Influencing Change

Influencing change is an important part of our society, there are many films and novels that can influence change in day to day life.  My favorite book that influenced change would be “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the novel is very touching and has unique ways of showing the effects of racism and why it shouldn’t be a thing.  The book also proves that you shouldn’t judge people without getting to know them.

The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” influences change by showing why racism shouldn’t be a thing.  An innocent black man being accused of rape was taken to court and proven guilty, mainly due to racism.  In the novel, it shows what it’s like to be in the black guys shoes compared to everyone else’s.  Even though he was black he still had wife and kids just like everybody else, but because of his skin color he was being accused and taken to jail for something he didn’t do.  The people in the town expected blacks to look up to them and be sort of slaves for them and the novel proves how unfair it is.  The black man accused of rape was only being friendly to a young girl, he stopped by her house to help her with something and her dad came home and in a panic she accused him of rape.  The young girl really had no choice but to think of a story fast because she would be beaten and in a lot of trouble for going with him all because he was black.  

The novel touched many people and reminds everyone of what it’s like to be in other people’s shoes.  The novel sort of shows how people should be treated equally.  In the courts the black man lost the case because of his color, when everyone knew for a fact he was innocent.  The man had a wife and children at home just like anybody else, including the white people.  Just because he was black didn’t make him any different than anyone else, but in that society everyone was against the blacks.  In the novel people were afraid to speak up and say he was innocent because they were scared everyone would hate them for taking the blacks side, which was pretty crazy.  Nobody in court that day thought of the black man's wife and children or anything because all that stuff was irrelevant to them, as long as the white man won they were happy.  In the novel even the black man knew he didn’t stand a chance in the courts and knew he would never be able to live it down so he ended his life.  His family would be just as hurt as any family, whether they are black or white.   

Another interesting thing that came up in the novel was a quiet man named Arthur Radley was judged and made assumptions about because he stays shut up in the house.  Everyone would spread rumours about him because he never came out, people thought he was crazy and everything.  However, when Arthur finally came out, he wasn’t at all what everyone thought, he was actually just as sweet and caring than ever and people misjudged him.  That proves that you shouldn’t judge anyone unless you get to know them. At one point people thought Arthur was a murderer, but if he was would he really save the children from an attack that night?  Arthur wasn’t what anyone thought he was, he was just a quiet person who stayed inside. The most important piece of advice Atticus gave was sometimes you just need to walk around in someone else’s shoes for a little while.

“To Kill A Mockingbird”  was a very touching novel and covers many things on equality and racism.  I would recommend anyone to read it if they had the chance.  Racism is a big problem in today’s society and it’s discussed a lot.  Racism and equality are two main problems in our society and probably always have been a problem, but the book shows basically how one man tries to change everyone’s opinions and treat others equally.    

The Christmas Story

Christmas Tragedy

It was Christmas eve, snowflakes were falling heavily from the grey sky with gusts of chilly wind whipping through the trees.  It was only morning and the storm was starting already.  The weather called for a blizzard that day and everybody was preparing for the worst.  Everyone was in a rush, as there were lots to get done that day.

The eldest son Jake got his snowsuit on and was headed outside to gather wood for the stove.  Jake gathered as much wood as he could from the woodshed carrying it into the house.  He stacked a neat pile of wood beside the stove and stuffed a few pieces inside it.  He lit a blazing fire in the stove to keep the house warm during the big storm, then set out in the kitchen to help with other chores.  Their mom, Lisa was in the kitchen preparing foods and desserts for a family gathering they always had on Christmas eve.  The younger son James was in the parents bedroom finishing wrapping the presents.  When David, the father came home he was sent to the store with a list.  They were to buy lots of groceries to prepare for the storm and Christmas dinner the next day.  While Lisa and Jake were preparing the foods and James was in the bedroom, smoke started to curl their noses.  They all ran around to check all the heaters in the house to check for a fire.  After going up and down the hallways and stairs of their two-storey home they were able to locate the smell.

