Dialogue Assignment

                                        http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/image/61377693601

       I sat down next to Alice, determined to prove to her that I was right and she was wrong. She was persistent, but I was all the more stubborn than she. "Alright, let's get this straight," I glanced over at Alice to make sure that she was listening to me instead of daydreaming, as usual. I realized that she wasn't paying attention to me, so I nudged her ribs with my elbow.
    "Ow! What was that for?" Alice shrieked.
     "We need to talk. Actually, I need to talk. Please, do try to listen!" I believe I explained myself quite well to her.
   "Alright, Dorthy. Go ahead. Explain the world to me," Alice was already pushing my buttons.
    "I have had a more interesting life, Sweetheart. I have battled witches, made friends with a lion, and have the most gorgeous shoes you ever did see," I gushed. Surprisingly enough, Alice managed to soak in every word that I had just said.
   "Don't you think that having tea with the Mad Hatter and having a conversation with a bunny rabbit is interesting?" Alice clearly was a sheltered one, it was confirmed that day.
    "Sweetheart, I'm sure one day you'll understand," I smiled a sweet, Southern smile at her, almost choking on how sugary it was.
    "Dorthy, I don't think YOU will ever understand the thrill of all of the things that I did after falling down that rabbit's hole." Alice had quite an awful look on her face. She always did when she thought she was right.
     "Alice, I think I agree with you. You clearly are the correct one here. To prove that I agree with you, I'd like to give you something," I started to slip off my ruby slippers, I had a marvelous idea. I was going to get rid of Alice.
     "Oh my! I don't think I could ever except those as a gift! They're much too gorgeous!" Alice was blushing, but I knew she would soon be red with anger instead.
      "I know they're gorgeous, Darling! You are too! They'll go great with your ruby lipstick!" I wanted to throw up, I really couldn't stand this stupid Alice.
     "Are you sure, Dear?" Alice looked up sheepishly as she slipped her feet into my favorite shoes of all time. Now, all I had to do was get her heels to touch three times while I whispered "There's no place like home."
    
 
   "Whew. She's finally gone," Aunty Em crept out from behind a hay bale, looking flustered.

Reading Assignment #8

The BoneMan's Daughter- Ted Dekker

    = kinesthetic
    =visual

 "The odd thing about hell was that it contained a piece of heaven, or at the very least felt like heaven. Peace was there, in the place of perfect fear. Or to be more precise, his peace was found in their fear. This alone was Alvin Finch's piece of heaven on earth.
   Alvin Finch had milky white skin, nearly perfect in every conceivable way. Soft and subtle like a young woman's, but smoother because he allowed no hair growth; preferring to shave and wax regularly; and because he'd always applied lotion, ever since his mother had given him his first jar of Noxzema skin lotion over thirty years earlier."


Questions and Answers:
1.) Why did you select this particular passage? Why did it appeal to you?
            -I picked this section because it describes the killer (whom no one else in the book has met yet). It's interesting to be able to know what the killer is like even when no one else knows about him yet.

2.) What type of imagery is most common in this passage?
         -Kinesthetic imagery is the most common type of imagery in this passage.

3.)What is the biggest snippet of imagery within this passage? Why is it so effective?
       -"Soft and subtle like a young woman's, but smoother because he allowed no hair growth..." This makes the killer seem more feminine, more vampire-like.

4.) Is the imagery positive or negative? How do you know? Give some words as an example to support this.     - The imagery used almost paints the killer as a good person. "soft and subtle", "[smooth]" these words are typically associated with positive things. Puppies are soft, cleanly shaven faces are smooth, good things are being described here. It kind of toys with one's mind.

5.) What mood/ emotion is being created by the author of this passage? How do you know? The mood is on the darker side. We've found out that this 'smooth' man is a killer.

6.) What is the purpose to this piece of imagery?
       -We've found out that this is the killer, we've learned some of his strange tenancies.

10,000 Reasons -Rough Draft

"10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)"





It was a regular Thursday afternoon at South East High School. I sat next to my only friend, Jane, in the back of our English class. We were both finished our work, so we had free time to read.  Half of the lights were off, creating the perfect "cozy day" atmosphere.
The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
I didn't have my assigned book, so I took out my Bible to catch up on my reading plan. Jane thought I was a "Bible Freak", but she didn't really care too much about it and would even let me share the Gospel with her sometimes
It's time to sing Your song again
Without warning, one of the secretary's voices came on over the intercom. "We are in a lock-down situation. This is NOT a drill. Repeat: This is NOT a drill!" Her words were laced with fear, which soaked deep into our souls as we heard her speak those words. 
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Before our English teacher could reach the door to lock it, three masked figures appeared on the threshold.
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Our teacher stopped, frozen with terror, at the sight of the trio. The obvious leader stepped inside of the classroom, followed by his two submissive partners.
You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
The leader walked to the middle of the room before removing a pistol from within his coat. He aimed upward and demolished a few ceiling tiles with a loud bang. "Who here loves Jesus?!!" He yelled.
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
After a quick look at all of my classmates, I sheepishly put up my hand, not wanting to know why this masked man was asking this. The man walked passed two rows of desks to get to me. He stood much too close to me, as if he might kiss me, or choke me with his bare hand. I could smell the cologne he was wearing, something spicy, yet sweet at the same time.  

