Chris Essay 8

11/18/09
Mr. Salsich
English

The Sense of Feeling Unwanted:

One of the Worst Feelings

(TS) Have you ever felt unwanted? Most likely, you have. (CM) Feeling unwanted is a part of life; everyone feels unwanted at some point in their life. (CM) At times this feeling of being unwanted can be the worst feeling in the world, and this is very difficult. (Thesis) The feeling of being unwanted can attack everyone, from a small country boy, to a big football player.

(TS) Feeling unwanted is a major theme found throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, especially in Chapter 14. (SD) In Chapter 14, Dill, who is one of the main characters, runs away from home because he feels unwanted. (Adjective clause and Complex sentence) (CM) While Dill’s parents treat him with kindness; they do not show the sort of affection he expects, and this makes him feel unwanted. (CM) His parents may give him gifts, but they do not talk to him, or play with him, they leave him alone and expect him to be happy. (SD) I believe that Scout is another of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird that feels unwanted. (CM) Her brother makes her feel unwanted when he treats her like she’s a disease. (CM) The people of Maycomb also treat her badly, “because she is different.” They make her feel unwanted in her own town. (SD) Also, Atticus is another character that feels slightly unwanted. (CM) When he was being strict with Scout, Scout wanted him to go away, she wanted her kind, gentle father back, so Atticus must have felt unwanted. (CM) Lastly, he must have felt unwanted when Aunt Alexandra was talking about getting rid of Cal. Aunt Alexandra could get rid of Cal and be happy if he was not there. (CS) I believe that there are many examples of people feeling unwanted in Chapter 14, and throughout the book.

(TS) Imagine what it would be like to live in a home where you feel unwanted, a home where you feel that your parents do not love you. (SD) In the movie The Blind Side, the main character Michael Oher felt this way growing up. (CM) He grew up in a broken home, where he was unwanted by his parents. (CM) He did not have many friends, and felt like he was not wanted where he was living. (SD) When Michael was a teenager, he was taken in by the Touhys, who were a kind and caring family. (adj. clause) (CM) The Touhys were a nice family, and suddenly Michael felt loved again. (CM) Slowly the Touhys became more then a kind family taking him in, they became his family. (SD) With the help of the Touhys, Michael brought his grades up, and played high school football. (CM) Michael became one of the top ranked left tackles in the country, and received a scholarship to The University of Mississippi. He eventually graduated with high honors and a degree in criminal justice, but he also graduated as a star football player. (CM) After graduating, Michael was drafted into the NFL, and is now playing for the Baltimore Ravens. (CS) I believe that this movie truly shows that someone can rise from a poor, broken home, where he feels unwanted, and truly succeed in life.

(TS) There are many emotions throughout the world, but perhaps the worst is feeling unwanted. (CM) The feeling of being unwanted isn’t just a feeling like anger, a feeling that comes and goes. (CM) The feeling of being unwanted sticks with you constantly; following you around, like a shadow, wherever you go. (CS) Many people feel unwanted at some point in their lives, including me, but we all must deal with this, and keep moving forward, living life to its fullest.

Chris Collins

11/5/09
Mr. Salsich
English

English Class:

Room for Improvements

(TS) To me, education is one of the most important aspects in my life, and I am blessed to have the privilege of learning Eighth Grade English at Pine Point School. I believe that over the course of the year so far, I have become a better English student, but there is always room for improvement. (SD) Additionally, I have learned how to write a good essay in a shorter amount of time. (CM) I have learned the value of using “chunks” to strengthen an essay. (CM) I have not only become better at writing essays, I have also become faster. I can now write a good essay in half the time it previously took. (SD) I have also been introduced to Socratic Seminars, and have begun to like them. (CM) I believe that Socratic Seminars, created by the Greek philosopher Socrates, are very interesting. (CM) Also, Socratic Seminars allow me to voice my opinions and ideas about the book, as well as hear my fellow classmates’. (SD) Although I have improved greatly, I believe I could improve even more, especially at writing essays. (CM) I have become a good essay writer, however, there are a still few simple, easily correctable punctuation errors that are hurting my essays. (CM) Also, although my wording is ok, I need to use more sophisticated and descriptive words in my essays. (SD) Nobody is perfect, no matter how good you are at something there is always room for improvement.

Chris Essay 7
10/28/09
Mr. Salsich
English

FINAL DRAFT

My biggest Fear:

Loneliness

(TS) Edmund Burke once said, “No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear,” in my opinion fear is the most powerful emotion. (CM) Fear can make you do things that are irrational. (CM) It makes you do the first thing that comes to mind rather than let you think about it, and make the best decision. (CS) Fear is found everywhere, and within us all. The fear that is inside me is the fear of being alone. Fear can bring out mistakes, and irrational decisions, but these experiences make us all better people.

(TS) To me the absolute worst feeling is feeling alone, and this is my biggest fear. (SD) First of all, I love being around people, and parties are filled with people. (CM) I love going to parties, I feel comfortable and happy. (CM) Being surrounded by people and talking to them is a lot of fun. (SD) When I was younger I would often have very scary nightmares about being alone. (CM) In one, I would be in a field, alone, with no trees and no birds, and I would be running for miles, searching for an end to the field. An end I would never find. (CM) I would also dream that I was in a white abyss, endless white in all directions. (SD) I also do not enjoy being alone at home. (CM) If my parents leave and I am alone, I feel uncomfortable, insecure, and I wish they were there, so I could have someone to talk to. (CM) I also seldom spend the weekends alone, I am nearly always surrounded by friends. (SD) Being alone, with nothing to do, and no one to talk to, no sounds, nothing as far as you can see; to me, that is the scariest thing in the world.

(TS) Fear surrounds us, it is in every body’s minds, their imaginations, and it is lurking around every corner, waiting for its next victim. (SD) I have had many scary experiences in my life, but by far, getting lost at Six Flags was the scariest. (CM) I was seven years old, and I went with my parents to have a little fun. (CM) I went from happy, to very fearful in a matter of seconds. (SD) I was playing on a seamlessly harmless group of water slides when I suddenly found myself lost. (CM) I was having too much fun, I got a little distracted, and I realized I didn’t know where I was. (CM) I went down the slide smiling and happy, but as soon as I reached the bottom and realized I did not know where I was, and my smile quickly faded into a look of despair. (SD) When I came out the bottom I realized that the maze of crisscrossing slides had confused me, and I came out in an unfamiliar area. (CM) I panicked, ran around, searching through the mob of people for my parents. (CM) After a few minutes of this panicked behavior, I came to my senses, observed my surroundings, and eventually found my way back to my worried parents. (CS) Fear is always there, waiting to strike, and when it does it can cause you to panic.

(CS) When fear attacks it makes us do things that are irrational, but we must over power this fear, come to our senses, and react to our situation. (CM) If fear wins this battle, we may panic and make a bad decision. (CM) However, we can also fight hard to stay calm and collected, and win the battle, beating fear. (CS) Fear makes us panic, and when we are in this state, we can make bad decisions. When I panicked and started to run around, I realized that I only found myself more lost, I realized that fear was winning, so I calmed down and eventually found my way to my parents. If you are ever caught in this same situation, simply take a deep breath, relax, assess your situation, and you will defeat your greatest opponent: fear.