Can You Survive?

Author's Note: Have you ever wondered if an intriguing disease could be manmade and the deadliest? The author of The Death Cure makes the "Flare" seem so creepy and real because of the descriptive pictures he paints in your head.

What would you do if you had a deadly disease that took you to extremes to find the cure? The author of The Death Cure, James Dashner, does a unique job of describing a deadly disease called the Flare, a disease much like the swine flu. The symptoms of the Flare are similar to swine flu: fever, fatigue, and body aches, except with the Flare, you start murdering people because this virus takes over your brain. Even though this is a fictional book, it seems life-like because the author describes this horrific life threatening disease in a way that sends chills down your spine.

“It was the smell that began to drive Thomas slightly mad. Not being alone for

over three weeks. Not the white walls, ceiling and the floor. Not the lack of

windows or the fact that they never turned off the lights. None of that. They’d

taken watch; and fed him the exact same meal three times a day--- slab of ham,

mashed potatoes, raw carrots, slice of bread, water---never spoke to him, never

allowed anyone else in the room.” (1)

Realism, that is the word that popped in my head when I read this quote in The Death Cure, it felt as if I were in the room with Thomas. Readers especially enjoyed when Dashner described the way Thomas was isolated and received the same food three times a day. When Dashner explains situations the characters are in, he has a unique way of portraying how they are feeling whether it be pain, rage, or happiness, and the obstacles they try and conquer. Regardless of where Thomas and his gang are, the author always makes it seem like you are actually in the book, especially when the “cranks” ,the crazy people, go insane.

Well it’s a good thing “cranks” don’t exist in today’s world or we’d all be “past the gone” ,full out insane, where you start to become a cannibal and a serial killer, and we’d all be doomed! When Thomas is isolated in WICKED, World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department, he feels helpless. While reading this book, I try to relate to the character's feelings. I think about my own experiences or how I would feel if I were in that character’s shoes. I think to myself...what if I woke up one day in a box, like Thomas experienced in the first book, and had no recollection of my memories, except my first name. That is really something to think about!

 Dashner, the author, doesn’t just make you feel what emotions the characters are feeling, he also makes you feel as if you are really in the book experiencing what Thomas, Brenda, Minho, Newt, and some of the cranks go through . It seems as if Dashner actually researched deadly diseases and came up with a realistic disease, the “Flare”, which would be the deadliest disease of all. The author makes the “Flare” seem so life like it’s scary! In addition, when Dashner portrays the scene of the crank palace, he does such a fantastic job describing this “place” that he painted a vivid picture in my mind as if it were real. It was almost as if he had researched psychiatric hospitals and investigated what truly goes on there.

In The Death Cure, the author depicts many different examples throughout the book about how it relates to the real world with emotions. Dashner also makes the story interesting by including realism in many different areas of the book. These “tricks” the author uses, capture the reader’s attention and make you feel engrossed in the book. You feel like you just can’t put it down!

Concert Review

Author's Note: This piece is written for band. It was a review of the 7th and 8th grade concert. I used one quote in this piece and it was what the composer wrote about how one of the songs should sound like when you listened to it.

Have you ever went to a concert and really listened, I mean  really listened to the music? On March 6^th, 2013 at the Pewaukee High School there was a concert. There was a 7^th grade band, and an 8^th grade band in that order. When I was there I listened to the different selections of music, and  that is what I will be telling you about.

The first band to play was the 7^th grade band. The first piece they played was called “Knights Destiny”, as I listened it sounded medieval like knights riding through the darkness. The next piece the 7^th grade band played was called “Space journey”, this was a slower song and flowed very well. It made you feel  like you were in outer-space.  “Abandoned Treasure Hunt” , was a very unique piece and when they were about half way done they began tapping their pencils on their music stands to a rhythmic beat. They ended their portion of the concert with “ZOOM!”. This piece was fast and up-beat and in some parts flowed into a slower section when the spotlight was on the clarinets. It was an excellent piece to end the 7^th grade part of the concert.

