The Snow

The snow.

The snow that came in the night always lies perfectly on the non visible grass.

The snow is like a white blanket covering the earth.

The snow is usually untouched except for a few animal tracks.

The snow.

The snow is what causes 3 second burns when your glove and your coat don't meet.

The snow can hurt when the neighborhood kids decide to start a snowball fight.

The snow, when bumpy, can throw little toddlers off their brand new sleds.

The snow.

The snow creates laughter that people can hear inside while enjoying their morning coffee.

The snow fills houses with screams of delight as kids run down the stairs and see the first snow of the year spread out across the cold earth.

The snow makes children cry when they get hit too hard with a snowball.

The snow.

The snow lets you smell the warmth of hot chocolate when you walk in the house after a long day playing in it.

The snow makes the winter air smell cold and more bitter then usual.

The snow breathes into the air making it smell like a cold white cloud.

The snow.

The snow freezes your throat so you have to go inside for hot chocolate.

The snow is fluffy on the ground and melts away into the warmth of your mouth, tasting of rain water and fluffiness.

The snow freezes your lips when you fall into the snow and when you try to lick them warm, your tongue gets filled with bitterness. 

Theme Analysis

Author's Note: This story talks about the theme of strong love and how it shows in the book Maximum Ride by James Patterson and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

                                                                                 Strong Love

Holding your little brother's hand as you cross the street. Going to the mall with your older sister. That happens when the love between siblings is strong. Very strong. In the book Maximum Ride by James Patterson,  the six mutant bird kids have a love relationship so strong, that no one and nothing can break it -- no matter how much anyone tries.

One example of strong love is when Angel, the youngest of the Flock(all six of the mutant bird kids), gets kidnapped. They don't call the police or sit and wait around until they know she isn't coming back. They attack the situation right away and try to get her back. All of them love her too much to leave her. They will never let any one of them go unless they completely turn evil and are out to eat the rest of them.

Later in a different book in the series, the Flock gets split into two groups. One with the boys, and one with the girls. The whole time that they're apart, all they want to do is be with each other and all they can think about is if the other group is okay and if they are even still alive. Their love is so strong it hurts to be apart.

Without having a mom or dad, none of them  had anyone to care about except each other.  Another book where kids don't have parents to watch out for them and care about them is the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Even though Lily has a dad, he doesn't care about her at all. That's why when she meets the Calendar Sisters, she gets so easily attached and she never wants to let them go because the only one she has ever felt loved by before is Rosaleen. Just like Maximum in Maximum Ride, when she meets Dr. Martinez, she never wants to let go because the only people she has ever been loved by is the Flock.

Anyone who gets mad at their parents or siblings, just remember, no matter what they say or do, they will always love you strongly if you return the love to them. You should always show it if you love them, because some people out there, don't have anyone loving them and you should appreciate what you have and who you have in your life, even if they don't always show that they love you back.

Prediction

315

          He was making the biggest decision of his life. Once he melted the gold, there was no turning back. The words kept repeating in his mind, "you better bury me with my treasure." It felt like his head was going to explode with confusion. He turned his head and looked outside at the pounding rain beating against the window. He knew what he had to do.

          He slipped his raincoat off the hook where the rest of his jackets hung, and then he slid it on. The warmth from it immediately filling his body. Even though he doubted himself, he knew it was what he had to do to be able to sleep again at night. It had been four days since the death of Clarence Buchanan and Cody hadn't got any sleep since them. Every night he had nightmares of the cold, almost dead body repeating the words over and over again. 

          Cody finally gained the courage and left his cabin with the golden hook and ring, shivering in the pouring rain and getting goose bumps from the cabin door creaking shut. Not sure if he'll ever see it again, he ran. He ran and ran until finally he could make out Clarence's cabin through the rain that was making it almost impossible to see. He went inside and then realized how much this place reminded him of his cabin. Then he shut out the thought. He was on a mission and nothing could distract him.

          He searched the almost empty cabin, which was only one room, for the shovel he would use to dig up the body and return the treasure to it. The shovel couldn't be found anywhere. Not in the cabinets, under the bed, behind the curtain. It wasn't anywhere. He then realized there was one place he didn't check. The coat closet.

