a heavy rock super glued to the ground. This shows that people can change. At the end of the movie The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Grinch stole all of the colorful presents and sparkling decorations from the little Who’s in Whoville. As the end of the movie approached, the Grinch’s heart changed and he returned all of the presents to the Who’s. This shows that there is kindness in everyone. Even the bad can turn good.

            On the other hand, there is always a slight chance that Roger will go back to stealing. Another prediction that I have is that Roger will go back to old times and not listen to any advice Mrs. Jones gave him. I think this way because when Roger was attempting to say thank you, he could have gotten angry with himself for not saying it. Also, Roger’s parents might be divorced and he might not have enough money to get food because he looked pretty hungry when he got taken to Mrs. Jones’ house. This reminds me of the movie Home Alone when the bad guys did terrible crimes and got put into jail to redeem themselves. It didn’t work because they went back to doing crimes again. This shows that some people just don’t want to change their ways.

            There are many people like Roger in this world. Some will do the right thing and some just simply won’t. What path would you take?

           

           

           

                       

           

Setting for The Giver

 Authors Note: This is the setting of the book The Giver. I would like feedback on if I explained the setting enough and compared it to today's setting and life. Also, how the story would change if the setting was like today.

The setting of this story takes place in a community where everything is simple. There are no animals or seasons and no one has been out of the community and returned safely. The story is about a simple life where no one really knows anything. If the setting would have been how life is for us right now, the story would have changed because people would get choices of what they want to eat, where they want to live, who they chose to marry, and what their job would be. If they lived in a world where we live in now, there would not have been a receiver and everyone would have known things of the past already. The characters would not have been so proper and there might not even be a real story at all because there would be no big issues if there is no Receiver.

Drenched

Author’s Note: I would like feedback on my word choice and description in this creative piece.

           

            There was one week of school left for Cotton Creek Middle school. My friends and I were planning a pool party to kick off the summer with a splash. Planning the party with all my friends was the only thing I could think about. The pool at my house was an in-ground pool with a twisting water slide and huge drop into the pool which made it ten times better. Jennie, my best friend, was in charge of all of the invitations which she hand crafted and designed herself.

            That week flew by faster than a blazing red racecar. It was the last day of school already. On the bus ride home, everyone gathered around me getting the party details. Rushing off the bus, I ran home as fast as my feet would carry me to get cleaning and prepared for everyone’s arrival. Soon enough, the doorbell sounded the first arrivals.

            Of course it was Jennie. She was always the early bird. Then more people started arriving and I signaled them to the backyard. Their eyes widened to the sight of the sleek blue pool. Someone shouted “Jump in” and in the blink of an eye everyone left the patio.

            I eventually weaseled my way in and the water was surprisingly warm. It took me a couple of minutes to realize something was wrong. It was damp outside from all of the rain we were getting but I thought nothing of it until now. Days of rain has swelled the river, floods threatened to break loose. I lived right by the dam which made a terrible creaking noise and water started pouring over the top like an overflowing bathtub. Everyone screamed and hopped out of the pool like kernels of microwave popcorn. We all reached the house and safely got to the second floor.

            Water swept through the backyard and a couple of other houses but luckily died down soon. When it was safe to go downstairs, there was barely any damage which was very lucky. The party got cancelled and parents somehow managed to tread to the door. We could always have another party, but for now there was a lot of cleaning up to do.

           

           

Dead Man's Path (Point of view)

Author’s Note: This is a point of view piece based on the short story “Dead Man’s Path”.

            How would you feel if you followed a family tradition and someone stopped it? This is exactly what Michael Obi did when he blocked off a path that meant a lot to the priest and the villagers. The priest must have felt a much different feeling than Obi.

            Obi, a cold hearted fellow, just got a job as principle of a school. He was so concentrated on everything being perfect and under control. So when he heard the news about a path leading to the village, he barricaded it off. This must have made him feel very powerful and that he could do anything he wanted. This reminds me of an episode on Disney channel where a girl got elected president of a study club. She worked people way too hard and forced them to get a lot of work done way too fast. This shows that when you get the honor of doing something special, people abuse it and don’t think about others. The people being punished from these people have a much different view of the events.

            In the story “Dead Man’s Path”, the priest is affected by the actions of Obi in many ways. He and his villagers respected and rightfully owned a path leading from their village to the school. When Obi blocks it off, the priest felt useless against Obi’s actions. This shows that when you take away something as meaningful as this, many people get affected. I remember the time when the school took away recess. I had been having recess for many years now and felt like there was nothing I could do to stop it. In the priest’s eyes, he was just trying to protect his town because he knew that blocking it off would lead to problems. These are the reasons that the priest felt a sign of doubt and sadness.

            There are many ways to look at a problem as told with Obi and the priest. But there was only one solution to this problem. These characters saw it in two different ways. A useless path or a prize possession that is there when needed.

           

Sledding at the Cottage

Author's note: I would like feedback on the description and word choice in this piece.

I just finished putting on all of my winter clothes I would need for the snowy outdoors. I headed outside in a hurry and felt the cold, crisp, air on my face which was half covered up with a facemask, hat, and goggles. My cousin, sister, and I grabbed all of the snowboards and sleds we would need and headed off to the hill. After a long tread to the top, I was first to leave sled prints in the snow. My cousin attempted to snowboard but she fell when she hit a bump and got freezing snow down her coat. When we all reached the top again my sister had an idea. We would go on a train holding on to each others handles on the sleds and snowboards. We were all set to go and my cousin started pushing off. We had a slow start but sped off faster than a shot being fired. Half way down I started loosing balance and fell off the snowboard leaving my sister behind me covered in snow. Laughter filled the area as we decided to try it many more times. After many attempts we finally all made it down without falling. It was getting dark and as tired as we were from hiking up the hill, we decided to go inside. Hot chocolate was waiting at the table with tiny marshmellows, just the way we like it. What a fun day.