Timmy's Exam Essay
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
4 June 2009
The Luck of the Draw:
A Poem’s Relation to Two Fictional Lives
In life, there is nothing but chances. You do not know your future, and you make decisions based on what you hope and expect to see there. Both Dexter Green and Ebenezer Scrooge had chances, and they took them differently. The choices they made have a connection to the poem “Yes” by William Stafford.
In the short story “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dexter Green had many chances to take. He started out as a caddy at a local country club, and meets the love of his life, or so he thinks. He falls in love with Judy, and she is his “sunshine, love, [and] salvation.” Then it all falls apart. He experiences the “tornado, earthquake, [and] Armageddon” that Stafford says can “happen any time.” Judy leaves him, and Green is plunged [FAST] into a dark time of despair and hopelessness. Even as he builds himself more and more wealth, he feels as though something is missing from his life. Throughout his existence, he experiences “love” and “Armageddon” and finally learns that there are “no guarentees in [his] life.”
On the contrary, Ebenezer Scrooge – a character in Charles Dickens’ “The Christmas Carol” – reflects this poem in a more positive light [appositive]. In his adult life, the assiduous [SAT word] Scrooge has known nothing but “tornado[es]” and other destructive forces. His entire working life has been spent sheltered in his dreary shop, with nothing to brighten the mood, not even an extra coal on the fire. He is totally, utterly, hopelessly depressed, and there is no way out for him [tricolon], or so it seems. One night, a mysterious ghost comes to him and tells him about the Christmas’ of his past. The next night, another ghost makes him see his present Christmas’, and the night after, he is shown his Christmas’ to come by a final ghost. The sad times behind and ahead of him are somewhat inspiring, so he breaks out of his shell an helps a child in need. In this book, Scrooge starts out as lonely person, but by sharing his wealth and happiness, he emerges and experiences the “bonuses” of “morning,” “noon,” and “evening,” by saving a life that would have been be otherwise lost – Tiny Tim.
When Green gained Judy and lost her soon after, it was all chance. When Scrooge made the decision to help the boy, it was based on chance. Both of their lives were made around the process of not knowing what was to come. All they were able to do was keep thier mind, eyes, ears, and heart [tetracolon climax] open and hope for the best.
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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Timmy's Last Essay
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
26 May 2009
Remembering is Everything:
An Essay on a Poem and My Experiences
Many things can happen in five years. People can die, or move, or get married, or even give new life [polysyndeton]. After five years, Wordsworth has decided to revisit an old Abbey in England with an old friend of his – his sister. I wonder what can happen to a place I love, such as Pine Point, in the short yet unpredictable time of five years.
In the poem “Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth, I see one main theme of remembrance. Wordsworth has come back to visit Tintern Abbey and says that “again [he] hear[s] th[o]se waters.” He remembers everything from five years ago. “The waters…th[o]se steep and lofty cliffs…the landscape…[and a] dark sycamore” are all familiar to him because of his memories. Also, as he sits with his sister along the river, he remembers his old life. “In [her] voice” he hears “the language of [his] former heart, and…former pleasures.” A simple trip into the woods with a dear, old friend helps to bring back not just former memories but even his whole life of childishness. Wordsworth is captivated by not just the beauty of the abbey but is also mystified by its power to bring back what had been lost to him – the thoughts of his old life [appositive].
If I came back to Pine Point in five years, I would hope to see the exact same hustle and bustle of daily life that I can see today. As my days wear on, I will remember Pine Point as a place that is always full of life. Even on the weekends, there are birds to be seen and heard, grass that is as green as ever, and, more often than not, people on the campus striving [FAST] to make the school a better place. People and things that are caught up in “its dizzy raptures” and “aching joys” that can’t help but be happy in the glorious place that is Pine Point. In addition to the desire to see life, I would wish joy upon the place that has given me so much joy. Wordsworth writes that he sometimes turns to Tintern abbey in “joyless daylight,” and I hope that, if for some reason I have lost my joy, I can turn to Pine Point and regain at least some of what I have lost. Pine Point has given me much of what I have, and I can only hope that I do not lose any of it. My only solace [FAST] is that I might be able to achieve “abundant recompence” and gain back the joy that I have lost.
Visiting memories of past places and people is a necessary part of life. It can be a church you once gazed at with awe, or a place that has helped you grow up into the person you are now. Either way, you must reflect on what you would be had they not impacted you. After all, what are you without your memories and past experiences, a simple soulless body with no evident purpose?
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Timmy's Essay 20
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
13 May 2009
Hands are the Biggest Burdens of All:
An Essay on a Quote, a Garden Stone, and my Life
When you first acquire a new object or machine, you cannot properly use it. You have to take some time to get to know it; you could read the manual or just play around with it. No matter what, you will soon be able to control your object in a masterful manner by never turning down a new piece of information about how to better use it. Rilke believes that hands are like this to humans, which connects to a stone from the garden and the game of lacrosse.
In a quote by Rainer Maria Rilke beginning with “Seeing is for us…” there are many underlying meanings. To start, Rilke talks about “our hands” being “coffin[s]” that trap what we hold. He says that if we cannot learn to let go of what our hands long to keep with them, we cannot continue to learn. When eyes see, they do not keep that instant of vision with them because they must let it go in order to attain [FAST] more sights, and, in turn, they become more knowledgeable. If we cannot learn to do this, we cannot “truly acquire wealth.” Our hands must learn to let the things they cherish go. For example, when someone picks up a bird or bug to study, they must let it go eventually to go search for something different to look at, giving them a chance to gain wealth in the form of knowledge [participle as a sentence closer]. Our hands are very important to the way we live, but they could be more important if we could teach them to hold on to nothing and let go of everything [antithesis].
Upon first glance, Rilke’s quote does not have much in common with the garden stone, but if one digs deeper, a myriad [FAST] of mysteries are unveiled. Rilke wishes that our hands were “willing to relinquish all things,” which we have not yet been able to do, but this is a possibility for the garden stone. The rock has already “relinquish[ed]” everything, owning nothing to begin with [participle phrase as a closer]. It is therefore in the perfect place to take everything in and acquire the maximum amount of wealth possible for a stone of its stature. In addition, Rilke states that we can only gain wealth “by letting everything pass through [our] grasp” like it is a “festive gate of return and homecoming.” While it was still part of the path, the stone was that “festive gate” because people walked over it everyday on their way into the school. It had all the people in its grasp but let them go in the same manner – quickly, quietly, freely, happily [tetracolon climax and asyndeton]. An innocent yet knowing object, this garden stone has “acquire[d] wealth” through measures beyond its control, the simple act of people passing by and leaving their knowledge in their footsteps on the dirty stone path.
Rilke’s talks about things “pass[ing] through” everyone’s “grasp” so that we can have space to learn more, which relates to my lacrosse career. Whenever the lacrosse ball is passed to me, I have to let go of it somehow. I can pass it, shoot it, or drop it. No matter which way I choose, the game continues on. If our hands do not let things pass through them, they cannot learn to their full potential, which is like lacrosse because things have to keep moving. A fast-paced and physical sport, lacrosse does not live up to its full potential when the ball is stationary [appositive as a sentence opener]. If someone is passed the ball, and they stand still, waiting for things to happen without making a move themselves, the game will be very boring for spectators and players alike. Hands must learn to give things up in order to take on new ones, and lacrosse must be a game of teamwork and moving the ball unless you want the game to go nowhere.
