Framed Found Poem

             I like to think of choosing guava's as choosing life's choices. First you investigate. You choose a guava but it's not quite ripe. You can tell by the dark green skin. Knowing you shouldn't waste time investigating any further you smell it, imagining a pale pink center, the seeds tightly embedded in the flesh. You pick up a ripe guava. It's yellow with a pink tinge. The skin is thick , firm, sweet. It's heart is bright pink and almost solid with seeds. At this time any other person would choose the ripe guava the better choice. But because of who I am curiosity gets the best of me and I would take a bite out of the guava. I would bite into the unriped guava my teeth would grip the dark green surface and would sink into the pale pink center. Not knowing how to eat a guava the seeds end up in the cervices between my teeth. As if  I was surprised. If you let curiosity get the best of you you suffer the consequences.

MLA CITATION

                                                                         The Host
                
             The Host by Stephanie Meyer is a romance novel based around Melanie, Wanderer, The Seeker and Melanie's love interest Jared. Everything comes crashing down once the earth is invaded by parasitic aliens otherwise referred to as "souls". The novel follows one aliens predicament when its host's  consciousness refuses to co-operate with the alien. This alien's name is Wanderer and The Seeker (the villain in this story) sends her on a mission to recover the rest of the humans. She earned her name because she lived on nine planets before coming to earth and being implanted in Melanie. Most of Melanie's memories are of her younger brother and boyfriend. Seeing these memories Wanderer has always lacked love in her life and latches on to the memories as well as Melanie. Throughout the book Wanderer starts to love each and every one of them and will become emotionally attached in the best way possible. But will The Seeker stand for such betrayal from one of her own?

           Melanie was a teenage rebel who constantly rebelled against the aliens trying to obtain complete freedom. While going on a mission Melanie gets chased out of a window where she falls in a fountain and goes unconscious. She wakes up the next day to find that the parasite was already implanted in her. As soon as Wanderer is implanted in Melanie the first thing she encounters in Melanie's memories. Wanderer tries to search her memories to find information regarding "wild humans"(humans who haven't yet been implanted) but they had appeared to be blocked. Wanderer confused by this continued to get familiar with her new body and found out that she couldn't access the memories because Melanie was still alive and was protecting them.

           Wanderer soon tries to fight back but stops after Melanie starts threatening her. Wanderer starts to love Jared and Melanie's younger brother Jamie like their her own family. She quickly starts to sympathize with the humans. This causes her to completely abandon her original mission and species to become an allie with not only Melanie but with the humans in general. Through each chapter you realize Wanderer cant tell which of the feelings going on in Melanie's body are hers. They each become a big part of each other almost like sisters.

          Once Melanie has built a relationship with Wanderer and knows she can trust her she convinces Wanderer to run away from The Seeker to go and find Jared and Jamie. They drive to Phoenix to find her Uncle Jeb's  bomb shelter in the middle of the desert. Once they get to a certain point when they can no longer drive they begin to walk. Being the fact that Melanie can handle harsh weather conditions but Wanderer can't they have a hard time coping with each other. Eventually they run out of water and think they are going to die. Of course we have all read that book that has the most unrealistic situation ever and sadfully this is one of those. At the nick of time Uncle Jeb and his team of survivors find Melanie's body but want to kill it because its not really her. They take her back to the shelter where her brother and Jared cant decide what to do with her so they put her in a storage closet and feed her bread. Two of the residents of the shelter (Kyle and Ian) want wanderer dead but soon Jeb comes and saves her by threatening the boys.


          Uncle Jeb gives her a better place to reside (in the living quarters of Jamie and Jared) which Wanderer doesn't quite like but Melanie is ecstatic about. Once wanderer and Melanie start to interact with the community Uncle Jeb and others start to see that she is different from other "souls". She starts doing chores in the cafeteria and gets to know the camp members especially Ian. They soon began to talk , Melanie doesn't like where that was going. Ian and Wanderer fell in love and started to spend time together. The camp figures out that Melanie is still alive inside and to confirm it Jared kisses her. Melanie goes to the hot springs to take a bath alone when suddenly Kyle tries to kill her. The ground starts to give out so Wanderer runs away but felt guilty leaving Kyle so she goes and saves him. Everyone asked what happened so she lied saying she fell but Ian knew that was a lie and attacked Kyle. Wanderer stops this. Kyle is confused on why Wanderer was still so kind after what he did. A guy with cancer calls for Wanderer asking her to get medicine because he was sick. Once she gets it the camp knows they can trust her and let her go on raids. She simply walks in the store and walks out with whatever food she wants. Wanderer wants to be extracted from Melanie's body so she gives him a step by step tutorial.

