Today I read the poem "Basketball: A Love Song Because It Is." I liked this poem because it made me think of my basketball games even though they aren't as professional as how the poem was describing. The one thing that stood out to me most in this poem was the descriptions that they used. How the scene was described really made me picture myself there. For example "Tired muscles", or "Pointless anxiety", reminded me of how I feel during my basketball games.

"The Lottery"

In the short story, "The Lottery", there was many common themes used. One of the themes I noticed was corruption. This town was a little bit different that a typical town that we’re used to. Every year there is a lottery that place, and when you think of a lottery you normally think of winning something really good. But with this lottery it's just the opposite; you win, you die. This tradition of killing people when they win the lottery is an annual thing, so people surely don't question the procedure. Before they start drawing the cards, the one thing that I noticed was how people were acting , so their emotion and reaction to what was going on told me that this wasn't a normal lottery. The lottery starts, and all the men of the households are in charge of picking the cards. Once everyone is done drawing the cards, you see who has one the lottery and if you happen to have a mysterious black dot on your card, you have just been elected to die! Mr. Hutchinson in this story  chose the card with the black dot, and he was later stoned to death. When you really think about just the whole idea of killing people and having this lottery; you think of a town that is very messed up.

Creative Writing

Well, all my other sunflower friends have died. The weather has been bad recently so maybe that's why they all died. Or it could have been because of the lack of sunlight we've had around here lately. Who knows, but all I know is that I'm really lonely and I don't want to be here right now. The only thing here to keep me company is the 50 bees that land on top of me every hour. I'd rather be dead, and laying a garden in the dirt then being here alone like this.

Someone please come pick me… TO BE CONTINUED

Character Analysis- Belly

In the book "The Summer I Turned Pretty"  by Jenny Han, Belly is a teenage girl going through the problems like a typical teenager. Every summer her family and some of their friends go to a beach house, so it's kind of like a tradition for them. The summers are full of time on the beach, swimming and spending quality time with family.  Ever since they've been going to the beach house, there was a guy that Belly saw, and really liked, his name is Conrad. Immediately when she saw him, she knew that she really liked him. But, when she is at the beach house over the summer, that changes how she behaves.

Over the summer, she met a guy named Cam. At first he seemed really nice, and Belly actually really liked him. But when he started getting deep feelings for her; she held back, and didn't feel the same way because in the back of her mind there was Conrad. Throughout the course of the summer, Belly and Cam spent a lot of time just the two of them. As the summer progressed I noticed a big change in the way Belly was acting around her family, as a result she spent less time with them. Personally, I believe the fact that she was missing what she had with Conrad changed her into a different person. Whether you miss a friend that you used to have, a boyfriend or girlfriend, someone that's passed on; everybody can relate to having that empty feeling.

One character that I thought of right away that I connected to Belly was Anna Fitzgerald from "My Sisters Keeper." Anna was having family problems, she didn't feel loved or valued by them so as a result she spent less and less time with her parents. Both girls are similar because the get distracted with little things, and then they turn in into a bigger problem by kind of pushing their families to the side.
 
Everybody should maintain a stable and strong relationship with their parents because they are always willing to help you with anything, and when you have nobody else by your side, it can be comforting knowing at least you have the people that love you most with you.

My Sisters Keeper Prediction

My Sister's Keeper is a heart wrenching book about a young girl with leukemia and the struggles her family has to go through. Kate Fitzgerald, the girl with cancer has a sister Anna, and a brother. Anna was born to save Kate. Throughout her whole life she has been forced to undergo procedures to try and help Kate. Some of them include multiple bone marrow transplants and also she has to give blood quite often too. Now they are at a point where Anna took her parents to court because she doesn’t want them to make medical decisions for her any more.

I predict that after they get done in court that Sara Fitzgerald, Anna's mom will end up having a lot of guilt about what she's put her through. For all the year of Anna's life, her parents have been making all of her decisions for her. When they were in court, Campbell Alexander, the lawyer was asking Sara about everything that Anna has been through. He was asking about the blood drawings, bone marrow transplants and all the other medical procedures she's had to have done. I think as he was talking to her about all these things she was starting to think about some of the decisions she's made and how maybe they weren't all that good.  They basically set her up for a "guilt trip." Which personally in my opinion wasn't a bad thing because maybe now she will realize that what she's done has hurt her daughter.

Something that I could for see happening in the future is Anna and her mom mostly but possibly her dad too, having no relationship. I don't think they're going to talk any more because Anna is always going to remember the pain she had to go through as a child, so therefore she will always hold a grudge towards her parents. At some points In the book her dad mentions how he sometimes disagreed with the procedures that they  were doing, but he knew he had to make Anna do them to save Kate's life. In my opinion at some point you have to think about how much you are really going to do, just to try and cure a very deadly disease like cancer. There comes a time where you can't try any more and you just need to let the person be rest because you don't want them to suffer. Not that they want Kate to die, but in the mean time they sort of forgot about Anna.

