Essay Number 10

Around and Around:

An Essay about Circles in To Kill a Mockingbird and My life

An Essay by Gaelen Frink

Eighth Grade English

Pine Point School

January 31, 2011

(TS)Circles and To Kill a Mockingbird go around and around; topics come up at one point in the story and then again later as they complete a circle. (SD) Mockingbirds at the beginning of the book came up and the title is To Kill a Mockingbird.  (CM1) When Jem and Scout received their air guns Atticus told Jem “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (CM2) Mockingbirds also came up later in the book when Jem and scout were leaving for the pageant they heard “a solitary mocker who poured out his repertoire.”  (SD) Loneliness is a recurring topic in To Kill a Mockingbird because it resurfaces many times. (CM1) In Chapter 14 Dill experiences great loneliness because of his parent’s lack of love and the fact that “they just weren’t interested in [him]” (CM2) When Jem turned twelve everything seemed to change; his relationship with his sister, the way he acts and just what he does is different. (CM3) Since this change Scout experienced a type of loneliness, but she learned to deal with this and she also learned that Jem is still her brother. (SD) Curiosity is another theme that keeps coming up, it recurs many times. (CM1) Curiosity led Jem and Scout into many discoveries throughout the whole book these discoveries are, physical and mental. (CM2)

Visit Number 6

Assessment Number Six

 A Paragraph by Gaelen Frink

Eighth Grade English

Pine Point School

January 19, 2011

            On Monday  I went to the WARM shelter and served cooked ham, hash browns and peas with carrots mixed in. I had to be careful while serving the hash browns towards the middle of the meal because we were starting to run out too quickly. This is where I learned how to make a little food serve more people than a lot of food serving a small amount of people. To do this one has to give each person a little less than the person before them so that the food will last. This means that some people will get less food than others, but that is what has to happen for everyone to get food. Zig said if there wasn't enough food left that we can go into the refrigerator and find a sandwich or anything that we can give someone to eat instead of hash browns. Zig is getting nervous because January is the month that people have to live on their food stamps for an extra ten days so there will be a lot more people coming into the warm shelter. I felt like I should have been more careful serving the hash browns. If I had done that everybody would have gotten a fair amount of food. I now know portion sizes and how much to serve for the amount of food that is made. I felt like this was a learning visit.

Outline for Essay Number 10

An Outline by Gaelen Frink

Eighth Grade English

Pine Point School

January 25, 2011

Main Point: Circles in To Kill a Mockingbird and in your life
Bell word Again

Paragraph 1

Hook

Comment on the hook

Comment on the hook

Thesis  (with bell word)

Main Point: Circles in To Kill a Mockingbird and in your life

Bell word Again

Paragraph 2

TS Topics in TKAM keep coming up

2 Echo Words  once more, one more time
SD Mockingbirds

        CM Earlier Atticus told Jem not shoot mockingbirds

        CM When Jem and Scout leave for the pageant they hear a mockingbird

SD Loneliness

        CM Dill is lonely because his parents don't love him

        CM Scout is lonely because Jem is too old to hang out with his sister

SD Jem and Scout are curios about Boo

        CM Their curiosity led to finding things in the tree

        CM Scout is curious about the workings of the lady meetings

CS It is amazing how things in the book so far apart are connected in some way

Paragraph 3

TS Skiing and school have schedules that repeat

2 Echo Words Over and over, repeated
SD Every weekend I ski

        CM The same schedule weekend after weekend

        CM Not always things are the same

SD The Friday before the weekend I tune my skis

        CM The same thing just repeated for each ski

        CM The job sometimes gets old because it keeps happening over and over

SD In school every day is almost the same

        CM We get up have classes come home do homework go to bed, then repeat for 5 days

        CM The only thing different is the classes

CS Day in day out we repeat

Paragraph 4

Hook

Echo word

Comment on the hook

Comment on the hook

Re-statement of the thesis

Visit Number 5

Assessment Number Five

 A Paragraph by Gaelen Frink

Eighth Grade English

Pine Point School

January 19, 2011 

         

Today I was serving chili and macaroni and cheese at the WARM shelter. While serving, this one person told me just to put everything together on a plate the macaroni with the chili right on top. At the end of the night when there were leftovers pretty much everyone was asking me to do this because everyone wanted to try the food that way because it gave the macaroni a small spicy kick. There are two people who come in sometimes and they appear to be an older couple. When I see this I wonder what made it so that they had to come to the WARM shelter for their meals. Maybe they just cannot afford to eat wherever they live. This might be the case for many of the people who come into the warm shelter. There are some exceptions though because some of the people look a little ragged or they don't have health or dental insurance because they have to pay for something other than those things because there are many more necessary needs in life. I feel like I have a type of relationship with some of the people who come in because they recognize me and I recognize them and we have little conversations as I am dishing out the food. One of the people, Matt and I have a few things in common like he said that he used to live out west by the ski resorts and he liked to ski and he also likes his food just like me. I also have a good relationship with the cook Zig, who always has a comeback or a joke for everything.