Inside the living room of their home was the Christmas tree up in flames.  Jake had forgotten he left the stove door open a bit to get the fire started up.  There was a trail of flames coming from the stove to the Christmas tree in the corner.  Everybody panicked and ran to grab water.  Lisa called David to come home immediately and in a rush she told him it was an emergency and that she would explain when he got there.  They were all rushing for buckets of water, however the fire was only spreading further and further until it reached the presents under the tree.  When David arrived home he grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed it on the fire.  The fire started to calm down after that and Jake and James threw four more buckets of water on the fire.  After a few more buckets of water they had finally got the fire out.

Just to be sure, Lisa grabbed one more bucket of water and put it on the floor.  The rest grabbed the tree and took it outside, there was barely anything left to it and only a few presents were saved in the event.  Everyone was disappointed, they thought Christmas was ruined.  With heavy hearts they cleaned up the mess in the living room, opening windows to clear the smell, drying up the water, and washing as much black off the walls from the smoke as they could.  The fire hadn’t done much damage to the room as it wasn’t going for long, they were able to replace some of the floor that got burned with extra floor tiles they had in the room.

After the clean up they continued to have their family gathering anyways.  When everyone arrived they asked questions about where the tree and gifts were and the family had to explain the incident.  One family member just happened to have an extra Christmas tree and gave it to them to set up. The family was never so grateful and the kids realized that if it wasn’t for family, Christmas would be nothing.  The children learned that it doesn’t matter if you have a tree or presents, the most important part of Christmas is gathering around with your family.      

The Trade Off

Being able to trade places with a character would be really cool and different.  90210 is my favorite show, it has lots of great characters and it's very well done.  The show is very amusing with lots of drama, however the character I would like to trade places with would be Annie.

 The character Annie is sweet with long drown hair, she's tiny and almost every one likes her. Annie has one brother whom I think is the same age in the show. The actor done an excellent job with forming Annie's personality and I would love to live Annie's life just for a day at least.

One great personality trait the character Annie has is how sweet she is.  Although she makes mistakes like everybody else she still manages to stay really sweet.  I would love to be her because she makes lots of friends with her sweet personality and everybody is attracted to her because she's seems so nice.  Although Annie can be mean she knows when she does wrong and knows how to fix things.

Another great personality trait the character Annie has is she's very caring, especially towards her friends and family.  Annie is always there for her friends and family no matter what, she would do anything for them even if it meant getting into trouble.  Nobody can stay mad at Annie because they know she means no harm to anyone.  If I could trade places with her than I would be as likable as her and it would be great because she's so brave especially when it comes to her friends and family and I would be able to experience that if we traded places.

 The character Annie is very pretty and everyone can see it, however she's not stuck up and acts as if she doesn't know she's pretty. If I was her I would love to be that pretty with her great personality.  Everybody loves Annie for her beauty and great personality she has.   

    

Five Worst foods!

  There's noting any worse than being hungry and wanting something good but instead taste something horrible.  My favorite hobby is eating, however I have tasted some pretty nasty foods in my life.  I'm not usually a picky eater, most stuff slides down pretty good but these have to be the worst foods out there.  Not everyone will agree with the foods I'm about to list but these are my five worst in my opinion.

5.  Tomatoes:  

   Tomatoes are great to add in to stuff for flavor but eating a raw tomato has to be the grossest thing ever.  Tomatoes have a lot of unpleasant juices that squirt out the minute you bite into one.  Another thing gross about them is their texture, they're slippery and soft with a small crunch when you bite into one.  Tomatoes are just altogether not for me.  

4. Mini hot dogs in a can:

    Surprisingly these use to be my little brothers favorite food.  What these are are these mini hot dogs in a can surrounded with a bunch of this weird juice to probably keep them fresh.  The minute you open the can you have to stand back and wait at least 10 mins for the smell to clear, not to forget to mention to not drop the can!  If you drop the can chances are they hot dogs will bounce away.  They're so small and rubbery that they bounce...literally.  

