Ruth and Her Rhinoceros

            Hey! My name I Ruth, and for my 9th birthday my uncle Rob bought me a Rhinoserouce. I named my rhinoceros, Regina. I named her that because on my birthday my great aunt Regina died… Anyways Regina is just a little baby. Right now, she's so tiny you could just cradle her up in your arms. She's like a fat teddy bear. I love this rhinoceros to death.
          The first day I went to school after I got Regina I told my classmates about it, they thought I was a big liar and got called liar Lucy, until it was my turn for show and tell. For show and tell I decided to bring Regina a long. I put her in a big dog cage with wheels and was on my way to school. When I got into class with my big cage, everybody thought it was a dog, but surely they found out what it was when little sassy Suzy, stuck her hand in the cage. Stupid, sassy Suzy, she should've known better! Even if it was a dog, it would have bit her. If I was in the cage I would have bitten her too!
          Little Regina was so sweet and good with the kids except for Suzy; she just stayed away from her. Suzy was in the corner talking to Gabby saying, "ew, that thing is so gross! I bet it's not even hers! And really!? What’s up with that name! Who names something Regina?! Like Ew! Disgusting!" Meanwhile Gabby said, "I like it, I don't think its gross, she's so cute!" Suzy was furious. Everyone seemed to like Regina, except for Suzy. Now, she hated Regina and Ruth more than ever. She took jealousy way too far… After a month Sassy Suzy got a pillow pet rhinoceros and there was no more jealousy in the air. At last, Mrs. Tweet’s 4th grade class was at peace.

Themes

Author’s Note: This is a response to the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson on page 256. I will be explaining and supporting the theme/main idea. Hope you like it!  In the story, “The Lottery” they whole community has a lottery, but this is not a regular lottery where you want to win. Each man of the family picks out a card of a black box, and if the black box has the winning numbers and/or a big, bold, black dot, congratulations, you just won and you are about to have stones thrown at you until you die. This whole story is about power/equality, and hope. I say this story is about power because the men have the power in the community… When they say stuff to kids, the kids only listen to the men; they have to do everything for their wives/girlfriends. I would say equality because it's a girl that "won" the lottery. Considering that this is a bad thing, it wasn't fair and it was a coincidence that a woman had to die as "winning the lottery" instead of a man. The ladies definitely were NOT equal to men. Lastly, I say hope because all these people who are grabbing a paper have to have a lot of faith and hope that they DON'T win… because if they do; it won't be very great at all. It will be a bad moment for them. So basically what I'm trying to say is; the men have the power, the ladies are not equal to the men, and they all have to have hope to not win "the lottery". These are the main themes in the short story, "The Lottery." In conclusion, these few themes I discussed and supported explain the story in a different way. In this particular story, it has many, many themes, but these are what my group and I discussed earlier, and thought were the main ones. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about themes! 

My Life As A Window

Author’s Note: This is a creative piece in the form of a letter.  It’s about a window that says “wash me”. Hope you enjoy it! 

Dear Mr. George Michael,

Really!? You wrote "wash me" on me? It's not my fault I'm so filthy, you own me.  If you want me clean, you go get me clean because I can't clean myself! Why can't you spend just five dollars for getting me clean?  You are unbelievable; you completely embarrass me, and yourself.  Do you really want to drive around in your "baby" with a window that says "wash me"? No, didn't think so.

You legit hurt my feelings. Am I not good enough for you? Maybe if you want a clean window go get a new car, because sweetie, I am not coming off! I'm sorry but how can I stay clean with the weather we had last week!? It's nearly impossible! And with all that hail, rain, and yucky liquid on me I can't keep myself clean.  For your information, I have not been clean for a very long time.  I believe September? And what is it now, April? Honestly, you are a rude and ignorant man. You are defiantly NOT my favorite owner…

I still remember my last owner, Regina George… Oh what a sweetheart she was.  One of the most respectful ladies in town… and then you come along, Mr. George Michael. I guess my next owner's name will be Michael, but if it's Michael George, and I come back to you, uh oh we are going to have a situation up in here! Ugh, you sure do but me Mr. Michael! Love you too, bro?

Love your dearly window,

Shelly <3

What's It Like From a Different Point of View?

