Forced into love, or meant to be?

It was a lose-lose situation for both of them.  Apologies flew, but it would never make a difference, they were in love. Her with him, her kidnapper… him with the girl he’d fallen in love with so many years ago. There was no way either of them could ever make this right. In the story Stolen, by Lucy Christopher, Gemma doesn’t realize that she is being manipulated until after she is already in the Australian Desert. The main theme in ‘Stolen’ is manipulation.  

She’s a sitting duck right on the first page of the book, like she’s just waiting for his initial exploitation. This girl isn’t necessarily stupid, but she isn’t very bright either, naïve more or less. What sensible person goes off with a perfect stranger. Maybe if she would have used some common sense she could have avoided being stuck with Ty. Some people might say that it was pure randomness that Ty chose Gemma, but I think that it was meant to be. That at some point, one way or another, they would have found each other. Maybe, or by pure fate if it would have been a normal  situation, they would still be together. It could be called fate considering how much they have in common though one may argue.

During the book you realize that there is almost a…‘Drunk Love’ between Gemma and Ty. Just the way that she describes him seems loving, without her even realizing it. Realizing that she loved him earlier in the book could have been beneficial to her because she might not have gotten bitten and had to leave her true love. We see another example of manipulation very similar to this in the classic: ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Their parents tried to manipulate them into not seeing each other anymore, but they rebelled against them. Siblings, and parents, these two teens had it from their entire family. Forced not to  be together by the hatred of the families. Despite all of this manipulation coming from everywhere they looked, they were able to be together against their families’ wilds wishes. stayed together.

Now Ty is locked away in prison and Gemma is home and alone and hurt. But why? Is it because she was forced to love him, or because she actually fell in love with him? Feeling alone and hurt, was only because of the manipulation Ty used on her. Manipulation or not, if they would have spent time together, I’m sure they would have fallen deeply in over. If he never would have influenced her, she wouldn’t have fallen in love with him. That was his greatest manipulation of all.

And then what?

After I finished writing my letter, I didn't know what to do with myself anymore because I had involved so much time to writing my letter to you. I hated you and loved you at the same time. I missed you more than anything and I didn't know what to do about it. Mom was worried about how skinny I had gotten while I was with you. I still wasn't really eating, because nothing seemed appealing anymore. I wanted your saltbrush soup and I wanted to feel your lips on mine again. I was waiting and waiting, knowing that it wouldn't happen. So, I did what I do best right now: slept. And slept. I was awaken to mom gently shaking me and rubbing my hair. She had brought me breakfast, though I wasn't hungry. Trying to convince her that I wasn't she just pretended that she couldn't hear me and helped me sit up to eat. Eating wasn't that hard to fake around my mom because she didn't pay much attention to me. At that moment her phone rang and she left me to my food. Since there wasn't much room to hide it, I had to eat most of the food. After that I went back to sleep.

It must have been morning or late afternoon when I woke up because the sun was peeking in through the cracks in between the blinds. During the night I knew that my mother had come in because there were fancy clothes waiting for me on my dresser. That's when it hit: today was your hearing. 

I got up and got dressed without thinking much because I was to busy thinking about you. One thought continued to go through my mind on loop: I get to see him today! Jumping for joy as I walked out to the living room, my mother and father just sat there and stared at me. They whispered to each other thinking I couldn't hear them. They said: must be the Stockholm. 

And then you walked in. . .

I had to grip my chair until my knuckles where white, just to contain myself from jumping straight into your arms. Wincing as I saw the bruise that had occurred since the last time I had seen you, you turned towards me and gave me the most dazzling smile, and I shyly blushed and smiled softly back. Everyone else in the room was too busy talking to notice our exchange.  