Mothers Day 2012

"Well Kate, Anna and I haven't talked in six months now. I don't understand why she's mad at me, I never did anything wrong."

"Okay Mom, hold on I'm going to go call her real quick."

"Anna, you realize it's mothers day today right?"

"Yeah why?"

"Mom just asked about you, I mean are you coming over here today or not?"

"Psh no, why would I do that?"

"Okay Anna, but this is really going to hurt her feelings."

"Why would I care after all the pain that she's put me through?

"I'm sorry Anna, you didn't deserve to go through all those struggles just to try and save my life. It should've been your decision about what you wanted to do all along. I'm sorry."

"Kate, this isn't your fault."

"I know, I just feel like I've caused so many problems, and so much tension in this house."

"Well don't worry about it, now you better go hang out with mom(BOTH GIRLS LAUGH)"

"Bye Anna, text me later."

Expect the Unexpected

Have you ever thought of donating an organ, or how just how one little thing can save somebody's life? Many people have issues with organs in their body, and then they need to get a transplant. Before you can just get a random person's organ, you have to make sure that you both match certain things.  In "My Sister's Keeper "everybody knew that they only way Kate was going to live was if she got a kidney transplant. The decision had to be made fast. How was she going to get a kidney, and nobody knows how much time she has left.

Who knew that the loss of one, could save the life of another. Anna Fitzgerald was in a serious car accident, and later ending up dying. Meanwhile she had her older sister, Kate, who's fate depends on if she gets a new kidney. But not everybody is a match; but one person was for sure… Anna. Throughout the time that she was living, she had never wanted to go under surgery to do the transplant. But now since she wasn't alive, it's a different situation. Nobody had the power to make the decision, except for one guy, Campbell Alexander her lawyer from her lawsuit against her parents.

Previously, Anna took her parents took her parents to court for rights to her own body. She felt that they were forcing her to do things she didn't want to do, and therefore she had enough of it and had to put a stop to the cause. There is one part from the court session that I clearly remember. It was when the judge was asking Sara, Anna's mom, about all the medical procedures she's been through. Then Brian started joining in about how sometimes he  didn't agree to what they were doing to Anna; but they knew Kate needed it.  Clearly you can see that both Brian and Sara are only watching out for Kate. It seems like nobody even cares about Anna, because everybody is so focused on Kate and her cancer. Yes I do understand she is fighting a deadly disease but you can't just forget about the world around you after all.

After all this family drama look at what ended up happening in the end. They ended up loosing their "Miracle baby." The one that was born to help save Kate. Her whole life got used for doing everything for Kate. For all this time they were all about Kate, and they kind of forgot about their other kids. So now look what happens, they won't get to spend anymore time with her because she's dead. Surprisingly that wasn't even the person that they expected. I think that Anna's death will create a lot of guilt and also make both parents think about how they were during her life. Throughout all those years I think she was really abandoned by both Brian, and Sara to some level. Mostly Sara because she was only advocating for Kate. Brian, he could actually understand how Anna felt sometimes but still he never did anything to help.

The lesson to learn from reading this book is expect the unexpected, and also cherish every moment of your life. For Anna's parents, they got to caught up with everything going wrong with Kate and then they ended up loosing a lot of time with their other daughter. I think they will really end up regretting how they treated her, and maybe it will teach them a little lesson. Everybody can take something away from reading this, but what I learned is that no matter what your going through in your life, don't forget about other people around you, and also be prepared for the worst no matter what the situation is.

Mood and Tone

Authors Note- This is a journal response about the two songs "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Field Below." I would like feedback on if you agree with the mood. 


In my language arts class, we read two poems and then  listened to them. "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell and "Field Below" by Regina Spektor.  "Field Below" lyrics are about a girl or boy that's family or boyfriend left them. When we listened to the song, it was very slow and depressing, and it really made me want to go to sleep.  The way Regina Spektor sang this song, it went exactly with what the lyrics were saying. . The mood, which is the feeling that the author wants you to get  is sad because of what it's actually talking about. Overall the tone in this piece is wishing for something better, sadness, and being unhappy with life.

Joni Mitchell on the other hand, created a different type of song. "Big Yellow Taxi" is about destroying nature, and the overall message is that you don't know what you have until its gone. When we listened to this song, it was more upbeat and not so slow, which actually contradicts the meaning of the song. In my opinion, I think the mood that she wants you to get is to stop destroying nature. The tone is sadness, because she probably lost something that was near and dear to her heart, but again inspirational because the way she was singing the song didn't make me feel like she was sad about anything.