3.  Fatty parts on meat:  

  Meat is one of my favorite things to eat, especially drizzled with BBQ sauce.  Although meat can be pretty great it also has it's downsides.  Whenever mom makes pork chops for supper you can be guaranteed to find me scavenging through them for the one with the less fatty parts.  The fatty parts are the lighter, thick chunks on the meat.  They fatty parts are filled with grease, they're sometimes sticky, and taste horrible.  I think the reason they taste so horrible is because of it's texture and how greasy it seems to be.  It has this really odd slippery texture.

     

2.  cheese in a bag:

   Most people haven't heard tell of this but with my grandfather being a truck driver you get to taste these weird things.  My grandfather brings home small bags of cheese, some are stringy salted cheese which tastes not as bad as it sounds but the other stuff is plain chunks of white cheese.  I usually like cheese but these just taste like little chunks of sour milk.  I mean, come on it's chunks of cheese in a bag! I guess I could've seen it coming before even trying it.  

1.  Onions: 

 Onions have to be the worst thing I've ever tasted.  In fact, they're so bad they make your eyes water. They smell terrible, taste awful and leave this disgusting after smell in your mouth.  I was once dared to eat a raw onion for 20 bucks and I took two bites out of it, the smell never left me until two weeks after.  The worst thing in the world is when I see this nice cheesy piece of pizza, pick it up, take a bite, and crunch.  What comes out? a long piece of onion, yuck! ruined my pizza which means ruined my day.  This is just one example of food onions manage to ruin, there are plenty of others as well.    

Three Grammar Writing exercises

1. The team won its game. Did you win yours, too?
2. They left their books there.
3. I hear you're about to graduate.
4. It's nice that they're friendly.
5. Although I get a lot of colds, I feel alright now.
6. Who's prettier than you?
7. Are you tired? I'm out of breath, too.
8. Run back and forth from here to there.
9. You're about to lose your book.
10. Everyone will accept the prize except you.
11. Do you know whether or not he will give me the prize?
12. Many people choose to live in large cities.
13. Is the doctor through with my exam?
14. What effect does the school principle have on you?
15. What did he advise you to do? Did you take his advice?
16. There are a lot of your friends in the boat.
17. I will buy a book by Ray Bradbury. 
    

Time Capsule

If our community decided to store a Time Capsule that would only be opened a hundred years from now I would want to place in it these 5 items:

1. Money
2. Latest Iphone
3. Picture of our foods
4. Latest Makeup
5. Picture of my house

Money

The first item I chose to put in the time capsule was money.  I would want to put at least a five dollar bill in the time capsule so the people of the future could see what our money looked like.  This is important so they could compare the differences between the money we had and they money they have.  Also on our bills they give information on our prime ministers and lots of other interesting things.  People of the future may find all that information important and interesting.  The bill also contains Canada’s popular sport which is hockey which gives future people an insight on our activities.  Also maybe 100 years from now the five dollar bill might be worth a lot more money or it could be worth a lot less and that would be pretty interesting for people 100 years from now.

Latest Iphone

Another item I would place in the time capsule would be the latest Iphone.  The latest Iphone is the Iphone se.  In our day the Iphone se is very advanced and popular it has everything we ever wanted on it and it’s so simple and easy to use.  The people of the future may find it interesting because god only knows how much technology will improve by then.  Future people might look at our Iphone’s as old phones the same as we look at phones even 50 years from today.  Maybe Iphone won’t even be a thing a hundred years from now, maybe people will abandon phones altogether who knows what will happen.  Either way it would be interesting for the people of 2116 to know what kind of phones we had and how much technology has advanced since today.

Picture of our foods

This would be an important item so the people knew what kind of food we ate.  Maybe they would want to know if our foods were healthy, fattening, full of sugar and things.  Maybe the future people will be all about dieting and eating healthy foods or maybe people will continue eating the same foods. A picture of our foods will give the people information about our culture,  traditions and things, also might give them information about how we cook our food.  Cooking in the future may be a lot different than it is today maybe new stoves will be invented, new microwaves, or anything that will get cooking done faster or differently.  Maybe the people of the future will have much fancier foods or anything could happen.  They might even get some ideas from our foods.