Author’s Note:  This is a point of view piece.  It’s based off the book, Cast Two Shadows. I am writing this for my language arts goals. I hope you enjoy it!!

In Cast Two shadows, Caroline's father is imprisoned for being a rebel and her brother is out fighting for the British when he gets hurt Caroline finds a need to go out in search for her brother and bring him home. The story is written in Caroline's point of view.

From this perspective, a lot of events and characters are described in a way that creates sadness in the reader’s point of view.

To start off with, one way that Caroline's point of view influences the reader's interpretation is how she describes The British taking over her house. The British soldier’s randomly come into her house and takes her father to prison for being the lead rebel and forced her brother Johnny to war for the British.  Another way that her point of view influences that reader’s interpretation is how she words her friend Kit being hanged. Kit was one of Caroline’s best friends. Kit was hanged for not following the British commands.   To give another example that Caroline’s point of view influence’s the reader’s interpretation is how she shows her emotion when her family is split into pieces and when she is put in a very small room at the top of her house. Caroline was the only character that seemed to show anger when telling about these events that has happened in the story.  

However, the reader would feel a lot differently about the book Cast Two Shadows if the novel was written in the point of view of Johnny. For instance, the reader wouldn't think about living each day in the top of the house and having her friend Kit die.   As you can see, the point of view of a story forces the reader to see just one side of an event or topic. In Cast Two Shadow's  the narrator's perspective makes the reader only see what is going on though Caroline's eyes and what is only happening to Caroline not other people.

To put the cherry on the sundae, the book Cast Two Shadows is a very thrilling book to read but I think that it may have a better twist if the book was written from Johnny’s point of view instead of Caroline’s.

Why Did I Ever Leave?

Author’s Note:  This is a cause and effect essay for my goals.  I am basing it off of the novel, Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I hope you like it!

Have you ever thought to yourself,” Why did I ever leave?”  I know I sure have… In the book, Dear John by Nicholas Sparks, the main character, John Tyree meets the beautiful, fascinating, Savannah Lynn Curtis.  Who he instantly falls deeply in love with, and that’s where the love story begins.

First off, John just got back from leave with the army.  He’s back home with his dad for 2 weeks, and then he has to go back in the army.  Meanwhile, Savannah is finishing up college and is spending some time volunteering to rebuild a house.

Anyways, that first day john wakes up in his hometown he goes to the beach to surf for a bit.  He is this big, strong, clean-cut, army guy, surfing.  Savannah, now, she is small, slim, with long flowing hair.  Savannah was walking up the pier with a couple of friends.  5 minutes later, splash! Her purse with all her valuable slide off and into the water.  Some show off guy she was with attempts to get the bag, meanwhile, John is already in the water, with his hand on the bag.  Savannah rushes over to thank him and gives this sparkling stranger named, John a hug.  John frankly, liked the hug.  He though it was very meaningful.  From that moment on, love has developed.

John knew in an instant that savannah was probably one of the most beautiful and sweet person inside and out that he’d ever met.  And he somehow knew that she had started to fall in love, too.  John was a true gentleman.  He took her out for dates, walks, and long talks. They spent most of their time together.  And me, as the audience; I could even tell there was love in the air at an instant.  Both of them falling in love hard with each other are the main cause of the novel.

Finally, we get to the effect.  “You never stop loving someone; you either never did or still are in love.”  When it gets to the point where John has to go back with the army and fight for our country, Savannah and John is for sure, devastated.  Before john leaves, he says his goodbyes especially to the girl of his dreams.  They hug, it’s a long and meaningful one and to top it off, a sweet last kiss.  They say, “I love you” and head their ways.  While John is off, they write a lot of letters to each other.  And they are still madly in love, but one of the last letters he gets from her, breaks the big, strong guys, fragile hear.  The note had explained how one of Savannahs, close friends, Tim and his son Alan, who has autism, have not been doing very well money-wise.  The most effective way sweet, Savannah can help is to marry Tim.  She goes on with it and seems to be forgetting about John, which leads to the effect of a broken heart.