Hands are a vital part of our lives, but we don’t use them very well. If they sometimes forgot their original purpose to hold things and let information pass through, we could live in a different way. Your hands could let information pass over them like a stone at the entrance to a path or a lacrosse ball being passed over and over again during a game. In the grand scheme of things, do your hands help your acquiring of wealth, or do they hinder it?
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Self Assessment
Q:What was the hardest part of this assignment for you?
A: It was hard for me to get all my thoughts down in a somewhat organized manner.
Q: What is your greatest strength in this essay?
A: I think I used most of my special tools well. They were in the right places and had the meaning I wanted.
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Monday, May 4, 2009
Timmy's Essay 19
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
4 May, 2009
Partings and Reunions:
An Essay on Two Poems and my Life
Parting is a difficult subject for many to comprehend. It can be as simple as leaving your house for a day out, or as difficult as losing a loved one. Either way, it is a difficult thing to fully understand. A poem by Emily Dickinson, another poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, and my own life all have something in common with parting, reunion, or even both.
In the poem titled “My Life Closed Twice” by Emily Dickinson, many topics of parting are talked about. First, she mentions her own life “clos[ing] twice before its close.” Before her ultimate end – her death, she feels as though she has felt a sense of desolation [FAST] so deep it is comparable to the feeling of senselessness, stillness, darkness, and that of the unknown. She has felt her life end twice before its ultimate demise, and she still expects “immortality” to “unveil” a “third event to” her. Even though she has experienced endings, she cannot put them into understandable words. The parting of her life was “so huge [and] hopeless to conceive.” In other words, it was so dissimilar to anything in this world of ours, it must be of another nature. It was “all [the people knew] of heaven, and all [they needed] of hell.”
In Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem called “Adios”, there is much talk about parting and reunion. To begin, she says to “think of things that disappear.” She uses this to describe how the things we love best are usually the things that go away. When you love something, you notice it more, so when it is gone, you notice its absence. Oppositely, if there are things in your life that you do not particularly like, such as “leaves, cartons and napkins, the damp smell of mold,” it seems to “linger.” When these things leave, you tend not to notice it, so they never seem to go away. In contradiction to the things you love so much, the ones you are uninterested in may either leave or stay, either way they seem to be there. Finally, at the beginning of her poem, Nye describes the word “adios” as something you should “marry.” When someone marries, they usually unite with someone rather than part with him or her. Nye’s suggestion of “marry[ing] the word “goodbye” is a topic of reunion rather than parting. This poem contains many insights on both the notion [FAST] of parting and reunion.
In addition, there has been much parting in my life. As I look back on the grieving, the sadness, the hopelessness, and the despair, there are many things that stick out to me – the main one being my grandfather’s death in July 2006 [loose sentence]. When he passed away, he parted from my life entirely. There was no easy transition; he was here one moment and gone the next. This circumstance produced an option for two partings – his life from this Earth and our families becoming further apart. Obviously, he did part from Earth, but instead of parting from each other, our four families united. We stuck together and consoled each other, as one would do for someone they loved, and we all did love each other. My grandfather’s going brought parting into my life, but it brought reunion to it also.
Pain, grief, stress, preoccupation; I am affected by all of these things during parting [periodic sentence]. Other times, such as ones of reunion, I feel none of these things. In fact, I feel the opposite – enlightenment, happiness, and readiness. Even when things look terrible, there is always a decent happenstance ready to occur.
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Key:
Highlighted in red: special tools
Highlighted in blue: transitions
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Self-assessment
Q: What was the hardest part of this assignment for me?
A: I have been having trouble with loose and periodic sentences, but I think I used them well in this assignment.
Q: What am I most proud of in this assignment?
A: I am really happy with my sporadic use of tetracolon climax and purposeful repetition in this essay.
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Monday, April 27, 2009
Timmy's Essay 18
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
27 April 2009
The Preemptive Strike:
An Essay on a Poem, a Short Story and my Life
1. Kindness is an idyllic thing in life; with it almost anything is possible because of the people by your side [loose sentence]. 2. Although, in order to obtain this blissful state, you must face a different type of occurrence. 3. This tends to be of a different status – one of pain and despair. 4. The poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, the short story “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and my life all compare to this in some way.
TS In Nye’s poem, many insights on kindness are revealed. SD She says that people cannot truly understand kindness until they “lost things” and they won’t comprehend sorrow until their “future dissolve[s] in a moment.” CM She says that, unless people “travel to where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road,” people will never understand the “tender gravity of kindness.” CM This all means that people must endure the hardships before they can be rewarded. SD Nye could have some advice for Dexter Green regarding this. CM At the beginning of the book, he has done nothing but prosper with his business and love life, so he fails and ends up unhappy in the end, but this is the best place to start. CM She would probably tell him to get back on his feet because when you have nothing to lose is the best time to start all over. CS Nye talks of starting with nothing and ending with many things, which can be applied to almost anything, including Dexter Green’s life.
TS In Fitzgerald’s short story, Dexter Green is a young man with a full life ahead of him. SD He starts out as a golf caddy where many of his co-workers are “poor as sin.” CM His father is quite rich from his grocery store, and Dexter caddies “only for pocket money.” CM He meets a girl named Judy Jones and falls into what he thinks is love, but it all ends in disaster – he becomes rich from a business but he loses Judy in the process, which ends in losing his happiness as well [loose sentence]. SD This contrasts with Nye’s poem perfectly. CM Nye realizes that you have to start low and end high, like selling stocks, but Fitzgerald brings Dexter in the opposite direction. CM As a result of not following the natural law of losing before gaining, Green is destroyed by his own regret. CS Green exclaims, “I cannot cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back no more.”
TS These two works connect to my life because I have to never give up – life gives you many things, and you should hold on to every one [appositive]. SD I must be wary [SAT word] of the bad things but accepting of the wise, purposeful, joyous, worthy things that life gives me [tetracolon climax]. CM As Nye says, “ you must lost things … before you know what kindness really is.” CM I have to deal with the deleterious [SAT word] “road blocks” before the good can come to me. SD For example, my team recently lost a lacrosse game. CM It was a big loss, by at least 8 goals. CM I have to use this advice and go to the next practice hoping for a win in the next game. CS The possibility of a “kindness” after the “future dissolve[s] in a moment” has to keep me going.
1. In the end, the act of adversity [SAT word] is more important than the kindness. 2. If one does not fall a little lower than normal, they will not fully understand and appreciate the seemingly meaningless act that can boost them up again. 3. One doesn’t understand the full happiness of life until they’ve experienced the full despair of it, and without the that, what are they left with? 4. A little excess happiness that has no real meaning to them?
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Self-Assessment
1. Q: What am I most proud of in this essay?
A: I am very happy with my use of quotes in this essay. I tried my best to be specific and avoid being vague as much as possible.
2. Q: What was the hardest part of this assignment for you?
A: I had a hard time finding the right places to put the special tools. Sometimes they are a bit bunched together, but I couldn't find any other openings for them.
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Monday, April 20, 2009
Timmy's Essay 17
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
20 April 20009
Sentiment or Lack Thereof:
An Essay Relating Two Poems and a Short Story to Sentimentality
1 Sentiment is found naturally in life. 2 You can see it in a person volunteering to help the community, a simple donation to a just cause, or a person crying over a loved one’s death, but what would happen if it all disappeared? 3 Things could change drastically, but it would bring about a new meaning to everything we do. 4 In “The Traveling Onion” by Naomi Shihab Nye, there is much sentiment to be found, whereas “I’m Nobody” by Emily Dickinson has a distinct lack of sentiment and “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield has a strange mix of the two.
