Susie Salmon Being Transparent

If Susie Salmon walked into the room and I saw her for the first time, she would have long reddish hair and be very pale. I would think that she is ill because she is so pale, and she would would be transparent. If I saw her, she would have to be a ghost since she has passed away, and ghosts are transparent. I can see her acting like nothing is unusual and just go sit down with a calm, blank look on her face.

No Character the Same

*Authors Note: In this piece I compared the main characters in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and their reasoning.*

            Laurie Halse Anderson gave each of the characters in her book Speak their own very unique personality. None of them even being close to being the other in any way except for one, they have issues. Every single human has their own little problems, just most authors make it seem like everyone is the same. This author made each character their own, an original. Each character had a purpose, or a lesson behind it. You just have to search. The three main characters, Melinda, Heather, and Andy Evans are more different than any three people could be.

Melinda doesn’t say much of anything, but I have a lot to say about her. From the first sentence in the book, anyone could tell she has a negative personality, and doesn’t usually search for the positive in anything. The word to define her would be pessimistic. A lot of people are pessimistic, especially teenagers, but she really sees no good in anything. When I was reading her thoughts I figured something must have happened to her. There are some things that happen that have to have a reason behind it, for example, a newly becoming freshman calling the cops at a high school drinking party. Unless they wanted to ruin their reputation for the next four years, something had to happen.

What happened is Andy Evans, or as Melinda calls him, IT. Andy Evans is the type of guy your parents warned you about, and for good reasoning. He’s hot and he knows it, and uses it to his perverted advantages. The man telling kids that he has candy in his van is the vibe I get from reading how Melinda talks about him. She met him at a party, though she was drunk and partially out of it, she knew what Andy did was wrong. He raped her; he didn’t stop when she was attempting to push him off. She had a great reason to call the cops, but she didn’t speak up about what happened and everyone thought she just called to break the party up. No one wanted to talk to her or communicate with her; they knew if they did they would join her at the bottom of the Pyramid of Popularity.

Every school has that one girl that would do anything to fit in, and in Melinda’s school, that girl is Heather. Melinda meets Heather at lunch; Heather is new and sits down next to her, not knowing what she is getting herself into. Heather is the type of girl who wants everything to be perfect. Popularity is one of her biggest necessities, and her starting off being seen with Melinda probably wasn’t one of the best decisions on her choice. Melinda and Heather are complete opposites, Melinda is a very negative person and Heather is way too positive and peppy, over-the-top. With no problem being outspoken on her current issues and just every topic possible, Heather lets Melinda get away with not having to speak. Even though Melinda was desperate for someone to talk to and not be so alone, Heather was not the type of friend she wanted. She was self centered and only cared about what happened to her, and ditched Melinda later on because of her reputation.

In the book Speak, if you look close enough you will be able to find a lesson in every chapter. Melinda taught me to defend myself, even after something bad has happened, because no matter how minor or how major the conflict, someone or something can help. Heather taught me that if I try to get everything the way I want it to be, I will end up exploding. Or if I ditch the only people that were there for me for “better” people, I will end up regretting it so I just shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks. Do what makes me happy, be friends with people who accept me. Andy Evans made me realize not to trust anyone within an hour of meeting them, or to not think someone is as great as I think they are. They could turn out to be the total opposite. I learned something from each of these three characters, the wannabe, the innocent/mute, and the person who is to blame.

The Lesson

Before

All I have to do

Is cut a little deeper

The razor going further

Into my skin

Cut

A

Little

Deeper

Until all the

Pain and frustration

I feel

Fades away

The Aftermath

Awakened to the sight

Of not what was expected

The worst part

Is not the feel

Of wanting to die

But knowing

You failed at life

And failed at death

And what comes after

The Realization

Here

Back to the place

That gave me

All the horrible thoughts

Of myself

And the people

Who influence

My view on life

I realized that

It is not as

Bad as I remember

And that

I

Will

Be

O.K.

Setting of Speak

   *Authors Note: This is a  description on the setting in the book "Speak"*

     The setting isn't as simple as "It takes place in a high school", even though it does, because it takes place in a high school where everyone hates the main character, Melinda. Going to a high school where everything is fine, you have someone to sit by at lunch, people to talk to in the halls, is a completely different setting than Melinda going to a high school where everyone dislikes her.  The setting effects the plot because where it takes place changes what they do, if you were at a doctor’s office, you wouldn’t be studying ancient Rome or Spanish verbs. Setting a place and time in a book is very important, otherwise readers would be confused about what is going on.

