Bullying

Bullying is a big issue everywhere. It effects people all over the world,whether it's over race or cliques. Of course there is bullying in our school. Even if it's the smallest thing, there will always be bullying. There's really no stopping it. That would be like a Hitler attempt at ridding the world of an entire race. There are too many bullies and too many racist people in the world to completely quit bullying. You can't say republicans will stop arguing with democrats or that there will never again be a war.

Why Live?

I believe our very lives are a gift. They're short too. You have to live life to the fullest. The best part about life is laughter. Being able to joke with friends. The best times you have are with friends and family, joking and laughing. When people are deprived of laughter, they probably aren't happy. So if you don't have laughter in your life, life is probably dreary or miserable. Laughter brightens up everyone's life.

The Clever Truth

If you had a chance to get everything you ever wished for, that you ever wanted, would you take that chance or would you die with that chance still in your hands? In the short story, “The Third Wish,” written by Joan Aiken, the main character, a man called Mr. Peters, this is what happens. Mr. Peters is granted three wishes, but did he or did he not use the third wish? The author leaves you hanging, with no word of the third wish after Mr. Peters quiet death. This story is truly an odd romance.
This story, though it ends in death, is in fact, a rather peculiar romance. First it begins with a mild conflict, the swan Mr. Peters finds is caught in thorns and he must save it. He untangles the swan, and the small man it turns into grants him three wishes. These wishes are what lead to the next mild conflict of the story, it has to do with his first wish. It was for “A wife as beautiful as the forest.” Of course this wife was very beautiful, but she was previously a swan. As she gains a relationship once more with her sister, who is still a swan, she weeps more and more for her. Frankly, the mild conflict was to end his wife’s misery. He quickly solved this by turning her back into a swan. The story, unlike most romances, does not end in birth or marriage, it ends in death. But Mr. Peters’ death was a new beginning. His death wasn’t sad, he was happy when he died. His death was his own new beginning. He set off into the glorious kingdom of Heaven, or maybe he got reincarnated; whatever the belief, it was his new beginning.
Mr. Peters, though no one, except the author, knows what he truly looks like, is portrayed quite clearly. He is an old man who is still very clever. Mr. Peters is lonely in his old age. But Leita, his wife, is much a joy to him. He is a peaceful, thoughtful man. Mr. Peters is intelligent enough to let Leita go so that she can be happy. If he hadn’t turned her back into her back into her true form, a swan, she would have lived the rest of her life weeping for her sister. Mr. peters is a good man.
The story is full of happiness, but it is also full of sorrow. This statement is the meaning of a symbol in the story: The swans. The three swans in the story are the King of the Forest, Leita, and her sister, Rhea. The King of the forest downs Mr. Peters, but this brings happiness. The happiness it brings is Leita. Leita is the solution to Mr. Peters’ loneliness. Although she brings him joy, she also brings with her sadness. As she has been turned human, her sister stays swan. This close relationship makes her weep for her sister, showing the sorrow of the story. One more symbolic object of the story is the bench Mr. Peters builds for Leita. Though I is just a bench, it holds a strong significance: His love for her. If he didn’t love her, he wouldn’t want her to be near her sister. Mr. Peters truly loved Leita, and he wanted her to be happy, so he let her go.
In conclusion, Mr. Peters is a loving, caring man, but he knows when to let go. See, what the author is trying to convey to us as readers, is that if you truly love someone you have to be willing to let them go when they need to go their own way. Mr. Peters did just this, he let his love and desire drop to the background, as a penny would drop to the floor, for the happiness of this wife. Mr. Peters might have been a clever, loving man, but he was also portrayed as an intelligent man.

A Sapient Little Girl

Could you be so imaginative as to get the moon into your very hands? Would you use magic or science, brains or imagination? “Many Moons,” written by James Thurber, is a tale about a girl who dreams big. She’s not exactly you’re average ten year old, she doesn’t want dolls or clothes, she wants the moon. This story is a story of magic and wonder. “Many Moons” is a romance.
This story of dream and wonder is a romance for many different reasons. It starts with a mild conflict, the Princess Lenore falls ill. She is bed ridden, yet her imagination doesn’t fall ill with her, she says if she can have the moon she will be well again. This leads us to the next mild conflict of romance. The second conflict is that, candidly, no one, not even the King’s wise men, can get the moon for Princess Lenore. The Court Jester is the one who asks the little princess how she believes you can get the moon, how large it is, how it grows back into place. In reality, for her age, Princess Lenore is wiser than the King’s “wise” men. It ends in a “new beginning,” not only is Princess Lenore well again, she has opened the King’s eyes so that he now knows to use his imagination and not always rely on his Wizard, Mathematician, or the Lord High Chamberlain to get him what he wants.
There are many characters in “Many Moons.” When the King was perturbed about the Princess seeing the moon, as she believed it to be around her neck, it was the Court Jester who came to a prudent answer. James Thurber wrote the Jester to say this, “Who could explain how to get the moon when your wise men said it was too large and too far away? It was the Princess Lenore. Therefore the Princess Lenore is wiser than your wise men and knows more about the moon than they do.” This portrays the Court Jester to be sage; he’s good at solving problems, at looking at things from a different perspective. The King’s Court Jester is really the wisest of the wise men. The Court Jester may be the wisest of the wise men, but it is Princess Lenore who is truly the wisest of all of them. She thinks in a way none of them could, in a way that the Mathematician wouldn’t even consider to be true. She actually used her imagination to solve the problem that the wise men’s science and calculations could not comprehend. The Princess was like a small Olympic runner who won the race over the large muscular guys.
There are many symbols in “Many Moons.” One very obvious symbolic object is the moon. All of the imagination, calculation, dream, everything from the story is based around the moon. It is symbolic to the story itself, but it is also symbolic to imagination. The lute that the Court Jester plays is a symbol also. This item is symbolic to the problem solving that takes place in the story. The Jester would play the lute every time he spoke his thoughts; his thoughts were basically the solution to every mild problem they ran into. Some symbols to bring up are the many lists that the wise men had. It shows the greed behind the magic and dream; the greed which belongs to the King. The final symbols are the words “Sorry my wife wrote that in there.” These words, said by all of the wise men show that even though they are at a royal court, they still, every night, go back to their normal life, with their wife.
Every fairy tale starts with “Once upon a time” these exact words are in “Many Moons.” Thought it doesn’t end with “and so, they all lived happily ever after,” the story “Many Moons” is in fact a fairy tale. It has all of a fairy tale’s elements from “Once upon a time,” to the capturing of the moon. All in all this is a wondrous fantasy of magic and galore.