To top it all off, the cause of this novel is John and Savannah falling in love and with John having to leave so quickly.  The effect is a broken heart by a sweet, helpful girl.  To me, this was a very shocking effect to their love.  I am almost positive that if they both stuck together, they would be together forever.  But sometimes a conflict arises, and there’s not much you can do about it except, tell the other person how you really feel.  That is exactly what John Tyree did to Savannah Lynn Curtis.  This is the universal effect of when you fall in love shortly and deeply.

What is the Role of Mitosis in Cancer?

                                                                                          Mary Berg
                                                                                          Whelan
 In life, everybody has a buddy. Whether it’s your siblings, your mom/dad, or even your cat, we all have a buddy and a buddy system.  Cells have a “buddy system” with things in common that makes a big process.  The process I will be introducing is called mitosis. But I am going to discuss it a little further, I will be talking about the role of the process, mitosis in cancer and how it can be cured.

First of all, what is cancer? Cancer is a disease that can basically occur everywhere on your body, including the outside such as your skin. Cancer is caused by cells that grow uncontrollably.  Cancer starts out as a tumor, which starts out as kind of like a plant growth. But once the tumor starts, a process called metastasis, takes the tumor and spreads the cells and bacteria of it all over the body through the bloodstream. The tumor doesn’t always spread, but it most likely is to. Everybody will inherit their parents’ genes, especially from mother to daughter, and father to son. The genes you get are most likely from your parents of the same gender (Cell Reproduction: Mitosis and Cancer).

Secondly, cancer cells start in the nucleus where the DNA is, and your genes are in the DNA chromosomes. The nucleus is the center of the whole cell “buddy system”.  A system is where a bunch of little parts come together to make one big idea, and/or a big process.  The DNA and genes is what makes the cancer come together and form the process, Mitosis (Gregory).

Furthermore, some discoveries that were made on cancer cells. Such as “Normally, cells divide every 24 hours in a very orderly fashion. One becomes two, then three, then four, ETC. They all have a controlled start and stop time on when they divide. But when they divide nonstop in a chaotic fashion, the result can be cancer” (Cancer Discovery). “The thing all cancers have in common is the uncontrolled growth in cells” (Cancer Discovery). “100 genes make the difference of healthy cells and cancer cells. You may never smoke in your life but you can still get lung cancer” (Cancer Discovery). Cancer cells are made from mitosis because, when your cell keeps spliting ad reproducing your cancer cells are born (Cancer Discovery).

Pursing this further, there are many types of treatments that someone with cancer can go in and get. Such as surgery, surgery can be used us a treatment if the cancer isn’t spread though your whole body. The doctors go in and try to get rid of most of the cancer and in most cases everyone with cancer has surgery at least once (Society). Another treatment is Chemo, “Chemotherapy (chemo) is the use of medicines or drugs to treat cancer they go in and try to target the cancer cells” (Society).  Another treatment is Radiation therapy, “Radiation therapy uses high-energy particles or waves to destroy or damage cancer cells” (Society). Lastly “Targeted therapy is a newer type of cancer treatment that uses drugs or other substances to more precisely identify and attack cancer cells, usually while doing little damage to normal cells” (Society). There are many more different types of treatments a patient with cancer can go through those were just a few.

Many people thought that cancer just comes to your body when really cancer starts due to mitosis. Mitosis is the main starting of cancer due to the harm mass of multiplying cells (Cancer Discovery).   

Bibliography:

"Cell Reproduction: Mitosis and Cancer." 25 February 2004. IUPUI DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY. 16 April 2012 <http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/2k4ch8mitosisnotes.html>.

Gregory, Michael. "Cancer." Suny. <http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu/faculty/michael.gregory/files/bio%20100/bio%20100%20lectures/cancer/cancer.htm>.

DBQ: "How Free Were Free Blacks In The North?"

Author's Note: This is a DBQ essay on the question, "How Free Were Free Blacks In The North?" I will be answering the Document Questions, and giving my opinion on how I think how free they really were.

How do you feel when you want to go eat lunch with a friend of even talk to a friend, but your parents won’t let you? Have you ever been given a privilege but it's not really what you want?  This situation relates to blacks in the North around the 1800s. The emancipation announced that the blacks were free from slavery, but, there were a lot of things they couldn’t do. They had many restrictions and would be punished if they didn’t follow them. That’s why my opinion to the question, “How Free Were Free Blacks in the North?” is that they were not allowed barely any freedom; it was not fair at all.

