Point of View of David

Author's Note: This is a point of view essay on the book, A Child Called it by Dave Pelzer. I was trying to work on having strong body paragraphs so I only wrote 2 because I wanted to see if I could get a 10 in "body paragraphs".  

In A Child Called it, a young boy is being abused by his mother.  The father is afraid to stand up to the mother, because he does not want to get abused either.  The name of the little boy is David, but the mother refers to him as "it".  She has 2 other sons, but for some reason, she likes to pick on David.  The story is written in David's point of view.  From this perspective, a lot of events and characters are described in a way that creates the reader to feel bad for David because he is being very abused and neglected. David's father feels very bad for him, but he is too much of a coward to say or do anything.  When young David gets thrown down the stairs, the father tries to yell at the mother, but she just yells back and storms out of the room.  "Its" brothers, are also afraid to stand up to their mother because they don't want to get awful punishments along with "it".

From David's point of view, the reader feels sympathy and compassion.  When David is forced to eat his own feces, the reader feels disgusted, but at the same time they felt bad for him because he did nothing wrong and he was getting treated this way.  In the mothers perspective, David is the most annoying, brattiest, rudest, disgusting child there is out there.  She treats him poorly because she doesn't know how to take her anger out on anything else but him.  When I was reading this book, I felt as though David was getting treated this way because his mother was always drinking.  My opinion on the mothers perspective; well I could never feel that way about a little innocent boy.  She just doesn't get how to handle bad situations when they occur.  And yeah, I mean David eventually learned to stand up for himself when he got older and stronger, but if he never got the opportunity, he maybe wouldn't be alive today.

 On the contrary, the reader would feel a lot differently about David if they were put in the perspective of his mother.  If you were her, you would be fed up with his stealing and lying too.  Well, maybe if you were drunk all the time like she was.  The reader might feel anger, zero patience, and the lack of love for this child.  I personally, would always love and care for my child no matter the circumstance.  If the novel was written in the dad's point of view,  you would feel shy and empty inside because you have no guts to fill it.  If If the reader was in the dad's point f view, they would be saying, "Oh, I can't stand up to her, she'll kick me out of the house".  I think that the dad needs to put his big boy pants on and stand up for what's right.  He needs to tell off his wife and lay down the lay in the house and tell everyone who's boss. 

  As you can see, the point of view of a story makes the reader only see one side of the story.  Which in this case, the reader can only see David's point of view.  In A Child Called It, the narrator's perspective makes the reader feel sorrow.  I think that in this story the author was trying to send a message across. What message I got from David's perspective is, "Be strong, stay strong, and MOVE OUT and go live with your dad".  I can't have a message from the mom's perspective because it was only written in David's point of view, and I would never be able to think/act like her.  Just remember, don't take things for granted because there will always be someone who has lesser than you!

Comparing a Book to a Movie

Authors Note: This is a compare and contrast essay.  I am comparing and contrasting a book to a movie that we watched in social studies.

The Revolutionary War was a very sad time for many families, towns, and villages.  The movie, The Patriot by Roland Emmerich, was about  a father and his 2 sons that fought with him during the war.  Both of his sons end up dying during war, but the father stayed alive.  The book I read which was, Cast Two Shadows, by Ann Rinaldi, is about a family of 3 that only can stay on one room of a house.  It’s a girl named Caroline and her sister named Georgia Ann and their mama. There are many more differences than similarities from the movie that I saw, and to the book I read.

One of the many differences from the movie to the book are the main characters.  The theme would be participation in the war.  In the movie The Patriot, Benjamin is a widowed father of 7 children. But, in the book, Cast Two Shadows, the main character is a little girl named Caroline.  As you know women were not allowed to fight in the war so that is a big difference between the two.  Benjamin has to fight at war to protect his town and his family.  Caroline has to stay in her one room to pretty much protect herself.  It is very rare when she can leave the house.  On the other hand, Benjamin is rarely AT his house.  He is always busy fighting at war and planning schemes to kill the British.

Another big theme was family problems.  Caroline got her Mama taken away from her.  Benjamin got his family taken away from him.  Caroline only was with her mom for 3 years of her life, then she got her taken away.  Benjamin is fighting in war so he obviously can’t be with his family.  So in both stories the family is being torn apart.  I would be depressed if any of my family members got taken away from me because even though we aren’t the closest family, we still love and look out for each other.

One of the other big themes I caught onto was bravery and courage.  In The Patriot, Benjamin has to show bravery and courage by fighting in the war for his family.  He has to protect them and be a smart man to not do or say anything stupid to the British.  And in Cast Two Shadows, Caroline has to show bravery for herself as well as her sister. Her sister, Georgia Ann, likes to tease her sister Caroline a lot, so if she doesn’t show bravery her sister would make fun of her for being scared.  I honestly would be so terrified of the war because I would be afraid that all of my brothers and dad would die.  Both characters show bravery and courage throughout the entire story.

In conclusion, The Patriot was a lot more gory and interesting than Cast Two Shadows.  However, they both shared some common themes, but there were definitely more differences.  I enjoyed The Patriot better, because personally I like movies better than reading.  To wrap things up, the differences were a lot more significant than the similarities. 

Bibliography

Emmerich, R. (Director). (2000). The Patriot [Motion Picture].

Rinaldi, A. (1998). Cast Two Shadows. Orlando, Florida: Hartcourt, Inc.

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.