You Left

Author's Note: This is a parody to the poem, Just to Stay. This poem is based off of Where the Heart Is, by Billie Letts.

By: Kaitlin and Claudia

I’m so sad you left,

I don’t know how to tell you this.

Why did you leave me?

I am all alone with no one,

You also left our baby,

Why did you?

Did you think you could get away with that?

But now I found a guy,

He is wonderful,

Better than you.

I am happy you left,

Our baby is beautiful,

And I have her all to myself.

This is a piece about Where the Heart is by Billie Letts. This parody resembles the poem “Mother to Sun” by William Carlos Williams. The speaker in this parody is Novalee. She is saying this to Willy Jack because he left her at Wal-Mart, 17 years old and 7 months pregnant. The tone of this parody at first would be sad and depressed, but at the end of it it’s more of a happy and relieved. The mood of this poem is miserable at first but then it gets joyful. It’s kind of that “Haha, in your face” type of parody.

Life for me Ain't Been no Crystal Stair

Author’s Note: This essay is about the poem Mother to Son, by Langston Hughes. The purpose is to explain my thoughts of the differences of figurative language the meaning/purpose or that and the mood and tone of the poem.

“Life for me ain't been no crystal stair” is a metaphor; it is relating the life of the mother to a crystal stair. For her, it is the opposite of an elegant life. I believe that the purpose of relating the life to a crystal stair is because crystal is pure and elegant. When the mother said “Life for me ain't been no crystal stair” the purpose of it was to explain the her son that life for her wasn’t even easy. It was difficult. For example;

"It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare."

This personification is showing the reader in description that the “stair” she has been climbing her life wasn’t exactly ideal perfect. Which gives off the mood for the reader. For me I felt like the mother was trying to encourage her son into never give up in something he believes in or wants. Yet I think the tone Langston Hughes was trying to give off was as well to never give up. The reason why is because Langston was part of the Harlem Recusants. So he might have put his life in it to help others understand that he never gave up and look at how successful you can be after it all.

Being Novalee

Author's Note: I wrote this to show my description of Novalee in her point of view from Where the Heart Is, by Blilie Letts. The purpose of this piece is to show my thoughts in how the character would describe herself to someone.

I am not the average 17 year old. I am Novalee. A 17 year old girl that is pregnant. My belly is full of life. It is as round as a beach ball. My extraordinary brown hair falls past my shoulders, resembling a mud waterfall coming off of my head. I look in the mirror and see a fat teen, all thanks to Willy Jack. My heart is dead; the only thing that is keeping me alive is my baby.

I have no family. My mom left me all alone. As my stomach grows just like a beach ball being blown up; once deflated now a sphere. I am all alone with the lonesome store of Wal-Mart at night. Being 17 and pregnant really changes a girl. One day my stomach will go “pop”! And my beautiful baby girl will be brought into this large, graceful land called Earth. I am scared to death though! What if I never find a father for my baby? What if my baby doesn’t make it? I will end up being Sandra Bullock after Jessie James left her, lonely. But I shall be strong, just like the Incredible Hulk.

Something Good Will Happen

Author’s Note: I wrote this essay based on the whole writing and prediction on the reading rubric. The purpose of this new scene is to show my prediction on what is going to happen later on while reading Until the End, by Christopher Pike. I wrote the scene based off of the prom because that is the next main thing that is about to happen.

                Jessica walked up to her and Michael’s locker, well now hers. Wishing she would see him there so they could talk. She needed to talk to him about everything, about Alice. Good thing prom is coming up and we both don’t have a date. At the movies I will try to see if he would want to go with me.

                “Hey, Jessica” Michael said walking over to his old locker.

                “Hi. Michael, I was just about to go look for you!”

                “Oh cool. So I can’t wait to go to that movie with you. I need to ask you something there.”

                Could this be it? Jessica thought to herself. Prom? Is he going to ask me to go with him? Oh I hope so. “Oh okay. Pick you up around 6 o’clock.” She smiled and yet off to her class.

                Bubba came up behind Michael and gave him a scare. “So did you ask her to prom yet?”Bubba asked.

