Spoiled

Authors Note: This is my retelling piece about the book "Spoiled". I chose to write my retelling on this book because I thought it was very good, and it would be worth doing a retelling on.

"Spoiled" is about a girl who has to move to Los Angeles to live with her celebrity dad and his spoiled rotten daughter. Her life becomes chaotic and even her own half-sister betrays her. Everyone in this book learns a valuable life lesson about trusting others and being true to your family.

The Movement

Authors Note: I chose to write a literary analysis because I feel that I am best at writing them. They are one of my strengths in writing and I enjoy writing them. I chose to write this literary analysis on "The Wave", because it was a great story and I wanted to share what I thought about it with others.

Walking through school, being afraid to say anything. You don’t agree with what they’re doing but if anyone finds out you could get hurt. All of your friends have abandoned you and joined the troops, as if they’re in a trance. It feels like you’re all alone and no one even cares anymore. This experiment has just went too far. History teacher, Ben Ross, wanted to create a movement that was just like the events that occurred during World War II. The students at Gordon High School get too involved and the experiment goes way too far. “The Wave”, written by Todd Strasser, is an interesting true story that captures your attention.

History is supposed to be just an average, everyday, high school class. Ben Ross likes to get the students involved in any way he can. As the year rolls along, they come across the unit of World War II. Mr. Ross shows a video about Adolf Hitler, the Nazis, and concentration camps. The students were stunned by what they were shown and they didn’t understand why the Germans didn’t stand up to the Nazis for what terrible things they were doing. Mr. Ross tries to explain as best he can but no one in his class seems satisfied. Then, he comes up with the idea to try and recreate something similar to what happened during World War II. When you read this book, you will be very interested in what will happen next.

While being interested in this book, a lot of things may capture your attention. As Mr. Ross begins his experiment, his students don’t get into it until they have the desire to do what he tells them. Their motto is “Strength Through Discipline, Strength through Community, Strength Through Action.” They come up with a salute for their club, and call this movement, The Wave. It spreads throughout the entire school and almost everyone joins. The students that don’t join are  disgrace to everyone who is a member of The Wave. They get so serious about other students joining The Wave that people start to get hurt. It is unbelievable that something like this could actually happen. It caught my attention when I realized that you can recreate something that happened in the 1930’s.

When I was in shock about how something like this could come true, I just needed to know what Mr. Ross was going to do. The entire school was out of control and only Laurie Saunders and David Collins could see it. It had gotten so out of control, that parents were getting worried, and Mr. Ross might even lose his job. He realizes that he needs to do something before someone gets seriously hurt. He tells the principal, his wife, and Laurie and David that he has a plan and they just have to trust him. In this book, you learn that you shouldn’t always go along with what everyone else is doing, but to do what your heart says is right.

An interesting true story that captures my attention is “The Wave”, written by Todd Strasser. This book is very intriguing and will astound you. You should never do anything just because other people do it, but because it is what you decide to do.

Siblings - You always have to love them

 Authors Note: My Writing circle group decided to write about siblings because we all have at least 2 siblings so they're always in our life. We wrote about the pros and cons of having a brother and/or sister.

Siblings can be very annoying, but sometimes very helpful in certain situations. Sometimes, I just feel like punching someone in the face when my siblings annoy me. But, they’re always there if you have a problem about something and you have no one else to talk to. I’m the middle child, so I have an older sister and a younger brother. I like to irritate my older sister because she gets annoyed really easily and is extremely gullible. I don’t prefer getting my young brother mad/upset because I’ll get in big trouble. I hate when I do something wrong and I get in huge trouble, but then when my brother does something wrong my parents don’t do anything about it! Some things about my family get me really frustrated.

Also, my younger brother gets the special treatment. He’s 10 years old and my mom does practically everything for him. I could do everything by myself when I was 9! It really annoys me, but I don’t let it stress me out too much. I think that that is how my sister feels about me, because I am really mean to her and I don’t get in any trouble. But when she’s mean to me, she get’s in huge trouble. My sister is 24, so she is considered an adult, so my mom thinks that she should be mature enough to “handle the situation like an adult.”

Even though some things really annoy me about my siblings, I’ll always love them, but only because they’re family.