             The doctor asks if she is sure about this and she agrees. Her and Melanie have a heartwarming goodbye and then the doctor puts Melanie to sleep and extracts Wanderer. Even though she was extracted Wanda woke up in a new body. Melanie explained she couldn't let her die and Ian told her that he held her soul and she was beautiful. They all go on another raid to find other humans and "souls" coexisting among each other. One of the other souls asks Wanderer ,"Its a strange world isn't it". The Host shows that love and a strong will can help you overcome anything even a parasitic alien apocalypse.


               Meyer, Stephanie; The Host: United States; Little, Brown and Company; 2008

The Beach

             Amazing memories, family, and fun are three things that come to mind when I hear someone say the word beach. Although the beach may not be the most common place to hold dear to your heart for my family this is a big oasis to escape all of our troubles in life. We walk here when our troubles overwhelm us, we have serious and emotional conversations , and we just go here to have fun playing volleyball or body board. The beach is warm and breezy and a place for making memories and telling corny jokes around a bonfire pit . All in all this place brings out our inner peace.


            If your not the type of person to enjoy the beach you may wonder why I describe it the way I do. I mean when a normal person thinks of the beach they think the usual sand, water and lots and lots of people. Now this image isn't wrong but its so much more than that. I spent most of my vacation at sycamore cove. At this beach there's a mini cave where me and my family chill and tell stories, a beautiful ocean with waves perfect for surfing or body boarding, a widespread area full of golden brown sand that we lay and sunbathe on. Me and my family see the ocean as a big blue mother their to protect us and I must admit there's no place I rather be than the beach.

Last Chance To Pass

               The selections "An American Story" by Anthony Lewis and "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez both convey a similar theme . Each selection describes the hardships of immigrants when trying to reach the United States or cope with the different people and surroundings of the United States. In An American Story you follow a family of boat people who take a journey to the United States. In Hunger of Memory a family is already in the United States but struggle with obstacles such as learning English and communicating with "los gringos."

             
               An American story is about a family in Vietnam trying to make their way to the United States. The family wanted to escape Vietnam because the communist took over. They then left Vietnam on a small fishing boat with no more than two hundred dollars in which they needed to spend on used winter coats. Their were nine members of the family but only seven left together a ten year old boy , his four sisters, and his brother. As you can see this family has already had to overcome several obstacles such as leave home and leave behind family but that's not all they would have to face.


               Hunger of Memory is about a Spanish speaking family living in America. This family struggled with interacting with other people because their English wasn't as fluent as the "los Americanos" or "los gringos". A little boy is greatly affected by this because every time he hears Spanish it reminds him of a home he once lived in before moving to the United States. The family copes the best way they can but the boy realizes he's different from everyone else. Because of the fact that most people around him speaks English he assumes that Spanish is a language that only his family speaks.


              When you analyze both selections you can easily see how they compare and how they contrast. Both selections are about immigrants. I could keep pointing out the obvious but lets dig just a little bit deeper. Both families sacrificed in order to move to America. For example, in An American Story the author stated, "Two members of the family were left in Vietnam: Viet Dinh's father, Phong Dinh, and his older sister Van Dinh, who was twenty then." (Lewis page 153). This shows how dedicated this family was to moving to the United States.


             Although both stories have their comparisons they contrast in many ways. An American Story was told in third person while Hunger of Memory was told in first person. Words like "they" "he" and "she were used numerous times in An American Story (Lewis 153). In Hunger of Memory the narrator referred to himself as "I" which right their gives the point of view away in this selection (Rodriguez page 160). Both selections were written about two different places Vietnam and a Spanish speaking country.


