One Compared to Many

Author's Note: I was thinking before about how small a blade of grass is, and how it is almost nothing compared to a field. It reminded me of how small we are compared to the billions of people in this world. So here is a piece that explains what I was thinking:

In this world, there are many things that cannot be done alone. Alone, one blade of grass cannot cover a field. Alone, one drop of water cannot fill an ocean. Alone, one grain of sand cannot create a beach. However, when paired with many, each of these objects can do things that affect the world. This is evident with humans, too. When we work alone, we can only do so much; nothing compared to the work of many. However, if we join together, there are very few things that we cannot do. Right now, we are just blades of grass, drops of water, grains of sand, but soon, with the help of others, we will be able to create fields, oceans and beaches.

Goodbyes

Author's Note: I wrote this because we are saying goodbye to middle school this year and it made me think of how many times we have to say goodbye. We have to say goodbye to everything eventually because nothing lasts forever. The only thing that we don't have to say goodbye to is Heaven since it lasts forever and ever. Thanks for reading it!

White, empty walls mock you as you pass,

Reminding that you must leave and go at last

While the halls are full of cheer and laughter,

Your soul is full of grief now and forever after

That you must leave and not come back,

Gives your heart the intent to crack

But you must go on and move by and by,

And find some way to say Goodbye

***

The lake shimmers in the evening sun,

Where you used to swim and enjoy the fun

Now it's vacant, the sun its only companion,

Everyone else has packed and left the canyon

But alone on the hill, you sit and stare,

Wondering why loneliness fills the air

But you must go on and move by and by,

And find some way to say Goodbye

***

Sitting in a chair, waiting for your name,

Climbing up the steps, your moment of fame

You receive your diploma, official and gold,

Which gives you the fear of making a fold

The sense of accomplishment is indescribable,

Making the world, for once, feel reliable

But you must go on and move by and by,

And find some way to say Goodbye

***

The trucks roll away, taking all your belongings,

While you listen to your kids' callings

Moving away, from all the safety of home,

There's no familiar face, just packing foam

Looking at your house, trying not to cry,

Until this last time, the tears did not pry

But you must go on and move by and by,

And find some way to say Goodbye

***

Your grandkids come for one last visit,

You try to act well, but you can't conceal it

Their innocent faces look as sad as yours,

Since they know the truth, in their very cores

You hug, you kiss, you talk to no end,

To make sure you will always be their friend

But you must go on and move by and by,

And find some way to say Goodbye

***

You enter a new place, a place full of love,

Everywhere you look, there is a flying dove

All you see are happy people with happy faces,

That take you back to a passel of places

The places you said goodbye to before,

Will now be in your heart, forever more

No more goodbyes, to any other fellow,

Instead, you will always be able to say Hello

Conversations

Authors note: I wrote this poem as a response to the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The main character, Christopher, has autism and doesn't like chatting because there are no questions asked or answers stated. He finds chatting pointless and it made me wonder why we do chat. Is it to pass time? To get to know others? But it really doesn't do much. So here is my poem that describes what I was wondering:

Hello, goodbye, good morning, good night

Meaningless chatting going on with no might

Minutes and days and hours are spent

Only to be looked back on with resent

These talks end with no gain of knowledge

Leaving us less prepared for our college

Conversations with points and purpose

Will keep us farther away from the circus

Questions and answers will soon occur

Just to make sure you always concur

Link to my Essay

I posted my essay response to the novel, The Power and the Glory, on my essay blog: www.karensessays.blogspot.com

Breaking Point

Author's Note - This is a response to the novel, The Power and the Glory, and I chose the scene in which the priest has been arrested and is in jail with all of the criminals of the town.


Throughout his journey, the whiskey priest struggled with his conviction and relationship with God; all it took to see what he was doing wrong was a trip to the jail. After tumbling downwards for months and months, the priest finally hit rock bottom when he was arrested; this took him to an unknown place, one where the criminals of the world took refuge. If the priest acted like he had before, he wouldn't have been able to tolerate these types of people, but since his life couldn't have become any worse, he did what he should've been doing all along: he related to and forgave all the low, cruel criminals of the world.

"Everybody, when he spoke, listened attentively to him as if he were addressing them in church. He wondered where the inevitable Judas was sitting now, but he wasn't aware of Judas as he had been in the forest hut. He was moved by an irrational affection for the inhabitants of this prison." (127) Since these people were at the absolute lowest points of their lives, they needed a priest to give them hope, to show them the way, to forgive them. When he had nothing else to lose, he was able to finally fulfill his job: leading the poor people of the world to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Routines of Life

Author's Note - This is a non-fiction response to the novel, Rules of the Road, by Joan Bauer. The main character, Jenna, has an alcoholic for a dad and doesn't see him often. He cared more about how much money he had and how clean his cars were than his daughters as a result of this scary lifestyle. In this response, I took a quote that talked about this problem and explained how it affected his life.