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
"My name is Declan and I'm going to kill you unless you deny that loser that got crucified. Get on your knees." I didn't hesitate to get onto my knees, but I knew that I could never tell people that Jesus didn't die to pay for our sins. I looked into the bright blue eyes that were surrounded by the black plastic of the mask that their owner wore. "Why are you doing this?" I pleaded with those eyes. "I have to rid the world of scum like you, Jesus Freak." 
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

I stared down the barrel of the gun, not willing to deny what Christ had done for me, or my love for Him.
And on that day when my strength is failing
I thought about my parents and about the upbringing that I had had. My parents had taught me to stand up for what was right, to never back down from the truth, to love and to show the love of Christ to all.
The end draws near and my time has come
I thought about my brothers and all of the good times that we had had. I thought about my young nephew that I would never get to hold again. I thought about my future husband that I would never get to meet.
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
I heard 3 gunshots before slipping into perfect peace.
Ten thousand years and then forevermore








Inspired by:Columbine Student:Cassie Bernall, Matt Redman's 10,000 Reasons, The Lovely Bones

Imagery- Writing Prompts

                                                   http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/

      "There it is, finally. Our island. Our very own island," I thought to myself as my brother and I rode the ship with a few of our friends to see it for the first time. The fog made everything look mysterious, beautiful. I was the only one on deck at this point, probably because the sun had only just started to come up. A mist of salty water sprayed my face and I laughed- it was such a beautiful morning! As the golden sun started to peak over our island, the four others trickled up the stairs like a dwindling stream. "How much did you guys pay for this nice slab of land?" my brother's jock of a friend asked. My brother, Greg, looked at me awkwardly. "Five shmuuuuhmzz," Greg mumbled. "How much??" his friend asked. "Five bucks," I stated bluntly. Everyone turned to look at Greg and I. "Excuse me?" my friend, Justice squeaked. For the next ten minutes everyone gave their ideas about why someone would sell an island for only five dollars. Justice automatically jumped to the conclusion of it being a scam and Nathan figured that it was some top secret research facility that had gone under. Mel expected that it had something to do with aliens and the taking over of peoples' brains.
      "We'll be landing in five minutes, so get yer gear together!" No one had noticed that the captain had come out onto the deck. The captain was a very strange man. He had about half the amount of teeth as the average adult male and had a scraggly gray beard that went half way down his chest. The captain also had a pet parrot. Basically, he made us feel as though we were in an old pirate movie, minus the crew and cliche pirate ship.
     "See ya!" Greg's jock friend, Nathan, shouted as the captain sailed away. We all shouldered our packs and started up the slight hill. There were a few larger rocks here and there, but nothing that would make me describe the shore as anything cliff-related. Mel hadn't taken into account that we would have to walk on "actual ground", so she only had flip-flops. "Oww! These stupid rocks keep poking through my sandals and are just, overall, too pointy. My feet are NOT happy." Mel was not impressed. As we neared the top of the hill, the scent of burning flesh hit my nose like a semi truck. I glanced at  the rest of the group, wondering if my companions had smelled it too. "Guys, do you-" I was interrupted when a wild-eyed, crazy-haired boy suddenly erupted from the trees. He held a log that was roughly the size of a baseball bat. He ran up to me and before I knew it, my head had met said log.


     I woke up yesterday, not knowing where I was. Apparently, I was out cold for a week. They told me that if I ever wanted to see my brother alive again, I would do exactly what they told me to do. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. They have total control, or at least they say they do. They aren't who I would expect to be taken captive by. I thought they were my friends.