Visit Number 4

Assessment Number Four

 A Paragraph by Gaelen Frink

Eighth Grade English

Pine Point School

January 14, 2011 

   

         When I got out of my car and started to walk towards the kitchen where I would be serving, the smell of cigarettes hit my nose. When I walked inside I shut the old door behind me because it doesn't shut by itself. Right as I walked in I saw the same person who is always leaning against the door frame and he was wearing the same old clothes as before, a sweat shirt and a battered t-shirt. I went over Zig and asked him what we were serving. He told me that it was fried chicken, rice, peas and carrots. The people served themselves cranberry sauce and chocolate pudding. As I was, serving people would ask for something different, like no peas or no carrots, also most of the people wanted to pick out their piece of chicken because the person next to them might be getting more than them. When it was getting close to closing time, some of the people came up and asked if there was any extra food left, and if there was if they could have it. When I was serving I felt like I was helping people get a meal. On the other side of the matter I thought that some people should not have been there. Felt this because they had things that the other people did not have like big purses. At the end of the meal it felt good to be volunteering at the warm shelter.

Essay Number 9

 Unnoticeable Heroes

 An Essay On a Silent Hero

An Essay by Gaelen Frink

Eighth Grade English

Pine Point School

January 5, 2011

            (TS) There is always that one person that you know who is different, who is a hero. (SD) Miss Maudie is a great person who qualifies for this title because she doesn't brag or even want praise. (SD) My dad is another person who is a quiet hero for me, he is always there to help or comfort me. (CS) A quiet hero could be anyone, the person who you pass by while you are walking or it could be your best friend, but you do not know it.
       
            (TS)Do you know a person who does things that seem heroic, but no one notices because to them what they did was not a big deal? (SD) Miss Maudie is a perfect example because she is able to support other people and herself. (CM1) During the party when they are told the news about Tom, she is able to keep herself calm and she tells Alexandra to be quiet "or else they'll hear [her]". (CM2) If this had happened the party of women could have been skeptical about what happened. (SD) When someone is always being a silent hero they might have immeasurable tension from holding everyone else up. (CM1) Miss Maudie told Scout to "stop that shaking" and Miss Maudie pulled her and Alexandra together so that they could continue. (CM2) At some point in time, all of this tension will soon come down because Miss Maudie, the hero, cannot hold it up any longer. (SD) What Miss Maudie did for Alexandra and Scout was that she made it so they could continue; she is their reinforcement. (CM1) They could continue doing what they were doing before and Scout even said, "She could be a lady at a time like this if Aunt Alexandra could. (CM2) When the women rejoin the other women it seems like nothing has happened and they never knew about what took place inside of the kitchen. (CS) Thanks to the silent hero Miss Maudie Attkinson who holds everyone together like cement.

            (TS) When I think of one hero in my life, I don't think of just one, I think of my whole family and especially my dad. (SD) My dad supports me in anything I do, even if I don't do so well. (CM1) When I am in a ski race and I get down without falling he is usually there congratulating me. (CM2)  He is a support that I rely on to keep going and striving for better. (SD) When I am not feeling well or mad my dad is usually trying to comfort me and make me feel better. (CM1) He will sometimes joke with me and try to make me laugh, but if that doesn't make me feel better he will just console me. (CM2) My dad and I have a great relationship and he his one of my biggest quiet heroes. (SD) Another quiet hero to me could be my brother. (CM1) He might be mean and punch me often, but it toughens me up. (CM2) Also, when I need help with English or any other subject, he will take the time and clarify it so I can understand it; he is helpful when he is explaining and teaching things to me. My family is like a quiet hero and they will be there to always help me.
            
            (TS) When you think about it everyone has done something heroic in their life, but not everyone is quiet about it. Miss Maudie was very quiet about what she did, but she probably didn't even think that it was heroic. My dad does things for me, little things, but those little things are the heroic things. Heroes are everybody, but not all heroes are quiet heroes and all quiet heroes don't know that they are heroes.

1. I need to work on making the points of my essays clear so that the reader can understand what I am saying
or trying to say.
2. One strong point in my writing is in my 2nd paragraph I have many good points that make what I am saying somewhat clear.
3. In my essay I might have a few commas in the wrong place.
4. My grade could possibly be a C+

Visit Number 3

Assessment Number Three

 A Paragraph by Gaelen Frink

Eighth Grade English

Pine Point School

January 3, 2011

            

At the warm shelter today did not see Zig, but two people from a church who were doing the meal. Their church brought soup and my job was to serve the four different kinds, which were Beef and Barley, Corn Chowder, Chicken noodle and White bean. The people that came in were not all of the same, there was the man with the long black beard and black hair who wore two jackets was there, but people that I had not seen before were there. There was also a man who was wearing the same thing as I saw him wearing before. A gray sweatshirt and a gray shirt and on his face he had a big gray beard. One of the people who I served with told me that at the beginning of the month some people get a paycheck so they do not have to go to the warm shelter. Dan the Overseer of the men who live at the warm shelter said that people get their food stamps a week before Christmas and so at they have to live on those food stamps for five weeks. This will make the warm shelter busier towards the end of the month because people will have run out of food stamps. Some of the People who come in to get food were friendly, talked to you, and actually told you what they wanted to eat. While others just pointed at what they wanted, like as if they didn't want to say anything to you. While I was there, I felt like some of the people did not belong. One of the people had a jacket on that was from Viking Marina. That is a good job and he probably is paid well, yet he was in the soup kitchen. As I said in my first essay, it does not matter who you are it is just what happened to you and your choices in life.