Friends

Authors Note: My writing circle group chose to write this piece because we all care so much about friendship. I personally wanted to write this piece because my friends are a big part of my life.


I love my friends. They’re the ones that will always be there to catch me when I slip on a banana peel. I’m the one that can make them laugh when they feel like crawling into a hole to die. We make memories and we’ll remember them until we are cranky old lady's in a retirement home. My friends and I are always laughing. No matter how random it is, we laugh until our stomachs hurt. All my friends are the best people in the world. They’re funny, sweet, and very loud. They keep my secrets and I keep theirs. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t know them. My friends will be my friends forever.

Some of my friends aren’t my friends anymore. I thought I could trust them and then - BAM! They betrayed me and stabbed me in the back. They lied to my other friends, and when I confronted them about it, they lied to me. It turned out that they did talk about me behind my back. I’m glad that we got into that fight, because now I know that I can’t trust them.

Trust is a very important quality. If you can’t trust your friends, you can’t tell them your secrets, and you can’t trust what they tell you. I think that trust is the most important quality in a friendship. Without trust, it just isn’t a true friendship.

Books!

Authors Note: My Writing circle group decided to write about books because we all love books. We decided to make it a broad topic so that it would be easier to write about.


Books are like candy. They can be sweet and sour, and everyone has a favorite type. Some can be bitter, and once you start eating it you spit it out right away. I like books that have a strong plot, and that have a point to them. Also, I like when they have some humor in them. Without humor, it seems just a tad boring. Genre’s that I really like are realistic fiction - kinda girly too. I also like action/adventure books. They have a great storyline and you can’t stop reading! I love almost every genre but I cannot stand Fantasy. I hate how it’s all so fake. I would rather read things that have more to do with my life.

Symbolism

A Rose for Emily

By: Chloe, Becca, & Liana

Rose – Love, and that looks can be deceiving.

·         Love – Roses are elegant and pretty and it’s something you get on valentine’s day.

·         Looks can be deceiving – Roses are beautiful but they also have thorns which are painful.

February – Harsh

·         Harsh – Winter can be cold and harsh

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Stairways – Creepy, Falling

·         Creepy – Sometimes when you walk up the stairs they make a creeking noise and it scares Liana.

·         Falling – You never know if you are going to fall up or down the stairs so you never know what’s coming

“Her voice was dry and cold” – Old, Out of Breath, Cold outside, Mean, Worn, Harsh

·         Old – Old ladies have old little squeaking voices

·         Out of Breath – Old ladies have no breath – you can just picture it in your mind.

·         Cold Outside – Sometimes in the winter the air is more dry and it is not humid

·         Mean – Old ladies have really high pitched voices or really low voices like “get over here young lady!”

·         Worn – Because old ladies are old!

·         Harsh – Long pointy nails, and they have harsh voices!

Rat – Sneaky

·         Sneaky – Old Emily is very miscellaneous 

Snake – Slither

·         Slither – Emily can easily get out of things – like her taxes

3 gray beards – old men involved, wise

·         Old men – They’re ore wise and they can control things and they have more experience. They have more stories to tell.

·         Wise – Old men are wise and smart.

Midnight – Crimes, Important meetings

·         Crimes - Because no one can see them in the dark and everyone is asleep and it’s dark.

·         Important meetings - You can’t see and nobody knows about it and it’s a time where everyone’s quiet.

Gray – Ancient, Dull, Not Exciting (a.k.a. boring), Depression

·         Ancient – because the story seems like the 70’s and ancient means the 70’s - It’s kinda like slavery time.

·         Dull – All color has been sucked out of it and it’s just not fun to look at

·         Not Exciting – Which is more funner? Pink or gray? Those are your options!

·         Depression – Depression is upsetting, and gloomy, poopy!

Semantic Devices

Metaphor

They walk slower than a turtle crawls.

Simile

Her hair looked as greasy as a McDonalds cheeseburger.

Personification

The booger danced out of her nose.

Hyperbole

I've told you about it a billion times!

Pun

 He had to wait a long time until he could know his weight.

OxyMoron

That's the biggest small ant I've ever seen!

Irony

 They were the best years of my life - mean friends, bad grades, yelling parents, and being bullied.

Alliteration

Betty beamed at Billy's blistery bunions.