Final Exam Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 9
6-4-09
Emotional Guidance:
Final Exam Essay
The poem “The Real Work” by Wendell Berry explains that once people relinquish (FAST) their control on life they start their “real journey.” People often give control to their emotions and are led by them all the time. They let how their feeling influence the decisions they make. These decisions make up the different chapters of our lives, and since we each make different decisions, we each have a unique life. Some people try to keep in control of their emotions all the time and try to live life by a schedule. However, it is only when you free yourself of plans and let fate take you where it will when you start on your “real journey.”
Laura, a young girl from the story “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, is an example of how someone “no longer [knows] which way to go.” (Appositive) Laura was someone who very much liked to be in control. She even was the supervisor for where to put a Marquee for her mother’s garden party. She enjoyed the feeling that everything was going as planned and if something went wrong she would be able to fix it. However, once she heard that a man had died just outside her house she didn’t know what to do. She forgot all about the garden party and focused on the dead man. Her emotions of sympathy for the family of the man caused her to try to stop the garden party, afraid it would offend the family. If Laura was her usual composed self she would never have even thought of stopping the party, but since she was being led by her emotions she made decisions she wouldn’t have usually made. As soon as she let her emotions lead her is when she started on her “real journey.”
Another fictional character, Dexter Green, from “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was also someone who lost control of his emotions. He loved a woman in the story by the name of Judy Jones. She was wild, and interesting, and beautiful, and always exciting (Polysyndeton/Parallelism). He, in fact, never had a dull moment while he was with her. The negative part about Judy, however, was that she was so wild that Dexter had no control over her. She frequently saw other men, which caused Dexter to be devastated and was the foundation his emotions needed to influence him. Since Dexter had no control over the situation with Judy it caused his emotions to be all the more potent (FAST). He “no longer [knew] which way to go” with Judy, which led to the start of his life’s “real journey.”
If people didn’t show their emotions life would be very bland. Everyone would be an emotionless mask and there would be no excitement. Emotions give drama, exude (FAST) excitement, and share meaning to life (3 Action Sentence). We all make decisions based on what we feel is right or wrong and that makes each of our lives inimitable (FAST). Emotions rule who we are and how we live. If you simply live your life by your emotions then you are truly “the [. . .] stream [. . .] that sings.”

Key
Fast Words-(FAST)
Special Terms-Bold

Kyle's Final Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 9
5-27-09

The Power of Influence:
An Essay on Influence and its impact

Influence is a very powerful thing; it is used by some of the most important people in the world, but the most important thing about it is that anyone can use it. The influence of Martin King Jr. caused thousands of people to fight for their sovereignity (FAST). He started with nothing, but a dream and turned it into a reality. The influence of even the smallest things can lead to some of the greatest moments in history. Pine Point’s influence will live on with me throughout my life so that I too may make a difference in history.

TS: In the poem “Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth a main theme I see is in fact Influence. SD: The abbey influenced Wordsworth’s life very deeply when he visited it. CM: He often rushed to his memories of the abbey when he felt overwhelmed with the chaos of the world. CM: The line “these beauteous forms [. . .] in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din / [. . .] of towns and cities [. . .] I have owed” explains how he used his memories of the abbey as a relief. SD: The influence of the abbey had stayed with Wordsworth ever since he left it. CM: In the line “thou art with me here upon the banks / [. . .] of this fair river” Wordsworth is saying that on the “banks” of the “fair river” called life Tintern Abbey is with him, he has never forgotten it. CM: It had become one of the most influential places he had ever been to. SD: The abbey had captivated him in a strange way. CM: It did not give him an inspiring speech or do things in a courageous way. CM: Instead the abbey entranced him with its sheer beauty and seclusion from the world. CS: Influence is a theme we see in countless books, movies, plays, and historic moments, yet somehow it never produces a dull story.

TS: Pine Point has influenced my morals and values and has left an everlasting impression on me. SD: Pine Point has taught me things that I will use for the rest of my life. CM: Not only has it taught me how to say the magic words, but I’ve also learned how to interact with people, how to treat people like they want to be treated, how to truly be a part of a community that gives back (Parallelism). CM: Pine Point has taught me things that I need so that I can achieve my goals and enjoy my life. SD: Pine Point has also supported me throughout some of my toughest times yet. CM: The parents and students of Pine Point have given me their hospitality and kindness and showed me that “on the banks of this delightful stream / [. . .] we [stand] together.” CM: The friends I have made at Pine Point have especially supported me during my fifteen years of living by using what Pine Point has taught them to be good friends. SD: If I came back to visit Pine Point after five years it would be like coming back to one of the few safe havens in the world. CM: In five years I would have experienced many disappointing things that life has to offer and coming back to Pine Point would simply make me forget all about them. CM: I would instantly call back memories of friends laughing in the halls, teachers lecturing me about juvenile things, and even homework that I had to do. CS: Going back to such an influential place in my life could only hold the purest form of amazement for me.

TS: In the poem "The Writer" by Richard Wilbur influence is also a theme. SD: A bird is used as a metaphor to show the connection between a girl and why her father is wishing her good luck. CM: The bird is described as "clearing the sill of the world", which refers to the girl clearing her own "sill" out into the world. CM: In a way the bird influences the reader's mind so that they can make the connection to what the father means when he says "I wish her a lucky passage". SD: The bird is an essential piece in this poem's puzzle even though it seems like an insignificant add on. CM: Without the bird there would be no connection between the girl leaving and her father wishing her a "lucky passage." CM: With the bird the reader can more easily make the connection between the girl leaving her father and the father wishing her good luck on her way. CS: Some of the smallest things can carry a meaning bigger than themselves.

Influence has been used by some of the most diabolical minds in history including Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Osama Bin Laden (Tetracolon). However, it has also been used by some of the most influential like Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and even Barack Obama. No matter how it’s used the power of influence is unarguably very strong. The power to use influence after all, is the power to control minds.

Self Assessment
1.) Issues that I've always had and are continuing to have is using correct punctuation whether its a simple comma error or forgetting the rules of independent clauses.
2.) I like that my essay seems to relate to the overall topic of influence through the entire thing.
3.) One of the weaknesses I see is that I didn't really pick challenging exam meterial to use in mmy essay.

Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H.Salsich
English 9
19 May 2009

Past, Future, and Present:

An Essay on a Passage by Rainer Maria Rilke

One always uncovers the mysteries that lay within themselves as they continue their journey in life. As we continue to evolve as a people we continue to find things that suggest how we once were and things that help us discover how we have changed. We will continue to let go of things, gain new things, and in turn change as all life does.

TS: Often overlooked and forgotten about, stones are some of the most boring yet interesting things on this planet (Appositive Opener). SD: The garden stoneis no doubt a solid object. CM: You can clearly feel the rough texture and feel the sheer hardness of it. CM: As in all solid objects a stone is easily picked up, which reminds me of when Rilke writes “so ready to grasp” this supports the idea of how easy some things are to take and are done whatever with. SD: Another example is that a stone is often a symbol for being strong, robust (FAST), or unmovable. CM: When I read “strong and sturdy” in Rilke’s passage I instantly thought of a stone. CM: A stone is one of the simplest symbols of something “strong and sturdy” so it was an easy connection to make. SD: Another thing is that stones can be very old, lying dormant in the ground for thousands of years and even encase things inside them. CM: When Rilke writes “out of whose depths their secrets speak” it reminds me about how a stone or a fossil can be uncovered that is millions of years old and can tell you secrets about what happened in the past. CM: The thought that something so ordinary can basically uncover the unknown in astonishing. CS: Stones are truly some peculiar things, looking ordinary on the outside, but holding untold treasures on the inside (Participle Closer).

