Love and Sacrifice

Author's Note: This is the Point of View assignment we were assigned in class Monday. In the first paragraph, I answer who's telling the story, if we can trust her, and how her Point of View affects how we interpret events in the story. In the second paragraph, I state how the interpretation of the story would change how we viewed events. In the final paragraph, I wrote creatively in his point of view. The main character in the first paragraph is Francesca Johnson, and the character is the final two paragraphs is Robert Kincaid. Enjoy!

If love comes your way at the wrong time, and in the wrong circumstances, what are you supposed to do? How do you make the decision against your heart or your family? That is exactly what Francesca Johnson, the main character in The Bridges of Madison County, must do. As she is telling the novel, you see a loving mother, willing to do anything for her children. She is even willing to give up her one destined love in life for them. Although you can trust her viewing of the story, the interpretation is changed. The reader is eligible to see the love affair through the eyes of someone who has something precious to lose. What would happen if the novel was shown in the viewing area of someone who has nothing to give up? Who has nothing in life lost, only gained?

Robert Kincaid was the man who had nothing that needed giving up, just everything to gain. He could gain love, acceptance, a permanent home. Robert found in all in his true love, Francesca Johnson. The primary issue? She was already married with children. Though Robert understood her circumstances, if it was told in his view point, there would be no terribly difficult decision making. Right away, the choice to be together for the rest of their lives would be made. Sadly, Francesca was the primary teller of this story, and her children are too precious for her to lose.

I gaze over at the love of my existence, sleeping soundly next to me. I analyze the face I've stared at for hours on end without boring, from her beautiful hair, her perfect eyebrows, the eyes that have the depths of a endless lake, the slightly pointed nose, and the lips I feel like I've kissed a million times. This is the face of the person I can't bear to lose. Yet, I'm sure, in the next coming days, I will lose her. Francesca must make the decision between me and her family, and I know the choice she will make. It's the choice that if I wasn't selfish, I would hope she would make. Her family can't survive without her. Yet can I survive without her? What will my life become? Will I morph into a wanderer of the world, with no point, no sense of direction? I'm almost certain that I will. It saddens me, but I can't avoid it. I accept it. I am lost without her, yet for her sake, for the sake of the purity of her soul, I will let her go. Although, I will never let her go completely. I will always be waiting in the wings for her, so she wishes to return. If this never occur, Francesca will have a location in the strongest part of my heart.

Solitude and Redemption

Author's Note: This was a journal that we had to do this morning. We had to write in the point of view of one of the options listed on the board. I decided to do the last living flower in a flower bad. It begins devastatingly, yet has a happy ending. Hope you enjoy!

 

I'm alone. No one around me, nothing surrounding me for miles and miles. The empty flower bed stretches for what seems like forever, never ending. I was planted here about two weeks ago, along with about two dozen other. Everything was going wonderfully! A new family was created with me. We loved and cared for each other, being best friends. Suddenly, my own little world collapsed out from under me. The huge, stalking figure that first planted us all began to spray a demon liquid from a ivy colored shape. It whacked every other member but me repeated in every part of their body. The arms, legs, torso, even their face. I heard their shrieks of agony, and in my head I heard my own. Not one of physical pain, one of mental exhaustion and agony from what my family was going through. Nothing I could do would be able to cease their pain. Everyone I ever knew died less than four hours later. Now, here I am. Solitude. For the rest of my existence. How can I survive? Wait just one second. Oh no! It's the huge stalking figure again! Is he coming to finish me off? No, no he's not. He's throwing seeds next to me, all around me. Stalking man is planting new flowers! Although nothing will ever replace my former family, I can create a new one! This is the beginning of the rest of my beautiful life!

The Bridges of Madison County Scene Piece

Author's Note: This is a scene that I dreamed up while reading The Bridges of Madison County. This is in Francesca's point of view, about when she meets Robert for the first time. Enjoy!

I hear the rumbling of a truck before I see it. The faded-red painted vehicle, looking at least ten years old. It pulls into my driveway, and then he comes out. I see him. I see him, and suddenly, a realization slams into my mind. I know him. I mean, I don't know him, yet I feel like I've met him before. Not just met, but already gotten to know. This man is already a friend, heading down the road of more than a friend. I'm married, and yet I feel a greater connection to him than I do to my own husband, the supposed love of my life. Yet he's not. Looking at him, this "stranger", and I know I am looking at the true love of my life.

