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Archive for March, 2010
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 31, 2010 at 5:12 pm · Filed under English
“Stealing candy from babies!”
Little Jim’s voice rang in my ears, along with the sobbing of the effusive girl behind me. I exchanged an annoyed glance with Rachel, then turned to look at the rest of the people who were stuffed inside the office like sardines in a can. After an excessivley long speech about “guilty by association”, we filed out of the sweaty room and out into the fresh air of the camp. It was when we sat down at the pick-knick tables that the tears hit me. It was pretty embarassing – having my favorite little campers coming up to me and asking me what was wrong with wide, frightened eyes. This was the one time in my life when I had been thoroughly misunderstood. Although the whole thing was a sham, who knew it would stick with me long after that.
It was the last day of camp, and meant to be the best one. Rachel, my new found friends, and I were all broiling under the sun with nothing to do (Since we were Jr. C.I.T’s, we weren’t used to so much freedom). Just another lazy summer day. So we asked Ceaser, our “counselor”, if you will, if we could hang out in the mini campers cabin, which was conveniently air conditioned. We sat on the sofas and floor, just talking. Two other girls we knew, but weren’t really with us, were in there, too. After a while they left, and soon we followed. We went out to fields when Ceaser drove by on his little golf cart, and nonchalantly told us we were written up in the book for “going through peoples stuff” and taking the twizzlers from the mini campers”. I didn’t even know there were twizzlers in there…We were all shocked, and I personally, was hurt. I’d never gotten in trouble at camp before. Disgruntled, we lumbered up to the office and got the scolding of a life time. The berating was over the top. Apparantley the two girls in there before us thought we were the ones who ate the twizzlers, when it was two other girls the whole time, and that we were going through peoples’ stuff. They definetley misunderstood us on that one.
I’ll have to admit, I think the “going through peoples’ stuff” bit was my fault. I saw a girl’s phone on the table, and because we were exchanging phone numbers, I thought it was one of my friend’s. So I picked it up and asked who’s it was, only to get yelled at by the girl who later told on us. She took it that I was going through others’ belongings, and even stretched the what she thought she saw when she was telling the office about it. The anger was one thing, but the embarassment and shame of all the eyes of my new made friends (who happened to be the counselors of the mini campers) on me as tears streamed down my face was another. That may have been the worst day of my life, and the most misunderstood. What a great way to wrap up my summer!
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 30, 2010 at 8:31 pm · Filed under English
“Maddie!”
Oh god.
“Your soccer teams just came out! Come see the e-mail!”
With my stomach churning like the sea during a storm, I walked into my dad’s office and looked at his glowing, luminescent monitor. Team 14-3. Again. Wowee – C team. Well, at least I knew some people. Soccer is so stressfull. Looks like I’ll never be on the A team. When I started soccer in pre-school, I didn’t have much aspiration to be the best out there. At the first try outs, I had the ball, but when a boy took the ball from me, I stormed off the field crying. When I started up again in 5th grade, I had much more longing to be a good player. Over time however, this dream faded, like Langston Hughes said in his poems.
Langston Hughes was one of the many African Americans dealing with segregation. Like all the others, he had a dream. A dream to be free of segregation – to have equal rights as anyone, no matter the color of their skin. Over time, this dream boiled up, and burst out of everyone’s fury. The African Americans were fed up, and they put their desire to work and did something about the way they were treated. In Hughes’s poems, you could see that over time, his “deferred” dreams got worse. In Dreams, he said, “Hold onto dreams”. But in Dream Deferred, he said, “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?” He’s saying how many African Americans’ dreams of being equal disintigrated, or grow old and become a burden, or build up and burst. You can really see a difference between the first poem, when he’s saying how important dreams are, and then twenty years later, his other poem says how when dreams are postponed they loose their meaning and become pointless. This is what happened to my dream of becoming an A-team player.
All I ever wanted was to be one of well known A-team soccer players. With every e-mail that always said the same thing, 14-3 (they didn’t want to tell us the letter of the team to prevent our feelings from being hurt but we all knew), my heart fell and my dream solidified further. Eventhough I knew I’d never make A-team, I kept playing. The only thing that kept me playing was knowing that I could never make it as an A-teamer – that the other girls would make me seem like I had two left feet. This dream just became annoying as we shared the field with all the higher teams, just like Hughes said. It everntually faded away, quite frankly like “a raisin in the sun”, but life wasn’t necessarily “like a bird with broken wings”. I found my knack for school and artwork. I guess you could say my dreams switched from being an A-team player to being a notable artist and an honors student. What hughes said was very true, just not as extreme in my case.
