Double Point of View

Author's Note: I was assigned to write about how the point of view affects the story, and how the story would change if it had been written from another characters point of view.

In Secret Soldier, a historic fiction novel, the story is told from Deborah Sampson's point of view. Deborah explains what life is like putting on britches and entering a world where men dominate. She pretends to be one of them, terrified of being caught. She sees them all as evil masters, creating a world where women are scarcely needed and poorly treated. Further into the story, she befriends a man named Roger. After attempting to bathe with Deborah he figures out her secret. Deborah makes constant efforts to share her story and begs Roger not to report her, but he shies away and refuses to talk to her. Deborah begins to dwell on memories and eventually falls in love with Roger. However, if the story was told from Roger's point of view, the book entirely would not contain the word "love" at all. He sees a demanding stalker with a passion for his trust. Sure, he saw her without britches--or any clothes at all-- but it means nothing to him. Her personal business belongs to her, he should have nothing to do with it. The tale of Deborah Sampson is true, and her accurate views throughout the book prove it. Unfortunately, Roger's opinions were unheard. As interesting of a story they both may have, he died at war without ear caring for his side of the story.

Harrison Bergeron

I sit on the couch as I am supposed to after work. You see, this is the only rest time we receive, besides sleeping time. Today was a long one.

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George came home! Oh how I hate being lonely. Lonely, lonely me..

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George is too tired to go out tonight, so we'll sit at home and watch the television. Oh how I wish he could take those weights off.

"You been so tired lately,"

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"You're kind of wore out," I said. "If there was just some way we could make a little hole in the bottom of the bag, and just take out a few of them lead balls. Just a few."

"Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out," he told me. "I don't call that a bargain."

"If you could just take a few out when you came home from work," I said. "I mean-you don't compete with anybody around here. You just sit around."

Im strongly against his formal acts around me. He's no competition to me!

"If I tried to get away with it," he said, "then other people'd get away with it-and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn't like that, would you?"

"I'd hate it," I thought out loud.

"There you are, the minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society?"

A few minutes passed.

"Reckon it'd fall all apart," I replied.

"What would?" he said blankly.

"Society," I was getting confused now. "Wasn't that what you just said?

"Who knows?" said George.

Poor George. I'm glad I don't have a handicap. I must be perfect.

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Oh! The dancers are so pretty on TV, I wish to be one someday.

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A boy came on the screen, he looks familiar. Harrison! My son, whatever happened to him. I can't remember why he left us. I feel tears running down my face.

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George walked in with a beer. "You been crying" he said.

"Yup," I replied.

He asked what I'd been crying about.

I had forgotten.

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"Something real sad on television."

"What was it?" he said.

"It's all kind of mixed up in my mind," I said.

"Forget sad things,"

"I always do,"

"That's my girl," said George. His face shriveled in pain. The handicap did that to him sometimes.

"Gee - I could tell that one was a doozy," I told him.

"You can say that again,"

"Gee-", "I could tell that one was a doozy."

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Other People's  Business

Author's Note: This is my prediction piece to I The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.  Included is a scene I have written that I believe would fit well into the book's resolution.   

After walking outside to greet his friend (the neighbors dog) Wellington,  Christopher was spotted stroking dead Wellington's bloody head.  Mrs. Shears, Wellington's owner called the police and screamed repeatedly at Christopher, who is autistic and didn't enjoy this.  After being released from jail, Christopher makes it his goal to figure out who did kill Wellington and why.

 I believe that Mrs. Shears killed her own dog.  I think this because the main characters shows evidence that her shock after finding out that her dog had died, couldn't have been because of surprise.  Also, when Christopher went to investigate who did kill the dog, Mrs. Shears was not open to talk about it, yet she didn't feel sad.   If Mrs. Shears did not kill her dog, because she is not showing proper emotions,  I am positive she knows who did.  The books mode of literature from my perspective so far is a comedy. 