The Bridges of Madison County Prediction Piece

Author's Note: This is a prediction piece about The Bridges of Madison County. I am writing about how I think that the primary characters will ultimately fall in love, no matter how challenges almost tear them apart. I explain why I think this by connecting this to the novel The Notebook. Enjoy!

Walking across the yard, seeing a traditional southern home rising up in front of you. Looking at the woman sitting on the porch, and feeling an intense connection. This is exactly what has happened so far between Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson in The Bridges of Madison County. The strong connection that has sparked between them leads me to believe that Robert and Francesca will ultimately fall in love, no matter what consequences fall from it or what obstacles face them. Another primary factor that leads me to believe this is the novel The Notebook. The Bridges of Madison County reminds me of this book in the fact that like Madison County, the main characters of The Notebook, Noah and Allie, encounter an intense connection right when they first meet. No matter what challenges face them, they still manage to stay in love. Robert and Francesca's connection reminds me of Noah and Allie's, so I predict nothing will be able to rip their love apart.

The Yellow Wallpaper Abstract

Author's Note: This is an abstract piece that I wrote based on the short story The Yellow Wallpaper. I would like feedback on my ability to summarize without summarizing too much. Thanks!

My essay title is called Lost in Your Own World.  In this essay, my main thesis is that the narrator of the story is lost in her own world of depression. No one could help her and drag her out of it, because she wasn't willing to help herself. Her husband, John, delievered her to a wonderful summer house for this season. He catered to her every need, making sure there was a full staff of housekeepers to wait on her needs. She was showered with nothing but love and affection from him. The narrator also had a beautiful new child living in her mist. Someone to love, nurture, raise as her own. Yet what does she do? Shove John out of her little shelter, refuse to take care of her own child, leaving a nanny to be its main caregiver, and leaving her husband without a wife. Why did she close in herself? Why was she not willing to help herself? The narrator wasn't because she didn't feel she had enough. Nothing could please her, she always wanted more. The most terrible part? She did not just destroy her own life. This woman brought down the lives of others, as well.

Mockingbirds and Mockingjays

Author's Note: This is an compare and contrast essay about Mockingbirds and Mockingjays based primary on the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, with some ideas from The Hunger Games added in. I would like feedback on my ability to analyze symbolism of animals and how they are conveyed through characters in a novel. Thank you and enjoy!

            As children, we all remember dancing around our neighborhood, totally carefree, no worries at all in our little world. Of course, we also remember the moment that changes. The time we put that innocence away and become defiant, willing to do anything for what we believe in. Innocence can be conveyed through many symbols, even a tiny bird called a mockingbird. To kill, harm one minuscule hair on this animal’s head, is harming something that has never done anything awful in its life. In contrast, defiance is conveyed through a headstrong bird named a mockingjay. A mockingjay should have never existed, and through its living it shows how you can be whoever you want to be, no matter the obstacles stacked upon you. Even though these birds themselves do not make an appearance in To Kill a Mockingbird, the symbolism of what these animals stand for are unmistakably shown in the novel.

              When mockingbirds are born, their innocence begins. No knowledge of the world, how it works, and the horrors tucked into it. As life continues for them, though, loss of that innocence begins to set in. Survival, attempting to find food, and quarrels between other mockingbirds has the world look like a terrible place to live in. This is exactly what happens to Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. When she was born, nothing really troubled her, no ideas harmed her. Once Atticus, a lawyer and her father, takes his most risk-filled court case ever, innocence is suddenly stolen from her. Feedback from her neighbors and school peers filled her life with adult topics. Scout wasn’t eligible to be a true child anymore, which is exactly what mockingbirds have in their fate.

