Bakery
While inhaling
The sweet scent
Of cookies and cakes,
She must point while surveying
The cake that gives her torment
With its rich frosting too layered to intake.
She nods, giving the money to the baker while smiling
As he gives her the shortcake filled with delicious caramel content.
She immediately digs in while knowing it was well worth the wait.
There are many different underrated holidays including the ones listed in the prompt. However, I think the most underappreciated of them all is Veteran’s Day. This holiday honors the people from our country on November 11th. Veteran’s Day is a time to celebrate the United States’ fight for freedom and honor those who fought for it. We should be thankful of those who served our country so greatly. They do their part to serve and it is our part to honor them. Veterans risk their lives for us to make sure we are safe. Something to note is that their families and children also probably want their veteran family member to be recognized and honored. Unfortunately it usually goes by unnoticed and some people aren’t even sure what it is. This may be because of the fact that there are bigger holidays coming up such as Christmas and New Year’s. I think Veterans should be thanked and honored every year and that this holiday should be better known.
I have read many pieces of literature throughout the years of Kindergarten all the way up to 8th grade. There are so many favorites that I’ve picked and ended up reading once in a while, but it’s hard for me to pick my top two. In the end I chose the nonfiction book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and the poem Every Cat Has a Story by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Number the Stars is a book about a Danish girl who lived under the Nazi occupation of Denmark. The reason I like this book so much is because of how powerful the story is. It contains many different themes and values such as bravery, trust, and love. A lot of suspense is contained in every single scene. At first, when I was reading it in class for 5th grade I did not understand it very well. When I found it behind my book shelf, I picked it back up and read it again in the 8th grade. I really did comprehend the context after that. I looked at why the characters did certain actions and why they did it because the author puts you in their shoes. The story is very compelling with its historical context and a few plot twists. The style is simple yet a little descriptive. The simple underlying meaning was vividly portrayed. All these things add up to a great novel. I very much liked this book and I wouldn’t mind reading one like it again.
The poem Every Cat Has a Story is a poem I read in 6th grade. The poem is very simple and gives a little description of six cats from what seems like a younger child’s perspective. I actually wish I could have known each cat in this poem personally. I’m not sure why but this poem has stuck with me for a long time. I think of it often, but it’s probably because I’m such a big cat lover. Because it’s so sweet, simple and to the point, it even makes me smile sometimes. I even have it hanging up on my wall! I like this poem a lot and I would like it if I could more poems like it in the future.
Romeo and Juliet is a very controversial book when it comes to love. Some people think yes, it is love at first sight. Some think no, it’s not. Personally I think it is definitely not love at first sight. The protagonists met only once and immediately fell in love with each other. I find that very hard to believe. How can two young teenagers who haven’t really known what love was at the time suddenly declare how infatuated they are with each other? To me, this doesn’t make the least amount of sense. I think that they were only physically attracted and not truly be fond of one another. When Romeo mentions that Rosaline “hath Dian’s wit./ And, in strong proof of chastity well armed” I. i. 200-201. This quote shows just how much Romeo loved Rosaline, but then he went from her to Juliet and decides he wants to marry her (Juliet). For example, have you seen a celebrity only once in a movie and thought, “I am totally in love with him/her!” and suddenly decide “Wait! I like this actor so much better.” This is exactly what happened between Romeo and Juliet. So in conclusion, no, Romeo and Juliet was definitely not a book about love at first sight.
Is YouTube educational? That is a very controversial question. Many people think that YouTube has a lot of strange videos and other people, such as teachers, can find it educational. Personally, I think YouTube can be something to gain knowledge from. You can learn all kinds of things ranging from basic things like cooking all the way to how to ride your bike while juggling at the same time. YouTube is like TV on the web. Just as you can learn things from TV shows like the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet, education can also be found on YouTube. The videos don’t exactly have school type learning characteristics, but there are a lot of different ways to learn. I think that YouTube gives a person a lot of independent power to learn at their own pace. They can see things over and over again if they don’t understand something or go to a section they want to learn. Right now, schools would tell us that we need at least fifty minutes to an hour to learn a concept. In reality you might only need ten to fifteen minutes. Videos are made for people who can learn things fast and don’t think they should sit through an hour lecture just to fill one gap in knowledge.
