Essay #13

1/27/10
Jade
Mr.Salsich
English 8

What Lies Beneath the Surface:
An Essay on the Book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Ann Lee and Real Life Experiences

If we lived in a world where everyone got along we would be a boring group of people. There would be no controversy, no sense of individuality. Living in a world where we are all different shows us how some people have a completely different side to them, sometimes a side you don’t want to see. It takes effort to get to know somebody, but all it takes are a few words to end what relationship you might have wanted.

(TS)At a first glance you can’t know everything about someone. Just because you make small talk with a person doesn’t mean you automatically know everything about them. It takes longer than a few brief minutes to actually get a glimpse of their true character. (SD)In the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Ann Lee we begin to realize some of the characters we have been introduced to are not who we thought they were. (CM) Mrs.Merriweather becomes an excellent example of this when she says “You know what I said to my Sophie, Gertrude? I said ‘Sophie,’ I said ‘you simply are not being a Christian today. Jesus Christ never went around grumbling and complaining’,” (Lee, 310). Everyone listened, showing an appropriate amount of interest, exchanging nods and murmurs of agreements, their silence supporting Mrs.Merriweather in telling her story. (Loose Sentence). (CM)In these sentences lies the truth. Mrs.Merriweather only thinks in black and white; what she sees through her eyes can only be depicted in this manor. Sophie is black, and this makes Mrs.Merriweather think that she owns her. She will never think any other way because she separates black and white; there can be no gray; there can be no compromise. (SD)Mrs.Merriweather also shows her two colors when she has a conversation with Scout about the Mrunas. (CM)She starts out very sweetly telling Scout that “You are a fortunate girl. You live in a Christian home with Christian folks in a Christian town. Out there in J. Grimes Everett’s land there’s nothing but sin and squalor.”(Lee, 308). (CM) She then flips and starts to insult her maid saying “It’s never entered that wool of hers that the only reason I keep her is because this depression’s on and she needs her dollar and a quarter every week she can get it.” (Lee, 312). (CS) It’s surprising to see how people act when they feel comfortable enough to talk about their personal life. If you don’t agree with their thoughts and beliefs their entire personality can switch and you will be left with someone who you no longer have interest in seeing.

(TS)Not everyone gets along; we all have different likes and dislikes, styles and personalities, backgrounds and histories. (SD)It would be impossible for such a diverse group of people to be compatible with everyone. (CM)We should be able to acknowledge this fact and move on in a mature fashion. (CM)Even with this being said we still sometimes act in a very immature manor, taking situations and arguments to far. (SD)Everyone has done this at one point or another; including me. When I was a small child I would occasionally get into fights with my peers over silly reasons; whether it be sharing crayons or stealing toys. (CM)Back then it was hard to realize that we were arguing over something pointless, and there were problems around the world that could use half the attention we were giving to these pointless matters. (CM)Most of the time we would either shake hands or completely forget our mini war, but there were a few times that a classmate and I would not make up. We tried, putting an amazing amount of effort into this hopeless cause, but after what seemed like a life time of work we realized our differences and came to the conclusion that we were just not able to be friends. This was strange for me because I, the driven student, the devoted friend, the respectable young child, had never given up. (Periodic sentence) Of course, we were only five and this conclusion was made during the length of one recess, so this might not be the best example. Even knowing this the fundamental point is still made; not everybody gets along. Even if you put a life time of effort into a friendship, you still might never get where you want to be. We should acknowledge this and try to move on, making the best of our lives with what we are given.

We are blessed with the opportunity to be unique. Though there are people like us, we are all different. We tend to gravitate towards who we feel safe with, who we trust. When we step out of this bubble however, the people we meet can either have a positive or negative effect on you. You might find someone to be new and exciting and become the best of friends, but you might also realize that some people are the opposite of you, and have a darker side you did not anticipate. This has happened to everyone at one point in their lives. But relax, just because you don’t seem to “click” with someone, doesn’t mean you should give up.

One of the things I contunue to work on is unity. Though I like how I write; I think I often loose track of my main point and start to go off into different direcions. I do however think my writing often makes my point come across as very strong. A weak point in this is that when I put effort into making a point heard; I often loose my train of thought and everything gets mixed up. I would give myself a B- on this essay because I really think I could have done a lot better with unity.

Essay #12

1/21/10
Jade
Mr.Salsich
English 8

The Difference Between What’s Right for Us, and What’s Right:
An Essay Based on the Book To Kill a Mocking Bird and My Life

To be able to tell right from wrong is as important as being able to tell night from day. To some it’s a simple task, just tell the truth and everything will be ok. When we are young and innocent children, right and wrong seem so clear to us. It’s not until we get older and start to learn more of the unforgiving world that the truth can get lost somewhere, and only the children seem to weep.

