My social experiment was to dress up in a wild outfit, and go out to eat with Lilly Edwards, Delaney Abbrusseze, and Lily Trbovich. I wore a tie-dye, rainbow, dinosaur one-sie, and at 7 o'clock went out to eat at Panera. There were many mixed reactions to this experiment. The manager and cashier both said they thought it was awesome and hilarious, and some other workers asked if it was an experiment for sociology. However, other's reacted in a very different way. When I first walked into Panera, there were a group of teenagers who immediately started laughing and pointing. Another group of teenagers, were pointing and laughing the whole time we were there. When Lily got up to go get a drink, they sneered at her and laughed. Other adults were trying very hard not to look or acknowledge us, and another women and her child laughed and pointed while walking out the door. During the experiment, I felt out of place and different, and at first shy when we all walked through the door. As the night went on, I was more annoyed that the teenagers kept pointing and whispering about us. I was surprised by this reaction, because I had expected a few looks or laughs, but these kids kept up the laughs and pointing for at least 30 minutes, until we left. It wasn't a huge deal that we were wearing something different, and they made it into one.
Based on this experiment, I was in a place of someone who might look different or be different. I thought it was awesome how accepting some people were, while others were the complete opposite. I think everyone should be free to be who they are, and other's shouldn't be so quick to judge them for that. In conclusion, no one should be afraid of being judged, because everyone is different, and my friends that I was with just laughed and went along with it because they were wearing crazy things too. No one should be afraid to wear what they want, or do what they want either.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Personal Quote Journal
The quote that I chose to write about was the quote, "Let all that you do be done in love." I chose this quote because I really liked the message that it portrayed. It's saying that you should be kind to everyone, and that everything you do, you do with happiness and love. This quotation is representative of me and my actions because whenever I do something, I try to do it and be happy, because whatever you choose to do, you need to have a positive attitude about and do it with happiness. Whenever you do something with a positive attitude, it makes the activity 10 times more enjoyable, and you are happy doing it. If I lived my life every second according to this quote, I would always be cheerful. I would do everything with a smile, and enjoy even the things I don't like. Cleaning my room and taking out the trash would become tasks that I would enjoy, because I would do these things in happiness and love. Life would be very cheerful and happy if I lived my whole life to this quote.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
The Willow Tree
Steiner 1
Abby Steiner
Mrs. Belden
Period 4
October 14, 2014
The Willow Tree
The cold waves of the pond splashed against my feet, and my toes dug into the thick sand. It was a cold night, and the wind pierced through my jacket like a thousand tiny knives. I hardly noticed.
My mind was numb. It had been ever since October 20, 2013. It was a year later, and it hadn't gotten any easier since then. My heart was still in as million pieces.
I looked up from the pond to see the willow tree. That stupid willow tree. It was beckoning me with its long, dead arms. The bark was still jagged and rough, the tree still dead. I walked over to it and ran my hand over the ridged tree back.
My mind was instantly taken back to a year ago.
It was a beautiful, spring Saturday night in Montana. I was sitting in my room listening to music when my mom walked in. She was wearing a beautiful blue sundress, my favorite one. She walked over to me and immediately the room was filled with the aroma of peppermint, her signature smell.
"Kara!" she yelled. I took my headphones out.
"Your father and I are leaving for downtown to go to dinner. We should be home no later than 11:00, but there's no need to wait up for us," she said.
"Have fun! Bye!" I called as she race out the door.
I spent the night typing my French essay and drinking as much coffee as possible, since the essay was due by midnight and I hadn't even started. Just as I finished, I glanced at my watch, and jumped back in shock. 11:30?! How had it gotten so late? I hand't even noticed while I was working.
I left a lamp on downstairs for my parents when they got home. I figured dinner was just running late; downtown was always busy on Saturdays. I climbed into my bed, pulled my cream comforter around me, and pulled out my book.
Another hour passed by.
I couldn't shake the feeling of worry in my stomach. It was a seed, growing more and more every minute. My parents were never late, and they were supposed to be back a hour and a half ago.
I dialed my moms cell phone, and waited for it to ring. Straight to voicemail. I tried my dads phone and the same thing happened. I climbed back into bed, trying not to let fear take over me.
10 minutes later, there was a pounding on the front door.
"Mom? Dad?" I called, looking through the peephole. A police officer met my eye.
"How can I help you?" I asked, opening the door, confusion and panic evident in my voice.
His face was a face I will never forget, filled with deep sorrow and pain.
"Miss... I have some news about your parents. They-" his voice caught in his throat, and he cleared it. I clenched my hands together to keep myself from shaking.
