Bravery And Coping with Change

Authors Note: This is a theme essay about if you have bravery and you cope with change, you can fight off diseases.

In the book Between Shades of Gray, the main characters (Lina and her brother),  struggle with snow storms and very, very little food rations.  Most people are dying because of the temperature and no food.  The author teaches us that with bravery and coping with change, you can fight off diseases.

One of the major themes in this book, is bravery.  Lina is 15 and her brother is 11.  They struggle with very little food or nothing at all each day.  Lina is showing bravery by giving up herself to the NKVD or the "Soviets".  She has to do countless chores for them such as, collecting wood for them during the winter,  getting them food, and pretty much overall being their little slave.  Bravery is in Lina's character because she doesn't want to show fear because her brother might start to worry and freak out.  While bravery is in a lot of novels it is showcased a lot in The Hunger Games, and Twilight.

A great book/movie called, Twilight, also has bravery as one of its themes.  The main characters Edward, Jacob, and Bella, all have to have bravery in them because they are fighting for themselves and their daughter.  If you have read the book or have seen the movie, you know that Bella and Edward have a child.  But the "rulers" of the town think the child is dangerous because it's half mortal half immortal.  Bella and Edward show bravery by protecting their daughter from the "rulers" and they have to keep her safe where no one can see her.  This book/movie connects to Between Shades Of Gray, because in both stories the main characters have to protect themselves as well as their loved ones.  In Between Shades Of Gray, Lina has to protect herself, brother and Mom. Next, in Twilight, Bella, Edward, and Jacob all protect Renesme (Bella and Edwards daughter).  Another theme is Between Shades f Gray, would be coping with change.

Lina has to deal with change because she was used to living in a nice home, getting food every day, being able to be independent, and overall living a normal life.  She now has to deal with the EXACT opposite of that.  Her brother, her mom, her and a couple of other people are all living in a jurta in the Arctic.  They had to build this little shack out of sticks and moss.  Imagine living in a little hut with very little food and no heat for the whole winter with the temperature dropping as the days go on.  Pretty vivid picture right?  Well, Lina deals with this major change by taking the little things out of this situation and making them happy.   For example, she has a rock from Andrius (boy she likes and has a thing with but he works at a different camp), and she keeps it in her pocket at all times.  When something goes terribly wrong, or someone is ill, she just reaches in her pocket an rubs the stone.  I think that this is her way of escaping her life for just a couple of seconds.

To conclude, in the book Between Shades Of Gray, Lina and her brother end up staying in the arctic and continue to work for the Soviets.  On the other hand, in Twilight, Edward and Bella get to keep their kid because one of their relatives shows the rulers what’s going to happen if they try and take Renesme.  Both books tell you that if you really put your mind t something, you can achieve anything you want in life.

Troy and His Funk

My prediction was that Troy wouldn't end up like Dale.  That he would just fake it to try and scare Molly.  I was incorrect.  I like the ending to the story that actually happened better than mine because it had more of an interesting ending.  I thought that Troy would fake it, but he did get into a funk.  Troy was all out of it and then quiet for the rest of the story.  

Lina Maturing

Authors Note: This is a piece for character development on the book, "Between Shades Of Gray".  Try to focus in on the little life lessons throughout the piece.

 In the book "Between Shades Of Gray", Lina plays a leader and model role.  When she has to survive in a car with a bunch of other people, traveling to Siberia, her leadership role comes into play.  Lina protects her brother and mom, as well as everybody else traveling with them in the car.  She also has to adapt to her new environment by not getting to eat everyday, living without sunlight, and the use of a very small bathroom hole.  Lina also changes by learning to be more secretive about everything she does. This 17 year old girl is maturing greatly and learning to be more independent throughout the book.