TS: I have found fossils inside myself that show me what kind of person I truly have become. SD: I discovered that if I really work hard for the things I want then I can get them. CM: This year I’ve really tried to stay on top of my grades and so far it has been one of my best years academically. CM: You can take the hard way and work for something, or you can take the easy way and do nothing for nothing in return. (Antithesis?) SD: I have also noticed that I have changed since I was in Kindergarten, no doubt thanks to Pine Point. CM: I came to this school only interacting with the family that was already here and closing myself off from everyone else. CM: Now in ninth grade I am more outgoing and its easier to interact with people than it was ten years ago. SD: I have also noticed that all of my closest friends have the same things in common; loyalty, kindness, a sense of humor, and a genuine character (Tetracolon). CM: I’ve never specifically picked who my friends are, but rather called the people that I’ve gotten the most contiguous (FAST) to or are the most comfortable with friends. CM: Never have I noticed that they all had the same qualities in common until I started thinking about next year without some of them. CS: All of these “fossils” I’ve recently dug up have shown me the “secrets” within the “depths” of myself.


TS: Such as their are different fossils holding different organisms I found different lines held different meanings in this passage. SD: The line “If God had only made our hands to be like our eyes - so ready to grasp, so willing to relinquish all things” means that our eyes can let go of things so much easier than our hands. CM: When our eyes gaze upon something they, in a sense, hold it and whenever they close they instantly let go of it. CM: However, when our hands close they only grasp tighter around what it was they were holding. SD: “Property is poverty and fear” because when you hold something dear to you, you “fear” to lose it and once it is lost you feel like your in a state of “poverty.” CM: Poverty is not only lack of money, but can be a lack of anything so its understandable to feel like your in poverty when you’ve lost something important to you. CM: You can only be free of “poverty” and “fear” if you let go of things willingly; that way when you don’t have anything, you have nothing to lose. SD: The final line that drew my attention was "Once out of our hands, however, things ought to move forward, now sturdy and strong, and we should keep nothing of them but the courageous morning melody that hovers and shimmers behind their fading steps." CM: This line explains that once we let go of things they aren't just forgotten, but instead they move forward. CM: A great and apt example of this is the dreaded departing of Pine Point, which so many of us fear, but once we leave, Pine Point will continue to prosper in real life and in our minds.

Rocks and fossils share a similarity to what kind of person you truly are. Rocks and fossils hold some of the things that are truly unique to the earth as your own quirks do for you. Our personality is what makes up who we are and what we stand for, don't ever forget it.

Kyle's Parting Essay

Kyle Sebastian

Professor H. Salsich

English 9

4 May 2009

Doors Open and Close:

An Essay on Parting

TS: Sometimes something positive can also have negative effects. SD: An example is something called parting. CM: Parting is necessary to move on in life so one can grow, like leaving an old school to go to a new school. CM: However, sometimes it can be dismal and cause pain, like saying goodbye to a loved one for a time or for eternity.

TS: In Naomi Shihab Nye’s Poem “Adios” I saw several things that related to parting. SD: The first was that the poem itself revolved around a word that is often used in parting. CM: In Spanish the word Adios means goodbye. CM: The name of the poem itself is called “Adios”, which may give the reader a clue as to what the poem is about. SD: The second thing I noticed is the line “if you are known for anything let it be for the way you rise out of sight” had to do with parting as well. CM: I think that this line means that once you are finished with your work let people see how you are going to “rise” to bigger and better things. CM: Let people remember how you rose above expectations and went farther than they ever thought possible. SD: The third and final thing I noticed how Ms. Nye says “strap it to your back like wings”, which also connects to parting. CM: “Spread your wings and fly” is a commonly used expression for sentimental moments when someone is parting. CM: It’s also interesting that she chose the word “wings” because wings are often used in parting whether it’s the wings of an angel carrying a loved one off to heaven, or the wings of a baby bird flying away from the nest. (Loose Sentence) CS: These are several good paradigms relating to parting that I found in Ms. Nye’s Poem.

TS: Ms. Dickinson’s poem was more difficult to find connections in than Ms. Nye’s poem, but I successfully made some. SD: Dickinson relates parting to heaven near the end of her poem. CM: She says “parting is all we know of heaven” meaning that all people really know about heaven is that once you part you may go to there. CM: I find it ironic that something good like heaven, can come from something perceived as sad and depressing like death. SD: Near the end Dickinson related parting to the complete opposite of heaven; hell. CM: She explains that parting is “all we need of hell” meaning that all anyone wants or needs to know about hell is that once you part you may go there. CM: Hell is obviously a bad thing that people don’t want to know about so they choose to know as little as they can. CS: Heaven and Hell are examples of a negative and positive outcome of something good like parting.

TS: An example of parting in my life is a song by one of my favorite artists, Mariah Carey. SD: The song “Bye Bye” by Mariah is sung about one of Mariah’s loved ones who has passed on. CM: She sings about how she misses that person and how much they never got to experience together. CM: Songs that are so personal like this are often my favorite because they can really relate to someone’s own experiences. SD: This song reminds me of my Grandfather Ira, who died before I really got the chance to know him seeing as he lived in California. CM: My grandfather and I really only met when I was little and about a year ago before he died, but the time that I did get to spend with him I will cherish forever. CM: Mariah sings “and you never got the chance to see how good I’ve done” which is how I feel when I think of my grandfather because there is so much about each other we didn’t know and now won’t get the chance to. SD: The lines “There’s so much more left to say. If you were with me today face to face” really speak to me because this is how I feel with my grandfather. CM: If he was still alive there would still be so much we could do together that we’ve never done. CM: We could bake, we could dance, we could sing, we could laugh, we could cry, but now I won’t get the chance to do any of that. CS: The parting of my grandfather may have been a very sad and painful experience for me, but it really made me appreciate him and all he has done more.

TS: The yin and yang, good and evil, the Red Sox and the Yankees, partings and meetings, the world always has a balance between things (Periodic Sentence). SD: Parting with things is a daily occurrence for everyone in the world and it has its pros and cons. CM: When you go home after school you are leaving your friends and teachers behind, but you’ll be able to see them the next day. CM: When a family member dies you may be grief stricken, but you know they’re going to a better place.

SA

Something I Like-I think i did a really good job on relating parting to each of required things in this essay.

Something I need to improve on-Again I often have a difficult time fixing and identifying small punctuation errors.

Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian

Professor H. Salsich

English 9

28 April 2009

Whats Is This Feeling:

An Essay on Kindness.

TS: Kindness is a common human trait that many people use. SD: Sometimes to understand what kindness is people have to understand other things. CM: Sometimes you have to feel sorrow before you can feel happiness. CM: Sometimes you have to lose something to gain something as well.

TS: Naomi Shihab Nye tries to explain that before one can understand kindness they have to understand other things. SD: What Nye knows and many people need to understand is that loss is essential for gain. CM: To gain something you nearly always have to sacrifice something in return. CM: Sometimes losing things can hurt, but the end result of you losing them can be a kindness that life has dealt you. SD: Another thing Nye understands is that life is different for everyone. CM: Sometimes you have to step into someone else’s shoes and look at life from a different point of view. CM: Maybe you should try and think about how “the Indian in a white poncho” sees things. CM: You do other people a kindness by taking the time to see through their eyes and get their perspective. SD: The last thing that Nye says is essential to obtaining kindness is to know sorrow first. CM: Sometimes to truly appreciate the good things in life we must experience the bad. CM: At times you have to do things you don’t like, but in the end things may end up being in favor for you. CS: Once you understand these other things you can find kindness.

