There's a Certain Feeling of the Stage

The quiet murmurs between dancers backstage,
Listening patiently in restrained excitement for director's notes,
Behind the curtains, staff frantically calls countdowns till showtime,
Getting into position before the music screams in the audiences eardrums,
1, 2, 3, 4, go with the anticipation that a count will be forgotten,
The first move is made and an entirely different person fills my place,
Rhythmic fairy dust spins around the body that used to be mine,
Nothing runs through my mind but the music,
Spinning and twirling and leaping its way through the audience,
Capturing their attention like moths to a lamp,
Nearly blinding stage lights near my feet,
The audience seems so dark and so far away,
But I can hear a whistle and a cheer and see a face staring up,
As my feet explore the black Marley flooring,
Skid marks from my shoes leave the motions of the beat earlier,
And the empty, dusty, dimly lit theater becomes a place of enchantment,
In it there is mystery and excitement, but also a certain kind of calm,
Finally being able to show off something that's been worked on for so long,
Like pushing a truck uphill for a year,
And rolling back downhill in a convertible,
Leaving the stage gasping relief, feeling on top of the world.

There was a Paige Pohlad Went Forth

There was a child went forth every day;
And the first object she look'd upon, that object she became;
And that object became part of her for the day, or a certain part of
The day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.


Sitting on the broad shoulders of Father,
Strolling down streets bordered with trees,
Headed home after losing sense of time on the monkey bars,
Pretending to sleep until unconsciousness actually flooded,
Opening eyes to warm milk with sugar
In a small plastic mug embellished with a sketched rabbit,     (10)
Printed leggings and black mary-janes,
Lying on the red metal bed asking questions became a part of this child.


Mother calling up the stairs that dinner would be ready soon,
Father's jazz playing while we ate,
And always being told to take three more bites before dessert,
Mother pushing the grocery cart, always forgetting milk,
While a pair of legs hung out kicking,
Father teaching to catch the small football under the Magnolia tree,
Mother reminding the Peroxide would only sting for a second on scrapes,
Mother and Father talking in the front seats on road trips became a part of this child.     (20)


Meeting the extremely old and powerful first graders,
Breaks from class playing football with all the boys,
"May I go to the bathroom please?"
Nap time where there would be anything but napping,
Circling the arena in a saddle on Saturday mornings,
Peering out of the window on Christmas Eve to catch a glimpse of  any reindeer,
Wishing more kids the same age would move to the neighborhood became a part of this child.


New friends to sit with at lunch,
The height difference of the new "boyfriend,"
The new girl on the block who would eventually be the most important person in the world,     (30)
Rumors sneaking through the hallways,
Falling continuously through style phases,
Trying out for the Lady Hurricanes volleyball team,
Terribly awkward haircuts and bad teeth became a part of this child.


Staying up through the late hours into the early morning,
Wishing for nothing more but sleep,
Having no best friends, but acquaintances,
The treat of seeing old pals,
Learning who really does care,
Improving as a person became a part of this child.     (40)


Worrying about grandma in New York on 9/11,
Not being able to pay the bills on time because of economic crisis,
Watching the country being handed over to someone who deserves it,
Praying a friend in Japan is okay after radiation leaks,
These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day.

The American Dream in Great Gatsby and Raisin in the Sun

The American Dream is a common, mostly unspoken goal of the people living in America. The two stories, Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, and The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both illustrate their own ideas and images of the American Dream. The different people in the books have similar and sometimes opposing views on parts of it.

Firstly, both Walter Younger and Gatsby want to seem very successful. Walter does whatever it takes to get lots of money in as little amount of time as possible. For example, when he gives all his money, including his sister’s college fund, to his friend to invest in a liquor store. He doesn’t realize that this would be a bad idea, which then results in the family losing a great amount of their finances. Gatsby is similar to Walter in the sense that he wants to show off his riches. He is constantly throwing parties that he himself doesn’t even attend, just for the sake of people knowing who he is and how much money he has to spend. In addition to this, he also tore himself away from his poor family, which included changing his name so he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed of them. Walter and Gatsby portray part of the American Dream that includes forgetting regular morals in pursuit of their goals.