One way that Lina changed throughout the story, is by becoming more independent as she travels to Siberia.  When she first started in the car, she was a little bit apprehensive on saying her honest opinion because she didn't want to get on anyone's bad side.  Then she finally reached Siberia, and when the Soviets had her digging holes with a shovel that didn’t have a handle, Lina learned that she can't always complain over little things because worse things are going to happen than just digging holes.  When she realized that the NKVD or the "soviets" needed her to draw a portrait of the commander, she hesitated, then quickly got up from digging, and scurried to the Kohltz office to find that she shouldn't have jumped to this opportunity so quickly because of the fact that she didn't know what they were actually going to do with her. She sat in silence while drawing the portrait, and when the Soviets weren't looking, she dropped a nice looking pen into her lap.  Little did she know, stealing a pen from the Kohltz office was a huge mistake.

Lina is mostly maturing, except for the fact that everybody around her is being generous with their bread rations, and then there's her not caring if others' starve.  There's a young boy named Andrius who also lives in the shacks in Siberia, along with his Mother.  One night, Lina escapes her shack and finds that Andrius is outside of his shack smoking a cigarette.  She goes up to him and tries to start a conversation.  Little did she know, Andrius' mother is being used as a "prostitute" for the Soviets.  Lina tries to be smart with Andrius, but he just barks back and tells her to leave.  When she got back to her shack, she was really shaken up by the way Andrius spoke to her.  Her Mom was still awake when Lina returned, and she was giving food to Lina's younger brother.  She asked where she got the food, and her mother replied, "Andrius dropped it off".  Lina then realized she shouldn't have asked about Andrius' mother or smarted of to him.  She didn't realize that his mother was being a slave for the Soviets or that Andrius could die if the NKVD's get sick of his mother and decide to kill him.  I would never want to be in a position that he was in because I would never want the fear of waking up in the morning thinking I might die today because of men getting sick of my mother.

Ways that Lina affected other characters in the story was by being a role model.  She set good examples of trying to keep a good spirit even though they all knew there was nothing to be happy about.  She would try to make jokes at moments when people really just needed to smile.  In the book "Hunger Games", Katniss the main character, is also a great leader.  She has to protect her little sister and her Mom.  When she is in the "games", she has to fight for her whole district.  Lina has to work for food for her brother and Mom by digging holes and working in the beet farm.  In both stories, Lina and Katniss have to work their butts off to keep themselves and their families alive.  They both portray a great leadership role as well as a smart character. 

To conclude, Lina matured throughout the story.  Her leadership role came into play in many ways, such as drawing the portrait, digging the holes, and bringing a smile to someone's face often.  People can learn to enjoy the little things in life, and appreciate what they have because there are always going to be the people that have lesser than you.  I think the author had in mind when they wrote this was to include life lessons as well as a great non-stop read.  Just remember, don't forget the little things in life, love one another, and appreciate what you have as an individual and help out those who have less than you.

What Would I Tell America's Founding Fathers?

Authors Note: This piece is for the Patriot's Pen essay.  I tried to incorporate my voice as much as my research I did.

How much do you love our country?  I am very proud to live in the country we live in today.  The founding fathers are the reason why I love this country so much.  So the question is, "What would I tell America's founding fathers?"  Well,  I would first thank them for all of what they did, then ask a few questions that I'm confused about, I would then finish with why I'm proud to be called an American citizen.

The reason why I am thankful for all of the founding fathers, is because of what they did with the government.  They established the first large scale republic in the modern day.  If it wasn't for them, we would be living in a completely different country.  Another thing I wanted to talk about was some questions I had.  How hard was it with just 10-15 main people to make this country the way it is today?  Why did we have problems with China?  I think he reason I am proud to be an American citizen is because I know I can wake up in the morning, go to school, and come home and stay safe the whole time.  I can also go to bed not having to worry about being taken at night or getting robbed.  So I thank the founding fathers for all that they did to make this country such a beautiful place.

That's what I would tell and ask the founding fathers if I had a chance to.  Now that you know what I would say to the founding fathers, and why I am proud to be living in America, what would you America's founding fathers?  Just remember when you are going to pay for something with a $10 bill, Alexander Hamilton, (one of the many founding fathers) is the face on that $10 bill. 

Cause and Effect

Author's Note: This is about the cause and affect of the book Hunger Games.