TS: “Winter Dreams” may seem to have no connection with “Kindness”, but Dexter, an ostentatious young man, is actually the perfect example of how to obtain kindness (Appositive). SD: Dexter had to lose something to gain something. CM: He had lost Judy, the woman seeming to consume his heart, body, mind and spirit (Tetracolon climax). CM: Dexter says "Now that thing is gone, that thing is gone. I cannot cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back no more." He has lost Judy, but has gained a sound mind and is able to think clearly again. SD: Dexter also had the chance to see through someone else’s eyes. CM: He was treated like the many other suitors Judy had and wasn’t taken seriously by Judy. CM: He got a glimpse at what the other men under Judy’s charm felt like, he wore his heart out on his sleeve and in turn Judy had crushed it when it was vulnerable (Loose Sentence?). SD: Dexter also had to feel sorrow before he could find kindness. CM: When the man described what Judy had become Dexter was stricken with an overwhelming amount of sorrow; his “sun [had] gone down.” CM: Dexter may not notice it, but the man did him a kindness because he could then move on with his life and forget about Judy. CS: After close examination “Winter Dreams” really had more connections to “Kindness” than I thought.

TS: I have experienced many of the things Ms. Nye mentions in her poem “Kindness.” SD: I’ve had to lose something to get something in return many times in my life. CM: There are many insignificant situations that I’ve had to let something go, but ended up getting something better in return. CM: An example is when I had to spend my allowance to get my brother something for his birthday at first I was angry and upset with him, but after I realized that his happiness was worth more than some printed paper. CM: Important things, like a loved one or a prized possession, haven’t slipped from my grasp very much and I am thankful that I am that fortunate. SD: I also have to frequently step into somebody else’s shoes and look at a situation from their point of view. CM: Often friends come to me complaining about another person and I usually try and imagine myself as the other person and explain to my friends what that other person may be feeling like. CM: This is a great kindness to the people whose feelings you are trying to understand, but it also is a good thing for people to learn because it teaches consideration. SD: Lastly I have felt adversity many times before I was given kindness. CM: Usually what tempts people to be kind to someone is because the other person is in a sorrowful state and they want to cheer them up. CM: When I feel depressed I am often supported by my family and friends who try to be as benevolent as they can. CS: My life and many other people’s lives have been expressed in a simple poem by a simple woman.

TS: Kindness is a universal technique that helps you communicate to others in a positive way. SD: There are many different ways you can express kindness to another person; it can be something small, like saying hello with a smile or something big, like supporting someone in a time of crisis (Loose Sentence ?). CM: Whether it’s giving something away, cheering someone up, or looking through another person’s perspective kindness can be expressed easily. CM: However the best part about kindness, is that it always comes back to you.

Key
Bold-FAST Words

Kyle's Essay

The Women of Sentimentalism:
An Essay on Three Pieces of Literature and how they connect to the Word Sentimental

TS: “The world is neither wise nor just, but it takes up for its folly and injustice by being damnably sentimental.” (Thomas Henry Huxley) SD: Sentimentalism is used by everyone in the world at one point. CM: Ms. Dickinson, Ms. Nye, and Laura all show signs of being sentimental. CM: They each show sentimentalism towards something; Dickinson towards her poems, Nye towards the small things in life, and Laura towards people in general.

TS: The whole tone of the poem “The Traveling Onion” is sentimental towards onions, which Nye uses as a metaphor to the small things in life. SD: Naomi Shihab Nye uses an excess of sentiment towards the onion. CM: She says that she could “kneel and praise” such an insignificant thing. CM: She says that when an onion is cut into “a history [is] revealed”, which is ridiculous of course, but shows her adulation of the onion. SD: She also perhaps thinks too deeply about the onion. CM: In the second stanza she explains how we never appreciate the onion for what it truly is; something "small and forgotten". CM: An example of this is when she says “at meal, we sit to eat / . . . , commenting on texture of meat [. . .] but never on the translucence of onion.” CM: Its very surprising that even a poet could have so much to say about something so little.

TS: Ms. Nye and Laura, a character from “The Garden Party”, think alike because they both tend to exaggerate about things. SD: Laura had the best of intentions at heart, but she went overboard when she concerned herself with the family of a dead man. CM: She praised him as if he was much more than a carcass that was waiting to rot. CM: She even refers to him as “wonderful” and “beautiful” and even calls him a “marvel.” SD: Laura, being the kind soul she is, got so worked up after seeing his body she had come out crying, yet happier than ever. CM: One would think that seeing a dead man’s body would be a traumatic experience. CM: Even when her brother, Laurie, asks “Was it awful?” she answers “No [. . .] it was marvelous.” CS: Being kind and caring is always nice, but there is an ad nauseum for everything and Laura’s prying into somebody else’s affairs got to be very querulous.

TS: Laura was too susceptible and Emily Dickinson seems to show no sensibility at all in her poem “I’m Nobody”. SD: Ms. Dickinson, being known for her often confusing and obscure writings, used little visible sensibility in many of her poems. CM: The readers of her poems often don’t have the faintest clue what she is writing about. CM: However, in lines such as “how public like a frog to tell your name [. . .] to an admiring bog” one has to really pay close attention to make a connection. CM: Maybe the connection is between a “frog” and yourself and an “admiring bog” and meddlesome people. SD: One of the dictionary definitions of “sensibility” is the “awareness of and responsiveness toward something” so maybe she had ulterior motives for making her poems so abnormal. CM: Maybe Ms. Dickinson did have a hidden point behind her poems, but she wanted her readers to use their sensibility to uncover it. CM: However, maybe she simply wrote what came to her mind and didn’t intend for it to have any meaning at all. CS: Sometimes the most beautiful things in life are the simple things and maybe this is what Ms. Dickinson was trying to tell people through her poetry.

TS: Most people are naturally born with a sense of sentimentalism and are led by their emotions. SD: People base what they do on their sentimentalism. CM: Laura’s sensibility led her to care about the feelings of other. CM: Even Ms. Nye’s sentimentalism has led her to care about the small things in life.

Key
Purple-S-V Split
Blue-Appositive
Bold-FAST Words

Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 9
14 April 2009

A Recipe Called Life:
An Essay on Connections Between “Sonny’s Blues” and “Little Brother.”

TS: Naomi Shihab Nye is a wonderful poet who has written countless meaningful poems. SD: All of her poems hold great literary elements and connections to other pieces of literature. CM: DaVinci was a renowned artist for the sheer talent he poured into each of his brush strokes and Ms. Nye is a renowned poet for the sheer passion she puts into her lines. CM: One of the many famous pieces of writing we can compare her “Little Brother” poem to is “Sonny’s Blues.”

TS: I discerned several beautifully executed examples of figurative language in Naomi Shihab Nye’s Poem. SD: She had a very nice example of a hyperbole in the beginning of the poem. CM: “Some strange bruise you still carried under the skin” is what she says to symbolize the hurt that her brother had still carried with him. CM: Moreover she explains that he was still feeling hurt by the things that she had done to him and that the pain he felt didn’t heal as quickly as a cut or scrape; instead it resided like a “bruise [he] still carried under the skin.” SD: She also uses a simile to describe herself and her brother. CM: She expresses how she believes that her brother is destined for greater things than her by comparing him to “Wall Street” and herself to “the local food market.” CM: Additionally she widens the gap that she believes is between them by saying “We’re different, always have been.” SD: The third and final example is imagery especially when she describes what it would be like if her brother was with her right then. CM: “You’d be outside cranking up the lawnmower. I’d be in here answering mail” is what she says. CM: The whole scenario seems like a scene from a movie playing in my head that I can see perfectly clear. CS: In summary Ms. Nye really has used beautiful figurative language throughout her poem.

TS: Indeed both Ms. Nye’s poem and the “Sonny’s Blues” passages hold deep meaning and are connected to one another. SD: In the first passage from “Sonny’s blues” Sonny’s brother explains the death of his young daughter Grace and how his wife felt the day Grace died. CM: She often had nightmares, waking up crying, clinging to her husband for comfort. CM: A reoccurring theme in both the poem and this passage is loss. CM: Sonny’s brother has lost his precious little baby girl and Ms. Nye has lost the “little brother [. . .] who ran miniature trucks up [her] arms” when he was little. SD: The second passage is at the end of the story when Sonny is playing with Creole and the rest of the band. CM: Another theme that connects both the poem and this passage together is giving. CM: At the end of the poem I think Ms. Nye is trying to give her brother her apology for all the things she has ever done by saying “It’s a large order I know, dumping out a whole drawer at once” meaning she knows that it’s a lot to be apologizing for at one time. CM: However, in the “Sonny’s Blues” passage music seems to be giving Sonny a chance to get his life back, but only if people would listen to him “he would never be free until [they] did.” CS: In conclusion both Sonny’s blues and Ms. Nye’s poem hold significant themes that many people can learn from and use in real life.

