Top Ten Favorite Sentences

"Belief can get get you through the hard times, the sad times, and the lonely times.(Purposeful repetition)." -This I Believe: An Essay on the Importance of Belief, May 17, 2010

I choose this sentence because I like the purposeful repetition. The repeated use of "the" really enhances each point that I make after it.

"The thought of my emotions having an echo because I have absolutely nothing to think about makes me realize that, although I might not be able to reach that level of serenity, I will be able to get through whatever is slowing me down." - The Power of Music: An Essay on how Music has Changed my Life, April 14, 2010

I choose this sentence because I like the length. It starts with a very to-the-point statement and seems to get softer as the sentence progresses.

"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)" - What Lies Beneath the Surface: An Essay on the Book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Ann Lee and Real Life Experiences, January 27, 2010

I choose this sentence because I think it's not only a good example of loose sentences, but it is easy to read. The words flow together so that when you come to the end, what you read it not a shock.

"To some, ignorance is bliss, to others, a way of life." -The Price You Pay for Ignorance: An Essay on the Book To Kill Mocking Bird by Harper Ann Lee and My Life, January 13, 2010

I choose this sentence because I like how much it says. Even though it is a short sentence is has a lot of meaning, which is what I wanted the reader to pick up on.

"If we had no one we would be no one." - A multi-genre Essay on Friendship, April 29, 2010

I like this sentence because it's short and sweet, but at the same time, extremely powerful.

"Everyone makes mistakes, its natural, its essential, its normal.(tricolon) - Forgive and Forget: An Essay on Learning to Move on, March 10, 2010

I choose this sentence because I like how it makes the reader feel at ease. It reminds them that we all make mistakes, and that there is nothing wrong with it.

Essay #23 - This I Believe

For many, finding something to believe in can be impossible. They are either to pessimistic or just can think of a single thing that could help them in the stress of their every day lives. Belief that there is something or someone that can help you eventually down the road can keep people going, whether it be a stranger or a friend. Sometimes in order to believe in something, you have to learn to believe something will happen.

(TS)For as long as I can remember, belief can be one of the hardest things to believe in. (SD)When you are troubled and you can't see your way out of a difficult situation, sometimes having faith that it will all work out can be close to impossible. (CM)I find this to be one of the hardest things to do, taking a step back and trusting that everything will be ok. (CM)I myself have much trouble stepping away form situations, the fear that they will fall apart when I walk a way can be terrifying. (SD)It takes a lot of strength to believe in belief. (CM)You have to understand that even if things don't work out for you this time around, they will someday soon. (CM)This truly is something unheard of for someone who struggles with control. When I think of just "letting go" and just hoping for the best next time it seems to be to unreliable, so many things could go wrong. (SD)Getting over your fear and taking the next step to try and accomplish this goal is harder than actually going out there and trying it. (CM)You have to find something, something that you believe in, something that brings you happiness as well as security, something that is good for you, and capture it. (loose sentence). (CM) It can be as simple as taking up a hobby that relaxes you, so you can focus on it when you need to separate yourself from a problem. (CS)Belief can get get you through the hard times, the sad times, and the lonely times.(Purposeful repetition). Believing that things will work out for the best can save you from the struggles brought on by stress. This I Believe.

Belief can be something so difficult, people give up on it completely. Almost everyone at some point has felt alone, unable to get them selves out of a bad situation. The feeling that you have to figure a way out by yourself can be overwhelming to most, the weight of the world would seem feather light compared to this. Belief doesn't have to be a big deal. It can be a friend giving you a hand or a stranger helping you out. It can be how someone makes you feel better when at the time, you felt pretty bad. Just believing that there will always be someone who could give you a hand can help you make it through the day. I believe in belief.

Essay #22

Some of the most beautiful things hide in the most desolate places. What some find to be ugly, lurking beneath the surface might to someone be beautiful. Though we can't always agree with what some find beautiful, we should at least try to appreciate it. Opening our minds to what we find ugly only leads us to what we find beautiful.

(TS)We are all unique, we all like and dislike different things. What some might find beautiful, others find disgusting.(SD) Naomi Shihab Nye writes a just this in a poem, saying." Nothing was ugly just because the world said so. He really liked those skunks. So, he reinvented them as valentines and they became beautiful. At least, to him."(CM)Nothing is ugly because one person says it is. (CM)Not one person or one group of people of many groups of people for that matter have the right to say something is ugly because there will always be someone out there who thinks it's beautiful.(SD)Anything can become beautiful if we just look closer. In Naomi Shihab Nye's poem she says "and they became beautiful. At least to him". (CM) If we look closer even the most desolate places can become beautiful, even if only to us.(CM)Sometimes what we find to be beautiful may not be shiny with a bow on top.(CS) What each of us finds unique depends of how each of us is unique from each other.