            Fuse together a mockingbird, a sign of innocence, and a jabberjay, a sign of defiance and being able to trick your enemies, and what is created? A little bird named a mockingjay. Government in The Hunger Games, accurately called the Capitol, never meant for these animals to exist. Jabberjays, these creatures’ fathers, should have died off in the woods. Yet they didn’t, and through them mockingjays were born. Since they defied the odds, they became a symbol of rebellion and defiance. As long as mockingjays existed, there would be hope. A mockingjay is shown through Atticus Finch, Scout’s father. He probably shouldn’t have been willing to conquer on Tom Robinson’s court case, yet he did. He was prepared to define the government and rebel against what society was in the 1960’s. As long as Atticus lived, the symbolism of the mockingjay would still live on.

            Even though they don’t even know it themselves, symbolism of animals shines through in the two primary characters of To Kill A Mockingbird. Scout and Atticus equally have the symbolism in their personalities. Scout, like a mockingbird, had an innocent aura about herself, and an ignorance of the terrors of the world around her. Adults living in the racist time period of 1960 were usually awfully mean-spirited people, who didn’t accept people unlike them. Yet sometimes, a mockingjay rises out of these types of people, and Atticus was that mockingjay. To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a truly thought-provoking novel that shows how the symbolism of unique types of animals shines through in the primary characters of her novel.  

Aunt Alexandra

Author's Note: This is a small character point of view that I did in the point of view of Aunt Alexandra. This piece's purpose is to show that Aunt Alexandra wasn't just an awful old woman who didn't have any purpose in life but to be a lady and to try to force Scout to be a lady. She wanted something else out of life, but discovered she couldn't get it. Enjoy!

Life has always been a hardship for me, ever since birth. I've always wanted something more out of life, a way to show people that I'm smarter than they think I am. That I'm not just a simpleminded lady, only thinking about how to act proper and gossip about the rest of the neighborhood. There's more to me than that! Yet I don't understand how to show those feelings. Ever since I was younger, a tinny child of only three years old, my true personality has been shunned. Shunned by everyone in my little world, all of my family. Don't do that! They screeched at me if I began to behave like a "tomboy." It was whipped into my brain that I couldn't be myself, to be prim and proper. Seen, not heard. Never let my opinion be spoken.

It was drilled into my head to place a impenetrable mask over my true self.ll

If I didn't, what would happen to me? I was to be ignored, like I wasn't even in the area. Whenever people looked at me, their eyes glazed and then passed over like I was invisible. That feeling was very well known. In a few years of unsensable rebellion, I threw the mask off and attempted to let people see the real me. After a few days of shock, everyone in my life began to ignore me. I assume they were doing so to make me snap out of it.

It worked.

So, ever since them, I had been Alexandra, perfectly prim and proper in every way possible. A tomboy, rebellious and unkept? Never! That was not me anymore. At least, on the outside. I have perfected the illusion. No one would doubt it, especially not my brother, Atticus. I was going to visit him while he took on his most riskfulled court case ever. Taking care of the children would become my task. Jem, I had no fears about. Scout, though, I was concered for. When I looked at her, I saw my eyes burned exactly into her beautiful face, filled of wonder and joy and curiosity. That final idea was the most frighting. Curosity lead to dangerous situations, where judgement lurked in every corner and being accepted was at risk. If I didn't dim that ray of light in her eyes, it would sweep and grow and take over her whole life, ruining it.

That could not happen to her. As her aunt, I would not allow it. Would it easily be the most challenging task I ever committed? Yes, of course. Would I fail? No. No, I would not.

Society could not allow it.

To Kill a Mockingbird Scene Impact

Author's Note: This is my reply to a journal entry we were assigned. I would like feedback on word choice. Thanks!

A scene that impacted my thinking of this novel was on Page Nineteen, when Walter Cunningham refused to take money from the teacher for lunch when he did not bring his own. He refused the money because he didn't want to own the professor anything. This impacted my view of the novel because it showed that just because people had a darker skin color in this time period, it did not mean that they have no pride for their life. My reaction when I read this was a sense of pride for the African Americans living in Maycomb. Just because they didn't have a lot, didn't mean that they didn't love and weren't proud of what they had. This scene really proved that topic of the novel for me.

Outcasts

Author's Note: This is a problem and solution essay about Melinda being an outcast in the novel Speak. I would like feedback on my ability to use good positive and negative parts of each option I listed. Thanks!

