What Am I?.... Dice

As I'm tossed across the soft felt all I hear are people yelling and screaming. They all want me to land on my six side but that's the side the hurts the most, maybe they won't mind if I land on my five side. But if I land on my one side then the room goes quite. People come to my table to win but most of the time not everyone is a winner. I'm usually the most common played game which means I get touched a lot by everyone's disgusting hands. The game is played with me and a deck of cards. Sometimes depending on the type of game I even get to play with a friend too, then I don’t feel so alone when everyone's eyes are on me seeing which side I land on. Most of the time people get so mad at me when I land on one or two that they walk away from the game yelling about how cheep this game is, but I don't care because what else would I want to be rather than a game playing dice. It's like a dream I get all the attention everyday and all night long too.

“The Lottery” Theme

Author’s Note: This piece of writing is a short response about the main themes of the short story “The Lottery”.

What would you do if you won the lottery? Well in the story “The Lottery” Mrs.Dekkacroy’s husband was the lucky one who won but he actually wasn’t that lucky. This lottery is one that you don’t want to win. Once your name is called there is no turning back. If you win you get to stand in a circle and have the entire village threw stones at you, until you die. It’s pretty much a life or death situation.

After reading this story there were several themes but the main one was the rocks. The little boys playing with the rocks were actually collecting them to use during the lottery. This is a main theme because the rocks are a common topic throughout the book. In the end of the story the winner of the lottery was stoned to their death, with the rocks that the little boys were playing with in the beginning.

Even though the lottery happened every year in this village the people who lived there still weren’t used to the idea. The lottery was one of the main ideas in this story. But not only because the story was written around the idea of the lottery. It’s because the lottery is a tradition and once a year some is killed by their own friends and family. It’s better to be killed right away with one big stone than a thousand little ones that take forever to kill you.

Left all Alone

Dear Owner,
You have left me here, just sitting on the bedside. All alone the entire day. How could you do this to me? I am your favorite pair of hoop earrings. We do everything together, go on walks, go to work, and even sleep. But for some reason you took me out last night. And when morning came, you forgot to put me back in. So, here I am sitting all alone can't move and I'm stuck looking at the same things in this bedroom all day. I am feeling down since no one told me they liked me. When you got home I looked and saw that your ears weren't empty. They were simply filled with diamonds. It's good to know that I've been replaced. It would be a nice favor from you if you just put me away so I didn't have to see those nice shiny filled ears.
Nice knowing you,
Your used to be favorite hoop earrings

Main Idea and Theme of Take me There

Author’s Note: This piece of writing is for my quarter 4 goals. I am trying to score a 10 on this piece for writing and note: this piece might give away hints and clues of the ending of the book!

Have you ever felt like you can’t be yourself around your peers at school? Well in the book Waitng for You, by Susane Colasanti Marisa the main character has this problem. Marisa doesn’t have the courage, strength, and bravery so show everyone who she really is. The main theme of the overall book is bravery. Without bravery you wouldn’t be able to take the challenges that you make every day, but sometimes you need more bravery to accomplish your biggest fears.

First, Marisa has the bravery to wake up every morning and go to school but she goes for different reasons than the normal kid would. Marisa goes to learn eat lunch and learn some more but “normal” kids go to learn, take a break, eat lunch, take another break, and then talk with friends and end up having a lot of homework. But since Marisa doesn’t have a lot of bravery she also doesn’t have a lot of friends. She ever finds the courage inside to talk to different people beside her two best friends, Nash and Nicole.

Just like many girls in high school Marisa wanted to be in a relationship too. But once again never found the bravery until one day in science the seating chart was changed. Marisa was no longer sitting by her best friend. Marisa became completely out of her comfort zone. She was now sitting by her crush, Derek. Would she find the courage to talk to him if he said hey? Or would she chicken out and run away like usual?

Once Marisa started getting used to the seating chart she became more comfortable sitting by Derek and they would have normal conversations every day. But it became more awkward once they started dating. Marisa never thought that this would happen because she is such a shy girl and didn’t think Derek liked girls like that. But when they were dating, Marisa was trying to be someone that she’s not. She was scared to show her real self infront of Derek because she thought he would break up with her. And sure enough he did.