Many people are stuck with the same grueling schedule day after day, month after month, year after year, and begin to lose track of the vital things in life. When a person can no longer distinguish whether or not their family is the most important to them, despair will soon become evident in their lives. "He took better care of those cars than he did his family. I guess people take special care of the tings that are important to them." (108) As Jenna's dad became more and more tied up in his alcoholism, he began to lose track of the events and happenings in his family's life. Soon, the repetitiveness of his bad habits made the illusion that drinking alcohol all the time and focusing more on money and cars than his own daughters was the way to go. In the long run, his horrific and daunting ways caught up with him and he soon lost the trust of his wife and daughters. This harsh outcome could've been avoided, if only he had taken a step back from the mindless routine and evaluated how he lived his life.

Lost Hope

Author's Notes - This is a fiction response to the novel, Rules of the Road, by Joan Bauer. I took the scene where the main character, Jenna, had been fired and retold it as Mrs. Gladstone, the company owner, who hadn't known that Jenna had been fired.

There was fifteen minutes before the stockholder meeting and Jenna had just dropped Alice and myself off at the front door. She was a true gem, Jenna was, and I'm not sure what I would've done without her. There wasn't a time since Elden entered the shoe business that I had been completely at ease with myself until she started showing me the truth. For years and years, I held his problems upon my shoulders -- feeling that I was responsible for his deceiving and corrupt personality. This was until I saw something in Jenna that she didn't even see in herself: a loving, passionate young lady who cares for many more people than herself. She was able to help me along the road to this building with more courage and strength than I could ever muster up myself.

These thoughts kept swirling around my mind while I entered the meeting room with new and improved hope running through my veins. As I took my seat, I looked around for Jenna. She should've been entering any minute. When she still hadn't arrived, I started to wonder what was taking her so long. As I was contemplating the thoughts and reasons of why she should be late, Elden entered with a smug smile on his evil face.

"Who are you looking for mother, is someone missing?" he said as if he knew something I didn't.

"Why actually I am, Elden, my dearest son," I answered, trying to be as sweet as possible, "I was just wondering where Jenna was. You remember her, don't you dear?"

"Of course, how could I forget that tall, gangly, disrespectful teenager that you lug around with you everywhere?" he replied, acting more arrogant than ever. "Actually, I just saw her and let her know that we wouldn't be needing her services anymore because of your retirement. In other words, I fired her!"

I couldn't believe him, I was astonished! How could he? He knew how much strength Jenna supplied me with, how I could hardly go on without her. It must have been part of his plan to steal my company, to make me weak and angry. I should have seen it coming! Letting him get to me would have surely ruined my chances at staying with this company, staying calm was the only way to fight back. I told myself that I must be strong, not only for myself, but for Jenna and all that she had done for me and this company.

Life on the Road

The following piece of writing is a poem I wrote as a response to Rules of the Road, a novel by Joan Bauer. The main theme of the book is how life is like driving on a road, and you just have to understand your problems and move by them. I wrote this poem in order to show what the theme means.

Driving down a winding road,
Trunk packed up with many a load.
Car filled up with family and friends,
That give the path curves and bends.
Some are nice, yet some are crude,
But one must learn to ignore the mood.
Problems arise and slow the trip,
Making it difficult to get a grip.
Contemplating answers to the unknown,
Getting lost, and feeling alone.
Things happen that change your life,
And bring on unnecessary strife.
Time goes on, and so does the road,
But one must learn to deal with the load.

Spring

The death is ending, the cold coming to a stop. Winter is no longer for there is a chance at new life, here to stay. For the light has come, breaking through the mist, and nothing can stop it from reaching the earth, breathing life into all that had wilted. The world turns, in the blink of an eye, from a black and white irony, to a colorful romance. No longer are days gray and dreary, no longer are our minds weary. The sun breaks through the clouds, shining light on all the darkness, turning the gray into green, setting free all things that were captured. Winter and death will come again, but nothing can stop spring and life from regaining their power and lighting the world.