After the 7^th grade band came the 8^th grade band. Their first song was called “Mars”,"darkness, death, and  brutality", as the composer stated and that was exactly what it sounded like. After that came “The Great Locomotive Chase.”  This piece was remarkable, it sounded like someone was actually chasing a train. “Among the Clouds”, was a very peaceful song, the beginning sounded so beautiful.  The next song was different, and it was called “Music From Carmen”. In this piece it sounded like there was multiple songs within the piece, first it was up-beat and then went into a slower pace which was a very smooth transition. The 8^th grade band ended with “Adrenaline Engine’s”. I think this was the right piece to close the concert with. It was a very energetic and just like the name of the song it was an adrenaline rushing song.

The 7^thand 8^th graders in the band were excellent, they played very well! Now that I’ve told you about the different selections of music the bands played would you ever go to a concert and just listen to the music? 

Rolling in the Deep

Analysis: This song Rolling in the Deep is written by Adele. When you listen to this song it's about her relationship and also when you listen there is so much imagery. Especially when she says, "There's a fire starting in my heart", "The scars of your love remind me of us", and "You had my heart inside of your hand." Also in the song she sounds like she wants to get revenge, but she also sounds sad, and depressed. I loved using this song because it had a lot of figurative language.

Through My Eyes

 Author's Note: This is a piece I wrote for social studies, it is on the California Gold Rush. I wrote this piece from my perspective as a piece of gold. I worked on using A/B transitions and a clear thesis statement.

I sat there for days on end waiting for someone to find me. My color glistened in the sun while I sat in the water and stared at the blue sky. The earth felt cool against my shiny, gold outside. Suddenly, I heard a noise coming towards me, it sounded like a horse. Then a man named James W. Marshall discovered me in a river near Sutter’s mill. He murmured loud enough for me to hear, "I found gold!" He then grabbed a lot of us gold nuggets from the river and gave us a whirl in a bowl. This sparked the California Gold Rush on Jan. 24, 1848. I've been waiting for someone to find me so I can fill my inner gold with knowledge about this "California Gold Rush" and you too can learn about it, as you accompany me on my journey. 

About a day later, while on my expedition, tens of thousands of people came to find us while digging up 12 billion tons of earth. Only a few hundred people lived there in the 1840s, but the discovery of us gold nuggets brought unimaginable growth to the big city. San Fransisco soon averaged 30 new houses and two murders a day! A plot of San Francisco real estate that cost $16 in 1847, sold for $45,000 just 18 months later. In less than two years, the city burned to the ground six times, but there was always money to rebuild it bigger and better.  Nearly a half-billion dollars worth of us gold nuggets passed through the city in the 1850s.

Besides all of the new houses being sold for huge amounts of money, I learned that the lure of gold unleashed the largest migration in United States history! It drew people from a dozen countries to form a society.  Every day I found myself with a new person learning amazing new things. For example, the miners used mercury to extract gold from the ore, contaminating local rivers and lakes with 7,600 tons of the toxic chemical. "EEW!", I thought. In 1852 the take for the year was $80 million.  Believe it or not, that would come to be worth $1.9 billion in 2005. But as time went on, we gold nuggets started to become sparse and disappear.   

Even though toxic chemicals were being released into the rivers and lakes, and the take for the year was $80 million, people were soon having a hard time finding us little gold nuggets. Eventually there were none of us left. After seven years of mining for my friends and I, the California Gold Rush was over. It wasn't a bad thing that there weren't anymore of us left because San Francisco already had more millionaires than New York or Boston! As time passed, I kept up my travels all over until I was lost. Eventually, I was found and put into a museum as one of the first gold pieces ever discovered. At last I found a new home to retire to!  Now everyone can admire my gold sparkle behind a glass case where I am kept safe. I feel honored that I became a part of history and was able to share my story and the part I played in the California Gold Rush.

Edward vs. Max (compare&contrast)

I chose to use these two books in my compare and contrast because they have an equal amount of similarities and differences. These comparisons I made aren't just simple comparisons for example: Max has blonde hair, Edward is a brunette, Max is a girl, Edward is a boy. I made higher level thinking comparisons like their emotions towards people they care for or how courageous they are.

Just A Dream...Or is it?

Author's Note: This creative piece that I wrote was based off of a book that I read called Everlost. 