             Rodriguez and Lewis show how hard it is to leave home and adapt to new people and surroundings. In fact for some people it's kind of a new start or clean slate. Rodriguez conveyed how he stayed isolated from others because of his lack of fluent English while Lewis tells a story of a family escaping a bad situation to a better one. All in all both selections show that its hard to just up and leave and start a new life . In my opinion these selections really open your eyes to the hardships faced by immigrants.
 


   

THE ASSASSINATION OF JFK

    The Assassination Of John F Kennedy

        I  just  read  two  sources  that  describe  the  assassination  of  President  John  Kennedy.  One  source  was  a  primary  source  the  other  was  secondary.  Although  these  two  sources  are  talking  about  the  same  thing  the  perspective  is  different. "A  Warm  Clear  Day  In  Dallas",  is  told  by  a  person  who  didn't  witness  it  or  see  it  firsthand.  On  the  other  hand ,  "Address  to  Congress"  was  a  speech  spoken  by  vice  president  Lyndon  B.  Johnson  who  was  more  close  to the  president  making  it  a  primary  source.

       "A  Clear  Day  In  Dallas",  focuses  more  on  telling  the  story  of  how  it  all  happened.  It  really  emphasizes  how  it  was  a  normal  day  until  the  shooting  of  the  president.  Lyndon  B  Johnson's  speech  was  written  once  the  president  was  already  dead  and  came  more  from  the  heart.  This  speech  talks  more  about  JFK's  legacy  and  how  we  need  to  continue  what  he  started  when  it  comes  to  the  nation  in  general.

       The  purpose  of  "A  Clear  Day  In  Dallas",  was  to  inform  the  reader  of  the  events  that  led  to  the  killing  of  John  F  Kennedy.  Lyndon  B  Johnson's  speech  wasn't  to  inform  the  readers  of  the  events  of  what  happened  but  to  inform  the  reader  on  how  they  would  feel  or  react  to  the  situation  that  already  happened.  As  you  can  see  the  purpose  of  these  sources  are  mainly  different.

     Although  the  point  of  view  of  these  two  sources  are  different  both  could  be  great  to  research  Kennedy's  death.  I  feel  this  way  because  A  Clear  Day  In  Dallas  tells  you  the  when,  where,  who,  and  how  but  Lyndon  B  Johnsons  speech  lets  you  know  how  greatly  affected  everyone  was  and  still  is  by  the  president's  death.

    These  two  sources  touch  a  sensitive  situation  that  still  is  in  our  hearts  today.  The  death  of  JFK  was  both  abrupt  and  uncalled  for.  Both  of  these  sources  clearly  state  that.

ELA WRITING ASSESMENT

                     ELA  WRITING  ASSESMENT

          An  organization  called  the  Digital  Youth  Project  conducted  a  study  on  how   social  network ,  video  sharing  sites ,  and  electronic  devices  have  greatly  effected  the  lives  of  youth  culture.  They  interviewed  over  800  youth  and  young  adults  to  configure  how  much  the  media  was  being  used .  Various  people  were  involved  in  the  conduction  of  this  widespread  study.

  
        Many  adults  worry  that  children  waste  their  time  doing  things  such  as  playing  games  or  texting.  This  organization  found  that  to  somewhat  be  true  but  instead  of  focusing  completely  on  the  downsides  on  the  downsides  of  social  network  (texting, etc.)  they  decided  to look  at  the  Brightside.  For  example,  the  Digital  Youth  Project  stated  this , "The  digital  world  is  creating  new  opportunities  for  youth  to  grapple  with  social  norms,  explore  new  interests,  develop  technical  skills,  and  experiment  with  new  forms  of  self  expression ."

 

        The  Digital  Youth  Project's  point  of  view  has  shined  a  positive  light  on  new  technology.  These  authors  have   even  came  up  with  two  categories  for  people's  motives  when  on  the  internet.  The  two  categories  are  Friendship  and  Interest  driven  online  media  use.  This  is  quite  brilliant  considering  that  most  people  use  the  internet  to  either  gain  friends  or  explore  interests.