After the emancipation said that the blacks were free from slavery, every black was excited and happy, but I think they expected too much. They had so many boundaries; it wasn’t what they expected at all. The only things they could do were to live and pay taxes. They were ordered to keep to themselves. They couldn’t associate with white people at all. Even though the blacks were free from slavery, that didn’t mean they were on the same level as the white people, they were still the underdogs.  They were forced to build their own churches, schools, and concert halls for the black kids.  The black adults lost the right to vote, which was a huge deal back then. The black woman, although, were treated the worst. The black woman were probably the on the lowest level. In the 1800’s even white woman were treated unfairly. They’re jobs were to clean, cook, and nurse. Nothing else, so imagine a black woman, and how low of a level they are on.  I would not like to be living in the 1800s!

Would you be disappointed if you were good friends with a person of another race and you could not even talk to them? At this time there was a lot of racism going on. The blacks could not do things with the white people. They could not dine and eat at a white man’s table. That was forbidden, even if black and the white family was friends. The blacks could not be in the jury or attend courts even though before free blacks could go be a part of the jury, and attend courts whenever he wanted to. The black men could not marry white woman even if they fell in love. They could not represent the legislature. They couldn’t help white men when they are sick. They couldn’t even talk to the white people in public places! It was completely ridiculous what the blacks couldn’t do. The blacks were human beings too, and they should have been treated equally.

Even though a lot of blacks were treated unequally, there were some states that were generous to the blacks; for example, Massachusetts. They were the only state that allowed black males to be a part of the jury. The black men could vote too but that was the case in a lot of the New England states. Massachusetts was the state most blacks wanted to go to. They would abandon the state that they were living in, and go to Massachusetts where there was more freedom.  They were a lot of states the blacks wouldn’t want to live in. For example, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were the states that the blacks couldn’t even vote in. They didn’t like the blacks too much. All the other Northern-Eastern states had restricted boundaries if the blacks were to vote or not. The blacks most likely wanted to move to the New England states, that’s where all the freedom was.  

As you can see, the “free” blacks in the north of North America didn’t actually have freedom.  They had boundaries and they could only do a few things without breaking the laws and getting punished. The white people though they were better than the blacks. They thought they were too good to even look at them.  They were suddenly mistaken. This overall situation reminds me of the Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rosa Parks famous events how blacks were not at all on the same level of equality.



 

Bibliography

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1072053/posts

1700. "“We Shall Overcome”: Black History in America." Random History and Word Origins for the Curious Mind. Nap., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.randomhistory.com/black-history-in-america.html>.

1940s, the. "The History of Black Voting Rights [Great read!]." Latest Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1072053/posts>.

Race-based legislation." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2957.html>.

Leon Litwack, North of Slavery, University of Chicago Press, 1961

Charles Mackay, Life and Liberty in America: or Sketches of a Tour in the United States and Canada, in1857-1858, London, 1859 

From A Poem To A Song

Author's Note: This is a short response to two poems that are also songs.  I will be anaylizing the tone and mood and how they compare.

The poems, "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Field Below" are also songs. This is how I anaylized the songs are different from the books.  The tone and mood of both of these songs (poems); in my opinion, are sad, sorrowful, and a little depressing. To be honest, I didn't really like the first song at all, it was horrible, it didn't really make me understand it more.  The second one was way better, I liked it better because it fits with the mood and tone of the poem.  Like a peaceful wave, but a sad peaceful. Like when a relative dies, and during the funeral that feeling you get in your stomach that's like butterflies in your tummy. The first one was way different then the poem, just the mood, feeling, tone and all of that. The second one was more similar. And it was more easy to understand.

Oh No You Didn't!

DeeDee

How dare you

What are you thinking?

Taking my boy?

Oh girl, I don't think so!

Get your own

Don't steel mine

Why can't you find a man?

That's the same kind of fine

I just don't understand why

Oh don't sit next to mine

I could take you down with one finger

But then I'd have to linger

Paragraph;

This poem relates to the book, I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You, this poem is about a character DeeDee and how Cammie feels about her just coming "into her relationship" So basically DeeDee is like a threat to Cammie.  The speaker is Cammie, and the audience would be DeeDee. The tone is angry, mad, and kind of defensive because she's kind of like, "girl, don't steel my man!"  The mood would be kind of sassy because Cammie is being like protective and she has a reputation like I can take you down easily, but then I'd have to leave.