I walked into the shed of Mrs. Shears, father had told me not to 8 times in the past week and I had been relying on white lies to keep me out of trouble.  It was very spacious in here. I did not like spacious, it reminded me of a show I watched with Mother once; the man walked into a spacious room with all the lights off, and martial arts fighters jumped out from all directions.  I knew this wasn't going to happen here, the worst thing that could happen would be that Mrs. Shears would find me and call the police again. I would not like this.  While looking around and dreaming about the possible uses of all the machinery in here, I spotted the fork.  The fork that was used to kill Wellington was in Mrs. Shears shed.  I ran to the police.  I had solved the crime, Mother would have been so proud.

A Pleasant Way to Die

Author's Note: Here is my abstract piece that was written after I wrote my essay "A Pleasant Way to Die".

In my recently written essay, "A Pleasant Way to Die", I prove that the narrators husband was setting the narrator -- his wife -- up for death by insanity. In the short story, he took her to a house she openly admitted she was afraid of and was never home to comfort her. The husband is a physician. With knowledge of the body, he locks his wife up and confines her to her bed. She refers to "bars" surrounding the walls. These bars symbolize the jail cell she feels like the house is, having no freedom to leave under her husbands close watch. Most readers would think that he is doing this to cure the illness she claims to have, but she clearly states "He does not believe I am sick!" Why does he pretend to be concerned for her well-being? Why does he feed her strange tonics and assign her strange activities? Why could he possibly enjoy torturing his own wife?

My last piece of proof regarding this man's deliberate killing of his wife takes place in the final scene. The husband fainted when he saw his wife creeping along her wall in pure insanity. The reader writes the scene to make us believe he was taken by sadness regarding the small portion of his wife's life that is left. Unfortunately, the cruelest part of this short story is that he does not faint from sadness, he faints because his experiment to turn his wife insane has succeeded. He was so overcome with excitement, he couldn't even stand.

A Make-Shift Mother

Author's Note: We were assigned to choose one character from the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird and write a creative piece from that character's point of view. I wrote about what Calpurnia, the maid, thought about the series of events taking place after Tom Robinson's court case, and what she thought of Scout and Jem.

No series of unfortunate events ain't gonna stop me from caring for these wonerful folks. I came here years ago feelin' bad for Atticus's loss, not knowing his gal personally but hearing stories and rumors about her fine skin and nice personality. I knew I's only apposed to cook and clean, but after seein' the depression in this family I knew it was my time to step up and play the mother role in these kids lives. Jem didn't need me much, seein' as how he's growin' to be a fine man like his Daddy, but Scout..oh that child needed me more than ever. Not only does she refuse to wear dresses, but Ol' Alexandra want her to join all them ladies at the gossip table! Scout wont know what's comin. Hopefully by the time Alexandra say she don't need me round here no more, Ill have left enough impact for lil Scout to be a fit young lady. Yes, I said it. There will someday be a time when Alexandra offically replaces me. Now don't go worryin' about me, Ill be ready. I'm getting old anyway. Black women don't show it, but the ladies down yonder near Dolphis Raymond, they in they deep 50's when they look fit to be 25.

Now two different mysteries have been solved in the past busy week. Number One, Boo Radley's real as the sun shinin' down in the evening. After hearin' them children's stories about his whereabouts for the past few years "Boo Radley's a mad murderer!" "Boo Radley sewed up Jem's pants, Calpurnia!" "Boo Radley ain't left that house for 30 years!" I finally got to see the nice fellow. Saved Jem's life, he did.

The other mystery solved is what Mr. Ewell's been plannin. We knew after the court case that he wouldn't let Atticus out of his reach for long, but none of us knew he would tryin' kill his chillun! After he brought out that knife, any folk in all of Maycomb would've done the same as Mr. Radley. Now he's dead an no longer a problem. Jem's still sleepin his life away, but I suppose he would've done that anyway. And Scout's been trying to contact Dill. Those three chillun are my reason for bein' here. Without them I would be trapped up in my church day and night. Although I am thankful, I must keep 'em in my sight for as long as I can. I'm gonna make sure they grow up to be big and strong, and never forget they make-shift mother, me, Ol' Calpurnia.