Dear Katniss

Dear Katniss, 

You seem to have changed a lot during your time in the Hunger Games. I think that you are a perfect person in the essence of taking control when no one else will, and also when you need to be there for someone. You are a tough person who is more of a tom-boy, than a girly girl. You are a great role model to Prim and I feel terrible that you have to live with those mean Capitol people. Toughness and worrisome are two of your biggest traits and that's probably because of President Snow. Wouldn't anyone feel threatened by a man who wants to kill off children to teach adults a lesson? You seem more compassionate and caring, open-minded and loving even. Peeta is so sweet, and caring, that I think he changed you for the better. He taught you that you don't have to be so blocked off from the world. You can open up to people, and trust them. All in all, you seem more comfortable with yourself, and your life...well, as much as you can be what with the Capitol wishing you were dead. 

So, I was thinking the other day and I remember this other book I read once, it was called 'Stolen' by Lucy Christopher. The girl's name is Gemma, and at the beginning, she is close minded, worrisome and a good role model. Though she is in a completely different situation as you, she has most of the same traits. Also, similar to you, she changes throughout the book into a loving, compassionate, and also more caring. Gemma used to pretend to care, but now she really truly does. 

A Cold Chill

The crisp winter air nipped at my cheeks, and the air tasted salty, but it was a comforting taste at the same time,  as i looked out onto the lake. It was the perfect setting for a winter day. I waited and waited for him to show up, longing to smell the musky scent that he brought with him. Finally I got my wish, he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist just standing there looking out at the sunset with me. In that moment, everything changed... 

All of a sudden there was a cold chill to the air that neither of us had noticed because we were so fascinated with each other. 


As soon as I turned around I realized... it wasn't who I thought he was. How could I have been so foolish. I should have realized that it wasn't him. Just the essence of being caught up in the moment was enough to fool me, but the second I smelled, I knew that it wasn't him. 

From the beginning of the night I had, had a funny feeling in my gut. Now I realized, I should have paid more attention to it. It didn't seem to bother me much because I knew that I would finally get to see him. It was hard, sneaking around every time we wanted to see each other, but it was worth it when it came to us. That sounds corny, I know, but when you are in love, everything sounds corny. 

I was worried for my life, scared, and most of all I felt threatened. I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face, I couldn't think straight, I couldn't even remember that I needed to breathe until I thought about it. I must have passed out at one point, because as I tried to gather what state I was in, I could tell that I was in the back of a truck. It smelled like someone had taken about 300 pairs of worn gym socks and put them to rot in the back of this truck. 

The stench was so strong it was burning my eyes. 

As I sat there I realized that I hadn’t been very busy lately, but it had felt lonely... more lonely than I was used to. Which was quite strange considering that for the first time in my life, I was happier than I had ever thought I could be. It was getting to be so hot in there, that I couldn’t even breathe. This was hard to figure my way out of. Usually, I could get myself out of a tough situation, but this was a little different...

I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up I was in my room...wait, this wasn't my room. It just had all of the same details that my room had. Even the drawing I made when I was six is still here behind the door. Suddenly it dawned on me, this was an exact copy of my room. While I was trying to convince myself that this was just a coincidence, many kids drew unicorns with a rainbow tail when they were six, there was a knock on the door. 

Founding Fathers

There are people in this world that complain about where they live, what they eat or anything else that everyone always has an opinion about. Well, what I think when I hear people complain like that is ‘how could you be so selfish?’ I understand that people have family problems or something happened that may seem like the end of the world, I myself complain daily, but at least I have a house, food, clothes, and everything else that I am so blessed to have.

When you think about it we are really the luckiest country in the world. If it weren’t for the constitution, then I don’t think that we would have 95 percent of the things that we have today. I personally believe that even though we may  not always have every last thing that we want, we should still be grateful for what we do have.

I think that the real heroes of our country are the soldiers all over the globe, not the scientists who discover medicine or uncover dinosaur bones because even though, those  are pretty great discoveries aren't helping with our freedom.

How can anyone be so selfish, to complain about all of the things that we want when what everyone really should be thinking about is all of the things that those people have. I feel that everyone, including myself should think twice before complaining about petty things like the bad food and parents fighting. I am so proud to live in this great country.

David vs. Toilet

Author's Note: This piece is a demonstration of cause and effect because we have been learning this skill in language arts. 

