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.