TS The whole of Nye’s poem is based on sentiment. SD Nye uses her emotion to think about the life of the onion that is about to “enter [her] stew today.” CM She knows not how far the onion has traveled, so she idealizes the fact and considers the unknown distance to be a very large one. CM She then uses her excess of emotion to feel compassion [SAT word] for the lonely onion she is about to eat. SD Furthermore, Nye pities the onion because it does not get its proper recognition. CM She sits at a table and “comment[s] on the texture of meat or herbal aroma, but never on the” onion’s great deeds. CM She sympathizes with the small vegetable and says “it is right that tears fall for something small and forgotten.” CS Ultimately, Nye feels bad for the anonymous [SAT word] glory that is an onion.
TS In Dickinson’s poem, there is more of a lack of sentiment. SD Dickinson, along with Nye, recognizes ignorance, but she sees a different side of it. CM Nye looks upon the onion’s lack of recognition with pity, but Dickinson wants to remain a “nobody.” CM She tells us not to “tell” because “they’d advertise – you know,” making it seems like she would rather stay hidden [participle phrase]. SD Also, one definition of sentimental is “having an excess of sentiment of sensibility,” but Dickinson seems to go in the exact opposite direction of that. CM She seems to spit out “how dreary” it would be to “be somebody.” CM Instead of sympathizing, she likens somebodies to “frogs” and tells how “public” it would be – public is regarded as a negative aspect of life [appositive]. CS Instead of trying to be sentimental towards people who are “somebody”, she would make fun of them in the shadows and remain a “nobody.”
TS Mansfield’s short story seems to be a mix of the two poems by and Nye and Dickinson respectively. SD When Laura hears about the man’s death, she feels compassion for his family. CM Contrarily, Jose thinks it should be let go and they should continue on with their party. CM This contrast of too much sentimentality and too little sentimentality rival throughout most of the book, but eventually Laura – the person with too much sentimentality – comes out on top [appositive]. SD She travels to the poor part of the village to pay her respects to the dead man. CM This little act of kindness lets her live happily for the time being. CM It even grants her a new look on life, which she can’t quite describe. CS This short story shows that even if you are overrun with sentiment, if it is all let out, you can be happy again.
1 Sentiment, or lack thereof, can be a powerful tool. 2 It can bring out a feeling of strange contentment or a dissimilar feeling of utter defiance. 3 Either way, it can have a huge impact on the lives of you and others, making feeling a powerful source [participle phrase]. 4 Sentimental people are sometimes ridiculed, but, in the end, are we not all emotional at some point or another?
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Timmy's Essay 16
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
15 April 2009
The Figurative Connections:
An Essay on a Poem and How it Relates to a Short Story
How do you express yourself? Is it through singing, performing, speaking, painting [asyndeton]? Is it straightforward or somewhat evasive [FAST]? In “The Little Brother Poem,” Naomi Shihab Nye uses writing to express herself. James Baldwin has also chosen writing over the others, and his story has a lot in common with Nye’s.
In her poem, Nye uses figurative language to express the multiple themes. First, she uses many metaphors. She says, “You’re Wall Street and I’m the local fruit market” to express the differences between herself and her brother. Differences are a key part of this poem because they are one of the reasons that her brother ran away. Nye also uses imagery to express a theme of paying attention to the little things. She “poke[d] [her] finger through the rusted hole in the bottom [of the jug].” This act showed her remembrance of her brother and how the little things can cause the most sadness. Equally important is her use of figurative language to show the theme of forgiveness. In the first and last stanzas, she talks about going through her brother’s old things. She has to dump out the boxes, sort through them, and put them back into a shape that her brother will remember, so that if he ever finds it, he will know she cared and hopefully forgive her. Without figurative language, this poem loses much of its meaning.
In addition, “The Little Brother Poem” has a lot in common with James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” In both writings, pieces of the past come back to haunt the characters. For example, Isabel “still hears [the scream] sometimes in her dreams.” In Nye’s piece, she sees her brother’s car often, which reminds her of the past and how things could have been, making her regret past actions [participle phrase as a closer]. Moreover, both stories involve pain, but require the characters to move on. In “Sonny’s Blues,” Little Gracie dies, and they are dropped into a state of anguish [FAST]. In her poem, Nye hurts her brother and has to deal with “[his] eyes hard on [her] from under the bandages.” Lastly, both stories take their time with certain things. Sonny finally takes his time with a song and it becomes “beautiful because it wasn’t hurried.” In “The Little Brother Poem”, Nye starts “dumping out [...] whole drawer[s]” and slowly sifting through them, trying to make something beautiful out of them. These two masterpieces are built on many of the same themes and therefore have a lot in common.
On that note, many of these themes are not just part of two stories but of life as well [periodic sentence]. When a friend wrongs you, what do you do? You forgive them eventually, and there are many more examples for each of the themes listed above. Life is just made up of countless little themes that are rolled into one big world.
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Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Timmy's Essay 15
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
8 April 2009
Courage, a Never-Ending Source
An Essay on a Poem
In the poem “Courage” by Anne Sexton, she talks about many things. A first bike ride, a resilient coal kept inside to fuel you forward, and a pampered bit of sorrow are a few of them. These ideas, along with others, share at least one trait – a very important theme to say the least. In addition to that, I have also had to use this specific quality in my life at certain times and as a whole.
Sexton explores many themes in her poem, but I think the main one is, as the name suggests, courage. Firstly, Sexton talks about “the first spanking when your heart when on a journey all alone.” Obviously, this journey takes courage. If one were to set out on the quest for the holy grail – a grand journey – and take no one with them, they would have to brave all the downfalls of the trip with no one to help them through it, much like a child taking their first spanking [loose sentence]. Courage is also shown in the peaceful acts we commit, such as “face[ing] the death of bombs and bullets…with only a hat to cover your heart.” This action clearly takes a lot of courage. To stand in front of bullets with only your faith as a guardian would be truly be bold. Furthermore, Sexton talks about facing death at the end of the poem. She says that when death comes to take you, you have to “put on your carpet slippers and stride out.” To me, this implies courage because of the word “stride” – a word that implies confidence rather than a more ambiguous [FAST] word such as “walk”. No matter how you look at it, Sexton has truly mastered the art of titling her work the way it deserves – proper and accurate.
My life has required much courage. To start, courage is found in my everyday life. When I wake up each morning, I rise to a new day, with new possibilities and difficulties to face. I must deal with them as they come, and not back away from them – a true form of courage. Also, I have recently ended my search for the hopefully perfect high school for next year. This whole process required a lot of courage because I had to break out of my comfort zone while looking for a place that I could be comfortable in [antithesis]. I had no choice but to make the most out of the visit and revisit days I spent at the schools because, if I did not, I could never be sure which choice would best suit the real me. Finally, I also know that death will eventually come to “open[] the … door” to my life and take me with it. It is inevitable and distressing, so we must live while we can and cherish the moment and never say never because the sky really is the limit [polysyndeton]. We all need to have the courage to “stride out” when we are called to die because we can, hopefully, look back on our life without regrets. The poem is laid out like a growing person’s life, so I, like this poem, will use my courage every single day to the best of my ability.
