Response Essay-A Tree Groes In Brooklyn-Responsibility

Hasn't everyone had a moment where all of a sudden they feel very mature or closer to adolecense? I think a lot of kids have felt more grown up than they are at some point in their lives. And what makes them feel like this? Usually it's responsibility that makes them feel more mature. For example if your mom asks you to babysit your younger sibling or lets you stay home alone, that could give you that feeling of responsibility. Responsibility plays a big part in peoples lives and it's what helps kids become more experienced and more sophisticated or mature.
      
Francie and Neeley are living in the early and 1900's. In that time period kids had to take on a lot more responsibility than kids do now. Many people used horses and buggies and many people were poor, and especially the poor kids took on more responsibility. They went to the market and bought all of the food for their parents pretty much everyday, and a lot of them, during hard times, had to work a small job so their family could have enough food to eat and enough money to pay the bills. Kids were given so much more responsibility in that time than they are now. They also went to work around when they were fourteen, and now people don't get a real job until they're atleast about twenty-one.       
      
Responsibility played a bigger part in their lives, and they also usually became more mature and got jobs faster then. They were considered adults at a younger age, and I think that it's because they took on more responsibilities when they were younger so they became more mature faster. Kids now have less responsibilities, they're considered adults later, and they usually take longer to mature, and this is because of responsibity.

Response-Love and Hate

When was the last time you read a book about love or hate or maybe both? Many books have a lot to do with love and hate. Sometimes when the words love and hate mean the most in a story they're not said very much, but the sub-themes are so strong you know that they are there all over in the story. Love and hate are powerful words, and you can use them with meaning, but you can use these words carelessly too.

In the book A Tree Groes In Brooklyn, love and hate are very powerful sub-themes in the story. A lot of the people in the story share a love and hate relationship with eachother. What I mean is, they all have things that make them love eachother, but there's also a hatred that groes in between people as their lives go on. Francie loves her mother, because she's her mom, but Francie knows that Katie loves Neeley more than she loves Francie, so that makes it harder for Francie to love Katie. Katie loves Francie more out of pitty than truly loving her daughter, and she admits that in the story. In a way it's okay that Katie doesn't love Francie as much as she loves Neeley, because Katie needs Francie more than she needs Neeley, but she loves Neeley more.

In the story A Tree Groes In Brooklyn they use the words love and hate and sub-themes apropriatly and meaningfully. They incorporate love and hate into the story very strongly and this story is very touching. I think that this kind of situation happens in life all of the time and this stroy shows it's realism through the sub-themes very well. This story couldn't have been written any more powerfully than it is right now.
     

Essay Response For "All Summer In a Day"

By Delaney McCabe

You helplessly sit in school rappidly tapping your pencil against your dull boring wood desk during your last hour of school staring at the clock wishing that you could make it go faster by doing that. It's the last day of school and you can't wait to get outside and play with your friends in the hot summer air. You will hang out with them all summer! Tick tock tick tock RING! Finally! You sprint to the door hoping to be outside first. Do you remember this moment of the end of ever school year? Without your friends to be there for you insanity can take over your life.

Once you're outside you get three months to spend there in the amazing summer heat. What would you do if summer was only for an hour, and it rained and clouds hid the weak sun for all of the rest of the year? Would you go insane, or maybe even die? That's exactly what happens to all of the children in "All Summer In a Day," have to go through while living on Venus.
Margot, the main character longs for the sun and the weather they had on Earth. She is the good of this story, but she is very weak and most definately not in control. In the story she iscolates herself which, of course, leaves her with no friends, and without friends and without the sun, her mind starts to go a little insane. Weaker and more lifeless is what she becomes without the sun. Margot wishes for the sun, shee longs for the sun, she writes about the sun, but eventually it gets her teacher, family, and classmates' ire up, because they don't want to hear about something they can't have. Her classmates ar evil, mean, and very powerfull kids. When the children came to let her out of the closet she didn't do anything or move when the other children let her out of the closet. Was she dead? Did she loose the last bit of sanity that she had left? The story doesn't say.

