Anything but a Beautiful Day

Author's Note: This is a fictional poem that I wrote as a language arts warm-up.

The sun was shining

The birds were chirping

But it was anything but a beautiful day

Unlike the blazing yellow sun

And the vibrant colored birds

I was dressed in nothing but black as I

Peered into her casket

As I did this I couldn’t help but notice

The reassuring smile that she left with

Which forced a curl from the corner of my lips

And as I took my last glance

I knew

Everything could only get better

Reflection on Fun in the Sun

Author’s Note: This is a reflection on my descriptive piece, Fun in the Sun.

In my descriptive essay, Fun in the Sun, I used imagery.  There are many ways that using this particle of writing helped my piece.  Basically it’s specifically used to create a picture in the minds of your readers.  If I hadn’t used imagery the people who comprehend it wouldn’t be able to picture my memory like I could.  I believe that every writer, whether professional or not, should make an effort to have their readers see what they do through imagery. 

One form of imagery I used was tone.  In the following sentence; A moan of relief simultaneously escaped our mouths as our feet felt the cool sand underneath the satisfying lukewarm water, I created a tone of relieve. This tone is written in the sentence, but  if I had taken out, of relief, the tone could still be pin-pointed.

I also attempted to add senses, which is another form of imagery.  In this sentence; As the conversation ended I waddled upstairs still wrapped in a blanket and breathed in the air that smelt of wood one last time.  I added a sense of smell.  Senses are an even easier fragment of writing, but only if you they are used correctly.  If you know mostly everyone has either: seen, heard, smelt, tasted, or felt the sense you added, the sense then fits under the category of imagery.

The two examples of imagery that I reflected on were just a small fraction of the imagery, I used in my descriptive essay.  If you are going to use imagery in a piece you need to make certain that you are using it from start to finish.  One piece that is based off of tones and senses is descriptive and it’s definitely not as difficult as you may think because, I’m not anywhere near the best at writing, but I do believe that my readers saw a picture that perfectly matched mine.

Fun in the Sun

Author's Note: This is a figurative language essay that I analyzed.  To be able to view the pictures larger you should click on them and it will open another window with the picture in a larger scaled size.

The Bridges of Your Point of View

Author’s Note: This is a short response to the book, The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller.  I wrote this to showcase my knowledge on point of view. 

The point of view in “The Bridges of Madison County”, by Robert James Waller, is written from the perspective of a third person narrator.  The way that the author explains it, your heart fills, not with love, but with a yearn for what could have been for Francesca.  The reader’s feel for Francesca and all of the problems she has to undergo.

The intense feeling of loss you feel for Francesca while reading the story gives you the strong feeling of deprive for Robert as well.  While reading the short section of the book that explains the love Francesca has for Richard, it gives you the feeling of disturbance.  While in the point of view of the author the reader interprets that Richard is the vicious soul.  In this particular scene Richard calls to reassure himself that everything seems all right and it snaps Francesca back to reality as Richard comes home.  You would think that Richard is the overly-protective.  Although if the book was written from the perspective of Richard the readers would think differently towards Francesca.  I rewrote the ending of the book from Richard’s point of view to prove that Francesca now becomes the evil one.

It’s not that I didn’t trust her, but I called to check up on her every day to make sure nothing went wrong and she was safe and sound at home.  The first time I called I immediately recognized a bitter tone in her voice.  Of course, I knew something was up, but I didn’t act upon it, because of the trust I had in her.  I called once more before returning home and once again I heard there was a bitter tone when she spoke.  She didn’t say anything more than she was fine and then made up an excuse to hang up before I told her anything time consuming.  It was unnatural and my mind started to wonder about all of the possibilities there was that I could be scarred of when I pulled into our dust driveway.  When I arrived home everything was in its place and Francesca acted like her normal self until a few days later.  Rain spat from the black clouds that covered the sky.  After a long period of time in the truck Francesca began to cry, unlike the quiet and few tears she spread at our wedding, these tears were loud and streamed down her face.  I asked in a rather confused tone instead of the sympathetic tone I should have used.  After a long silence she spoke, “Good-bye Robert Kincaid.”  Instead of being curious I decided to keep my questions from escaping my head because, I never again wanted to see my wife as upset as she was that day.

Not all of the readers will still side with Francesca when the book is told from a different viewpoint.  That is why The Bridges of Madison County is an exceptional romance novel to prove that if told in a different point of view.  Interpretations could change.  Who do you think was at fault?

