Lesson Learned

When I was a little girl, I used to stand on top of the washing machine to reach the cabinets. My mom had always warned me that it would eventually not take my weight and break with me on it. I never listened. One time, however, as I was reaching up to get a plate, the washing machine broke! I fell backwards and hit my head on the table. I immediately started yelling at my mom and telling her to come help me. She walked into the kitchen, looked at me, and said, "I told you this would happen." She helped me up and sat me down at the table and asked, "What are you going to do the next time I tell you something? Are you going to listen to me and not do it?" I knew that I should have listened to my mom and now every time she tells me something important, I listen to her because I know that it will eventually come true.

Comma What?

My father had left our house in the midst of a fight between Lindsey and my mother. My mother was trying to get Lindsey to go with her to the Y to swim. Without thinking, Lindsey had blared, "I'd rather die!", at the top of her lungs. My father watched as my mother froze, then burst fleeing to their bedroom to wail behind the door. He quietly tucked his notebook in his jacket pocket, took the car keys off the hook by the back door, and snuck out.

Gossip Got Your Tongue?

If you triple-filtered every conversation you had, it would be a totally new experience. Most people don't think before they start talking about someone and if you were there to ask them those three questions, they probably wouldn't understand why you were. I think that triple-filtering everything is a good idea; it would most likely help with all the gossip that goes around all the time.
I think people gossip, even though they know how it feels, because everybody does it no matter who gets hurt or anything. Sure, we know it's wrong and it does hurt people, but then we think, "Well, I got hurt because of gossip, so it's alright if I gossip, too." This is hardly the case. It is wrong to gossip about people, whether you are being talked about or not; we shouldn't go around doing it.

Literary Elements: TAKS PT 3

1. Satire- a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.
2. Irony-the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.

3. Analogy- inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others.
4. Foreshadowing- to represent, indicate, or typify beforehand.

Figurative Language

1. Figurative- representing by a figure or resemblance.

2. Figure of Speech- form of expression used to convey meaning or heighten effect often b comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning familiar to the reader.

3. Imagery- mental images.

4. Trope- the use of a word or expression in a figurate sense.

5. The common idea through out all of these words in to enhance the words to make them not so dull. You want the reader to enjoy your writings, not become bored with them.

Story Spinners: Option 2

The long scar just below her left knee was enough for me to know that she had been in an accident. I wasn't quite sure what could make such a scar, but for me, being curious andimmature, was enough for me to want to find out. As the bus was pulling up into the station, I bee-lined straight towards her and asked if I may sit beside her. I could tell by her expression that she was a little surprised and didn't know quite what to say, but she accepted and let me.

We began our journey around noon that day and the sun was so bright that even in the bus, I had to squint my eyes to look at her. I didn't want to seem rude and straightforward to just spit out what I wanted to know, so I took my time and asked her a few questions before I said anything about her scar. The time came to ask and I knew what I wanted to say, "I don't mean to seem rude or anything, but I noticed your scar, and was curious about what may have caused it." Immediately her body became rigid and I knew that I had just touched a sensitive subject. She looked at me, and then around the bus, and finally said, "If you really want to know, you must get off the bus with me at the next stop and only then will I tell you." Knowing how serious this was, I had to say yes.

As we got off the bus, I noticed we were at a little farm market in a tiny village. I wasn't sure where we were, but apparently she did. She walked straight into a hut and told me to sit down and not to touch anything and then she walked out. I looked around at my surroundings to try and put any of this mystery together. Inside the hut there was a cot, roses, a mat, and a small fire place. I hadn't any idea why there would be roses inside, but I didn't have time to think about that because she walked back in. "I will tell you my story now, but you must listen and not say anything at all. If you say anything about this to anyone, I will kill you." Somehow, not even knowing her credentials, I knew she was serious.

To Be Continued...