Wait

Author's Note: I wrote this poem about waiting for something; whether it be break, the weekend or volleyball. My focus is word choice.

Tick tock, tick tock,

The hands seem to never move.

Making us wait.

Longer and longer.

The minutes seem like hours.
The days seem like years.
And when the time arrives,
It  goes by too fast.
It's done.

Oliver Twist

Author's Note: I wrote this piece as a parallel contrast piece(going back and fourth between the two characters perspectives), comparing the characters Katniss Everdeen (from the Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins) and Oliver Twist (from Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens). My focus is sentence fluency.

Oliver Twist, born into a life of poverty and suffering in 1800's England; Katniss Everdeen lives a life of hardship some 300 years later in futuristic America. Two completely unrelated characters have one thing in common. Their overcoming of obstacles. Their perseverance. Their determination. Brought to life so magnificently by their author's, these characters both survive against all odds. Both characters show an enormous amount of determination and perseverance throughout their lives.

Katniss Everdeen

Katniss flinches as Venia, Octavia, and Flavius prepare her to meet Cinna, her stylist. The odd Capitol citizens that are making her presentable are died bright colors, and are rather intimidating. Katniss wishes she could go back home, to her family, her friends, her life. She holds back tears; what she wouldn't give to go hunting with Gale again."I don't care if we're rich. I just want you to come home. You will try won't you? Really, really try?" Prim's words came haunting back to her. She had to try to win, for Prim.

Immediately, everything began to make sense to Oliver Twist. All the games they had been playing and the mysterious jewelry; they were training Oliver to be a thief! He started to run, but it was to late. "Stop theif!" Away he ran with a mob of people behind him. Boom! Oliver is on the ground before he knew what hit him. "It wasn't me, indeed sir. Indeed, indeed, it was two other boys!" But alas, they were no where to be seen! And it was with that, that the police officer dragged him off to the police station.

As Katniss pulls off the bandage off of Peeta she can only hope that the wound had healed. She lets out a gasp as she notices the red streaks running up his leg...blood poisoning! If it wasn't checked soon, he would be dead for sure. "Katniss, I know what blood poisonming is." Katniss can't take it. She needs Peeta. They need each other to survive, just until the end of the games. Then he can get all the medical help he needs. She just needs to stay strong for hium. For them.

Oliver Twist

While he struggles to sit up, Oliver looks at the bandage on his left arm; now covered in blood. He is so dizzy, he can barely sit. He knew he needed help. Slowly, he attempts to stand andgets slowly moving. The farther he walked, he saw a house; one that looked vaguely familiar. Surely, they would take pity on him and help him. As he approaches the house, he knew why it looked so familiar --it was the same one they attempted to rob the night before! He wanted to turn back, certain they would hurt him even more. But knowing they were his only hope, he staggered to the door.


 What is it about underdogs that makes readers want to see them persevere? Readers want to see them succeed and stay alive. Like Katniss in the Hunger Games. Millions of fans supported her and Peeta, even though they were from the district that no body roots for. Oliver Twist is orphaned and left alone from a few days after birth. Readers take sympathy on both of these characters. Throughout their books both characters persevere through some of the hardest situations.




 "'Hunger Games' heroine Katniss Everdeen becomes – a Barbie doll? - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0326/Hunger-Games-heroine-Katniss-Everdeen-becomes-a-Barbie-doll>.

Bookworm1858: Oliver Twist, Post 1." Bookworm1858. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. <http://bookworm1858.blogspot.com/2011/02/oliver-twist-post-1.html>.

The Emancipation Proclamation

Author's Note: I wrote this essay on the Emancipation Proclamation, the document that officially freed slaves. My focus for this piece is sentence fluency and organization in my body paragraphs.

In 1860, all people were not considered equal. If you were white, you were superior to others. If not: you were forced into slavery. Even women and children. It wasn't fair. The Union knew this and wanted to declare freedom for these slaves. But the Confederacy was for slavery and was willing to fight to keep it. That's when the Civil War began. President Lincoln knew that something had to be done. That's when the Emancipation Proclamation was born. Without the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery might have never ended.

So what is the Emancipation Proclamation? It was the document that freed slaves from both the north and the south. When it was originally signed it 1862, it only freed slaves from the northern states. The second part of it was added in 1863 declaring that slaves were free in all states. In 1865, it was found that the Emancipation Proclamation ratified the 13th amendment, officially freeing every slave for good.

Why was it so important? The Emancipation Proclamation was so important because it marked the end of slavery for the United States. Although there would be more racism to come in the future, we had a start to making all people feel equal in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation also had a huge impact on the Civil War.

How did it impact the Civil War? The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery which was one of the main reasons why the war started in the first place. When slavery ended, the war slowly ended as well. Also, when the first part on the document was signed, only northern states were free of slavery. When southern slaves heard about this, they escaped to the north for freedom. Once they got there, they fought for the north, giving them a dramatic lead.

Why was President Lincoln so bold in signing it? Either way, he could've been in trouble. If he did sign it, it could've made the Confederate states even madder. How would you feel if your president had in your mind betrayed you. He could've endangered himself by signing it. If he didn't sign it, we might not have even seen the end of slavery today, and no body knows how long the war could've gone on.