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 29, 2010 at 6:02 pm · Filed under Science
Who knows, when you get forced into something you don’t like, you could learn from it. You could walk out a different person than you entered. We’re all lumps of clay; molded by everything and everyone we encounter. Although I didn’t like working in groups, I sure learned a lot from it in the Dynamic Earth project.
I’m not one for groups. They stress me out, and when I’m alone, I’m sure I can get the work done. Also, I can work at my own pace. I’m just generally a happier, brighter person when I get my work done on my own. Sure, this project started out the same as always, but ended very different. Throughout the duration of this project, I learned a lot about my group, myself, and working with groups in general. I learned that if I don’t ensure that I have a modest portion of the work to myself, I get sick to my stomach and feel like we might not get a good grade. However, the whole point of the group is to work together. This project helped me learn how to balance these things.
Not only did I learn a lot about myself, but I learned a lot about my group and the way each of them work. During this project, I learned a lot about the way Tom, Nick, and Jenna work. I learned that Tom makes the hard stuff seem like a piece of cake. Also, when he’s told to do something, he gets it done in record time. This helped move the group along and calm us all (or mostly just me) down. I learned that once Nick gets going, hes like a rolling rock. He’s a steady worker, and he’s an amazing researching. Most of the information we got we owe to him. I learned that Jenna is always optomistic and in a good mood. This kept our spirits up and kept us working. Also, she really knows how to divey up the work and give us good deadlines. Everyone in the group added someting to our project, and although the result may not have been perfect, I sure learned a lot for the next time I do a group project.
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 16, 2010 at 4:24 pm · Filed under English
Tag, you’re it…no tagbacks.
What’s that even supposed to mean? Well, obviously, you can’t tag them back. But if you relate it to life, which I’m sure all the little kids out there that play this are definetley doing, it’s almost unfair. Why should someone dump a responsibilty on you and claim that they don’t have to deal with it anymore? Well, life is one big game of tag. To go along with the fact that we have to deal with problems we can’t rid ourselves of, we have unchangable, undeniable rules that we have to follow. But when is it appropriate to break the “rules”?
We all know that there are unspoken rules everyone has to follow throughout their lives, as well as written laws. But why so many rules? It’s because it seems like eighty percent of our population thinks they’re invincible, indestructable, and special. They feel like they can do whatever whenever and think of the rules as valuless. However, for the twenty percent of us that have an understanding of right and wrong, well we follow the rules that have been made, whether it be unspoken or written. Well if there are so many laws, then when is the right time to break them?
Dr. MIcheal Fowlin talked a lot about the difference between what we’re supposed to do and what we should do. We’re supposed to follow the rules. That’s why they’re made. But sometimes, to get the best out of something or help someone, you have to break the rules. We should consider it further than that and break whatever rule is needed t get what we need to get done. So when does following the rules get to be too much? There are so many rules in life piled ontop of all the responsibilities we recieve. So how you handle them is your decision.
Tag, you’re it…
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 15, 2010 at 5:16 pm · Filed under English
What more would our world be than a conveyor belt constructing numbing egalitarianism without differences and variety? We wouldn’t be able to tell any one apart from others, and everything we made would be the same. For me, seeing new, exciting, and different things everyday is pretty much the only thing that gets me out of bed every morning. The same thing applies to English class. I’m sure Mr.Olivo wouldn’t enjoy reading around ninety stories that sounded like the all came from one person. I should have expected it, but I was surprised at how different the writing styles were in the stories that I read.
Today I compared Marykate’s story with mine. Wow, were they different. It might be in my head, but I feel like I had a little more description. However, in these circumstances, that could be a bad thing. I noticed that I spent more time going into depth in my descriptions while she made her story more true to the time setting. I could tell she put a lot of effort into making it authentic, and it payed off. However, she didn’t give the reader a good look into the character’s head. In her story, she said “‘Farewell sister,’ Anne said. ‘Goodbye Anne,’ Kathryn cried. The train whistle blew and Anne was awoken from her upsetting trance.” It almost confused me when she said “awoken from her upsetting trance”. To me, in the scene, Anne seemed perfecty alert and not wanting to leave her sister. If I had had more sight into the her head, the scence may have been a lot more powerful. Like I said, this could all be a good thing as we’re trying to write a historical fiction story, not make them cry.