How would you feel if you were an outcast, not accepted by anyone? This is exactly what Melinda, the leading character in Speak, becomes after one fatal night at an end of school year party. No one at her place of learning wanted to be associated with her at all. Not knowing how to cope with that, Melinda fades herself into the background, barely even living. What she does not realize, though, is that her problem could have been fixed, in more ways than one. Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a complex novel that shows how a person could change their own issues, if the eff is set forth.

Being an outcast is an awful situation to be placed in. People who are outcasts have feelings of depression, a feeling of not wanting to continue with everyday life. What these outcasts don’t usually discover, though, is that they can make their lives improve. Melinda files neatly into this category, since there were a few options about her situations that she could have put into action. One idea was to start discussing topics with people, join some clubs, and try to become more involved with school life. If Melinda did this, her fellow colleagues might have responded well. She might have discovered it was possible for her to have acquaintances. What Melinda was terrified of, though, is that her classmates wouldn’t have answered gracefully. Being shunned even more, ignored more, was just one topic that might have gone astray. Rumors could have begun, awful comments said to her face and her back, and physical abuse was something that could have started if Melinda tried to make friends. To her, it simply wasn’t worth the liability.

If Melinda didn’t want to take the risk of attempting to put her spirit out into school life, it might have been a wise decision for her to transfer places of learning. Doing so would have provided a fresh, clean slate. At her latest school, she could have changed her whole personality. It would be possible for Melinda to start getting advanced grades, join after-class activities, and create different relationships outside of her family. Everyone there could have accepted her, and she would finally begin to love classes again. Sadly, it might have not turned out that way. At her new academy, students might have already heard from other acquaintances in her older school about what type of person she was, and what have happened to her. The chance of being able to start anew would have been shattered. If that happened, I don’t think Melinda could cope. Her whole world would have collapsed around her in her eyes, and life could not have been lived anymore.

Situations like Melinda’s are such an intense and horrible place to be in. Those human beings feel like they have no way out, no escape. Most of the time, these people are filled with such suffering that they can’t discover they have options to solve their problems. Melinda had at least two ways to fix her life, yet she wouldn’t, literally couldn’t, take those steps, out of fear of what could happen. The repercussions were so terrifying that she wasn’t willing to take the risk. Laurie Halse Anderson’s has written a beautiful piece of writing that is a thought-inducing piece, making you wonder how people could change their horrible situations.

Speak Scene Analysis

Author's Note: This is a scene analysis for when Melinda is hiding from the Heathers in the bathroom. I'm trying to analyze the purpose of this passage, along with its meaning and tone. I would like feedback on my ability to do so. Thanks!

"I hide in the bathroom until I know Heather's bus has left. The salt in my tears feels good when it stings my lips. I wash my face in the sink until there is nothing left of it, no eyes, no nose, no mouth. A slick nothing. -Speak, page 45.

All teenagers have a feeling of not knowing who they are, or what they want to be when they are in high school. No one knows where to go, where they fit in. That's exactly how Melinda feels when in the bathroom of her school. The tone she is conveying is a tone of loss and a tone of wonder. She doesn't know where she should be in life, and she keeps wondering that. It is a tone of loss, since this character is at a loss with the world.The meaning of this scene is that she doesn't know where to go in life, so she's trying to drift into nothing. Thats's what the washing her face in the sink is giving off. Laurie Halse Anderson wrote this passage in the novel with the purpose of showing Melinda's feeling of loss, her feeling of not knowing what to do. Her feeling of not knowing who she should be.

Speak Problem and Solution

Author's Note: This is a piece I wrote about the primary issue in Speak, and possible solutions to that problem. I would like feedback on my word choice. Thanks!

                Everyone in life has their crosses to bear. For some, those crosses are heavier than others. For others, those crosses are borderline unbearable. Melinda, the primary character in Speak, falls into that category. All of her classmates detest her, since she interrupted a summer party by calling the authorities. She has no friends, no one to speak with. Her life is awful. What Melinda doesn’t realize, though, is that this situation could be easily changed, if only she took the first gesture. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a novel that makes you think about issues that teenagers have in their lives, and ways to change the situation.