What It Takes to Make A Child Cry

Author's Note: I found a piece in To Kill A Mockingbird that really spoke to me. It's found on page 198.

All children are sensitive until they reach their teenaged years, and all cares fade away. But while they are children, cuts, scrapes and bruises can cause tears for hours. Unlike adults though, they have no real emotions for negative words and events. Knowing this, I found it strange how halfway through the court case in To Kill A Mockingbird, Dill broke out in tears. Reverand Stykes, Jem and Scout took him outside and prompted him to explain his emotions. Dill was sick to the point of tears on the racism of the people of Maycomb County. If such unfairness can do this to a child, then just imagine what it must be doing to adults like Judge Taylor. Dills sadness proves what the case is doing to the county, and everyone in it.

Thoughts Not Meant to be Shared

Author's Note: On page 53, Mr. Neck begins a rampage on how his son can't get a job. Melinda and David sit through his lecture with deep hatred.

Mr. Neck: "So tell me why my son can't get a job"

How does a Social Studies class answer such a question? How is it relevant to social studies in the first place? You can't; It isn't. The author put this passage in Speak to showcase how cruel of a man Mr. Neck really is. Simply because his son cannot get a job as a firefighter in New York (because of lack of talent, strength, education, connections, or a possible criminal record -- it does not say) he lectures his ninth grade class on how America should close its borders so that real citizens can get the jobs they need, and opens this up for discussion. Any teacher in their right mind at Pewaukee High School, Middle School, or Elementary school would never do such a thing unless they are preparing for a note asking for them to kindly take an unpaid vacation for the rest of the year. We now know that Mr. Neck has no sympathy for students, is discriminitive toward races besides his own, and has absolutely no passion for teaching. If Melinda's life was ever climbing toward happy before this point, Mr. Neck rolled it up into a snowball and sent it right back down.

Yellow, Blue & Orange Petals

Author's Note: This is my quote analysis from Fahrenheit 451 I chose the quote from Page 120:: "Montag caught [the flying book] with a bloom of fire, a wondrous blossom that curled in petals of yellow and blue and orange."

This particular quote shows how much Montag enjoys burning books. He likes the rush that the heat brings him and seeing the ash colored heads and soot smothered faces of his fellow fire men. The tone seems serene, which I noticed when I read how he resided to a state of peace while burning in the first part of the book. The way he compares the flames to flowers, possibly symbolizes how beautiful they both are. However, the flames he creates aren't campfires if he is referring to them as blue. These are hot, dangerous, death-causing fires. I don't think that he realizes how evil they are until he sees a women sent to ash along with her books. The purpose of this quote is to show how Montag honestly believed that what he did to books was virtuous. Having had no desire to ever pick one up and take in their lessons, Montag remains ignorant and immune to their addicting content and genuine morals.

The Will To Live

Author's Note: This Essay, written earlier in the year about Life of Pi by Yann Martel, is meant to demonstrate my knowledge on dash construction and semicolons.


When trapped on a boat with a hungry Bengal Tiger, just what kind of actions are acceptable in order to live? Pi Patel struggles to battle insanity while sharing a 26 foot long lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific ocean. His clothes have disintegrated, his skin is burned, he has no weapons at hand, and he is weak; fighting is not an answer. Most teenaged boys would have given up by now, acknowledging their fate and letting death take them, but Pi has a strange will to live. In the long run he does fight -- but not the tiger. He fights to live, and keep his furry enemy alive as well.

The manual Pi finds on the boat lets him know that an idle mind sinks. He interprets this that without entertainment, he will literally die of boredom. Pi creates a schedule for himself to follow everyday until his rescue arrives. It consists of fishing, praying, observing Richard Parker, and tending the lifeboat. Pi did not count days, he had no calendar, he survived on repetition and reminding himself that time was an illusion. He showed death that he was not an easy victim, even with a 450 pound tiger lying beneath him.

