What did I achieve as a learner, reader and writer this year? It isn’t much but enough to squeeze 350 words from. I can recall an “aha’ moment, the only “aha” moment, but never used it for various reasons. As a reader, I personally think I grew from last year through suggestions from Ms. Hunnisett. Writing, to me, is difficult but I have seen what my strongest writing style which isn’t used enough. As a person, I’m more excited about next semester, not because I had bad teachers.

There was an “aha” moment that struck me as we were watching The Truman Show. I remember telling Ms. Hunnisett the special thought-process going through my head and she told me to share it with the class the next day, it was the end of class mind you. The next day arrives and I’m sitting in ELA class without a thought of my “aha” moment because I completely forgot it from my knowledge. It was a depressing day now that I look back on it because I can’t remember any other “aha” moments. It was as if I was never meant to be honored in ELA class but my reading made me feel better about it.

I never liked reading for fun because no one ever brought any books home that consisted of more than math formulae and science theories. This lead me to read news and other non-fiction texts, mostly news and facts, which has now made me appreciate non-fiction novels. But that’s not the important part. It was near the end of the semester when Ms. Hunnisett talked about the only book I completed in class and threw my name into the lecture. I was extremely proud of my ability to read that day because I knew what she was talking about. The best part of the lecture was the mostly blank faces.

As a writer, I realized that critical essays suck pretty early in my school career. They could have been better if they had more freedom but no, critical writing had to be about something people wouldn’t look twice at. That is why I like writing from perspectives, especially those that are vague and underdeveloped. This way you can relate it to anything with little proof. Who needs proof when it’s interesting to read or will be looked at more than once because of the curiosity created in the reader.

This semester I had great teachers that helped me pass my courses. My highlight would most certainly be Mr. Nayak and his use of puns in math. Never in my life have I heard so many puns. I will most probably miss all my teachers but can’t wait until next semester because I have P.E! What else could anyone ask for other than P.E next semester. Money would be great but in reality is empty, love will only break your heart, and friends come and go. But P.E is different, P.E will make you breakfast in the morning, call you for friendly advice in the middle of the day, and won’t leave your pocket empty.

Arthur Radley was a great man, a helping brother, and a contributor to society. He wasn’t as bad as everyone made him out to be. He never was a monster, he never ate raw squirrels, and he certainly didn’t have a scar on his face. As he was growing up, he made mistakes but quickly learned from them. Arthur changed his ways after his teenage struggles and became a better man that many will never understand. He was a symbol of good in our community and today you’ll know what his life was like.

Arthur greatly represented greatness through his integrity and his affects on people around him. He never tried to lie his way out of problems or use people for his own gain. My brother would be fair to all and give gifts whenever he could. He never tried to be superior than others whether or not he was more knowledgeable which left a positive affect on people he talked to. He was great because he fought for good and never for the sole purpose of harm. I saw it in him when he was just a little boy learning to get along with others. Once at the park, when he was very young, he saw two little kids arguing and saw one of them punch the other. Being the man he was, he quickly ran to the two kids and stopped the fight by beating up the aggressor. Sure he should have called a teacher or parent but he did what had to be done. His virtue of greatness made him more helpful around the house and even my work.

My brother loved helping people with a passion and never regretted giving a helping hand. He would try to assist anonymously because he never liked being the centre of attention. He would help our mother around the house with all the chores but also had  a sense of humor. Once, he was cleaning the dishes with our mother and quickly splashed water on mom’s face and ran. As he tried to get away, he slipped on some water, fell into the table and flipped it over. My cold coffee slipped all over his clothes and I couldn’t help but laugh. And another time, he sneaked out of the house in the middle of the night, got my work done just so I could spend the weekend with him. He wanted to learn to read and write but he did this every Friday just so he felt as if he contributed to our family. These are the kind of moments I’m going to miss most about my brother. His jokes and his willingness to help any in irrational ways just to be part of society.