             

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You Have To Be Cruel To Be Kind

*Authors Note: This is a response to the short story "Thank You, M'm" about what reminded me of the story.*

In the short story “Thank You M’m”, the main character Mrs. Jones gives a great example of the saying “You have to be cruel to be kind.” Never have I ever met someone like Mrs. Jones, a young boy tried to mug her, and she took him to her house. Since I am somewhat sane, I would say most people would injure the mugger and call the police. She did kick him, and hit the boy with her purse, but she was nice to him, with a mean tone, but meaning nice. She had a cruel tone that is where the cruel plays in the saying. She ordered the boy, who she found out is named Roger, to eat the food she made him. She gave him ten dollars while giving him a lecture on why he shouldn’t pick pocket. She was cruel, but kind.

Gateway Drug

*Authors Note: This is a creative piece I wrote based off a sentence I chose from the whiteboard, turned into a short story.*
 

        David froze, checking his pockets. Where was the money?

“You said you would have it, Dave. I’ve covered for you one too many times.” scolded Louis, David’s dealer. “If you don’t have money, you don’t get OC.”

“I know the rules, just one more chance. I need this stuff, it’s the only thing that can keep me sane now a days.” muttered David.

He wasn’t lying, David was addicted, if he didn’t get his daily dose of Oxy Cotton, his mind would go crazy. The problem with this though, he never had the money to pay. His boss at the auto shop downtown laid him off.  Said he wasn’t normal and needed to get help. Dave didn’t need help; even the thought of it makes him snicker.

“Want to share with me what’s so funny, I thought you said you really needed this, and now you’re laughing? Get a job, and when you get enough cash, you can hit me up again.”

            David grimaced, Louis didn’t understand. No one seems to understand him anymore. Person after person keeps telling him the way he has been acting lately isn’t who he is, but it is. This is the man he has become.

“Listen bro, I promise, I will have the money by tomorrow. Just, please. I need this,” his voice lowered to a whisper. “I’ll do anything,”

“No, you won’t. I’ve helped you out with this way too many times, and it seems this situation is coming more and more frequently. I’m done.”
            Louis turned on his heel, starting to walk away, but David was getting his gateway drug, whether Louis liked it or not. David ran straight forward towards him, grabbed the bag from Louis’ back pocket. Turning away, sprinting as fast as he could, he tripped over a rock. Yes, a small stone.

            Louis trampled over to him, grinning. “I told you, you should tie your shoe laces man. Get your head put on straight.”
            Maybe I will, David thought.

Before I Fall

*This is a book ad on the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver*

Sam dies; actually, she dies 3 times. She gets a whole week

to fix what happened that one night, but she learns that she's

not reliving it to save herself, but someone else.

I would recommend this book to people who like to read mysteries.

Before I Fall by Lauren  Oliver

Genre: Mystery/Romance

Pages:470

Text Structure Piece

      *Authors Note: This is a piece of writing that shows the main cause and affect events that happened in FORGE.* 
  Every action you make has an effect on future events. Most of the time, your actions turn on you, you do something that later puts you in a situation that isn’t going to be a fun time. Of course, everything ties together all the way back to your choice that started the whole mess. Most of the time, it makes you think, was it worth it? For Curzon, from forge, it was.
        It all started with running away. Which is always a risky decision, because no matter how far you run, there is always that chance of getting caught. Curzon and his friend Isabel are both slaves for the same person, and would do anything not to be. So they decide to run away together. Along the road, they found some bumps, and found out both of them have different destinations they want to reach. Which is something that should have been spoken about before they actually went for it, and dropped everything and left.
    While Isabel went her way, Curzon headed the direction in which they were going to begin with. Isabel chose to go to the city where her and her sister got seperated, but Curzon disagreed completely with her. Saying that is where their master woud look first, an obvious give away. So they had a goodbye that didn't end so well, and went their seperate ways. Down his path he heard gunshots, being curious he followed the noise. He saw a boy around his age, furiously trying to beat a British redcoat to loading and shooting a gun first. Curzon knew the choice he was about to make could go two ways, 1.) He could throw the rock and miss completely, turning the attention to him and risking his life, not only the boys. Or 2.) He could hit the redcoat where intended and save a fellow American.
    Curzon took his chances and threw the rock anyway, hitting his target in the head. The boy thanked him, and thinking he was a soldier guided him to the fort. Curzon of course went with it, thinking it would be very difficult for his master to find him here. Going fort to fort, always on the move. Unfourtanetly, there was one soldier in particular that was very on edge with Curzon. Racism is everywhere, no matter where you go you will always find someone against a certain race, especially during the Revolutionary War, which is the time period this story is placed in. So when he joined the fight, he was not very surprised that soldier who treated him with disrespect because of his skin color.
    Not only did his arguments with this man affect him, but the soldiers around him. They had to work with these men every day, morning to night, while they hated each other. The tenseness of the conversations would make the other soldiers feel uncomfortable, knowing a fight could break out at any moment.  Which goes to prove that whatever Curzon says or does, does not ony affect him, but the others involved in the situation as well. Sometimes people need to think before they speak.

