Character Developement

Author's Note: This piece is about character development. When I wrote this piece I wrote about Cole from the book Touching Spirit Bear and how his anger and attitude developed throughout the story. Also I wrote how Cole was similar to the character Roger in the story Than You Ma'am. In the last paragraph I explained what I learned from the character(s). 

In the beginning of Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikealson, the main character Cole has uncontrollable anger issues and an awful attitude. However, throughout the story, Cole learns how to control his anger and develops a better perspective on life, instead of having a bad attitude about it. Because Cole is physically abused by his dad, naturally Cole is a bully himself and feels unloved.  As the story unfolds, Cole starts to realize that he is loved by his mom and that people genuinely care about him. Throughout the book Cole grew up and matured in the wilderness of Alaska while on his one year banishment.

Ever since Cole was mauled over by the huge white spirit bear, he gained a respect for animals and people. Over the six long months it took him to recover from his traumatic experience with the spirit bear, his mother came to visit him frequently. Cole never felt that his mom ever loved him because when his dad beat him, mom never did anything to bring an end to the physical abuse. She just watched it happen and stood idle. He learned through many conversations they had, in the hospital, that his mother really does love him and that she felt her hands were tied when it came to the abuse.

In addition to Cole being mauled by a bear and finding out his mother loved him, he recovered “the circle”, a special type of court, and had another meeting. It was decided that Cole had to go back to the lonely, Alaskan island. As soon as Cole arrived at the island, Garvey has Cole re-build the cabin he burned the last time he was there. Garvey would wake Cole up every morning before sunrise and make him soak in the water. After wading in the water for some time, Cole carried a boulder, which represents his ancestors, up a large hill. When he got to the top, Garvey shouted, “this rock is your anger, now push your anger away.”

The book, Touching Spirit Bear, reminded me of Roger from the story Thank You, Ma’am. In Thank You Ma’am, the main character Roger, determined to buy a pair of new shoes, decides to steal a women’s purse but the purse breaks and he stumbles backward and hits the ground. The victim, a woman, takes him by his shirt collar to her home and teaches him a quick lesson about “right and wrong”. After she teaches Roger to be nice, she gives him ten dollars. He went from being a disrespectful, sneaky, unclean, determined thief, to a nice, trusted boy. Likewise, Cole was an angry, sneaky, impertinent bully and developed into a better person as well. In the end, he respected animals and people, as well as earned everyone’s  trust .

What if Cole’s attitude stayed the same in the book? His hatred, anger, and violence would have landed him in jail, and he would have been bailed out by his mom again and again. He would have beat up another kid and it would have been a continuous cycle. Likewise, Roger would’ve bought a gun with the ten dollars and found another victim to rob. The story line for Thank You Ma’am wouldn’t make any sense and confuse the reader because the story is about a kid, Roger, turning his life around. Both stories show that people can change for the better because of an event that happened in their life. It just takes time.

Conflict & Resolution.

Author's Note: In this conflict and resolution piece I went more in depth in explaining the conflict resolution.  The main conflict is Katniss vs. The Capitol and the gamemakers. 

One of the many conflicts was Katniss vs. The Capitol and the gamemakers.  The Capitol controlled all the districts and made  them work while the capitol got to enjoy all of the luxuries.  The Capitol also controlled The Hunger Games and sent well over a thousand children over the past 74 years  to kill each other. As the tributes treated it as a celebration they did  not care  about the mass-murders that were going to happen.  

Since Katniss was a tribute, she was disgusted by all of that and tried to defy  the Capitol. The gamemakers and the capitol changed the rules so that two tributes  from the same district could win. Katniss and Peeta waited for the capitol to crown them victors, but at the last minute the capitol declared that only one  person could win. The resolution to the conflict was when Katniss and Peeta were going to kill themselves so there wouldn’t be a victor. By doing this the capitol and the gamemakers were forced to crown them both victors. In the end she  started an uprising and rebellion of the districts.

Cause & Effect.