Latest Makeup

The latest makeup would be important to put in the time capsule because god only knows what kind of makeup trends will be out in 2116 and it would be interesting for them to know what kinds of makeup we put on.  Maybe instead of wearing makeup from Sephora or other places there will be another much better makeup trend out.  There’s even the possibility that people in 2116 will abandon makeup altogether and go back to the natural look it would be hard to say.  Makeup is something most girls wear nowadays, it’s a very common thing and lately makeup has become very popular when wanting to create a bunch of looks, especially for contouring and things.  

Picture of My House

This will be important to see because the future people will be able to compare their modern houses to ours.  Houses in the future will more than likely be much bigger and fancier than ours today because of how much technology and things that are being made.  People are making new things everyday so it will be hard to say what kind of houses the people will have.  I can only imagine the houses will be much bigger and much more advanced will lots of spaces and fancy things in their homes.  Also with a picture of a modern house there will be a background of probably a nice lawn with maybe a pool outback or something.  Future people will be able to get an idea of the things we owned and the scenery around us.

Letter:  

Dear future people,

   I am a 16 year old girl, I go to Blackville school and there are 5 people in my family.  My moms name is Brenda, my dad's name is Scott, and my brothers names are Chris and Nathan.  I am a middle child, my older brother is Chris and my younger brother is Nathan.  My family members are very nice people, they’re kind, caring and very understanding.  My mom is really short like me, my dad is pretty short too, however my brothers are both quite tall for their age.  Our hobbies are boating, snowmobiling, going for Sunday drives and just doing fun stuff together as a family.  Some recent events that happened were on Jan. 7, 2015 Masked gunmen killed 10 journalists and two police officers. Eleven others were wounded.  A massive manhunt that consumed France for the next three days ended during two hostage sieges that took place simultaneously, one in a kosher market and another in a warehouse near the Charles de Gaulle Airport. Four of the hostages were killed.The two brothers who attacked the Charlie Hebdo offices died after an hours-long standoff with police at the warehouse. Another gunman who took multiple hostages at a kosher market in eastern Paris was also killed in a police raid. His accomplice, Hayat Boumeddiene, escaped and is still on the run today. An al-Qaeda offshoot branch in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack.  Another recent event was on Feb.10, 2015 New England and New York state are enduring the third winter storm in less than two weeks. The storm shattered snowfall records for a 30 day period in Boston that were previously set during the blizzard of 1978. Some snowbanks reached higher than seven feet tall. An event about to take place is Adele begins her 25 world tour in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on leap day. That concert and all the rest on the tour are sold out. Adele performs in Vancouver July 20-21, in Montreal Sept. 30-Oct. 1 and in Toronto Oct. 3-7. The tour wraps up in Mexico City on Nov. 15. Adele hasn't toured since 2011. Her third studio album, 25, debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts in November and has stayed there. It's been breaking all kinds of sales records, but is not yet the biggest selling album of the 21st century.

Children's story

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WI77xaH2JdYj0kNdvZUPzyAtHzxRtZPgJWhI-YDP0tw/pub

Tips on Writing Stories for Children

  The information I found particularly helpful were the elements that editors, reviewers, and to some extent readers will look for in your story. The elements talked about were the theme, plot, story structure, characters, setting, style and tone.  The information that was similar when analyzing the children's stories were the plot, dialogue and the story line.  The information I found helpful in the article on "Writing Good Dialogue" is to make the dialogue interesting, make it have a purpose and to not make up boring and pointless sentences.  Also the article told us that dialogue shows the relationships between characters which was helpful information.  I think the theme should be part of the rubric. "Is the story easy to read and understandable for young children" should also be part of the rubric.

