Fear essay

Austin
8 English
Mr. Salsich
10/28/09

Fear
One of its most powerful forms: death

(TS) Unlike most people, I am unafraid of what I can see and understand, but I am deeply afraid of the unknown. (CM) If an unexpected circumstance may occur, I get anxious and fearful that I may not be prepared for the coming event. (CM) I also become afraid that this event could cause me to do an embarrassing action. (CS) However, the most unnerving unknown for me is death, and I have seen someone come close to this unknown.

(TS) One of the most fearsome factors of my life is the unknown, and the scariest unknown to me: death. (SD) Death has no clarity, and it can occur at any point. (CM) The fact that at any given moment death can simply happen terrifies me. (CM) Imagine, while walking the path of life, I randomly arrive at death’s crossroad with no warning or notice that this is the end, because death never has a scheduled date. (SD) I hope that when I die, I will go peacefully, but I’m afraid that I won’t. (CM) Instead of growing old and dying without pain, I could die violently without time to talk to loved ones. (CM) That’s horrifying to me because If I died like that, my last thoughts may be filled with rage, revenge, or remorse that my death would be a gruesome scene for those around me. (SD) My ultimate fear dealing with death involves the aftermath. (CM) I can’t stand the thought that after I die I have no idea what is going to happen next. (CM) Even worse for me, imagining that once my life ends, it will be just complete darkness for the rest of eternity. (CS) The mysterious and uninformed arrival of death frightens me because death may not be bad or could instead be the worst event that occurs in the universe.

(TS) Not only do I have fear of death happening to me, people dying in my family frightens me; a fear that has almost become a reality. (SD) When I was nine, my brother was very sick. (CM) For a typical person, this does not cause problems, but for my brother, getting sick was fatal. (CM) My brother has severe asthma, and somehow his sickness made it a more potential way to die. (SD) Andrew, my brother, was six at the time, and he didn’t quite understand what was going on; neither did I. (CM) He didn’t know that he was close to shaking hands with death, but only recognized that his lungs were not functioning properly. (CM) I was even more uninformed than my brother because I could only tell that he was sick. (SD) However, on the night when his sickness reached its apex, I was assigned the task to inform my parents if he woke up and was gasping for air. (CM) Unfortunately, he did wake in the middle of the night gasping for air, and I immediately informed my parents. (CM) Looking back, if he had failed to wake me, my parents hadn’t rushed him to the hospital, and he had died, I would have been devastated. (CS) The Death of others is more traumatizing than my own death because the thought of losing loved ones overcomes me with an intense sadness of their absence.

(TS) The end, the darkness, the final chapter, and death are all terms to describe my greatest fear. (CM) This part of life is unexplainable. (CM) Once a person dies, they cannot come back and describe the experience because they have shutdown into an eternal slumber. (CS) The only time I will have an answer for death is at the end of my life, but until then, I fear death for its ambiguity.

Stick essay

FINAL DRAFT

Austin
English 8
Mr. Salsich
10/21/09

Stick Relations:
How there is a Stick in my Life

(TS) Life is like a tree; a tree sprouts branches which will one day fall from the tree and generate pabulum for a new tree to grow. (CM) When most adults get married, they will one day have children, which represents a tree growing branches. (CM) Once children are ready to form their own path, grow their own tree, they disengage from their parents' support, so they can learn to support themselves and in time, support the branches that grow off their tree. (CS) If I were choosing something that relates to my life and To Kill a Mockingbird, a seemingly simple stick would contain many connections to both subjects.