          He slid the door open with force because something seemed to be holding it back. When he finally manged to get it open wide enough that he could easily see inside, he found out why the door wouldn't open.

          Inside lay the dead body of Clarence Buchanan. Staring right at him. Cody screamed so loud that he couldn't hear. Then the whole world started to black out. That was when he went crashing to the ground, managing to slam his head on the corner of a bed, knock over a lamp, and spill a half drank glass of moldy water onto the floor. 

          To this day people in the town of Marshall say, that every April 21st, at 11:03, they can still hear Cody's scream coming from the forest. Loud and clear.

Character Analysis

Author's Note: For language arts, we had to write a character development/analysis and explain how the character changes throughout the book. 

         

The Flock

          The flock. Now you're probably thinking about birds right? Well that’s not exactly what I'm talking about. I am talking about people who are 2% birds that have wings and are able to fly.  In the novel Maximum Ride, there are six of them and they grew up in cages, and I'm not over exaggerating, it says, "we grew up in a science lab/prison called the School, in cages, like lab rats". But they are also getting used to the ordinary life of a human. Well, the ordinary life of a human with wings.

          They definitely change though because they get attacked and then learn that they have to expect the unexpected. That very well helps them though, because then they become tough as bones and will never turn done a fight that is needed. Also, during a fight, they will never back down or give up, like they always say in the book, "I will never lie down". They will fight to the death. Literally. They aren't the only ones who change though, they change others.

          They change other people, usually kids in the book, by telling them that they should always stick up for what they believe in and they  let them know that the adults aren't the only ones who can create their future for them. They can if they can if they really try to make the world a better place. They also influenced me and all the other readers. They let me know that even though it's a fiction book, my life is not that bad and I shouldn't complain because there are people out there who's lives are twenty times worse than mine.

          Katniss Everdeen. You are probably thinking I am very off topic now, talking about Katniss and The Hunger Games. But I'm not. Katniss and the flock are surprisingly similar in many ways. Katniss also has a very bad life and also she will never give up. Most of all though, neither of them will ever stop fighting.

          Just remember though, the next time you're mad that your parents give you vegetables and make you eat them, you aren't a hybrid bird-human that many people are out to kill every day and always have to be in hiding. Compared to them, you have a great life.

Patriots Pen

Author's Note- There was a writing contest called Patriots Pen and we had to respond to the question which was, "what would you tell the founding father's?"

A Huge Thanks

Dear Founding Fathers,

                Thank you. Two words that you greatly earned to hear. Thank you for making it possible for us all to live together as one. Thank you for providing a strong foundation of human rights. Most of all, thank you for making me proud to be an American.

                You made many things right and fair, but some things were not so fair. Why should only Caucasian men be citizens? It should not matter what gender or race you are. Women and people who are not Caucasian still have the right to do things. They can’t change how they are born and they should not be treated differently because of it.

                Another thing you made a huge mistake on is slavery. You should have ended slavery in the constitution. Right then and there. If you are going to be rude to people whose skin is different though, they should still be considered a full person and not 3/5 of one. Also if a slave escapes into a free state, they should be free and shouldn’t have to be returned to the party which owns them. It takes a lot of effort to escape and if they do, they should get to stay free.

 Something you should know is that you should have perfected the constitution so that everyone would be happy. If you would have done that, there would be no need for the bill of rights and seventeen more amendments. So, the constitution did have some flaws, but overall America is a strong country now. Almost everything has to have some flaws because nothing is perfect. For the last time I would again like to give you a huge thank you for all the time you put into it and making America the country it is today. You did a great job making us be able to all live together as one in peace.

Cause and Effect

Author's Note: For language arts, we had to analyze a story that we've read and pick a main event that happened and explain the conflicts before that and how the story would be different if it hadn't happened.

The Secret Life of Bees

          The story The Secret Life of Bees is about a girl whose life is terrible. If you think your life is terrible because you have to do chores, have good manners, and always tell the truth; think again. Lily's life is ten times worse than that.