Analyzing children stories

  The first children's story I read was called "The Brave Monkey Pirate".  The main character in the book was a monkey named Modi.  Modi was a monkey who was a pirate and afraid of going to the doctor for a shot.  In the story there was dialogue with Modi's mother and father.  the dialogue was modi's mother telling him about his doctors appointment and the dialogue with his father was him telling Modi to take his ship and follow the map to the treasure.  Also his father told him he could have ice cream when he got back.  Another dialogue was the crab wizard giving Modi a rock and explaining what to do with it.  The dialogue in the story helped encourage the little monkey to go to the doctors for his shot, it helped him get over his fears.  The conflict is the little monkey is afraid to go to the doctor to get a shot.  Some children may be able to relate because most children hate going to the doctor for shots and it can be pretty nerve wrecking when you're young.  The conflict is resolved by giving the monkey a special rock to squeeze onto when getting the shot and he will be given ice cram afterwards.  The message or lesson is to not be afraid because getting a shot isn't as bad as what it seems.

   The second children's story I read was "Little Miss Mary And The Big Monster Makeover".  The main character is a young girl named Mary.  Mary was very spoiled and a loved to shop more than anything else until she then finds a new interest besides shopping, which was giving monsters makeovers.  The dialogue in the story is Mary shopping with her mom, then she was talking to a monster.  The way she talked to the monster without freight was important.  Since she talked to the monster without freight the monster was shocked and they became friends.  The problems and conflicts in the story were Mary is so spoiled she spends lots of money shopping which means her father has to work all the time to keep making money.  Another problem is when the clothes wouldn't fit the monster and they all tore.  Some children may be able to relate to the conflicts like maybe money wise, some children get carried away and tend to want lots of expensive things and come off as being spoiled like Mary.  The conflict is resolved when Mary realizes that some people aren't as lucky as she is and she wants to help others like give makeovers and things to monsters instead of buying more for herself.

   The third story I read was "Fruit Salad".  The main character in the story was the apple.  The apple was old and sad.  There is lots of dialogue in the story, at first the fruit are talking about what they are going to do then when they split apart, but when they meet again they admit they are sad and resolve the problem together.  The problem in the story is all of the fruit are too old to be eaten so nobody wants them and they're upset because of that.  I guess children can relate in a sense that maybe they feel left out too sometimes and it also makes them upset.  The conflict is resolved by the fruit working together and finding a place to go, which ends up being where all the old fruit goes and they are all happy there and make new friends.  The message in the story is there's always a place to go when you feel abandoned or left out.


   The three stories are similar by each having a problem or conflict that needed to be resolved.  They were also similar in the way that most young children could relate to them like being afraid of going to the doctor for a shot, being spoiled, or feeling abandoned or left out.  The stories are different by having different conflicts and meanings.  Also there are different messages given in each story.  These stories would be appealing to younger children because they're not too long, there's pictures and they all have a meaning children can understand or relate to.        

Perfect soft Chocolate chip cookies

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pAp_J_yf3ZFuXJgoo5V4Vkp-75DFXQW6K-hQO4mKdlA/pub

Review on how-to-article.

   Characteristics that make a good how to article are the topic, writing your instructions in the form of steps, photographs, font, and lots more.  This article had all of that.  The topic "How to Make Perfect Cheesecake" was very catchy and caught my attention right away.  Also the pictures caught my attention as well, there were plenty of pictures of a deliciously perfect looking cheesecake.

   I felt it was a good how to article because it was very catchy, had lots of pictures, steps, and tips.  I didn't feel there was anything weak about the article, it was easy to navigate through and it described every thing you need to know.  The article also provided lots of helpful tips and I didn't feel any changes needed to be made or it needed to be improved.  What I really liked about the article is it gave all the ingredients, steps and it provided helpful tips.

   The link to the article I chose is    http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-perfect-cheesecake-recipe-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchen-110760 .  Out of 20 I would give the article a 19/20 because the article could get a little boring if you read through it all, but overall it was very well done.  I think another statement that could be added to the rubric would be:

• The article includes pictures and other features to catch the readers attention. 