"Your parents were in a fatal accident tonight. As they were turning the bend around the pond to come home, the car caught on something on the road. They flew headfirst the will tree by the pond. I'm so sorry Kara. They didn't make it to the hospital in time." The sheriff said, bowing his head.
My mind went blank. I felt like I was going to throw up, and this new reality suddenly felt like a dream. My heart felt as if it were splitting into two pieces. I knew I had to get to that willow tree. I had to see that this wasn't true, that I was on some prank T.V. show. Anything was better than the truth.
The pond wasn't far from my house, and it took me three minutes to run there. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the tree.
It was almost split in half, with a huge hole in the middle. The bark was destroyed where the car used to be, ragged and spiked around the edges. The car and my parents were taken away from the scene. I walked over to the willow tree, hating it. I started sobbing uncontrollably, and wrapped my arms around the tree.
I snapped out of the memory, and saw my arms wrapper around the tree. I hadn't even noticed. I wasn't mad at the world anymore, but instead I wanted to happy things my parents had brought to this earth.
The gaping hole in the tree was healing. I held the tree tight, and gave my parents one last goodbye hug.
"I love you guys," I whispered, finally letting go of the willow tree.
I walked away from the tree, and started to walk back to my house. I turned around one final time, and saw that the willow tree had small, pink flower buds growing on it. It was starting fresh, starting a new life even with all its scars.
And so was I.
I dialed my moms cell phone, and waited for it to ring. Straight to voicemail. I tried my dads phone and the same thing happened. I climbed back into bed, trying not to let fear take over me.
10 minutes later, there was a pounding on the front door.
"Mom? Dad?" I called, looking through the peephole. A police officer met my eye.
"How can I help you?" I asked, opening the door, confusion and panic evident in my voice.
His face was a face I will never forget, filled with deep sorrow and pain.
"Miss... I have some news about your parents. They-" his voice caught in his throat, and he cleared it. I clenched my hands together to keep myself from shaking.
"Your parents were in a fatal accident tonight. As they were turning the bend around the pond to come home, the car caught on something on the road. They flew headfirst the will tree by the pond. I'm so sorry Kara. They didn't make it to the hospital in time." The sheriff said, bowing his head.
My mind went blank. I felt like I was going to throw up, and this new reality suddenly felt like a dream. My heart felt as if it were splitting into two pieces. I knew I had to get to that willow tree. I had to see that this wasn't true, that I was on some prank T.V. show. Anything was better than the truth.
The pond wasn't far from my house, and it took me three minutes to run there. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the tree.
It was almost split in half, with a huge hole in the middle. The bark was destroyed where the car used to be, ragged and spiked around the edges. The car and my parents were taken away from the scene. I walked over to the willow tree, hating it. I started sobbing uncontrollably, and wrapped my arms around the tree.
I snapped out of the memory, and saw my arms wrapper around the tree. I hadn't even noticed. I wasn't mad at the world anymore, but instead I wanted to happy things my parents had brought to this earth.
The gaping hole in the tree was healing. I held the tree tight, and gave my parents one last goodbye hug.
"I love you guys," I whispered, finally letting go of the willow tree.
I walked away from the tree, and started to walk back to my house. I turned around one final time, and saw that the willow tree had small, pink flower buds growing on it. It was starting fresh, starting a new life even with all its scars.
And so was I.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Metacognitive Blog: And Then There Were None
From my first draft of my And Then There Were None essay to my last draft, the only thing that I really changed was my spelling and grammar errors. There was nothing huge about my essay that I felt needed changing, because I was happy with how I brainstormed my ideas before and laid them all out.
The form of support that helped me the most with my essay was showing an adult my rough draft. I feel that this helped the most because and adult has more experience with writing, and they've been around reading and writing longer then we all have. Adults can see things like spelling errors that we may not always catch, and showing my mom my essay really helped me improve my spelling and sentence structure.
The things that will help me most this year will be showing an adult my rough draft. I also think a good idea to help me would be to upload my rough draft to my blog, and have my peers comment on anything that they see I should change, or edit about my draft. I think it would be cool to get some feedback from my peers, and get their input on my writings and stories!
As a writer, the thing I want to work on most is expanding my vocabulary. This will help me tremendously with my stories, and being able to provide descriptive imagery and setting to provide my reader with a strong picture in their heads.
I hope that we can upload rough drafts to our blog, because I think that will really help all of us as writers, and help us get feedback from our peers too!
The form of support that helped me the most with my essay was showing an adult my rough draft. I feel that this helped the most because and adult has more experience with writing, and they've been around reading and writing longer then we all have. Adults can see things like spelling errors that we may not always catch, and showing my mom my essay really helped me improve my spelling and sentence structure.
