PowerPoint over "The Twelve"

Click here to view the power point

Cry, The Beloved Country

In Cry, the Beloved Country, Stephen Kumalo is shown as a very major and important factor. He can be described as a dynamic or round character. Kumalo’s character seems to be very realistic due to the troubles and the way he is affected by what occurs during the book. Kumalo is very religious and also appears to be very caring and loving towards his family. He also seems like a good father figure. In contrast to his good attributes, he also shows not so good attributes. He seems to lose his faith as the book progresses, his age also severely affects him and how he is able to maneuver.

As the book has progressed, Kumalo has experienced life changing events. The events he has encountered could happen to anybody, which makes his character appear realistic in a way. For example, the young man states “I have heard what you fear.” This automatically tells Kumalo that his son murdered Arthur Jarvis. This is a life altering event that could happen to any parent, but it forces Kumalo to be sad and depressed and to slowly lose his faith. It makes him ponder over why it has happened to him, why everything that he expected in going to Johannesburg was completely thrown to waste. Then again, he has also had come good encounters, one of which being with his sister Gertrude. Kumalo conversated with Gertrude and she willing decided to return back to her homeland with Kumalo. She stated that “[she] did not like Johannesburg”, that “[she] is sick [there]. She then got down on her knees with Kumalo and prayed and asked for forgiveness. This raises Kumalo’s spirits and puts him in a better mood. He is glad that Gertrude wants to cleanse herself of impurities and leave the wretched city that immoralized her.

Although Kumalo has had good and bad experiences that have changed him completely, he has still proven to be a good father figure through all the nonsense he has encountered. The story states that, “Kumalo would pick the child up, and put his hand under the shirt to feel the small warm back, and tickle and poke him, till the serious face relaxed into smiles, and the smiles grew into uncontrollable laughter.” This shows how in the middle of everything, Kumalo can still find a way to care and love for what is there, for the important things. He must accept what is given to him and cherish the little things. The child brings out his fatherly instinct that has, more than likely, been locked away ever since his son left. Even though he is able to escape the troubles he is facing when he plays with his nephew, he cannot physically stop the toll it is forcing upon him. Throughout the story Kumalo grows “weary” and they describe him as a “bent figure.” He is not only growing weary due to the experiences he has come face to face with in Johannesburg, he is aging and growing older. Everything he does takes a great toll on him, it makes him tired and it makes him ache. Not only does it affect him physically, it affects him religiously. He begins to lose faith as the events attack him and slowly eat away at him. Everything he expected was completely wrong and due to what he expected and what actually occurred, he has paid a tremendous toll, not just physically, but mentally as well.

Uncle

           

            In the Lodge, the children are all screaming, the adults all talking, and my Aunt is busy cooking. The smells of duck and ham start to dance around the room. The kids start to sniff the air and become excited. The adults are all commenting on how good the food smells. But me, I’m looking at the presents and counting how many I have under the tree to open. Behind me, is my Uncle, chuckling at how anxious my twelve-year-old self is to open presents.

            We’re outside, my Uncle and I. The water calmly moves back and forth as fish nibble at the food on the surface of the water. The sun bites at my face when I look towards the dock, where I hear the boats bouncing around. I then give my Uncle a quick glance and look back towards the water. As I cast out my line and start to reel in, I hope to catch a fish. At, the same moment I think of how effortlessly my Uncle can catch a fish. I hope I can, one day, be as good a fisher as him. Then again, I’m only thirteen.

            A quick splash brings me back down to Earth. I look over, and to no surprise, I see him reeling in a fish. A bass writhing like an angry snake. He looks at me smiling, and I softly laugh. I then cast out my line and start to reel in, as I hope to catch a fish.

            Sitting in the deer stand for the first time felt amazing. I’m only thirteen so I can’t be alone, which is why I’m with my Uncle. I hear birds chirping and squirrels busily moving in the trees around us, as if they were involved in rush hour in a big city. There are also butterflies fluttering in the wind. Then, to my surprise, a deer walks out of the tree line. Adrenaline!

