Dear Katherine

Author's Note: "My goal was to write a creative piece using correctly formatted dialogue so that is why I wrote this piece."

Dear Katherine,

Today marks my 417^th day away from you. With every passing day I find myself missing you more and more. I miss your smell, your touch, the way you always made me feel safe. I long for the days when we were together, as a family.  The army is a cruel place, filled with hatred and anger.  Every man for themselves. But I know that I will never be alone. I will forever have you and the kids, little Timmy and Jack,  to stand by me and support me throughout life’s hardships. But  I know that I will see you soon, in just a couple of months things will be all back to normal again and it will all be over. All this separation that we’ve had to go through and all the nights I couldn’t sleep because I was worried about you and the boys will be worth it because we will be reunited at last. There is nothing I want more than to see you and the boys, nothing.

 It’s getting late so I know I must go to sleep soon but I will write to you again soon, I promise. Remember I’m doing this for you, and the kids of course, but just remember that no matter how far away we are I’ll always be in your heart. I love you Katherine. See you soon.

Forever Yours,

John

~*~

As I finished writing I put the pencil and extra papers neatly inside my dark green duffel bag and zipped it up tight. Careful not to burn myself, I put out the candle and climbed into my sleeping bag and drifted away.

The fumes of burning bodies and death cause me to awaken from my deep slumber.

“John, wake up,”  yelled one of my platoon members into my ear. I burst to life and was up on my feet within a couple of seconds. I grabbed my sleeping bag and shoved it in my duffel bag as fast as I could. We ran outside of the tent trying not to be seen. Sparks light up the night sky and fire surrounded our campground. I rushed to help one of my fallen platoon members but it was too late, he was gone. I knelt down beside him and said a quick prayer in his honor and for his wife and kids back home.

“John come on,” my platoon leader shouted among all the flames and chaos. I rushed to his side and as we gathered all the other members of our platoon I realized that I had left my letter back in the tent.

“You guys keep going, I’ll meet you there.” I called out to them. I sprinted through the forest and dodged burning trees desperately to get back to the tent. Just as I was 10 yards away the tent exploded and I was flung back into the trees. I took a pretty nasty fall and hit my head severely on a tree trunk. I touched my now throbbing head and realized I was bleeding very badly; I tried calling out to my platoon members but they were much too far away to hear me. My vision began to blur and I felt all my limbs turn numb. A blacked out to the sight of flames burning away everything in it's cold dark path.

~*~

My eyes fluttered open to a very harsh light and as my eyes adjusted I realized I was surrounded by people, people I didn’t know. I tried to touch my head to see if my wound had swollen but my arms and legs were locked down to the table I was laying on. Where am I?, I thought to myself.

“He’s alive sir,” I heard one of the men whisper.

“What are we supposed to do with him?” asked another.

My memories started to come back and as I continued to gain my consciousness I realized that these men that were surrounding me were the enemy. Leaders of the countries that were trying to destroy my troops. 

Effects Of Bullying

Author's Note: "One of Americas leading issues in schools is bullying so I decided to do a little research on the subject. Turns out that there are 3 main types of people involved in bullying: the bystander, the bully, and the victim. Since there were only three main people involved in bullying I did research on each one and how they are effected by bullying. My hope is that by reading this you gain knowledge on why bullying in America needs to stop."

Every school has a bully, every bully has a victim, and every attack has someone watching from the sidelines.  Whether you are just passing by the scene and just witnessing bullying taking place or if you are a part of the actual bullying itself you will be effected.  According to  mychildsafety.net, bullying is one of the top five issues in schools all over America and effects over half of almost every school in the U.S. This paper will inform you on what bullying  the can do to the bully, the victim, and the bystander both short and long term.