(TS) A simple, lifeless branch has similar features to the knothole in To Kill a Mockingbird, and the branch reveals there are at least two different decisions we can make in life. (SD) When the tree was flourishing, so did its former branch just like Scout flourished with items she had collected before the knothole was occupied by cement. (CM) The nutrients from a tree provide necessary ingredients for a branch to grow, and an empty knothole allows space for objects to be stored for a young girl like Scout. (CM) However, when the space in the knothole is no longer empty, there is no longer space for commodities to be stored, which is similar to a branch, for when the tree runs out of nutrients, the branch no longer has the ingredients to grow, so instead, it dies. (SD) Once the stick dies, it represents an end to a story. (CM) For Scout, the tale that ended was the one of mysterious items being placed in a somewhat inconspicuous place. (CM) The mystery may continue, but she has reached a dead end and thus, must begin a new chapter for this puzzle. (SD) This particular deceased branch starts straight but then forms a fork-in-the-road which symbolizes that there is always more than one path available for exploration. (CM) In Scout’s life, her branch split in different directions when she had to decide between telling her father what her and her brother had been up to, telling her father it was none of his business, or telling him that he shouldn’t be suspicious of them (anaphora). (CM) Scout made a decision to stay loyal to the bond between her and her brother, and she would not tell Atticus what they had been up to. (CS) At one point everyone blossoms, but when we run out of nutrients, we have to decide if we want to simply detach ourselves from the tree and give up or if we want to make the decision to work harder in order to continue to prosper.

(TS) Once part of a tree, a stick prospered in health and grew in many directions and angles, which relates to my own life, for I grow and make choices that lead me down many paths. (SD) But for me to grow I need supplements similar to a stick which needs nutrients to burgeon. (CM) Unlike a stick, I mature from my education, my family’s love, and my peers’ motivation (anaphora). (CM) Without this nourishment, my branch would not extend very far. (SD) When a stick is a branch, eventually, it will diverge, but one of the diversions will stop growing as the other one continues to. (CM) For me, when I learn of two or more different vocations I am captivated by, I will educate myself in each of them. (CM) I will have to make a choice of which one will I want to pursue further as a career just like the stick stopped growing one branch and continued growing the other one. (SD) However, after a branch has grown off a tree for a while, the tree no longer has any nutrition to provide for the branch. (CM) At one point, my education will be finished, and then I will detach from the tree. (CM) But this isn’t the end, for once I have disengaged from the tree, the stick that is lying on the ground will decompose, providing nourishment for a new tree that I will grow in the stick’s place (participle). (CS) A stick is part of the circle of life because it comes from a tree, dies, and makes a new tree, and my life is similar to stick, for I am born, I grow up, I have kids of my own, and when I die, my kids will continue to grow their own, new tree of life.

(TS) Humanity is a circle of life in the same way as a tree. (CM) Our parents have us, they teach us everything they know, we mature into adults, and start our own family with kids that we give all our knowledge to. (CM) A tree grows branches which eventually detach, for the broken off branches will provide the necessary ingredients to make a new tree. (CS) There are so many ways I can relate to a stick, but in a stick’s simplicity, it has a complexity that closely follows the same path living beings travel.

Stick essay outline

Thesis Statement: A stick relates to my life and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Paragraph #1
SD #1 Scout’s collection of objects from the knothole kept growing like when the stick was a branch it grew as well.
Cm Scout collected objects and the stick collected nutrients from the tree when it was a branch
Cm the knothole was filled in so there was no more collecting and the branch fell off the tree
SD #2 The stick is dead and the knothole is filled in representing a dead end
Cm Scout and Jem hit a dead end to solving who put all the objects in the knothole when Mr. Radley filled it in with cement.
Cm The stick was brought to an end when it broke off the tree
SD #3 The branch forms a Y shape which represents different directions you can take
Cm Scout could have told Atticus the truth of what Jem was up to
Cm She instead remained loyal to her brother and didn’t keep her word that she would tell

