Zombie Apocalypse

The filth and blood residing on my face was disgusting. I was disgusting. My hands were used to kill and my body was used to intimidate. I was soulless. Every time before I bite, I look into their eyes. They twinkle with fear as I lean down to sink my teeth into their body. It makes me sad.  I'm scary. But, my victims scare me too. Day after day I sulk around with my dis formed body. Pathetic is what I am, really. . From a distance I can see some humans trying to plan  their survival. It won't be long until they're just like me. Resisting the urge to bite is something I battle everyday--but I always give in. It's an addiction. I am now making my way over to them and they don't see me.  

  Those humans are just like me now. I fixed them. Every time after I bite, I feel guitly, but it doesn't take long before I lose it. Most of my aquaintences--the ones like me-- they don't feel. It seems as if I'm the only zombie with feelings. We've taken over quite a bit of the country. It's funny because I always wanted to be responsible for America, I used to want be president, but not like this. Not with such evil and inhumanity in my fickleing heart.  My barricade from the humans is in a tall, tall evergreen. I climb slowly and knock hundreds of bristles to the ground while I settle to sleep. 

My dreams haunt me and I haunt others. Even though I try to be worthy, I will never amount to much.  I am a zombie and it will be that way until I am killed by a human. 

Blue Persistence Text Analysis

In the silent crescent moon air, 

A blue jay soars.---Going somewhere.

No reasoning. No purpose. 

She just soars.

No place. No physical spot,

But she knows where she's going.---Determined for her expedition.

Faith rests upon her soft blue wings,--She is faithful and confident in herself.

And they let her fly. ---Her confidence and faith helps her with her journey.

She flies to places where all the other birds told her she couldn’t go.---She wants to prove the birds wrong.

When she is perched proudly on top of a mountain, she chirped a prevailing chirp.—The blue jay accomplished her goal and was proud.

The other birds flew to the lowest branch of their grounded tree.--- The other birds weren’t so special anymore because they had a bad attitude that brought them down, hence the lowest branch.

Meanwhile, the blue jay remained on top of the tall mountain.--- She was strong willed and had a good attitude, so that benefitted her and put her in a "high" place. 

 This blue jay is strong and persistent. She’s been put down and has been told “No, no, no!”. The blue jay wants to be her own being and she wants out of the flock. When the blue jay begins to soar, as we see in the second line, we can tell she is determined to go somewhere even though she doesn't have an exact destination. In the line "faith rests upon her soft blue wings", that tells us that the blue jay is confident in herself.

 It’s common to be put down or discouraged by others.With that, the discouragement motivates that person, or being, to go and do exactly what they were told they couldn't. There is a line that says"she flies to places where all the other birds told her she couldn't go".This line reveals why the blue jay felt proud on the mountain and it even explains the following line which was "she chirped a prevailing chirp".

 When it said "the other birds flew down to the lowest branch of the tree", that isn’t just about how they simply moved their position, it was about how their attitude brought them down and no place special. The blue jay had a strong willed, determined spirit, so that’s why she was tall on top of the mountain. 

The Slavery,The Bravery, and The Free

1820 was the story  of the Missouri Compromise . Was Missouri going to be free and unable to command slavery? Or were they about to begin treacherous acts against unfortunate people? Well, for all any of the women knew of, there was just a disagreement in congress about these decisions . Of course, everyone wanted to be able to declare their own territories status, but that was in congress's hands.

"Elizabeth, What will our husbands do shall we become entitled to rekindle slavery?" Martha Bennett was the wife  of Nathaniel Bennett, the courageous leader of their  village.  Mrs. Bennett had a mind full of fear as she sat there questioning her best friend Elizabeth Samuels . Elizabeth took a long sip of her tea  while trying to stall an answer to that question. "Martha, you are not to worry about that as of the moment, focus on the children and keeping yourself  healthy. But, as I being your best friend, I am obligated to provide an answer full of my opinionated honesty. But, I don't know. I do not know what shall happen if violence is once again welcomed by the men of our blood. What I do know is that  our emotions  must be prohibited for there is nothing we can bring to this situation except a clean home and well fed men".

Cracking twigs and heavy breathing was all Elizabeth could hear as she sat on her front porch in the dark of the night. Out of the corner of her eye, Martha  is running to her embrace in her nightclothes! The decision was made that Missouri was pronounced as a slave state. "Oh Martha, I know, I know" Elizabeth tried to calm down her sobbing friend but nothing she said or did was enough to keep that woman from weeping. After five solid minutes of pouring her emotions onto Elizabeth's shoulders, Martha looked up with red swollen eyes and said "Our children. Our children will be surrounded by the disgust of violence this state is going to endear".  The two women had talked, and then decided to go to sleep, for the next day would bring swarms of emotions and opinions.

