Monday, June 4, 2012

Be Real


Be real please. Don't change yourself. Be yourself and no one else. Be real throughout your life. Don’t be fake. Some people think that they need to be fake in order to be popular or noticed. You don’t need to be fake in order to be noticed, you need to be yourself. And to do that, you must be real.
Sometimes, I see people who use to be something completely different from what they were last year. They changed but sometimes that is okay.  Sometimes, it isn’t because they did it to impress someone in order to be noticed.
Personally, I think becoming fake is harder than being real. Being real is something everyone can do and is good at. When being fake around your peers, you might do or say something you really shouldn't do. This could change everything you have ever worked up to be. Being fake might change your future. You never know. No one knows. But only one person can prevent yourself from falling into someone who is fake and not yourself. And that person is you. Only you can change into being real. But if surrounding yourself with bad people and being fake is what you want, good luck to yourself in your future. No one wants to be friends with someone that is fake.
Also keep in mind that if you change to be fake, you might lose all of your friends who were your friends when you were real. The friends that you have when you are real, they are your real friends. They are just like you and you don’t have to change in order to impress them or to get noticed by them. Those friends that you have to act fake in front of, those are you fake friends. Reason being is because you have to act fake for them.
Remember to be real. Remember to not be fake. Be yourself and people will love you for you. Not for some fake person. People will say you have changed and maybe won’t like you anymore. Keep in mind, would you ever want to be friends with someone that is fake? I know I want to be friends with people who are real.
Thinking about this, I realize that some of my friends turned fake. I am no longer friends with them. They are friends with some people they would never be friends with. Me, I am real with the people I am around. If someone doesn’t like the real you, they can deal with that. Because the real you is way better than the fake one.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Death


               The symbolism in “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is used very well. You don’t notice most of it until the end when you realize what it symbolizes. A few examples of symbols that are in this story would be the black box, the lottery and the stones. All relate to one another but you don’t notice it until the end.
               First of all, the black box in this story symbolizes death. Reason being for this is because black shows death and evil. The box is part of the lottery which deals with death and is part of a tradition. Even though the black box just seems like a normal box that has been painted black, it has a lot of meaning to the story, similar to the stones.
                At first you think they are regular old stones that the boys are collecting in the beginning, but then you realize that they show death, as well. A reason for this is that the stones at the end are used as a torture tool to stone a person that won the lottery to a death or near death. So the lottery is a death symbol because of the things used in it.
                All in all, “The lottery”, by Shirley Jackson has many symbols that mainly relate to death. But you don’t necessarily realize this until the end and until the stoning takes place. Reason why might be because the author wants you to believe that it is a normal lottery with the winnings of money, not the loosing of life.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Feelings


Author’s Note: This essay is written for my DWA. It is about the mood and tone in the book Until the End, by Christopher Pike.
                “Michael, I love you,” Jessica said to Michael. This quote makes love a mood for the book Until the End, by Christopher Pike.  Love, guilt, and sorrow were moods or tones for this book.  Love was a mood or tone because you feel the love throughout. An example would be the love Jessica has for Michael. Another example would be when Jessica is trying to help save Polly from killing them on the boat. She tells Polly that she loves her and has always been there for her.
                Even though love was the main mood, guilt and sorrow were moods as well. The reason why guilt was one was because of the experiences that the characters had to face. An example of this would be when they are all sinking on the ship. I felt guilty for them because the “killer” was in the room with them not even knowing, also because they were most likely not going to survive. The reason why sorrow was a  mood was because you feel bad for Polly and her sister's death, as well as the other characters that had to deal with the pain of her no longer being in existence.
                Therefore the mood is love, guilt and sorrow. The tone is somewhat the same. I feel as if the author wanted the reader to feel guilty for Polly and the others. Also, I feel as if the author wanted the reader to feel the love between all of the characters and the romace that occurred thoughout the book. Even though I  think that the author wanted you to feel sorrow for the characters in some of the situations. I feel as if the author wanted the reader to feel upset about some of the actions the characters portrayed. An example of that is when you realize Polly’s seceret. You have to remember the cause of this and that is wasn’t her fault necessarily. It was the doctor's decision that caused this effect to make the ending for the book.
                Finally, the author wanted the reader to feel the characters' traits and it made you realize that you would have mixed feelings for individual characters.  Because this book has a lot of scenes, it gives the author a reason to create a signifigant amout of tones and moods for the book that make it a great story. Love, guilt, and sorrow make this an interesting book and makes the reader feel compassion for the characters.

