K is for Kate DiCamillo

" Edward's heart stirred. He thought, for the first time in a long time, of the house on Egypt Street and of Abilene winding his watch and then bending toward him and placing it on his left leg, saying: I will come home to you."

--The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Kate DiCamillo is my favourite authors of all time. Although she writes books for younger children, her writing is magnificent. When I was younger, I used to read her books over and over again. My favourite book from her was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, my favourite book of all time. I still read her books every once in a while because they were so well written. Kate DiCamillo is not a very well known author, as opposed to J.K. Rowling, for example. Her most popular book was Because of Winn-Dixie, another one of her great books.

I love to write stories and I admire Kate DiCamillo for her creativity. She thinks of herself as a storyteller, telling many children about her wonderful stories through her books. Her books are very different from a typical book, but that's what makes them so awesome. I have read many books in my life, and never have I read a book like hers. I love them so much because they are not like other books. They are unique. You wouldn't normally find her ideas in a bestseller book. She may not be the most famous author, but I admire Kate DiCamillo and hope to become like her someday.

One of Kate DiCamillo's books, The Tale of Despereaux, is about a mouse who is different from the rest. His body is small, but his ears are really big, like Dumbo. He acts differently, for example, he likes to read in the library, but it is a law that mice do not read. He is a very brave mouse. Mice were forbidden for a health issue, but Despereaux wanted to find out what it was like in the "human world", so he ventured out into the human world and became a hero.

LIFE LESSON: In life, you may be faced with many fears or danger. The best way to fight through them is with bravery.

Empathy

Then, late one afternoon, Parvana came home from work to find two men gently helping her father up the steps to the apartment. He was alive. At least part of the nightmare was over.

pg. 154, The Breadwinner

Addiction. When I feel empathy while reading a book, I get addicted, and I can't stop reading.

Parvana saw her father being half carried up the steps to her apartment. Her father was home and alive. Somehow he was released from the prison, and finally free to return to his worried family. As I read this passage, I felt empathy for Parvana. My father goes away for business many times, and he is gone for the longest time. I know how Parvana felt when she saw her father. The same way I feel when my father comes home from work, happiness.

That passage is an example of good writing, and I felt empathy when I read that because I could relate to what Parvana was feeling for I have felt that feeling many times before. Creating empathy in a book is very challenging, but makes the story interesting and it makes the reader want to read more.

I think one way a writer can create empathy, is with the character or situation. Of course, the character would have to be realistic, someone a reader can easily relate to, along with the situation. If the situation they are in is common, then the readers may feel empathy for them because they might have been through the same thing, or something similar. For example, I felt empathy for Parvana because I feel the same way when my father comes home from long business trips. I'm sure many people felt empathy for Parvana because that situation is very common for working dads. It was a common situation many people could relate to. To create empathy through the situation, try to think of a situation you have been through, or a character like yourself, so that you feel empathy when you read the story. That is one way you can create empathy in your writing, by making the character like you, and the situation something similar to something you've been through.

Another way a writer can create empathy is describing the character and situation well. Whenever I feel empathy from a book, it's usually because it is very well written. The writing has to be descriptive so the reader can fully understand it and picture it in their mind. For example, when Parvana's father came home, Deborah Ellis (author of The Breadwinner) described Parvana's emotion on how she felt about her father's homecoming. She used lots of description, and I could imagine what Parvana was feeling because of how many adjectives and adverbs she used. Whenever I see someone I haven't seen in a long time, I feel the way Parvana felt. I could really imagine what Parvana was feeling because of all the description and adjectives used. That is another way a writer can create empathy, using lots of description.

With these ways in your writing, you will surely create empathy in your writing. Writing empathy is very challenging, but creating empathy in your stories makes the reader enjoy your stories at a higher level.

A Life of Horrors

Parvana was tired. She wanted to sit in a classroom and be bored by a geography lesson. She wanted to be with her friends and talk homework and games and what to do on a school holiday. She didn't want to know anymore about death or blood or pain. She was tired of living in an endless nightmare.