Careers I've Considered

• Pediatrician
• Pediatric Oncologist
• Firefighter
• Tattoo Artist
• Farmer
• Psychologist/ Psychiatrist 
• News reporter
• Orthodontist/ Dentist
• Sculptor
• Own an ice cream shop/ bakery/ restaurant
• Photographer
•  Actress
• Police Officer
• Lawyer
• Childcare worker
• Insurance related thing

Reasons I Love Having (Only) Brothers

• They have my back
• No drama
• No "time of the month"
• No hand-me-downs
• They don't steal my clothes. Ever.
• They can carry you if you hurt yourself (or... if you just want to be carried)
• They give the best hugs
• You get to have food eating competitions
• They take you drifting
• You have a social life (watching their hockey games) even when you don't actually have a social life
• They let you practice your baby skills on their kids and don't really care when you suck.
• They just laugh at you when you fall off while you're walking on their back
• They give you an honest insight about guys
• Once again, they have my back. As in, they never stop telling me that they will beat any guy that I date. Fact.

Reading Assignment #6- Character POV Tweets

Book: Immanuel’s Veins

Author: Ted Dekker

Read Pages: 367 (All)

For our Creative Writing class, we’re ‘tweeting’ from the POV’s of at least 3 of the characters.

@Toma_Servant: “I’m not the devil. [The devil] is far more beautiful than I.” –St. Thomas

@Alek_Warrior: These twins are gorgeous! #BlondsDoItBest

@Alek_Warrior: Brunettes are good too, though!(; @Lucine @Natasha_Hottie

@Natasha_Hottie:This mysterious #Russian man is absolutely magnificent!

            @Lucine: @Natasha_Hottie, don’t be stupid. #HeMightBe

          @Natasha_Hottie: Giveme a monster if that’s what he is @Lucine.

@Lucine: I still wish that I could’ve met my precious baby. #SomeDay

@Natasha_Hottie: @Lucine, get over it! That was long ago.

@Natasha_Hottie: My, my! @Alek sure does clean up nicely!(;

@Toma_Servant: What a gorgeous home you have here! @Lucine @Natasha_Hottie @MadamKesia

@Toma_Servant: @Lucine! No need to be jealous of @Natasha!

@Lucine: @Toma_Servant, how could you ever think that? It takes much longer to fall for a man, no matter how beautiful.

@Toma_Servant: @Lucine, you don’t live in your sister’s shadow. You are the one that she’s compared to. #NotFair4Her

@Alek_Warrior: This #Punk is disgusting me, I won’t stand for him eyeing @Natasha_Hottie like a piece of meat! #Enraged

@Natasha_Hottie: Oh, @Alek_Warrior, don’t be silly! He’s just being sweet!

@Natasha_Hottie: @Lucine @Alek_Warrior @Toma_Servant I asked him to kiss me and I told him to bite me! It was lovely. #DontWorry

@Lucine: @Natasha_Hottie, he just wants to get under your skirt! #Disgusted

@Lucine: Something is wrong with @Natasha_Hottie! @Toma_Servant @Alek_Warrior

@Toma_Servant: I promise that I’m still level-headed and clear-minded. No urges for anything but doing @HerMajesty’s will!

@Natasha_Hottie: @Lucine, just succumb to it. The pain will go away soon. #ImSorry

@Lucine: I guess it’s time to give up and let @VladVanValerik court me. #GoodByeLife

@Toma_Servant: I want to whisper in her ear, tell her I love her, propose a toast to her beauty, and do many foolish things! #InLove

@Toma_Servant: #CastleCastile is only a house of #Lust and #Temptation. #Disgusting

Hey guys! Today I walked into my Law class (which is also my Psych class) and looked at the board. It said that my Psych project was due today. Apparently, I can't read. I thought the project was due on Wednesday. Note: Monday is not Wednesday.

That basically means that I won't be posting anything today (unless I can beast-mode this project tonight). Hopefully, I can post what I want to very soon!

Playlist of My Life #5

Viva La Vida by Coldplay

The noise coming from the dining hall could be heard from a mile away, or so it seemed. Everyone was banging on the sticky, white tables to the rhythm of Viva La Vida by Coldplay. “Oooooooh-Oh! Ooooooh-Oh!” The older, better known guys started to sing. This occurred every meal, between courses, for the entire summer. It didn’t matter that there were different campers every week, as long as there were a few of the same staff members, it was guaranteed. Everyone always left the dining hall full of joy as well as great food, no one could complain. There isn’t one thing that I would change about this event. Every time that I hear Viva La Vida, I instantly feel happy, remembering the great times that I got to have and the great memories that I got to make.

The “so what” of Viva La Vida is this: Don’t seek satisfaction in the world and don’t live just to gain worldly possessions. “One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed in on me.” Often times, I think that “Oh, if only I could have______, I would be so much happier,” but I have come to realize that only God can satisfy. The most important lines from this song are: “For some reason I can’t explain, I know Saint Peter won’t call my name.” Most people would just explain that since he’s been such a bad guy, lying and whatnot, he’s obviously not going to get into Heaven. However, no matter how bad of a person you are, if you accept that Christ died to save you from your sins, you will be saved. As it says in Romans chapter 10, verse 9,” If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”- The Bible, NIV.

