Reflection

I feel that I have improved my writing ability on all types of writing. I also have experimented  with different types of writing, like poetry and creative writing. My word choice is probably my weakest part of writing, I need to start using more creative words. Overall I am happy with my eighth grade year as far as writing goes, and going into high school I think I will do good.

2081

The year was 2081. The dreams of today, the thoughts of many. Questions answered, theories proven. Ways of life have changed, the way things are done evolved. Today is history, tomorrow forgotten.  

The Lie

“The Lie”


By: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

“The Lie” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a meaningful story about telling the truth and why it is bad to lie. It is about a 14 year old kid and his actions that make things worse than they would have had to been. Even though it turns out ok in the end, it could have been a lot worse. Telling the truth is always the best thing to do.

First of all, this story is a comedy because it fits all of the requirements. The first requirement is for the story to start in everyday life, which it does because Eli is going to school. The second requirement is for the main character to fully realize the conflict, which Eli does when he has thought about it and he is on his way to the school. Conflict gets resolved when the headmaster of the school tells his parents the bad news, and Dr. Remenzel starts freaking out and goes around asking the head people of the school to make an exception for Eli. The problem eventually gets resolved even though not everybody is happy.

Second of all, there are three main characters in “The Lie”. The first main character is Eli. Eli is 14 and was born into a really rich family that has been going to a really expensive prep high school. He is the one that made the bad decision that made things really confusing. Dr. Remenzel is the father of Eli and has really high expectations for him. Dr. Remenzel expects things to go mostly his way because he has so much power. The third main character is Sylvia. Sylvia is Elis mother and is very understanding unlike Dr. Remenzel. Sylvia seems ok with the fact that Eli didn’t get into the school, which proves that she is more understanding than Dr. Remenzel.

When Eli ripped the letter, Eli did what almost any teen in his position would do. He was under a lot of pressure from his dad to get into the school and to do well in it. When he ripped the letter, I think he was just stalling for time to try to think of some excuse to not make his parents mad at him. I think that he was also embarrassed that he didn’t get in. I don’t blame Eli for what he did even though what he did was wrong and he should have showed his parents the letter so they would know. I think his parents wouldn’t have been so mad if Eli had showed them the letter when they got it.

“The Lie” is just a big long example of why telling the truth is the best thing to do, and if you don’t want to end up like Eli, in an awkward position, don’t lie. This story is a good example because it is realistic and is totally possible, which makes things easier to understand.

Leaves

The leaves fall when the wind blows

The leaves dwindle off the trees

The leaves decorate the ground

The trees are stripped naked by the wind

The leaves gather on the ground

The leaves crunch

The leaves are no longer

Patriotism

Patriotism, -noun
Devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty. There are many ways of showing patriotism, and many of them are very simple. One easy way is to hang a flag, or making a donation to the U.S. Army is another easy way. To take your patriotism to the extreme, you can become a member of the Special Forces, become a governor, or maybe even the president. Or even join the police force or become a firefighter.

Without patriotism, the support for our special forces will go down, and they need all the support they can get because they put their lives on the line for us almost every day. And during tough times, we need to give them as much courage as we can. We also need to support the families that have husbands, wives, sons and daughters in the Special Forces. They need as much support as the Special Forces, because you never know when you might get the news that your friends’ family member in service has been KIA, MIA, or POW.

Visiting an army hospital is also a good way to show your patriotism. The men and women that have been injured in service need to be appreciated for their work. You can join a club that does charity or fundraisers to help the injured. A good thing to do if you want to take part in this is to join the Boy Scouts or the Girls Scouts. They also do other types of charity that supports our fighting men and women. 

It is good to love and be loyal to our America. We want to preserve and protect our country for our future generations. And without our Special Forces Teams fighting for peace overseas, our country may not have liberty and justice for all. America is the country that we call home, and we are proud of it, and without patriotism, we would not be proud to call it home.

School

I don't like that school starts right when the weather gets good enough to actually enjoy being outside. I think that we should be able to choose the days that we want to go to school, so we can go when it's raining or really hot or really cold. I think we should do this because when the days aren't to hot or to cold,like in May, June and September. The kids would still have a required amount of days to go to school and weekends and holidays off, but they could go when ever they wanted to. The only downside to this is teachers having to work year round and some kids being farther behind than others.