In our Language Arts class, we are reading the book, the Breadwinner. This was a passage from page 130 which I think was very well written. It would be very hard to live a life like Parvana. It would be very hard for me if I were Parvana. I would wake up early every morning, step outside and worry the whole day that if someone recognized me as a girl, I would be sent to jail, or maybe even be killed by the Taliban. I would grab my tray, and start the day by selling items I won't even be able to afford to have myself. I shove through the crowds, praying that I will make a sell, but no one is interested. When I'm finished with a full day of selling few things from my tray, I would count my money earned, and hope that the next day will make more profit. The days would feel endless with a heavy tray hung around my neck, standing outside in the hot sun all day all the while wondering if the Taliban has overtaken my one room where my family lives, and take them away. A girl dressed up as a boy living in Afghanistan with a father who was taken away to prison, and an endless nightmare of my life, would be horrible. It would be awful having to live through all the terrors of Afghanistan, being a little girl only wanting to be filled after a meal. Everyday, I would be risking my life, worrying that someone from the street would call out girl! and some Taliban men would march my way to beat me until death. Barely making through the days on what I make with my job. If I were Parvana, everyone would be counting on me to keep the family from starving to death. Parvana's life is really a life full of horrors.

Out on the street, she kept waiting for people to point at her and call her a fake. No one did. No one paid any attention to her at all. The more she was ignored, the more confident she felt.

Now with her face open to the sunshine, she was invisible in another way. She was just one more boy on the street. She was nothing worth paying attention to.

Presentation: Eva Olsson, Holocaust Survivor

I step into the chapel, breathe in the typical smelly scent of the old place. I see the woman, Eva , and shoot a friendly smile her way. I knew it, just another boring presentation, like all the others. But as she started to speak, the expression in her voice impressed me, for a woman her age. I listen intently, taking in all she has been through, trying to imagine what it was like for her. I look at her carefully and see the terrible fear in her eyes.

On October 26th, 2009, all of middle and upper school saw an inspiring woman speak to us, Eva Olsson, one of the few Holocaust survivors. For fifty years, she didn't speak of it at all, then she finally had an outbreak, and told the world of her terrifying story of the Holocaust. It just amazed me how much she has been through in her life, and to have the courage to fight through it all, that's just unbelievable. It was very inspiring and touching, and she inspired me not to use the word hate so often. She taught us so much about the Nazi bullies, and how hate overcame Hitler and his soldiers. Just a single word can have the largest impact on anyone. Now every time I say that word, I'm going to think about it first, do I really hate it? Hate is something I hear every day, but now that I've heard Eva's experiences, I've learned to think about what I do or say. Is it right? Should I be doing/ saying this?

Eva talked to us about being a bystander only encourages the bullying more. She told us that Hitler could have never accomplished his task without the bystanders. As she walked to the box cars, she remembered all the bystanders, lining up as if watching a holiday parade. Isn't that terrible?

On the ride there, there was one bucket of water to be shared among the hundreds of Jews in the box car, all forced to stand the whole way to Auschwitz. As the Jews were lined up, they were inspected, then sent to the left or the right. People sent to the right were to start working right away, people sent to the left, were sent to the gas chambers, a place no one knew about until they were sent there. Only people in perfect condition would be sent to the right, and maybe live for the first day of harsh work. Whereas people with even just a small scratch or scar, were sent to the left. The hardest thing for Eva was when she was sent to the right, but her mother parted from her as she was sent to the left. Eva told us how she didn't even get the chance to tell her how much she loved her mother for the last time.

Diseases overcame most people, and millions of people died. Eva told us that, not accidents, not sicknesses, but the "h" word killed millions of innocent Jews, just because of their religion.

We learned a few lessons from that amazing speech by Eva:

1. being a bystander to bullying, only bullies the victim even more

2. drinking and driving is not a good choice.

3. the "h" word killed millions of innocent people

I stand up, and am speechless as I leave the chapel. I learned very valuable lessons, that will change my life forever.

Norval

I step off the school bus to find myself standing in grass, staring out into the beautiful open field of Norval. As I stand there, trying to take in all of the beautiful landscape, I realize people are trying to pass me, eager to start the day ahead of them. I take a few steps, still dazed in the amazement of the place. It looks so familiar. I'm trying to remember when I was here in the past, but the picture is too fuzzy to recall. I take a few more steps, struggling to pull myself together, when I see friendly faces. I gain more confidence and follow the crowd, ready to start a day of adventure.

