Pearl Value Essay

The Value of "Capturing the Moment" to "In the Moment"

What are some things that are valued? Is it family? Or simply a piece of toast in the morning? We all have different things in life that we value more than another.
Something that I value in my life is my camera. I use it everyday and just could spend endless time taking pictures of anything and anything. it is just something that I enjoy very much. I have a canon camera

and although i do not know very much about how to properly work them, I am learning more everyday. Everytime that I learn something new it just gives me the more reason to go out and use it more and accurately. The pictures I take just get better and better each time I take a new one it seems. there are timeless moments when I am just doing something and there is a perfect moment where it is literally “picture perfect”.
My camera is indeed something that I value, but I can put a price on it and be able to sell it. Though something that is a bit more special and I cannot put a price tag on to me is a sunset at the beach in Cape Cod. I go to Cape Cod a good 5-6 times a year usually to visit my grandparents who live there usually for

holidays and just to visit here and there. When we go we always do a bunch of fun stuff, but the thing that I look forward to most is watching the sunset on the beach. I think that it is one of the most beautiful things to see and I just get a feeling of serenity and peace while watching it. To me, there is no other perfect moment such as this one. The wind gently blowing, the waves are crashing, the smell of the salt water, the feel of the soft sand, everything is just beautiful.

In some way, I can relate these two things together because they are both something that I cherish and value a lot. I always look forward to going to the beach once I get in cape cod, just like I look forward to pulling out my camera once I get home from school. As for visually, I can say they are alike because I both get to look at them. I get to look at all of the beautiful pictures/moments that I captured on camera and I get to look at the beautiful sunset on the beach.

Although they are alike in some ways, they also differ from each other in some major ways. In one way that they are different is their physical presence. My camera is physically there and I can touch and feel and hold it while the sunset I can only watch.  Another difference is the sunset only lasts for a tiny amount of time while when you take a picture it can last all of your life it until you decide to delete it. It is a nice thing to be able to look at old pictures and remember that moment, but there is just nothing that can compare than being in that moment itself.

In my opinion something has value when it can cost a lot of money or it is something that cannot be replaced. I value a lot of things in my life but a couple that stand more than another are the things that cannot be replaced or happen again. Sometimes there are those moments where the moment is just perfect and there is no other moment that you will experience like it. Some people may say that their definition of value is how much something costs and something that you are able to put a price on, but to me it is something you can't put a price on. It is "priceless".

Speak Final Assessment

Examining Melinda’s Voice- And Your Own!

1.) “Jillian, babillian, mamillian, kazillion” said Anna. She was making fun of a little Kindergarteners name.”What kind of name is that? it’s so weird like who would name their child that?  

I knew that i should be doing something to help the girl in this situation. If anything i thought that her name was pretty cool and unique, but then again i thought “what will Anna think of me after? will she still be friends with me?” i had actually sat with Jillian on the bus a couple times when all the other seats were full and she offered. She was such a a sweet girl, never caused any trouble yet here she was getting pestered. I knew that it wasn't right that she was getting bullied and I really wanted to help her! I was just sitting and watching though like nothing was happening.

I felt so bad for Jillian. She never did anything wrong, like what did she ever do to deserve this? As for myself i thought i was a kind and nice person, but after this i felt like it was out of character. 

2.) A time when my inner voice was in harmony with my outer voice when I was deciding whether I should play soccer or not this year. I had played it all of my life basically and at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not. I kind of lost interest in the sport near the end of the season last year and was sure that I wasn't going play. 

All of that changed the day of the try- outs. It just didn't feel right, like i knew i should should be there playing. In my head i was saying “Go! Just go try out! if you don’t like it then you don’t have to play next year! You will never know until you try!” i knew i was right also. I mean high school soccer is so different from middle school soccer, and I have really only heard good things about it, so it can’t be THAT bad. In that moment i ran downstairs and told my mom that i wanted to play and we went and signed me up and i went to the last tryouts. It felt so good playing and i am so glad that i made the decision to play.

3.)B.) A time when Melinda’s inner voice is not in agreement with her outer voice is when she wants to tell her parents about the party when she got raped, but she doesnt. An example of this is when Melinda is opening her presents on Christmas and she just really wants to tell them. “I almost tell them right then and there… But i want to tell them everything as we sit there by our plastic Christmas tree while Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer video plays (72)”. In this situation, her inner voice is telling her to tell them. “They leave the room. I am still sitting on the floor, holding the paper and charcoals. I didn’t even say ‘Thank you.’(72)”. Her outer voice though, again, is saying nothing. After this I think that she feels regretful because she wants to finally be able to get the whole thing off of her chest and just tell them, but she can never actually seem to tell them in the long run.

Speak Reflective Reading Quiz

SPEAK REFLECTIVE READING QUIZ

1.) - Soft-Spoken

    - Clandestine

    - Arcane

    - Reserved

    - Self conscious

2.) I think that the soft-spoken suits Melinda very well. She usually doesn't say much, or rather nothing to anybody. She is a silent girl, and doesn’t like to put her thoughts out there.

I chose clandestine because it is what Melinda is; secretive. She likes to stay out everybody’s way and go and hide away in her closet that nobody knows about. She isn’t the type to share many things.