District Assesment

I really don't get why we have to take the district assesment. I think that it is toatally pointless. We have already learned the stuff and taken tests on it, so they must know what we know about math. Cant't they just use our other tests instead of torturing us and stressing us out? And the time that we waste taking and studying for the the assesment, can just be used to learn more stuff. It just doesn't make sense to me.

My Favorite Places

I like to travel, even though sitting in a car can sometimes get boring. I have been to 23 states, two provances and a district. My favorite vacation that I have ever been on has been the summer trip to Colorado three years ago. I liked this one because we did a lot of fun things on the way there, like stopping at the Omaha Zoo and stopping in Iowa to see the Mississippi River. When we got to Colorado, I liked the mountains and the way the air felt in the higher elevation. On the way back we went through Wyoming, Minesota and South Dakota. In South Dakota, we stopped at Mount Rushmore for the forth of July fireworks. After that we stopped at the Spam factory in Minesota. Yes it was a random and wierd stop, but I actually enjoyed it. We did a lot of other stuff that would make great memories, like going to Peak 8 theme park and seeing mountain goats and glacears, mining for gold and exploring abandoned mines. I can't wait to do this vacation again.

My Idea Of a Cool Weekend

My idea of a cool weekend without limits would probably bore some and most people out of their minds. Just to give you a hint on what it would be like, it would mostly be eat, sleep, fish, bike. Eat, sleep, fish, bike, ect. Starting Friday, right after school:
Get home fast. Get boat and equipment ready. Go to a lake and fish for bass before anyone else gets a chance to get on the lake. When the everybody that doesn't fish(almost everybody)start to get on the lake, set up trolling equipment for northern and muskie and troll the weed edge, using side imaging sonar from Hummingbird, and marking it on my GPS for later use. After I got all of the places marked that I need, I would go to the Chocolate Factory for diner. When everybody got off the lake, i would go back out and using the spots that I marked on my GPS, i would fish the weed edges for muskie. I would do this until about 10:00, then go home and sleep outside because it is to hot inside.

Saturday morning: Get up at 4:00; get to a lake at 4:30. Fish to 8:00, or whenever the people that don't fish (almost everybody) get on the lake. Then go home and take a hour nap. Go for a half hour bike ride. Drive to Lapham Peak at 10:45 and bike the trails for three hours. On the way home stop somewhere to eat lunch. After lunch, go to Gander Mountain and restock on gear that I don't need but is fun to have. Go home and do nothing. 7:00, go to a lake and fish. Then when it gets dark, troll again for musky. Again, I would do this until 10:00.

Sunday morning: Get up at 4:00; get to a lake at 4:30. Fish to 8:00, or whenever people that don't fish get on the lake (almost everybody.) Go home and pack the truck, (a Ford F150 full size) with hiking and fishing gear, then drive to Devils Lake, fish, hike and bike the trails and lake. Spend four hours at Devils Lake, then drive over to Mirror Lake and fish, hike and bike the trails and lake there for four hours. Then drive back home and get there by 9:00. Go to bed.

As you can see, my weekend schedule would probably bore most out of their mind. But to me, it would be the best weekend ever.

Nazca Lines

The Nazca Lines are ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert of Peru. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The high, arid plateau stretches more than 50 miles between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana. Although some of the local geoglyphs look like Paracas motifs, people think that the Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture between 200 BCE and 700 CE. The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to complicated hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks or orcas, llamas, and lizards.
The lines are shallow designs made in the ground made by removing the reddish pebbles that seem to be everywhere and uncovering the whitish ground beneath. Hundreds are simple lines or geometric shapes, more than seventy are designs of animal, bird, fish or human figures. The largest figures are over 660 feet across. Scholars argue about what the figures symbolize, but they generally have a religious meaning to them. The geometric ones could indicate the flow of water or be connected to rituals to summon water. The spiders, birds, and plants could be fertility symbols. The Nazca lines are a truely amazing piece of work.