In contrast to the disintegrating morals of Walter and Gatsby, the American Dream is shown in Daisy Buchanan and Ruth Younger in an opposite way. Both Daisy and Ruth want a perfect family life. Neither of them has luck with their significant others; Daisy’s husband is cheating on her, and Ruth and Walter disagree on many topics. For example, Daisy knew about Tom having an affair with Myrtle, but she doesn’t want to do anything about it because she’s afraid it might tear apart their family, more than it already is. Ruth does the same thing in the sense that she tries not to fight with Walter, such as in the opening scene of the story, and her main purpose in the household is to be the glue that keeps it together. Both Daisy and Ruth show the aspects of the perfect family life on their road to the American Dream.

Although these aspects of the American Dream are used throughout the novels and shown by many different characters, there is no morality happening in the stories. One of the only people in either book that has some sense of right or wrong is Lena Younger, the mother of Walter and Beneatha. Mama truly cares about all of the people in her life, no matter what faults they have. In The Great Gatsby, more than one character is shown doing terrible things without a second thought. For example, Tom beating Myrtle, Gatsby running over Myrtle without even stopping, and Wilson shooting Gatsby. There are no ethics when it comes to the people in the story, and this is also similar to the people in Raisin in the Sun. Mama is the only one who knows her priorities and will focus on positive things rather than the material values of the American Dream.

Word Count: 527

The Crisis vs. Speech in the Virginia Convention

Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry had very different styles of delivering their arguments against the control that the British had over America. Both were persuasive and strongly worded, however, I believe that Thomas Paine's speech was much more influential on the people's decisions on going to war.

Thomas Paine's debate had a much greater fire and spiritedness that wasn't as evident in Patrick Henry's. He seems to have more of a drive and sureness, whereas Henry seems to be more reserved and polite. For example, when Paine is explaining his anger with Britain, he says, "Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right...[to bind]... and if being bound in that manner, is nor slavery, then there is not such a thing as slavery upon earth." This is a very brisk and to-the-point way of going about his argument.

Another aspect that makes Patrick Henry's argument not as persuasive as Paine's is the fact that he asks lots of questions to his listeners. This can be confusing for the audience, and it could inspire alternate ideas that conflict with his original debate. His politeness can also be confused with insecurity when he says things such as, "[Men] often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining, as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs." Henry is very courteous to those around him, but I feel that Thomas Paine would have made a greater impression with a dive headfirst into his speech.

Overall, Thomas Paine just made a huge delivery in his speech that Henry couldn't compare to. He utilized his persuading skills in all ways possible.

Word count: 289

Elements of The American Dream

I believe that a big element of the American Dream is success. People spend their lives on the "pursuit of happiness," always striving to get to the top. Success doesn't necessarily have an origin, considering people have always had dreams and goals they wanted to accomplish. Naturally, over time, the definition of the word has altered to fit people's dreams. For example, during the Gold Rush in the mid 1800s, most Americans wanted to move west so that they could get a share in the valuable gold being found all over the region. At this time, success would have been considered to be finding gold and getting money to benefit your impoverished family, all after packing up and resettled onto new land out west to find a new life. This element is still very relevant in today's society. However, the meaning has changed greatly. Nowadays, it is measured more by how much money can be made while doing the least amount of work. Either way, success will always be a huge part of the American Dream, no matter how the meaning changes.

Word count: 182

Portfolio

1. Nature Poem

The most glorious thing of all is to run with a pack,
Imprinting worn pawprints to fresh snow,
Crawling through brush, stalking for our next attack.

Yellow eyes are watching and waiting,
With a graceful head tilt, one would see,
The concealing hiding spot is slowly fading,

Sniffing air tainted with the scent on our fur,
And suddenly they know of our plans,
And soon it's all a brownish blur,

They gallop fast, covering white blankets with black,
Time to run for our next meal,
But the smaller ones fall to the back,

Soon, our hunger will be satisfied,
The cubs will starve no more,
It's time to eat right when you get glossy-eyed,

You hear howls at the moon,
Get chills down your spine,
You know we'll be out soon,

Never can we stop moving,
We are nomads,
Otherwise, we'll be the ones losing,

The pack is the most important thing,
Eat a little at a time,
We'll have to save food until spring,

Winter has no mercy on us,
Hunting to survive,
We can't eat plants, so we must,

Glinting yellow out of tall grasses,
Watching, waiting,
Stalking as a deer passes passes.