Playlist of My Life #4

Our God by Chris Tomlin

“Water You turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind. There’s no one like You, none like You!” I smiled at the lyrics of this song as I turned to look out of the old, fish fly covered window. The chapel building had been there longer than I could remember, but you couldn’t tell due to the renovations done a few years before. The chapel building was no more than 100 yards from the shore of the beach, so I took advantage of the beauty of the waves crashing against the sand. When I think about this song, I’m reminded of God’s love for all mankind and the sacrifice that He made to save us all. I’m also reminded of my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ. The only things that I would change about this moment would be that 1.) It wouldn’t have to end and 2.) More people could have been able to be there to worship Christ with us.

The “so what” of this song is this: God is greater, stronger, and higher than any other. Man cannot come anywhere close to God, but He loves us and gave His life for us anyways. “Our God is greater, Our God is stronger, God, You are higher than any other!” This song fits my life experiences because I have chosen to follow Christ since He has given His life so that I may have eternal life. The most powerful lines of this song are: “And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?” I’m slowly learning to trust God more and more to take care of me. Whether it be physically, emotionally, or spiritually, He will provide me with what I need. Sometimes, it feels like everything is crashing down around me, but through it all, God has kept me safe and has shown me His power.

Playlist of My Life #3

Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes

“But Greg, I don’t WANT to listen to this!” I said in my whiny 15 year old voice. My brother, Greg, and I were stuck in a moving truck with our dog, Abby, while our dad was driving another moving truck, and our mom was driving our van with our little brother for the next 3 days. Greg, Abby, and I would be stuck in the truck, moving all of our worldly possessions from Texas to “The Peg”. For those three days, I was forced to listen to The White Stripes, because, as Greg said, “I’m the driver, you’re not, so I get to pick the music!” I actually really like The White Stripes now, but as a 15 year old, they were “not my cup of tea”. When I think about this memory, I have mixed emotions. I was excited, at the time, to move back to Canada, but I often miss Texas. If I could change one thing about this time, I would probably change how I felt about Texas. Leading up to the move, I couldn’t wait to get out of Texas. Looking back, I miss my friends, my teachers, and many other things about Texas.

The “so what” of Seven Nation Army is this: If you truly believe in something, you will fight for it as long as it takes and as hard as you have to. “I’m gonna fight ‘em off. A seven nation army couldn’t hold me back.” These lines of the song talk about not being held back, fighting “’em off” in order to stand up for what you believe, what you feel is right. This fits into my life experience because many people don’t agree with many things that I believe. I believe that abortion is wrong, it’s murder. I believe that Christ died and rose again to save my soul. “That ain’t what you wanna hear, but that’s what I’ll do.” This line talks about how people don’t want to hear it, people don’t want to hear about Jesus because they just want to keep on doing what they feel like doing. No one wants to be told that they’re wrong or that they’re sinful, but it’s the truth. We have all sinned, we’ve all fallen short of God’s glory, but that’s why He sent His Son- to rescue us from our sins! The most powerful lines in this song are, “I’m bleeding, and I’m bleeding, and I’m bleeding, right before the Lord.” This line is easily connected to Christ’s death on the cross. God had to forsake His Son and let Him die so that our sins could be paid for. Jesus died to save us from our sins!

Playlist of My Life #2

Getting Into You by Relient K

It was a cool summer night. There was a slight breeze, cooling us off after tossing a football around. A couple of the guys had started a bonfire. Everyone gathered around the fire, sitting on home-made benches and lawn chairs. Someone passed around supplies for s’mores while a couple of the guys got their guitars out. We sang worship songs for quite some time before people started to leave. It was a Sunday, so most people had to get up early for work the next day. My brother and I, however, did not, so we stayed a little bit later than most.

My brother went to talk to some of his friends before leaving, so I stayed near the fire. Still being the most awkward, quiet person ever, I didn’t go talk to anyone. While I was sitting by the fire, I heard one of my ‘now-friend, then-assumed-enemy’s talking to one of my brother’s friends, “Tyler, play “Getting Into You” on guitar!” Tyler really liked this girl, so he did. He had a great voice, so she asked him to sing it too. Surprisingly, he refused. Later that summer, Tyler and I “liked” each other. Truth be told, I really can’t stand to listen to this song anymore. If I could change one thing about this whole summer, I would probably choose not to like Tyler, or anyone for that matter. It just ruined friendships that I can’t fix no matter how hard I try.