Although Marisa didn’t have bravery in the beginning it’s grown over time. Even though she was dumped because she showed her true side of herself it made her stronger, stronger to say the word yes to her new boyfriend Nash. In front of Nash Marisa doesn’t have to hide who she really is. They have known each other since they were five and if she acted differently Nash wouldn’t like her. She has finally over time grown her bravery and shows her true side and isn’t afraid to show it to anyone.

This book reminds me of both the movie and book Speak. The main character went through a low time in her life and everyone knew about it. After what happened Melienda she was scared to talk to anyone, she had no friends. This relates to Marisa because she was scared to act like herself and thought no one would like her but in the end they both learned that being yourself is better then being someone that your not.

In conclusion, bravery is what helps you get through life. Marisa was struggling to wake up every morning because she was scared what was going to happen each day. Once she finally found her bravery she didn’t care what happened each day because she knew she had many people that loved her for who she was and not for being someone she’s not.

Character Development

Author’s Note: This piece of writing is on character development. My goal is to score a 10 on this piece. Note it might give away hints or clues of the ending of the book.

In the beginning of the book Waiting for You, by Susan Colasanti, Marisa one of the main characters thinks she’s the biggest nerd in the entire school. Do you think that about yourself too? Marisa is always reading, writing and wanting to do more work than she actually has to. Not only do her friends make fun of her for doing school work they also make fun of her for what clothes she wears. Marisa is like a wide open text book; she will always have the correct answers for you, and if she doesn’t she is always willing to figure them out.

Even though throughout the book Marisa’s personality stays the same her outer appearance is what changes the most. But that’s not the only thing that is different about her, half way through the book Marisa starts dating a guy that she really liked. His name was Derek; he was tall like a tree and had hair the color of a sandy beach. This was Marisa’s dream boyfriend, but she wasn’t herself around him. She felt like she always had to hide the real outgoing smart girl inside her. She felt as if she had to be someone else. She didn’t feel like herself.

But after a long stressful break up with him she realized who she really was, and she didn’t want to hide anymore. It was time for Marisa to show her talent. It was time for her to show her true colors and her real personality. She thought one of her best friends Nash was only a friend and never going to be anything else to her but, so thought wrong. After becoming so close to him she realized that he was her prefect boyfriend. Not Derek, a cheating liar. Marisa in the end of the book finally came out of her shell and was herself around not only Nash but everyone.

Before I started reading this book I read Something Like Fate. Lani the main character reminds me of Marisa because she was scared to show who she really was because she didn’t want to get judged by the boys in her class. Another reason why they are similar is because they both didn’t start to show who they really were until they found someone who brought out the best in them.

Although Marisa was at a point in her life where she was her lowest she ended up getting threw it, from one person came back into her life. Who know one person could change your life from low to high in just a matter of one simple question. He never really left but came into her life with a promise, a promise never to let her go once he grabbed on again.

How common is the Common Cold?

People know when they don’t feel well. They usually say they just don’t feel well, but do they know that they probably have the common cold? Headache, runny nose, and sore throat are usually what you feel when your body gets a cold (Common Cold 2). While having a cold there are many different viruses and symptoms you can have.

Many people suffer every year from what is known as the common cold. Symptoms of this cold usually cause you to have a runny nose, nasal congestion, and sneezing (Common Cold ). But it might also give you a sore throat, cough and headache. Even though you feel sick when you have a cold the reason is because the virus in the cell is starting to destroy the good parts in the cell (Common Cold 2). The most common time of year to catch a cold is usually with cold weather in winter or fall.

There are many ways to catch a cold but what are they? One of the main ways is being in contact with a person that is sick. Another big way to catch a cold is touching commonly touched things, such as door knobs, car doors, and chairs (Aaseng). You can also catch a cold if you don’t wash your hands enough. After and before every meal you should wash your hands, but you should also wash them after coughing or sneezing in your hands. If you don’t wash your hands after doing that you could pass the germs by touching people or even objects (Common Cold 2).