Reading Response

Author's Note: This is a short response to the poem, "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.  I am going to explain the mood/tone of the story and the figurative language used.

In the poem, "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, the author uses a handful of creative figurative language… He uses metaphors, hyperboles, and maybe symbolism, I'm not 100% sure… But the main figurative language is a metaphor, an astonishing example would be, "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair."  The metaphor, "life for me ain't been no crystal stair," means that this mother's life wasn't as fancy as a crystal staircase. Maybe she was poor, maybe she had some family problems, or shelter issues.  The main idea of that metaphor is that she was down that bumpy, not fancy road and she was beaten down, she's had to climb down and up so many issues and events.  And she does not want her son to go down that same road, she wants him to never give up, be strong and independent. That's the main idea of the metaphor.  In my opinion, the tone of this story would be encouraging, yet serious because, again, she's been down that road she's flat out trying to say that to her son, and she wants to not have it sound like a joke, but she wants to be encouraging, that's how I think the author set the tone.  I think the mood enhanced the overall meaning of the story.

Character Description

Author’s Note: These are a few paragraphs about a character in the book, I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You, by Ally Carter.  My goal is to use Imagery and Figurative Language to describe the character.

Dee Dee is a very, very pretty.  Her eyes are as blue as a clean ocean; her hair is as light and beautiful as a ballerina. She is a very tall, skinny girl with a mix of personalities. I’d say she reminds me of a model, with her figure, looks, and personalities.  I say she's a mix of personalities because she is nice, but a little sassy and an equal amount of sarcastic attitude. She likes a boy named Josh who likes the main character, Cammie. 

She comes in right when Cammie and Josh were on a little 'date'.  That's the first time she is shown in the book.  She and a group of boys storm in the restaurant really loud and obnoxiously.  Dee Dee was as rude as the big, bad wolf from, “The Three Little Pigs”… I say that because while Josh and Cammie were on a "date" Dee Dee just walked in and sat right next to josh and started talking to only him and blushing… you could just tell that she likes him.  You can conclude from this that Dee Dee is a flirt, she kind of thinks she's 'all that' and she wants attention from everybody, especially from the boys.

Dee Dee

Author's Note: This is a couple paragraphs about a character in the book, I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You.
Characters are a very important part of a book, each and every one... Dee Dee is a very, very pretty, blue eyed, tall, bleach blonde with a mix of personalities.  I say she's a mix of personalities because she is nice, but a little sassy and an equal amount of sarcastic attitude. She likes a boy named josh who likes the main character, Cammie. 

She comes in right when Cammie and Josh were on a little 'date'.  That's the first time she is shown in the book.  She and a group of boys storm in the restaurant really loud and obnoxiously.  Dee Dee is kind of rude because while josh and Cammie were on a "date" Dee Dee just walked in and sat right next to josh and started talking to only him and blushing… you could just tell that she likes him.  You can conclude from this that Dee Dee is a flirt, she kind of thinks she's 'all that' and she wants attention from everybody, especially from the boys.

How Does a Problem Get Resolved?

Author’s Note:  This is a problem/ solution essay on the book, Speak, by Laurie Anderson Halse. I’m going to explain what the problem was, and how it was resolved, also how it could’ve been resolved.

            According to Melinda, the main character in the book, Speak, High School is a frightening place.  Melinda started freshman year, shy and with only one friend who she describes as ‘too happy’ and kind of ‘weird’.  Melinda’s teachers hated her, except for her art teacher, and her gym teacher just never paid much attention to her.

            Her kind of ex-bestfriend, Rachel had got them into the “End of the summer” high school- cheerleader party.  When they got there it was chaios! They did stuff that night that they can’t even believe… They were both drunk and dirty dancing!  When Melinda was dancing, a senior boy, came behind her and caught her before she fell to the ground.  She thought for a second that she would actually have a boyfriend, someone sweet and dreamy.  They were slow dancing, then suddenly, he kissed her!  She thought it was sweet, she thought it was a real moment! Then, he asked her a frankly embarrassing question… She had no clue what to say before she knew it, she was on the ground, shirt up, shorts down, and he had raped her… She didn’t know what to do, so she called the cops and it all when downhill from there.

