Unwanted Essay

Austin
English 8
Mr. Salsich
November 18, 2009

Unwanted:
A Single, Powerful Adjective

(TS) Feeling people don’t want you can cause emotional reactions or severe actions. (CM) The worst part about being unwanted is that no one will listen to your emotions. (CM) However, instead of becoming emotional, sometimes action is taken to become a better person. (CS) There are many scenarios in which people feel unwanted; two scenarios that really stick out to me are the ones in To Kill a Mockingbird and the movie Tenacious D. in the Pick of Destiny.

(TS) Thinking you are unwanted can cause a severe feeling of loneliness, which is a feeling a few unlucky characters in To Kill a Mockingbird experienced and are going to experience (adjective clause). (SD) Dill in particular has to face being unwanted often. (CM) Before he found his mother and father, he was passed from relative to relative because none of them wanted to keep him for long. (CM) Even after Dill found his mother and father, they would just buy whatever toys he wanted so they wouldn’t have to pay attention to him and could say, “…Now you’ve got to go play with it. You’ve got a roomful of things. I got you that book so you could read it” (Lee, page 191). (SD) In the same chapter, Scout experiences her brother being mean to her, making her feel like he doesn’t want her. (CM) Scout and Jem used to be very close, but recently Jem treats Scout like an “allergy”. (CM) He has gone as far as telling her she is not to be seen with him in public even though they used to be together all the time, and now Jem wants hardly anything to do with her. (SD) I think Jem is soon going to start feeling unwanted. (CM) He continues to treat Scout like he is so much older and more mature than her, and Scout doesn’t appreciate when he does that to her. (CM) Not only will Scout not want to be with him, Since Scout and Dill have become a lot closer, Scout could persuade Dill not to be with Jem and then Jem would have no friends that want him. (CS) Feeling unwanted is difficult to deal with because no one wants to be with you or pay attention to you, which will start to make people feel lonely.

(TS) In the movie Tenacious D. in the Pick of Destiny, a young boy that had a desire to be a rock star left his parents’ who didn’t want him in order to become famous and be wanted by millions of people. (SD) In the beginning, he tries to impress his parents with his rock and roll skills so they would want him. (CM) However, his parents, being hardcore Christians who hated anything impure, wanted him even less after his performance. (CM) They were unimpressed by his performance, and he was beaten for not being as perfect and religious as the rest of the family. (SD) After realizing his parents will never want him for who he is, JB, the main character, embarks on a journey to become a famous rocker and have millions of fans. (CM) At first, he befriends no one and has trouble coping with being unwanted. (CM) However, while exploring Hollywood, he meets a street performer who has “amazing guitar chops”, and they eventually befriend each other to gain the fame of legendary rockers. (SD) In order to achieve their goal of becoming famous and wanted, they were willing to resort to drastic measures, which were ideas like stealing an artifact from the National Rock History Museum (adjective clause). (CM) However crazy this idea may be, they were desperate to be wanted. (CM) They developed a plan to steal the artifact, and their plan was successful, and even thought the artifact ended up breaking, they found a way to fill the void of being wanted. (CS) Throughout the entire film, there were so many ways he did the extreme; leaving his parents, traveling around the country, and stealing an artifact in order to simply be wanted.

(TS) The results of rejection can be harsh on one’s soul. (CM) In some cases, the spirit is wounded emotionally causing deep feelings of loneliness. (CM) These perceptions of being neglected can trigger desperate acts screaming for attention. (CS) In the end, no one wants to be unwanted.

Assessment Paragraph

Austin
English 8
Mr. Salsich
November 6, 2009

(TS) I’ve noticed that my essays have become more carefully written, but I know there is always room for improvement. (SD) At the beginning of the year, my work was sloppy. (CM) Every night I was assigned to write a paragraph, I would spend about twenty minutes writing then post it on the blog without proofreading it. (CM) I learned that doing this wasn’t the best strategy if I wanted to earn an ‘A’ on an essay. (SD) Another factor I have improved is the unity of my essays. (CM) My essays used to be lost without a single path to follow because most of my sentences didn’t tie together. (CM) Now my writing is constructed under an umbrella, and the reader understands the point I make throughout my essay, my paragraphs, and my chunks. (SD) Even with these improvements in my writing, my essays still have flaws. (CM) My biggest flaw that remains is when I put too many words into a sentence. (CM) When I have too many words, the reader notices it, and they stumble over my sentence because it doesn’t read well. (CS) From the beginning of the year to now, my writing has improved significantly, and I hope that by the end of the year, all the flaws I still have to work on will no longer exist in my writing.