Obviously if you are a victim of bullying you will be effected by it. According to stopbullying.gov, a website devoted to trying to put an end to bullying, kids who are bullied have a higher risk of  depression, anxiety, feelings of sadness or loneliness, becoming addicted to drugs, suicidal thoughts, abnormal eating or sleeping patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy. Keep in mind that those are only a few things that bullying can do to you, it can also get to a point where kids get depressed and not wanting to study and as a result of that get lower scores on tests and homework and their GPAs can drop. Another source I used informed me that over 160,000 kids skip school everyday because they are afraid of being bullied. Also, according to dosomething.org 1 in 10 students drop out of school because of bullying. Worst of all as a result of being bullied people will attempt to kill themselves. Surveys on bullyingstatistics.org  show that 14% of students have suicidal thoughts and 7% of students have attempted suicide because of bullying.  Also, if you are being bullied always remember that you are not alone, surveys show that one in every six kids gets bullied regularly. The effects bullying can have on you if you are a victim can be extremely traumatizing and can put you on the path that leads to a very bad future.

Although the victim in most cases is effected the most in a bullying attack, a passing bystander can also be effected by just witnessing what is going on. More often than not a bystander in a bullying attack will feel guilty for not stepping in and defending the person being bullied. Likewise bystanders in bullying attacks are more likely to have increased use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. In most cases people who witness the bullying and do not step in drink and abuse drugs because they feel guilty and want that pain to go away.  Similarly to if you are a victim of bullying a bystander will also be more likely to skip or miss school and have depression and anxiety. According to a4kclub.org,  72% of bystanders during a bullying attack will not speak up in fear that if they do they will be the bully's next victim. People passing by and witnessing someone being bullied are also effected by the experience.

In addition to the victim and the bystander, a bully is effected as well.  In most cases a bully is someone who suffered from some kind of traumatizing event as a child and wasn't given the proper care to recover and so they take their anger and pain out on others. Bullies are at very high risk of abusing drugs and alcohol both through their teenage years and adult years, getting into fights, stealing others possessions, vandalizing property, dropping out of school, engaging in sexual activity early in life, and being abusive to their romantic partners, spouses, and children. Also, according to bullyingpreventionintstitute.org, a website that informs parents and kids on the effects of bullying, bullies are usually convicted of crimes  and given traffic tickets in adulthood. Bullies are effected very much by their own bullying and are already on the path to a very unhappy and dark future.

The bystander, the victim, and the bully are all effected during a outburst. Bullying can put everyone involved down a path that leads to very bad things. Bullying can be prevented though, bullies can be stopped. If you are a witness to a bully attack anonymously report them to your schools guidance counselor or talk to a teacher you trust right away and together we can put an end to bullying. 

Sources Used:

• :. " The Effects of Bullying - Beliefnet.com." Inspiration, Spirituality, Faith – Beliefnet.com - Beliefnet.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.beliefnet.com/Love-Family/Parenting/Interviews/The-Effects-of-Bullying.aspx>.
• "Bullying Victims - Bullying Statistics."Bullying Statistics - Teen Violence, Anger, Bullying, Treatment Options. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-victims.html>.
• Dombeck, Mark. "The Long Term Effects of Bullying." American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.aaets.org/article204.htm>.
• "Effects of Bullying - Youth "Ambassadors 4 Kids" Club (A4K)." Ambassadors 4 Kids (A4K) Club | Bullying Resources For Kids | Reporting, Stopping & Preventing School Bullying | Cyberbullying Information Organization - Youth "Ambassadors 4 Kids" Club (A4K). N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.a4kclub.org/get-the-facts/effects-of-bullying>.
• standers. "Effects of Bullying | StopBullying.gov." Home | StopBullying.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/>.

Dreams

Author's Note: " I wrote this piece to demonstrate and  prove my knowledge of being able to identify figurative language in a poem. I would like this piece to get scored on the reading rubric for Word Choice and Context Analysis. This piece is written about Langston Hughes poem "Dreams."

Dreams

By Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Figurative language is used very frequently in poetry and literature.  The use of similes, metaphors, personification and all other types of figurative language give the reader a better understanding of characters and settings described by the author. Also, the very detailed, creative, and vivid language add more depth and makes the piece sounds more sophisticated than regular writing. Langston Hughes does a really great job of using figurative language and adding emotion in his pieces and because of this his poetry and short stories are very impressive. In Langston Hughes poem "Dreams" he uses two different types of figurative language and even though the poem is only two stanzas in length it has an extremely large amount of depth.

