Essay #10

The Good That Comes From Challenges:

An Essay About A Tale Of Two Cities And Why I’m Glad I Read It

Ninth Grade English

Pine Point School

April 18, 2012

By Schyler Davis

Have you ever been hesitant to read a long, difficult novel, but after you were grateful you read it? That’s how I felt about A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I have learned so much about the French Revolution, and I even improved my reading skills. There were times when I wanted to stop reading, but I took the book one page at a time, which helped me in the long run.

A Tale of Two Cities is  a difficult novel that is rarely read by young scholars, but I am thankful that I read it because I’ve learned from it.  I knew about the French Revolution, but I was ignorant about the events and people during the Revolution. I never knew that women were a huge part of it, and in the novel, Madame Defarge shows how women were involved, coming up with plans and plots, knitting secret messages, and being tough and ready to fight. Also, I learned that people met in secret during the French Revolution, going by the name of Jacque. Another way that A Tale of Two Cities enhanced my knowledge about the time of the French Revolution was how people spoke, a way that was more formal than ours today and in my opinion, more elegant. Now a days, we talk over cell phones or internet and use a lot of slang, but back then, people didn’t have much technology, making them talk to others in person and being more grammatically correct. I like how people use to speak to each other in a proper and profound way. A Tale of Two Cities was probably the most challenging book I’ve read, but I feel that it was a worthwhile trade off  because of all that I’ve learned, and I’m now more prepared to read challenging books in the future.

A Tale of Two Cities has improved my knowledge of the French Revolution, but it has also improved my skill at reading and comprehension. At times I wanted to give up and would wonder why we were even reading the novel, but I soon realized how much I was learning. Everyone knows that it’s a challenging book, but I worked through the novel, taking many notes, rereading parts that were confusing to me, and going slow and steady like in the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. I may have not been as fast as the hare when I read A Tale of Two Cities, but I won because I took my time to understand the book. Also, I can now tell people I read A Tale of Two Cities, a difficult novel that’s impressive to show off. I feel proud of myself for completing such a challenging novel and for taking detailed notes. I will keep this book forever, and when I’m bored someday, I will take it out and look at all my notes, being glad I took my time like the tortoise and didn’t race through it like the hare. This book has made me appreciate worthy writing and has made me eager to read more challenging novels.

As you can see, there are many benefits from reading a challenging novel that’s barely read. I learned how women were a part of the French Revolution and now I’m prepared to read more challenging books in the future.For now on,  I’ll read every difficult novel at a slow and steady pace because I know that’s how I’ll win the race of knowledge.

Essay 9

  

 A Love, A Distance, A Return:

An Essay About The Poem “Letter Home” And How It Relates To My Life

Pine Point School

Ninth Grade English

February 8, 2012

By Schyler Davis  

Have you ever been away from someone who you love, who you can’t live without, who is the meaning of your life? In the poem, “Letter Home”, by Ellen Steinbaum, she writes about a man in the military, who has an unstoppable love for his wife and child. I can relate to this poem because I was away from my parents over the summer. You can’t stop love, contain love, or forget about love.

The poem, “Letter Home”, is about a love that is so strong, a love where distance doesn’t matter, a love that will last forever. The poem is gripping because you can the fathers passion. I like how the child can sense how her or his mother feels and can see the pain that she has to go through since her husband is in the military. Having this poem being told from a child’s point of view, shows me how the child also misses her or his father.  When her husband comes home “ they will pick up their interrupted lives,” and continue their life from before. To me, it’s amazing how distance didn’t change the way they love each other, didn’t change the way they live their life, didn’t cause any awkwardness to form. Their love seems like the love everybody wants; the kind of love where writing love letters is natural, thinking sweetly of each other is enjoyable, and being able to stay together through distance is possible. In my opinion, this poem tells a love story about two people that will never let distance stop them from loving each other, and about a child who adore her or his parents.

I can relate to the poem, “A Letter Home”, and how I visited Virginia for a week during the summer without my parents. Although,my longing to be with my parents was not as strong as the soldier’s to be with his family, I still missed them. Calling them everyday, chatting my dad on Facebook, and looking through family pictures on my camera helped me feel close to them though. I was only away from my mom and dad for a week, which isn’t even close to how long the husband in the poem was away from his wife and child. I enjoyed all the time I spent in Virginia with my aunt, uncle, and my cousin, but by the end of the week I was ready to go home. I was nervous though-- nervous to go on a train and nervous to talk to people I didn't know on the train--but when I finally got to my stop, the nervousness vanished. “My mother waits” and my father waits, and my sister waits; I couldn't wait to run up to my mom, dad, and sister to give them all a huge hug. The love I have for my family is unbreakable, just like the love in the poem.

Love comes in many shapes and sizes; you could have love for your partner or for family. In ,“Letter Home”, the man has a love for his wife and child that will never change, and in my life I have a love for my family that will last forever. You should never let distance stop your love; you should never let time stop your love, and you should never let anything get in the way of your love.