Is It Really the End


Author’s Note: This essay is an extended ending to Until the End, by Christopher Pike. The purpose is to show what I believe will happen to the characters after what happened in the book. I will also use a few quotes from the book to help show some emotions the character has.
                It was a long ride in the car for Jessica. She was sitting next to Michael. Bubba and Nick where in the front of the truck, as Michael, Jessica, Claire, and Maria were in the back. This was going to happen; they were going to Las Vegas to get hitched, along with Maria and Nick, and Bubba and Claire. The ride was loud, it was giving Jessica a headache but she still was happy because Michael named his comet after her. “Hey, can we stop somewhere?” Jessica asked Nick who was driving.
                “Yeah, anywhere in particular?”
                “Uh no not really. Just anywhere that might have food and a restroom is fine.” She smiled then looked at Michael. Then she decided to take a little nap on his lap until they got there.
                About an hour later they stopped at a Wal-Mart in the lower part of Nevada. Michael helped Jessica get out of the car, along with Maria and Claire.
                “Michael, can you come with me to call Polly to make sure she is going to the mental hospital soon?”
                “Of course I can. Did your parents say it was okay for her to stay at your house until she goes to college?”
                “Yeah, they are fine with it. They love Polly.” Jessica took out her phone and started to dial. It was ringing. Then she heard someone pick up.
                “Hello?” it was Polly.
                “Hey Polly, it’s Jessica. Are you going to the hospital yet?”
                “Yeah, we are just about to leave. Thank you for everything you have done for me. It means a lot.” Polly started to cry. Jessica had a tear running down that Michael wiped away with his sleeve.
                “Polly, remember that I will visit you every day when I get back. Love you and be safe.” They said good-bye and hung up.
                Michael and Jessica went inside Wal-Mart and got a snack for the ride.  “Only a few more hours until we reach Las Vegas” Michael said smiling at Jessica.
                “Good, I am sick of being in that car all scrunched up” Jessica giggled then looked at her phone to see what time it was. It was 9:32 and they would make Las Vegas hopefully before midnight.
                As they came to the giant sign that read ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ Jessica remembered she had said to Michel before while they were walking along the beach “Maybe I should marry you”. She kept rethinking what she said. Jessica wasn’t joking about it, but she wondered if Michael had thought she was. But sooner or later she would find out.
                When they all got out of the car and got their luggage, they walked into the hotel/casino. All amazed at the décor the place had. Colors were everywhere, lights glowing, people dancing, and the sound of people winning or losing their money.  We all checked into our rooms and the rest was history from there on. I was Jessica Olson now.

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Last One


I've lived longer than the rest of them; I am the only one left. Still waiting for some more to come and give me company. Yet I look so beautiful all alone, sometimes I am happy all of the flowers are all gone so I look original and no other flower can make me look just like them. I really don’t mind being the last flower living in the flowerbed, yet sometimes I wish there was another. But not the same type of flower as me, a different one so we have uniqueness to the garden. Someday, someday I just hope I will have another flower stand up next to me.
Oh look now, the gardener has brought a few flowers. Luckily none of them look like
me. I am a sunflower. The other ones are daisies. This means I will stand taller than the rest and be unique, unlike the short daisies. There is just one thing that I am scared of, being clipped and dying just like the rest of them. Or not getting enough water to survive. I just hope that doesn’t happen to me. I want to live longer; I want to be admired by the people who walk past the garden. That is all a flower really ever asks for. People just don’t understand the role a flower plays. We want to be admired by everyone. Yes we understand cutting us and giving us to someone makes them happy, but it doesn’t make us happy. Well it does, just it hurts and we become dead after a while of not being in the ground.
Furthermore, I am just happy to have not been cut off of my stem. I would like to give more and more people the enjoyment of looking at me and admiring my height and beauty. Oh look, some children are coming. And there goes one of the daisies. Poor daisy, it was only buried in the ground for such a short amount of time. But that is how it does. And soon, I might end up being the single flower in the garden again.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Mitosis