                In the beginning of Speak, we discover that Melinda is an outcast. She has no friends, no one to head into high school with. This girl was alone. Melinda had called the police on a party at the end of eighth grade, so no one would want to be associated with her. What she didn’t realize, though, was that if only Melinda had spoken about the terrible event that was inflicted on her during this gathering, all of her classmates would have understood the reasoning behind busting them all. Surprising to her, Melinda would more than likely would have been forgiven. Her life would have been much more enjoyable. The largest problem in her life could have been solved by her own action.  

                High school is a struggle for all teenagers. Feeling lost in the world, not knowing what you wanted to become. Feeling lost in the crowd, not knowing where you fit in. Sometimes, like Melinda, you must deal with fitting in nowhere, and having no one want to be around you. What most characters, especially the primary character in Speak, don’t know, though, is that you can change your life, as long as you try. Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a thought provoking novel that shows how people can fix their situations, yet won’t take the crucial steps.  

Fahrenheit 451 Cause and Effect

Author's note: This is a piece I wrote about the cause and effect of Mrs. Blake being burned to death with her books. I would like feedback on my ability to show a cause and effect. Thanks!

Books are a sign of defiance, a sign of not wanting to back down and wash into the background. For Mrs. Blake, a secondary character in Fahrenheit 451, novels are her place of comfort, her escape from the terror that is her world. When the firefighters arrive, prepared to devour her collection, Mrs. Blake would not back down. She would rather be consumed by the flames than lose the only source of freedom. There are many underlying events that led up to this, ideas that don’t seem like they would matter, but they actually do. Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a wonderfully written book that shows how a main event in a novel has underlying causes and effects.

In the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, the primary person in this novel, Guy, enjoys his job as a fireman. Or book burner, depending on which way you like to look at it. Suddenly, Guy meets a sixteen year old girl named Clarisse. Clarisse questions the world she lives in, and the government that runs it. Discussing things with Clarisse changes the feelings Guy has about his job. He doesn’t really have a desire to burn novels anymore. Guy actually wants to discover them, to read them and absorb their information. On the night of Mrs. Blake’s home burning, the primary character in this novel doesn’t really want to participate. Seeing his coworkers devouring a woman’s home makes him see the horror of his situation, the horror of what his job does to people. Guy then flees the burning, running as quickly as he dares back to his home, attempting to be unnoticed. This action delivers a consequence of Guy not knowing what happened to Mrs. Blake, of not knowing whether her life was spared. 

Though it seems like this event shouldn’t have affected Guy as a man, and that his life should have continued normally, Mrs. Blake’s murder showed him the horror of the occupation he held. A major event has consequences that not only affect the main characters involved, but other people as well. Ray Bradbury is able to easily convey that. Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a great piece of writing that is able to create a world full of events that harms the lives of everyone in the novel, one way or another.

Fahrenheit 451 Comparative Essay

Author's Note: This is a comparative essay about the novels Fahrenheit 451 and Matched. I am comparing the primary characters in both novels, Guy in Fahrenheit 451 and Cassia in Matched. I am trying to show how they are similar and different. I would like feedback on my ability to compare and contrast while using good word choice. Thank you!

Government officials should be caring, loving human beings who have people’s best interests at heart and want us to have our own thoughts and opinions. Sadly, for Guy of Fahrenheit 451 and Cassia of Matched, it just wasn’t like that. Guy’s people of authority wanted no way for their citizens to learn what they didn’t want out into the world, so books, which held that information, were burned to a crisp. In Cassia’s world, your whole life was planned for you. Nothing was of your own choice or doing, from your job to even what you ate. Both characters wanted an escape from their personal nightmares, but didn’t know how. They just wanted to break free, though each person would do it on their own terms.

Every day, Guy would participate in the burning of novels, of the turning of ideas and thoughts into nothing but ashes. Though he always had an underlying feeling of not wanting to, Guy never thought he could act upon it. This is exactly how Cassia, the primary character in Matched, felt. She always wanted to be able to make her own choices in life, yet her life was chosen for her. Both characters had a feeling of hopelessness, and they were so confused with what to do with their lives. How could their life be their own with the government choosing it all?  