“It’s not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life; it is how you handle what happens to you.”– Zig Ziglar
Do adults know best? I think they do, but not all the time. Some children think that their parents can be the ‘worst’ thing for themselves. This is obviously not true. Adults usually never have and should never do something out of selfishness, ignorance, pure stupidity etc. In most cases, parents really do know what’s best for you whether you realize it or not. For example, when I was younger I always wondered why they didn’t let me go out by myself and now I know that was to keep me safe from harm. I always thought that I knew best when I was a lot younger, but now realize how much of an impact an adult can have on you. I usually believe that I know what’s best for me, but that’s not always the case. Everyone’s minds are still developing so it’s not as if just being an adult and not having any knowledge makes you know best. If there were no adults in my life, I would have always gotten away with a lot of stuff which could have caused me a lot distress throughout my life. So in conclusion, yes, some adults know best while some don’t.
“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thankfulness is something that is hard to put into words. I have never really thought about what I am thankful for until now, besides my family and my friends, so here are two top things I give thanks for.
One thing I give thanks for is the education I get. I have not ever thought about this, but I realized that there are people out there who cannot go to school or can’t afford to get an education. I go to a school with great teachers and friends who understand me. When I was younger, I would wake up each day smiling with a twinkle in my eyes to go to school each day. One memory that stood out to me was how I would stay after school even if I didn’t have any activities, just to help out my teachers. I now understand why I did that.
Another thing I give thanks for is my health. Some people live in worse conditions where it is hard to stay healthy and not get sick. I rarely get sick but when I do, I have people who take care of me and keep up my health. Also, a lot of people go through horrible health issues which they are very hard to watch. I am thankful I don’t have to struggle to maintain good health and I can live safely without much worry.
Only if people were to learn from their mistakes can war be prevented. Even a small misunderstanding can result in a huge war, but that doesn’t mean we can’t stop from letting it happen. Our parents teach us that fighting is bad, yet we still do it. Our parents also teach us to make friends, but we still have enemies. This doesn’t mean we would fight them all the time. If our society could learn that it is okay to make mistakes and settle it more peacefully, like making a treaty, than I am sure that there would be less war. No matter what, we would still need an army. Sure, we can stand up for ourselves, but not everyone can commit to others. The only time would we not need an army is if our nation can fight for what we believe in. In conclusion, I think that we can only achieve peace if we work with each other and not against one another.
A TV show can have a lot more themes other than suspense, and one of my favorite shows is Dark Angel (which actually aired in 2000). This show takes place in 2019 and is about a girl named Max Guevara, a prototype that was genetically-enhanced and has special powers. She is hunted by her handlers as she tries to escape them and find her siblings who are scattered around after also trying to escape. Suspense, drama, action, crime and many other themes are involved. Drama is shown when Max finds one of her siblings and both start to have a huge war. The whole show is mostly action, since the main character is always fighting and trying to reunite with her family. Crime is shown whenever Max steals something or one of her handlers tries to catch her. The plot is also a huge factor (as you can probably tell).
Anyone can see that this show does not only have suspense but many other things. Not everything has to have anticipation, because not all TV shows do and all shows on get watched (which is why they are on TV). Dark Angel is one of my favorites and is a great series, but unfortunately, the show only aired two seasons. ._.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenburg, is a book that I thought I would never read (I actually ended up reading it last year). The title certainly fooled me! When I saw a cover, I literally thought it was what it said, but I was wrong. Knowing this, I still continued to read the book, and saw how meaningful it was or could be to someone.
A lot of books are important, but to me, I think this is a very significant one. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is an autobiography about a girl named Deborah Blau who has been fighting schizophrenia for three years. She creates her own little safe utopia inside her mind called Yr and has her own imaginary friends. As time goes on, the “friends” of hers control her every action and word that comes out of her mouth. The author explains how she used to be a normal girl but later retreated to the confines of her mind after being bullied by her peers. The plot is very descriptive, so reading it is like watching a movie inside your head. Every few chapters, there is always a question asking the reader about what they would do in said situation. This really gets readers involved, and is yet another reason why this is one of my favorite and important books.
Personally, I think this novel has a lot of value because of the topic it was written on; schizophrenia. The author shows the point of view of someone who is a mental patient, and what might go on in their life. Deborah is revealed to go through specific stages, which get better or worse throughout the book. Views of parents are also talked about to discover what a family would think of their family member. A character named Clara Fried, who is also Deborah’s therapist, talks about her views on all of her patients. I figured this was to explain the beliefs of real therapists.
In conclusion, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a great read and sends out one special message: anyone can overcome anything and nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it.
Literature blog 