The evil in the world can be much more authorative and decieving than the good, which is sometimes weak, but the good should try to break through that weakness. Margot might have stayed sane if she had some friends that could help her, be nice to her, and talk to her. That's what friends are for, and they can help you get through even the worst situations.

English Classroom

By Delaney McCabe

Hour 4

10/15/09

English classrooms should be more imaginative comfortable and creative places for kids to learn, and schools can do that by changing just a few things. Kids who like their school learn more daily. Kids who don’t like school learn much less, and forget a lot more of what they hear. 93% of kids don’t like their schools, so that’s a lot of kids not learning at their maximum ability!

The most important improvement for schools and students to make is getting different flooring, because most classrooms have linoleum flooring, and that and that doesn’t belong in English classrooms. Schools would be so much better off with colored carpet on the floor! The floors would be even better with two different colors in a pattern, like checkered! Another thing that would be fun to have is a rug outside the classroom that matches the carpet inside the classroom. One good color to use for the carpet is blue, because science proves that it’s the most calming color. A different good color is green, because geniuses choose green!
Once you have changed the floor from the science room linoleum to carpet, the next thing that schools will want to change is the ancient, hard, wooden desks, and especially the desks with a bar on one side connecting the chair to the desk. Desks are very hard and uncomfortable. Plus, the chairs force you to sit up straight, if you want to use the backrest. Schools should buy much softer desks or chairs for students to sit on. If I got to choose, what’s best, is for schools to get soft and fuzzy bean bag chairs. They should also use clipboards, instead of desk tops, so students can move around more easily.

After schools have taken care of the terrible desks, the last part that should be changed is an area on the walls, and schools need to remodel that space. Teachers should change that area into a café like Panera. There, kids can buy coffee and drinks, or snacks like pastries. It would be best on the side, or back, of the room, because otherwise if the café was in the front of the room, whoever was working would feel like people were staring at them, because that’s where the teacher stands. English is right before lunch so everyone is always hungry. This way schools could raise a lot of money and if kids are less hungry they will focus more.

After knowing what’s wrong with schools, like the desks and flooring, hopefully they’ll change at least the flooring and desks like I mentioned. All of my fabulous ideas such as the café are to help kids’ education, and a few improvements like desks and the floor, will help kids learn more by being in a better environment. Now schools, it’s time to get to your classrooms and start making my ideas come to life!

Honoring Veterans

Veterans Paper

by Delaney McCabe

10/23/09

I'm still not really happy with this. I think I might edit it a little more and change it.

Veterans are very important people in our lives and almost none of our rights would exist without them! With all that they do for us and our country we really need to show them that we appreciate it. They go through a lot for our country and none of them are selfish, just look.. Look at what they’re doing for our country and how bad our lives would be with out them. After all that they do we at least should show them some respect and honor them at the right times and in the right places.

I know I love going to parades do you? The best is when the Veterans march down the long street all in order stepping together step by step holding the American flags high and proud! In honor of the soldiers everybody is silent. They all watch with hats off their heads and hands on their hearts. That is the best way you can honor them at that time. Just stand and watch. Don’t say anything just stand there without a hat on top of your head and watch.

Another place you could honor your community veterans is at the park, at the airport when they’re coming home, or wherever you see them. When you see them you don’t have to thank excessively, because that would be very strange and awkward for them. All you have to do is go up to them and say thank you for your service. They will really like that and feel honored.

Honoring veterans isn’t very hard you just need to know the right times and places to do it and what to say at different events. You don’t want to over do it either and start thanking them over and over again. Now the next time you see a veteran wearing his uniform or wearing a hat or T-shirt from his service just go up to him and thank him! That’s all you have to do go up and say thank you for your service. I hope you can honor someone that’s made our country a better place, because we have no idea what they’ve gone through where they were serving.