In the two short stanzas of Langston Hughes poem "Dreams" he uses two different types of figurative language. The first type of figurative language that he uses in this poem is personification. For example in the first line Langston wrote, "Hold fast to dreams," which is personification because you cannot actually hold dreams. Another piece of figurative language Langston Hughes uses are two metaphors in this short but lovely poem.  The first metaphor he uses is, "For if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly," and the second metaphor that he uses in this poem is, "For when dreams go life is a barren field frozen with snow." Langston Hughes uses two different types of metaphors in his poem "Dreams."

Although the figurative language in this poem help make it sound very mature and sophisticated another thing that makes this poem so good is the depth that Langston Hughes uses in the poem. I feel like what he is trying to say in this piece is that dreams give you innocence and imagination and challenge you to think outside the box and that once you loose that innocence you loose your dreams. Also I think that he is trying to hint on that you should never stop chasing your dreams because once you give up on your dreams you will realize how bare your life is, sort of like the barren field of snow described in the poem. Lastly I think one of the messages in this poem is that you should never stop dreaming because if you stop dreaming you will have nothing to live for. I think that in the poem "Dreams" by Langston Hughes the author uses a lot of depth and overall has many morals and messages behind it.

Even though the depth of the poem was very powerful another aspect of this poem that was affected by figurative language was the tone of the piece. The tone in “Dreams” makes readers feel sad and a little depressed because of the way he uses his two metaphors in this piece. The metaphors add a very sad tone because of how he compares life without dreams to a broken-winged bird or a barren field frozen with snow. By saying that he is trying to have you recognize how useless life would be without goals and dreams. I believe Langston Hughes compared life without dreams to those two things because he wants people to know how sad and useless life would be without goals or dreams. I believe that the tone in "Dreams" by Langston Hughes is changed and affected by the figurative language used within the poem. 

In the poem "Dreams" which was written by Langston Hughes the author uses depth and figurative language to make to poem sound more mature. There are many life lessons and advice that are expressed throughout this piece. Everyone should read this poem and stop and think for a second about the messages behind it because you can really learn a lot of good advice from this poem.

Thunderstruck

Author's Note: " Speak is a very good book, it won some awards back when it was brand new. I think this is a book that all teens can relate to and I highly recommend it to all middle school students."

Do you know what its like to feel alone, to feel helpless, to feel like you don’t even have a choice? Melinda Sordino, the main character in Speak, knows exactly how that feels.  She has felt alone ever since her friends ditched her because she busted them for drinking at a party. Now no one talks to her, looks at her, or even takes the time to listen to her side of the story. Some people might call her an outcast, but I look at her as a hero. The book Speak will teach you that its easy to go down the wrong path and make erratic choices, but if you stand up for what you believe in and guide others in the right direction then there is nothing that can stop you.

Melinda in not your average girl: she doesn’t like anything girly, she hates attention, and she doesn’t get the best grades in school, but she is smart enough to make to know right from wrong. It’s simple choices that we make everyday that determine our entire future. For example, if you’re the quarterback on your high school football team and you get caught drinking, your entire sports career will come crashing down: no scholarship, no adoring fans, no nothing. With every year that we mature we get a little more freedom, but its what we do with that freedom that matters most. I just hope that if I’m ever put in the same position as Melinda that I will be able to make the same decisions that she did. It’s not exactly an easy thing to rat your friends out to the cops, it takes a lot of courage and they aren’t very forgiving: but if that’s what it takes to show them that what they’re doing is not right, then so be it.

I think all teens should read this book, it captivates you from the moment you pick it up to it’s very last word. It’s so touching, it’s what all teenagers think but are too afraid to say. Speak describes real world situations that can happen at any given time. It prepares readers for the future. This book is not a good book for upper elementary school students like 5th and 6th graders, it talks about some pretty serious subjects, and its not something to joke around about. In books like this you really notice how the character grows as a person from beginning to end, you watch her learn new things, and discover who she really is as a person. By the end of this novel readers will feel like they know Melinda, like somehow she is apart of them. Speak is definitely one of those books that you will become attached to, it’s hard to get out of your head once you’ve read it.