Paragraph #2
SD #1 I obtain the nutrients from my life like a stick attained nutrients from a tree
Cm My nutrients consist of the love from my parents and education
Cm I grow from this nutrients like a branch grows on a tree
SD #2 A branch will eventually start to grow in two different directions for a while and then will mostly focus on one direction.
Cm This represents a time in my life where I learn about to different and major subjects
Cm After a while, I will have to make a decision and stop growing one segment of my branch to focus on the other one. When the nutrients runs out, the branch falls off and decomposes
SD #3 When the nutrients runs out, the branch falls off and decomposes
Cm When I finish my formal education, I detach from the tree.
Cm My branch will decompose and create new nutrients for a new tree to grow

Privacy Essay

SECOND DRAFT FOR GRADING

Austin
English 8
Mr. Salsich
October 14, 2009

Privacy
A Matter that should go with Respect

(TS) A person who lacks the ability to esteem someone’s privacy is a person who deserves all their confidential secrets to be publicly exhibited. (CM) It is insulting when someone doesn’t have the deference to know not to pester you for information exclusive to you. (CM) Therefore, if they don’t allow others their privacy, why should they have their own? (CS) In both my life and in To Kill a Mockingbird, privacy is crucial to honor since it conveys trust in others and demonstrates how well you function independently.

(TS) Respecting a person’s privacy exposes how considerate you are, which is a problem for Scout since she has trouble respecting Boo Radley’s privacy. (SD) Curiosity isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Scout and her brother continue to intrude on the Radley’s property, making their curiosity an invasion of privacy. (CM) Until recently, Scout and Jem would stay away from the Radley place. However, their young, inquisitive minds got the best of them, and now they sometimes investigate what goes on outside this mysterious abode. (CM) Their act of investigation is intrusive to Mr. Radley’s privacy, showing that these kids do not have a lot of self-control. (SD) Letting someone have their privacy is important because it shows you aren’t self-centered enough to believe everything is your business. (CM) Just because Scout is neighbors with the Radleys doesn’t mean she needs to know everything that goes on there. (CM) Instead, she should know that sometimes letting something be undisturbed is the best course of action. (SD) Not only is letting people have their privacy humble of you, people appreciate it because when they are being separate, they usually want to be left alone. (CM) If Boo Radley wanted to come outside he would, but since he doesn’t , he stays inside. (CM) Scout and Jem should acknowledge that fact instead of going as far as giving him a letter to lure him outside, so they can satisfy their inquisitiveness. (CS) Scout should learn that curiosity can shatter privacy but veneration can conserve freedom (antithesis).

(TS) Personally, I have grown to relish the few moments of privacy my parents have left me, and I discovered how valuable it is to be private and to give others their own personal freedom. (SD) It’s really unfortunate for me that my parents give me so little time to be independent. (CM) Sometimes I just want to be left alone from my parents so I can dwell on my thoughts I gathered throughout the day. (CM) Even worse, occasionally I prepare a big surprise for my parents, but since they continue to pester me and investigate what I’m preparing for them, they foresee the ambush, a plan which was meant to bewilder them (appositive closer). (SD) Not only does disregard for someone’s privacy spoil surprises, it abates trust. (CM) If you can’t rely on your friend’s word and invade their privacy, the lack of trust becomes evident. (CM) Without trust in a friendship, two people begin talking to each other less and eventually, dwindle apart. (SD) However, I’m glad that doesn’t happen in my relationships because my occasional moments of privacy are significant to me. (CM) It lets me reflect on my life and the decisions I’ve made as well as the decisions I’m going to make without being subjected to another colleagues opinion. (CM) My privacy also gives me time to figure out some personal issues I have to deal with on my own, so I can grow from the experience I gain from them. (CS) Without privacy, I would never have an opportunity to think of an original opinion because I would constantly be making decisions based on my colleague’s ideas instead of my own.

(TS) If someone wants to be left alone, valuing solitude is beneficial to yourself and them. (CM) When they realize you are giving them time alone, appreciation will follow and trust will ensue. (CM) Also, with time alone, there is an opportunity to contemplate their journey and future exploration of life, therefore, helping them mature into a young adult. (CS) Without providing respect for someone’s privacy, trust crumbles and there is never time to explore thoughts and discover uninfluenced opinions.