Compare

     *Authors Note: This is an essay on where I compare two different books, where they have similar and different situations.*  
        Over the past month, I have read two books that completely reflect on eachother. Reading them side by side was like looking in a mirror, everything is the opposite. In the mirror, your right hand is shown on the left side, in the case of the books, one is written during the Revolutionary War time period, and the other during the modern day. Forge and 10 Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have) differ in many ways, but mostly how the people speak and act. Would you see a kid talking and swearing at his parents back in the Revolutionary War period? No, the child would learn his lesson by a beating. While now a days, children disrespect their parents and adults all the time, and get away with it most of the time.
    For Curzon, he didn't have any parents, they were sold speratley from him to a different master. So in his case, if he doesn't want to do something, he gets made to, and not in just a lecture, but hurt physically. While the girl in 10 Things We Did... was rebelling against hr parents, and they didn't even know it. She didn't want to leave her friends, her school, and her life in her hometown. So while her parents were moving to a total different state, thinking she was staying with her best friend and her mom, she was planning the first party they would throw because the parent wasn't there. Curzon didn't get to move into a friends house when he ran away, although he didn't run away by himself. They disagreed on where to go, so they went in different directions, and now he was alone.
    Here is what was happening at the "No Parents" household while Curzon was searching for a place to go: The girls threw a gigantic party, with most of the student body. Curzon was now signed up as a soldier in the war. He felt it would be the only decision he could make. Always being on the move the master would hardly be able to track him down. The girls had a wide variety of choices that would have been useful of their time besides to throw a party. Not surprising, they chose the fun choice.
    As a soldier, there was no fun choice, fun was not in Curzon's vocabulary. He ate, he slept, and he fought. Sometimes, he didn't even get the choice to eat, and didn't eat for days. While Curzon savored every last bit of his fire bread, (water and flour cooked over a fire.) the girls ate as much junk food as possible, and every night was take out night. Although they were in the same type of situation, going out on their and finding out hard the world can be, they handled the situation in two completely different ways.
    While taking advantage of the situation can be fun, it hardly ever helps you out in the long run. If you take responsibilty of yourself like Curzon, it will improve you as a person and make you understand how the world works outside of your safe zone. The girl ended up getting caught and being punished, when Curzon was sent free. They took the exciting road, but ended up sliding off the side. Curzon took the mature road and stayed on the path all the way to the finish line.

Maybe Evil Isn't as Evil as You Think

*Author's Note: This is a Point of View piece I wrote to show the difference it makes when put into another POV.*

In Forge, an historical fiction book written by Laurie Halse Anderson, the story takes place in the middle of the fight against the British. Curzon, a runaway slave, finds himself entering the war to fight. Even though it was tough being a soldier, Curzon thought it was better than not being able to do anything with your own free will. His luck didn’t last, he was located. His master had found him, and ordered him back to being his servant. So when Curzon returned to his “home”, he was surprised to see Isabel there. They had just attempted to run away months ago, but disagreed on where to go, so went their separate ways. Now here they are, back to the beginning.

Curzon expressed his hatred for his master openly, and made all the punishments the master gave him worse than they were, and exaggerated also when he punished Isabel. What if we saw those punishments from the master’s eyes? No one knows how he was thinking when he gave it to them; maybe he had a reasonable explanation to why he did such a thing.  Isabel and Curzon are supposed to be working for him, but have attempted to run away multiple times. He has a reason to be on edge since they could attempt to run away again at any given time.

Since the most recent runaway, Curzon and Isabel decided to go their separate ways after an argument on where they should be headed. Isabel wanted to go and find her sister, but Curzon believed that is where the master would search for them first. So they went down different paths, and once both were caught, Isabel showed her anger toward Curzon, she felt betrayed that he left her to go where he wanted to, but he felt strongly about his decision. If Isabel told this story though, maybe she felt even stronger on her choice of destination.

Also, the whole entire story would change if Isabel was the narrator, readers would see her adventure and how she had gotten caught and brought back their masters home. If it was told from her point of view, I bet I would support every decision she makes, just as I did Curzon. That’s the point of books, right? To support the main character through their journey, so of course reader’s opinions would change if the story they once read was told by a different character.

No matter what book you may read, who the story is focused on plays a big part in how readers choose to see the rest of the characters. In Forge Curzon shows us how he see’s others, so that’s the only way readers are able to see them too. How he handles situations is different from others also, so he shows us his personality, but others will always seem worse than him. HE takes readers through his journey of loss, failure, but later success.