"War Hits Home"

Author's Note: In this essay I will be contrasting, instead of comparing, the book, Cast Two Shadows and the movie, The Patriot for Social Studies.

Cast Two Shadows by Ann Rinaldi focuses on a family that goes through the great depression of having their dad sent to jail.  To make it worse if he moves a muscle he will be summoned to death.  Truly there is only one thing that's protecting him from being executed, the fact the he could potentially become an extremely helpful part of the militia.  The Patriot was also an overlook on The American Revolutionary War, but Cast Two Shadows and The Patriot had very contrasting viewpoints upon the War.

Benjamin Martin, the main character in The Patriot, took a giant risk by getting involved in a war where 4,435 colonists gave their life for the freedom of their country.  Unlike when Caroline Whitaker's stepfather is forced into the militia where he valued every breath because, each could be his last.

Both Benjamin Martin and Caroline Whitaker's stepfather were in the militia, one way or another and they both had family at home, which wasn't safe when it came to war.  Benjamin Martin lost two sons by the end of the war.  Where as, Caroline Whitaker's stepfather was given a miracle and survived along with his family.

Family was always a threat when it came to war, along with, burning your home.  Benjamin Martin was once again the unlucky one and lost his house to war.  The famous quote can now apply to him, "War Hits Home."  The stepfather of Caroline Whitaker's house was left untouched because, of the connections they had to Rawdon, one of British generals.

Cast Two Shadows is mostly written in the voice of British loyalists and The Patriot is described from the American colonists which, makes it easy to contrast them.  In the end, I believe war hits home, weather you lose someone or people close to you and your house gets burned down or not.  Being part of the American militia in The American Revolutionary War will change your viewpoint towards everything.  It doesn't matter if you’re on the American or British side of the war.

Sources

Rinaldi, Ann. Cast two shadows: the American revolution in the South. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1998. Print.

The Patriot. Dir. Roland Emmerich. Perf. Mel Gibson. Columbia ;, 2000. DVD.

Compare and Contrast

Stand Up For Yourself And Others

Author's Note: This is an essay written to show my knowledge on theme.

If you were on a cliff with your worst enemy and you were given the opportunity to push them off, would you?  Mission (un)Popular by Anna Humphrey teaches readers a phenomenal moral, basically stating that whenever someone is out to get you -- if you get the chance to give them a taste of their own medicine, you should choose not to.  Either karma will come around or the guilt will eat away at you  Margot, Em, and Sarah's acquaintances realize why after they practically send Sarah to her death bed.  Throughout the book there are many themes, but the main theme is courage and bravery. 

There are multiple reasons to as why the theme could be considered; courage and bravery.  The first reason occurs early in the book, but has a lot of influence on the entire plot.  Reason being, Margot and Em bully reported Sarah. When the news is leaked to the school, everyone believes it means you are too weak to deal with it yourself.  Personally I would disagree. I feel that it actually means that they are smart enough not to let it get too out of hand. 

Besides being brave enough to bully report Sarah, they also were also brave enough people to invite their enemy’s acquaintances to have lunch, like they did?  At the time Margot and Em were practically enemies with the acquaintances.  This was a big risk, because the acquaintances potentially could have told Sarah which would lead to her becoming thirsty for more revenge.

The third reason confirms the theme and leaves no other choice. They didn’t invite Sarah to their Anti-Pork Party.  It was very in Sarah’s face because, the name of the party, 'Anti-Pork Party' and Sarah called her party, ‘Pork Party’.  They are technically boycotting her. Additionally during the party they are playing an unreleased song by everyone's favorite band.  Naturally everyone is talking about it on Monday and Sarah is left wondering.  Sarah must have been as mad as the government when the patriots dumped all of the tea into Boston Harbor. 

Another book with the same theme is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  In the beginning, the characters from both books could be described as wallflowers.  Then towards the end of both books, the main characters become known for standing up for themselves, even in the toughest of situations.  Not only do they stand up for themselves, but also for everyone that deserves to be treated better as well. 

Being brave is important to a person’s life experience, because your one and only life shouldn’t be dull.  You need to go on adventures and on those adventures you need to take risks.  Otherwise, you might live in a life full of regret and no one should have to suffer through a drab life.  Role models, such as Margot, Em, and Katniss Everdeen, are full of courage and are looked up to because of it.  It reminds me of a Stephan Hawking quote: “Quiet people have the loudest brains.