Independent Writing Project

Poem

 I guess I was like everyone else when I was a kid,
I loved to play,
Get away with everything and anything,
I loved being with my friends,
And like you know normal little kid stuff,
Now,
Everyone annoys me,
Literally everyone annoys me,
I mean I like a couple of people,
But even those people annoy me,
Even though I get annoyed by so many people,
I’m still polite,
Because I think it’s necessary to be nice,
So like you know not everyone will hate you,
I also like to believe magic and faith is real,
And I love basically every type of music,
Who I want to be?
I don’t know,
I want to be someone who is successful,
Someone who actually deserves whatever they get,
I want to be different,
Someone like Beyonce

Essay

  The meaning of rebellion to me is when someone goes against their normal tradition. Rebelling is like when you don’t do what’s expected of you instead you kind of just do the opposite. I think a lot of teenagers’ rebel against things sometimes it’s necessary sometimes it’s not. Sometimes they might do it because they want to prove a point to their parents, or teachers, or anyone. Most of the time they end up being wrong so being a rebel isn’t always a good thing. Other times it might be because they’re tired of following traditions and then other times it’s just for the fun of it.

  I personally do believe that rebellion is a necessary element of growing up because first of all everyone is going to do it at some point without even realizing their doing it. The reason I think this, is because everyone has their own opinion on everything so when you have your own opinion you’re obviously not going to like every rule your parents or teachers give you. Sometimes you might think the rules that someone gives you are not necessary or stupid so you do whatever you want. Also because sometimes teenagers like to be different so instead of doing what everyone else is doing they do something else. The second reason rebellion is important is because sometimes you can learn from it. Teenagers always think their right so sometimes they rebel against things thinking it’s the right thing to do but at the end they end up being wrong. So, I think you can learn from that and learn that you’re not always right and that sometimes your parents actually know what they’re talking about.

   Overall I’m not sure if I ever rebelled against anything, I don’t think I have. I think it’s important to be a rebel though. It’s just part of growing up, it’s not necessarily a good thing but it’s not a bad thing either. Also I think that when you actually rebel against something because you think it’s important to really shows that you’re growing up. I think this because it shows that you have a strong opinion about something and you’re standing up for what you believe of.

Monologue

   My interviewee was my cousin, Nicole Ortiz. She's seventeen. She was wearing an orange blazer and a white tee underneath it. She has brown hair with blond highlights. She's sitting down on my bed. She's holding a cup of water. She's very calm.


I shouldn't have regrets (flips hair)
but I do have one
it was a big mistake because I don't usually do these things
but I was very upset,
people were spreading rumours
she was a very good friend of mine
so it added on to my anger
we got into a very big argument
it turned into a physical fight
I later on found out that she didn't do what everyone was saying she did
it was big mistake
I probably should've asked her about it
I falsely accused a friend
but I was very upset

Interview: Coming of Age

Q1: How did your biggest mistake affect you?

A1: Um.. my biggest mistake affected me because it taught to always think twice about the decisions you make but I also learned that .. even though you make a mistake you learn from it.

Q2: What did you learn from your mistake?

A2: I mean I've learned something different from every mistake but every mistake kinda reassures me that even though it might of been a mistake life still- life still goes on and it will eventually accommodate to it, so it's not the end of the world but you shouldn't, like, let it affect you negatively forever.

Q3: If you could take back anything that you done, what would you take back?

A3: *sighs* I would take back- I mean I really wouldn't say that I would take back too many like mistakes because I shouldn't have any regrets but if I had to chose a certain mistake it would be falsely accusing a... good friend of doing something and I wasn't sure if she had done it or not but I was very upset that I found out that she did and we got into a really big fight, a physical fight, and then I found out that it wasn't true, so it was a mistake; I probably should've asked.

Q4: What made you realize that you weren't a kid anymore?

A4: Uh.. what made me realize that I wasn't a kid anymore was when I started having my own responsibilities and everything wasn't... what my parents did, what my parents said, I had to start doing things for myself. Um making sure that I did things on time and I did what I had to do for myself and then I started realizing that I needed money for my own, necessities  and everything, um when I had to start getting job applications on my own, and college applications and stuff like that.

Q5: Did you encounter any difficulties while growing up?

A5: I did encounter difficulties because it's not something easy to accept that you need to do things for yourself and sometimes you're really lazy to take on responsibilities and you need to learn new skills, you need to learn personal things like time managements and stuff like that so it is really difficult and sometimes you may fail and that's why you make mistakes but you learn from them and you continue to grow up and get older. 