Author's Note: In this cause and effect piece I wrote about the Hunger Games and how the capitol effected the Huger Games and the districts. 

The book The Hunger Games the cause is the capitol created 13 districts. All the districts rebelled against the capitol. Only district 13 was destroyed by bombs and as a result everyone in that district died. Now only 12 districts remain in the country of Panem.

The effect of this cause is the capitol formed the Hunger Games.  In the games there is two representatives from each district between the ages of 12 and 18.  24 children battle to their death until one person remains standing. They are crowned as the victor of the annual Hunger Games. The capitol created the Huger Games to show the districts that they have complete control everyone in Panem.  If the Hunger Games did not take place the capitol would be forced to choose 24 people, randomly execute 23 of them, and have each district watch.

Patriot Pen Essay

Author's Note: In this writing piece I made my thesis clear about what I would tell the founding fathers. I also wrote this Patriot Pen Essay in letter format.

Dear Founding Fathers,

Have you ever wondered how this great nation of ours has progressed over the years since the founding of our country? Many things have changed over the years since you founded this great nation such as criminal laws, government debt, and voting laws. Yes, we have come a long way, and some of the changes that have occurred since your time have been for the better.  However, there may be some changes that will come as a surprise to you.

Back when you founded the United States in the early 1770s, there were very few laws at all except when it came to crime. Back in the days, when a citizen committed a crime, the consequence was simple. Their punishment consisted of being hanged, being shot to death, or being crushed by stones. Today, the judicial branch of our government has various laws that allow criminals the right to a fair trial, which determines their punishment. This change has resulted in overcrowded prisons, which is a comfortable life for many of these prisoners. Also, the need for prisons costs our government billions of dollars a year.  

In addition, since you founded this great country, the Federal Reserve has devalued the US dollar by 95% since the year 1913. As a result of that, the US has built up a national debt. Today, our government has compiled this debt, and it is rapidly approaching 14 trillion dollars! Unless the government stops spending, the number could increase to 18.3 trillion dollars by the year 2021. Can you believe it?

On a happier note, voting laws have changed significantly over the years. Mr. Washington when you ran for president in the year 1789, only white men with property could vote. Everyone else including poor people, women, Native Americans, and enslaved African Americans were not allowed to vote. It wasn't until after the 1920's that everyone in the United States, if you were over 18 and a citizen, had gained the right to vote. It was really a change for the better.

Although some of the changes that have taken place over the years may have come as a surprise to you, I want you to know that I am grateful for this magnificent country you started and the ideas you established that we could build from.  I am proud of our nation and proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.

Sincerely,

Kaitie Scanlan

Cause & Effect

Author's Note: This writing piece is about the main cause and effect in the story The Hundredth Dove.

In the story The Hundredth Dove there is a few causes and effects but the main one is about Hugh and the doves. The cause in the story is when Hugh was summoned by the King. When he was summoned, the King told Hugh to catch 100 doves for the wedding. The Queen did not want doves but the King insisted. On the first day Hugh caught 21 doves and one white dove. The white dove slipped threw the net. Hugh wasThe determined to catch that one white dove. On the night before the wedding Hugh had captured the small white dove, the hundredth dove.

The little white dove pleaded to be let go, she even told Hugh that the Queen would be his if he let her go. He was not a fool and did not fall for her tricks because he saw the engagement ring around the dove's foot. As he saw the ring he envisioned the Queen it made him very angry. The effect was he snapped the white dove's neck and the next day there was no wedding.  Hugh quit his job and  never saw another dove again. 

Just Keep Swimming...

Author's Note: This is a Personal Narrative piece that was based on the prompt "Did something I now do every day." I worked on improving my introduction. To improve my introduction I opened with a setting.


 I sat on the wooden ledge of my neighbor’s pool as I gazed into the clear calm water. In my eyes as a two-year-old, the pool was intimidating, although it looked like an enormous bath tub. I wanted to jump in so badly! Instead of jumping in I stuck my "little" big toe into the water. I never knew, after that moment I stuck my toe in the water, how much "big bath tubs" became a part of my life.