2. The Most Beautiful ____

When I was about nine years old, my family took a trip to Door County, in Wisconsin. We didn’t travel a lot, so we decided to take some time to spend a weekend at a place called Europe Bay. There, we reserved a small home right on the edge of the water.

I had never been to a place like Europe Bay. Being a city girl, it was such a new experience for me to do things like catching a fish in the bay, spotting a deer crunching leaves nearby, walking the dirt paths through the forest, or even just stepping out of my back door right into the water. It was all so intriguing, but the thing that stuck out the most was the water of the bay itself.

One morning I woke up before any of my family members, which is a rarity, because I usually sleep until the early to mid afternoon. I stepped outside and quietly closed the door. Before me was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced. The rising sun was glimmering off of the water, making it sparkle against the dock and pine trees around me. I walked down to the rocks and stood in the shallow part of the water. Minnows swam around me, tickling my ankles. There was complete silence, except for a few birds chirping nearby. I don’t know how long I stood there for, just watching the water sparkle. The sight was meaningful to me because I knew that I could never see something like that in a city like Chicago. It was pretty intense for me to handle, as a nine year-old.

What depressed me about this great spectacle, though, was that after about 9:30 AM, the sun had risen enough that it didn’t reflect off of the water in the same way, so it wouldn’t create that golden sparkle that it had before. I did get to see it one more time before we left, though. The second my family and I got home, we started talking about how much we missed it already. We were all planning on going back, but we never got a chance to. I’m hoping that one day I will be able to visit again.

Word Count: 377

3. Native American Creation Story

There once was a Native American named Motego. Motego has an interesting hobby. At night, he liked to go into the forest and walk around, looking for any interesting thing he could find. He found lots of strange things that he would keep in a collection-- anything from animals skulls to beads of past tribes. Motego lived in a small family that didn’t have a lot of wealth or power, but he did have something that every warrior longed for-- pure silver arrowheads. These arrowheads were passed down to him by his great-great-grandfather.

One night, Motego was walking in the forest until he came to a clearing that he didn’t know was there. Suddenly, he heard a loud bird call above him. He looked up to see a sparkling white bird, the size of a man. Motego slowly pulled out his bow and arrows, tipped with silver. He started to shoot at the bird, but it was much to fast for him to hit. Every time he missed the bird, his silver arrowheads would stick in the sky.

Motego shot all of his silver-tipped arrows into the sky, missing the bird completely. He only had one arrow left, and he knew that if he didn’t kill the huge, white bird this time, he would have wasted his family relic and put himself to shame. Slowly, he pulled the arrow back into the bow, and shot. The arrow finally hit the bird, however, the force of the arrow was too large for the bird to fall. Instead, it dragged him all the way up to the heavens, along with all of Motego’s arrowheads.

The silver sparkled beautifully in the sky, but not nearly as beautiful as the white bird. The bird was hanging by the arrow in the sky, but only a large, white circle could be seen from so far away. To this day, Motego’s arrows can still be seen from Earth.

Word Count: 325

4. Weather Experience

When I was very little, my dad showed me the movie The Wizard of Oz for the first time. There’s a scene in the very beginning in which a tornado is sweeping Dorothy and her house up out of the ground. It’s supposed to be scary, but it’s not that bad. However, my mom seemed to think that this scene would make me paranoid about tornados for the rest of my life.

In some ways, my mom was right. I was afraid of tornados, but I don’t think it was because of that movie. I had lots of anxiety issues when I was younger anyway, which is especially strange for a little kid to have. Tornados were probably one of my biggest fears.

