Essay #13 Rebellion

Cooper Feltes

English 8

Mr. Salsich

January 27/2010

Rebellion:

The Growth of Rebellion in My Life and in To Kill a Mockingbird.

    In most cases, the developing child shows signs of rebellion at some point of his or her life. In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout seems to be expressing signs of potential rebellion collecting inside her bank of emotions.

At Scout's age, it is normal for a girl  to start to find her place and decide what she wants to become. In Scout's environment, the constant gravitational pull of adult expectations are causing her to make her own decisions. On one hand, Atticus doesn't expect much of her, and Scout knows that whatever she does, her father will be happy with. On the other hand, Aunt Alexandria expects a little too much of her, requiring Scout to become a true lady. An instance of the most rebellious action possible, is part of Dill's story, starting from running away from home, and ending up In Maycomb (Loose sentence). Because he thought his family didn't love him, he came to the Finch household. Dill was offered to spend the night, and the Finch's love seemed to rub off on Dill until his rebellious attitude got the best of him, and he broke out in tears in the court room. Scout and Dill have shown signs of rebellion, or at least are exposed to it's dangers.

   Looking at my life as it is today, I sense rebellious emotions forming (suspentence). The seed of this rebellion was sewn at my own home. My parents have raised me to be 99.99% obedient, so much so, that I can't remember any time where I said "no" to one of my parents requests. I think my childhood compliance is coming back to bite my parents as I grow ever aware of how much I force myself to do. Especially in the past couple of months, I have been feeling restricted and bound up by adults. If they were out of the way, hypothetically, I could be unrestrained and totally free. Yet my parents probably felt the same way I do when they were kids, and my children will feel the same way when they're in my shoes. This rebellion is normal for any teenage boy I suppose.

    Scout and I are growing up, and like many children, we are creating rebellion to deposit in our emotional banks. Because we are both growing up, Scout will always remain a special character in my mind.

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Self Assessment:

This essay was relatively easy for me. It was a challenge to figure out whether my ease came from my connection to the topic, or numerous overlooked mistakes. like my last essay, I streamlined a lot of sentences to make them easier for the reader to read. I had a lot of trouble finding another word for rebellion that easily fit into the sentence.

Grade:B

essay #12 Morning time.

Cooper

English 8

Mr. Salsich

January 21, 2009

Morning Time:

Pleasures of a Brand New Day.

    When bedtime comes around, the last thing anyone wants to be is angry. After a full night of rest, a fresh morning start recharges your batteries and positively sets your mood. At least, this is the case in To Kill a Mockingbird, after Atticus loses one of his bigger court cases. After he rests, he hides the entire event and acts like his attitude is back to normal.

     TS No matter what happens during the day, "things are always better in the morning". SD  In To Kill a Mockingbird, anger at bedtime never lasts for long. CM Right after Atticus decides to go upstairs to bed early because he lost his court case, Scout narrates,"thing are always better in the morning". CM This statement holds true as she continues to describe the next morning as a calm and peaceful one. SD It seems to be the same a few days later when Aunt Alexandria yells at Scout, telling her she's "enough of a problem to [her] father as it is". CM Sobbing, Scout runs upstairs into Jem's room when the shouting subsides. CM After Jem, feeling and sharing Scout's pain, comforts her and tells her its going to be okay, she goes to bed(Participle S-V split), then wakes up in the morning back to normal. SD A while back in the book, we saw the Finch family having a holiday dinner together. CM When Scout goes outside, she talks to her cousin Francis and after a while, their conversation leads to Francis sprinting towards the kitchen and calling Atticus "nothing but a nigger-lover". CM This comment brought Scout to the brink, but when she got home, she went to bed and tried to forget about it the next morning. CS Any problem can be solved over a night of sleep.

    Even after the worst day ever, a good night's sleep in clean, crisp sheets can rejuvenate the most shrouded of minds. Anger is, in my morning, the last of the emotions felt. Scout must feel like this all the time. When a major event in the story affects Scout, she is devastated. The emotional ruins are forgotten until later in the day, they are found, to be fixed again by another night of sleep.


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self assessment.

This entire essay took a lot of time for me. Thinking of the third supporting detail was very challenging. I picked a random chapter, and was fortunate enough to find the third supporting detail in chapter 9. the most significant difference between my two drafts was the streamlining of a couple of sentences including the first supporting detail. I think the most pleasing phrase is the first sentence of the concluding paragraph because it is very descriptive and was calming to write. although i dont know how I could fix this, I thought I repeated "good night's sleep" too many times. I tried to vary the delivery of it, but I quickly ran out of ideas.
Grade: B

AFL visit #5

AFL visit #5


Cooper

English Assessment 8

Mr. Salsich

January 20, 2010



          Today was a great day, and to cap it off, it was a very colorful day at AFL. Instead of having to sit at the reception desk the entire time, I was able to fill a few orders of groceries. Before that started I was engaging in something very peculiar to me. sitting at the dining table was a man. This man, when I walked in, did not say a word, did not look over to see who was coming, and didn't even acknowledge my presence in the room. It was extremely strange. I saw next to him a folded up metal stick with a ball at the end of it. He was blind. When the other volunteers walked in laughing, he was quick to ask them how they were doing. When a woman said hello while walking in to get groceries, I know his ears perked up. She continued talking, until the man started a conversation with her. I picked up the vibe that she had never met him formally, but he said he recognized her voice. This amazed me. I had never thought of speech as a main source of recognition before today. The man had developed an acute sense of hearing through his visual disabilities. Today's events really strengthened my appreciation for people with major and minor disabilities.