The “so what” of this song is living for God. Many people take it as if Matt Theissen (lead singer of Relient K) is singing to a girl, but if you really look at the lyrics, you can see that he’s singing about, almost to, God. “I’ve been a liar, and I’ll never amount to the kind of person You deserve to worship You.  You say You will not dwell on what I did, but rather what I do. You say, “I love you, and that’s what you are getting yourself into””. At the time, I was barely 15. I didn’t know what the lyrics really were, I didn’t understand what they meant, and I don’t think that I really cared. I thought that I was going to marry this guy. Stupid, right? The most powerful line of this song is, “When I made up my mind, and my heart along with that, to live not for myself, but yet for God, somebody said, ‘Do you know what you are getting yourself into?’” because living for God and not just for myself is really important to me, even though it’s hard to do.

Playlist of My Life #1

Last year, I had a project in English class. I had to write about songs that triggered various memories. I ended up having to write about 5 songs, all with the same theme. I chose "Summer" as mine. The second paragraphs are the analysis, the "so what" is basically just the point of the song or the message. I might end up writing about more, but for now, I will leave it as just these 5. Here's the first one:

 Enough to Let Me Go by Switchfoot

I was sitting on my bed, hugging my stuffed unicorn. It was well past midnight and the cold that I had had all summer was killing me. My throat felt like I’d eaten nails for a bed-time snack, my head felt like the Hulk had thrown a brick at it, and my nose ran like a faucet. I had a pile of used tissues next to me and my supply of Halls was running dangerously low. My fellow DVBS workers had decided to pull a prank on the boys (not a very clever one, though), so I was alone- finally. One of the girls had left her iPod and dock turned on and it was going to play until they got back or I got up and turned it off. The latter was not going to happen, though, I refused to move. I was trying my hardest to fall asleep when Switchfoot’s “Enough to Let Me Go” came on. It reminded me of my brother, the girl he liked, and the fact that he was finding a new best friend. The tears flooded down my cheeks faster than if I had been decked in the face a couple of times by my brother’s friend, Tyler, who was comparable to the Hulk. The only thing that I would change about this would be this: Realizing that I needed to let him go earlier. Not to push him away in any sense, but to let him go when he needed to be let go and to hold onto him when he needed me to do so.  

The “so what” of “Enough to Let Me Go” is that when you truly love someone, you’ll let them go if that’s what is best for them. “I’ve still got mountains to climb on my own. Do you love me enough to let me go?” John Foreman (the lead singer of Switchfoot) sings about loving him enough to let him go, as if talking to a girlfriend. I think that this song can be sung to anyone, really, though. My brother and I have grown close over the last few years, he’s definitely become my best friend (on Earth that is). The thought of him driving another girl to hockey games, having someone else ride “shotgun”, and making inside jokes with someone else sparks some jealousy. I’m not proud of being jealous, I’m working on it, but it’s tough. The most powerful line of this song in a lot of ways is, “But every seed dies before it grows. Do you love me enough to let me go?” I’m sure that no matter whom he ends up with, my brother and I will still be close, if not closer. A friendship may need to be cut off, or die, for a while before we can be as close as we will be.

Reading Tweets: Character's POV

Book: Saint
Author: Ted Dekker

@SAINt: Training's getting pretty tough, but its so much fun! #AssassinLife #TopSecret

@SAINt: Killed a couple in a fancy hotel today. Pulled it off w/ ease. #SorryNotSorry #TopSecret

@SAINt: Not too sure who I am any more. Working on figuring this out. #Confused #NoWorries

@SAINt: Beating @Englishman won't be too hard. Im doing this for @Kelly_Handler after all(;

@SAINt: Managed to survive the #ElectricChair. #NuffSaid

@SAINt: Done my training! Time to show off my shooting skills! #LookOutWorld

@SAINt: Tracking and planning. Tracking and planning. Tracking and planning. At least I have @Kelly_Handler to keep me company!

@SAINt: Let the countdown begin! #Excited #NoNerves #JustBreathe

@SAINt: Screwed up. On the run. Going dark. I'm sorry @Kelly_Handler

@SAINt: Im not sure what I want people to call me. Carl? Johnny? Saint? Chaplain? #IdentityCrisis

@Just_Johnny: Just call me Johnny! It's what Sally named me, it's what I want to be.

@Just_Johnny: Gotta go save the world (and @Kelly_Handler) again. Pray for me! #PleaseAndThanks

@Just_Johnny: Time for a #ShowDown, hey @Englishman?