          Her father makes her kneel on grits for hours on end if she does anything wrong. Another punishment is getting slapped in the face. Oh, and did I mention Lily accidentally killed her mother when she was four? If I didn't tell you, now you know. Lily gets sick of it though.
          The climax of the story occurs when she decides that the best thing to do is run away with her stand-in mother Rosaleen. She ends up at a honey bee house with colored women. Consequences of the climax are  someone gets arrested and another person commits suicide. It's not all bad though because one of the colored women gets married because the women commits suicide.
          So, the next time you ever think that you want to run away or that your life sucks, just remember, your life is not in the same level of bad as Lily's.     

Conflicts

Author's Note: I explained the main conflict in the book Catching Fire.

Catching Fire

             After Katniss and Peeta win the Hunger games in the first book called the Hunger Games, the rule is that you get to live with your family in Victor's Village, and that you never have to be in the reaping again. But all the rules aren't true. This is a person vs. person conflict because it is Katniss, against the other 23 victors. 

            The next year for the Hunger Games, it's not anyone from age 12 to 18. It's one boy and one girl victor from each district. Since Katniss is the only girl victor from district 12, she has to be in the Hunger Games again. The two boy victors are Peeta and Haymitch, there previous mentor from last year. So Haymitch gets picked and then Peeta volunteers.
            The problem gets resolved by district 13 taking Katniss, and some other people out of the Hunger Games near the end when there are not that many victors left.

Personal Narrative

Go-Karts and Mayhem

“Vroom, vroom,” my dad, my brother, all the other drivers, and I were in our go-karts and ready to go. We were at Mt. Olympus on the track called the Trojan horse and were waiting with a great amount of eagerness for the vivid red light to flash green.

“Three, two, one, beep,” and we were off; speeding down the track like nothing else mattered. I was in a fairly fast car, so I was near the front of the group, but I think my dad and brother were in front of me. I’m not the type of person to just give up though, so I kept driving my go-kart like I was going to win a shiny gold medal if I won. Once I drove up the curvy track that goes into the giant wooden horse there is a big turn.

The turn wasn’t anything on that first lap, but when the second lap came, it was a disaster.

As I was making the turn, I got hit from  behind. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but my whole kart turned. It was sideways and I couldn’t go anywhere. So, the lady who hit me, with her little kid in the kart, decided to get out and help me.

I was fine with it because I thought it would help me, and get me out of a sticky situation. But all didn’t turn out too well.

The go-kart would not budge. It was like a fish on a hook.

We tried everything, pushing, pulling, turning, and even flat out trying to drive away.

Finally, we came up with the master plan, I was going to press on the brake and turn the wheel , while she pushed the kart.

At first, nothing happened. Then, we heard the engine roar, and I was off.

I was happy to be speeding off again and to feel the wind blowing through my hair.

I drove around one more time, this time, being more cautious of the turn, then I pulled under the pavilion, seeing my brother and dad already there.

Even though I came in almost last place, it taught me that if I just take life slow, good things will happen and things will come much easier.

Retelling

Spoiled

By Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

When Molly, a 16 year old girl, finds out that her biological father is Brick Berlin, a very famous movie star, her life gets turned upside down. She moves to Los Angeles and then meets her half-sister, Brooke. Then she has to get used to a new school where she doesn’t exactly fit in. Can she survive the vicious Hollywood lifestyle?

Questioning Is Important

Author's note: For the reading workshop we had to do a quote analysis and respond what we think the quote means and if we disagreed or agreed on what the quote was.          



                       The important thing is to never stop questioning.

                                                                 -Albert Einstein

          I think what Albert Einstein was trying to say is that asking questions is something you should always do because it makes you smarter and things will be easier. I can relate to this because I ask questions a lot so that things make more sense and I'll have more knowledge for further reference to these things. This is a good quote to remember, because it's better to ask questions and know things, than to be too embarrassed to and not have that extra knowledge that can be very useful when you need it. Therefor, I very much agree with this quote because it makes a lot of sense and is a good thing to follow.