2nd Prompt

What are the main similarities and differences of childhood and adulthood?

Similarities:

• both lie and make mistakes, but that's only human
• Personality- okay so personality may not be the exact same, but who you were as a child will stay with you as an adult. It will sort of guide you through life in a way.
• Goals- Short term goals I seriously doubt will still be the same. Long term goals on the other can stay the same in a way. For example, even though I may not have reached adulthood yet, I still want to earn another charm for my bracelet although medically I may not be up to that task.

Differences:

• "Hard" decision making- You know, as a child, your hardest decision may be choosing which new toy you want for Christmas. As an adult, your hardest decisions may be deciding whether or not investing in a new car will help you out in the long run,
• Physical- Quite obvious, but appearance is different. Sometimes that same baby ace is there, but as you grow older you grow taller and maybe develop a few muscles. Who knows?
• Intelligence and Mind- When you're young, everything is pretty straight-forward. 1+1 will always equal to 2. When you're older, you're faced with more complex questions that may not be so straight forward.
• Authority- Adults have the authority while children not so much. As a child though, you do not question the authority. You go with it because "Mommy said so" and it just seems reasonable to do as Mommy says. As an adult, you actually get to be the one to speak with authority.

Coming of Age: #14

             There are many aspects of life that may cause you to come of age, or grow up, faster than maybe God intended for you. Those aspects may be disillusionment, pain, loss, war, etc. We watched a movie called Persepolis as a class in the beginning of the year and it was about a girl living in the year 1978 as a 9 year old child during the Iran- Iraq War. She was sent away to a different country because she was more outspoken and her parents were afraid for her life if she began to stir things up. Having to deal with the war and being different from her own culture made her come of age. She had to see the realness and cruelty of the world.

            

Some people come of age faster than others, and different people come of age for different reasons. I can say I came of age when my grandfather died suddenly, but that would be false because I didn’t know him much. I was too young when he used to visit, but too say that I don’t miss him and that I don’t love him would still be untrue.

       

 I think something that did help me to come of age though, was the death of one of my best friends last year in April. Her name was Daisy and she committed suicide. For a while after that, I was in a dark place although I hardly let it show. It is tough though to have to deal with the pain and loss. And I can say now that I am a different person because of what happened. That’s what it means to come of age, I think.

if i stay

The worst thing you can feel about life, is that it is over. I still have flashbacks and nightmares, daymares if you may if they are during school, about the summer of '09. On that particular August rainy morning, my life was almost taken. I've been in 3 car accidents before, but that had definitely been the worst and most traumatic. My neck banged and cracked against the driver seat and the glass from the window next to me rained down on me. Luckily, none of the glass cut me, a miracle from God my mom says. Unfortunately for me, I did have to go to the hospital due to the damage on my neck and x-rays for my sprained ankle. I remember thinking for most of the rest of the year, that I should have been dead. I even felt a bit dead. Like along with that crushed car, a bit of me as well, was also crushed. 


I went on with life because life doesn't stop, not even for the traumatic things it decides to put you through. I think that may be one of the biggest life lessons you'll ever receive. Unfortunately for me though, I got the lesson at an earlier age than most, and at a more intense level. While reading if i stay by Gayle Forman, I felt I could relate to Mia on a deeper level. 


Gayle Forman has a gift when it comes to describing a scene. In a way it hurt me more to be able to revisit such a horrendous chapter of my life again by reading this book, but it also helped me to understand the story better. While reading the book the first time, the accident came so unexpected to me that when I read it, it hit me like a four-ton pickup truck going sixty miles an hour plowing straight into me with the force of an atom bomb. And that's exactly what happened to Mia and her family in their car on that surprisingly similar rainy day. The scene was so descriptive that I found myself living my car accident again. 


Unlike Mia, I did not go into a coma and have to make my decision of whether I should stay in the world or exit as my family before me had done. I'm pretty sure that if I had been in that same position, I would have driven myself crazy and out of this world on my own. 


I don't want to get too into the book, because I want you guys to read it on your own. I think people who are Twilight fans will definitely enjoy this book a lot. I recommend this book to all, and maybe not all will like it, but at least give it a chance first. Just take a chance and live life.


~Hillary.

Narrative Poem

I watch her from a distance,
I stray not too close by.
She sits at Mura everyday,
But I still haven't figured out why.