As my eyes opened I saw silvery flakes drift down, glittering in the bright light of the harvest moon. My whole body was shivering, probably because I had bear feet and I had a light blue party dress on that was tattered, but in a way it still looked presentable. I gently lifted my arm off my body and placed it on what I think was the ground. I felt softness beneath my grip, and as I turned my head to the right i saw the uneven ground covered in these silvery flakes that felt like snow. My heart started to race and a bunch of questions came popping into my head. Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I here? What is "here"? Then I heard a noise it sounded like a city, horns honking, people yelling, trains whistling there horns, but when I looked around there was nothing.The sound still grew louder and louder and louder, then stopped. Everything around me became dead silent, as if the world fell into a deep sleep and would never wake up. I jolted into a sitting position I peered around me trying to see if there was anything Icould see, but there was nothing. Nothing but silvery snow covering the ground, the forest near by and the harvest moon shining down on me. "Of course!, I should walk to the forest," I thought. I stood up and walked wobbly towards the forest. As I ambled towards the forest I saw a figure at the edge, so I walked closer. The figure seemed to look a boy. I wondered if he was there the whole time and as my mind was wondering I went into what I thought to be a deep sleep, as if the world fell into a black hole. 

Friends Together Forever

Author's Note: This writing piece is about point of view and how the reader could be affected differently depending on who's point of view the book is written in. I also wanted to meet my goal of using A/B transitions at the beginning of my paragraphs, like in the second, third, and fifth paragraph. I also looked on online sources to score a 10 in introductions, and I did that by making my thesis statement clear. Finally, I included clear topic sentences to start each paragraph.  

What would you do if you lived during World War II and met a Jewish boy and became best friends with him ? In the book, The Boy in The Striped Pajamas, the main character Bruno, is kind of a brat and isn’t happy that the family had to move away to another house. As the story progressed Bruno found Shmuel, a Jewish boy, and that made Bruno happy again. He had no idea why Shmuel and the others had to be locked in and surrounded by a fence. Bruno’s perspective changes on things, for instance, when Shmuel tells him that the soldiers took them away from Poland and put them in the concentration camp away from his mother and grandmother, Bruno starts to feel sad. If the book was written in Shmuel’s perspective it would be a depressing book.  In the book The Boy in The Striped Pajamas, it definitely shows how the reader could be affected differently, in Bruno’s point of view and in Shmuel's point of view.

One way that Bruno’s point of view affected the way the book went is when he had to move to a new house across the country. There weren't any houses around and led him to become curious. His curiousity led to finding Shmuel, who became his best and closest friend throughout the story. The first time Bruno went to the fence he found Bruno which made him feel excited and overjoyed! I think if the book was in Shmuel’s point of view he would feel happy too. Especially when the soldier took him in to Bruno’s house and Bruno snuck him food.  After that Shmuel was scolded and he became very emotional.

Another part in the book that would be emotional in general for the reader would be the end scene.  Bruno meets Shmuel at the fence and tells Bruno that his grandfather is missing. Bruno becomes sad and offers to help find Shmuel’s grandfather. Shmuel goes to get an extra pair of striped pajamas for Bruno to put on. He undresses, puts on the striped pajamas and wriggled under the fence to assist Shmuel. They looked and looked but couldn't succeed in finding the grandfather. Then they scrambled over to where a group of people are and ended up in a room with no windows. They start feeling aghast because there were no windows and nobody could get out. That’s when Bruno takes Shmuel’s hand and they perish in a gas chamber. If this part was written in Shmuel's point of view he would be terrified and shocked, like a little kid watching a horror movie. He would feel differently than in Bruno's part of view. As you read that ending it makes you feel nervous about what would happen to the two boys and  after you read the l ast few sentences you feel sorrow and heartbreak.

Since this book has different emotions in it, it shows how the reader can be affected differently from the point of view of Bruno. If it was in Shmuel’s point of view it still would be a very emotional book. This book also shows how much of a good friend Bruno was to go with Shmuel  to find the grandfather and die trying to help. If in the book Shmuel was Bruno he would probably do the same thing, so in the next book you read try imagining what it would be like as the other character in the book.