Another thing that was different between Marykate’s and my stories was that her sentences sounded similar. When she gets going in a paragraph, I noticed that almost four sentences in a row all started with the same few words. But again, I’m not sure if that’s good or not. In my story, I made sure that my sentences had variety and different sounds to keep the reader interested. However, it may make it sound confusing and random at times. What can I say, I’m no author. In her story, she said, “She kept her head down and hurried along until she came to a small wooden gate. She opened the gate to see their lush garden, blossoming orchard, and their chicken, geese, and ducks. She was immediatley bombarded by her father.” The similar sounds make the reading a little dry. Her story line was great, and if she could just tweak her sentences a little, it would seem even professional. Marykate’s story had a lot of differences when compared to mine, but that’s only because we took different approaches.
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 14, 2010 at 6:53 pm · Filed under Science
How many people do you think would die if no one wore seatbelts? Hundreds? Thousands? I can’t even imagine the number of valuable, precious lives that were saved by taking one easy step as a precaution. We don’t expect to get into a car crash, but there’s always a chance we could. So, to prevent lives being lost we always think ahead and make sure to be as careful as possible. The same goes for earthquake-proofing public buildings.
There is no way of preventing an earthquake. It’s all up to the Earth, and we’re at her mercy. So if you think about it, why would you ever ignore something that we can’t control? There’s always a chance you’ll experience an earthquake, and no one would want to die in the process. I completley agree that we sould spend a little extra money on securing our public buildings. Not to do so would be like rounding everyone up for their deaths. The public buildings are where people flock like birds. So wouldn’t attracting people to somewhere that’s unsafe be awful? We need to make sure that if we bring people somewhere, we make sure it’s secure. Not only do we need to take responsibilty, but doing this would be easy also.
I would say that paying a little extra tax wouldn’t make a difference, but it would. In one sense, it would make a difference. A difference in the number of lives saved in a matter of moments. But it really wouldn’t make a difference in how much money we pay. If we can pay taxes for roads, why can’t we chip in a little more for safety. Over time we wouldn’t even think about it. But if we didn’t pay, we sure would be thinking about how many lives were lost when the next earthquake occours. Saving lives can be as easy as paying a tiny bit more money every once in a while.
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 9, 2010 at 5:10 pm · Filed under English
One of the most beautiful things about winter for me is what happens when it’s over. Deep green blades of grass peek out from the cold, white snow, resembling new life. The air is warmer, the sun is brighter, and everything just seems fresh. Its like coming out of hiberation. And of course, when such a great season arrives, we all have a way to aknowledge it.
My mom makes a huge deal out of spring. You can always tell that winter’s over when she breaks out the flowers. My mom grew up with flowers, worked at a florist shop when she was older, and now grows them in every inch of our yard. However, the definite sign for spring is when she put sprigs of witch hazel in a glass vase on the table. When I walk in the door, the yellow dots decorating the deep brown stems catch my eye. She always makes sure to put them in the most decorative vase she has because she loves to make a huge deal out of spring. Besides the obvious signs of spring, another change also lets me know when winter’s over.
My mom’s hormones run the family. If she’s happy, we’re happy. When she’s bugged, we’re bugged by her. When she’s depressed, we’re all depressed. When she’s angry, we all get angry at her. Which is exactly why I love spring. My mom loves warm weather, and spring is her favorite season. You always know it’s getting warmer when my mom is all smiles and hugs. In turn, the whole family is happy, including me. Spring makes everyone happy, and the good feelings are always a sign to let you know its coming.
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 8, 2010 at 9:47 pm · Filed under English
Imagine meeting a person who talked only in monotone, dressed only in grey, only did what was asked of them, and sat around staring off into space all day. Being around such a bleak, monotonous person would drive anyone insane. It would be like sitting next to a rock. The same goes for stories. Reading writing with a plain character can be painful. The main character in my story, Fae, has many traits, whether they be boring from her view or not.
Fae is a very responsible person. She makes sure to look out for her friends and follow the rules. When she is in the woods, it says, “When we were behind a thick fringe of foliage, she pulled a perring knife out of her apron. My eyes bulged. ‘Put that away!’ I whispered sharply.” She didn’t want to get in trouble, as a girl having a tool like that outside of her home was inappropriate. Also, when she was considering whether or not to take Brooke’s magic, she considered her whole family and the future. She also makes sure that no one will find out about Brooke, and she wants to take care of her. Despite this, Fae still sees herself as plain.
Fae is extremely modest. Her personality is outstanding, but she doesn’t think she’s anything special. When Brooke tells her that she’s a witch, Fae says, “I was the very definition of plain, and having a friend being anything but makes my monotony ever more prominent…It also made me wonder why someone as magnificent as her would ever want to be friends with someone like me.” All of Fae’s traits add up to make an interesting character, which in turn, makes the story interesting.