There wasn't a reason to keep the tiger alive; Pi simply figured he couldn't kill it, and it would serve as entertainment. A tiger symbolized confidence to his fellow Buddhists, and security in the Hindu world. Besides its claws teeth and prey drive it couldn't be too much of a problem. As the days danced by, Pi began a comparison of himself and the tiger. He had transformed from an avowed vegetarian to a merciless killer. When situations became rough and food was scarce, the tiger came first. Its importance was greater than Pi's and they both knew it. The tiger became a part of Pi, and in times of need Richard Parker, the tiger's name, came out from under the boat for Pi's needs. However, in times of peace and filled bellies, Pi found he could tame his tiger. Once the couple reached the island, where food, water, and shelter were all available, Richard Parker disappeared. He was no longer needed; Pi could survive on his own, and so could Parker. Eventually they knew society needed to once again be searched for. Pi packed up his tiger and returned to sea.

When Pi arrived at the safety of land and civilization Richard Parker ran into the jungle, hopefully never to be needed again. Pi then had the tough job of explaining what had happened in the last 227 days to men interested in the sinking of his original ship. They could care less about his story about a "tiger" aboard the lifeboat, nor did they believe it. Now, only Pi had survived the sinking ship. His mother, the chef, and an additional sailor had all killed each other on the journey, so there was no one to tell opposing stories. Pi could make up a world of lies and these men would have no choice but to trust him! Luckily for them, Pi spared their innocent ears from the gore and terror that he had experienced by making up a story about zoo animals. Whether he doubted their belief in the cruel acts humans are capable of, or he couldn't take the pain the real story brought him, we may never figure out. But in the end of the story Pi confirmed that Richard Parker was his alter ego, never having existed at all. The bengal tiger was merely Pi's animated survival mode.

Thinking back to his days on the boat, Pi realizes what Richard Parker did for him. His tiger saved him from many deaths--a death of boredom, insanity, carelessness, and even depression. We all have an inner tiger, just waiting to spring when our lives are jeopardized, however it only appears when we are in danger. From Life of Pi I learned that where ever and whenever I seem to be trapped in my lifeboat, I will be more than greatful to have a tiger by my side.

Character Analysis: Harrison Bergeron

Author's Note: Here's my character analysis on the character Harrison Bergeron. In the story I compare him to Guy Montag from Fahrenheit 451.

Everyone knows one person who is taller, stronger, smarter and better looking than everyone else. Harrison Bergeron was one of those people. Instead of congratulating him on growing to seven feet, the government forced him to be handicapped by carrying around 300 pounds of lead wherever he went, along with a puffy red nose and blurry glasses. He was now ugly, weak, and had a blurred sight. Eventually he fought against this and was taken straight from his home to prison. Just like how Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451 wasn't supposed to be affected when his friend Clarisse disappeared, Harrison's parents lost memory of his existence.

Harrison broadcasted his escape from prison on live television, trying to encourage the citizens of the US to break free of the governments amendments. He tore off his nose and glasses , revealing his beauty; he ripped off his chains, displaying his strength. He danced freely until an official walked in with a double barreled ten gauge shotgun. His fifteen minutes of fame were up and every citizen watching was taught a lesson that day. They learned how wrong it was to be better than everyone else, the peoples need for equality killed Harrison Bergeron.

Weight of the New Year

Author's Note: My piece on New Years Resolutions was written to inform readers about the concerns of American Citizens to reach a healthy weight. Most Americans dedicated their resolutions for just this, which is worth writing about.

The typical American Citizen, is concerned about their weight. They may be severely obese and should focus on losing some, or unfortunately cursed with a high metabolism and try to gain a few pounds. As our population continues to grow, so does the passion for healthy lifestyles. My mother, father, grandparents, and our guests on the eve of New Years, devoted their 2012 resolutions to a better body. The words "exercise", "salads", and "stairs" all floated in and out of our conversations from 11 to midnight. After the ball dropped I could see the sad faces around the room. Visions of ice cream sundaes drenched in hot fudge were replaced with a pedometer with an unreasonable amount of steps on them. A hard year it would be for those whose progress was successful; welcome to 2012.