Our society, mostly, frowned upon Arthur because of his past and our father’s unreasonable ways of fathering us. But, even through the though times, he would give suggestions to political representatives but through paper and in the middle of the night. He was the leading force behind ending racism in all communities because he never understood why it existed. He never wanted to leave the house in the day because he loved diverse kinds of people and didn’t want to be criticized for it. Whenever there was any kind of dispute at night, he would quickly rise to the occasion and help settle the dispute. He was a sheriff when the law was sleeping.

Arthur Radley was a great man, a helping brother, and a contributor to society but he did so unnamed. He didn’t think what he was doing was good because he considered it human nature but he always wanted to be a hero. The damn bastard didn’t realize you need to be known to be a hero but I loved him just the same.

Books (From July to December)

1. To Kill a Mockingbrid by Harper Lee (376 Pages)
2. Eyes on Target by Scott McEwen and Richard Miniter (320 pages)
3. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (130 pages)
4. Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror by Erik Prince (417 pages)
5. The Things they Carried by Tim O’Brien (259 pages)

~8 pages per day or ~57 pages a week. Total: 1502 pages

Civilian Warriors

A great book by an entrepreneur and veteran who creates the greatest private contracting company. The story follows his success his company, Blackwater, and the peoples criticism’s of it.He gives insight on the contracts he undertook and reasons why he couldn’t publicly speak of them. The book is a collection of short stories that are told in chronological order to follow the theme of the book.

The Things they Carried

A Vietnam veteran writes about the time he spent in Vietnam in short stories. There is internal struggle from his opinions of the war and external struggles from what he see’s while fighting the war. The use of imagery help create a realistic environment for the reader to see and feel. As you read the book, you feel for the dead enemy, you feel for him, and you feel for his dead friends. You start to understand why he writes and who is really important in his life.

Eyes on Target

 Written from the perspective of Navy SEALs operatives, this book offers the reader an experience from hell in the comfort of his home. The book gives accurate an agenda for untold missions from around the world. The writers also give alternatives to scenarios that could have saved lives. There is also a history of the Navy SEALs given and other amendments that took place throughout it’s past. Great interviews and insight give the books an unforgettable quality to the book.

Future books to read 

-Birdsong by Sebastian Faulk

-Regeneration by Pat Barker (Because you don’t know how strong you are until someone crushes your dreams)

-Looking for Alaska By John Green

Hey Zafir,

The book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is full of short stories from The Vietnam War in which he explores the idea of the truth. Tim writes in first person about certain outstanding events that took place while he was deployed in Vietnam. His book, compared to others in the genre, is well written with a significant amount of imagery and underlying symbolism.

The author, as he writes the short stories, starts to question the truth of what really happened. The book is written as he looks back on the past and key parts of his life that shaped his love. He explains how over time, memories change and are slowly forgotten which makes the honesty in the text ambiguous but that’s what makes a war story true. There is also an internal struggle of the protagonist in the beginning on whether or not to join the war which lets the foundation for the perspective of the author. Still captures of paramount locations and events that took place during, before, and after the war bring to life a forty-six year old adventure. The show of how soldiers deal with coming back from wars and the losses of friends during wars give a realistic view on a warriors life. The internal struggle of ones memories and external struggles involving friends and family leave for an interesting book.

Your love for imagery, short stories and your opinions on war will get you into the book. If you can’t find anything to read then I would recommend you read this.

I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o’clock our neighbors drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying–
He had always taken funerals in his stride–
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were “sorry for my trouble,”
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

The poem is written from a perspective of a college student who is waiting to get home because of  someones death. He meets his father, who is crying, and another character who says, “It was a hard blow.” These two stanza change the atmosphere from anxious to sorrow. The next stanza has a line about a baby in a carriage which can be considered symbolism because the last line implies that the funeral is for a baby or toddler. The speaker also feels embarrassed by an old man wanting to shake his hand which could be unwanted or even unearned respect that the speaker is getting but doesn’t want. The next morning, the speaker sees the dead for the first time in six weeks and describes the injury. It is implied that the dead was hit by a vehicle. The body, unexpectedly, was of a child of four years.