TS: Heard them spoken in a play, find them lying in the consequential lines of a poem, sometimes our greatest life lessons can’t be learned in real life. SD: Both “Little Brother” and “Sonny’s Blues” are examples of pieces of writing made for more than reading, but also teaching. CM: Both Ms. Nye’s poem and “Sonny’s Blues” teach us the sorrow of loss and the joy of giving. CM: These are both simply two ingredients that are essential for mixing, stirring, baking, then eating in the recipe called life.

Bold-FAST Words
Red-Periodic Sentence
Purple-Participial Phrase (Closer)
Green-Asyndeton

Kyle's ISP Writings

Sitting on this plane I reflect back earlier on this year. Our class always does everything together. We go on trips together, we laugh together, we even cry together. However, when I sit here in this highly uncomfortable chair I think of all the times we won’t be together like my high school graduation, my 16th birthday, maybe even my wedding. These thoughts, filled with dread and sorrow for the future, sadden me. The whole reason for this trip is to have fun so I’m going to focus on the times we can have together. We’re going to skip in the streets of London, we’re going to taste fine cuisine in France. We’ll be seeing the Mona Lisa herself, and we’ll be witnesses to the ceremony of the keys. We’re going to create life long memories with each other once again. This time there’s no holding back on the fun. We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, we’ll experience, we’ll learn. However, the most important part about it is we’ll be doing all these things together.

I woke up to the sound of a bird beautifully bearing it’s soul outside the window of my room. The sun had not yet awakened so the sky was a light grey hue. I quietly gathered my jeans and white T-shirt and slipped out of the room quickly so I didn’t disturb anyone. I started the shower. I listened to the soft pelting of water hitting the floor as I gazed at my smiling face in the mirror. I was thinking about the upcoming adventures that are sure to include Sarah laughing, Tristan poning someone, and Ty LOL-ing. But I had to get ready so I got in the shower and washed away the remnants of yesterday leaving myself bare for what today had to offer.

A bloack fence, a tall and strong tree, even a lamppost standing proudly out of the ground. These are all things, seemingly ordinary, where something special occurs. What occurs is modeling and Sarah and I do it very well. We can see a blank wall and we immediately plaster ourselves to it fusing our ideas with the striking plain contour of the wall. We are not models we are artists. We create angels with our limbs, we smile with our eyes, we captivate with our presence and we do it all for the sake of fun.

Huge buildings. That is what I see everywhere I turn. Made out of glass, of stone, of brick, even of cement. These are the buildings of London the shelters of England. They stand there as proud symbols to the power of the British people. These colossul edifices shall be here for centuries.

Windsor Castle! Such a beautiful, wonderful, magical place! Velvet and metal, and glass, and wood all encrusted with gold. There was centuries old china died in purples, and greens, and blues. There were suits of armor standing tall and proud at every corner. There were gifts from far away, captured artifacts presented to royalty, and many other various trinkets worth unmentionable amounts of money. The rooms holding furniture layered with silk, and satin, and velvet. The dining rooms lined in fine old wood layered in gold carvings, cut with the softest cloth on the walls. The halls painted with mottos in Latin, German, and French, hung with crests of all different colors, shapes and sizes. There are no words to describe such a beautiful like that. There are so many stories describing a prince or princess who aren’t allowed to leave a palace and feel trapped. However, if my palace was anything like the Windsor one than like Ferdinand “Space enough have I in such a prison.”

I’ve had a love for history all of my life, but I found the cabinet war rooms to be utterly tedious. I didn’t take much interest in the procedures or drills that the people who live in the war rooms had to do . However, I do admire and respect the people for living underground for such a long period of time. However, Westminster Abbey was amazing! There were crypts for kings and burial places of famous writers and poets. Like the Windsor Castle the abbey was encrusted with gold paint and marble statues were placed randomly throughout the halls. I, being the Latin scholar that I am, tried to decipher the Latin writing on some of the plaques. The ceiling was so high. The stained glass windows showered colored light down upon us as we walked throughout the halls. The only thing I didn’t like about it was all the people that were there. They seemed to ruin the holy atmosphere that was there.

Light.

Cascading down like angels hair, bathing us ‘till we glow.
Shining through our darkest night, more pure and bright than snow.
No word, nor weapon, nor action could ever defy, the might and power.
Evil, demons, and all creatures of darkness in it’s presence do cower.

Sonnet.

The sun in the sky passes by so very slow.
I sit here on a bench, the morning air crisp and still.
I’m out her in the cold, writing of my own free will.
Expanding my senses, letting my imagination grow.

The sun playing hide and seek with the world is starting to show.
The sound of the birds singing is anything but shrill.
The fierce intent is out of death’s eyes today, he not ready to kill.
Today is going to be good this I know.

I feel like a king wearing a crown.
The jewels and the gold do brightly shine.
So brightly in fact that most look down.

I will love this place ‘till the end of time.
The country so stunning in it I could drown.
The beautiful picture of it forever in my mind.

Kyle's Paragraph

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 9
7 April 2009

Courage;
An Essay on the courage in My Life and Ms. Sexton’s Poem.

TS: Courage, the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action. SD: Life takes unbelievable amounts of courage. CM: All throughout life one needs courage to get through tough situations, overcome objects, and even completing simple things. CM: I cannot live without life, but I cannot not live without courage either.


TS: What Ms. Sexton is saying is that life takes courage. SD: Her whole poem seems like it is divided up into stages of somebody’s life. CM: Her first stanza starts off with an infancy stage because she says “the child’s first step.” CM: You can tell the last stanza has to do with the end of somebody’s life when she says “when you face old age.” SD: The second stanza mentions war which is something that many people have to deal with and require courage to deal with it. CM: Not only do people in the war need to have courage, but the families of those in the war have to have courage as well. CM: They have to have courage to face the fact that their sons and daughters and sisters and brothers and mothers and fathers and uncles and aunts might not make it home. SD: In the third stanza Ms. Sexton mentions “great despair” which is another thing that some people have had to deal with in their lives. CM: Some people have had a loved one die, have no place to live, or sometimes have lost their money. CM: It takes great courage to deal with those kind of things and move forward in life. CS: It takes courage from the minute your foot hits the floor when you get out of bed to the moment your eyes close before you go to sleep.

TS: I totally agree with Ms. Sexton that life in general takes courage. SD: I know that my life certainly takes courage. CM: I have to deal with daily struggles like getting school work in on time, drama with friends and family and many other small predicaments that life habitually throws at us. CM: Each and every day always presents a challenge and it always requires courage to get through. SD: I also have “great despairs” in my life that sometimes require great amounts of courage. CM: My grandfather’s death, for instance, was a huge despair in my life because I loved him very dearly. CM: When he died it took great courage for me to move on and keep an optimistic look on life. SD: War, like in Ms. Sexton’s poem, is also an occurring event in my life that takes courage to deal with. CM: I have an uncle, whom I love very much, who is in the army. CM: It takes courage to realize and deal with the fact that he might not come home someday, it takes courage for his kids to know that they may never see their dad again, it takes courage for his wife to know that she may never see the man she loves again. CS: The reality is that everyone needs to necessitate courage into their lives.

TS: “Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.” (Bernadette Devlin) SD: Courage is an everyday necessity just like food, like water, like the blood that courses through our veins. CM: I have lived my life with courage ever since I was born and I will continue to face what’s ahead of me. CM: At some point in everyone’s life they are faced with a choice; either living life doing what you think is right or by living life and never your true self to the world.