During the process of having a cold there are many good and bad viruses throughout your body. The most common virus that your body had while you have a cold is the rhinovirus (Common Cold ). But another common virus is the corona viruses. Even though there are over 200 different types of viruses that or both good and bad those two are the ones that give your body a cold (Aaseng). While the virus moves into your body and into the cells it is trying to destroy all the good molecules in your body. This is what makes you feel sick. When the virus moves into the cell it is slowly removing and destroying the good parts of your cell. After the virus has completely destroyed the good part of the cell the virus will start to reproduce its self (Common Cold(3)).

Even though there are many ways to recover from cold you have to be careful which way you choose. Some cures for colds are to drink plenty of liquid and get lots of sleep. If you need you can also get cough medicines. It just helps you feel better but doesn’t help make the cold go away faster then it will on its own (Common Cold(3)). When you’re sick something that helps you feel better is chicken noodle soup or any kind of soup. You then get liquids into your body with the broth and the chicken will give you protein.

When having a cold you might think you just have allergies but they are completely different from each other. One way that they are different from each other is the symptoms that you have. While having allergies the symptoms are usually your eyes, nose and lungs usually get irritated from whatever you might be allergic to (Aaseng). The virus that goes into the cell while having both a cold and allergies are bad. They want to get into the cell to destroy it and then start to reproduce the virus, which then will make you sicker then you already are.

In conclusion, having a cold puts a lot of stress on your body with all the viruses your body is trying to fight off, which isn’t easy with all the stress your body has. Over 200 viruses, but only one or two will give you the common cold. What do the other 198 viruses do to your body then? Are they helpful or harmful to the human body?

Bibliography:
Aaseng, Nathan. The Common Cold and flu . 1992.
"Common Cold ." 8 January 2012. Pub Med Health . 17 April 2012 .
"Common Cold 2." 11 February 2011. National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases. 18 April 2012 .
Common Cold(3). 8 July 2011. 19 April 2012 .

Different or Similar?

Author’s Note: This piece of writing is going to be used for the 4th quarter goals. This piece is going to be about the similarities and differences between Something like Fate and Waiting for You.

The two books Something like Fate and Waiting for You are completely different books but they are also similar in many ways. One of them being they are written by the same author. Susane Colasanti wanted to write multiple books about young love. She has a different point of view in each of her books, which makes them very different when you are reading them. This is my opinion on why they are very similar but also different in their very own ways.

First, both of the main characters in the books are looking for their perfect boyfriends. They don’t find it to be easy to meet them though because of loads amounts of homework and sports after school every day. I know from a personal opinion along with my friends we have the same case. Another theme or similar thing throughout the book was heart break. Heart break is never fun especially when you don’t have any one to turn to. This brings up another similarity in the books, losing their best friend. There are three things that are similar and they seem like pretty big things to have in common but there are double the amounts of events that are different.

Some other little things that these books have in common are the age of the characters in the books. In both of them the kids are either 17 or 18 and in high school. But there is more in common as well, they are both taken place in modern places. New York and Florida.

Even though these books seem as they could be one they are two completely books. Not only because of the main characters and where the book sets place but because of the main ongoing events. One of the main events that happen in Something like Fate was Lani falling in love with her best friend’s boyfriend. This was the main conflict/climax in the book. But while the main conflict/climax in the book Waiting for You was very much different. What happened in was Waiting for You was when Marissa decided to go out with the most popular guys in school, and wanted someone else instead. So as you can see the main theme might be the same but the main conflict and climax were much different in the books. One dealing with falling in love and dealing with what Marissa would want to be happy.

These books are obviously about love like I said before but they are also about family and friendships throughout the novel too. While I was reading them I saw many similarities but I also saw many differences which made the books so interesting and fun to read because I never knew what was going to come next. Some parts seemed dumb and pointless but that’s what makes these books their own. Similar or different these were both great books.