TKAM education essay

FINAL DRAFT

Austin Rosenberg
English 8
Mr. Salsich
October 7, 2009

Education
Enlightening the Unknown

(TS) Education is the most powerful tool used to answer inquiries and explain ideas. (CM) For instance, when seeing a new concept of Math, you will not simply understand how to apply it, but your professor will have to teach how to utilize the method. (CM) As young scholars, there are many questions we ponder, and without education, we will forever ponder the same questions having never been given the opportunity to find the answer. (CS) Humanity needs an education, for it answers our questions and enlightens us beyond what we already know.

(TS) Scout, a young, headstrong tomboy (S-V split), declares to her father Atticus that she no longer wants to continue working on her education at school, and that’s when her father has a discussion with Scout on his opinion of education. (SD) Atticus tells Scout that she has to go to school because he doesn’t want her to be a humiliation to the community like the Ewells are. (CM) The Ewells are a family who lack the proper education to earn a vocation and instead, have to resort to breaking the law to acquire their food. (CM) Since they have to capture their food illegally, they live like animals, and on top of that, their dad is a man who wastes money on liquor. (SD) However, if Atticus keeps Scout in school, he knows education will cause his daughter to turn out as a polar-opposite of the Ewells. (CM) Her education will teach her to be a civilized young woman, who can speak with proper grammar as opposed to the Ewells hillbilly trash talk. (CM) As well as developing good grammar, Scout will develop proper manners enabling her to mature into an adult. (SD) Atticus also doesn’t have a choice of whether or not his daughter goes to school because it’s a requirement in the community that he believes is necessary. (CM) If Atticus didn’t send his child to school, he would actually be thrown in jail for breaking the law. (CM) However, it isn’t just a necessity because it’s a law, but because education is a rite of passage that helps a young scholar to mature into a serious student and later, into a hardworking employee. (CS) Atticus knows that without education, his family would become another disgrace to society like the Ewells, so he is determined to keep his children in school for when they grow up, they work hard and earn an honest living.

(TS) To me, education is a challenging pursuit of knowledge to help better a person and to help steer a scholar onto the path they want to take. Whether it be as magnificent as changing the world, or as noble as helping less fortunate people acquire that which they do not have. (SD) However, before the opportunity to choose what you will make of your life arrives, there is a voyage across a long road of difficult work. (CM) This journey consists of putting in the long hours studying until your brain feels like it’s about to explode with information. (CM) The process of education will keep you awake hours after you expected to go to bed, and you will grow weary from the effort you have taken to strive for the best education you can obtain. (SD) Fortunately, this effort does not go unrewarded. (CM) You will feel the self-satisfaction that you journeyed through a tough process, having accomplished a task that most people couldn’t finish (participle closer). (CM) With education, the world is open for exploration, and you can be whatever you desire because education has taught you how to handle circumstances an uneducated person would find impossible tasks. (SD) Not only will education teach you how to handle situations you deal with in a job, it will let go of the beautiful image you have painted of the world and show just how cruel life is to most people, but sometimes, you can help. (CM) Some people out there are sick and twisted, but you have learned to stay away from places where they lurk, avoiding becoming entwined with their awful acts. (CM) However, in other places, the environment may be a repairable one, providing opportunities to help the people stuck in predicaments. (CS) Just like Atticus, I think education is a necessity to life because without it, I am enclosed in an abyss that contains all I could offer to the world, but without the knowledge to do so, I am stuck working on trivial matters that will not release my full potential.

(TS) How awful would it be asking the same question over and over again without every receiving an answer? (CM) I would find that incredibly irritating, which is why I am appreciative of education. (CM) We take for granted how education provides so much illumination of knowledge to us and gives us an understanding of the world for a bright future. (CS) Instruction is unbelievably significant to obtaining knowledge, and from that knowledge, you can define who you are because education allows the ability to choose what you want to become.