KEY
red-Polysyndeton
blue-Loose Sentence
purple-FAST words
Yellow-Antithesis

Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 9
26 February 2009

“Brave New Worlds”;
An Essay On Forgiveness, Acceptance, Contentment, and Unity.

TS: Mankind has many faults and has been the instigator for many terrible things. SD: What would it take to have a perfect world? CM: Forgiveness is the savior of Prospero’s world. CM: There are three simple things that we need to do to save ours.

TS: The main reason everyone can live in peace now is because Prospero forgave all those who wronged him. SD: “To forgive is to set a prisoner free […]” ( Lewis B. Smedes) which is exactly what Prospero did to Antonio. CM: Prospero vindicated Antonio from his deed therefore he was freed from his hate. SD: All the terrible things that Antonio did to Prospero and his daughter are forgiven. CM: Now there is nothing to fight and fuss over so everyone is peaceful and happy. CM: They are all living in peace and jubilation with one another now. SD: Such a saintly act that it amazed those being forgiven. CM: Antonio was astounded that he could be forgiven for such an intolerable thing. CM: He sees how much his brother is willing to forgive him so he feels bad and together the brothers make a reconciliation. CS: Forgiveness is a powerful thing that should not be taken lightly.

TS: To achieve a brave new world we need acceptance, contentment, and unity. SD: We need acceptance so that everyone can be accepted. CM: If people were accepted by other no matter how different they were things would be more peaceful. CM: If everyone was accepted there would be no conflict between two people, they would simply accept each other. SD: Contentment is also needed so everyone in satisfied. CM: If everyone is satisfied then there will be no want, no greed. CM: Therefore no conflict will arise from the greed of man because there will be none. SD: Last, but not least Unity is needed. CM: We need to cooperate with each other to live together in peace. CM: If everyone is united then everyone reaps the benefits of a “Brave New World. CS: These are three simple things that we need for a perfect world, a world where there is no pain, a world where fear is unknown, a world where we can live how we should.

TS: Our world is overflowing with horrible things like war, pollution, corruption, sorrow, and lies. SD: However, with hope from everyone, with faith and help from everyone there isn’t much we have to do to change that. CM: If we can forgive someone who has wronged us in some way, if we can forgive the little things that people do that irritate us, if even we can forgive ourselves from something we have done wrong surely we can do something to save our world like Prospero did his? CM: We need to accept, to be content, and to unify.

Key
Blue-Periodic Sentence
Red-Loose Sentence
Bold-SAT Words

Kyle's First Body Paragraph

Graphic Organizer for “Musings on Music”

Intro Paragraph
· Music is life force
· Is arguable as to what it is
· Caliban sees music as a place with “sweet things”
· Musica can be many things including escape

1st Body Paragragh
· 3 reason why Caliban likes music
· Tormented for so long, but finally found something “good”
· Music didn’t hurt
· Speaks of music highly
· Believed to be an escape from Prospero
· Helps him forget and go to sleep
· While asleep is free from worries
· Also enjoys it because puts him to peace
· Thought of wonderful things while dreaming
· Clouds quote
· Only had 3 reasons, but much more

2nd Body Paragraph
· Also 3 reasons I like music
· Use as an escape
· When sad or angry drown myself in music
· Music makes me forget
· Use it to express how I feel
· Dance energetically when happy
· Look for meaning in lyrics when sad
· Also like it just because it sounds wonderful
· So many different types for so many different people
· Music for every occasion
· Music is universal

Closing Paragraph
· Music brings things alive
· Music so many different things
· Can show different emotions anger, happiness, sadness, etc.
· Can serve so many different purposes, but is up to you to decide what it is to you

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 9
17 February 2009

Musings on Music;
An Essay on Music in “The Tempest”

TS: Music is like a life source; it gives meaning to things that had none, it brings feeling to places where there were none, it pumps through our senses with as much potency as blood through our veins. SD: It is an arguable case as to what music is; is it really just sounds? CM: Caliban sees music as a place where there is only “sweet airs” and gentle “voices” and he is free from Prospero’s torture. CM: However, music can be a friend in time of need, a vent that you can let your feelings loose on, or even an escape which is what Caliban and I use it as.

TS: There are three reasons to why Caliban holds music in such high regards. SD: One reason is that he had been tormented by Prospero for so long that when he finally came across something beautiful and peaceful, in this case music, he regarded it as something celestial. CM: He says that music “[gave] delight and hurt not”, which he loved because Prospero hurt him frequently, but this music only soothed him. CM: He speaks of music as some heavenly magic because it takes away all the pain and sorrow in his life and helps him forget about them.SD: Another reason is he believed music to be like an escape from the torment Prospero puts him in. CM: Its’ an escape for him because the music would put him to sleep thus taking him away from the onerous labor and painful punishment that he was subjected to by Prospero. CM: While he is asleep he doesn’t have to deal with all of his hardships. SD: He also enjoys music because it puts him at peace. CM: Caliban thought of wonderful things while he dreamed to the sound of music. CM: “The clouds methought would open and show riches ready to drop upon me” says Caliban showing that he really feels music is a wonderful thing. CS: Caliban only had three reasons for why music was so wonderful to him, but there are thousands of reasons why music is wonderful.

TS: There are also three reasons that I love music. SD: The first reason is that I can use music as an escape like Caliban does. CM: As someone who gets stressed out frequently, I regularly drown myself in music to take my mind off things. CM: Music makes me forget about what made me mad or sad. SD: I also use music to express how I feel. CM: I can pick a particularly jumpy upbeat song and dance to it when I feel happy and content. CM: When I’m sad I can pick a particularly meaningful song to listen to and just think about the lyrics. SD: Music is also enjoyable just because it’s a wonderful sounding thing. CM: Music is like all the different people that live on our earth; there are different types and styles of that derived from all different part of the globe. CM: There is music for every occasions; going on a road trip, dancing with a loved one, or just sitting in your room doing nothing. CS: Music is universal.

TS: Wherever music goes it brings things to life. SD: Music can do and be so many different things. CM: Music can show different emotions like anger, sadness, happiness, depression, etc. CM: Music can serve so many different purposes but it’s up to you to decide what music truly is for you.

Key
Bold-FAST Words
Red-Short Sentence
Italics-3 Consecutive Parallel Prepositional Phrases
Blue-Appositive
Purple-Compound Complex Sentence

Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
2 February 2009

The Difference Between a Flying and a Caged Bird:
An essay on my thoughts on Freedom and Imprisonment.

TS: Theres only two choices in life being free or being imprisoned. SD: Imprisonment and freedom are two coinciding forces on our earth. CM: Freedom is a state of being in which you can do what you want when you want to do it without anyone telling you that you can’t. CM: Imprisonment is the exact opposite of freedom, a state of being when you can’t do whatever you want when you want to do it without someone saying you can’t.

TS: Loss of hope, loss of faith, loss of free will, these are the things people think about when the word imprisonment is mentioned to them. SD However, when you have the right motivation to stay positive then your imprisonment can become more of a mere inconvenience. CM: For example if I was ever held captive in a cell and I was only allowed to see one thing each day besides the cells walls I would choose to see a small lake or pond with fish and possibly a waterfall. CM: It would be a tranquil place that I could lose myself in thus forgetting about my imprisonment. CM: A place that I could think about long after having seen it. SD: Ferdinand, Antonio’s son from “The Tempest”, believes Miranda to be his motivation. CM: He says “Might I […] once a day behold this maid: […] space enough have I in such a prison." CM: He basically states that if he could gaze upon Miranda once a day than he would be content and happy within his confinement. CS: When you are properly motivated your impetus can do anything, including gaining your freedom from the darkest cell you could possibly imagine.