She sits alone day-to-day,
Cause she doesn't like crowds.
She sits at Mura everyday,
And I still haven't figured out why.

The waiter guy comes in a big ol' tie,
He sets down the tray
to pour some sauce.
I watch a big huge grin appear.

She sits at Mura everyday,
And I finally figured out why.

Sonnet 13

I look around to notice it is Spring,
The flowers are in bloom and Spring revives.
I listen to the birds as they will sing,
The bees fly in and out of their a' hives.

I watch some clouds and lay in the a' grass,
I listen to the bird with special tune.
The animals buzz 'round so very fast,
I smell the air to smell the month of June.

The sky falls dark and the sunshine goes away,
The rain pours down and lighting comes after.
I pray & pray, hoping for a new day,
As I continue to watch the thunder.

I like to think back on a' yesterday,
And just hope & pray for new bright day.

*sorry it's late, I lost it but then I just took the revised draft in my notebook*

Extra Credit Response

This week, I am deeply immersed in a book called The Red Pyramid, which is a book about Egyptian gods and goddesses, and kid magicians who have to go on a mission to save the world. Carter and Sadie have to travel national and international to save their father from the evil god, Set. The thing is, this book is almost IDENTICAL to Percy Jackson and The Olympians. I was introduced to this book by my younger brother who has a passion for greek mythology. It is also by the same author, Rick Riordan who is also starting to worry me.

These two books are about different religious beliefs, but in reality they have the same format. A girl and a boy on a mission, with a magical friend or creature (Carter, Sadie and Bast, Percy, Annabeth and Grover). Your basic fantasy story.
 
They have to save a parent figure (Carter and Sadie's dad, Percy's mom) by traveling around the world and even traveling down to different underworlds. They each have a magical object, which just so happens to be the same one (Carter's sword, Percy's sword).

As much as I love Rick's writing, descriptions, and chapter titles (I almost got killed by a french dude was my favorite), I think that Rick needs to start writing with a little bit of a different story plot. And when he learns how to, maybe he can meet up with Sarah Dessen and help her out too? There's nothing wrong with a little extra funk guys. But hey, maybe I'm being overly critical.


 I am only halfway through the Red Pyramid but I have already planned out what is going to happen. Despite the similarities both books have, they do have one variation. Much like some of Jerry Spinelli's books, the narration changes from chapter to chapter. Talk about too confusing to follow along! I shall continue to try, and I shall succeed! Wish me luck!

Revised Looking For Alaska Response

I enjoyed reading the suspenseful Looking For Alaska by John Green because its format kept you engaged. Each chapter beginning at 143 days before to the day before kept me intrigued. The book kept me really excited. After Alaska died, I resented the author, and the book itself so much. How could he take the very character i related to completely out of the picture? It angered me. I related to Alaska in several ways as she is bright, crazy and spontaneous like me. She gave the book life and energy and by taking her out to early, there were things about her we would never find out about. 


I enjoyed Alaska. She was definitely a flirt, but she still had her boundaries. She liked to laugh, much like myself which was one way I felt I could relate to her at times. Throughout the whole first suspenseful half, I found that Alaska lived by my motto. This seemed to prove my theory further of us being alike. My motto is "live life as happy as you can, and keep your head up," or something along those lines. 


Sometimes what I do best, is concealing my true feelings and shutting the world out, while acting in my own play where I fool everyone into thinking everything's okay. I could also see Alaska hiding things at times. Watching her mother die, and then being blamed by her own father definitely put a damper on her life. Then she would take out her anger on her friends and not realizing she was doing so as she hurt them. As most bullies would do, they would cause harm to other people which would alternatively make them feel better as well. Alaska seemed to play pranks on the other kids, and she did this to make herself feel better, but she never really meant to injure someone drastically. Although I also believe that it made her feel better about herself knowing she inflicted it onto someone purposely, without hurting them how she hurt herself, her mother, and her father.


Although I can relate to Alaska in more than one aspect, I wouldn't say we're Gemini's. Some of her choices, would most definitely not be one of mine. For example, drunk driving will not be the way my life will end. And although Alaska did some pretty terrible things, I do not hold that against her completely because when her mother died, she lost a bit of herself too. She lost some of herself and sadly could not find herself in time to save herself from her own death. 


RIP Alaska.