                “No, at the movies I will. Kay?”

                “Okay, but hurry up. I hear there are a lot of guys that want to get with her and you know that too, Michael.”

                “Yeah I know. I just want it to be at the right moment in time you know?”

                “Yeah okay Mike. Well I will see you later. Don’t forget to make it smooth and romantic, girls like that.” Bubba went off and Michael was thinking about how he was going to ask her to prom. He didn’t know how to ask a girl out even! He hasn’t ever really done that. How can the smartest guy in school not know how to do something even the dumbest guys can do?

                Later on at lunch Jessica caught Michael’s attention and waved him and Bubba over to sit by her, so he did. Polly and Sara were sitting at the table as well. At first it was awkward for Jessica to see Michael even though she just talked to him about an hour before. Was it that she might have actually liked him? Or was it because he was the guy that Alice wanted to hook her u with? Well that didn’t matter at the moment. It was about what he wanted to ask her at the movies. Jessica couldn’t get that out of her head. Prom prom prom prom prom prom prom… was all that was streaming through her head when she though Michael.

                “Hi” Michael and Bubba said as they sat down. Starting a conversation Bubba started talking about prom to the girls. Right when he said ‘prom’ Jessica looked at Michael and blushed. Michael knew she would say yes now. But he still needed to figure out how to ask.

                Later on that day Michael moved back into his old locker with Jessica. Jessica saw him putting his books in and was confused.

                “Did they kick you out or what? “ Jessica laughed.

                “No, I just decided I liked having a locker buddy” he looked up and smiled.

                “I do too” blushing and smiling Jessica thought to herself it is so obvious that I like him; mine as well just tattoo it across my face!

                On Saturday Jessica picked up Michael and they went off to the movies. Michael looked at Jessica and started laughing and smiling.

                “What?” she asked.

                “I just can’t believe you want to go see a movie with me” Michael told her.

                “How come?”

                “I don’t know. I just can’t.” Once they got out of the car Michael said “Now for my question.”

                Jessica’s heart was racing.

                “Will you go to prom, with me?”
                This was it! “Yes!” She said with an ear to ear grin on her face. So it was final. Michael and Jessica were going to prom together.

                Only if Alice knew, she would be jumping with joy and excitement. Michael thought to himself. “So which movie are we seeing?” He smiled and they both went into the theater.

                So that was that. We are official now. Locker buddies and prom dates, could this week get any better? Jessica kept thinking.

Growing as a Whole

Author's Note: This essay is about Melinda and how she is a dynamic character. The purpose is to show you the reason of what I believe to be how she shows to be developing.
         Melinda from Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson shows her dynamic character development growth throughout the reading of this book. Melinda can help you grow as a person or a whole. I know she has taught me to grow from mistakes. Because she had suffered from a wild high school party. During it she was founded by a gorgeous high school guy. He decided to go in the woods with her, she did because he was a god. This "god" was doing stuff to her she didn't like. She tried screaming yet he covered her mouth. Once she got free, she cracked, she called the cops. That's when it all happened. Her feelings and emotions were locked up, and she needed to express them. Only one problem, she has no friends now and is starting high school.
         While Melinda is suffering from depression at her school, her parents don't notice anything. I believe she should have told someone that would have cared. For example Rachelle or her parents. Even a counselor! She is depressed not just because of what happened, but it seems like because she is in a horrible atmosphere for a girl who has no friends and is trying to survive a life in high school. Yet in art class, she was assigned to make a tree. I believe that during the reading, she starts to understand what the tree is in her mind and how it can relate to her.
         An example of her showing her understanding of the tree and how it is growing upon her. A tree starts off frail, similar to Melinda and how she is scared of everything around her because if can snap her at any given point. Then the tree starts to get stronger in itself because it is growing, just like when Melinda told Rachelle about what happened. That let Melinda become a stronger whole, which also shows how she is a dynamic character. Also because she changed her belief in people around her. Yet near the end of the book, she is a fully grown tree, secure of being itself. Not afraid that much as before.
        After all, because Melinda told Rachelle about what happened. It lead up to more drama for her. Even though it was a smart choice, it might have been better to have told her before. But that is how she learns how to grown like the tree. Yet it was a very strong moment for her and telling Rachelle because she was dating the guy who did stuff to her in the woods.
      All in all, Melinda turned out to be a strong person because of telling Rachelle of what happened. Even if the timing wasn't a good time, at least she told her. And thankfully Rachelle helped her out after a few talking with some people. Once everything was done with, she wasn't a weak, frail tree anymore. It looks like she was really going to get through the rest of high school, no matter what comes up.