"Boom. Boom. Boom" Martha heard her husband Nathaniel coming down stairs with his loud clunky boots, as she hurried to prepare his breakfast and care for the children. "Maine was declared free. We weren't. Congress wanted balanced states". That was the only thing her husband said. Martha absolutely could not let her emotions show at a time like this in front of her husband and children. "Oh." She quietly replied while placing food in front of her husband. Between bites, Nathaniel had mentioned "Heck. For all we know this will be memorable history in the far future.  I can just hear people talking about it. Probably something like, way back when in 1820, Missouri was declared a slave state ." Nathaniel huffed and continued eating.  Martha hesitantly nodded in agreement as she boiled a pot of tea.

After  a day of cleaning and cooking, Martha decided it was a decent idea to write in her journal . The blue leather booklet had  dust crawling up the sides since she hadn't touched it in years. With reluctance, Martha began to write." I just don't understand. Why was Maine allowed free and we weren't? Why couldn't we be granted advantages for once? Sure, a lot of my state wanted   slavery, but not me. Not my family. I was informed today that every state North of us would be free, and every which one south will be a slave state .  Oh, the unfairness. "

 Time went on and the Bennett and Samuels families, and a lot more, dealt with things that were unthinkable to them.  They coped with each other and pushed through the hard times.

   

With her beige dress dragging up the stairs, Martha went to write in her even dustier journal. "It is year 1854 at the moment. I am 65 years old and still writing in my beautiful journal.  Slavery in our state was dropped  . Information is now going around about something called the Kansas-Nebraska act . I fear my husband is reaching illness. Terrible coughs and fatigue are overtaking his body. I must go take care of him right now."

Promotion Speech

Gandhi once quoted "Be the change you wish to see in the world". Change can be scary though. It's filled with fear, curiosity, and doubt. I know this all too well, like the most of us do. There's this time in our lives, childhood, where we think there is no evil in the world and that everybody could be friends and agree with one another. As we've grown, we've learned that that's not true. During this time now in our lives, we're transitioning to another state of mind where we'll learn more truth about and we'll learn to accept it more.

 Lots of people are nervous about leaving the comfort of middle school, understandably, but it's not meant to be that way. The next four years will be time spent finding out what we do best in and what we like. What we cherish and what we don't. Most importantly, it's where we'll be spending a lot of our youth. If we have too many fears and doubts, we won't have enough space for our dreams. And what's the point of that? So, diminish all the fears you have and turn them into joy.

In 2017, our high school graduation, you won't be the same person you are today. Neither will the person sitting  next to you either. Everyone will gradually change. As our personality matures, little parts of our soul will too, causing ourselves to evolve into something, or someone, much greater and wiser than who we are today.

As we run out of time at Asa Clark, my hope is that all of us let go positively and embrace what awaits us this fall.

                                           

I, personally, would like to thank all of my teachers over the past two years who have helped me tremendously when I needed it, and who have pushed me to excel in all that I do. 

The Giver Compare and Contrast Response

5/16/13.... In the community in The Giver, they have rules. All of us have to abide by rules, but theirs are strange.The people in the community have to abide by such rules so that their lives are  perfectly and meticulously structured. Their rules and way of life are very different than the way we live, present day. The Hunger Games  can apply to a strange way of life because their "community", or districts, follow very precise, stubborn rules. 

 On the other hand, The Hunger Games is not meticulously structured like the community in The Giver. The main goal in The Giver is to make sure everyone lives happily and stress/worry free. 

Plain White Dresses

The young and innocent communion recipients, just 3 years shy of a decade, file through the doors. Looking like angels, the girls' white veils rest gracefully upon their narrow shoulders. Black suits mature and compliment the boys as they escort the girls to the stage. You can almost smell the purity of the recipients in the tall chapel glistening with stained glass windows. One by one, heel by heel, the kids step onto the stage to stand by the priest. Encircling the communion contents that sit on the table, the kids stand quiet while they anticipate the upcoming moments. I saw myself in a little girl with fresh white daisies entwined in her veil. It brought me back to the day of my own First Communion.

     It was a typical Sunday morning, weather wise. The yellow daffodils were in full bloom and the sun was shining on the dark green grass. I saw a rabbit scurry across the backyard, as I watched from the window. My extended family began to arrive and kept telling me it was "my day". Prior to the communion, I never really had a special event for just myself, so it was unique to have "my day". My mom finished curling my hair quickly because I was antsy to greet my cousins. After saying hello and having breakfast, I had to change into my dress. When I stepped into the simple but elegant dress, I felt like a bride on her wedding day. Full of excitement and nerves, but a sense of comfort as well. A lot of my childhood I received hand me downs from my older sister, but this dress was mine. There wasn't anything that made it truly stand out from the others. No beading, no fake diamonds, not even lace. It was a simple white dress with nothing on it, but my 7 year old mind thought it was beautiful. It was my beautiful dress.