            Throughout this book, she tells absolutely no one what had really happened, and every person in high school hates her for calling the cops.  Except for her science partner, who has a crush on her and the freshman who didn’t go to the party.  She didn’t try to solve her problem in the middle of the book because she was scared for her life.  Literally, she had a secret hiding spot in an abandoned janitor’s closet.

            Towards the end of the book, she starts becoming less shy and insecure.  By this time she has a decent amount of friends.  But when Rachel goes to senior prom with the boy who had raped her, Andy Evans, Rachel leaves him because he was being such a jerk.  The Monday after senior prom, Andy Evans does it again, this time instead of just laying there and not saying anything, she’s hitting him, screaming, and kicking, someone knocks on the door and she Melinda opens it up.  And suddenly she’s a hero, she exposed a beast and he gets in trouble and everything is good again.  This paragraph explains the solution that occurs in the book.

            The situation could’ve been resolved earlier in the story when at the start when someone asked her why she called the cops or gave her grief about it and she could’ve told them why, so then maybe they would understand a little bit.  That way, her freshman year wouldn’t have been so bad.  I believe this because everybody needs to speak out about their problems to someone so they will understand and maybe they can connect to that.

What's The Plot?

Author’s Note: This essay is to explain the plot of the book, The Westing Game, through what I would call, the “plot mountain”.  Which means; the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and the resolution/conclusion.  This is my text analysis essay.

The Westing Game is a mystery novel where throughout the story a friend/family member, Sam Westing is ‘dead’ and he left a note saying that there is a lot of money, but all the friends and family have to play a suspicious game to find it.

The Initial situation is that all of the carefully selected tenants move into Sunset Towers.  This would be the “rising action” to a plot.  This section does a great job of setting up both the time/place of the action and the many characters that will be living in it and taking part in the mystery. Sixteen characters are a lot to juggle, especially in a shorter novel, and Raskin does a great job of providing a little bit of detail on each of them while also advancing the plot.

The Main Conflict is that at the reading of Westing's will, the heirs/players find themselves signed up to play a strange game with a $200 million prize.  The idea of putting up a bunch of people to compete with one another to win a heck of a lot of money sets up a perfect, textbook conflict. There are eight teams of two and each of them wants to win the inheritance. It's husbands against wives, children against parents, and old enemies against high school students, as the group of sixteen works separately to figure out a prize that none of them are able to solve on their own.

There is some complication between the players. The players fight, grow close, mistrust each other, and learn as they investigate their clues – and one other.  There are sixteen people playing the game, and each of them encounters one complication. One sets off bombs, one hires a PI, three go to the hospital, and just about all of them spy on each other. During all this, we learn more about each of the characters, what their "real" identities are, and what some of them wish their real selves could actually turn out to be.

The climax would be the last part of the will reveals that no one got the right answer.  The heirs gather together to hear the last part of the will read; several teams are convinced they have the right answer, while other teams despair that they have no answer at all. What's interesting is that several teams' answers point to one character, Otis Amber, and none of them put him forward as the solution. Everyone's disappointed when the answer seems to be "Berthe Erica Crow," and Crow puts herself forward as the answer, while Sandy dies and the others find out that they seem to have lost the game.

In the chapter "Turtle's Trial," the characters go back over the will, interrogate witnesses, and at least one of them begins to put the puzzle together.  This section would be the “falling action”, that leads up to the conclusion.  In a trial-like scene, the remaining characters gather to go over the will, kind of like they did in the "Conflict" stage. This time, they go back over each of the details in the will, pausing to ask each other questions and try to find out what Westing meant. While everyone else seems to think the game is over, Turtle realizes it may not be, and races against the clock to figure out the answer without letting anyone else know she's onto something.