TS: Freedom can be compared to so many things be it a flying bird, a flowing stream, even a snowflake freely falling towards the ground. SD: If I had to compare freedom to something it would be to our thoughts. CM: Your thoughts are your own, something that no one can take from you or stop you from having. CM: They are the very essence of freedom, being able to think what you want when you want and having no one tell you its wrong. SD: Prospero compares freedom to the mountain wind. CM: “You’ll be as free as the mountain winds” is what Prospero says to Ariel relating “mountain winds” to her soon to be freedom. CM: “Mountain winds” is a very good example of freedom because the mountain winds blow wherever they want whenever they want and no one can stop them from doing it. CS: Freedom comes in so many different styles, so many opportunities, under so many circumstances because its so complex that nothing can accurately describe it.

TS: There will always be people in our world that will be confined and unhappy so it is our responsibility, the free people, to try and free them as well. SD: Freedom and confinement are two opposite things, but they always live side by side in our world. CM: Freedom is like a bird flying, carefree and happy. CM: Confinement is like a caged bird and it is our duty as free people to open the doors of those cages and set those birds free.

Key
Red-Tri-colon
Bold-Fast Words

Kyle's "Tempest" Essay

Kyle c. Sebastian

Professor H. Salsich
English 02
27 January 2009

Captivity and Confinement;
An Essay on Ariel and Caliban’s Imprisonment.

TS: There are many things that are alike and completely different at the same time, like the yin and yang, one represents all the good and the other represents the evil, but together they keep life in a stable balance. SD: Ariel and Caliban are equal in the sense that they share the title slave, but they are both treated very different than the other. CM: Ariel will soon gain her freedom whereas Caliban will be a slave for Prospero until Prospero sees fit. CM: Ariel is also treated much better than Caliban. CM: She doesn't do the more strenuous work of the two and is treated more graciously.

TS: Someone who has never given Prospero a reason to dislike her, Ariel has certain privileges that Caliban does not possess. SD: She is treated with more civility than Caliban is shown from Prospero. CM: Prospero does not insult her or curse her for no reason like he does to Caliban. CM: She is also not given such arduous orders as Caliban is given either. CM: Prospero refers to her as “a spirit too delicate” to perform such tasks. SD: Ariel is also a slave like Caliban, but with one exception. CM: Prospero had told Ariel that he will “discharge” Ariel from his services if she does one more task for him. CM: She will break free from her confinement as a slave and Caliban will still be imprisoned. CS: All in all Ariel has a much more enjoyable “confinement” then Caliban has and soon she will not have one at all.

TS: Caliban too is a slave like Ariel, but he is treated more like a seed of Satan than an actual living, breathing, feeling being. SD: His service to Prospero is a much less enjoyable one than Ariel’s, his life is constantly made miserable by Prospero. CM: He is made to do much more onerous work than Ariel is told to do and is whipped when showing desrespect. CM: He is also verbally abused by Prospero who refers to him as “poisonous slave” and tells him he was “got by the devil himself.” SD: Caliban will never have what Ariel is about to achieve as long as Prospero is alive, his freedom. CM: Ariel will soon be free of slavery, free to do what she pleases, free to say that no one owns her while Caliban will be stuck slaving for Prospero and his daughter. CM: Caliban will work for Prospero until he dies if Prospero sees fit and he won’t be able to do anything about it. CM: He will live in misery for the duration of his confinement for the sin tried to commit, raping Prospero’s daughter. CS: He also used the knowledge of language to curse those who gave it to him, but “the corruption of man is followed by the corruption of language” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) and Caliban has corrupted himself by doing just that.

TS: Ariel and Caliban are two very different beings in two very different situations. SD: Ariel is a beautiful, delicate spirit with magical powers whereas Caliban is a hideous, mutilated hell spawn that knows nothing but sin. CM: Caliban is doomed to live a life as horrible as the curses he spits from his horrid mouth. CM: Ariel will live a life as wonderful and unique as she herself is. CS: In the end evil will, once again, get the short end of the stick while good will prevail.

Key
Bold-Fast Words
Red-Parallelism
Blue-Participle Phrases

Kyle's Essay

Opening Paragraph
· “There’s only us. There’s only this. Forget regrets or life is yours to miss. No other hope. No other way. No day[,] but today!”-Jonathon Larson
· Regrets are meant to be learned from
· Resolutions are made from learning from regrets
· Resolutions are made from learning from regrets, but regrets are made from not following resolutions

1st Body Paragraph
· Regret many things, but don’t think we should dwell on our regrets
· Always regret talking back to my parents
· Can’t change what has already happened
· Can only change what I will do to prevent it from going further
· Don’t like to dwell on regrets
· Just makes me more depressed
· Can’t change them anyway

2nd Body Paragraph
· Would like to work on core value of integrity
· Integrity-firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values
· Means you need to follow what’s right
· Need to follow your own interpretation of what’s right
· Want to be able to live life right by the way I see it
· Want to follow my own morals and values
· Everyone has different morals and values so no one should live life the same as someone else
· Will feel better about myself
· Will feel that I am a better person by following what I believe in
· Will have a sense of self
· Everyone should live life with their own kind of integrity

Closing Paragraph
· “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important that any one thing.”-Abraham Lincoln
· We use what we learned from our regrets to deal with future mistakes
· Resolutions are the courses of action we decide upon should we encounter the same mistake
· I’ve had many regrets throughout life and have learned from them all
· Made it my resolution to live my life with integrity

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
Englich 02
13 December 2008

No one gets out alive anyway;
An essay on why we can't afford to dwell on regrets.

TS: “There’s only us. There’s only this. Forget regrets or life is yours to miss. No other hope. No other way. No day[,] but today!”(Jonathon Larson.) SD: Resolutions are made from learning from regrets, but regrets are made from not following resolutions. CM: Whenever you have regrets they aren’t meant for you to fret about, they’re things to learn from. CM: Once you learn from your regrets you make resolutions so that you won’t have to regret the same thing twice.

TS: Everyone has regrets, but I don’t think we should dwell on our regrets. SD: For example I greatly regret arguing with my parents the amount I do. CM: I can’t change what has happened and I regret that, but I don’t dwell on my mistakes. CM: I simply try and avoid them in the future. SD: I don’t like to dwell on my regrets. CM: If I think about my mistakes I simply get more depressed about them and beat myself up about what I could have done differently. CM: But since you can’t change the past, why bother worrying about it right?

TS: One of my major resolutions is to live life with integrity. SD: The dictionary definition of integrity is “Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values.” CM: This means that you should live life the right way without people having to remind you to do so. CM: You need to live your life according to what you think is right regardless what everyone else may think. SD: I want to live my life the way I want to doing things that I think are right. CM: My definition of integrity, built as a foundation that holds up my morals and values, is to live your life by what you think is right for you and for others. CM: Since everyone has different morals and values no one should be living the same life as someone else, their life should be inimitable. SD: If I follow a lifestyle of integrity than I will also feel better about myself. CM: I’ll feel like I am a better person following what I believe in. CM: I will also have a sense of self, I will feel content and know that I’m not being superficial, I will be me. CS: I think everyone should live life by their own definition of integrity.

TS: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important that any one thing.” (Abraham Lincoln.) SD: We use what we learned from our regrets to deal with future mistakes. CM: We know that resolutions are the courses of action we decide upon should we encounter the same mistake. CM: I have had many regrets throughout my life and I have learned from them all.

Self Assessment

1.) What I like best about my essay is that I think that I was very honest with my feelings about being a better person.

2.) I think that the hardest part about this assignment was putting in a S-V split participle phrase that hopefully helped the writing.