Was the Emancipation Proclamation well received? For the most part, yes. Obviously the slaves were happy that they had their freedom, and the Union was glad of it too. The Confederacy was okay with it as well, surprisingly. They were of course upset that they lost the war and slavery rights but in the end, they seemed okay with it.

To emancipate basically means to free. Abraham Lincoln freed all the slaves, but  people are still not always treated equally. Back in the early nineteen hundreds,there was so much racism going on in the United States. Since then, it has been improved, but we still see it sometimes. But without the Emancipation Proclamation, there might have even been slavery in the United States today.

Should There be a National School Starting Time?

Author's Note: I wrote this persuasive piece on why there shouldn't be a national school starting time. My focus is trying to clearly state reasons why we shouldn't and give facts to back them up.

5:45 in the morning...the dreaded time when my mom comes in my room to wake me up for school. Even though waking up early is hard, I see the wisdom behind it. Some parents are protesting that waking up for school at 7:30 is to hard for kids. That said, maybe college will be too hard for students to handle. Future jobs might  be too much to handle as well. Starting school at a certain time shouldn't be a national law because students need to learn discipline to wake up early, in order to prepare them for the future.

Would starting schools later really have a positive effect? It would give kids the satisfaction of knowing they got their way, and they lose discipline. If you always give kids their way when they're growing up, they're going to expect to get their way when they're older. When they get a job, their employer isn't going to let them come into work at 8:15 instead of 7:30 just because they need more sleep.

Is the time really too hard for them to handle? If the national school starting time was 8:00 for middle school students and high school students, it would allow them to stay up later. If they stayed up later, they could cause all kind of trouble, which could even put the rest of the community in potential danger. Also if the student makes it into college -- the classes won't start later. Waking up early teaches us good habits.

If it was a law, what time would we start and end school? The start time would probably be 8:30 and we would probably get out at 3:30. With that being the time for middle school and high school, what would a school district like Pewaukee do? If all four schools start and end at the same time, there would be way to much chaos. There wouldn't be enough room on the buses. Also, with school ending later, sports and clubs will also end later. This gives students less time to do their homework, which could result in bad grades.

So back to the final question: should there be a national school starting time? I see logic behind both sides of the situation. Parents don't want their kids to have to wake up so early. On the other hand, schools are teaching students good habits by forcing them to wake up early. What should we do?

I think that if parents really feel so strongly about their kids waking up early to get school on time, they should home school them. That way, they can have whatever schedule they want for their kids. If a community really feels strongly about it maybe they could have an election. But I think that waking up early is preparing middle school and high school students for later in life. I do not think that it should be a national law.

Florida vs. Wisconsin

Author's Note: I wrote this poem on Florida versus Wisconsin. I wrote about Wisconsin in italics and Florida in normal print. I am not sure that this is a real form of poetry or not, but I decided to try it. My focus is voice.

The warm sunny beaches,

The cold snowy winters,

The beautiful oceans,

Interesting topography,

Dolphins playing in the water,

Deer hunting through the woods,

Many professional sports team

Beloved sports teams 

World-wide attraction Disney World

Locally loved Wisconsin Dell's

Nationwide tourist attraction.

There's no place like home.

Time

Author's Note: I wanted to write another poem, so I decided to write this poem on time: how it either goes to fast or to slow. My focus is voice.

The time here has just begun.

But yet, it's time to go.

You don't want to leave,

And end the fun.

Go back to school,

Back to work.

Where the clocks seem to never move.

They tick by ever so slowly.

As to taunt you.

 Keep you there longer.

Book or Movie?

Author's Note: I wrote this piece comparing the Hunger Games book to the movie, but I am not giving away any parts of either. My focus is transitions.

March 23. The day long awaited by millions of Hunger Games fans worldwide. It was the day that the Hunger Games was coming out in movie. Fans lined up along the streets waiting for the midnight premier to start. Critics said the book was amazing, but would the movie do it justice? There are always occasions where the book is way better then the movie -- would fans be disappointed?

The Hunger Games is an amazing book filled with action, romance, and suspense. The book takes place in the country of Panem, where there are twelve districts. Each year one male and female from the ages of 12-18 are randomly chosen from each district to compete in the Hunger Games. The chosen tributes are forced to fight till only one remains, who will be crowned the victor.

The book was so good because it appealed to so many different people. From the romance between Katniss and Peeta, to the final battle in the games the book was impossible to put down. How would Hollywood interpret it? With author Suzanne Collins helping write the screenplay, everyone knew it would be good, but there were some doubts. The book was so in-depth and the battles so intense, even with modern technology it would be hard to pull off.

But they did. Most movies don't always match the description in the book. The Hunger Games did a pretty good job of it. There was only so far even technology could go with a book like this, with it's vivid details. But they did what they could. Was it the best movie I've ever seen? No. Would I rush back? No. But Hollywood still did a great job in reenacting the 74th hunger games.

Sometimes when they make movies after books, the movies don't turn out nearly as good, and fans are disappointed. Yet others, such as: Th Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, made the book even more popular. This was the case of The Hunger Games. Originally there were 50,000 copies of the Hunger Games in print. But, by February 11, 2011, there were already over 800,000 sold.  The Hunger Games was not at all disappointing, in fact it might have even made the book better.




"The Hunger Games (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games_%28film%29
"The Hunger Games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games#Sales>.