AFL visit #4

AFL visit # 4
Cooper
English Assesment 8
Mr. Salsich
January 13, 2010



          Although it wasn't such a great visit, I enjoyed what I was able to do. Today, I finally mastered filling people's grocery orders. I've almost memorized the location of foods in the pantry. The only thing I couldn't find was the Chef Boyardee which ended up being hidden under the beef stew. In the dining room, I sat in on a bountiful and informal conversation about homosexuality (because AIDS affects homosexuals more than anyone else, I feel I can talk about this without being too akward). Thankfully, After being barraged with a volley of inapropriate comments and jokes, a member came in and I had to fill their grocery order. the fact they didnt feel discouraged by my presence made me feel closer to the family I had joined a few weeks earlier.

Essay # 11 personality

Essay #11

Cooper Feltes

Mr. Salsich

English 8

January 13. 2010

Personality:

A View Upon How Personality is Very Important In my Life and in To Kill a Mockingbird

Throughout the day, the personalities of others effect our own attitude. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem's attitude seems to be rubbing off on Scout. His silence has given Scout one less person to talk to, leaving Dill as her only companion. Jem has unknowingly set the mood in chapters 20 and 21 by keeping quiet. However, Dill disturbed the silence by bursting out in tears in the middle of the courtroom. Scout is then persuaded to follow the trends of Dill’s attitude. Dill's sadness infects Scout and unveils her sympathetic side. Meeting Mr Raymond changed their state of mind as well. Mr. Raymond's sudden appearance startled Scout and changed her attitude from sympathetic to a suspicious mindset. They were startled for one, but Scout wasn’t so sure her dad, who wasn't wery fond of Mr. Raymond, would approve of his presence. Throughout the chapters, Scout and other characters have changed to conform to the personality of others.

My personality has changed over the years, and people seem to recognize it. My Mr. Enthusiastic trademark has worn off, yet my peers and I sense another looming attitude: Efficiency. Efficiency is my "middle name" in everything I do. If I can cut off a few minutes from an activity, I am the happiest boy in the world. The thought of inefficiency "grinds my gears". When I comment about a less time consuming, more precise, or more cost effective way of doing things, people take note. In math class one day, for example, I discovered I had finished the homework in class, and the person sitting across from me, who was an excellent math student, hadn't even broken the half-way point. After he commented on my brutal efficiency, he pointed out I sometimes become too efficient. He reminded me of our science worksheet earlier that week. Trying my best to finish before class ended, I completed the assignment in 10 minutes, but when we checked our answers, I got almost half of them wrong, and ended up having to do it over again for homework. I learned my lesson. Efficiency is an equal balance of time, effort, and quality, and before I can acheive it, there must be a balance between all three of these factors. From my point of view, there is always room for improvement. Whether I'm playing a game or doing schoolwork, I am monitoring what level of energy I put in, and the quality of the work. Efficiency is a feature of my personality that rubs off on people, and it makes each day a little happier for people around me.

AFL visit #3

Visit 3 

January 6, 2010

    Wednesday is definitely the busiest day at AFL. When I first arrived I was greeted by a tall man named "Slim" that showed me how to fill orders made by members. Besides finding for members without them, AFL offers groceries on Wednesday for them when their income doesn't compensate. "Slim" brought me down the old, gated elevator and into the basement where the pantry was located, walked me around, and showed me how to fill grocery orders requested by the member. The rest of my visit was very unfulfilling. For one and a half hours I sat at the reception desk trying to figure out how to transfer calls to voicemail correctly. One member I saw was a character I would like to take note of here. This woman was one I met right in front the elavator, and the first thing I noticed was her blue lipstick, her makeup blended face, and her denying of being able to write her own name. Thinking of it now, I see what a well educated world I am surrounded by. In our own world, there are millions of people that cant write, or even read their own name. Taking into consideration that there is a world outside of my life, I know now all the challenges people face everyday adapting to the modern world.   

AFL visit #2

Visit 2

Cooper F.

December 28, 2009

 

 

    Today was nothing like my last visit. for two and a half ours i sat at the front desk of the building, acting as receptionist. Of course, it was a Monday, and nothing special ever happens on a Monday. I did, however, get to use the paper shedder, which was awsome. I really didn't leave that one room for the entire visit. I didn't get to see much of the staff. actually, I think only 4 out of 15 of the staff were there. It was quite embarrasing when I got a call from a gentleman and i couldn't understand a word he was saying. To add to this, he made random pauses in the middle of his sentences which got confusing. I suppose this was "another day at the office".