@Just_Johnny: Apparently, I've gone "blind". On the plus side, @Englishman is dead and @Kelly_Handler is safe

@Just_Johnny: I do believe that @Kelly_Handler and I have a date w/ the desert. #Heat #Sand #HereWeCome

QuickWrites #2: The Perfect Human

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/page/2

When describing the perfect human, I'm sure that most would say something like, "Blue eyes, sandy hair, blah blah blah. Attractive." This is totally incorrect. The perfect human has already existed and still exists today. This person is kind, caring, and compassionate. He has never been dishonest, he has never hit anyone, and he is great at listening. This man has been a fantastic carpenter, but that was never his main goal. This man values each person's life as well as their feelings. He has a deep love for everyone, even the "scum of the Earth" types. This man's name is Jesus.

No one could ever go as good as him. Ever. The cool thing, though, is that He died to save us. He knows that we could never be as good as God, so He gave his life in order to cleanse us from the sin that separates us from God. He loves you and wants to bring you into his eternal family. Isn't that just beyond cool? I couldn't possibly compare myself to him, I would never be anywhere close to that good. Thank the Lord for Jesus, because without Him, I'm screwed.

Quickwrites: Robot Servant

My robot would be about 6 feet tall. He would have many different accents that he could speak in. Why? 'Cause accents are pretty freaking awesome. My robot would be able to do tons of cool stuff. He would climb trees, train animals (for good!), and would cook a lot of fantastic food. My robot would also be a super great cleaner (my mom is always telling me to clean stuff, so he would take care of that). My robot would have very springy legs for jumping, he might even have actual springs for legs, so that we could jump over houses and whatnot. I would also have my robot play with my little brother, because that kid is turning into a lazy bum from the gamer era. I would also have my robot talk to my older brother, Greg, about cars (I'm not very good at that). So, basically, my robot is super nice and super cool! :D

Digital Footprint

I realize that this is WAY over due. My apologies. I think most of these pictures are pretty self explanatory, but if not, feel free to ask about them(:

6 Word Memoir De-brief

What did I learn about storytelling?

The six word memoirs helped me to learn a few things about story telling. I learned that you can use punctuation to get the point of your story across better. Punctuation helps to make the meaning of your story more precise. I also learned that, when story telling, visual aides are very helpful. With out a visual aide, it can be a lot harder to help a reader understand a story.

Where did I show my knowledge about using storytelling skills?

I showed my knowledge about using story telling skills quite a bit in the six word memoirs. In each six word memoir, I used pictures and text that were relevant. I also used punctuation to enhance the story and to make the message clearer.

What did I learn as a reader, writer, thinker, storyteller?

As a reader, I realized that sometimes, less really is more. I always find myself so consumed by a story that I will read hundreds of pages and be fine with all of this time wasted. In reality, I've found out that some of the best stories are only one sentence. One picture+ one word= A short, sweet, and to the point story. It's crazy! I've learned tons about a bunch of friends just from 6 words apiece.

Character iPhone

This iPhone represents the character "Carl" (AKA Johnny) from the book "Saint" by Ted Dekker.

Apps and explanations:
-Gun Facts: "Carl" is an assassin that has a wide knowledge of guns and weapons.
-1,000 Ways To Kill: "Carl" is an assassin. He needs to get creative sometimes.
-Bullet Trajectory:"Carl" is an expert marksman. Carl can calculate where a bullet will go very quickly. He's probably got an app for that.
-Questions For Life: "Carl" found out that he's been living a lie. His name is actually Johnny. He needs somewhere to put his questions until the time comes to ask them.
-Target Practice: Carl/Johnny needs to keep his aim sharp.
-Face Swap: After a mission, "Carl" needs to get his face changed so that no one will find him. He might like to try on other peoples' faces.
-The Pit: This Pit is the only place in the world that Carl is comfortable. The Pit is the only thing that Carl loves other than Kelly. It's a deep, dark hole where he loses himself.
-Pick-up Lines: Carl has a thing for Kelly, but he stumbles over his own words. This'll help. (;
-Target Tracker: Carl and Kelly have to track their target that they must eliminate. Extra help never hurt.
-Escape Routes: Carl and Kelly will have to get out of situations quickly. Whether they're running from other assassins or the cops, they need a way out.

6 Word Memoir #8

This is a picture of a butterfly that I found while I was at a work-bee for camp. It was early in the spring, so I didn't expect to see anything like this. I really love the colors on the bottom of the wings (the blue and red). "Eye Spy" is a game that I used to play a lot as a kid, so the text brings back a lot of memories, just like camp. I love to find cool things in God's creation, this butterfly included! I picked the cursive look for the font that I used, because it is elegant and sophisticated just like this graceful butterfly. I liked how the font had thinner letters, so that, even though the text is black, the text wasn't overpoweringly bold. 