This book has a lot of very serious topics in it, such as peer pressure. If you ever feel like your being forced into something, you’re not, you always have a choice in what you do. No one can make you do anything that you don’t feel comfortable doing. Real friends don’t make you change, they like you just the way you are. Now I understand that sometimes you’re with the wrong people at the wrong time, but don’t give into their demands, they can’t force you to do anything. Don’t make decisions that you’ll regret tomorrow, it’s not worth it to put your and possibly someone else’s lives in danger. You always have an option. Never forget that you have a choice, don’t let other people influence you to change.

Helping others is always a nice thing to do but sometimes you have to put yourself first: don’t let yourself slip away and make choices that you will regret in the morning. Life is full of hardships, but when you figure out right from wrong it makes your life a whole lot easier. Hold onto yourself. Whenever you make a mistake just get back up and try again, because isn’t that what life is all about, taking risks and making mistakes?

The Things We Will Never Get Back

Author's Note: " I took time out of my day to read the book Ana's Story.  It changed my perspective on life: it made me realize how lucky I really am. Seriously though, it's a great book: yes, it's a little sad at times but it's worth your time."

 “Why don’t you just go and kill yourself Sandy, no one cares about you!” Kelly said. Sandy did just that. She ran into the bathroom, sobbing; she grabbed the first thing she saw, a bottle of pills by the third sink from the left. Sandy twisted the cap off vigorously and gobbled down every single pill until she was lying on the ground with everything around her blacking out; just like flipping the switch on a lamp she was out. Kelly ran in the bathroom apologetically, but it was too late: Sandy was already gone. While reading the book, Ana’s Story by Sara Bush, you will learn about the harsh life of a girl named Ana: a life filled with the pain of being bullied, being abused; you will even learn that in life sometimes there are no happy endings.

Bulling is not okay; its a sad excuse for making someone else feel worse about themselves just to build up you own self esteem. Whether its online or in person it still has the same affects on the people.  What bullies need to accept is that just because someone is different from them doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings. If you were called a bad name or were gossiped about you wouldn’t feel to good about yourself, would you? Its time for a change, so for all you bullies out there next time you want to make fun of someone, stop, take deep breaths and ask yourself: is it really worth it? Take the time to get to know people before you judge them.

According to ChaCha, 30% of the United State’s youth is involved in a type of bullying everyday: bullying can drive people the extremes, such as suicide. How would you ever be able to live with the guilt of knowing that you had bothered someone so much that they thought their only way out was to end their life? Did you know that over 1 million kids and adults all over the world commit suicide everyday? That could be your child: sometimes they swallow a bottle of pills because of online harassment; sometimes its a accident, but by the time you realize somethings wrong, it’s too late.

While reading the novel, Ana’s Story, you will realize and understand that this isn’t just a scary story, it’s real and happens to innocent people everyday. Yes, it’s sad, but it’s the truth; it’s also reality: there are people in the world who can’t support their families and put food on the table, there are people who live on the streets because they can’t afford shelter, there are people who bite off more than they can chew, and there are people who die everyday in hospitals because they can’t pay the towering fees. After reading this life changing book you will realize how lucky you really are.

    Learning about abuse, bullying, and tragic endings is never easy, but grasping those topics is easy while taking a glimpse into the world of our 43rd president’s daughter’s eyes. The author works for UNICEF, an organization devoted to giving kids in other countries a better life, a second chance. When you think about it, saving lives seems like a pretty good alternative compared to sabotaging them. If you’re one of those kids who is hurting because of what someone did to you just recognize that you’re not alone: there are other people in this world that feel the same; and there are people who can help you.

Text Analysis: How the Setting Affects the Plot

Author's Note: "I really enjoyed writing this piece and I think it deserves a 10 for text analysis. I believe that I proved my point and backed it up with important information."