The first and only time I went to summer camp at about ten years old, I thought I was going to die. It was located in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields, and only held up with wooden beams. I literally did not believe I would make it home alive because I was just so afraid of a tornado coming and killing us all. The first night, we had a drill, just in case one did come along. I overheard some girls talking about how they wish there would be one so that they could see what it looked like.

The second day of camp was an absolute nightmare. Right after we got inside the cafeteria one night, there was, all of a sudden, some crazy wind blowing against the windows. It quickly became extremely dark outside, and the sky turned green. Rain was pounding on the roof harder than I’d ever heard before. Right when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, sirens went off. I don’t know why, but I think the sirens scared me more than the actual storm itself. They still freak me out. I think it’s just the fact that it signifies something very bad about to happen, from a hazardous material spill to severe weather conditions.

The power had gone out, and for some reason, an old phone wouldn’t stop ringing nearby. It was pitch-black and no one could see anything except through the windows into the storm. My friends didn’t seem too worried, which I thought was totally strange. We just talked until the storm was over. The power never turned back on, though, and we were left to sleep in an extremely hot room.

Having this experience of nature definitely changed me. I’m not afraid of storms anymore, and I’m not scared to go out in rural areas, where they are most common. The fear that I felt that day was intense, but I didn’t react as I would at home, alone, primarily for the fact that I didn’t want my friends to see me freak out about something they saw as normal. I’m glad I got over my fear. I really just needed to experience it firsthand, to make me snap out of such a silly phase.

5. Response to Pieces

The Devil and Tom Walker:
With the strange affairs that Tom Walker deals with, seems to be an overall bad person, if not something of a sociopath. In fact, people who commit violent, harmful crimes have a good chance of being a sociopath. This shows that if someone doesn't feel for anything but yourself, have no morals, and don't regret hurting other people, then they probably won't be getting any good karma, or in Tom Walker's case, going to heaven. On that note, this story could also indirectly be about karma. He spent his whole life cheating, stealing, and lying, and in return, he got his soul taken from, a lost wife, and the ultimate price of being sent to hell. Tom doesn't regret anything, and only thinks of himself. This story could be a message to those who don't necessarily think before doing, or do anything out of pure generosity. Tom constantly would fight with his wife over materialistic things, traded his soul for money, and then got a job cheating people out of their money. If all of these things are added up, it's shown that he doesn't ever think about the future. Instead, he only focuses on what he can have right this second, even if it could hurt him in the long run. This lack of thought and doing good is what ends up sending him to hell.

Word Count: 227

The Earth on Turtle's Back:

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I liked the fact that included characters being underestimated, and then rising to prove others wrong. This is mostly shown when the muskrat dives down out of pure determination to get the piece of earth. Even though she was the smallest and, "not as strong or as swift as the others," she made it down to the depths of the ocean. I thought it was very brave of the muskrat to do this, considering she risked her life to save the Woman From The Sky. In relation to another story, this Native American myth is similar to the moral of the The Devil and Tom Walker. Both include acts of selflessness and helping other people before yourself. Also, after totally comprehending this story after reading only one time through, I started to wonder if this was meant mainly for children to learn from the adults of their tribe. In the first few paragraphs, it is clear that the Native Americans thought that their dreams were symbolic of their futures and that they needed to act upon them. This is shown when the wife dreams of the Great Tree being uprooted from the Skyland, and when she tells her husband, the chief, he has to make sure it happens.

Word Count: 212

When Grizzlies Walked Upright:

In the story When Grizzlies Walked Upright, I didn’t understand a lot of the reasonings of the Chief of the Sky Spirits. He seems to have something of a temper, considering he overreacts multiple times in the story. First of all, when he got angry with his home in the Above World, he seems to be making a big fuss out of nothing and is very whiney. He leaves just because it’s a little chilly, which, in my opinion, is a really pointless reason to leave. The second time he does something stupid, he sends a storm throughout the mountain that ends up hurting his own eyes, so he puts his daughter at risk by sending her up the mountain. This is also a very obnoxious thing to do, because if she were to get hurt, which she does, it’s all his fault. The third time the Spirit Chief does something stupid is when he expects his daughter to look the same as when he left her. Instead of being thankful that the bears took care of her all this time, he acts put off by the whole situation. He gets furious with the grizzlies and makes them only able to walk on four legs, and not able to talk anymore. Again, there is a hidden theme of doing things selflessly in order to maintain happiness.