The cause would be Peeta and Katniss go into a competition called the hunger games.  They are forced to fight until death.  Katniss' plan is to not kill anyone, she is just going to let everyone else kill each other while she hides from them.  Peeta, (her partner), is ganging up with other districts, but not to kill Katniss, just to get the idea of what other districts were up to.

Going into the hunger games and fighting against other districts would be the main cause.  The effect is that they joined forces and they won the whole thing.  Peeta and Katniss both won, which has never happened before in the hunger games.  They teamed up, and fought until the very end.  

Conflict Resolution

Author: Aaron Atkinson

Author's Note: This is the conflict resolution piece.  When I was writing this I had in mind how Aaron must have been feeling when he was writing this.

The main conflict would be person vs. person because Aaron (the author), is not happy with his life even though he has everything he wants. He has a nice car, beautiful children, great wife, and a huge house, but he is not satisfied with all that.  Aaron doesn't know why he is not happy with his life, but he asks himself everyday, "what good is true love, without true happiness?".  This question made me think because really what good is love, if you're not happy?  Aaron is trying to find a solution to his question, but just can't seem to find it.

There is no solution to this story because Aaron still hasn't found his true happiness in his life.  He feels that something is still missing in his life, which is true happiness.  "Maybe it's the world we live in, but nothing seems good enough anymore," he says.  This made me question if I was really happy with my life.  Is what I have good enough?  Compared to other people it doesn't.  Maybe Aaron will later on in life find his solution, but right now, he doesn't know what is that one thing that is missing.

Memories With Julie

Authors Note: This is about the day I met my friend Julie, and the day we stopped becoming friends.  

The day I met Julie.  She made quite am impression on me.  Her spunky, wild, crazy, and cruel attitude really made an impact on me.  I didn't know exactly what to say because I was just in shock on how she acted and treated other students.  But this is the story on how me and her became friends, and stopped being friends.

      Julie is a very interesting girl that likes to put herself out there and tries really hard to be the class clown.  Sometimes she succeed's, other times she just looks like a fool.  One time in 5th grade, she "blew" her nose with a tissue.  But the thing is, she really didn't blow her nose, she just made the sound.  And yeah, I laughed, but then she kept doing it and doing it, and it got to the point where it just got really annoying.  The whole class started to laugh until the teacher finally told her to knock it off.  Julie also likes to get attention when her and I go downtown.  She likes to make noises at cars, run in the middle of the road, and overall, be a obnoxious person.

My teachers, friends, and family all think that I should just stop with all her drama and just drop it all.  But, I really can't do that because we've been friends since 5th grade.   We have gotten into really dumb little fights that we get over easily, but I think now it's time to move on considering she doesn't even talk to me anymore.  I mean, I don't really put in effort to hangout with her either, but that's because I know she will lie to me at some point when we are hanging out.  At times she can be really sweet and nice, and other times, she just keeps the lies coming and keeps trying to get the attention.  The reason why people think we shouldn't be friends, is because they know that way she has treated me and her other friends.  I have tried to tell her I can't be friends with her anymore, but she just sucks you back in.  Next, all the little dumb stuff that happens.

One day you will want to hangout with her, and then the next moment you're with her, you just want to go home because she is just so crazy and you can't handle it!  One time I was at her house and she wanted to sneak out, so we did.  We came back to her house, and then she wanted to leave again.  I was like "no we are fine, let's just go to bed".  So she kept nagging me about leaving.  I just wanted to say"shut up!".  Another little thing she does to drive me crazy, is all her awkward stares and growls.  If I don't give her some of my food, she will growl at me like a possessed dog.  Or she will stare at me with her lip pursed up and starts to give you a death look.  I'm used to it by now, but it makes me feel so uncomfortable.  

Now you know why I try not to hangout with someone like this all the time.  I am getting better at dealing with her wild and crazy person that she is, but I'm still not all the way there.  I hope she gets my hints that I am getting annoyed with her.  All her lies, drama, and attention, is just getting to the point where I am going to go up to her and tell her to knock it off, or she will lose a bunch of friends that also agree with me.