Analyzing this poem has made me understand how big a part courage plays in our daily lives. It could be as simple as owning up to a mistake, or as complex as standing up for something you believe in, while others feel differently. Either way, courage is a vital [FAST] motive for the way we live. Once we fully understand that, we can use it to our advantage because it is an inexhaustible resource and we will never be left without it.
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Monday, April 6, 2009
Timmy's England Writing
Sorry this is late, but here is my writing from England.
Day 1 Writing
I have felt three main emotions on this trip so far: exhaustion, excitement, and serenity. Exhaustion is very present because our flight left at 9 A.M. Therefore I, being a slow riser, had to wake up at 1:30 in the morning [S-V split participle phrase]. This has led to a long day. Second, I am quite excited for what is to come. I have never been to England before and have only a vague idea of what to expect. This trip will bring me new surprises and new opportunities to try new things. Finally, this trip has made me feel calm. So far we have taken a sleepy bus ride and a semi-energetic plane ride, so I have been sitting down in a tranquil state for the better part of the day. This has left me feeling very calm. These three emotions will probably show up at different times later in this trip, but I’m sure I will encounter many others along the way.
Day 2 Writing
The fence is made up of countless black pillars. They seem to radiate heat. The sun only reflects on a small part, but they all shine. They stand tall and proud, doing their job. Everything outside stays out, and everything inside is trapped there.
I’m sitting at an old picnic table. The edges are smooth and rounded from years of use. Next to me stands an ashtray. It is elevated on a cylindrical column to allow easy access from the table. The tan and white tubes sit there lazily. Most are burnt to a crisp, but all appear to gloat about the damage they’ve done.
Day 3 Writing
Today, we went to the Underground. By this, I mean that we took the subway or “the tube” as it is known locally. It was much like the subways of New York, although the station names were different, as I expected. After returning to the surface, we walked around searching for a place to eat. Finally, we came upon a small pub where we hurriedly ate some food. It was scrumptious, but we were soon off to our next destination.
Day 4 Writing
As we pass through the hustling and bustling streets of London, I can just see the top of the Tower, but my vision soon grows foggy. At first, the clouds send down a fine mist. I relish the moistness, but my thoughts soon turn sour as the sky unleashes upon us by sending down an ocean from above. We, except for the ones who brought raincoats or umbrellas, are soon drenched. We spot the visitor’s center and scurry inside. The soft pitter-patters of the rain lead my eyes into the distance where they get lost in the stormy skies. I soon notice movement. Tom Wheeler, an old classmate, has returned. We talk of old topics, of new ones, and everything else in between. Time flies quickly by, and the rain has stopped. We gather our things and head off for our next destination.
Day 5 Writing – Sonnet
The Sky
The Sky is truly a wondrous thing.
It can make you feel happy or sad,
Or particularly glum if the weather is bad.
If the sun shines bright, you may just want to sing!
If the wind is just right, you could hear a slight ring,
Which alone could make you quite glad,
Or transport you back to a lass or a lad.
The sky alone can improve everything.
At night, the sky begins to change.
Instead of excite or depress, it make you calm;
Honestly, the sky is very strange.
You could feel washed over by a healing balm.
The vast blueness could even arrange
For you to be rid of every qualm.
Day 6 Writing
Here is sit in the classroom. Names of past students are carved into the wall. I look through the parted curtains towards the uninviting sky. Gray and dangerous, it looks back at me. I avert my eyes and think back upon the day. The thick walls at Windsor Castle, the portrait-lined rooms, and the Chapel at Eton came to mind. Our audio-guided tour of the castle was, although a bit strange, quite interesting. Did you know that if a knight was cast out of his kingdom, his shield was kept on the ceiling, but the coat of arms was removed? He would not be forgotten for the crime he committed. This sin could be brought back to haunt others, keep them in line, or for no reason at all. This day has involved a lot of walking, and I am, for now, content to relax, write, and watch the weather. The cloudy skies may take a turn for the worse.
Day 7 Writing
The train glides along at a steady pace. Cities, farms, and many a tree pass by my window-side. After being in the city for so long, it is nice to get a break. The rolling green hills flow out into the distance. Some are pure green, but others and speckled with sheep and other animals. As it speeds along the track, the train hardly makes a sound. A small hum can be heard, but it is soothing rather than aggravating. It seems to invite sleep rather than scare it away. I am not impervious to its spell. My eyelids grow heavy, but then they snap open to finish writing.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Timmy's Essay 14
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
24 February 2009
Brave New Worlds:
An Essay on the changes in “The Tempest” and our World
There are many dreadful things happening in the world today. People are hated for their beliefs, others are killed for the same reason, and others still live in fear that someone will find them and kill them or worse. Oppositely, other worlds have been changed for the better, such as the island in “The Tempest”. Many things have changed for the better to allow the isle to attain such happiness, and if we were to change our world in similar ways, we would need to live by at least three principal virtues.
On page 93, Miranda says that she lives in a “brave new world”, but what has caused this change to happen upon the isle? First, Prospero finally forgave everyone who wronged him. Mainly, Prospero realized that to have anger festering inside him for 12 years wasn’t a good thing. He forgave “the rankest fault” of his brother - stealing his dukedom from him [loose sentence and appositive]. Also, Caliban realized that he didn’t have to follow anyone anymore. He was a slave of Prospero for a long while, and then he met Stephano, who gave him some “celestial ale”. Caliban was entranced and emulated [SAT word] Stephano thinking he was a god, but he gave that up in search of his own self. Finally, Miranda and Ferdinand are going to get married. They have only met three hours before, but they fell madly in love. She sees the world they live in as “brave” and “new” because she finally found someone besides her father that she loves and wants to start her “new” life with. This whole play is about new beginnings, which only leads to a whole new world.
If we were to make our world “brave” and “new”, we would have to change a few things and take at least three virtues to heart. First, we would have to learn to accept. Without this specific trait, people won’t be able to be themselves and act the way they want to. If they have to hide themselves and try to remain anonymous [SAT word], they can’t help everyone around them be better. Second, we must all learn to forgive for past experiences. Without entering this state of reconciliation [SAT word], we will be unable to work with one another to create our “brave new world”. We must learn that vengeance is never a good thing, and forgiveness is the only way to live life to the fullest. Finally, we must learn to persevere. Unfinished plans, turmoil, and utter uselessness will break out if we cannot follow through [periodic sentence]. We must stay motivated and work towards common and achievable goals. Even though there are many more virtues to follow, this new world would be full of possibilities and happiness.
In the end, if people tweak a few things in the way they live, the consequences can be enormous. They can be as simple forgiving a deceitful brother or accepting someone for who they are. It could be realizing the alcohol should not be worshipped as a god or learning how to complete a goal. Either way, you must leave your past behind, look towards the future, and reach for the stars.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Timmy's Essay 13
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
17 February 2009
Music in Many:
An Essay on Music in my Life and Caliban’s
1. Everyone in this world is different. 2. They look different and have different likes and dislikes, but most of them share one thing – a love of music. 3. Most everyone in the world from China to the United States has an interest in music of some sort. 4. This curiosity occurs in people such as myself, and other fictitious characters such as Caliban in “The Tempest”.
