Sentence Simplification

1).

Original Sentence: I snuck my blue Cinderella suitcase out of the escape door.

9- I snuck my blue cinderella suitcase out the door.

7- Sneaking my blue suitcase out the door.

5- I snuck out the door

3- I snuck out

1- Gone

2).

Original Sentence: My grandma rarely said no, and usually she would give in afterwards.

9- My grandma rarely declined, she sometimes gave in afterwards

7- She rarely said no, she gave in

5- Usually she always gives in

3- She gives in

1- Sucker

3)

Original Sentence: My grandma turned the car around and drove me right back home

9- She turned the car around and went straight home.

7- The car headed back towards my house

5- She drove me straight back

3- Home I went

1- Home

Reflection about the first essay of english two

1). My essay is a "tribute to my grandmother" and the relationships between families. For example in my essay I elaborated about my relationship with my grandmother and how it is different then your relationship with your parents. Also i talked about you truly do not understand what is gone until it is actually gone and the concept of that.

2). The most challenging aspect of the essay was re-organizing the paragraphs and finding the main point i wanted to talk about. In the rough draft y concepts were totally random so finding a way to relate the points and find what i was going to focus on. But after I figured out what the main point of the essay was the organization came together.

3). If I could go back and make changes, I would defiantly change my ending or explore with my ending concept more. To make the ending stronger all together. Maybe I should have elaborated more about when exactly I realized she, my grandma, was gone and how that changed me as a person. But overall maybe using more description so the reader can picture the scenes better.

4). The most unexpected thing about writing this essay was how it evolved in so many parts, I thought that it was cool that we started with a notecard and developed it into a 4 page essay. The most unexpectedly fun thing about writing this essay for me was reflecting and remembering my grandmother and sharing with the reader on how wonderful she was in my life. I have never really focused a paper on her but for this one i did and it was really nice and fun to remember all the good times we had and how she was such an excellent person.

Different concepts for my memory piece

My ideas:

One question is exploring how the relationship between grandchildren to a parent is different than a relationship between a grandma and a grandchild.

Another question could be: How does a grandmother’s input and choices differ from a parent’s idea of parenting

A third Idea could be how children look at their parents and the grandparents and what are the different ways that the people who have a great importance in a child’s like act.

False Memory

Kaitlin Demma

Ms. Pugs

September 19, 2009

C Block

 

False Memory: Sneaking into my Grandma’s Car

 

Way back when I was five, I did some naughty actions but never was anything as clever as this.  “NAN!!!! Can I please sleep at your house tonight, pretty please with a cherry on top,” I shouted. 

“No, sweetie, it’s a school night and I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning,” nanic said sorrowful, my grandma rarely said no and usually she would give in after she said no.  But today was different, she said no and she meant it. I suckered her into playing with my sister and I for another two hours.  Then I asked again.

“Nanic why can’t I sleep at your house tonight and you could simply drive me to school and then go to the doctors?”  I questioned naively.

“Honey I would LOVE to do that but, I already said no and your parents said no, so we must respect their decision.”  She said unhappily.  I could tell that she really wanted me to but she had to listen to my parents, even though she was my grandma and she gave me whatever I asked for.  When she was saying goodbye to my parents and sister, I decided to pack my sleepover suitcase, my blue Cinderella one to be exact, and I even put my schoolwork in it for the next day.  I was very confused to why she said no, so I, the naughty five year old that I was snuck into the back seat of her black Mercedes Convertible and burrowed myself in-between the seats.  She must have been saying goodbye to my mom, dad, and sister for a good 45 minutes and I had a short attention span. Suddenly I heard my front door slam shut and she got into the drivers seat, slowly turned the key, and the engine started to roar.  At that moment I knew I was in for severe punishment, but I thought to myself, she’s my grandma, she would not be angry with me.  She drove out of my driveway singing joyfully, she drove all the way to Atherton Avenue, and right there at the stop sign at the intersection I jumped out and said, “SURPRISE NANIC!”

She screamed, “Holy Shit,” and at that moment I knew I was in trouble. She had steam rolling out of her ears and eyes.  She said “Merde” which is shit in French.  I started laughing and so did she I scared her to death.  She truly was not mad, to tell you the truth she thought it was hilarious.  We pulled on to Atherton Avenue and went to her house for a quick second.  I was not allowed to whine when it was time to leave.  She dropped something off and we were back on the road, except I was not hiding anymore, I had to wear a seatbelt.  The only difference on the ride home was that we were both in the front singing along to the radio and it was not just her.  She asked me, “How did you stay so quiet and why wasn’t Mel (my sister) in on this?” 

