Becca Syng

Author’s note: I wrote this essay to show the point of view in this book and also to show my prediction towards the end of the book. Reading this essay will show you who is narrating the novel and what it would be like if someone else was telling the story.

                While you read the novel Finishing Becca, by Ann Rinaldi, you will notice who the narrator of this book is and whose life it is about. This happens to be Becca Syng. Becca is a girl that lives very good life style. Her father has died and her mother has remarried a man by the name of Henry Job. In the story, Becca becomes a maidservant for the Shippen family. Having this position is a whole new lifestyle for her. It is difficult for her. The reason she a maidservant is for her to learn the life of a formal person.

                In chapter six, Margret Shippen is telling Peggy about how she needs to stop asking for more and more. Becca is describing it as elegant as she is doing this. If this scene was written in Peggy’s eyes, it would be about how her mother is telling her a bunch of nonsense. Also, her mother is saying things that don’t matter, because she still thinks she can get whatever she wants.

                Yet if this novel was written by Peggy’s prospective, it would be all about her. She can tend to be selfish, but from her perspective she isn’t. Her mother tends to be awful. Her mother is trying to raise her right and teach her manners, yet Peggy doesn’t see this.  Peggy would just make the reader believe what a terrible life she has because people don’t always listen to her. She would want people to understand how she is the ruler of the house and nobody else is.

                I believe Becca will make good decisions throughout this book. Even if she is starting off with a   rough beginning at the Shippen’s house, she will turn around eventually and show them how well she can do. Maybe even Becca will help out Peggy with her love life with British Captain John Andre.

Stereotyping People

Author’s Note: Reading this essay you will see why I believe that the author of this book had stereotyping as the theme of the book.

            Growing up as a Greaser and living among the Socs, while being stereotyped based upon what has happened to the others in your group, is something most of the Greasers grow up with. In the book The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, Ponyboy is a Greaser who, in my eyes, shouldn’t have to grow up with people stereotyping him just because of the looks or actions of his group. In reality the other members of his group are nothing like him.

            Ponyboy is probably the most intelligent Greaser. He likes to read, he knows right from wrong (most of the time), and he is in classes with only the Socs. Strangely, Ponyboy stereotypes the Socs in the beginning of the story after the watching the movies with Johnny, Marcia, and Cherry. Ponyboy and Cherry were talking and he was saying how he thinks all Socs are snobs. It turns out, he was wrong about the Socs because Randy, in the end, turns out to understand what some Greasers have to live with. Randy had to go through a lot in order to realize people are a lot like each other.

            This story reminds me of another book called He’s with Me, by Tamara Summers. There is a girl named Lexie who, in the beginning, somewhat stereotypes Bree’s friend Sally. The only reason why she stereotypes is because she is friends with Bree. Lexie then realizes that Sally was mistreated and misjudged the whole time. She was being pushed around by Bree all the time and always had to sacrifice whatever Bree wanted, just so Bree could get her way.

            Reading these two books made me now think twice about stereotyping people. For now on, I am going to get to know the person before I say anything about them. This is something everyone should do. Just so everyone would be able to get a chance. Unlike how this world is.  

Stereotypes

 Author's Note: Reading this you will understand why I believe that the theme to this story is stereotypes.
Have you ever judged someone because of something you’ve heard about them? I know I have and then realized what I have heard was wrong. The person turned out to be a good friend. People would tell me this person was rude and a gossiper. It turns out the people, who told me this, were in fact just like what they described this person to be. Judging a person based on knowledge you either know or have been told to you is called stereotype. It’s not the best thing in the world, yet it exists.

            In the book The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, you find that the Greasers have been stereotyped forever. Stereotypes is the theme of this book. Reason for that is the society around them thinks all of them are criminals with no heart. Which is only true for a few of them, but even those few do have a heart. All of the Greasers might not be the typical looking person, but they sure do act like it. They have family problems, money issues, and friend problems just like the rest of the world. Just because they don’t look like it on the outside, they are like everyone else on the inside. Even though the leader, Dallas Winston, went to jail at the age of 10 and grew up in the streets of New York with gangs, he is still a person who is just trying to live just like everyone else.

            Some scenes in the book do tell you that the Greasers are judged by their society. For example, at the movies a man walked up to Cherry, Ponyboy, Johnny, and Marcia and asked where Dally was because he knew Dally had slashed his tires, even though there was no evidence that Dally had actually done it. This guy accused Dally because of his stereotyping of him.