(TS)If the difference between right and wrong is so obvious, why do we often get them mixed up? In the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Ann Lee, we soon find out that sometimes only the children really care about what’s right and what’s wrong. (SD)Sometimes it’s hard to understand why people make their decisions. (CM)Atticus understands this, saying “I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it-seems that only the children weep.”(Lee, 285). (CM) To Atticus, telling what’s right and wrong is effortless, but he knows only children see the world like this. (SD)As we get older and the world steels our innocence, we think nothing of it. (CM)But when faced with a serious problem, only the people who can easily decipher right and wrong actually care about the outcome. (CM)When the children are listening to Tom Robinsons court case, they realize that he is innocent. Even knowing this, he is convicted guilty and they are the only ones who actually seem to care. (SD)There have been many times in my life when I have had choose between right and wrong. (CM)For me, it’s very easy to tell the difference, if it hurts someone, or you’re not supposed to do it, it’s wrong. (CM)Even knowing this, I’ve made the wrong decision because of fear. Being afraid of what might happen can cloud your mind and make you think it’s ok to lie. (CS)We sometimes get the truth mixed up because we are afraid. But often the truth will end up helping everyone a lot more.

To be able to interpret right from wrong is important to learn at a young age because it will stick with you for the rest of your life. If we learn it as a child, we learn to make the right choice throughout the rest of our life. If we don’t learn it as a child, we make bad decisions because we never made the important connections essential to live a successful life. We all start out like a blank slate, but it’s the world and the decisions we make that transform us into who we are today.

I am still working on trying to "unify" my essays. In this particular essay, I think I started out nicely, but somewhere near the middle I lost track of my point. I do however like how my writing flows like a poem at times. I don't think there are any harsh or jagged sentences that don't seem to fit in just right. Even knowing this, I think I see a potential problem in some of my longer sentences. When I try to make a sentence longer it can sometimes become confussing to the reader. I try to fix this as much as I can, but the problem is that every sentence makes sence to me, so I don't see the need to clarify anything. I would give myself a B- on this essay because I think i could have dont much better on keeping an umbrella over my work.

Essay #8

1/19/10

Jade

Mr.Salsich

English 8

 

Unwanted

An Essay on the Book To Kill a Mocking Bird

(Sentence 1)To feel or to be unwanted is an excruciating way to live.(Sentence 2)Even knowing this, we still experience it every once and a while.(Sentence 3)Children can feel unwanted by their parents, just like parents can feel unwanted by their children. But feeling unwanted and actually being unwanted are two very different things that can sometimes be confused.(Sentence 4)In the book, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Dill feels very unwanted my his mother and step father, but sometimes when you over exaggerate a story a little to often, you start to believe what isn't true.

(TS)Everyone has felt unwanted at one point in their lives, but sometimes we take our thoughts a little to far.(SD)When Dill was discovered by Jem and Scout, he told an interesting story that made me think he was stretching the truth.(CM)He was positive that his mother and her new husband didn't love him because they "bound (him) in chains and left him to die in the basement"(Lee, 186). Whether his accusations were true or not, his story is obviously a cry for attention to anyone who will give it.(CM)At this point, everyone is positive that his parents didn't leave him to die, but they are positive that Dill must be very lonely because he went to so much trouble to get away from "his new father, who disliked him"(Lee, 186).(SD)Since Dill has come back to Maycomb, he has tried to act happy, but there are times when you can easily tell he is suffering.(CM)When Scout asked him "Why do you reckon Boo Radley's never run off?"(Lee, 192) he seemed almost sorry for Boo, but at the same time he feels cowardly for running away from his problems.(CM)He probably feels very confused at the moment, one part of him as happy he left because he was unwanted and unappreciated, but another part of him probably feels like he acted cowardly by running away.(SD)Dill isn't the only character in the book so far who has felt unwanted.(CM)Jem and Scout used to spend a lot of time together, but now that he is growing up, Scout feels like "he was now positively allergic to my presence"(Lee, 180).(CM)Its not surprising that Scout feels like she is a nothing but a bother in his presence. Jem is growing up and becoming less ignorant while Scout is still a little child.(CS)Feeling unwanted is a very common emotion. There are different types though, some only hurt like a pinprick, but others burn and ache for a long time, sometimes forever.

