Toward the Future/From the Past

1. At first, I couldn't figure out how to do the setting descriptions, but I think I figured it out. I didn't really see any strengths in the form. Writing a play was really hard. It was kind of annoying that it had to be 5 pages long. Kind of stressful if you ask me. I would never be interested in writing a play on my spare time actually. I really didn't like this unit.

2. If I wrote a personal essay, I would probably write about friends or family. I could write about my first experience of a best friend moving, and how it made me realize that I could still be best friends with her. Also, how it made me become closer friends with other people. Anothing thing I could write about could be a trip I went on. For example, I went to Europe this summer. Since my brother and I were older, we went off by ourselves sometimes. I could write about those adventures we had. I could also write about some other random experience I had, like starting high school or something.

3. If I were to give advice to a 5 year old about growing up, I would pretty much tell them the basics about school, friends and family. I would tell them to always do their homework because it counts as alot of points. As long as you do your homework every day, you wont get less than a B. I would also tell them to not care what anyone thinks about them. Other people's opinions shouldn't matter, as long as you do what you want. For family, I would tell them to keep a good relationship with your family, especially siblings, because you can always count on them. If you don't have a good relationship with your family, you start to lie to them and start not trusting them. That's not good.

Luigi Pirandello, playwright: "A man will die, a writer, the instrument of creation: but what he has created will never die!"

1. Theme is really important. If you didn't have theme, I feel like it would be just a pointless story.
"Without theme, life sucks." - jordin.
A peice of litterature needs to express an idea to be great. What would it with no idea? Nothing. For example, the movie Ghost Rider. There's no point to it. No theme and no plot. It's pointless and boring. If it had a theme to it, the movie would be so much better!

2. In order for great literary work to live forever, they have to be able to be related to. A peice of writing is boring if you can't relate it to. When I read a book, I can't even understand it unless it relates to me. I would never be able to write something that lasts that long. I'm not planning on being a writer anyway so it's ok. But if I did write a book, it would only last like a year.

3. If I could change the world, I would want to create peace. I would make it so there were no more problems, no more wars, nothing to worry about in the world. I feel like too many people worry about too many things every day of their lives. Worrying about school, work, friends, family, where their going to sleep tonight, how their going to get their job back, or why their wife doesn't love them anymore. If I could somehow make this change, there would be definate peace.

I am a thinker and I think thinks

1. Something that concerns me is homeless people. When I drive down Southtown, everytime I see atleast one homeless person standing on the side of the road with a sign saying "help me" or something. I feel bad for them, but I think they should do something about it. And maybe they can't get a job because they don't have an address, but if they find a homeless shelter and then go through a work program, they will gain experience and be able to get a job later in life when they have an address.

2. I know a person who thinks they are god. He TOLD me that nobody in the world is better than him. And he was completely serious about it. I guess this is a pretty unique trait, you know, thinking that your god? Yeah it's really weird.

3. I don't really have a peice of art that inspired me, but I do have a person. My best friend moved to massechusets 2 summers ago and we're still best friends to this day. She taught me that any friendship can work, even if they live 5 states away.

Assignment #9

1. Happiness is a feeling that overwhelmes you with joy.
2. Happiness is being around my friends. When I'm alone, I always feel more lonely than I should. Happiness is coming home and eating food. I love coming home from school and making a pizza. It feels so good after a hard day of school. Also, happiness is sleep. Sleep feels so good, and when I'm lacking it, I'm never happy.
3. People in my life that influence my happiness the most are Steph and Mimi. I think that if I didn't have those two, I would honestly be a different person. If one of them is mad at me, I feel terrible. Other friends influence my happiness too. Pretty much anyone does. Like, if someone IGNORES me I take it really bad. :]
4. I impact my mom's happiness. I can tell when I yell at her she probably gets sad. When I'm super nice to her, she's happy.
5. My greatest need in life friends. If I didn't have any friends I would probably kill myself.

Assignment 8

BRAINSTORM!
-friends
-family
-camp
-mystical creatures
-make up a fairytail
-personal experiences

Aissignment #7

1. I really enjoyed getting into groups and passing our notebooks around writing poetry. It's really fun to rhyme, especially trying to rhyme with someone else's words. I also really like reading what we have put together at the end, because it usually doesn't make alot of sense.
2. I think that poetry is my strongest because I'm really bad at writing stories. I just feel like it's easier to write poetry because it's shorter and you don't have to have a whole plot to it.
3. Throughout the quarter, I found that I need to think alot before I think of something to write about. I have to be really into what I'm writing about. For example, for my first short story I didn't really know how to write it and I didn't really have that great of Ideas. For my second short story, I was really into it because it was about my personal fears, but about someone else.
4. I think it would be really fun to write a memoire. It's easier for me to write about myself than to make something up. I really don't want to write non-fiction because I hate doing reasearch.

