The Founding Fathers

Dear Founding Fathers,

You are seven of the most important people in the world. All of you helped our country tremendously. The seven of you helped shape our country into what it is today. I appreciate you effort to make our country the best that you though it could be but I disagree with a lot of the choices you made.

The Declaration of Independence states that all men should be treated equal yet Thomas Jefferson owned slaves.  This confuses me because if all men are created equal then all men and woman should be free to make their own choices, no one should be owned by anyone else. This proves that the founding fathers were hypocrites.

We can still see important figures to our country like the founding fathers today  on our currency. For example Abraham Lincoln on the 5 dollar bill and George Washington on the one dollar bill. We honor them because they helped morph our country into what it is today. I know not all of the choices they made were good ones but they did play a big role in creating our country. Without them I don’t even want to imagine where we would be today.

The founding fathers didn’t make all the right decisions but I still honor and respect them for trying. Although I don’t agree with many of their decisions without them we wouldn’t be where we are today. Our country is what it is because of them.

From,

Madison

Strike Out

Author's Note: "This is my revised cause and effect piece about the story Casey At The Bat."

Dear Diary,

Yesterday I attended my brother Corey's baseball game. It was their playoff game which meant that if they won they would advance to the state championships, but if they lost they were done for the season. At the bottom of the ninth inning the score was 6 to 7 and Mudville was losing. We had a player on second and a player of third and Casey, the best hitter on the Mudville's team was up to bat. The crowd went wild as Casey stepped onto home plate and got in position to receive the first pitch. If Casey got a home run then we would win the game!

As the pitcher threw the first pitch Casey just nonchalantly missed the ball. All of us in the crowd were wondering why he purposely missed the ball, but when Casey did the same thing to the second pitch I was very confused. Why would he just purposely waste two pitches like that? What was his motive, was he trying to sabotage the team? Honestly it didn't matter as long as Casey hit the next ball. The last pitch flew threw the air and the entire crowd waited in anticipation to see if Casey would swing the bat. Thankfully Casey swung the bat, but he missed the ball.

"Strike Three," The Umpire Called.

The crowd sulked and picked up their things: it was a sad day for Mudville. Casey was to blame, his ego got in the way of Mudville getting to the state championships for the first time ever! The whole team and even the coach was upset and mad at Casey, and to be honest I was too. It was all his fault. He wasted two perfect pitches! The team needed him to perform today, but he just was too arrogant to even try to hit the ball.  Ultimately his ego was too big and he figured out that he wasn't as good as he though he was.

I read the book Touching Spirit Bear in seventh grade and Cole, the main character in the book reminded me a lot of Casey yesterday. Cole thought he was the strongest guy around, he even thought that he was strong enough to fight a bear! After getting pummeled by the bear Cole got a big reality check and realized that he wasn't as strong as he though the was. That reminded me a lot about what happened to Casey yesterday and how he thought he was amazing, but then ended up striking out.

If Casey would have it the ball the whole crowd would have gone crazy with excitement. If he would of hit the ball he would be the most popular guy in town, but he didn't. Instead Casey missed the ball, he didn't even try to hit it the first two pitches. I don't know what he was thinking. Because of his actions he let his team and everyone else down. The effect of his choices caused us to loose the game.

I'm looking forward to seeing Casey's new and improved attitude next season. I hope now he realizes to always try your best at everything in life.

Sincerely,
Madison

Big Decisions

Author's Note: "After not getting a grade I was satisfied with I decided to create a new retelling piece that would better represent me and what I can do."

In The Notebook fate reunites two lovers after many years. As they start falling in love one reveals that they are engaged and ultimately makes a decision that will hurt someone she loves. Now a major motion picture with over 10 million copies in print, The Notebook is a book that will pull at your heartstrings and bring tears to your eyes.                                                                                                                                                  

If I Could Only Remember

The sunlight shimmered on the soft bed of bright green grass, it was a perfect day for a soccer game. My team was playing Brookfield, the most aggressive team in our league. To be honest, I was a little nervous; I had no idea which team was going to win. The center ref blew his whistle signaling that the game was about to start. We took our positions on the field and waited for the ref to blow his whistle again to signify that the game would begin.