Word Count: 226

To Build a Fire:

In the story To Build A Fire, the main character has some sort of problem following basic safety instructions. It can be assumed that he feels that he is above some of the precautions that other campers he’s met have given him, by the amount of disregard he shows to the important advice they’ve passed on to him. The fact that he takes the dog could seem endearing in the beginning, as if the purpose of bringing it would be to have a bonding experience for both of them. Instead, the main character brings the animal to make it do things that the man doesn’t want to do, such as test the ice ahead of him. Even though the dog clearly knows that it’s not a good idea, the man pays no attention to the animal’s instincts, and pushes him into the freezing water. All of this disrespect towards the gut feeling that could have helped them survive ends up biting them in the butt. If the man had done the smart thing by not going out in such cold weather, then he wouldn’t have had to build multiple fires that wasted his time. He was then acting even more selfish by thinking of killing the dog for warmth, which is even stupider than his other plans. The dog would only stay warm for a few minutes out in that extreme cold, and he’d have no one to help guide him through the wilderness anymore. The man overall just seemed like a complete moron.

Word Count: 254

The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls:

With the poem, The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, I felt that it could almost be paradoxical. Henry Longfellow is writing about life and people living their days out, and for many people, life is a very chaotic thing. They may want to fast-forward through the hard parts, and pause on a special moment forever. However, this poem illustrates the idea that no matter what’s going on in everyone’s minds, time goes on. I don’t necessarily know why, but I also associated the tide in the poem with the earth in general. The fact that the author mentions a few different general happenings in the world makes it seem like he could be saying that all people have hundreds of thousands of stories of their own, whether the people are alive or passed away, but they all intertwine into one big story of the earth (the tide). I started thinking about this when I associated the poem with a book I recently read, called The Five People You Meet in Heaven. They share the same idea about time going on, and the fact that no person is really significant at all, and that they live and pass quietly, with tears and laughs only shared by a small amount of people compared to all of the people of the world.

Word Count: 220

6. Reaction to Essays: River Driftwood, The Divine Soil, and The Sound of Trees


In John Burroughs', "The Divine Soil" he talks a lot about reactions to Darwin's theories and ideas about nature. It is clear that Burroughs doesn't agree with the reasons that Darwin thinks of nature the way he does. The biologist thinks that nature is amazing, incredible, awe-inspiring... Everything that the author thinks. However, as shown in the quote, "[I]t has prepared the way for a conception of man, his origin, his development, and in a measure his destiny, that at last makes him at home in the universe," Burroughs has an idea that nature is much more than evolution and science. Through physics and biology and chemistry and all types of studies we can concur many things about the way nature is and why it works the way it does. However, we never look at what nature does to and for us, in more than just a physical state. This is similar to ideas given in an essay by Sarah Orne Jewett. In her writing, "River Driftwood," there are many times when she's talking to or about the animals around her. She recalls the different animals watching and listening to her, and she notices that even though she's passing by on the river, the animals still go about their business. They're just more cautious when she's around. She says, describing gulls she sees nearby, "He watches me with his sharp eyes." This is also relevant to "The Sound of Trees," by Robert Frost. In his poem, he describes people talking all the time, rather than being silent and listening, like the trees. He says, "I wonder about the trees:/ Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" This relates to Jewett's writing in the sense that the different parts of nature know to watch and listen to the earth and follow instincts rather than do as humans do. 

Classmate I am Thankful For

Thanksgiving is a great time of year. Everyone eats a ton, we become humbled to think of how much has been given to us, and we're grateful for how lucky we are to have such luxuries. In addition to being thankful for how much I can stuff my face, I'm thankful for Melanie "Melon" Balanon. Melon is a great friend to me. As much as we talk, we constantly tease each other. I ask her what was due for homework, and she asks me what outfit she should wear. I'm very appreciative that she's such a delightful friend.
Word count: 98