His Love

Each and every day we know
Is a symbol that goes to show
That life goes on with no despair
And hope will always fill the air
That forgiveness is forever boundless
And love is no longer groundless
That many of us will never know
Just how much He loves us so
***
Each and every chance we get
Is from Him to us: a gift
That gives us time to do His will
And more opportunities to fulfill
That leaves us utterly speechless
Because He has much to teach us
That proves to us, His love
As luminous as a white dove
***
Each and every one of us
Have fears that are conspicuous
That keep us from loving Him
Until He draws us back in
That scare us away from the truth
And back into our ignorant youth
That teach us the most about Him
And His love when the future is dim

Life of Pi Summative Essay

If you want to read my summative essay on Life of Pi click here: http://karensessays.blogspot.com

Different Views on Life

Life works in mysterious ways, subtle and conspicuous at the same time – it just depends on how you look at it. "Time became distance for me in the way it is for all mortals – I travelled down the road of life – and I did other things with my fingers than try to measure latitude." (194) We are so caught up in the strain of our daily lives that sometimes we focus too much on the route and destination rather than the events along the journey. Enduring this grueling journey has given Pi more patience to pay attention to these small miracles – from the city of fish, to the stars in the sky. Finally noticing and pondering these intriguing parts of life has given him a new aspect on his situation; life became bearable again. If Pi never paid attention to the miraculous happenings on the lifeboat – but instead tried to figure out where he was going – would he have ever gotten there?

Best Friends

To pledge, "Together to the end",
Is a common thing among many a friend.
Promising to prevail through and through:
Despair and hope, yellow and blue.
Menacing monsters will come along,
To challenge this pair's diligent song.
But this luminous triumph will inspire
Much strength in order to keep the choir.

Changes in Religion

From the time that Pi entered a temple, he was a Hindu – born a Hindu, always a Hindu – and he knew nothing but the ways of the Hindu religion. His beliefs shaped conventions for his life; everything he saw was through a Hindu’s eyes. "The were there all along, but I hadn't seen them because I wasn't looking for them." (80) Before Pi started pondering all the different beliefs of the world, he had only seen it through one pair of eyes; once he started meandering down a different path, though, he began to observe things he never would have noticed unless he changed his ways and looked into his life from a different view.

Along with the acceptance of new religion came the acceptance of new customs for Pi. Soon, his life no longer revolved around the conventions and ways of Hinduism, but also Christianity and Muslim. In the mindset of only one religion, Pi would walk by a mosque and look on with disgust, but now he feels a sense of peace and serenity. Talk about Christ’s death and rise would send him into rage about God and how weak he was making himself, but now he just appreciates the love Christ and God have for us humans. "Ordinary in quality though it was, it glowed with beauty in my eyes."(76)Changes in religion have opened up his eyes to the world, and all it took was one small step into a church; all it took to change his conventions was one small step; all it took to change his vision of the world was one small step.

War and It's Fatal Side Effects

My project is on war and how it destroys families and any type of relationship. I wrote a letter as the Pope to the president of Russia about invading the country of Georgia and discussed why it was bad and what we could do to avoid it. If you want to read it visit my essay blog, http://www.karensessays.blogspot.com , please tell me what I need to work on.

Places to Think

In a room, by yourself

Looking at the books on the shelf.

Staring out, into the space,

Different looks overtake your face.

Silent room, no sound to hear,

Mind roaming, with no fear.

* * *

Outside, sitting in the shade

Of a tree: color of jade.

Birds flying, colors swirling,

Taking in noises, mind whirling.

So many things to hear and see,

So many things around the tree.

* * *

Floating, looking up towards the sun,

Diving down, back towards the fun.

Swimming around, swimming freely,

Mind concentrating, mind reeling.

Full of thoughts about this place,

Mind goes on a wild goose-chase.

* * *

All three, together right now,

Minds chomping on brain chow.

All their eyes are blinking,

All their minds are thinking.

Winds of Change

Montag was in a state of distress; he felt no happiness, he felt no sadness, he loved no person. “One two three four five six seven days.” (pg. 28) Without any of these feelings, life is pointless; Montag felt he had no purpose in the world that he lived. Throughout the world, there was darkness – not one piece of hope in the whole world – until a mysterious light came along: Clarisse. He finally knew what it felt like to have friend, to talk and just think. She taught him how to feel emotions, how to have things you love and hate, how to actually live and not just go through the motions of life.

When Clarisse uses a dandelion to see if she and Montag were in love, it represents her as a hope figure since she is guiding him and teaching him about love. She wants him to understand, to know that there is more to life than burning books, and to do so, she must also teach him about love. Little by little, step-by-step, he begins to make immense changes; he understands that his marriage with his wife must be fixed and begins the long, tedious process of doing so. “ ‘Here now,’ said Montag. ‘We’ll start over again, at the beginning.’ ” (pg. 68) To be able to fix their relationship, they must start over, and write a new chapter in their book of life.