TS A seemingly shapeless and monstrous man, Caliban can be changed by the simplest of things – music [appositive as sentence opener]. SD These magical “sounds and sweet airs” change Caliban’s whole outlook on life. CM He is usually angry with Prospero for making his life terrible, but music lets him feel happier. CM He fears nothing, and is able to live in a state of pure bliss for a little bit. SD The music also lets Caliban dream [short sentence amid longer ones]. CM In a literal sense, sometimes when he hears the music, he falls asleep and dreams. CM Figuratively, he dreams of what he can accomplish, and he imagines “riches” falling onto him, making him wealthy. SD Finally, Caliban is able to turn a terrible situation of servitude around with the benefit of music. CM The “thousand twangling instruments” he hears “give [him] delight and hurt [him] not”. CM On that island, those jingles are his only friends. CS Those splendid sounds are the only things that make him feel that life is even remotely worth living.
TS For me, music is a very important part of life. SD The sounds I hear can determine the way I feel. CM If I’m listening to a particularly upbeat song, my mood can be lifted. CM I can go from cheerless to cheerful in seconds if the right song is playing. SD Alternatively, my mood can change the other way around. CM This happens less frequently, but sometimes if I play a really depressing song, I can start to feel a bit gloomier [compound-complex sentence]. CM The music can have a numbing effect that makes me feel worse. SD Along with changing my mood, music can let me drift away from reality. CM In some songs, the lyrics mean a lot to me personally, so I can get lost in them. CM I am able to focus on nothing for a little while and leave my troubles behind. CS At some times, music redefines my life and lets me make it what I want it to be.
1. Music has a lot to do with both real and fictional lives. 2. With Caliban, it changes his personality to make him fearless and happy. 3. Music provides me with happiness, with sorrow, and with the ability to be free [three consecutive prepositional phrases]. 4. In the end, music can be portrayed as the definition of life because it is the only thing keeping some, like Caliban, alive.
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Monday, February 2, 2009
Timmy's Essay 12
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
3 February 2009
My Cell Desires and Free Analogies:
An Essay on Imprisonment and Freedom
Imagine you are stuck in a holding of some sort, and you cannot leave. All you can do is sit, wait, and hope [3-action verb] to be rescued. As you sit around all day with nothing to do, your mind may begin to wander. If I were in that situation, I would think about the things I could see to make me feel a bit happier and what it would be like to be free again.
If I were imprisoned for a long while inside of a dark, dank [FAST] cell, there would be two things I would like to see the most every day. First, I would love to have one daily view of the sun. Even while I was trapped inside a cell in the dark, I would be comforted by that one ray of sunlight that would bless my life for just a couple of minutes each day. It would let me know that no matter what happens, there is still a world out there – a world that I could still hope to return to. The other thing I would yearn [FAST] to see would be my family and friends. If I could just see them for a couple of minutes every day, I would know that they were all right. This thought would give me comfort and allow me to live a better life, if possible, inside my holding cell. These two views may not seem like much, but they are the bare minimum of sights that I would be able to live with.
While inside that cell, I would think of freedom as a bald eagle. Freedom is like a bald eagle because it can rule the skies like no other. It is never hunted, for it is always the hunter. It is able to live with no fears, no rules, and no problems [tricolon], which is probably the ultimate goal of freedom. This eagle also relates to freedom because it is able to fly in the sky. Nothing can weigh it down because the air - its natural element - is weightless [s-v split participle phrase]. It just soars of its own accord, happy to be free and free to be happy [chiasmus]. A bald eagle is the epitome of freedom because it is able to live without boundaries or cautions.
Freedom is relative. If I were an eagle soaring freely in the skies who was one day magically changed into an American person, how free would I feel? The human part would have a free America to live in, but the bird part would still wish to patrol the skies. People may think they are free, but are they really trapped in a cell called land, with no way of knowing how to truly be free, to be liberated, or to be happy [tricolon]?
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Timmy's Essay 11
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
29 January 2009
Different Similarities:
An Essay About the Similarities Between Ariel and Caliban in a Play
Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt completely confined? A time where you could do nothing to escape? In the play “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare, two characters are trapped on an island, but in different ways. Ariel the spirit and Caliban the hag-born mutant are different, yet they share an island and a master.
In this story, Ariel, a spirit of sorts [s-v split appositive], is confined to the island to carry out services for Prospero. For 12 years, he was trapped in a “cloven pine” because of the evil witch Sycorax. When Prospero finally released him with magic, he took him in as a servant. Ariel, although promised with a vacation period, is forced to be Prospero’s slave and carry out his will. He is also confined to the island and chooses not to or cannot leave that space unless specified to do exactly that. For example, Ariel left on Prospero’s whim to invoke [FAST] a storm, sink a ship, and not harm the passengers [3-action verb]. He completes this task, but comes back to Prospero for an unknown reason. Ariel is confined to Prospero’s desire and is a slave to his aspirations.
Caliban is also trapped on the island to do work for Prospero. His trapping is more understandable because of his inability to fly. Unlike Ariel, he cannot float around; he must walk on his own two feet. He was “got by the devil himself upon thy wicked dam” on this island they all call home. At first, they were friends and Prospero taught Caliban the wonders of language, but Caliban proved inefficient. Being trapped on the island with him now [participle phrase], Caliban has no choice but to carry out slave work for Prospero because of his superiority. If he does not, Prospero can punish him through use of magic – an undesired fate. Caliban is completely and totally trapped in this life of servitude, and all he can do is hate Prospero and wait, wishing to be gone [participle phrase].
Even though their confinement and servitude were created and exist differently, Ariel and Caliban share some problems. They are both confined to the same island and both serve the same master. Ariel is preferred by the master a bit more than Caliban, but they share a master just the same. It will be interesting to see if they share anything else in future pages of the play.
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Graphic Organizer
chunk 1: trapped in a tree, released; then confined by Prospero's will
chunk 2: confined in the island and cannot or does not escape
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Self-Assessment
What am I most proud of in this essay?
I am very proud of the concluding sentence in my first paragraph. I used purposeful repetition and I feel as though it makes the writing better.
What was the hardest part of this assignment for me?
The hardest part of this assignment was trying to find ways in which Ariel and Caliban were confined and serving. To find multiple ways that had a connection was difficult.
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Monday, January 12, 2009
Timmy's Essay 10
Timmy O’Brien
English 9
Mr. Salsich
12 January 2009
An Unwelcome Truth:
An Interpretation of a Passage from The Tempest by William Shakespeare
During this passage, Prospero seems to keep to the theme of truth. So far, he has kept Miranda in the dark regarding her previous life. She has just thought that her father was an ordinary man, albeit a sorcerer, but now she learns the truth. She learns of the conflict that as kept her on that island. He decides it is time because she watches a boat fall prey to the storm he has conjured. She is distraught because of the deaths, but is eventually calmed down. Prospero tells her that the men and women on that ship – namely the King of Naples and Antonio, are alive and well but no longer living of their own free will. Prospero tells her that her uncle “call’d Antonio” was a “perfidious” man. She is told how he took over the dukedom from Prospero, and how Prospero “cast [the government] upon [his] brother”. She is finally able to see her father in his true colors – studious, naïve, and somewhat bent on revenge. Through this passage, Miranda is both enlightened and burdened by the new truths from her father.
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Friday, December 12, 2008
Timmy's Essay 9
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
12 September 2008
Past Regrets and Future Plans;
An Essay on my Past and Future
1. As you live your life, you make decisions that lead to one another. 2. Eventually, all the decisions lead to one outcome. 3. This result could be jovial (FAST), but it could also be depressing, so you must figure out how to make future decisions better. 4. In my life, I have made decisions that I have come to regret, but then I made other decisions to help me better myself in the future.