Pitching a new character

Film Review: Finding Forrester

      Who would have thought a city boy and an old man could have such a strong bond? In the film “Finding Forrester” you will learn all about it.   The film was produced in 2000 and is a Columbia pictures film.  Older teens, adults, and seniors would most likely enjoy this film more than anybody else because it would probably be boring to younger people due to them maybe not really understanding the film. A few quotations from the film are “We walk away from our dreams, afraid we may fail, or worse yet, afraid we may succeed”. Another one was “The object of a question is to obtain information that matters only to us”. I think these quotations hold great meaning and they give us an insight on William Forrester’s (Sean Connery) Character.

      In the film a smart city boy finds an old man who’s disconnected himself from society only to later learn he’s not just an ordinary old man he is actually a long-lost famous author. As the two bond and begin to understand one another Forrester helps Jamal (Rob Brown) with his writing, however, Jamal faces some hardships of developing his talents and figuring out which direction his future should go while his friendship with the author begins to grow. Finding Forrester can be compared to the film “To Kill a Mockingbird” because they both have characters in the film very similar. In “To kill a Mockingbird” the character Boo Radley is very quiet, never leaves the house during the day or when people can see him and prefers to be alone. In the film “Finding Forrester” The author William Forrester is similar because he to prefers to be left alone and never leaves his apartment and doesn’t have very many friends because he chooses to stay shut in the house and away from society like Boo Radley did. Both characters also had people that tried their best to get them to come out of their comfort zone. The children tried to get Boo Radley to come out of the house by torturing him and they tried to get a peek at him, Jamal in “Finding Forrester” kept going and visiting William until they bonded and Jamal eventually convinced William to leave the house.

      The actors in the film “Finding Forrester” were what really made the film as good as it was, the actors and their way of acting was the strongest part of it because without their acting skills “Finding Forrester” would probably be boring or not very entertaining. I think the film had very good quality mainly due to not only the acting but the setting as well. setting also played a big part in the quality of the film because it took place in a city which made it better especially towards William’s character who didn’t enjoy being in crowds of people whereas in cities there are lots of people everywhere. Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) and William Forrester (Sean Connery) were both the main characters. Jamal was a city boy who enjoyed playing basketball and was very smart and enjoyed writing. William Forrester was an author who prefers to be alone shut in his apartment, he never leaves it and has very little friends because of his disconnection with society. Although the characters are two very different people they bond and help each other as they both face struggles along the way and I think that’s what made the film so good and the acting the strongest quality because of how different they both were but they had a strong connection and they did have one thing in common which was writing, it was their thing. There were a few struggles and conflicts during the film, a few conflicts were Jamal with his writing teacher, his teacher didn’t believe Jamal could write as good as he did, another conflict was William with society, he prefers to stay shut in. Also there was a bit of conflict between Jamal and the father of the girl he has a crush on, he doesn’t approve because Jamal wasn’t as “high class” as them.

      
      The main message or the theme of the film is attaining your dreams and holding onto them because in the film William is helping Jamal with his career and he shows him to not give up on the world before it gives up on him because that is what William did and he became a recluse and realized his failures but were able to get over them. The film makes me think I should hold onto any dreams I have and to not give up on the world or i’ll become a recluse like William.

My Sisters Keeper film review

   The film I chose was "My Sister's Keeper"  I chose this film because It's really sad but entertaining and I love this movie.  The review I chose is found on the website http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/My-Sister-s-Keeper-3987.html.  In the review it gives an insight on all the characters and talks about the important parts of the movie without spoiling it which is why I chose the review I did.

    An important part in the movie the review mentioned was it tells us about the little girl "Anna" her parents had so they could use her blood  and things to save their other daughter Kate who was suffering with cancer.  Also in the review it tells us about Anna hiring a lawyer to sue her parents for wanting Anna to give her sister her kidney, however the review doesn't reveal the other reason she wants to sue her parents for and that's what else I liked about this review.  Another important part was how they described the characters.  The review described the mom as having one goal in life and that was to save her daughter Kate which is why they conceived a third child, Anna.  It also told us about Kate falling in love with another cancer patient and tries her hand at teenage rebellion.  Also in the review it said that Anna is a complete cipher, mostly because her characters motivations are unexplained through the entire film and Anna and Kate had a nice sisterly vibe.