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 4, 2010 at 4:29 pm · Filed under English
I didn’t live in the 1600’s. I’m 13, a minor, and not even in high school yet. I’m not that old. I live in the 21st century, so naturally, I don’t know much about a time period as old as that. What’s even harder is that I have to make my story look like I lived in that time period, let alone knew about it. I have to create dialog, facts, setting, and a story line that make it seem as true to the 1600’s as possible. Writers agree that small details about characters and setting and be careful about dialog, which is pretty hard. But, with the help of some articles by Elizabeth Crook and Alisa Libby, writing historical fiction can be made a lot easier than it seems. They’ll save you the trouble and stress over trying to create a story from a time period you were born hundreds of years after. And researching information can make you feel like you’re drowning in text. Think of these pieces as your life rafts.
One major thing that makes all the difference in your historical fiction writing is paying attention to small details. In “Seven Rules for Writing Historical Fiction”, Elizabeth Crook says, “It is not enough to say a character walked down the street. The reader has to be able to see the street, see the conveyances; he has to smell the smoke from the factories or the sewage in the gutter.” She says to, “Sweat the small stuff”. Writing in a descriptive form really puts the reader into a sense of mind that will allow them to see exactly what it was like back then. In my story, Fae mentioned that Brooke was sitting off the side of the road. However, Ididn’t just leave it at that. I explained that the road was pale and dirt, and that she was knitting. You usually don’t see girls sitting on the side of roads knitting today. Also, in the places most people live today, it would be a busy, pollouted, paved over two-way street. However, trying to shove every pieces of information you get into one paragraphs will send your readers int0 shock. So sprinkle little details evenly over your story. Paying attention to detail isn’t the only thing that makes for good historical fiction wirting, though.
We all know that rambling on about everything makes people want to shut their brains off. Nicola Morgan says to make it thorough, but not over-done. In her piece, she says, “Give only as much detail as you need to paint your picture but do paint it richly.” The goal here is to give the readers a detailed sense of what’s going on, but don’t go off and write excessively. If there’s too many words, they become meaningless, and the reader will feel like you’re repeating yourself in a new set of words. Not too exciting. Elizabeth says to “draw him into the story with the richness of your story-telling, but don’t ever make him think he’s in a history lesson.” In my writing, I told how the they had a curfew bell, but I didn’t go on and on. When I described Brooke’s features, I made sure I did a thorough job, but I didn’t drone on. Historical fiction can be thrilling to read, or it can be painfull. With these few tips, you can make sure you write a historical fiction story to the best of your ability.
by maddiedrdg0910 on March 1, 2010 at 9:20 pm · Filed under English
Ever heard the expression “The elephant in the room”? It means that something important or big is there, but we all choose to ignore it; to pretend like it’s not there. Well there’s an elephant in the halls of our school. It’s how we treat each other. We all know we do it, and we all know it’s wrong. Well if we are told over and over again that we need to change our behavior, then why do we choose to ignore it? We all seem like ignorant, lazy people if we don’t even attempt to fix our behavior. Dr. Michael Fowler’s assembely was a wake up call for me. It opened my eyes to the way act towards eachother and the way we should act towards eachother, and how compltely different they are.
Dr. Michael Fowler’s assembly was extremely influencial. The reason that it impacted me so much was that it was so raw and true. He didn’t hold back at all. He approached our problems head-on and tied in his own personal struggles. However, the thing that I appreciated the most was the fact that he took on problems from at least six different perspectives. Each one of them had completley different personalities, situations, problems, and characteristics. He took on the roles of a six year old boy, a gay football player, a teenage girl, an “emo” young adult, and more. Despite their differences, they all had one thing in common; they had problems that were made worse and even caused by the people around them. Everything that Dr. Michael Fowler did was shocking, but in a good way.
Dr. Michael Fowler wasn’t afraid to accuse us of what we all know we do, and for me, it just made it that more shocking. Every other assembly or activity on this subject didn’t change me at all. It just repeated what we’ve all heard before. I especially liked how he compared us to different types of animals. It painted a picture in my mind, and frankly, was spot-on. When he compared us to zebras, it was almost funny how right he was. The other comparison I liked was the moth. The whole idea of constantly trying to find the light, no matter how much time you have, made me want to work harder in school and life in general. Another thing I liked was when he came right out and said that at least four people in the audience didn’t get told they were beautiful. It only instantly proved him right when he said that there were kids in this school that were dealing with hard times. Dr. Michael Fowler was the exactly the type of person I want to be. He was honest, bold, and used the pain and suffering he lived through to impact the lives of hundreds of people. That is the light I want to reach in my life.