ROMEO AND JULIET REVISED ESSAY

   There are a lot of similarities between Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and real life, one of them is how much parental involvement is in a dating relationship. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet sneak around trying to see each other without letting anyone see them  because that would lead to a lot of drama. Also the fact that Romeo and Juliet don't tell their parents about their relationship just makes their relationship more difficult. There's no parental involvement in Romeo and Juliet which makes there relationship harder. The same thing happens with most teenage dating relationships in our generation and it also makes their relationship harder and forces them to sneak.
  Throughout the book Romeo and Juliet have to sneak around to see each other because they don't want there parents to see them. This is shown in act 2 scene 2,"And the place death, considering who thou art, If any of my kinsman find thee here." This shows that Juliet thinks that Romeo could be killed if he's seen with Juliet because they are suppose to hate each other. Similar things like this happen in real life, usually teenagers don't tell their parents about their dating relationships and then they sneak around to see each other. This is seen almost everyday in lives of  most teenagers. This shows a similarity between Romeo and Juliet and real life in a dating relationship.
  Also, in Romeo and Juliet there is not acceptable behavior if children and parents do not see eye to eye. This is shown in act 3 scene 5 where Capulet says,"Speak not; reply not; do not answer me. My fingers itch." In this act Capulet threatens to kick Juliet out of her house if she doesn't marry Paris, this shows that if Juliet can not have her own opinion she has to do what her parents tell her to do. This is also seen in real life because most of the time when parents tell there kids to do their kids have to obey. Even though in real life parents won't go as far as kick their children out of the house but their would always be a type of punishment.
   Overall, Romeo and Juliet has a lot of things in common with real life when having to do with parental involvement in a dating relationship. Some teenagers just don't like telling their parents because there parents might not think that the person their child is dating is the right person to date and that also is a big issue in Romeo and Juliet. I also think that Romeo and Juliet is a good story because if you look at all the similarities between Romeo and Juliet and real life you'll probably see that most of Romeo and Juliet is very realistic and that for some people these kind of things do happen.

Essay; Romeo and Juliet

  There are a lot of similarities between Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and real life, one of them is how much parental involvement is in a dating relationship. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet sneak around trying to see each other without letting anyone see them. Also the fact that Romeo and Juliet don't tell their parents about their relationship just makes their relationship more difficult. There's no parental involvement in Romeo and Juliet which makes there relationship harder and the same thing happens with most teenage dating relationships in our generation.
  In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet have to sneak around to see each other because they obviously don't want there parents to see them. This is shown in act 2 scene 2,"And the place death, considering who thou art, If any of my kinsman find thee here." This shows that Juliet thinks that Romeo could be killed if he's seen with Juliet. Similar things like this happen in real life, usually teenagers don't tell their parents about their dating relationships and then they sneak around to see each other. This is seen almost everyday in lives of  most teenagers. This shows a similarity between Romeo and Juliet and real life in a dating relationship.
  Also, in Romeo and Juliet there is not acceptable behavior if children and parents do not see eye to eye. This is shown in act 3 scene 5 where Capulet says,"Speak not; reply not; do not answer me. My fingers itch." In this act Capulet threatens to kick Juliet out of her house if she doesn't marry Paris, this shows that if Juliet can not have her own opinion she has to do what her parents tell her to do. This is also seen in real life because most of the time when parents tell there kids to do their kids have to obey.
   Overall, Romeo and Juliet has a lot of things in common with real life when having to do with parental involvement in a dating relationship. Some teenagers just don't like telling their parents because there parents might not think that the person their child is dating is the right person to date and that also is a big issue in Romeo and Juliet. I also think that Romeo and Juliet is a good story because if you look at all the similarities between Romeo and Juliet and real life you'll probably see that most of Romeo and Juliet is very realistic and that for some people these kind of things do happen.

Reading Response

    Push by Sapphire is a very interesting book about a girl who is raped by her father almost everyday since she was about nine. She is very determined to learn new things in school but she gets kicked out of school because she was pregnant for the second time. Precious,the main character, can also be very rude to people she doesn't like but I think it's mostly because her mom is a bad influence her and curses, and hits precious a lot. I also think that Precious has low self esteem so that might be why she acts kind of mean because if your mean to someone and their scared of you they won't tease you. The reason I think Precious has low self esteem is because through out the book she calls herself fat a lot.
    Precious' mom is really ride to her and to other people. I think she just doesn't care about Precious or pays attention to Precious. In the book Precious' mom didn't realize Previous was pregnant until Precious was giving birth.  Also, Precious' mom called Precious a "slut" and a "whore" and hit Precious when she found out that Precious was pregnant. I don't think this is fair because if anything her mom should be supporting her and asking her exactly how it happened and what happened
because she doesn't know that Precious' dad has been raping her. This might be a reason that Precious  doesn't really get a long with a lot of people.
     I really like the fact that Precious was really determined to learn because after everything she has to go through it's really hard to want to do anything. Also, I think that if anyone else went through what Precious went through they wouldn't want to live anymore most people would just give up. Precious also says that it's really hard for her to learn but she still tries so I think the fact that she does try is great. What I think that Precious needs is a psychologist or someone she can talk to and tell them about what's going on in her life and just tell them what she feels and just let it all out and maybe get a tutor to help her with school and maybe go live with someone more supportive.