         When  you  really  analyze  the  summary  of  the  Digital  Youth  Project's  findings  you  see  how  they've  really  taken  the  use  of  social  media  and  its  affect  on  teens  and  broke  it  down to a  simple  form.  Not  only  did  they  point  out  the  bad  they  pointed  out  the  good  which  in  my  opinion  is  very  rare.  Lots  of  people  look  down  upon  the  use  of  technology  or  they  say  its  taking  over  our  lives  but  the  Digital  Youth  Project  disregarded  that  and  said  you  know  what  lets  do  something  different.


       Technology  has  also  affected  how  we  learn.  Their  are  already  schools  using  Ipad's  as  books  as  well   as  a  note  taking  tool.  So  my  big  question  is  technology  helping  us  or  hurting  us  or  will it  start  to  take  over  our  lives?

       

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME

              Autobiography

    I'm  not  much  of  a  writer  but  here  goes  nothing. My  name  is  Anonda  Hellems  and  I'm  14  years  old.  I  was  born  in  Des  Moines ,Iowa  on  January  10, 2000. I  have  4  siblings  1  sister  and  3  brothers.  It  was  cool  having  other  brothers  and  sisters  but  they  would  tease  me  because  I  was  the  youngest.  When  I  was  younger  I  was  quiet  and  stayed  to  myself. I  know  hard  to  believe  right?



    In  kindergarten  I  was  bullied  because  all of  the  other  girls  thought  I  was  a  spoiled  brat  which  may  I  say  wasn't  the  case  but  we  all  know  haters  will  continue  to  hate.  So  once  I  got  to  first  grade  I  was  put  in  private  school.  At  first  I  hated  it  but  it  gave  me  a  chance  to  meet  people  who  could  take  me  places  in  life  and  excel  to  my  full  potential.  One  in  particular  I  still remember  to  this  day ,  Marcey  Briggings.  Me  and  Marcey  lived  in  the  nicer  part  of  Iowa  so  we  would  always  go  places  and  travel with  each other  until  one  day  she  moved. From  that  point  on  she  helped  me  kind  of  interact  will  people  more  often.


   Years  passed  and  before  I  knew  it  I  was  in fifth  grade.  I  had  finally  blossomed  into  basically  who  I  am  today  a outspoken , independent, and ambitious  individual.  Ive  always  had  good  grades  because  I  had  no  choice.  It  was  do  good  or  be  on  punishment  until  I  was  old  enough  to  have  kids.  So  you  know  what ?  I worked  my  but  off. Los  Angeles  was  a  thought  but  I  didn't  think  my  mom  would  follow through.



    This  thought  faded  away  and  before  you  knew  it  I  was  in  my  beautiful  dress  for  my  8th  grade  graduation.  That  was  one  of  my  greatest  memories  everyone  cheering  for  me  congratulating  me  just  the  atmosphere  was  positive.  For  most  of  the  time  it  stayed  positive until my  mom  announced  that  we  were  moving  to  Los  Angeles.  My  heart  dropped  all  I  could  think  about  is  how  quickly  that  situation  escalated.  A  situation  like  this  just  proves  how  your  life can  take  a  dramatic  turn  in  less  than  a  minute.


     Soon  we  were  on  a  airplane  and  Iowa ,  my  home  was  so  far  away  I could  barely  see  it.  When  we  arrived  in  Los  Angeles  immediately  everything  was  different.  It  was  so  fast  pace  everyone  was  in  a  rush.  Believe  it  or  not  their's  one  main freeway  that  everyone  uses and  their  was  nearly  never  traffic  but  here  was  a complete  different  story .


      My  mom  gravitated  towards  Park  La  Brea  because  it  was  in  a  decent  location.  We  soon  met  a  rental  agent  and  found  the  place  right  for  us .  All  of  our  stuff was  moved  in  by  movers  and  I  started  to  face  reality.  Oh  but  it  got  worse  I came  to  a  deep  dark  place  called  Fairfax  High  School.  The  first  day  was  a  fail .  Every time  I  greeted  someone  they   looked  at  me  like  I  just  committed  murder.  I  may  be  weird  or  annoying  or  really  smart  but  its  all apart  of  who  I  am  so  if  you  cant  accept  that  you  cant  accept   me.