 

(TS)Feeling unwanted is not something you can easily avoid.(SD)I feel unwanted every once and a while, whether its about something silly like being a part of a kickball game, or something more serious like having a best friend reject you, we've all been through it.(CM)Some times we can get over it in a few minutes, sometimes it takes a few years.(SD)Even knowing that it hurts, we should acknowledge that it can be an excellent learning experience. I can easily remember a time when I was little that I felt unwanted.(CM)I was in the park with one of my friends and we were just playing on the slide. All of a sudden my friend ran off to go play with some other child.(CM)I remember exactly how it feels like, the sadness, the feeling of being unimportant.(SD)Luckily, I was only six and I forgot about the whole incident after a few minutes.(CM)At the time, I didn't think of the valuable lesson I  had unconsciously learned.(CM) I learned that you cant let something that makes you sad rule your emotions just because it feels better to wallow in your self pity.(CS)You have to learn how to let go of things that are harmful to you, and replace them with things that are good for you, things that make you happy.

 

(Sentence 1)Everything about being or feeling unwanted is a dreadful experience.(Sentence 2)Just because it feels right at the time, doesn’t mean you should let your self suffer.(Sentence 3)By letting your self suffer, you are not doing anyone any good.(Sentence 4)But by rising above this, you show just how strong you can be. 

High Hopes Journal: Visit #5

(TS)For the last few visits, I haven't done much of anything besides clean stalls and groom horses, but today was my time to actually help in a lesson.(SD)When I entered reception area, everything was just as normal as it always was.(CM)When I turned around, a very shy looking girl asked me for some help. (CM)She was also a volunteer and it was her first day on the job. I told her to follow me as I walked through the barn area, getting ready to help when needed.(SD)While showing her around, someone in the ring asked me to come in and help with a lesson.(CM)I entered, trying to remain calm, when my eyes locked with a pair of bright blue eyes on a sweet face. Lauren waved shyly as I came to stand beside her.(CM) Through out the lesson, I was amazed at her determination and willing to learn.(SD)What surprised me even more was that she had just become a big sister.(CM)Her parents had just returned from a trip to China with the baby girl they had just adopted.(CM)Every time I would ask a question about her baby sister, her face would light up and she would make more of an effort to speak.(CS)After the lesson was over, I walked her over to the waiting room where her father watched. I distinctly remembered the look on his face when we walked through the door. He looked so happy and grateful to have me working with his daughter, it almost brought tears to my eyes. I know I will always remember this visit, and I can say I made not only a little girl happy, but her family as well.

Essay #11

1/13/10
Jade
Mr.Salsich
English 8

The Price You Pay for Ignorance:

An Essay Based on the Book, To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Ann Lee and My Life

To some, ignorance is bliss, to others a way of life. To live with ignorance clouding your vision can be a relief for some because they don’t want to face the reality of their lives. To others, they can’t stand not knowing what’s going on around them because the thought of relinquishing what little power they have in their lives is terrifying. Ignorance can be perceived in a different way than in these two examples though, and they are as similar as they are different. Not being properly educated can be considered as ignorance. In the book, To Kill a Mocking Bird, ignorance shows its face throughout the story, weaving through the personalities of all the characters at some point to show that although we are all unique, we all go through some of the same issues.

In the book, every character shows some form of ignorance at one point or another. Scout is a good example of this because even though she is young, she understands more than most people think. Jem realizes that Scout might not be as ignorant as he might have thought, saying “Aw, she doesn’t know what we’re talkin’ about,” (Lee, 279), but was later convinced that she probably did. He decided to keep quiet after that, not wanting to take the risk of her understanding his conversation. Jem is surprised by how much Scout understands, and realizes he was the one being ignorant. Mayella Ewell also is a good example of ignorance. She has been poor her entire life and doesn’t know how to live any other way. Although she can read and write just as well as her father can, she is ignorant to society. When Mayella was in court, she consistently told Atticus that she would not answer any more questions “Long’s you keep on makin’ fun o me.” (Lee, 243). Atticus had done nothing wrong calling Mayella ma’am, she was the one who did not realize that he was only being polite. She has probably never been called ma’am in her life, so she was ignorant to how strangers talk with one another. Ignorance cannot always be avoided. Some people like Mayella Ewell have no choice because of how they live. Though you can still try to make the best of a situation, some people prefer to live with ignorance as a comforting cloud, shading you from reality. But there are times when reality forces its way through and shines like a bright light. Unfortunately, many people despise this ray of light, and prefer to be locked behind the clouds, feeling safe and at home in their comfort zone.

