Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Founding America


Founding America
I walk through the cool, semi-dark library.  As I run my fingers over the dusty wooden shelves, I notice the names on the spines of the books.  Abraham Lincoln, Niel Armstrong, Martin Luther King, Jr.  What did all these men have in common?  They had courage.  They had determination.  They had hope.  With these three things, they became American heroes.  They made the dreams of our people come true.  These are the things that our founding fathers needed to make our dreams reality and build America. 

I would tell the founding fathers to have courage.  This would help them to not be afraid and to persevere for our country.  Courage would help them to be brave and do the right thing.  With courage, they would learn to stand by their choices.  They would learn to believe in themselves.  Our founding fathers needed courage. 
 
I would tell the founding fathers to have determination.  Determination helped them work through the road blocks and achieve great things.  If they were determined, they could find new solutions and build a better country.  Our founding fathers needed determination. 

I would tell the founding fathers to have hope.  They needed  hope to guide them, to work to establish our country.  A country where all men were considered equal and you had the chance to grow and be your own person.  They needed hope to be that ever-optimistic voice telling them that nothing is impossible.  Our founding fathers needed hope.  

With these few things, our founding fathers could establish a great country.  They would learn to be more than just the average person.  They would be able to achieve great things.  They would be the best that they can be.  Our founding fathers paved the way for other great inspirations and heroes, and believed in the dream of our great country.  With courage, determination and hope they have made this far off dream become a reality.  

Security Gaurd




Dance camp.  Four days and three nights of learning and performing dances.  We spent almost every spare moment practicing.  I went over motions in my head as I fell asleep.  I timed my life in eight counts.  I had a perpetual soundtrack of “Latin Mix” and “Come on Feel the Noise” stuck in my head.  This was ninety percent of our time at camp, but it was really the free moments that I remember most.  Especially the time that we almost got caught by a security guard.

The whole fiasco happened in under two hours, but it felt like days.  It was the second night of camp, at about 11:00 at night.  We were all sitting in Emma and Molly's room talking.  Even though we were all supposed to be in our own suites, Abby was in our room.  Everything was great until "Richard" showed up.  

I'm sure you're wondering what I'm talking about, so let me explain. Earlier that morning, Molly and Jenna had met a person on a bike.  Long story, short; they named him Richard and it became this big joke. 

That's why, when at approximately 11:00 at night, a man passed, most of the people in the room started shouting out at him.

“Hi, Richard,” Emma screamed.  

“DUCK FACE,” Abby yelled out the window.

We were all laughing and joking around.  

Then, the man shined a flashlight up in to our window.  It was a security guard. 

The next few minutes were all a blur.  Somehow, none of us panicked.  We all ducked down, so he didn't see us.  Someone turned off the lights.  Molly closed the curtains.  Then, the shock wore off.  I remember everyone's reactions.  Emma started hyperventilating and shaking.  Molly was so scared that we'd get caught, she was almost in tears.  Jenna was worried that he would come up to our dorm.  Abby was afraid that she would get in trouble for being in our room after curfew.  I was scared to death, but I tried to stay as calm as possible.  I knew that it would be worse if I started freaking out too.  

This is when it started to feel like time was dragging out as long as possible.  The seconds hesitated to pass.  The minutes ticked by as sluggishly as possible.  The clock seemed to slow to a stop.  We were waiting for something to happen.  I think we all knew it was coming, but when it did our hearts skipped a beat.  Someone was knocking on our door.  
Everyone panicked, except for me.  Abby hid in a closet, Emma and Molly pretended to be sleeping, Jenna crawled under the bed.  All the lights were still off.  On my way to the door, I tripped over a suitcase.  Only later I realized how much it had hurt, but then I was completely numb.  I tip toed to the peep hole.  Outside, stood the security guard.  All I did was watched and waited.  I kept thinking "Maybe if  I don't do anything, he’ll leave."  That's when he sighed and pulled out his keys.  I realized that I had to do something.  With no other option, I opened the door.

Luckily, someone had turned on the lights.  He stepped in to the hallway.  I tried to look and sound as tired as possible, like we had actually been trying to sleep.   I offered the lame excuse of me tripping over a suitcase explaining why it had took me so long to get to the door.  That was the end of any small talk.  He said "We had some reports about girls screaming out the windows, and this could have been one of the suites."  At this point I had to make a split second decision: get caught for breaking the dorm rules, or lie.  Neither were good options.  I'd love to say that I took the high road and told the truth, but I didn't.  I just put on a straight face and said the first thing that popped in to my mind.  "Oh, that wasn't us, we were just talking and eating chips."  By now he had walked to the doorway of Emma and Molly’s room.  

Thankfully, he didn't come in.  He was most likely discouraged by the empty pints of ice cream, gummy worms on the desks, and the rainbow of spandex and sports bras littering the floor.  He just looked in to their room and saw three of the other girls.  They were trying to look tired, but were all holding their breaths.  The security guard seemed to believe our story, but he still seemed a little suspicious.  "Was there anyone else in your room in the past ten minutes?" he asked.  "No," I replied as casually as possible.  This was all he needed to hear.  He said "Sorry to scare you ladies, you look fine to me.”  We all rushed to reply “Oh, it’s fine,” before he left. 