Aissignment #6

1. I love watching scary movies, but I don't really like being scared by people in real life.
2. I'm scared of situations that could happen in real life. I'm also deathly afraid of windows at night. When I walk by an uncovered window at night, all's I see is my reflection and a black background. Sometimes, you can kind of see through the window, and that's mostly what terrifies me. It scared me that I can't see what's happening outside. For all I know, someone could be sitting on my lawn or standing right outside the window watching me. I'm also afraid of my garage. There's a hole in it leading to the attic and it reminds me of the hole in the closet in the grudge. I'm also afraid of vents, the dark, and being home alone at night. Oh yeah and walking outside at night. I guess most of it comes from scary movies, but I still love watching them.
3. Maddness is basically craziness. If someone is a "mad man" it means they are a psyco.
4. Random events that make the person angry drives them to maddness.

Assignment 5

1. The jingle of mildew covered coins clashing against a ceramic mug echoes down the street. The smell of ribs and barbicue sauce puts an eager face on the man crowching on the dirty, slush covered sidewalk.
2. The street swarmed with honking cars and people yelling with road rage. Slush spashes from a fast-moving car onto an old man sitting on the sidewalk.
3.
4.
5.

Assignment #4

Task one:


a) The setting in the second half of the story is her house. Connie is home alone and this guy knows everything about her and where she lives, and he's such a creeper.
b) Well, it kind of makes me angry that she gets in the car with him even though she has no clue who he is and he knows everything about her. I just think its weird that she just goes along with it. If she really didn't want trouble, she could have walked away, or went inside and called the police right away instead of getting in the car with him. Shes dumb. But, she represents a teenager who thinks she knows everything but she doesn't.
c) The problem the author is addressing is trusting strangers. Never talk to strangers, or get in the car with them if they offer you a ride, especially if they know everything about you.
d) This story appeals to alot of people because its so interesting and full of action and conflict.
e) At the end of the story, I think the guy comes back and kidnapps her.
f) The guy probably had some bad child hood experiences. Maybe a similar situation happened to him. Or, he could have been neglected from girls. He probably never had a girlfriend so he was super horny all the time and decided to stalk girls and try to get with them.


Task two:


10 things that make a short story great:
1. alot of drama and conflict
2. mystery
3. a setting that the reader can relate to (someones house, a store, school etc.)
4. teens
5. written in first person
6. interesting names, not just "Bob"
7. names that relate to their personality
8. conflict that could relate to the reader
9. A good ending (either really happy or really sad)
10. The story should make the reader want to keep reading more (suspense)

3rd Assignment

Poem #1

When I was a little girl,

there were no worries in my world.

Drawing and painting,

kindergarden.

Baking cookies in the oven.

Couldn't wait to be older,

I wanted these days to be over.

Thinking it would be more fun,

thinking I could do whatever I want.

Now I know it's not what I thought. It's really not.

Life has rules.

Life has regulations.

The older you grow,

the more you must know.

People expect more of you.

On your own, true friends so few.

Now I wish I was five,

not worrying about what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.

Recess and playtime,

Nothing on my mind.

Running around with no care, and so much time.

Poem #2

Blankets sprawled over the floor,

beenie babies lined against the door.

The act of revenge, commencing attack,

Dammage is done by a strawberry sack.

I knew right then, I would not surrender,

the princess was hiding. Safe, down under.

Then, I witnessed something that made me quite upset.

My big brother, the person I look up to, destroyed the set.

ASSIGNMENT #2

I first got introduced to Bright Eyes by my friend Steph. She sent me a song about a month or two ago and I became addicted ever since. I love the song "I will be grateful for this day". I feel like I chose it because of the way it sounds, but the lyrics are good too i guess. I dont know, it's just amazing. I just feel like some of the lines are powerful. Like, "I had a friend who changed his name but couldn't change himself. Never quite figured out how to do with what life had dealt. He put a needle in his arm to calm his handsome hell. Who would have imagined it? Could've worked out so well. Now he's a shape that moves like echoes through my empty room." This passage is about a guy who didn't like himself so he injected himself with drugs and overdosed. Prompt: Have you ever felt you had to change yourself for other people?

First assignment

My writing interesses include childrens books and short, fictional stories. Although I like to make things up, I also like to write about myself. In the next four months, I would love to improve my word choice. The most recent book I've read was Running With Scissors. I really liked this book because it was really weird. I like the kind of books that have weird events and characters. It catches my eye and makes me want to read more. I don't really have anything that I've written. Which is why I'm in this class, so that I can actually try and write something.