(TS)Beauty is all around us. No matter where we go in life, something beautiful will always be lurking in the shadows. (SD)I discovered this when I was confronted about living in New York City a few years back. (CM)I wasn't aware of the fact that a lot of people think of New York to be a dirty, money obsessed city, and now when I look back at all my years there, I understand. For a long time after I moved there I wasn't sure if that was completely true, many memories would pop up that wouldn't help me decide what I thought. (CM)Then I remembered a day that helped me decide. I was on the sidewalk, waiting for the stop light to turn green when I saw some newspapers fly-by in the wind. When I saw this my eyes automatically found the green of the trees in central park, then the gray, smog-filled sky. I looked around and saw so many different things going on and the colors for once weren't all gray, things seemed to pop of the concrete sidewalk. New York, to me, is one of the most beautiful places, not for it's money or class, but for it's ability to hold so much diversity. (SD)There have been times where I could not see the beauty that others see. (CM)A friend of mine once came up to me and asked me to read this poem she had found on the internet. After I was done I said I couldn't see why she though it was so special. (CM)It wasn't until she told me how the poem was beautiful to her that I realized not one thing can be beautiful to everyone. Sometimes we just have to learn to appreciate what some like until you find what seems beautiful to you.(SD)Just realizing this helped me open a new world, one filled with beauty in the shadows. Art is a good example of this. (CM)There is so much art in our world that sometimes we just don't know what to think. There have been many times when I would find a piece of art that I thought was beautiful. (CM)There was one piece in particular that took some time for me to like. The canvas for this piece looked as if someone threw two hundred paint-filled balloons at it. At first I only looked at the browns and the grays that were produced when some of the colors didn't compliment each other. But when I took a step back, I realized that all the colors came together to create almost a community. Every splotch of color worked with the others to produce something amazing. Even the grays and browns came together to represent that all communities can have a rough patch. (CS)These colors and defaults made this piece beautiful, at lease to me.

Beauty is a diverse subject. Everybody has their own idea of beauty, whether it's green trees and blue skies, or the purple clouds in the darkest of night. Everything has a deeper meaning to it, we just have to look. We don't have a right to say something is ugly just because we think it at first glance. Nothing is ugly because there is always going to be someone out there who finds it beautiful.

Self Assessment:

One of the things that I am working on to help improve my work in English is coherency. I feel that sometimes I get lost in what I'm writing because I am trying to make my work have flow that makes it easy to read and slightly poetic. On this essay I think I did a good job explaining how the world is beautiful to me and how others may see it. Each chunk had a different example of something that I find beautiful. I do, however, think that I need to start making my chunks more proportioned. Often times I will have something to say and my first SD and CM will be normal length while my final CM is very long.

Essay #21

Dear Reader,

This is an essay explaining and sharing some of the emotions that are brought along when you find a really good friend. We all know what it feels like to have a friend, how great it can be. But we also know how painful it can be when we lose a friend, even if just for a little while. I hope this essay will help you put to ease some of the worries you might have about a friendship in your life. Always remember, objects are temporary, but friends can last forever.

Sincerly,

Jade

*****

What is friendship? Is it something everyone is entitled to? How can we make it last forever? How can it help us? Friends can be the net that catches us when we fall, the base of a structure that can hold us together. Friendship is something you have to work at, something that you give as well as receive. It's something you have to earn, and something that can never truly be bought. Where would we be without it? We all need someone to talk to, someone to trust. Someone to laugh with as well as cry with. If we had no one we would be no one. Friends hold us up, asking nothing in return, and teach us the most important lesson in life, that as an individual are not more important than anyone else. That we all need someone we can call a friend in rough times.

*****

FRIENDSHIP

Start with two people, both good at heart.

Mix at room temperature in a cliché environment so both bond together.

Let sit for a while, so bonds and memories can be formed.

Add trouble, bumps in the road to test strength.

Add sweet spices and good times to compliment such a fine thing.

Place in the oven and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and fluffy.

Let cool and enjoy with someone in a cliché environment so a new friendship can be baked.

*****

JOB APPLICATION:

Looking for a friend for Romeo Montague.

Must be caring and empathetic as well as light hearted and easy to talk to.

Must be between the ages of 13-16 and must have plenty of experience with healthy friendships.

This is not a job with a weekly pay check.

You will be paid in laughs, good times and memories.

*****

(TS)Friendship is something we can't live without.(SD) If we were truly alone, we would have no emotion, no sense of genuine love.(CM)We wouldn't know how to laugh with other people, let alone share our feelings.(CM)We would be somewhat of emotionless beings, walking around with all of our thought bottled up.(SD)The truth is even though many say they have no friends, that's not the case.(CM)There is a fine line between not having real friends and not actually having anyone at all.(CM)The only reason we are alive today is because we are able to maintain our sanity by talking to other human beings, and though it might be nicer to have friends to talk with their not necessary.(CS)Friends are essential to everyone's life. Though we are all different, we all need the same basic thing, love.