Key

Purple=chiasmus

green=fast words

red=S-V split participle phrase

Kyle's Essay (A Christmas Carol)

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
3 December 2008
“What Comes Around Goes Around”;
An In-Class Essay on a quote from “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

TS-What if after death you could not find piece and had to pay for your sins here on earth? SD-Every action that you perform always has a consequence, no matter how small, it always has a consequence. CM-For example Adolf Hitler performed a despicable hate crime and he paid for it with his life. CM-You can sin and have your way in this life, but if you sin it will have its way with you in the next.
TS-Marley is trying to warn Ebenezor that the deeds he performs in this life will affect his next. SD-Bad deeds lead to a bad afterlife. CM-Marley spent all his time worrying about money and work and now he is forced to do the things he didn’t do in his life for all eternity. CM-Its a lot like bills, if you don’t pay for them now you’ll have to pay for them later. SD-If Scrooge keeps living his life like Marley did he will have the same thing happen to him. CM-He too will be bound by chains made of the petty things he valued in life and will be bound against his will to pay for his sins. CM-If he was just simply kind, if he was just generous, if he was just a little more sociable then maybe he could live a life that he didn’t even know he wanted. CS-Marley is trying to tell him that he can live a happy life and be able to live happily in the next if he just changes his ways.

TS-The things that you here will decide what things you do there, in the after life. SD-If you have a homework assignment and you decide not to do it then you will only have to do it later. CM-Why not just do it in the first place and even help yourself, homework, after all, was made to help us. CS-Why live a life that makes other people unhappy when you could live a life that makes yourself and others happy.

Purple-Chiasmis
Blue-Purposeful Repetition

Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
17 November 2008

Through One Set of Eyes;
An essay on my views on Heterosexuals and Homosexuals.

TS: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” (Dr. Seuss) SD: I am very open towards homosexuals, I feel very comfortable around them. CM: I felt that Ms. Olsen’s talk was very educational and the environment was comfortable enough to be able to ask questions without being embarrassed. CM: The difference between “gay” and “straight” is almost as significant as the difference between people who like chocolate ice cream and the people who like vanilla ice cream, they simply have different preferences.

TS: Homosexual people do not bother me in the slightest. SD: There really is no important difference between “gay and “straight” except that “gay” is often used in a condescending manner. CM: “Gay” is often used in a negative term like, “that’s gay”, but “straight” is often used in a positive or neutral manner like if someone asked you for a drink you might say “no I’m straight.” CM: Homosexual people eat, sleep, and feel all the things that heterosexual or bisexual people do and they should be treated as equals, not pariahs. SD: I long for a world where people of all sexuality and color and beliefs can band together and lead our race into a new age, without prejudices or racism. CM: I was raised to be very open and accept people for how they are as a person, not how I feel about what they like. CM: Life is too short to worry about if one’s sexuality is right or not, everyone has their own lifestyle to live. CS: Everyone has been given the same deck of cards to live with and all we have to do is play the game so that everybody wins.
TS: I loved the talk we had with Ms. Olsen, usually I’m tired during a talk session, my eyes fluttering up and down, my head slowly slipping off of my hand, but Ms. Olsen’s energy and excitement seemed to pulse through the room into me. SD: The aura that Ms. Olsen seemed to exude was very comforting and the whole room seemed to relax in her presence. CM: Sitting in my chair clinging on to every word she said, I felt at ease and perfectly comfortable asking questions when I thought of them. CM: Ms. Olsen was very humorous and seemed to make the subject more discussable for all of us as a whole. SD: Some of the things that she has other people say made me very angry, I have a few family members that are homosexual that are very close to me and when I hear what some people say to them it boils my blood because these are people I have grown up with and love. CM: When I asked her what her family did she responded “They asked not to speak to me, I haven’t talked to them in over fifteen years” this appalled me because someone’s family should be the strongest source of love and support in this world and Ms. Olsen’s abandoned her. CM: I was also upset at the things she said that other kids have said to her and other kids at the Safe Zone institute, I usually have the policy “Walk in everyone’s shoes before you judge”, but I have a hard time even wanting to put the other shoe on in this matter. CS: We try too hard nowadays to fit in, so much that we often don’t see or don’t care who we hurt in the process, this is the sad, but true fact that we all need to work to change.

TS: “Homosexuality is a sickness, just as [is] […]wanting to become head of general motors.” (Elridge Cleaver) SD: In my opinion there is nothing wrong with homosexuals. CM: There’s a small difference between them and heterosexuals. CM: They have been on this planet just as long as anyone else had and they certainly have the right to do anything anyone else can. CM: For people who do support homosexuals words are meaningless, we need to take action to show our love and support for our fellow brethren and sisters.

Key
Purple=absolute
Blue=participle

Self Assessment
Writing issues I am continuing to work on-Improving my punctuation.
Some strong points I see in this piece of writing-I think that i had some very good quotes that hopefully improved the writing.
Some weak points I see-I feel like I'm always missing a vital piece of information, but I can never seem to find it.
The grade I would give myself- B-

Kyle's Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
12 November 2008

Simple Magic;
An Essay on the Imagery in “The Way to Rainy Mountain.”

TS: There are always those few things in life that catch us off guard, leave us speechless. SD: The images that I get from Mr. Momaday’s descriptions is one of those things. CM: The way he seems to relate everything to something else like “great green and yellow grasshoppers are everywhere in the tall grass popping up like corn to sting the flesh” (Momaday 313) simply gives me great pleasure. CM: I think I like it so much because I could never make such a simple, beautiful connection, and we often envy what we can’t do or have.

TS: There are the strikingly beautiful examples of imagery in his story of his grandmother, but three, like sirens, whispered my name, sang out to me, beckoned for me to notice them.(3 Action Sentence) SD: The first was the quote about the grasshoppers I have already mentioned. CM: Suddenly these grasshoppers didn’t seem normal to me, I had willed them to be so much more in my mind. CM: Now they were these (2 FAST Words) gargantuan behemoths that seemed to poke their heads out of a forest of grass. SD: The second quote was on the same page not too far away, the sentence just before. CM: “At a distance in July or August the steaming foliage seems almost to writhe in fire.” (Momaday 313) CM: I imagined I was there, laying on the ground next to the leaves watching the dance of clear smoke rise off of them. SD: The third and final quote that called my name was found on page 315 describing the look of “Yellowstone”. CM: “The skyline at all directions close at hand the high wall of the woods and deep cleavages of shade” (Momaday 315) CM: Just before mentioning this Momaday spoke of the sense of confinement in Yellowstone and somehow I agreed with him. CM: The high wall of the woods reminded me of a birdcage, and unmovable object in a path, something you can’t climb over or move around and something that no one would dare enter for one reason or another. CS: Maybe I could just be looking too far into this story, but that’s what I love about it these quotes simply hold my interest and set my imagination free.

TS: I believe in a lot of things Love, Faith, Hope, but one of the most important is Magic. SD: It comforts to think of our world as a magical place that holds many wonders and miracles. CM: Some of these simple passages that Momaday has used are more powerful beacons of magic to me than anyone can imagine. CM: They represent the very essence of the simplicity of beauty and wonder that so many people walk past without even sparing a second look.

Kyle's Seventh Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
3 November 2008
“Déjà vu:
An Essay on the Advantages of Re-reading.”

TS: We are always told to check over our work in math class to make sure that we didn’t miss anything, this is also applied in re-reading books. SD: I’ve found one new thing in “The Garden Party” the second time I read it through. CM: The first thing is that Katherine Mansfield loves to use imagery and describe every detail with great amounts of grace and beauty. CM: She has numerous examples of imagery throughout her short story.