“Well it was very hard but I was playing with Freda, my bear,” and “Mel did not come because she would have started to laugh the second that you turned out of the gates,” I said giggling.  We laughed the whole way home and I did not even think about what my parents were going to say until we pulled back into the gates.  At that moment I knew I would be in a boatload of trouble and I wanted to curl into a ball again and stay in the back of her car, but she walked me into the house where my parents looked at me like I was dead meat…

I had no way of getting out of this one.  “Kaitlin May Demma, do you understand what NO means? Obviously not” my parents said with a straight face.  The minute after Nanic started laughing, the whole room burst out into laughter; at that point I knew it was a memory that would last for a lifetime.  

Three Questions for Wolff

1). I noticed that in your stories the endings did not have much closer is there a reason for that?

2). Did any of these stories relate to your life, like events that have happened in the past?

3).  What made you decide to write short stories which were all different and very descriptive?

A moment in time- flowers and balloons

There were flower suffocating the room and balloons that said get well soon even though everyone who visited knew he would never get well there was no hope.  

"Honey did you bring ALL these lovely flowers," questioned the wife, 

"Yes grandma i picked all these flowers from our garden and brought them to cheer up grandpa,"  said the grandson excitedly, no one told him that his grandpa was not getting better, so he kept bring in the massive amounts of flowers that swallowed the hospital walls.  Everyone but him knew that.

Honey, Grandpa is not getting better he is getting worse, I wish i could tell you that he was but he's not," the Grandmother said sadly.  

"Is that the truth, i cannot picture what like will be like when he is dead, but he will always be with us right?" 

"Yes dear, of corse always in our hearts," said the grandma kindly. 

"Grandma do you remember the time grandpa and i went fishing at the lake and he helped me catch

the biggest fish ever! It feels like it was just yesterday, we were in a silver tin flat bottom boat racing down

the reservoir. the funniest moment was when he had to pee when we were in the middle of the lake so he

stood at the very edge of the boat and tinkled off the side of the boat. All I tell myself now is to remember

the good happy days when he was my biggest idol and i will always look up to him.

I saw grandma reach for one of the balloons, you could see her veins popping out of her boney hands.

She reached for the green one with her pointer finger and thumb and brought it down to eye level. She

watched the balloon drift back up and took a deep breath. After seconds passed she reached for the blue

balloon and meander her way to grandpa, she held it there and watched his eyes move from left to right

making no emotions what so ever. After that moment the nurse entered to check up on Grandpa...

Bullet in the Brain Sentence

Bullet in the Brain By: Tobias Wolff, Page 268

"In the end it will do its work and leave the troubled skull behind, dragging its comet's tail of memory and hope and talent and love into the marble hall of commerce."  

The harsh life of an old man who was deathly ill and miserable has ended today, although it was extremely sad for his grandson and daughter they were filled with happiness that the man got to go to a new happy place where all his miseries would be released. On his death bed in the hospital laid an old man whose soul had left a long time ago.  There were flower suffocating the room and balloons that said get well soon even though everyone who visited knew he would never get well there was no hope.  All the nurses in the hospital expected sadness but little did they know there was a celebration going on in that hospital room.  This may sound weird but the family was overwhelmed with joy because they barley could last another day to have to see that poor old man suffer.  They celebrated his soul leaving this earth and going to a place full of flowers and sunshine, and puppies.  Throughout the day stories were being told, since the day his wife and the old man met, until his death.  The memories and the laughter spilled out of the doors of the hospital and into each of the other hospital rooms, making other sick people cheer up a bit.  The sun’s rays blazed down through the window and onto the dead man’s smiling face. Until the Hurst got there the memories kept flowing and the laughter kept coming.  The birds were whistling out the hospital window and the butterflies were flittering around the beautiful spring sky. There were tears in the room but they were just tears of happiness not one drop of sadness left that hospital room.  When the Hurst driver entered the hospital room he was completely shocked he thought it was going to be like every other family who is so terribly sad and depressed, but no he was mistaken, the family asked him if he would like to have some cake before he took the soulless man out of the hospital.  The man took a piece and heard some funny stories before he took the body.  After the Hurst driver left, the family packed up the hospital room and was on their way to burry the body six feet under when the hospital manager stopped to ask if they could be hung up on the walls of marble halls in the hospital so everybody could take after the family who turned death into an experience of happiness and memories.  They believed that this could teach people a lesson about there is always good things that come out of sadness, and that is the day the sad sick man left this world and watched his family morn in a great way.