Reading Response: Nonfiction

   Girls are considered very cruel and mean by parents, teachers, and even ourselves and in the book Girls Against Girls  they explain to us why we do it and how we can stop it. Girls are really mean to each other especially during teenage years because their hormones are all over the place, and because of jealousy and very little things. When they feel threatened, or when they're jealous of someone they can be very cruel, they might gossip about you, call you names, team up with other girls against you, and even just ignore you. The book also explains that some girls just do this for fun.
   The book also explains that the reason why most people never want to be hated on by a girl is because a girl can hold a grudge for years. If you ever did or said something mean to a girl they are probably going to remember it forever and always use it against you. Basically if you call a girl fat, weird, or stupid they are most likely to get angry at you and do every little thing they can to make your life miserable even if you were joking. A girl might gossip about you and spread rumors about you, and ignore you for what might feel like years and they won't get tired of doing it. The reason that  this is so bad is because then someone might think that the rumors are true so then they help spread it and it could go on forever. Also, people will immediately judge you based on what they have heard even if they've never met you.
   The reasons this happens is because the girl might be insecure, they find it entertaining, you might have something they can't have, or they might just not like you. It's also known for a fact that most girls don't know how to express their feelings so when they feel hurt or upset because of you they decide to bring you down in any way possible. The book also explains that maybe someone at home or close to them might be treating them bad so they decide to take out on you. You also need to be conscious of why a girl might be treating you the way she is because you don't know what problems she might be having. The best way to get them to stop treating you badly is to talk to them and ask them why they're doing it, and if that doesn't work then just ignore them because some girls treat others badly because they know that the person is going to react to it.
    Overall I really like this book because most of the things that the book is saying is true. While I was reading the book I noticed that half of the things I was reading I have done to other people, one of the things that I do a lot that the book mentioned was "the silent treatment". Another thing that the book mentioned that I do is gossip, but I never realized how horrible and bad it was until I read it. The reason I really liked this book is because it's non-fiction so when I read it and I come across some thing that sounds really mean I can be like,"wait this is real,it's actually happening in the world and there are ways to prevent it from happening".

Reading Response

      I'm currently reading the book Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson  this book is really great because it shows what an older sibling would do for her other siblings. Max is a girl that is 98% human and 2% bird and so are her other "siblings". None of them are actually related they were all kids that were used in an experiment and didn't have an official guardian. Max is the oldest one so she feels a responsibility to take care of the others. She specially feels the need to take care of Angel, the youngest one, but that's kind of difficult because Angel got taken away by half human, half wolf scientists. When this happens Max goes out with her other siblings and they look for Angel everywhere they can.
     Max is a really great person even though she has a short temper, she really cares about all of her siblings and making them feel somewhat normal. The author shows us how much taking care of Angel was important to Max by telling us what max was thinking like, "I'd never told the others but i just loved, loved, loved Angel. Maybe because I've been taking care of her practically since she was a baby".They all try to take care of each other too and they are all really smart so when they see the half human, half wolf scientists they already know how to protect themselves. Another really great thing about Max is that she doesn't try to deny what's really going on, because she's very logical, so if she sees that something is wrong she doesn't try to deny the situation and pretend everything is okay she actually tries to fix the situation right away. One example that shows how Max tries to fix situations right way is,"Shakily, I got to my feet. My head was spinning and I had to lean against Fang, hating my weakness."We've got to get her," I said urgently, trying to stay upright".
   Overall this is a really great book and it's very dramatic, sweet, and mysterious all in one which is what I think makes the book so great. I also really like it because Max took a lot of sacrifices for her youngest sister, which most people wouldn't do. The reason I liked the sacrifices is because most people would just tell the police that someone kidnapped their sister and hope for the best but Max actually got up and went looking out for her sister her self.