TS: There are three beautifully written examples of imagery in the book that I would like to discuss. SD: One of them is “The green bushes bowed down as though they had been visited by archangels.” (Mansfield pg. 1)CM: I loved this example of imagery, I imagined the bushes as green humans in a great hall of white marble and gold awaiting the arrival of the heavenly angels. CM: Then the angels would descend from a magnificent stairway leading up into the heavens. SD: Another example of imagery is when Ms. Mansfield writes “And they were so, with their broad, gleaming leaves, and their clusters of yellow fruit. They were like trees you imagined growing on a desert island, proud, solitary, lifting their leaves and fruits to the sun in a kind of silent splendor.” (Mansfield pg. 3)CM: The image I got of these divine sounding fruits was mouthwatering. CM: When an author is able to get you to feel emotions just by reading something then that writing is superb. SD: My last example of imagery is on page four when she writes “All the doors in the house seemed to be open. The house was alive with soft, quick steps and running voices. The green baize door that led to the kitchen regions swung open and shut with a muffled thud. And now there came a long, chuckling absurd sound. It was the heavy piano being moved off its stiff castors. But the air! If you stopped to notice, was the air always like this? Little faint words were playing chase, in at the tops of the windows, out at the doors. And there were two tiny spots of sun, one on the inkpot, one on a silver photograph frame, playing too. Darling little spots. Especially the one on the inkpot lid. It was quite warm. A warm little silver star. She could have kissed it.” (Mansfield pg. 4) CM: Now this was a very long passage, but brilliantly written nevertheless. CM: It was written marvelously, can be spoken wonderfully, and leaves a truly magnificent view of the Sheridan’s house in the mind of the reader. CS: It's very enjoying when you can picture what your reading so that you get more into the story.

TS: When you look things over again you often find things you’ve never noticed about before. SD: Ms. Mansfield has a gift for imagery and “The Garden Party” certainly shows it. CM: She describes so many things and describes them so wonderfully. CM: The images I get from her writing make the story all the better.

Kyle's 5th Essay

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
20 October 2008
Color and Kindness:
A comparison between preferences of self.

There are so many colored people who were and still are loved by millions in the world such as Oprah, Coby Bryant, Bill Cosby, and Martin Luther King Jr. and many of them aren’t loved because they’re colored, but because of their personalities and what they have taught us. Zora Neale Hurst decides that the thing she likes most about herself is that she is colored and she elucidates several times that she’s not ashamed to be colored. I too am proud that I’m colored, but on the other hand I am also proud at the amounts of kindness I can show to a classmate, to friends, to family, and even to strangers. I believe that my color shouldn’t be a con for me, if anything it should be a plus to my character, and a plus to my personality,and only my abilities should be the deciding factor on what kind of person I am.

I think that I am a very nice, kind, sincere, loving friend because I am told that many times, and personally I love to be viewed in such a way and not viewed as “the black kid”. The color of my skin should certainly not be what people judge me by. The color of my skin has no control over my personality, my abilities, or my predilections. I should be viewed as a colorless human as everyone else should, because the only purpose that color serves is diversity. I think that out of my classmates I can be one of the most sympathetic when I need to be. I believe that this is why some people respect my input or ideas because they know that I really care about what happens to them and know that I want to give them genuine advice. However, if my chocolate skin has anything to do with my personality then it should only be a reminder of just how sweet I can be. I also really value kindness because so many good things can come of it. When I do domeone a kindness I feel like a better person afterwards, and thats a great feeling. Another pro about kindness is the karma you may receive, which can be anything from finding a dollar on the ground to winning the lottery. In short I love my kindness most about myself because that is what people choose to judge me by.

Similar to me Ms. Hurston also had something she liked about herself, which was the color of her skin. Ms. Hurston was not ashamed or afraid that she was black. She even states “I am not tragically colored. There is no sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all.” (Hurston 115). She did not care what people thought about her if they judged her by her skin. Ms. Hurston seemed more shocked that anyone could deny her presence. “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonished me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” (Hurston 118). Ms. Hurston felt no different than an ordinary person. She could sing and dance and ask questions to any white person just as easily as she could to a colored. She even states in the book “I remember the very day that I became colored” and this astonishes me because before she went to Jacksonville she felt normal, she felt like a regular person, she felt that no color could define her, as it should be.

As I have said before there are many famous African Americans who were loved and judged by what they shared with the world. Ms. Hurston felt that she had a lot to give and share with the world, but she never got the opportunity to. I however, will my kindness with everyone so that our world may become a tiny bit more of a better place. If there are people who still hold prejudices than let them mull over the misapprehensions they have made and if they still do not see the truth then pray, pray that they’ll understand one day. (not meant to offend anyone if they don’t believe in prayer)


Key
Purple-Purposeful Repitition
Red-FAST Words

Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." The Best American Essays of the Century. ED. Robert Atwan. Boston:Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Kyle's Fourth Essay (I thought it was the third)

Kyle Sebastian
Professor H. Salsich
English 02
4 October 2008

“The Gamble of life”:
The losses and gains in “Winter Dreams” and “Sonny’s Blues”

TS: People can have great gains, like winning the lottery, or have great losses, like the death of a loved one, throughout their lives. SD: But in the stories “Winter Dreams” and “Sonny’s Blues” there was a great loss for Dexter and a great gain for Sonny. CM: Sonny had a greater gain than Dexter, having finally had found his place in the world. CM: Dexter, however lost something of more importance than Sonny had lost, his dream of loving a special someone.

TS: Dexter had many gains; conversely, they pale in comparison to Sonny’s greatest achievement of finding his place in the world. SD: Dexter had many small victories, like having his own business and having his own “glittering things”, but Sonny didn’t care about that kind of life; he simply wished to have his own place in the world. CM: Sonny’s greatest wish was for himself to find a place where everyone accepts him and he can be himself and he made that dream come true. CM: Dexter wasn’t as fortunate. He may have had many small successes, but they were only the minor pretensions of his “Winter Dreams”. SD: When Sonny had finally found his place at the night club he must have felt overwhelmed with joy, but Dexter never felt this immense happiness. CM: He only felt the small ripples of joy instead of the swelling ocean of happiness. SD: Sonny’s dream may have been easier to fulfill because he only had that one dream that he pursued. CM: He didn’t have any other dreams that he really focused on besides playing his music and trying to get his brother and others to accept him. CM: Dexter had many dreams of being rich and owning expensive things and he focused on all of them until he met Judy again years later. CS: However, Dexter had many small moments of joy, but in contrast to fulfilling your greatest joy, like Sonny did, they didn’t really matter to him.

TS: In consequence to Dexter not having made his aspiration of keeping Judy Jones as he once saw her in his memory, he had gained a greater loss than Sonny had ever experienced. SD: The only reason Sonny fell into the dark web of addiction was because his greatest ambition didn’t come true at first. CM: Because Sonny felt that no one saw him for himself, Sonny gave up music and turned to drugs to escape his emotions of not being understood. CM: However, Sonny was able to get help and eventually continued on making his dream come true. SD: Dexter did not have the luxury of being able to “get help” or even try to keep chasing after his dream. CM: There wasn’t any help available for his problem because once he had lost his image of Judy, he had lost their memories together, the times they shared, the beauty he wanted to remember forever, the very essence of why he fell in love with her. CM: “These had been basis of his love for her-not to her reflection of eternal youth or beauty but their physical and perishable realities” (Burhans). The way you picture someone cannot not be changed as easily as trying to get others to accept you. SD: Sonny never really had any small achievements, but he never had a great loss either. CM: He only went through small trials like trying to get his brother to listen and finding a life involved with music. CM: He never felt what it was like to have a loved one never care about you, although he may have felt that way. CS: As a result of Dexter having a great loss and Sonny having small losses I have concluded that Dexter has suffered greater sorrow than Sonny had.

TS: Dexter’s loss and Sonny’s gain may seem like big deals to them, but in reality they’re everyday occurrences. SD: Thousands of people have gotten their hearts broken and thousands have had trouble finding their places in the world. CM: These are all ordinary things that happen all around the world. CM: Life has many things to take away from you and it has many things to give you, but you have to accept any problem or gift that comes your way and just live life.

Key
Yellow=Appositives
Green=Fast Words
Bold=Loose Sentences
Purple=Purposeful Repetition








Works Cited
“‘Magnificently Attune to Life’: The Value of ‘Winter Dreams’” enotes.com 4 October2008
http://www.enotes.com/winter-dreams/magnificently-attune-life-value-winter-dreams.