TS During my life, I have made many mistakes that I regret. SD My main regret is not being present for my grandfather’s death. CM At the time, I was in Canada watching lacrosse to my heart’s content while many other people were surrounding his deathbed waiting for his time to come. CM I feel as though I should have been there helping him along with the rest of my family into his next phase. SD Something else I regret is regretting itself. CM Even though I have made mistakes in my past, I don’t want to think about them for too long. CM If I do focus on the past a lot, I could miss the opportunity currently being presented to me and have more to regret later. CS Right now I regret events that have passed, but I must learn to pass my regrets (chiasmus).
TS Oppositely, I have made some plans to prevent making as many regrettable mistakes. SD First of all, I plan on trying to keep in touch with the world more. CM I should still focus on my current task, but always keep my ears open too. CM In other words, whatever I’m working on matters most, but other things can still have weight in my life at that time. SD Along those lines, I want to focus in the moment. CM I want myself to understand that now is the time that matters. CM For example, when playing in a lacrosse game in the springtime, I want to focus on the moment of that game instead of after-game snacks, that night’s homework, or even the next day. CS With these ideas in mind I, planning in the moment, will be able to accomplish tasks with more vigor (FAST) and efficiency (S-V split participle).
1. For now, all I have to realize is that things happen, and when they do I have to let them go. 2. The past doesn’t matter as much as the future, and the future doesn’t matter nearly as much as the present. 3. If for some reason I end up focusing on either of the two, I could miss an opportune moment and have more to regret later. 4. Now all I have to do is somehow keep myself in the present – away from the past and future, and it will truly be a gift.
Self-Assessment
What do I like best about my essay?
One thing I really like about my essay is that it seems to be under one big "umbrella". I think it stays on topic pretty well and focuses on the work to be done.
What was the hardest part of this assignment for me?
The hardest part of this assignment was finding an example of chiasmus to use. Nothing really seemed to fit and I had to think a lot about the one I used.
Graphic Organizer:
Main Point: Regrets and Plans
Opening:
-Regrets don't need to be in your life
-They are in mine and i have to power through them
1st body
-Not being present for my Grandfather's death
-I regret regretting, not necessary, the present matters
2nd Body
-Stay in touch with the world, keep my eyes and ears open to everything
-Focus on the moment, now matters more than before or after
Closing
-What is gone is gone, let it be
-Try not to regret
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Thursday, December 4, 2008
Timmy's Essay 8
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
4 December 2008
An Attempted Revelation:
An Essay About a Passage
When someone is trying to prevent you from taking part in a behavior, what do they do? Sometimes a simple “No!” does the job, but other times a different approach must be taken. On occasion, people will resort to scare tactics. In this passage, Jacob Marley tries to scare Scrooge into doing the right thing.
TS In this section of the reading, Marley tries to scare Scrooge in two major ways. SD The first one was when Marley went into a lot of detail about his chain. CM He said he made it “link by link, and yard by yard; [he] girded it on of [his] own free will…is its pattern strange to you?” CM This was where Scrooge started to realize that he was forging a chain to wear, and he would soon wear the chain he forged [chiasmus]. SD The other way he scared Scrooge was by saying, “[I am] doomed to wander through the world […] and witness what [I] cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!” CM In other words, Marley told Scrooge that he only had a limited amount of time on this earth, and he had to enjoy what he had while he could. CM When Scrooge dies, all his chances of happiness will be destroyed. CS All he will be able to do is watch others be happy.
After hearing this speech, Scrooge is faced with a decision. Marley tells him that 3 spirits will be visiting him soon, and he can welcome them, abandon them, or ignore them completely [purposeful repetition]. Scrooge knows what is waiting for him in the after-life, and can no longer deny that he is living the wrong life. Now he must decide whether to change his ways, or be burdened with the fetters of his business – mankind.
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Monday, November 17, 2008
Timmy's Essay 7
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
20 November 2008
Prejudices Reign Free:
An Essay on the Queer Side of Life
1. When you criticize someone, whether it is deliberate or accidental, it can have different effects. 2. They can see the joke and take it in stride, or they can dwell on the negatives and have a hard time forgiving you. 3. This can happen with heterosexism because if someone says the word “gay” with a negative connotation, they might let it slide a few times, but if the vocabulary persists, things could get more extreme physically and verbally. 4. Heterosexism changes a lot of lives for the worse, including Ms. Stump Olsen.
TS Being an expert on the harshness of words, Ms. Olsen came in to talk to us about the effect they can have on people. SD The first thing that stood out to me was her saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones. That’s not true.” (quote) CM Sometimes when we say something that we think might hurt someone, we think of that phrase to reassure ourselves. CM Contrarily, this phrase, according to Olsen, is completely and utterly meaningless to the targets of the harsh words. SD Something else that caught my attention was when she told her story – her inability to lead a normal life. CM People had assumed she was “queer” since she was about 12, and punished her for it. CM She spent most of her teen life thinking about how to survive the walk to the next class rather than the next class itself. SD Along with her story, I was surprised by the way “coming out of the closet” changed her life. CM At the age of 20, she decided it was time to tell people because she had already been hiding her true self for 15 years. CM When she told her parents, they politely asked her to get out of their lives, and she hasn’t spoken to them in 15 years – something I can’t even think about. CM Along with that, if she got into an accident and had to be hospitalized, her parents would be able to make an uninformed decision – not knowing what she would want because of the 15-year gap. CS Her fate being in the hands of another person (absolute), Ms. Olsen was horrified, and I understand her feelings toward this and wonder how anyone could impose so much negativity onto a person just because of prejudices.
TS In this case, the prejudice is called heterosexism. SD Unbeknownst to many people, heterosexism happens a lot in this world. CM Trying to ignore it (participle), we pass it off as unimportant and that the targets should deal with it themselves. CM Unfortunately, this doesn’t work because there seem to be more people actively supporting this prejudice than opposing it. SD With this information, we must also consider that the people being discriminated against did not choose this life. CM People don’t wake up one morning and say, “Today, I think I’ll turn some of my family, friends, and people I don’t even know against me and be physically and mentally abused on a daily basis.” CM It is an uncontrollable action, and we must try and respect them and their views. CS If we don’t, aren’t we saying that we don’t believe they are a whole person?
1. If a person isn’t considered whole, how can they be forced to pay attention to our laws of society? 2. How can we make them pay taxes if we refuse to let them marry whom they love? 3. As Melissa Etheridge says, “I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen.” 4. Through this, she says that if she cannot be treated as an equal because of heterosexism, why should she, Ms. Olsen, and people like them have to deal with the consequences of being seen as such a monstrosity?
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Self-Assessment
1. Some writing issues I am continuing to work on are tightening my writing - trying to omit unnecessary words. Also, I am trying to make sure my writing makes sense and doesn't cause confusion for the reader.
2. Some strong points I see in this piece of writing is my first paragraph. It was all I wanted it to be and I was able to write what I wanted without any misinterpretation.
3. Some weak points I see in this writing is the concluding paragraph because it brings up a new topic and seems a little jumbled.
4. The grade I would give myself is around a B.
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Timmy's Essay 6
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
12 November 2008
Discovering the Message:
An Essay on the “The Way to Rainy Mountain”
1. When you read a book, you tend to look at the more important aspects of the story. 2. The trivial [FAST] details seem to melt away in your summary. 3. This was not the case when I read “The Way to Rainy Mountain” by N. Scott Momaday. 4. I tried to pay attention to every single word and pick out the lines that meant the most to me rather than the ones that were the most influential to the story.