On October 19th, The middle school went to an outdoor centre called Norval. We called it "Team Building Day" because it required some teamwork for the activities we did in the morning. As we got off the bus, they gathered each grade together to do some mini games. The first game was to attach clothes pins to the back of your shirt, and try to grab as many clothes pins as you could off of other peoples shirts. The next game was you were to get into partners, and the person who was "it" would spin around in circles, while the other partner would make a great escape, but speed-walking. Then the chase began as the two would speed-walk after each other. It was quite funny, actually. Then we did the same thing, except we had to have one eye closed, and the other eye would be cupped, to make a cone to make it harder to see. It was rather entertaining to see people collide with each other. Then we split into groups to start the real action.

For the first half of the day, we did low ropes with the group you were chosen to work with. In my group, we did four activities:

1. We had to arrange ourselves in alphabetical order while standing on wooden poles

2. We had to walk across wires attached to trees, with only ropes to stabilize us.

3. We had to walk across wires, again, to transfer from one platform, to another, using ropes, and each other.

4. We had to figure out some way to push a tire off of a tall pole

One activity I think we did well was the second one, walking across the wires. We figured out a great strategy where when someone got to a tree, they would pass the rope attached to that tree to the person behind them, helping them to get across to the next tree. Then the person behind would pass the rope to the person in front of them, and the person in front would carry on to the next tree. It was a challenging activity, but we made it through okay.

Another activity I think we didn't do very well at was the last one, getting the tire off the tall pole. Everyone pitched great ideas- we had ideas from a human pyramid to a human staircase. We even had people standing on each others shoulders! It also helped that we had the smallest and tallest people in our grade in the group, but we still couldn't get the tire off. No one was put down for having a bad idea, we just did something crazy and dangerous when someone pitched the idea. It was actually really fun. My favourite idea was the human staircase. Although it didn't work, it was still really fun to be a part of. Another cool idea that almost worked was that we lifted the smallest and lightest person up on the tire up to the top, and then while she was dangling at the top, holding on for dear life, we tried to think of an idea to get the tire up to her so she could lift it off. That was probably my favourite activity, even though we didn't accomplish the task.

Overall, I thought of the day as fun and entertaining. The activities were a great start for the day, and to top it off, we even did a drum circle! It was fun and everyone participated. It sounded amazing! It was great how the leader got everyone's attention, and he barely said anything. Everyone did what he wanted them to do. They stopped when he motioned us to, and started drumming a certain way by just using his hands as a tool. It was a great way to end the day. The trip got initiative, participation, and teamwork out of everyone.

As I take the first step onto the bus, I memorize all the fun memories I gained that day, that I will remember forever. As I take my seat, I'm sad to leave such a happy place, and I'm excited to come back again next year, for another fun-filled day at Norval. I wave good-bye to the friendly faces and hope to see them again soon.

Does Clothing Shape Who You Are?

I think that the clothing you wear does not shape who you are. When you shop for clothes, you don't always look for clothes that match your character, right? You just shop for the kind of clothing you like and what you think looks best on you.

For example, geeks. Everyone pictures someone smart as a geek, or whatever they want to call them. Wearing glasses, knee socks, and overalls. But when someone is really smart, it doesn't make them uncool. Or the opposite, if someone is popular, then some people might think of them as stupid. What I'm trying to say is that if someone is or is not smart, that doesn't change their appearance. Another example is Lady Gaga. She dresses extremely weird, right? It looks like she's going to a costume party, but I have read in some magazines that she is totally down to earth and normal. I mean, I expected her to be really strange because of the way she looked, but, apparently, she's pretty normal. That's one reason not to judge a book by its cover.

I think that they have children dress in uniforms because first they want the school to look nice and orderly, but second because they care about the children. They don't want the children to be judged by how they look. Some people judge others by how they look or dress before they actually know what the person is like. That is completely unfair. First impressions on people are not how they dress, but how they act.

I dress really colourful, but I'm really actually very shy. When I go shopping I usually go shopping in most of the popular stores. Not because I want to copy everyone else, but once I actually look at it a few times, I like it. Sort of like songs. Whenever I go onto iTunes, I look up the top songs, and I listen to them. I don't really like them at first, but then I listen to them a few times on the radio, and I end up liking them in the end. And when I walk into stores, I usually look for the bright colours, you know the ones that give you some attention, but the truth is, I really don't like having a lot of attention.

That is my opinion on why I think clothing does not shape who you are.