 Shortly after that, I turned 3 and I started swim lessons at Healthbridge Fitness in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Once a week, for two years, I was overly excited to go to swim lessons. Every week when mom brought me to Healthbridge, I eagerly jumped into the pool to learn how to swim all those strokes that I saw all the big kids swim. I will never forget the day that I gave my “lady” instructor a bloody nose. It was the first day that my group got to swim in the "big pool" and learn the backstroke. The instructor told us to push off the wall and do three strokes on our back. After about four people I was next. I placed my little hands on the wall crouched my legs up to my chest and accelerated backwards. Immediately after I pushed off the wall my head collided with her nose. She clasped her bloody nose, jumped out of the pool and scurried to the locker room. Because I was just a 4 year old, I didn't think anything of it, except that I gave her a bloody nose. Now, 9 years later, I realized that she was the one who stood behind me and said, "push off the wall."

 The winter after I turned 5, I joined my first competitive swim team. The name of the team was The Woodstock Dolphins. Over the years of swimming for the Dolphins, I improved my strokes and my times. I will never forget when I heard the elongated whistle blow. I stood on the starting blocks and I grabbed the front of the block when the official calmly said, "take your mark." As the loud beep from the starter buzzed in my ears, I jumped forward off the block and sprinted down my lane. I was so nervous because I was swimming next to one of my best friends in lane 6. I was gunning it in lane 7. I did my final turn and exploded off the wall. In that instant, I had no idea that I was out in front of everyone else. As I touched the wall and looked up at the scoreboard, I found my name and ran my eyes across the board. My time read 1:22.17. I placed first in the group I was swimming in but not sure of where I place overall in the event. I was so nervous! I walked slowly toward the podium not certain of what place I had received overall. They called off 8th place, and then 7th place. By the time the announcer called off 3rd place I was really kind of disappointed because I thought didn't place. Then all of a sudden they called my name for 2nd place. I was ecstatic! They honored me with a red rose and slipped a second place medal around my neck. For a minute, I felt like an Olympian. Over the next two years I had no idea what my future swimming plans would be because the swim team was collapsing. I was crushed! 

Then something amazing happened. Last year my family had to move to Wisconsin because of a job opportunity for my dad. Lucky for me because that meant I was moving to a new swim team too! But where was I going to swim? I really wasn’t sure what we would find in southeastern Wisconsin, and I was hoping there was a better swim team out there for me. Then my dad found it! They called themselves “Express”. I was so nervous the first day I swam with the new team at a meet in Wisconsin. When I arrived at the meet, the coaches were very welcoming and the swimmers were kind. July marked my one year anniversary with the Waukesha Express team and in just over a year, I have made astonishing accomplishments. One that I am most proud of is my 22nd place finish at the Wisconsin State Meet in the 100 Meter Breaststroke. I felt pretty awesome after I had such a fantastic finish.

 I never had thought that the day I stuck my “little” big toe into the pool that I would come so far in swimming. I am so glad that I took up swimming as a sport and one day I want to make it into the Olympic trials and maybe make the USA Olympic team. Look out here I come!

Conflict & Resolution

Author's Note: This piece is about the conflict in The Hundredth Dove and how the conflict gets resolved.


The conflict is that Hugh could not catch the white dove because it kept escaping through the holes in the net. Which is person vs. nature/ person vs. person because the white dove is the kings fiancé. After five days and five nights Hugh still could not capture the white dove, Hugh was determined to catch her.

 The conflict was resolved on the night before the Kings wedding. Hugh waited patiently in the forest waiting for the white dove to show up, and when she did arrive Hugh flung the net on top of her. He grasped the dove firmly with both hands. The white dove pleaded to be let go, but Hugh did not let go. After the last thing the dove said Hugh felt rage throughout his body and that led him to snap the white doves’ neck.