TS While reading this essay, I came across some lines that I found very captivating. SD First, I thought the line, “At a distance in July or August the steaming foliage seems almost to writhe in fire” was particularly fascinating. CM It was a great example of imagery that presented me with a vivid picture, explained Rainy Mountain’s weather, and allowed me to see through the Momaday’s eyes [three action sentence]. CM I was actually very surprised to see such a powerful sentence so near the beginning of the essay. SD Another line I found quite interesting was, “Their migration was the fruit of an old prophecy, for indeed they emerged from a sunless world.” CM This sentence caught me by surprise because it was an idea that I hadn’t even thought about. CM Right before this, Momaday says that this tribe, the Kiowas, acquires a sun-dance doll and came from a hollow log, and it never occurred to me how opposite these two concepts were or how indicative it was of their feelings of their old lives. SD Finally, the line, “A cricket had perched upon the handrail, only a few inches away from me,” caught my attention. CM It brought out that fact that, when something bad happens, people tend to focus on insignificant details in their lives. CM When Momaday went back to the small house; all he contemplated [FAST] was one little cricket and its place in the world. CS So much can be learned about the individual writer by paying close attention to the seemingly superfluous [FAST] lines, and all one needs to do is try.
1. When reading, paying attention can have numerous benefits. 2. You could understand the writer, the story, or even a mountains climate better. 3. You may even uncover things that haven’t ever been discovered before. 4. All you have to do is ignite your thinking and take the first step.
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Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Timmy's Essay 5
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
6 November 2008
A Second Look:
An Essay on the Advantages and New Insights of Re-reading
1. Every once in a while during your reading you may be confused by a certain sentence or paragraph, so you go back to read it again. 2. What some people don’t realize is that this can be helpful on a much larger scale. 3. If you reread a whole story or novel, you may come to understand everything about that work much better. 4. I put this into use with the short story “The Garden Party” in the hopes that I will better be able to understand the particular events of the story.
TS Upon taking a second look at “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, I saw several things I had not noticed at first. SD First, the peculiar relationship of Laura and her mother stood out to me. CM When Laura suggests that to have a party in the area of a dead man would “terribly heartless of [them]” (brief quote), Mrs. Sheridan gets angry. CM Instead of talking with her daughter about this conflict, she deliberately tries to change her mind by giving her a hat and shifting her mindset from their heartlessness to her own prettiness. SD Another thing that stood out to me was the new theme of focusing on oneself instead of others. CM This was made apparent to me because Laura admired her own arranging capabilities, was asked not to care about a dying man so they could have a garden party, and said that because the little cottages were “eyesores, [] they had no right to be in that neighborhood at all.” (three action sentence and brief quote) CM Her mother directly tells Laura that the garden party they are hosting should be more important than a dead man in their neighborhood, which seems quite self-serving. SD The last thing I noticed while re-reading this story was the use of the word “relish” in the sentence: “ ‘Dead when the picked him up,’ said Godber’s man with relish”. CM He seems to be happy about informing the Sheridans of the death just down the street, which doesn’t seem right. CM The man could have produced a sympathetic tone to fit the story, but instead he talked with a seemingly arrogant manner, as if the content didn’t actually matte – the only thing that did was that he had a story to tell. CS Re-reading the story, I found many things that helped me understand it’s story, events, and themes.
1. The things one can achieve through re-reading are endless. 2. You could find a whole new side of a character you never saw before, or discover a different view on a particular event. 3. Either way, whatever you find will most likely enrich your understand of the work you are reading, so next time you finish a book with even the slightest trace of misunderstanding, go back and re-read what you finished. 4. It may come back to help you in later days.
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Monday, October 20, 2008
Timmy's Essay 4
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
21 October 2008
True Appreciation:
An essay on Zora Neale Hurston’s essay “How It Feels To Be Colored Me”
1. When someone mentions appreciation, people tend to assume they are talking about “thank you” and “your welcome”, but that is not always the proper [FAST] assumption. 2. Appreciation is also your view on life. 3. To be truly appreciative, one must acknowledge all the little things in life, and reflect upon how they make up the big picture. 4. Zora Neale Hurston seems to be one of the true appreciators in this world, and I try, sometimes successfully, to model her in that way.
TS During her essay, Hurston mentions a lot of the little things in life that fulfill her or irk [FAST] her about her world. SD First of all, she appreciates the white passerby’s that grant her a friendly “hello”. CM They could have just kept going and ignored the little African American girl sitting on her porch, but they accept her and give her idle talk. CM You can tell Ms. Hurston appreciates this because she “needed bribing to stop” putting on a show for them, and they stopped to listen and watch out of pure will. SD Another thing Ms. Hurston appreciates is what people have done before her for her, but she must not always dwell on it. CM She describes their struggles as a race that started three generations before her with an “On the line […] Get set! [...] Go!”, and that she can’t look at what is behind her and feel sorrow. CM She has to realize what these people have done for her and all other African Americans in the country, but at the same time she must look to all the doors they have opened for her. SD Finally, Ms. Hurston appreciates individuality. CM She thinks that sometimes, “I am me.” And that everything around her matters not. CM She appreciates herself for who she really is by allowing it to come out with no hindrances [FAST] and “belong to no race nor time”. CS Ms. Hurston seems to appreciate many things, and these are just three of the examples I have interpreted from her essay.
TS I also feel as though there are many things in life that I should appreciate. SD For example, my family, my friends, and even my acquaintances [purposeful repetition] should be recognized and appreciated. CM Through many different ways, they have done something that directly or indirectly affected me in a positive or negative way. CM For the positives, I should appreciate what they did, and for the negatives, I should appreciate what they tried to do. SD Another thing I appreciate in life is opportunities. CM I am very fortunate to have a family that can give me choices and that allows me to make decisions. CM It, similar to Ms. Hurston, allows me to focus on the present and the future instead of the past. SD The third thing I appreciate is individuality, much like Hurston. CM I, like the author, realize that everyone is different, and that I must respect them for it, and then appreciate them for those distinctions. CM I think that sometimes you really are you and you shouldn’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. CS In life, I appreciate many things, and I believe that they help me to be who I truly am, and to appreciate that as well.
1. Appreciation is truly a glorious thing. 2. It allows people to understand themselves and everyone around them. 3. They must decide on the things that really matter, such as the little things, and pay special attention to them. 4. In the end, to truly appreciate, you must want to learn about yourself, about others, and about anything and everything else [purposeful repetition].
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
22 October 2008
Gambling on Life:
An Essay on the Losses and Gains of Two Short Stories
During life, many good or bad things can happen. You can lose a close relative or a necessary job, or gain a new relative or some needed real estate (purposeful repetition of four adj-noun combinations). Things like this happen daily all around the globe, but no one but the loser or gainer seems to recognize them. Right now, the losses and gains of Sonny and Dexter Green must be noticed, evaluated, and analyzed.