6 Word Memoir #7

In this picture, a guy and a girl walk along the beach very far apart from each other. This picture looks like a couple that has broken up and wants absolutely nothing to do with each other. I cropped this picture to make it look more awkward and more like a broken up couple. Before cropping it, there was another guy (to the right of this guy) and another girl (to the left of this girl). The four (along with another friend and I) were walking to Elk Island from Victoria Beach. We had just met this girl and she and her friend weren't exactly being social that day. I really enjoyed getting to use the "cursive" text. This font reminds me of the classic "Dear John" kind of thing.  

6 Word Memoir #6

In this picture, my bother and I were jokingly trying to be "cool". A while back, it was super popular to post things like "Haters gonna hate" and "Haters make me famous". I'm not looking for fame, and "haters" will hate, there's no doubt about that, but if you don't care for me, please don't make a big deal about it. The only editing that I did was a little bit of lightening. The text is in bold, making it a lot easier to read, but still sticking with black.

6 Word Memoirs #5

The image and the words appear to fit together, but, truthfully, they don't. This hockey player looks like he's not impressed with himself, he expected to do well and he failed once again. In reality, this hockey player is one of the best on the team, a real leader. I just put a quick little filter on this particular picture to enhance the appearance. I used this filter to tone down the lighting a little bit to make a greater impression upon the reader. Once again, a period to make the tone more sombre.

6 Word Memoirs #4

This picture is all about growing up. I realize that it doesn't seem like it, but it is. This picture is from 2011, everyone in this picture has grown up quite a bit since then. The guy in the mask recently got engaged and same with the girl with the bow tie (not to each other), I've gone through quite a bit as well as the two others. This photo was already edited (and taken) by the guy in the mask, Eric Senecal, so that was pretty nice for me. Even though I'm keeping the font black, another reason is to go with the whole "terrifying" thing. Black represents fear, sadness, and death. Be terrified.

6 Word Memoirs #3

This 6 word memoir is about my future. I have absolutely no clue as to what I'm supposed to do. This picture is from my Sophomore year, photography class. Some of my classmates needed to take pictures for an assignment and wanted me to do stuff out in the snow. This picture relates to the text because I have no clue what I was doing out in the snow dressed like that. Once again, I didn't do a whole lot of editing, because I'm just not a fan of tons of editing. I used a period to punctuate this sentence to make the emotions clear. It's not a confused feeling, it's more of a drab, "oh boy" kind of feeling. Once again, I used black for the font color. I just really like the classic look of black and I like how easily it will stand out. 

6 Word Memoirs #2

My friends and I like to joke that we'll be "Bachelorettes until the Rapture (Christ coming back)". This is pretty much the equivalent of saying that we'll be "forever alone". This picture features me eating McDonald's (or as I like to say, McDeath's) french fries is a rather attractive (sarcasm) manner. I only lightened the picture a little bit for editing. I know I'm crazy (and a little bit backwards to all of the "edit crazy" Instagram-ers), but I'm not a huge fan of a lot of editing. My punctuation choices weren't super big. I just wanted to get my point across. I put the text at the bottom, kind of in ad fashion. Just to clarify, though, I don't mean for it to be an ad at all!  

6 Word Memoirs #1

The reason that I chose the words "Don't judge me by my family" is because I have quite the family. Last year while visiting my brother and his wife in Minnesota, I picked up a sign from Hobby Lobby that says, "Don't judge folks by their relatives". This sign reminded me of the fact that I often do have people judging me and comparing me to my brothers. This picture is from Christmas 2010.At that point, Greg (the guy in the blue) and I (the one who was thrown up on by the 80's) were not close at all. Nic and Hannah (the on-lookers) were only dating, and were much more distant from the rest of the family. In terms of editing, I didn't do a whole lot. My brother was in charge of the Christmas pictures, including editing, so I didn't really need to do much. The reason that I ended this sentence with a period is because I often get a little upset when people do judge me by my family. I feel like I'm not as good as some members, or I'm expected to be awful like others. I put the text up at the top as a bit of a title. I made the text black to be kind of harsh (like the period).

A Little Church-Related Humor

 This one is pretty self explanatory.

 Think Adam and Eve

 Dwight knows.

 His name is Peeta. Think Peter.

Pretty much says it all. This was all just for humor, no debates needed.(:

My Family

I am proud to introduce you to my adorable nephew, Rowen David Neufeld. He was born on August 19, 2013.



These are his parents, Hannah and Nic Neufeld. Nic is 6 years older than me and we've had our differences, but we definitely love each other.  