Although it seems like the main characters in these stories didn’t know how to change their lives, both had inklings about what to do. For Cassia, she felt that if she disobeyed the order to take her medication that supposedly “distressed” them, Cassia would be able to have feelings and thoughts that belonged to her. Guy felt that quitting his duty as a firefighter and going out on his own could prove to the government that they didn’t own him. Cassia and Guy connected with each other by not responding to the rulers of their lives, by following their own instincts.

Even though these human beings lead you to believe that everything about them is the same, there are factors of their personality that couldn’t be more different. A factor like that is how Cassia and Guy feel about love and relationships. Mildred, Guy’s wife, is so unconnected from the world. She has no feelings about anything, so as an effect, he has no feelings about her. Cassia is the polar opposite. This girl is in love with two men, one that was chosen for her and the one that truly sets her free. Both of them are very connected and in sync with the world, though, unlike Mildred. Guy and Cassia don’t agree on love and how it affects you, and as a result, how it affects the world.

Government control is exactly what drove Cassia and Guy to feel the way they did, and it’s what caused them to commit their actions. Both characters rebelled in their own personal way, and that way had connections and disconnections. Their actions made the whole novel change, and made the government fear that maybe their system wasn’t so secure after all.

Fahrenheit 451 Figurative Language Piece

Author's Note: This is a response to a passage in Fahrenheit 451. I tried to figure out the tone, the purpose, and the meaning of this paragraph. I would like feedback on if I could figure out the tone of the passage well. Thanks!

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is a last one which makes the heart run over."-Fahrenheit 451, page 71.

Each person has a best friend in this world, someone that you couldn't live without. A person that brings out the goodness in your heart, and makes your heart overflow with love. For Guy, the primary character in Fahrenheit 451, the person that does that to him is Clarisse. Ray Bradbury wrote this passage into the book to give a purpose of love to the novel. He wanted to show that Guy had other feelings and ides other than simply having a desire to burn. Burning wasn't the only thing that controlled his mind. The meaning of this quote is that no matter how heartless a person may seem, no matter if it looked like he has no feelings, everyone has some special person that makes their heart fill with love and joy. Love, happiness, and freedom are the primary tones in this paragraph. Ray is trying to convey in this piece that loving a person gives off happiness, and that love and happiness all tie into freedom. Love and happiness can set you free, even when the world is collapsing around you. 

Grandpa Tom

Author's Note: This is a character sketch that I wrote about a character named Grandpa Tom. It's in the point of view of his granddaughter when they go to visit him at his home. I would like feedback on my word choice. Thanks!

We drove up the gravel filled driveway, the sharp rocks digging into our tires, almost giving us a flat. My parents and I were going to visit my grandfather, Tom. Tom lived in a spacious green house that streched across about half an acre long. Walking along the lawn, I wondered how he was. Ever since Grandma Hannah died, Tom seemed to go into a state of depression, where nothing mattered to him anymore. I hoped that our visit would make him feel better.

All three of us were trudging through the grass, glancing up at the house and its upkeep. For Tom not having a job, the house looked absolutely awful. Bushes growing up and covering the windows, desperately needing to be cut. You could barely see the front door. I hope this wasn't a sign of how the rest of the trip would go.

"Claudia!" I heard Grandpa Tom call out. Seeing him, I was shocked. I expected him to look bad, yet this was horrid. His face was lined with seemingly millions of wrinkles, his arms were like sticks, and his cheeks were sunken in as well. You were able to see the cheekbones popping out. It was disgusting. My thoughts were scattered, but a coherent one was, Is there anything we can do to help him?

Tom's house was even worse than the lawn. It looked like something out of that TV show Hoarders. Empty boxes of Lean Cuisine and Jimmy Dean littered the kitchen floor, some still half full. It smelled like a mixture of burned bacon and dead leaves. My heart dropped in my chest. I was hoping that Tom would have been able to handle himself better, yet it seemed not.

My parents and I were all desperate. It seemed like there was nothing we could do to help them, no matter what. The only thing that we could do, we realized, was place him into a nursing home. There, Tom would be able to have the care he needed. He could also feel the love that we all knew Tom desired. Hopefully, I thought, this can be Grandpa turning over a new leaf.