The second our door slammed closed, we finally let out our breaths.  Abby waited a few seconds, then went back to her own room before the guard interrogated them too. 
Emma was verging on a nervous breakdown and was almost in tears.  We were all still scared, but we realized that the hardest part was over.  Now our biggest concern was that someone would figure out that it was us screaming and we would get in trouble.  

When I look back on that incident, I realize that it all could have been avoided by following the rules.  If we had gone to bed on time, obeyed curfew, not screamed out the windows, and even not talked to that bicyclist, there would never have been a problem.  That would have been great, but then there would be no story.  Even though I don’t believe it was right to scream out the windows and lie to the security  guard, it definitely made that night a lot more interesting.   So the morale of this story is not “don’t lie to a security guard at dance camp.”  It’s not even that you should follow one of the billion and one other rules we broke.  The real morale of this story is don’t get caught lying to a security guard because you were screaming out the windows.  That would just ruin the end of the story. 

Cause/Effect-Ashleys- Death by Cupcakes


In The Ashleys, three  girls, coincidentally all named Ashley are the "queen bees" in their school.  Lauren Page is sick of how they treat people and wants to change that.  Her plan is to join the Ashleys and then destroy them, so their school will be better for everyone.  The turning point in this story is when Lauren saves the main Ashley's life after a near fatal allergic reaction.  This is the climax because nothing can go back after that.  Ashley almost has to not hate the girl that saved her life.  If you look back, you can see all the things that caused this event.  First, Lauren joins their group.  This throws things off balance, because everyone is fighting or their spot in the clique.  Also, Ashley never tells second-in-command-Ashley (Lili) that she has a life-threatening allergy.  Then, in spite of Ashley's orders to get cupcakes made from a special recipe, Lili buys regular cupcakes for the dance.  Then, at the dance Ashley eats a cupcake thinking that they are nut-free and has an allergic reaction.  Lauren saves her by injecting her epi pen.  After this, nothing can really be the same.  There are a lot of different things that this effects.  Lili is jealous becuase Ashley only told Ashley Alioto(A.A.) about her alergy.  This makes her feel threatened that she won't be Ashley's favorite.  It also makes Ashley like Lauren a lot more.  She feels indebted to her after Lauren saves her life.  This makes Lauren a lot closer with the Ashleys, and makes her chances of getting in to the clique better.  

The result of the story could have been a lot different.  For example, if Lauren hadn't read Teen Vouge, she wouldn't have been able to guess where Ashley kept her epi pen(there was an article on a girl with a nut allergy) and Ashley would've died.  This would have completely changed the events because Lauren would never have a chance to destroy the clique.  Lili would feel at fault for killing her best friend.  Ashley would be dead.  The Ashleys probably wouldn't even exist anymore.  If the climax event hadn't happened, the story would have no conclusion.  The allergic reaction is the turning point because it changes the story drastically and prepares it for the falling action.  This event both brings the characters closer together and farther apart.  If this event didn't happen, the story would have no ending, and there would be no difference from the beginning of the story. 

Speak- conflict/resolution- Facing your Fears


In Speak, the main character Melinda faces a problem.  In the summer before her freshman year she goes to a high school party. Because of the events that happened at the party, she becomes a social outcast and recedes in to a shell.  The main conflict in this book is Melinda not being able to face what has happened to her, and the results of it.  One example of this is when she builds her closet.  She hides out in an old janitor's closet away from anyone else. I think that she does this because she doesn't want to face her classmates because it surfaces her worst memories.  Another example is when she is dissecting a frog in science class.  If she had faced her problems, she wouldn't have let the frog become an analogy to her life.  She could have just thoughtlessly dissected the frog and moved on with her life like the rest of the class, but she let her fear control her.  Melinda has to battle many different types of problems throughout the book, but the main issue is person vs. self.  She is battling her self with her pent up fear and other emotions, because she can't get over what happened.  Even though she feels isolated and alone, she doesn't do anything about it.  She just sits there and let's it happen.  Melinda can't fix her problems until she learns to face her fears.  

Luckily Melinda finally stands up to herself by the end of the book.  Melinda gets over her fear to stand up for herself.  In the climax of the novel, when He tries to hurt her again, Melinda finally gets a back bone and speaks up.  Melinda defends herself and overcomes her biggest fear.  She faced her problems and therefore was able to resolve them and find help.  One way to see that this is the main conflict is to look at what would've happened if she hadn't done this.  Melinda would have just gotten even more afraid and isolated herself even more.  She would have become worse and worse, and would've come to a point where she couldn't get over what happened.  It would have eventually consumed her.  All of her thoughts and all of her time would've been spent on those terrifying moments.  If she hadn't finally faced what happened, she wouldn't have been able to grow and move past those moments and on to the rest of her life.  Because Melinda faced her problems, she created a chance to restore her life.