In the short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, Sonny experiences some serious losses and gains. In the beginning of the book, Sonny’s life is going down the drain. He has lost his ability to be sober and to stay out of jail, his overall happiness, and he has entered a blue state of mind. He thinks he has nothing in the whole world to live for. However, near the end of the story, everything starts to come back. He stops using for the most part, and starts devoting (FAST) his time to music. He plays the piano in a band in hopes of gaining what he had lost, and he eventually achieves his goal and regains his true self. At the very end, Sonny’s losses and gains seem to equal out. Throughout the course of the story, Sonny loses himself and then finds himself in a different world – the world of music. It brings him back from his depressive state of self-exile, and enables him to recover his body, his mind, and his happiness (purposeful repetition). “Sonny’s Blues” is an ever-changing story of losses and gains.
In a story called “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dexter Green takes on numerous losses and gains. He loses many things – the main one being his “ability to respond deeply to images of Judy and of their moments together.” (Burhans 16) For example, at the end of the book, he hears that Judy finally married and lost her spark, but he simply cannot care. He desperately wants to feel for her and understand her loss, but something inside him has left permanently. Oppositely, Dexter gains some things as well – mainly perspective on his haves and wants. As he reflects upon his winter dreams, he learns that things look a lot better when they’re just out of your reach. He thinks of Judy regretfully, remembering the moment when he could finally have her hand in marriage, but he declined and went his own way. During the story, Dexter appears to lose a lot more than he gains. He loses his ability to feel emotionally, and gains money, which, if put into perspective, is not equivalent (FAST). Money can be remade, but emotions, once lost, are gone forever. “Winter Dreams” is a meaningful story about feelings, money, and memories, and the balance loses and gains a lot during the course of the story.
Dexter and Sonny both lose things and gain others during their respective stories. The significant comparison is that the losses and gains are presented in reverse order. Sonny starts with a terrible life, and ends with an enchanted one, but Dexter starts with a good future, and ends up dwelling in his awful past (adj/noun pairs). Overall, these stories show that no matter what is going on in your life at present, what happens in the future can either stop you in your tracks, or make way for brilliance.
Clinton S. Burhans, Jr.. "Winter Dreams: ‘‘Magnificently Attune to Life’’: \
The Value of ‘‘Winter Dreams’’." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 15. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 7 October 2008.
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Monday, September 22, 2008
Timmy's Essay 2
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
22 September 2008
Living Life by the Music:
An Essay on an Essay about “Sonny’s Blues”
How can one live without music in his or her life? It may seem easy to some, but if you think about it, you realize how much of it we hear without even trying to. For example, you can hear excerpts of song on the radio from cars passing by, or someone singing randomly on the street. Either way, we must realize the importance of music and then let it into our life.
In her essay, Goldman talks about the importance of music in the lives of Sonny and the narrator. She suggests that when the narrator learns of Sonny’s arrest, he starts to take in the sounds of the children around him and allows memories to come back. Goldman says that “the last boy particularly suggests Sonny, the young man who makes himself heard and transcends …the darkness, with his song.” In saying this, she brings up the idea that even the smallest thing can have a big impact deep within your heart. Goldman also talks about Sonny, saying, “Sonny was at the piano playing for his life.” This implies that, without music and its value to him, Sonny would be living only for the prospect of death. Therefore, music is not only important in his life; it is his life – his only spark of happiness. In the end, Goldman describes the musical connection between the two brothers – the narrator’s realization “that [Sonny] could help [them] to be free if [they] would listen”, but he could never be free until they did.
In this essay, I think that Goldman is basically trying to give us a descriptive summary of “Sonny’s Blues”. She breaks the story up into five parts, which I found very interesting because, for me, the story flowed nicely and was just one story. The sections of this essay start with the narrator learning about his brother’s arrest and end with the narrator learning the secret behind Sonny’s life. I found that strange because it was a very broad topic to write about in just 3 pages. One thing I really like about this essay was that, when Goldman decided to go into detail on something, she spared nothing. For instance, I didn’t understand the part where James Baldwin says that the narrator started to feel for one of Sonny’s old friends and decided to listen to the words he was saying. After reading Goldman’s essay, I realized that the reason the narrator had never really heard the man’s words was because he didn’t always care about other people, but when he realized that everyone had a story, he wanted to learn it, and learn it he did. Overall, I thought the essay was descriptive, interesting, and almost magical to the confused mind.
In the end, this essay really gave me the true impression of music in life. It shows that music can cure souls, but also kill them if one becomes too attached and can’t break free. It shows that when you listen to music, you are joining in on a worldwide trek for happiness. Most of all, it shows that you care for one of the most important parts of our culture – the music that lives in everybody, and after years of struggling, finally comes out.
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Works Cited:
Suzy Bernstein Goldman.
“James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues’: A Message in Music”. Negro American Literature Forum, Vol 8, no. 3, Fall, 1974. Pp. 231-233.
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Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Timmy's essay 1
Timmy O’Brien
Mr. H. Salsich
English 9
16 September 2008
Choose your Questions Carefully:
An Essay about a Quote and a Poem
Questions are interesting things to think about because, though they are intangible [FAST],they can sometimes feel as solid as a rock. For example, if someone asked you to marry him or her, you might feel winded, but if someone asked you the question, “Why?” would you even answer it? Maybe you would give a round-about answer and be on your marry way, but how can you answer a question that has no definite answer? You could dodge the question, or you could be like Rainer Maria Rilke or George Bernard Shaw and answer by way of telling them how to find the answer.
Rilke and Shaw both think that one shouldn’t ask foolish questions – that one should keep going with life and will someday run into the answer [loose sentence]. Rilke seems to think that the answers to the unasked questions will find their way to you in due time. He thinks that if you “live the questions now [] perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually […] live your way into the answer.” He seems to say that if you leave the question alone like you would a vicious animal, it will become tamable and then answerable. Mr. Shaw has a different yet similar idea. He thinks that people shouldn’t see things and ask, “Why?” but that people should realize their own dreams and create accordingly. He thinks that if someone asks a foolish question it is only because they have not yet thought of the obvioius. These two thoughts are similar because they both address the futility [FAST] of asking questions that one cannot fully comprehend the answer to. If you can’t fully grasp the meaning of the answer, what would be the point in hearing it? You must slowly be immersed by the question, and then and only then will you be ready for the answer. Either way, they both think that answers are a tool for knowledge, and they must be given out only when they will be used to the fullest extent.
They also both seem to say that questions and answers should be thought about, dreamed about, and cared about, or else it won’t be appreciated to its fullest extent. Rilke wants questioners to surround themselves in the question – to think and dream about the answer, and if they can do that, then they are ready [loose sentence]. If the questioner thinks about the question like a “locked room[] or [a] book[] written in a very foreign language”, then he or she can learn to love them. In loving them, they are preparing themselves for the end and the answer. Shaw wants people to think of every “why” in their life, and think of a “why not” to counterbalance it. He wants people to not just be skeptical, but creative. He seems to be saying, “If you see something you don’t understand, think of something you can do to make it more understandable and fix your own problem.” Rilke and Shaw seem to be on the same page because they both want people to live the questions. Rilke wants people to love their questions try to become one with them, whereas Shaw wants people to create their own questions and, in turn, develop into part of them. When they have completed that task, they will be ready to face anything in the world. Overall, both of these men want the questioners to love what they can ask, and ask what they love – the questions themselves.
Whether asking them or answering them, questions are an important part of life. From Rilke’s standpoint, you must ask the questions to be able to live them, and when you have lived them through and through you can be able to answer them. From Shaw’s perspective, you must find the “why not” that corresponds to every “why” in order to succeed in life. Either way, questions are vitally important part of a good life and well-rounded knowledge.