            My Uncle quickly tells me,”Be quiet. We want the deer to come as close as it can.” I quietly sit back and wait knowing that patience is the key.

            A few minutes later my Uncle tells me,”Get your gun ready.” The deer has come closer. “Shoot when you’re ready.” He said. I aimed my gun. My blood is pumping, my heart is pounding, and everything goes silent. I shoot. BOOM! “I dropped it.” I said to my Uncle, who smiled acknowldingly. I had almost forgotten that we were only a couple hundred yards away from the lodge.

I am at the lodge the summer after my fourteenth birthday. My entire family is here swimming and fishing in the lake. I’m sitting with my feet in the lake when my uncle comes and sits by me. “You’re growing up so fast.” He says. I realize he’s telling the truth. I nod my head and look around thinking of how important the times I’ve spent with him are. I gonna miss it, the children all screaming, the adults all talking, and my Aunt cooking.

I Am Me x2

I am me x2
I wonder why there is so much fighting
I hear peace in the ded silence
I see the world as a whole
I want to be a leader
I am me x2

I pretend I'm on the top of the world
I feel free
I touch a better future
I worry about death
I cry when people die
I am me x2

I understand why there's no peace
I say end world hunger
I dream the world gets better
I try not to fight
I hope to one day live in a better world
I am me x2

How I Learned To Read

Have you ever wondered how you learned to read? Well I have, and I still don't completely know how I learned. I do know that in pre-school, teachers tried teaching me how to read, but I just wasn't into it. I didn't really get involved in reading until Kindergarten, and even then, I didn't really enjoy it. I also used to read for sheer enjoyment, starting after the first grade, even though it was for Accelerated Reader. To be honest, I took after my mom on the reading subject.

In pre-school and Kindergarten, I absolutely hated the concept of reading. So my mom tells me. teachers tried all of the time to teach me to read, but reading didn't click with me until first grade. Mrs. Wilbanks, my first grade teacher, got me hooked on reading by allowing different kids each day to sit and read in a bath tub during reading time. this made me try my hardest everyday to read the best I could. I wanted to be the one in the tub. It also taught me to love reading.

After first grade, I continued reading, not just because I had to, but because reading interested me more, and I enjoyed it. Due to me reading more and more each year, my reading improved tremendously. Not only did my reading improve and continuously get better, but it got so much better that I was reading at an Advanced level. In third grade I was reading at a sixth grade reading level. I also finished with the most A.R. points in my class, because I read all the time.

Not only did I read at school, I read at home and on weekends. I did it because I wanted to, not because i didn't have anything better to do, because I enjoyed it. I can still remember going home after school and finishing my homework as fast as i could just so I could get back to reading the book I had got so interested in during school. I remember laying down on the couch and turning the television off and just reading for hours, waiting on my mom to tell me that dinner was ready, just to go back to reading after dinner. My parents and teachers always told me that reading was good for me, I guess that they were right.

This is how I came to love reading, by getting hooked on reading in first grade and always wanting to be a better reader than everybody else. it started with trying to be the one in the bathtub, the one getting noticed. It then turned into me enjoying every moment of reading I got, reading and enjoying books as if there was a television ion my head. That is how I learned to read to the best of my ability. 

5 Cents To See An Angel

          Angel or just "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings"?

          Maybe somebody just misunderstood.

          There's more to it then just what is on the surface, you have to look deeper.

Have you ever been judged by just your appearance? Of course you have, we all have. Well imagine if you were an old man with wings "in the wire chicken coop." then let's just say somebody "got the idea of fencing in the yard and charging five cents admission to see" you. I wouldn't feel to good about that. So wouldn't you say not to judge somebody by their appearance, not to just look at somebody and automatically say you're not going to talk to them or even try to get to know that person.

          So next time you see or meet somebody you have not ever met, give them a chance. Don't judge them by their looks or their appearance. Don't lock somebody "up with the hens in the wire chicken coop." Don't make somebody feel like they don't belong because you want to throw stones at them. Basically what I'm saying is, give everybody an opportunity, a chance. Don't be that person that everybody remembers from high school as the bully, or the guy who never gave anybody a chance.