The Life of Being Bullied

Author’s Note: This essay is about how I compare to Melinda. The purpose is to show how bullying can relate to everyone and how Melinda and I relate to the actions we came upon.

                Melinda is hated by people all around her. Not knowing who is pure and who is not. Many people, including myself,  know how it is feeling like the character Melinda from Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. I believe that everyone is similar to her. She is hated by her old friends and people that she doesn’t even know. Reason being is because she called the cops at a party. Causing some people to get arrested, people ignore her and make her life miserable. I can relate to this because I have been hated by a group of people, this little group of people were my friends. Some of them are still my friends, kind of like Rachelle and Melinda at the end, they start to somewhat reunite. But this group, they ruined my life in school.

                First of all, Melinda and I acted upon the situation the same way. An example would be not going to school one day. I stayed home one day telling my parents I was sick, same with Melinda. But Melinda just ditched school, which I did not. Another example would be trying to find people. Luckily I was already friends with a wide span of people. Heather was Melinda’s new Rachelle. Even though she got dumped by her, I am still friends with the ones to this day.

                Nevertheless, going back to the group you were in would be hard for anyone. Knowing they started rumors about you and made more and more people dislike you. Good thing Melinda didn’t go back in, neither did I. It would have been a regret going back. Yet you can still be friends with some of them, some of them aren’t worth it. For Melinda, Rachelle was the one worth going back to. She spoke up and talked to her. Something I have done too. With one of my friends I let out my feelings to the situation she was involved with. Letting go and speaking your mind while knowing that they are still part of that group is a big step, yet I managed to do it, same with Melinda. Even though the group split up, it was still there at the school Melinda goes to.

                Near the end of Melinda’s dreadful year, you start to realize that she can be compared to about anyone. I can relate her to more than just myself. People get bullied and get hated by their friends. Life is like that for people all around the world. No one has to live the way Melinda did though, same with the girl from the movie “Cyber Bully”. She is bullied and her social life is destroyed, just like Melinda. Have you ever lost friends like Melinda and myself?

"I cut class, you cut class"

Author’s Note: I wrote this piece to show my feelings for a quote from the book “Speak” that was quoted by Melinda Sordino. It shows my feelings towards how her character changed and how I interoperated it from when I read it.

"Conjugate this; I cut class, you cut class, he, she, it cuts class. We cut class, they cut class. We all cut class. I cannot say this in Spanish because I did not go to Spanish today. Gracias a dios. Hasta luego.” Melinda Sordino thought to herself in the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. This quote tells you what she is doing at the moment, cutting class. It is also showing the thoughts of what Melinda had about Language Arts and Spanish class because those are the two classes she is talking about.

This quote also shows a conflict between Melinda and herself because she is cutting class; something she never does. But the reason why she cut class might have been because she was done with school and because of what Heather told her before, “When you get through this Life Sucks phase, I’m sure lots of people will want to be your friend. But you just can’t cut classes or not show up to school. What’s next—hanging out with the dopers?” So Melinda might have cut class because of Heather. She might have not intentionally desired to but when people bring stuff in your mind, you often attend to think about it. But then you sometimes do what they say, which might be why Melinda cut class and thought the quote about cutting class.

After all, Melinda cutting class shows her changing throughout the book. Since this is something she doesn’t really do. So therefore this quote shows a change in the character of Melinda. It isn’t a big change in her character but it does show the meaning she was going for, and that is cutting class to go and get away from everything. This, in a way, is a big step for her because that is something the reader might not have thought she would do. Overall, it is showing the person she is now developing to become.