        Cancer is a very powerful thing that takes over the lives of many people. While researching breast cancer and how the mitosis treatments are done, I feel as if they are getting further into finding the best cure for it. Even though cancer can come back later on after doing the treatments, people are lucky to be free of it for the first few months or even years. As you can see later on, mitosis is a powerful cell that can change someone’s life in just one mistake done by the cell.
      First off, the definitions of mitosis are“1. Sequential differentiation and segregation of replicated chromosomes in a cell nucleus that precedes complete cell division. 2. The number of chromosomes is retained in both daughter cells” (Mifflin). These daughter cells are made up of five stages in cancer. The five stages are these (in order); Prophase, Prometaphase, Metaphase, Anaphase, and lastly Telophase.
Furthermore, the five stages are semi complex. Prophase is the chromosomes condense. The Prometaphase is when chromosomes attach to splindles (Nuclear envelope breaks down). Metaphase is when the chromosomes align on the metaphase plate (cell's midline). Anaphases are when chromosomes separate are pulled apart into daughter chromosomes. Lastly Telophase is finally when the chromosomes relax then the nucleus re-forms and the cell pinches in two (cytokinesis).  (IUPUI Department of Biology).
All in all, there are various discoveries about cancer cells and treatments, including how they work. But first you need to know that “The cancer cells proliferate to form mass of cancer cells called a tumor. As the tumor grows larger, it begins to release proteins from the cell to attract new blood vessel growth (this is called "angiogenesis"). At point the tumor contains ~ 1 million cells and is about the size of a 'bb'” (IUPUI Department of Biology). So two goals that they use during the treatment is to remove the primary, or original, tumor usually by giving surgery to the cancer patient. Then the second goal is to kill off any cancer cells that might still be in the body (Majure). Basically what I already knew was that they kill off the cells, good and bad, which then leads to the patients’ hair loss, because of the cell killing. Yet I feel as if they could find a way to only kill the specific cells that are causing the cancer in the person. For now, though, it is fine because of the way it has saved lives of loved ones. Also because the good cells with come back soon.
Furthermore, (breast) cancer has a lot of processes that occur during the treatments. More and more discoveries are happening while scientists get more into the mitosis cells. So, as you can see, mitosis is a cell that five stages. As well as the knowledge of the process the treatment is proceeded as.

Bibliography
IUPUI Department of Biology. 14 February 2000. 17 April 2012 <http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100H/ch8mitosis.html>.
Majure, Janet. Brest Cancer. Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000.
Mifflin, Houghton. "Mitosis." Mifflin, Houghton. Websters's || New College Dictionary. Boston: Margert S. Berube, 2005. 1518.

Monday, April 23, 2012

He Left Her All Alone


Author’s Note: This essay is about Where the Heart Is, by Billie Letts causes and effects of Willy Jack leaving Novalee at Wal-Mart. The purpose of this essay is to as well inform how I think certain people changed the life of Novalee and helped her though everything she is going through. This essay is also what I would like to be graded on the writing rubric.
                The definition of stranded is left behind, which is exactly what Willy Jack did to Novalee. He left her stranded at Wal-Mart. He ditched his non-born baby as well as his 17 year old pregnant girlfriend. Willy Jerk should be his name! Novalee was left there just like an unwanted puppy you see in cardboard boxes on the side of the street, sad, lonely, lost, and hopeless.
                First thing you do imagine yourself being left all alone at Wal-Mart, just like Novalee from Where the Heart Is, by Bille Letts. She was 17 years old and being 7 months pregnant, just like Novalee is. Where would you go? I know where she went, Wal-Mart. This is where she lives. She has met a lady named Sister Brother there during the day. Sister Brother has helped her though the war Novalee has been going through with herself. Yet I wonder what life would be like is Willy Jack hadn’t left her. Would he still be a jerk? Or would be finally have a soul and care for her once again? We will never know, we can only guess.
                Even thought becoming all alone and being so young of age, it can really change a person. It has changed Novalee dramatically. She has Sister Husband, Forney, and Americus to help her though. They all help her out with different aspects of her growing up into an adult. Sister Husband helps her with being a mother and skills of being an adult. Forney, in my eyes, helps her with the struggles of Willy Jack and leaving her. Then Americus has helped her love. Since Americus is her baby, she helps her with being a mother as well.
              In conclusion of Willy Jack leaving Novalee, you realize that the effect was the Novalee changed and got a better life its seems like. Yet if you really think about it, Wily Jack leaving Novalee might have been the best thing to happen, for the both of them, including Americus.