The very next morning, my mother found Grandpa Tom dead in his bed. He went to sleep the previous night, and never woke up. It was such a shock, and a blow to the whole family. I wish that we would have came to see him sooner, because then all of us could have discovered he needed help. Maybe then Tom would still be with us, or, at the very least, the last few years of his life would have been more enjoyable.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Author's Note: This is a essay about the novel Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. I wrote this essay about how connectable the main character, Clay, is, and the ways I can connect with him. I would like feedback on my conclusion. Thanks!

How would you feel if a classmate committed suicide? For Clay, the primary character in Thirteen Reasons Why, his emotions varied from shock to horror. Since Hannah was always a quiet, seemingly oridindary girl, Clay never expected for her to take her life into her own hands, because it never looked like anything had happened that would warrant such a dractisic measure. If I was in Clay’s place, I’m positive that my perception of the situation would not have been unlike his. I wouldn’t have been able to grasp why she killed herself, and my wondering would never cease. Thirteen Reasons why, written by Jay Asher, is a mind engrossing novel that ponders life and its true meaning. 

At the start of the novel Thirteen Reasons Why, Clay is reeling from Hannah’s suicide. Though he can’t grasp the reasoning behind her taking her own life, he’s positive that he had nothing to do with it. How would it be possible that he could? Suddenly, a container holding thirteen video cassette tapes arrives in his mailbox. One of the thirteen tapes holds a recording explaining how Clay played an excessive part in Hannah’s untimely death. Clay doesn’t want to comprehend his component of the suicide, and wishes her secrets would have died along with her. This is a piece of Clay I definitely can connect with. If I was his place, the fear of discovering my piece of the puzzle more than likely would have been too terrifying to handle.

Even though not wanting to determine his role in Hannah’s ending of life seems hugely connectable, there is another moment in this novel I can associate with even more. When the temptation of listening to the recordings become too much for Clay to bear, he unintentionally sees a side of a teenager named Courtney he never knew, and never had a desire to know. Who would want to figure out the seemingly gentle-hearted, loving popular girl was a manipulative person that needed affection from everyone to feel whole, and would do anything to make Hannah feel that way about her? Once Clay discovers that fact, he confronts the situation head on by talking to Courtney about Hannah and the tapes. That’s exactly what I would have done in his place, and I admire his willingness to do so.     

Looking back at all of Clay’s actions, there’s no doubt that he is a quite connectable character. Almost every reader that comes into contact with this novel discovers a moment where you think that you would have done exactly what Clay did. For me, one of those moments was when Clay made the heartbreaking decision to listen to the recordings, and find the secrets. Though it would have been devastating, the truth is something I would have needed to find. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, is an amazing story that helps you discover how even the tiniest of actions can affect a person in the largest of ways.

Harrison Bergeron

Author's Note: This is a piece that I wrote about a short story we read in class. I chose to look at the main character, his actions, why he felt that way, and how his actions affected the story and the character. I would like feedback on word choice. Thanks!

The main character to me in this short story was Harrison Bergeron. His actions affected the story because he attempted to go against and change society, by dancing without limitations given to him by the government. It affected others in the story as well, because by dancing with the girl he danced with, he put her in moral peril. Harrison also affected George and Hazel, by making them think, even just for a few moments, that maybe they could join him and defy the government and their limitations. That could have easily harmed them or even killed them. Harrison Bergeron acted this way because he felt that the government shouldn't be able to do this to their people. He didn't think that it was right, and that feeling led to his attempt of defiance. An attempt that sadly failed.

Author's Note: This is a piece that I wrote based off on me going to the movies at least three times this winter break. My purpose for writing this piece is to wonder about the reasons for why movies are created, and the purpose they have to viewers. I would like feedback on if I was able to analyze the motives of the making of movies. Thank you!

When you think of an escape, what's the primary idea that pops into your mind? For me, it's going to the movies. For about ten dollars, you can enter into a whole other world where everything is different. Whether it's comedy or romance, drama or action, life is placed on hold for a few hours as a unfamiliar one takes its place. In this exciting original world, everything  holds a chance for a fresh experience. People living in today's world need that in their lives. Since there is so much turmoil and uncertainty, a couple of blissful hours of escape and ignorance is easily welcomed, gratefully. If there wasn't a cinema for our population to flee to, stress would accumulate quickly, and there would be no chance of release. Thankfully, there is that method of escape.