Every book, passage, or short story has a setting.  A setting is a place where a book or story is taking place. Settings are extremely important and help readers tremendously by helping then create an image in their head of where the story takes place. Normally the plot of a book depends on the setting, therefore  if you change the setting then you change the plot. For example, the Uglies series written by Scott Westerfeld and The Giver written by Lois Lowry both  take place in a futuristic universe; if the settings changed in either of these books it would dramatically effect the plot in the books as well.

In the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld the plot relies on the setting. In the futuristic universe that this book takes place in there are hoverboards, a city surrounded by walls, and perfect weather all the time. All of these aspects involve the plot and the setting. For example, if the city that was described so vividly in the book wasn’t surrounded and bordered by towering walls then there would be no reason that Tally would feel imprisoned and therefore she probably wouldn’t have run away in the first place. To add on to that if they didn’t live in such a futuristic world with technology beyond our time then there would be no such thing as a hoverboard. The entire plot relies on the use of the hoverboard for transportation so if there weren’t hoverboards the plot would be severally  changed and effected. Also the perfect climate that was expressed in the trilogy is very key in Tally’s survival once she makes the decision to leave the city. If the climate was not perfect all the time then Tally could have died after she left the city because of weather conditions like a freezing blizzard or a scorching desert. Therefore the setting in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld plays a big part in the plots of the series.

Although the Uglies series written by Scott Westerfeld is a great example of how a setting affects the plot of a book another fantastic example of that concept is the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. The Giver takes place in a world where they only see black and white, are assigned careers, and have to live by a running list of rules. One example expressed in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry is that fact that they can only see two colors: black and white. If the citizens in the book could see color then the plot would be dramatically affected because the entire plot of the novel relies strongly on the imperfections of this town such as how they are color blind. In modern day everyone gets to choose their careers based on their interests but in The Giver they get theirs assigned to them.  The plot would change entirely if the citizens were given the opportunity to pick and choose the careers of their choice, after all the whole plot of the book is based off the fact that Jonas is given the job of The Receiver at the Ceremony of Twelve. Therefore if the citizens got to pick their jobs in the book The Giver the plot would completely change. Lastly, one more crucial part of the setting that affects the plot in this book is that the citizens of this establishment are forced to abide by a extremely long list of rules. If they didn’t have rules and were more carefree and easy-going then that also would have changed the plot. Those are three examples of how if the setting of the book The Giver by Lois Lowry changed so would the plot of the book as well.

If the settings in the books The Giver by Lois Lowry and the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld were altered then the plot of the books would be dramatically altered as well. Both books rely very strongly on their settings to help readers visualize what world the characters live in and depend on their plots to tell the story.  The setting and the plot of a book go hand-and-hand and if a book was missing a setting or missing a plot then that book would suffer from being extremely uninteresting. Therefore the setting of a book can change the plot of the book and also the entire story as a whole. 

Help Me.

Author's Note: "I wrote this short creative piece to demonstrate my understanding of point of view. It is the court room scene in My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult where Anna is trying to plead her case, the only difference is that this piece is written from Anna's sister Kate's point of view. "

All my life I have been fighting and struggling to stay alive. A couple months after my birth I was diagnosed with leukemia, a cancer which causes your body to produce abnormal amounts of blood cells and decays your bone marrow over time. When I was little I would need to come into the local clinic 5-6 times a week for a check-up. Once I hit age 4 the cancer started to spread and that's why my parents had Anna. She was a genetically enhanced creation of science made to help and assist me.  Once Anna got of age the doctors would bring us both is and eject blood cells or bone marrow from her body and transplant them into mine. After awhile these procedures started to take place more and more frequently.  Without her I would most likely not even be here today.

Your honor I don't understand why Anna won't do this for me, if I don't get that kidney I will die and if she loved me she would help me.  Anna is being so insensitive about this, my whole life has been a struggle and she doesn't understand how much pain and suffering that my disease has caused me.  I need this more than she will ever know.  This kidney will give  me another chance to live my life and will bring me one step closer to conquering my disease and finally being able to live a healthy normal life. Anna  is being so selfish, if she really loved me she would want to help me and she wouldn't want me to die. All  I want is another chance your honor, and that's why I think I should get this kidney.