            When you are hearing stories about people and rumors on their life, don’t always believe it. You never know if it is true. If you do judge a person based upon the “knowledge” you have about them, you are stereotyping. This is not the best thing in the world. You never know, the person might turn out to be the coolest person you’ve ever met!

"Nothing Gold Can Stay"

 Author's Note: Reading this you will see what I think the poem that Ponyboy told Johnny, "Nothing Gold Can Stay," by Robert Frost's meaning is.
Thinking about the meaning to a poem can be challenging. The poem in “The Outsiders,” by S.E. Hinton, is one of those poems that takes awhile to figure out. Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is the poem Ponyboy tells Johnny while they are watching the remarkable sunset outside the church.

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay

Once Ponyboy told Johnny this poem, Johnny started thinking about this poem and what it meant and how it relates to them. Also it reveals that Ponyboy reads a lot more than the other greasers. Yet he never really understood this poem.
I think this poem is about someone‘s life because everyone is born innocent then sometime in their life they lose their innocence. The line, “So Eden sank to grief”, is telling you the loss of someone’s innocence. Also, the last line is telling you the “death” of a person.

Looking at the fist and last line, they relate to one another. Nature’s first green is gold and nothing gold can stay, means that you are gold or young and you can’t stay gold or young forever. You can loose your innocence in life.

Are You Proud of Your Country?

Author’s Note: Reading this Essay will show you how proud I am of my country.

Yes, I am proud of my country. We have come a long way ever sense we became a country. Even though we have our ups and downs, we try to come up with solutions. Yet some I don’t agree with. It still turns out well. This country is one that tries so hard to become better.

Other than being proud of my country, there are times when I don’t even think we are a country. When I see everything that is going on, like fights and murders, I start to realize we aren’t a peaceful country.  Someday I would hope that changes. If it doesn’t, I would hope that America would at least have lower murders.

But besides all of the negatives and positives of my country, I am still proud of it because of how far we have gotten in the past several years. Thanks to everyone that has tried so hard to make living in America better.

Why Less Homework is Better

Authors Note: This writing piece is about how I believe that less homework is better for students and teachers.

Why is it that we students have so much homework? When students have less homework, they tend to have less stress, more sleep, and more time to learn new subjects. Even though many people may disagree, I believe that the schools that give out less homework can help students and teachers by giving out less stress and having more time to learn more subjects.

            First off, giving more homework leads onto more stress to the students, sometimes it even keeps them up longer than what is needed. I know many students, including me, have stayed up past 10:00 P.M. just to finish homework that didn’t seem as needed. The more homework a student receives, adds more stress on them. When a student has to do more homework than what they have thought, they won’t be as prepared for school and have enough sleep to get them though the day. All because of all of the homework they were given.

            In addition students have lives after school and have family things or sports. After school, I have sports or family things. So when I have a lot of homework I have to do, sometimes I don’t get it done properly because I am rushing to get it done. Or I forget to do it and have to rush because I have to complete it. Also students may keep that going as a habit, a very bad one.

            Furthermore, a lot of homework means a lot more work for teachers too, because they are the ones who have to grade it. Also, because it takes away learning time for the students. Having less time in class to learn the lesson is awful. I know from experience in math. If we have a lot of homework and must correct it the next day, that takes about 20 to 30 minutes out of class. I should know because in math most of the hour is correcting homework and then we have to go though the problems some students didn’t get right. I understand that it may be important, but other times it is pointless and everyone seems to find that out.

            I strongly believe that having less homework is better for the students, as well as the teachers. For a variety of reasons like, after school activities, stress and sleep, and taking away learning time for the students. Having less homework should be looked at because I know that it does change the learning abilities for the students.

Extended Ending for “Casey at the Bat”

Author’s note: This is the extended ending for “Casey at the Bat”, it about what happened after he struck out.

After Casey struck out, the whole stadium looked frozen. No sound or movement was seen, for the team has lost the game. Mudville was no longer happy with Casey, so Casey left and was never seen again. Mudville had won their following games for now on; unlike that day he was up at bat and struck out.

            Why wouldn’t you try to swing at all the pitches you have the chance too? It would be smart if you did, there are no second chances, once you have gotten two strikes and you’re on your last. For Casey has made the worst mistake in his life, to try and showboat but not succeed and strikeout. Not only did he just strike out, but he caused his team a loss all because he was cocky. Being cocky isn’t going to get you anywhere, and he has yet to learn this trait.

            We all still wonder what would have happened if Casey tried for all of the pitches. Would he have made contact with this floating sphere, or would he have still struck out? No one will ever know because of his acts to try and show off.