Poetry Response

       I've read and understood the poem "There is another sky" by Emily Dickinson. This is a really great poem and it explains that even if the situation looks bad it might not be as bad as it seems. I really like this poem because when things look really bad people don't try to look at the good in it and they just give up but this poem is telling you that there is a bright side. I also really liked the rhyme scheme, the way it was written gave the poem I really good beat.
       My favorite part was the first four lines,"there is another sky, ever serene and fair, and there is another sunshine, though it be darkness there". To me that means that even if you think that there is only darkness there still might be sunshine, meaning that when things are really bad and everything looks wrong something good could still come out of it. The author also used a lot of words that made the poem more complex and meaningful.
      Overall this poem was amazing and very beautiful. I also really liked it because it shows me other ways that poems can be written and it also gave me ideas for my own poems.

Nonfiction RR: Sharks

               The book Sharks by Janine Amos is a great book that teaches us about some parts of sharks, what helps them swim, how they hunt and many other things. It explains that sharks have lived on Earth for 400 million years around the times of the dinosaurs. They come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors but they're all very good hunters. The fastest is the Mako shark it can swim 45 miles per hour and the biggest shark is the Gentle Whale shark which weighs as much as two elephants. Most people are scared of sharks because they think that all sharks eat people but the only sharks that actually eat people are the Great white, the bull shark, and the tiger shark.
      According to the text the great white shark are giant hunters.he text explains that, "They feed on animals such as sea lions and seals, as well as on smaller sharks, and people". This means that the great white shark can pretty much eat anything it wants. Also, the text says,"Newborn great whites are already 5 feet long" which is already giving them an advantage to be able to attack most fish and people. The text also let's us know that it's really easy for a shark to hunt because their senses are better than ours. What also might give a shark and advantage to attack people is that they can sniff out blood half  mile away.
      Others sharks like the blue shark swim a lot the book tells us that,"One blue shark made a trip of almost 4,500 miles from New York to Brazil". The reason that sharks need to swim a lot is because most of them don't have swim bladders so if they stop swimming they'll sink. Luckily, sharks are very good swimmers, they're fins help them steer, and they're fins help them keep balance.
       Overall sharks are very interesting creatures and not all of them are interested in hurting/attacking/eating humans but just like us they need to eat food.

Nonfiction Article RR #10- Killer Pets

  
    
     In the article "Killer Pets" the author, Blair Rainsford, explains that everyday more and more Americans are owning exotic animals as pets. Felicia Fresco is one of them, she owns a pet tiger, named Will, she says that raising a tiger is like raising a dog. The author also wants the reader to know that at first the animal may be calm and cute but at any moment the animal can attack its own owner. The places where having an animal is allowed is in Idaho, Nevada, Wisconsin, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Albania. They're allowed in many other countries too but you need a license or permit and in other countries some animals aren't allowed.

    There are about 15,000 non-human primates that are living in people's homes and their owners think it's totally normal. According to the article,"exotic-animal owners say they love having pets that surprise people" (Rainsford 1). This shows that the animal owners think that having an exotic animal as a pet is like having a dog, cat, or goldfish as a pet and they also like having the exotic animal as a pet to surprise people. Even though the exotic-animal pet owners not everyone agrees. The article tells us that "A zookeeper, named Jack Hanna, compares owning this type of pet to having a bomb in your home. You never know when it will explode"(Rainsford 1). This shows that having an exotic animal as a pet can be very dangerous, especially if a zookeeper thinks so since they take care of animals every day.

     In other people's point of view having an exotic animal is way cheaper than having any other pet and they also think it's not a bad idea. In the article it says, "It is also surprisingly easy to get an exotic pet. You can buy a tiger cub online for just $300. That's cheaper than some kind of dogs!" (Rainsford 1). This means that one of the reasons that people may buy exotic animals is because it's a better deal than buying any other pets. Although these pets may be cheaper most of them are dangerous and most of them can even kill you. According to the article,"In 2009, a pet chimp attacked his owner's friend. He bit off most of the woman's face. Hundreds of other wild pets have attacked or killed their owners" (Rainsford 2). This shows how much just a chimp can do so imagine what a bison, or a tiger can do.

Choose your Own Focus: RR

        I am recently reading the book The Perks of being a Wallflower.  The focus that I chose is: Is there anything in the book that's unfair? This book is about a kid named Charlie that is writing letters to his friend about his life and what happens everyday. I think that many of the thing that are happening in the book are unfair.
        I feel like the main character, Charlie, wasn't developed very well as he was growing up and he also experienced too many things at an early age so he doesn't really understand how the world works and the things you're not supposed to do/say and the things that you can do/say. The things that are unfair in the book is that I don't think that neither Charlie's mom or dad tried to teach him about things that he might of not understood and that Charlie basically has to try to teach himself everything. Another thing that is unfair is that Charlie gets judged a lot for what he does and what he says but no one actually knows him and they don't try to get to know him they just do and say whatever everyone else does.