In this story, a young David Sedaris discovers a person who did not flush the toilet in a bathroom and has to get rid of the…remains.  While he would have loved to just leave it, he couldn’t because everyone knew that he was in the bathroom and that would be embarrassing if the next person in the bathroom said something about it. He tried flushing the toilet several times but nothing happened. As young David is trying to figure out how to get rid of it, someone knocks on the door.

Because of this person, now  David has to hurry up or someone will think that ‘something’ is up. If this person wouldn’t have knocked on the door than, David wouldn’t have had to hurry up. I don’t think that he would have solved his problem if Janet, girl who knocked on the door, wouldn’t have bothered him.  Also he wouldn’t even be in this predicament if the person who was in the bathroom would have dealt with this little ‘problem’ in the first place. 

Big Boy (Conflict/Resolution)

Author's Note: This piece is about conflict/resolution. in the story Big Boy. I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding of conflict/resolution. 

The boy in this story, David Sedaris, is faced with a problem when he goes to a dinner party with his family and a few other families as well. He excused himself to use the restroom and when he got there he found a surprise. Someone had left a giant turd in the toilet. While he would have loved to just leave it, he couldn’t because everyone knew that he was in the bathroom and that would be embarrassing if the next person in the bathroom said something about it. He tried flushing the toilet several times but nothing happened. As young David is trying to figure out how to get rid of it, someone knocks on the door. It's Janet and now he really had to hurry.

David is having a Person vs. Person conflict in this story, because it is David vs. the Turd. It is also Person vs. Person because there is someone who is waiting outside the door and he has to hurry or that person, Janet, is going to get mad. Lastly it is Person vs. Self, because if David would have just left it there, he could have just not had this problem in the first place. The only reason he doesn’t leave it is because he doesn’t want to be humiliated if someone thinks it was him. In the end David just ends up using a toilet plunger to break up the specimen in the toilet so that it will flush. To make an excuse he washes his hair while the toilet flushed.

Retelling

Author’s Note: This is a retelling of the book Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements.  I wrote this to demonstrate my understanding of the reading skill “retelling."

A boy goes to sleep one night after wishing that he could disappear because he is bullied at school. The next morning he wakes up and is invisible, but everyone he talks to thinks that he is just crying wolf. He meets a blind girl at the library and she helps him become visible again, and helps him realize that his life isn’t so bad.

Fact or Fiction????

Author's Note: This piece is based on a truth/lie you have to decide. Our language arts class made up three facts about ourselves and one lie. It is up to you to decide which one it is.

I see those little spoiled little brats with chocolate ice cream on their faces. Tap, tap, tapping on the glass. They are so annoying. Don’t they have anything better to do? All these stupid people want to do is come and stare at smelly zoo animals all day. I see hundreds of people every day lining up just to see me: a lonely primate. A monkey. Why do they care so much? Don’t they understand that I need my privacy? I get maybe six hours to myself a day and I usually spend my time sleeping.

Look at all of those cute little kids with those adorable chipmunk cheeks with chocolate ice cream covering the rosiness. They are just the cutest little darlings. They come here every day and look at the monkeys. There are hundreds every day at that front gate waiting for the zoo to open. It’s the most delightful thing I think I have ever seen. Their parents just let them run around all day while they fall behind and slowly try to catch up.  The monkeys at this zoo deserve so much more than this. They’re just stuck behind that glass with all of those people tapping with nothing for them to do except listen to the bothersome rhythm. Wouldn’t the monkeys hate that? I would if I were them. That’s why I got this job, looking after the monkeys at the local zoo, so that I could help protect my favorite animals from all of this torment. I love monkeys. Did you know that monkeys and humans are the only animals with opposable thumbs? We should be using these wonderful creatures for our own help. Maybe we should treat them better, then they wouldn’t be so scared of humans. Monkeys are wonderful creatures.

Author's Note: This is a poem that was written in free form format. It is a poem with lots of descriptive writing and emotion.

Falling, falling, down, down, down.

There is no emotion just the lines and rows of these drops.