Arcane also describes Melinda well because she is not well known by many in the school, and again is secretive. Melinda likes to spend more time to herself than be around others.

Reserved also describes Melinda as a character well because reserved means  kept or set apart for a particular use or reason. Melinda is set apart from the rest of the school because she called the cops at a party so everybody doesn't really like her. She also sets herself apart from the crowd , becasue she would rather keep herself on the down-low.

     Lastly, I think that self-conscious describes Melinda because she is afraid to put herself out there because of what people will think of her. She is afraid to share her thoughts and interests.

       

3.) SOFT-SPOKEN

 

4.) I chose the word soft-spoken out of the five words because i think that it best describes her. Melinda does not like to speak out and share a lot of her thoughts. Instead she keeps them to herself. On page 9 is an example."Mr.Neck: we meet again" "Me:     ". After that she says a couple of thoughts in her head but never replies to Mr. neck.

Another example of Melinda being soft spoken is on page 63."I clear my throat. I can't get any words out, its too dry. I try again, with a little cough." This shows to me that she is not used to speaking aloud, so when she does she cannot get the words out. Also again she is keeping the thought to herself and not sharing.

Summer Reading Essay

Authors Notes

I would like the reader to get a feeling for what the main characters of the book are like, and understand their unique role in the book. i think that the two characters in the books work well together in the story because they are both very strong people. The easiest thong to write about though, was working the Ender’s Game part in. I enjoyed the book very much, which is likely the reason why. aA problem that i encountered was trying to find a way to end the story, because so much happens in both books. Lastly, i think i would like to try to improve the ending and strengthen it a bit. Feedback/Comments on enough content, ending it, and if it makes sense would be most helpful to me.

Ender Wiggin-Ender’s Game

Katniss Everdeen-Catching Fire

    It was just another day at Battle School for Ender Wiggin, ranked number one in the standings since his first battle as a commander. every day he would get out of bed to find a slip of paper telling him when his first battle of the day was. Lately though, the battles kept seeming more and more unfair and rigged. No matter what they tried on him though, cheating, head starts ect. Ender always seemed to find a way to defeat the enemy even under the most extreme circumstances. So, it was no surprise when he graduated Battle School to go to Commander school. It was something expected, but it was unexpected that he was already in Commander school. Either way, Ender Wiggin was ready for whatever was thrown at him.

    She was shocked, angry, mad, all of them together if it’s possible. It was something that she never thought she would had go through again… Another round of the annual “Hunger Games”. Katniss Everdeen, one of the two victors from the previous year, was in a special round with all of the Victors from prior games in the past years. having to leave again was not one of the things that was on her priorities list. Though, she went on headstrong, mind set on winning for her family.

    This time around, it was different. She boarded a spaceship that was taking her to a place called “Battle School” and from what she remembered, they did not do this last time. it took a couple days until she reached the place, and when she did she met a boy that went by the name of Ender Wiggin. as she was first getting to the school he was leaving, which she thought was quite strange considering how young he looked. She only thought this because on the way, the constructors told them what battle school was/was all about. They told her that they were necessary needs to help keep and protect the world from aliens called “Buggers”. They were needed to fight in a battle that may cost their lives, but since they were the victors from the Hunger Games, have a cleverness unlike a normal person. that is why they were chosen for this.

Each victor was assigned a toon consisting of 6 members used to fight in a battle. They would fight these battles through what it seemed was a computer game commanded by the same person every time. The commander would send instructions, and the toon would carry these instructions in hope of victory from the games battleships. it was odd though. after the battles, there would obviously be people who died in the battle, and so in the next battle there would be a new people(s) in the toon, almost like the game was real.

The games got more intense, day by day. The commander though seemed to be slacking off, which was not usual. finally, a couple days past without a battle because the commander, who she found out to be as the Ender kid she met was so worn down and sick he couldn’t do anything. when he returned, the battles started up as usual again. something else that Katniss noticed was that she kept hearing less and less familiar voices of the victors. soon enough, her voice and Peeta’s were the only that she remembered and the rest were random people. She thought it was quite strange.

“This is your battle Ender, we will be evaluating you as you proceed.” said Graff, the person that brought Ender to Battle School.

“and what if i don’t win?” asked Ender

    “Then you will have let us down completely, and you're not the boy we thought you were” he replied

So Ender went to the “computer machine” and it was already set up ready to go, like they have been waiting for him for hours to get there. He quickly did a mic. check seeing if his only friend Katniss was still there.

    “Katniss, you there?” he asked

    “Sallam, my friend.” she replied

Sallam was something that she said to him when they first started the battles, using it as a code word to let one another know they were still present before/after the battles. They had grown to be good friends over the weeks, and was one of the few people he could actually trust. it had actually meant “peace” though.

The last battle was the most unfair battle he had ever played. There were more than 100 times as many bugger ships than his. He was out numbered no doubt, but managed to find a way to win. everyone started crying and cheering. it turned out, the whole time that he was playing the so called “battles” it was against the real buggers and their ships, and he had just destroyed the last of them forever. As for Katniss, she was the last of the victors, which meant she won the games again and could return to her family. All, in all it was a good day for the both of them.