In this Novel, there are two endings, the first one is that the youngest player, Turtle solved the mystery but kept it a secret. This would be the start of the two conclusions. I would call this moment the first ending, even though it can also be seen as the ‘denouement’. This is because it's a way of figuring out the main problem at the heart of the story and putting the characters back in their places, but as such it also seems that the "solution" would be a kind of ending to the mystery. Anyway, Turtle figures out the puzzle, but nobody else does; the rest of the characters manage to content themselves with their shares in Sunset Towers and look toward the future.

Five years go by. Then, years after that, Sam Westing finally dies, and Turtle gets the prize for winning the game.

The two conclusion sections take two jumps forward in time: first, five years later, and second, about fifteen years after that. At each of these moments, the text reveals a rapid rundown of what's happened in or to each character's life, kind of like showing us a photo album at a high school reunion. We get closure on each of the characters, and watch as the prize that was won by Turtle during the denouement is finally and fully awarded. 

Perfection?

 “Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting.”

Authors Note: This is an essay about a quote from the book Speak, I’m going to explain how this quote relates to this book, I am doing this for text analysis.

No one and nothing is perfect.  We are only human, we don’t act the most respectful, or say the most respectful stuff, but that’s okay because those flaws are what makes us unique and interesting.

From the book Speak, I chose the quote, “Nothing is perfect.  Flaws are interesting.” I chose this quote because nothing and no one is perfect.  This book expresses this feeling/emotion a lot because the main character, Melinda, is not even close to being perfect in her own mind.  She’s a freshman in high school who starts out with no friends, and is shy.  She doesn’t have the greatest grades, like a lot of other people. But that’s okay, we can’t all have straight A’s, we are all capable of it, but accidents happen, you can get a C’s, D’s, or F’s on quizzes and in classes, and sure people will judge you, but that just shows that you aren’t perfect, and neither are they.

I respect this quote a lot, because it explains life and what people go through and why there are a bunch of people who mess up in life, everybody does at some point, I know I have…

 I also chose this quote because I can relate to it, I have always said that a person’s flaws are what make them perfect, because there are people who love you for your flaws and you are perfect in their mind. My thinking and the quote relate because flaws are unique, and that’s what makes a person who they are, and not everybody will accept that because they are not perfect.

Quotes in a book are important because a quote could very well be a theme in a book, like this book. I believe it’s called Speak, because she stood up for herself and say that she hid a secret, she didn’t want people to know, and that’s probably because of this quote, no one is perfect, flaws are interesting, something bad had happened to her, but that’s her mistake, for going to the party and trusting someone right off the bat. Just remember; “No one is perfect. Flaws are interesting.”

Dear Melinda

Author’s Note: This is a letter to Melinda from Rachel, and it will explain what kind of character Rachel is and her actions she took for character development.  This is from the book, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Hey Melinda,

I am so sorry.  I should’ve believed you when you first told me what Andy had done… I totally regret dating that jerk, I’m glad I left him at senior prom. I was being really bratty and a bad friend.  We were best friends before, and then I turned into somebody I wasn’t.  You are the strongest person I’ve ever met! Seriously, how could you live with knowing he did that to you? It would be a terrible flashback.  I am in love with the fact that you told people what had happened, it’s good that you broke out of the shell and came out with the truth about what he did to you. You are one tough cookie!

I should’ve asked you why you called the cops before, I feel horrible.  I hope you know that you can trust me now, but hey! Best friends fight, right?  I know I was disappointed when we were in the library and when you wrote it down on paper, I believed you when you wrote it, but after I asked you who did it, and you wrote Andy Evans, I thought you were just jealous of my relationship with him. Oh my, I was such a jerk; high school completely changed me, it’s unbelievable… High school changes everybody though.

By the way, I have a question, were you skipping school, hiding, getting low grades, being shy, looking and feeling depressed because of my actions? I know I would have. Again, I’m so sorry for shooting you looks, saying mean stuff about you, and being super rude to your face I still just can’t believe that I did that.

You were totally right about Andy Evans, he should go to jail and stay there, forever.  He is absolutely disgusting. I hope we can become really good friends again…

Thank you.

<3 Rachel

This letter shows that Rachel, was Melinda’s best friend until a party when Melinda had called the cops because of an issue that no one else understood.  Throughout the book Rachel was very bratty, and she became someone she wasn’t.  I would describe Rachel as a dynamic character because she obviously changed a lot and became this ‘foreign freak’.