  I clasped a gold cross necklace around my neck and my mom pinned the veil in my dark brown ringlets. My chest was rising and falling with its own methodical rhythm, but I could feel my pulse increase as time went by. Swinging the door open, I ran outside, in my dress, headed straight to our garden. The white roses seemed most suitable, so I gently grabbed one from the ground. Happily enjoying the warmth from the sun, I wound the rose in and around my veil. It was then time to leave. 

 Most of us rode in my aunt's black suburban. Our church, Saint Elizabeth's, was only 5 minutes from our house, so it was very convenient. I was happy to be receiving my First Communion at this church. St. Elizabeth's was all I ever really knew. It was my preschool, my Halloween party location, where I made my first true friend Kaitlin, where I took religion classes, almost like a second home to me. Father Michael was my favorite because he possessed a lot of wisdom and generosity. I greeted him and then met up with my two close friends, Natalie and Rowan. The three of us got pictures together and expressed our excitement and nerves for the day. Everyone gradually took their seats because the ceremony had just begun.

   After the ceremony, all of our family and friends came back to my house for a party. One of the best things about that day was that I got to play and hangout with all of my cousins. As much as I would have liked to go on a bike ride or jump on the trampoline with them, they're all boys and they mostly just wanted to play basketball and go fishing in the nearby creek. I forced myself to do so because I didn't see them often. The party was coming to an end and I started to open my presents that I received from some family members. Two particular items that I got, which were the most memorable, were my grandma's old rosary and ring. My grandma died from a brain tumor when I was 2 years old, so I loved receiving the rosary and ring. Every day I pray with that rosary and wear the ring in honor to remember my grandma and my perfect First Communion. 

  I glanced back at the girl with daisies in her veil. She was beaming with a smile of pure happiness. The priest was asking some of the family members what their wishes were for the kids. A few people shared theirs and the priest concurred. My wish would be that they remember and enjoy this day vividly because it's a day they'll be able to remember forever if they truly care. My wish would be that they appreciate and accept the meaning of this day. My wish would be for them to remember the little things of this day; even their garden flowers and plain white dresses. The priest began with the first kid, "Do you accept the body and blood of Christ?" parents cried joyful tears and awed. "Yes", a little boy sweetly replied. I smiled and I wished that each little kid here today, would make a wish for themselves. 

Rejection At Its Finest

What if you weren't receiving the love you knew you deserved? That someone you thought you were going to be so close with, just shut you down in the blink of an eye? Seemingly, for no reason at all. Except  for them, the instant "shut down" revolved around multiple reasons. This scenario is exactly what Stacy faces in the story “Ribbons”, by Laurence Yep. Stacy’s grandmother moves from China to America and almost instantly rejects Stacy and focuses all of her attention on Stacy's little brother, Ian.

In China, boys are everything. Boys are the gold of the country. Girls are unsatisfactory to most people over there. Because of these reasons, this is partially why the grandmother instantly likes Ian more than Stacy. Ian’s a boy, and remember, he's "everything". Throughout the story, the grandmother is softer towards Ian, and is as cold as ice towards Stacy. 

 Even though it seems the grandmother likes Ian more because he's a boy , the grandmother could very much possibly be racist towards Stacy also.  In the story Stacy says “Everything about Ian looks more Chinese; I look as Caucasian as dad.”. The grandmother probably loves the fact that Ian looks more like her and that Ian is very Chinese looking. Because Stacy looks Caucasian, I think the grandma just forgot about Stacy and decided to praise Ian instead.

 Traditional Chinese people, specifically elders, are very strict and precise when it comes to their culture. A proper way to greet someone in China is to bow and to prohibit any emotion/affection.  Stacy had been taught to greet her grandmother with a bow, but when she saw her for the first time she got too excited and tried to hug and kiss her grandma. Her grandma rudely responded “nice children don’t drool on people.”. Then, the grandma continued to distance herself from Stacy. 

The grandma in this story rejected Stacy and loved Ian. If I were Stacy, I would've given up on the relationship, but Stacy kept trying. People, especially family, shouldn’t reject and dislike other people  if they don’t know them. It can confuse a person and make them feel like they don’t deserve someone’s love. Everyone should give others a chance because there could be a connection, like the grandmother and Stacy developed at the end of the story. After all, we accept the love we think we deserve.