Scream "Magic"

What would you do if a wave of magic washed over you and your family? In "Mary Poppins," based on the book written by P.L. Travers, and directedc by Robert Stevenson, magic comes to the whole city of London. From the Banks family to the poor chimney sweeps, Mary Poppins brings Magic. She brings joy and wonder to the young and old. This is a story of fantasy and joy.

This story, "Mary Poppins," is a true romance. In the very beginning the first mild conflict occurs, all of the nannies leave the Banks family in search of a new one. Mary Poppins solves that issue by becoming the new nanny. In the next part of the story there are many minor conflicts. Near the very end of the movie, the second mild conflict arises. When Jan and Michael (the children) go on a rare outing to the bank with their father, Michael refuses to give up his money to the bank. Michael and Jane start a huge frenzy, yelling, "Give me my money back!" People take this as not being able to deposit money and start attacking the bank, trying to get their money out, like sharks fighting for the last fish in the sea. The story ends with a family in love. With Mary Poppins' help, Mr. Bnks realizes he needs his kid. He is happy living a loving, caring life with his wife and children in the end.

The main character is obviously Mary Poppins. She is magical in every way under the stars. She brings joy to anyone around her. They don't alwasy know it, but she mends their hearts so that they are merry. Mary Poppins can do this, because she stays joyful no matter the mood around her. Michael and Jane Banks play basically the same role as one another. They are both children to the strict, formal Mr. Banks. They both have the woundrous nanny of Mary Poppins. Both children are stuck to the other's side day and night. Where you find Jane, you find Michael; where you find Michael, you find Jane. These two are adorable, concerned and innocent about everything.

We next move to symbols. The woman that the children and Mr. Banks see on their outing; the woman with the birds, she is a symbol herself. She symbolizes that even though the main family, the Banks, is rich, there is still, very much, poverty in the town of London. The umbrella which Mary Poppins uses is a symbol of Mary Poppins herself. Bert's chalk drawings are symbolic to the magic of the story, for through those drawings, they entered the fantasy, cartoon world. There are many symbols in "Mary Poppins," so these are just to name a few.

In conclusion, Mary Poppins left in triumph. She stayed until the wind changed, as she had promised. She left after her duty was done, after she made the family come closer together. Mary Poppins left a strict father merrily singing, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" with his loving wife and adoring children.

A Comedy

Wouldn't it be hard moving every time a season changes? Wouldn't it be hard working in the fields from sunrise to sunset? A two word answer: It would. It would also be hard keeping a roof over a large family's head, keeping food on the table, earning five dollars a day. It would of course be hard and it would cause a struggle, but this is every-day life for the struggling, migrant family in the short story, "The Circuit" by Francisco Jimenez.

This short story should be considered a comedy. The begins when the workers in the family come home from working in the fields all day. This is an example of their normal, every-day life. The three men of hte family, not including hte young boys, work in the fields from daybreak to dawn. Slaving under the hot sun, where if you drink too much water, you'll be sick. After that long day of labor, their earnings don't exactly seem worthwhile, each of them making only five dollars for all of the hard work they put into harvesting.

It may bbe hard for a young boy to work in the fields all day, but that is not the last of Panchito's troubles. A conflict arises when he realizes his English is not that great when it's his turn to go to school, but when he tries to enroll in the principal's office, he struggles for the right English words. The conflict is fully realized by Panchito in hte classroom. This language issue is fully realized when Panchito is asked to read page 125 of a book out loud to the class. He is engulfed in embarrassment when his classmates and teacher look at him expectantly and he doesn't speak a single word from the book. Luckily, the teacher is understanding, and lets him skip his turn at reading. This makes Panchito feel himself stupid and mad at himself for not reading when asked to.

Almost immediately after the conflict comes into realization, the resolution occurs. The resolution is well, it's the teacher himself. The teacher is of a good heart, and understands Panchito's case. He helps Panchito on a daily basis. The teacher was the resolution, but he was quickly tossed aside by fate.

Finally, Panchito goes back to his every-day life, disappointed. He didn't get to play the trumpet. He didn't get to spend more time with his closest friend. Instead, he had to move again and his chances for friendship and knowledge were ripped from his hands once more. He went back to moving, back to work, back to everything there was; everything there ever will be. Panchito's story, in my eyes, is in fact a comedy.