      The type of movie genre I like best is comedy or action.  I like these two genres best because they're catchy and entertaining and they appeal to me the most.  If I could choose any film to do a review on I would choose "Divergent" or the movie "Just go with it" because Divergent has a lot of action and "Just go with it" has a lot of comedy.    

Playing Hockey with my little Brother

      It was early spring when I was strolling down the street when I stopped and noticed my father holding a picture of my little brother playing hockey, the picture was very valuable to our family. I remember playing hockey with my brother that day as if it were yesterday. I remember It was early morning in February, I recall rising as the sun did, grabbing a quick bowl of cereal when I heard my little brother tiptoe up the hall behind me, I gave him a smirk and he knew right then what the plan was, this is what we done every Saturday morning. As he quickly grabbed all his hockey gear, a quick snack he headed to the bench where I helped him get ready.

      My little brother was 5 years old back then and I recollect looking into his sleepy but excited big blue eyes, messing up his short blonde hair as I swiftly laced up his tiny skates, grabbed our sticks, a puck and headed out to the rink we walked to every Saturday morning. The rink was only a few houses down from us so we didn’t mind the walk at all it was actually rather quite peaceful.

      As we turned the corner I heard him squeal as we realized we had the rink all to ourselves. The fresh crisp air was cool as we stepped on and glided up and down the ice. With our sharp blades cutting into the smooth delicate ice, our sticks slashing the puck back and forth, we roared with laughter when one messed up. That February morning the cool air was wheezing through our lungs and coming back out into clouds of fog, we started to pant as sweat begins to form from concentrating, competing and waiting for one to mess up. It was always the scenery and feeling of excitement that made things special.

      From that day I can recall the whir of the camera as I took pictures of him with his stick and puck, I remember taking in the scenery that day, the large buildings surrounding the rink, snow crystals forming on the trees from a chilly February night, the ground covered in sparkling snow as it glistened in the sun, the excitement and laughter coming from my little brother and the broad smile that remained on his face all morning. Everything seemed perfect, the setting, the smells, the scenery, who would have thought anything could go wrong?

      It was on our way home, we had stayed at the rink all morning, we were running down the road headed for home fighting the strong winds and freezing rain that had started an hour before leaving when a car out of nowhere appeared around the corner, they were driving really fast as if in a hurry to get somewhere when they lost control of the car and ran into my little brother with a loud thud, I tried to grab him but I wasn’t fast enough and he laid there still, breathless and motionless with blood gushing out from his tiny head. I knew there was no hope but I called for help anyways and later that day the doctors announced his death to my family. To this day he is still remembered as if he were just here and the pictures from that day keep coming back to haunt me, if only we had stayed home that day.

Writing reflection

 During my spare time I never write, I use to all the time but writing doesn’t really interest me anymore.  I feel like I can’t write very good so I often times avoid writing, during my spare time I will usually go do something fun with my friends or watch Netflix.  My favorite writer/author is Veronica Roth.  I like the author Veronica Roth because her books are very descriptive, catchy and entertaining.  The type of writing that comes easy to me is descriptive writing, sometimes writing descriptive pieces about the simplest things are what I’m good at or I find writing about something that interests me or a topic I choose is when I write best.  Challenging writing for me is writing persuasive essays.  I get my ideas of writing from class discussions or if I’m sitting and thinking about something interesting I will write about it.  The piece of writing I am proud of is when I wrote the comparison essay between “To kill a Mockingbird” and “A Time to Kill”  I’m proud of this writing piece because I got a good mark on it and I feel that I got my points and information across clearly.  Each school assignment I will do one draft for sure and sometimes, if needed i’ll do a second draft then a good copy.  I feel that a strength of writing I have is voice.  My weaknesses in writing are sentence structure and rambling on about the same things.  If I had to choose my favorite subject to write about I would choose to write about a hobby of mine or my family.  My goals as a writer for this semester is to become a better writer and improve on my sentence structures.