Exam Essay

A Bond That Will Never Be Broken:

An Essay About How The Poem “Shoulders” Relates To A Tale Of Two Cities

And My Life

Pine Point School

Ninth Grade English

January 19, 2012

By Schyler Davis

Have you ever tried to fully understand a poem, and relate it to a book and to your own life? It may be challenging, but it can be done. Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, “Shoulders” relates to Miss Manette and her father in A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and it relates to the relationship I have with my sister, Ella. You need to handle people with care, handle the fragile life you have with care, handle the world with care.

In A Tale Of Two Cities, Miss Manette has a strong bond with her father, who she thought was dead for eighteen years. As soon as Miss Manette sees her father, she goes up to him and puts her head on his shoulder. Like the poem, I think “his ear fills up with breathing,” and he knows that she is his little girl, a beautiful girl, who has blossomed into a lovely young lady.  He knows he has to handle her with care and to never let her go again. I think her father would do anything for her, just like in the poem. The man in the poem is so careful, watching the cars go by, making sure he doesn’t get splashed by a car, while he “carries the world’s most sensitive cargo.” I can picture Miss Manette’s father doing that for her, trying to protect her, trying to make sure she is pleased, trying to make up for the lost time. In my opinion, that is how we should treat other  people because “we’re not going to be able to live in this world if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing with one another.”

The poem, “Shoulder” relates to the relationship I have with my sister, the love we have for each other, and the unbreakable bond that we share.  Although my sister and I argue, and we don’t always get along, we love each other. Like the man in the poem, I would do anything for her. When she is having trouble with putting clothes on her dolls, or playing a game, I usually help her. Ella is fragile like an icicle, a beautiful piece of ice that can reflect light in the darkness of winter, but if you tap it the wrong way it can shatter. She is so energetic and lively, but when I make snide remarks to her, or when someone laughs at her, she falls apart; she gets shattered. I try to be as caring towards her as I can because she is only five and wants to be just like me, pretending to text on her fake phone, cutting her hair the same length as mine, telling people she is on the jump rope team, and saying she is turning fifteen on her birthday. She is my mini me, she is my friend, but most importantly she is my sister, who I love with all my heart.

If you can be kind to people, you can make a difference in their life, and if you can make a difference in their life, you can change the world. The poem, “Shoulders”, has taught me that you need to treat people with compassion and love, or the world will not be worth living in. In A Tale Of Two Cities , Miss Manette and her father have a relationship like the man in the poem has with his son, and Ella and I have a bond that could never be broken.  “The road will only be wide. The rain will never stop falling,” but you need to handle people with care because everyone is fragile.

Periodic Sentence

If we can stay focused every night , and we can concentrate on our work every night, and we can make ourselves study every night, then we will not fail our exams next week; we will succeed.

Essay #7

 The Sacrifices That Come With Joy:

An Essay About How I Sacrificed My Time To Teach Kids Jump Rope Over Winter Break

Pine Point School

Ninth Grade English

January 5, 2012

By Schyler Davis

           Have you ever sacrificed time to teach somebody, help somebody, inspire somebody?  Over Winter break I went to the BP Learn Center in New London to teach kids how to jump rope. I sacrificed some time over break, but I think it was worth it.
           I was once a little fourth grader, who was inspired by the sport of jump rope, amazed at all the tricks that were done in the ropes, and over break I had the opportunity to inspire others kids by teaching them how to jump rope. My mom and I donated some jump ropes to the BP Learn Center, which is an after school program, and we set up a time we could come back and teach kids how to jump rope. When we went back, all the kids remembered who we were because the jump rope team did a performance there a couple weeks before. It was wonderful to see and hear about how they were motivated by our performance, trying to teach themselves how to jump rope, practicing on their own, and wanting to learn more. I taught about 20 lower school kids, girls and boys, different single rope and double-dutch tricks, and it was a great success. Some of them would get frustrated because they couldn’t do the tricks or jump rope, but I told them not to get discouraged and to keep practicing because I was once a beginner jumper myself. They all were so inspired by the sport of jump rope and by what my mom and I taught them that they decided to start a club.  I sacrificed my time to teach them, I sacrificed other activities I could have been doing that morning, but I wouldn’t change what I did. I know it meant a lot to them for me to help them learn how to jump, and I will never forget when I was in the grocery store with my dad, and a little girl pointed at me and said, “You’re a jump roper! You taught me at my after school program.”  I was so proud of the sacrifice I made, and I want to go back again.
           I made a sacrifice, but to me, it didn’t seem like a sacrifice. It seemed like a choice to motivate and inspire someone who looks up to me. I am glad I went and taught kids how to jump rope at the BP Learn Center of winter break because I helped them and they helped me become a better person.