This is my little brother, Josh. Josh was born when I was almost nine, so we grew pretty close when he was little. Unfortunately, since he started school and realized that he was "waaaay cooler than [his] older sister" he's not exactly a huge fan of hanging out with me (peacefully).

This is Greg, my "twin". Greg and I only started to get close when Nic started dating Hannah and eventually moved away once they got married. As sad as it was to see my oldest brother move away, it was such a blessing getting to be so close with Greg.

These are only a small fraction of the people that attend my youth group. This picture was taken last year at our gift exchange after going tobogganing at Garbage Hill. These people are some of the funnest and funniest people that I know. They are "da bomb" so to speak.

This is a birthday dinner for my cousins, Bethany and Stacey (twins), as well as their dad, Johnny. This is my dad's side of the family, though not all of it. They are known as the "crazy side" of the family. Let's just say that I don't disagree with that statement.

This picture was taken almost 2 years ago. Abby (my dog) and I love each other to bits. Abby is seriously the most ridiculous creature ever. I got Abby when I was still living in Texas, I was a Freshman in high school. The night that I got Abby was kind of crazy. I found an ad on Craig's List for 8 week old puppy's, re-homing fee of $125.This all seemed pretty legit, and after months of begging my parents, I was given the go-ahead. After about an hour of driving, we finally arrived at the agreed meeting place, a hospital in Joshua, Texas. I had the first pick out of an entire liter of puppies. Choosing a puppy wasn't too hard, a certain one kept sucking on my finger and wouldn't surrender her spot to her siblings. She looked pretty adorable so, after a few more minutes of hard thinking, I chose this little black dog. As it turned out, this 8 week old puppy was actually only 4 weeks old and still needed to be fed milk. Lets just say that for the first few weeks, I had quite a few interrupted sleeps and I also mixed a lot of puppy formula.

This is Abby very recently after I got her(:

It's kind of hard to believe that these two pictures
are of the same dog, hey?

This is the "less weird" side of my family. I hate to break it to everyone, but they are still super weird. I don't think that I have ever met any relative (or human for that matter) that wasn't weird. Oh well.

Reading Survey

Reading Survey- Emily Neufeld

What do you get from reading that you can’t (or don’t want to) get anywhere else?

When I read, the story seems to come to life. My imagination is pretty wild; I always imagine stories with incredible detail. As great as movies are, I am always fairly disappointed by them. The unfortunate thing with movies is that there is never enough time to put all of the details into them. Another thing that I enjoy about reading is being able to experience things from the points of view of the characters in the books. Even though not all books are written from the perspectives of characters in the book, movies do not allow you to experience things as if you were there experiencing it too.

Have you ever re-read a book? Why or why not? Which book?

The only book that I have ever re-read was “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I re-read this book because, like the first time, I needed to read it for school. The first time that I read TKAM was in the 8^th grade, 2 years before I re-read it, thank goodness. The two years in between gave me time to forget enough small details about the book so that I could enjoy the book for the second time. Other than books that are required for school, I have chosen never to re-read a book. I tend to remember smaller details (the ones that really enhance a book), so it’s harder for me to enjoy a book a second time.

How has the way you read (as well as what you read) changed over time?

Over time, I have changed a lot as a reader. As a kid, I enjoyed books like the Junie B. Jones series, anything humorous. Upon reaching middle school, I slowly transitioned to “fluffy tween reads”, which now make me want to puke. I have almost always enjoyed anything “suspense” or “thriller”. In relation to the way that I used to read as opposed to now, I used to skim a whole lot more. I did not seem to think that reading whole sentences was necessary. Now, if I try to skim a short story or even a novel, I have to force myself to go back and re-read the whole section that I skimmed.

Techno Section

Do you have a smart phone with internet access? Tell me about it.

I have an HTC Desire. I am able to access the internet only with Wi-Fi.

Do you have access to a laptop/tablet/iPod touch that you could bring to class on a daily basis? Tell me about it.

I do not have access to any of these devices in terms of bringing them to school. I have them at home, but since I share them with other family members, I am not able to bring them to school.

Do you have an e-reader or any other devices that you can e-read on?

Nope.

Do you have a Twitter feed? Tell me about it.

Yes, I have a personal Twitter account that I use quite often. I don’t follow many “famous” people. @ERP_15

Do you have a blog? Tell me about it.

I created a blog not too long ago to post things that I’ve written; however, a small case of writer’s block ended that fairly quickly.

Discuss your interest in using/learning about any of these forms of technology in the course.

I’m pretty comfortable using most forms of social media/ technology. I wouldn’t say that I would “love” to use these technologies, but I won’t be upset if we do.