 At the end of the first half my team was winning 2 to 0. It seemed like we had a really good chance of defeating Brookfield. Our coach gave us a very inspirational halftime speech telling us that if we kept working hard and maintaining possession of the ball that we would win this game easily. Once more we went to our starting positions waiting for the ref to blow his whistle.

 It was our kickoff and Kendall passed me the ball, I dribbled quickly past two of the player on the other team and then turned in an attempt to pass the ball back to Kendall. As I turned a girl on the other team shoved me to the ground viciously and a burning pain struck through my body like lightning.

 I felt my heart beating faster as the seconds ticked by and my lungs expanding with every breath I took. I could hear peopled on the sidelines muttering things and whispering to each other but I couldn’t tell what they were saying.  Suddenly, my hearing began to fade and I could no longer hear the voices that I had heard only a second ago. I could barely make out siren noises in the distance. My head started to ache and throb from the fall and my vision began to blur: then it all went black.

Four hours later I started to regain consciousness; my eyes fluttered open and searched around the room for a familiar face. The lighting was harsh on my eyes and I could only see four silhouettes hovering over me. Who were these people, I thought to myself. Do I know them? The way they looked into my eyes made me assume that they knew me.

My eyes started adjusting to the light and I realized that these people were none other than my mother, father, brother, and sister.  

“Everyone look! She’s awake,” shouted my little brother.

“Hello sweetie,” my mother replied. “How are you feeling?”

 I responded slowly, “Pretty good.”

“Oh, that’s good! Now I know you’re probably wondering why you’re here: you got a concussion, but just stay calm, everything is under control.”

Out of confusion I questioned, “How did I get a concussion?”

My mother replied softly, “You were playing soccer and a girl shoved you to the ground and you hit your head. It was an accident, but you blacked out and we had to have an ambulance take you to the hospital. Don't you remember?”

Could this really be, I thought to myself. Did I get a concussion? I didn't remember anything except my head hurting and blacking out. I tried to make sense of all of it but I just couldn't remember anything.

“All I remember is hitting my head but anyways did we win the game?” I asked with a big toothy grin on my face.

She laughed and said “Yes sweetie, you did.”

A Sad Day For Mudville

Author’s Note: “ This is a cause and effect piece about the story Casey At The Bat.”

It is the bottom of the ninth for Mudville’s Baseball team and Casey is up to bat. The game is tied 4 to 4 and the crowd roars as Casey steps up to bat because he is Mudville’s only chance of winning the game.  He takes his mark and the first pitch is thrown, Casey doesn’t even swing his bat. “Strike One,” the umpire calls. Casey did the same thing to the next pitch and the umpire yelled,”Strike Two!” This was it, if Casey missed this ball, the game was over, and if he made it his team would win the game.

As  the last pitch was thrown Casey swung but missed the ball, the game was over and Mudville had lost. As an effect the crowd was silent and Mudville shaked hands with the other team disappointed in themselves and Casey. If Casey would have gotten a home run this story would have changed completely.  The crowd would have stood up and cheered and the team would all get in a huddle and shout, “We did it!” But instead their team lost and they went home sad because of their failure.

Making Their Own Rules

I recently read The Hunger Games and thought it was a perfect example of  conflict and resolution. The Hunger Games is about a 16 year old girl named Katniss who lives in the future in a country called Panem. Katniss gets picked by the government of Panem to go into an arena a fight to the death with 23 other boys and girls: This event is called the Hunger Games. Only one victor will come out of the arena alive, all the rest  must die, and all this is being recorded and shown on television all across their nation.The main problem is that she is fighting the government to win the Games so that she can go home with her family again.

The resolution in this book is very interesting. Katniss ends up falling in love with a boy in her district once she enters the game. When they end up being the last two standing they don't know what to do, they don't want to kill eachother because they are in love. So Katniss and Peeta ( her lover) put poisonous berries in their mouths at the same time and the nation announces that they are both victors. She defys the capitol by changing the rules to the game. The Hungers Game sis a perfect example of Person vs. Society.