Ignorance in my life is something I try desperately do avoid. To me ignorance is not bliss; it’s a distraction, something to hide behind in a time of weakness. To be able to avoid reality to me is like playing hide and seek with your problems. You can run and hide as long as you want, but the longer you wait, the more aggressive your problem will be. Even knowing this, many people still find ways to run and hide. If they cannot do it themselves, they turn to even more self destructive methods like drugs and alcohol. At one point or another they are forced to see reality, whether it’s from a caring friend or a life or death situation. Even I hide sometimes; purposefully seeking ignorance for a little while even knowing that it won’t do any good. But every time this happens I tell myself that the problem is still there, and if I stop procrastinating, I might be able to get it done. Covering your problems up with ignorance is like letting the clouds cover the sun. The clouds may block everything for a little while, but at one point or another, the sun makes its presence noticed and it shines on all of your problems. Though ignoring your problems may seem like a good choice at the time, you are only being unfair to yourself and the people around you.

High Hopes Journal: Visit 4

(TS)On my fourth visit I felt more comfortable as I walked through the doors.(SD)I said help to a couple of fellow volunteers before heading straight to work.(CM)I had not been assigned to help with any lessons yet so I looked around until I found some work that needed to be done.(CM)Buddy, one of the lesson horses, needed to be tacked and groomed before his lesson. All of the other volunteers were busy so I happily took the job.(SD)At first I though this would be very easy.(CM)Buddy is a very large white horse who's back is taller than my head. (CM)Buddy is fully aware of his size and uses it to his advantage. As I entered his stall, I had to move him to the side to brush him. pushed as hard as I could but he wouldn't budge because he was eating his hay.(SD)I decided to let him finish his hay before trying to move him because it would be impossible to do so otherwise.(CM)After a while I found one of my friends and together were able to push Buddy over a few steps.(CM)having accomplished this small goal I proceeded in grooming and tacking Buddy, getting white hair all over me in the process.(CS)I felt like I was able to help out more today, even if I wasn't giving a lesson, I still did something important. My friends and I celebrated this success with our new hot chocolate tradition.

High Hopes Journal: Visit 3

(TS)I was especially excited to go volunteer today because of a simple phone call. (SD)Laura, one of the instructors had given me a call over the weekend to say welcome to High Hopes. (CM)She also called to tell me that I had been assigned to a lesson and I should be ready to help on saturday.(CM)Unfortunatly, I got replaced in the lesson with another volunteer at the last second and was assigned to do barn work again.(SD)I was not particually happy with this arrangement, but I told myself that every little thing done is a big help.(CM)I was told to sweep the isle ways and clean out some stalls.(CM)Most people do not like this job, but its a great opportunity to watch and listen. I have learned so much just by watching other people, and it can be very helpfull.(SD)At the end though, I did get to bring out one of the horses, Cassidy.(CM)Cassidy is one of the older, slower horses reserved for beginner riders. He is very sweet and gental and is one of the favorites at High Hopes.(CS)Though I again felt like I didn't help a lot, i got to do something new and bring out one of the horses. This was one more task that I was trusted to do, and the next will probably be even better.

High Hopes Journal: Visit 2

(TS)This was my first day actually working at High Hopes.(SD)I entered through the large glass doors and felt a pang of unease.(CM)What if the riders didn't like me? What if something goes wrong and someone gets hurt?(CM)Luckily, Sue greeted me at the door and told me to relax and have fun.(SD)After signing in, I went to the barn area and looked for someone to help me because I had no idea what to do.(CM)Dorothy found me and asked to help with cleaning some of the tack.(CM)As I was cleaning the saddles and bridles with the other volunteers I ended up making a few friends.(SD)Although I didn't feel like I helped very much on my second day, I know that every little thing is appreciated.(CM)If there were no people there to clean tack and groom horses, High Hopes wouldn't be able to function properly.(CM)This is true for many other things in life as well.(CS)If there wern't the people there who do the hard unwanted jobs for us, we would no longer be able to survive.

High Hopes Journal: Visit 1

(TS)This was my first visit to High Hopes and I had no idea what to expect.(SD)We entered the classroom and started with the orientation.(CM)Though I know about both horses and people with both physical and mental disabilities, I had never worked with the two put together before.(CM)Sue, one of the instructors, told us everything we needed to know about therapeutic riding and High Hopes so we could become a volenteer.(SD)We then went for a tour of the barn and got to see the "High Hopes heard".(CM) We were split into two groups and then taught how to tack and groom the lesson horses.(CM)It was and still is amazing to see how clam and gentil the horses are. (SD)After this, we went back into the classroom and I remember wondering to my self whether I was going to be able to do this.(CM)Everything had a place and a rule that had to be acknowleged, and I was terrrified at the thought of making a mistake.(CM)I soon realized though that I had not just joined a beautiful organization, but a loving and supportive family.(CS)Though I didn't get the opportunity to help out on the first day, I learned a lot about therapeutic riding. The people who go to take lessons all have the same dream, to be able to do something independantly. The determination on each one of the faces is increadible and inspiring. Showing that just because someone is different, they can still accomplish things no one would have thought possible.