The things that will help me most this year will be showing an adult my rough draft. I also think a good idea to help me would be to upload my rough draft to my blog, and have my peers comment on anything that they see I should change, or edit about my draft. I think it would be cool to get some feedback from my peers, and get their input on my writings and stories!
As a writer, the thing I want to work on most is expanding my vocabulary. This will help me tremendously with my stories, and being able to provide descriptive imagery and setting to provide my reader with a strong picture in their heads.
I hope that we can upload rough drafts to our blog, because I think that will really help all of us as writers, and help us get feedback from our peers too!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
The Fault In Our Stars Timed Writing Revisions
Over the summer, I read a book called The Fault in our Stars by John Green. This book is about two teenagers who are both cancer victims. They meet at a cancer support group and fall in love with each other. Their love is filled with adventure, tragedy, romance, and joy. The Fault in our Stars has one main theme throughout the book. It is: no matter who you are or what has happened to you, you can always love and be loved. This theme is supported by two main examples, which are Augustus and Hazel's romance, and Isaac and Augustus's friendship.
The first detail that supports this theme is Augustus and Hazel's romance. When Hazel is 11, she is diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid and lungs. She is now 17, is weak, has a machine to help her breathe, and she's depressed. Augustus is diagnosed with cancer in his bones and throughout his body. He beat it once before, and has lost a leg because of it, but he was cancer free at the time. Later in The Fault in our Stars, Augustus tells Hazel his cancer is back and incurable. When Augustus and Hazel first meet, it is love at first sight. They go on dates to parks, art museums, and Augustus surprised Hazel by arranging to take her to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author. These are examples of the theme, because although they are both terribly sick, they don't let that get in the way of being with each other and being happy. Despite the grave future they have, they live life to the fullest and are so happy with each other. They love each other, and they know the other loves them too. They don't let what has happened get in the way of their love.
Another detail that supports the theme is Augustus and Isaacs friendship. Isaac is diagnosed with cancer in his eyes, and gets an operation that makes him go completely blind. Augustus supports Isaac and is there for him, even though this terrible thing has happened to him. He loves Isaac and will do anything to be by his side and make him happy. Augustus takes Isaac to egg his ex girlfriend's house, because she said she couldn't be with him after he went blind. This detail supports the theme because Augustus doesn't care if Isaac is blind or care about what attitude he has towards it. Augustus loves Isaac and is willing to do anything to make him happy and enjoy life. He doesn't judge Isaac for what he looks like, he judges him for what's on the inside.
In conclusion, The Fault in our Stars has one main theme supported throughout the book. The theme is, no matter what has happened to you or who you are, you can always love and be loved. John Green displays this theme beautifully throughout the book, especially with theme examples. Augustus and Hazel, and Isaac and Augustus are perfect examples of this theme that is shown all throughout the book.
The first detail that supports this theme is Augustus and Hazel's romance. When Hazel is 11, she is diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid and lungs. She is now 17, is weak, has a machine to help her breathe, and she's depressed. Augustus is diagnosed with cancer in his bones and throughout his body. He beat it once before, and has lost a leg because of it, but he was cancer free at the time. Later in The Fault in our Stars, Augustus tells Hazel his cancer is back and incurable. When Augustus and Hazel first meet, it is love at first sight. They go on dates to parks, art museums, and Augustus surprised Hazel by arranging to take her to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author. These are examples of the theme, because although they are both terribly sick, they don't let that get in the way of being with each other and being happy. Despite the grave future they have, they live life to the fullest and are so happy with each other. They love each other, and they know the other loves them too. They don't let what has happened get in the way of their love.
Another detail that supports the theme is Augustus and Isaacs friendship. Isaac is diagnosed with cancer in his eyes, and gets an operation that makes him go completely blind. Augustus supports Isaac and is there for him, even though this terrible thing has happened to him. He loves Isaac and will do anything to be by his side and make him happy. Augustus takes Isaac to egg his ex girlfriend's house, because she said she couldn't be with him after he went blind. This detail supports the theme because Augustus doesn't care if Isaac is blind or care about what attitude he has towards it. Augustus loves Isaac and is willing to do anything to make him happy and enjoy life. He doesn't judge Isaac for what he looks like, he judges him for what's on the inside.
In conclusion, The Fault in our Stars has one main theme supported throughout the book. The theme is, no matter what has happened to you or who you are, you can always love and be loved. John Green displays this theme beautifully throughout the book, especially with theme examples. Augustus and Hazel, and Isaac and Augustus are perfect examples of this theme that is shown all throughout the book.
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