Rain.

 A simple word, but so complex in itself.
 It can describe everything.
Or nothing at all.

You are the one who has to decide.

Maybe it sets the tone of your day.

Maybe it means that you are going to have the worst day of your life all because of that simple rain drop that fell on your head as you walked out your door.

Or maybe on the other hand it could mean that this single drop is a symbol of luck that you are going to have the best day of your life.

It is up to you to decide

When will it stop?

Why do people bully each other? What’s the point? Where does it get them in life? Adults think that they know the answer to these questions, but they don’t. There are so many studies on these questions, but who knows how accurate they are. They feel that because they were once kids too, that they can answer all of the questions that have to deal with kids/teenagers.  If you are ever bullied or a witness of someone being bullied, then stand up, speak out, and be heard, because as someone brilliant once said: There is no time like the present. Bullies should not rule anyone’s lives.

All over the world there are bullies. They come in any shape, size, race, anything, because there is no limit to who can bully. You may think that there is no way that bullying will never truly be gone, but we can do something about it to at least decrease it. According to behavioral-management.com schools that have bullying programs have decreased bullying by 50%. The other 50% are provided with help and support. Even if we can’t get rid of bullying, we can still help those who are being bullied. There are about 13 million children who are bullied in the United States. There is not enough being done about bullies. 13 million needs to become 0. For some of these kids the only reason that they are bullied is because of the clothes that they wear to the color of their skin. If you see someone being bullied, find a teacher or responsible adult right away because you are considered a bully by just standing there watching.

Bullying is wrong, because you are not only hurting the person that you are bullying, but yourself too. Behaviorial-management.com states that a bully is 5 times more likely to have a criminal record when they are older because of violence when they were younger. The adults may think that they have the problem relatively under control but we as teenagers and children still have a part in this. We can stand up for others, if that was us being bullied wouldn’t we want our friends to stand up for us? Even if they aren’t your friend, it doesn’t mean that they should be allowed to be bullied; you can be nice to them to show them that you are looking out for them.

According to the CDC Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. This is only in the U.S, think about the rest of the world. Australia, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia? What about them? When will the bullying stop. You may say that you know that bullying is wrong, but what about all of those kids who are bullied on accident by someone saying something that they didn’t mean? In ‘A Corner of the Universe’ a man in his late 20’s has a problem with his brain, and because he is different everyone makes fun of him. This man hangs himself because of the torment that these people put him through. In Buffalo a 14 year old committed suicide because of the torment and teasing that he went through every day at school. In Illinois a 10 year old girl took her own life on November 13^th, 2011 because she was bullied by kids at school, at home and even at the store because of her appearance. If this keeps up there will be no children left in schools because even if you are a bully, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t bullied as well. Right now we have to be more careful than ever with what we say and do because you don’t want to go around hurting people’s feelings and not realizing it.

Speak out and be heard, don’t hide from your fears, you have to face them and embrace them especially if that fear is bullying. In the U.S. we are doing a lot to try to prevent bullying but you have to cooperate too. Even if that means telling someone about something that you are not comfortable with, this person has to be stopped. Don’t let your life be ruled by bullies.

Lost

Author's Note: The topic that we were writing about for our writing circle was death and dying. This story is from the perspective of a 13 year old girl, that has lost someone very important. 

As I sat down on my clutter strewn bed, I read and reread the message over and over again. How could this happen? That question had been bouncing around inside my head for over five minutes now. I called and called but there was no answer. It rang and rang for 5 minutes. Why wasn’t the voicemail picking up? At least then I could hear it one more time. The voice, the one that I heard all the time. Why wouldn’t they call? I mean my mother had died!!!!! My own father didn’t even have the decency to let me know! The even stranger thing? This message came from my mother’s phone. I know that there must be something going on. How could my mother, my dead mother! be sending me texts? SHE’S DEAD! I'm her daughter and I find out from a text! Hello? Daddy? It’s me, Megan. Is it… is she…no daddy, I don’t believe you this can’t be true! NO! No daddy!