Dear Sam ( AKA Jimbo Manzwater) (*Confidential)

Sam, she is gone. I tried to stop her, I really did, but she was to fast. She was gone in the blink of an eye. She got in my way while I was running the sled. When I cam toward the finish of my run, she jumped out in front of me. I stumbled and tripped and tried not to fall on her. She jumped and bit me Sam. However, we both did not fall. I did not know what to do. I looked at my arm to see the mark, but when I looked back all I saw was her fully sprinting down the field toward the school. It eye watering news, but we have to face it. Your dog Izzy has ran away. I yelled " Izza" over and over, yelling for her to comeback. I even tried chasing her, but she would not come. For some reason I had carrots in my pocket and I threw them at her, but not even that could stop the great Izzy. I am dearly sorry Sam and I hope you find your missing dog.
Your friend,
Abdul

Rejection

One may feel rejected at times. One such example of this is when playing a pickup basketball game. Usually, the worst player is picked last to be on a team. This, obviously, is the player that feels the most recognition among everyone else that is playing. He is always skipped over, again and again, until it comes down to him. The thing that might bother him the most is the fact that he is constantly ignored time and time again, and this builds up into an emotional bubble of sadness over time, in which the individual feels rejected, even after trying to be accepted time and time again. The others make this individual feel bad about himself and maybe his physical qualities due to always being picked last for the game. It is never good to feel or be rejected and no one should ever have to be.

Frankenstein Elements

Of the three elements, atmosphere, action and supernatural, I believe that supernatural is the most effective out of the three because it emphasizes more horror and mystery then anything. In Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, Doctor Victor Frankenstein gathers different parts from dead bodies in order to accomplish his goal of reanimating a dead person back to life. Frankenstein achieves his mission, but is overwhelmed and terrified by the monster. There is no action that occurs in the book, if so, very little. The only action there is so far that has occurred is where Victor's creation, the monster, kills Victor's brother, whose death is blamed by on by the maid of the house, Justine. This action doesn't emphasize gothic literature much. The atmosphere contributes a little bit more to gothic literature than action does, but still not as much. The setting takes place in Switzerland, in about the 18th century. Shelley was also the first to somewhat say " it was a dark an stormy night" which adds mystery and draws the reader in to read what happens next. Supernatural contributes more to gothic literature than the other two elements.

Frankenstein

In my opinion, the intro to the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was odd. Although it was helpful. Shelley opens up the novel with four letters. The letters talk about a character called Robert Walton who is the captain of a ship. He then meets a stranger and admires the stranger's passion and determination of reaching a goal he has set, even though he looked very sick and weak while traveling through the Arctic. If I were to start a ghost story, I would open the story up by describing a scene in the story that is occurring in the middle of the story. This would give the reader a sense of what is going on at that point of the story. I would also have the main character speaking, which would have the story in first person. I would not however have all the characters introduced right at the beginning of the story. I do not believe that is a good method to use when writing an opening to a story. I would have each character introduced through out the story in various parts of it. Introducing each character at a different point in the story would all lead up to the opening of the story where the main character is speaking during a scene in the middle of the story.

Spring Break

I hope spring break's weather turns out really nice. One thing I hope to do during spring break is to be able to go outside. I want to go out side and be able to enjoy sunny, warm weather during my break. I really don't want to see cold and snowy or cloudy and rainy weather. I want to do something other than sitting inside my house doing nothing. So far in Ohio, we've seen every possible weather scenario there is to be seen. We have had warm days then a snowy one the next, or days where the temperature has reached 55 degrees, then is 18 degrees the next. Sometimes when it is really warm outside, it rains. The weather here can never stay constant. I really just hope that I will be able to enjoy nice weather during my week off. I also hope to get all of the assignments I received this Friday completed, such as my power point for biology or read the first four letters of the Frankenstein novels. Honestly, I believe that this spring break will not be awful, but it will not be great. It will be decent

Flying or being Invisible

If I had the choice to either fly, or be invisible, I would choose to fly. Flying is much more funner than just being Invisible.  I could go anywhere if I had the ability to fly. I could go as high up in the air as I wanted, and get to a destination faster than any one else. I would not have to pay the price of a play ticket or have to endure the long wait by car. Flying would also save me money. If I were able to fly, I would be able to save money because the more I drive, the more money I would have to spend on gas for my car, but since I am flying, no gas would be required. I would also not have to ever ask for a ride or wait for anyone to pick me up. I would not park anywhere to because I would just fly to wherever I want to go, and when I am done, I would just fly off back to my house. That would really help me.

Advice for OGT

The OGT was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I would advise next year's sophomores to not stress and be worried much about the test. The OGT can simply be passed by an eight grader. In my opinion, at Early college, a student is prepared so well for the OGT that it is very unlikely that one would fail. Many practice tests and problems are given in classes, so that when the time for the test comes, the test will not be as hard as expected. The questions on the OGT are also just the basis of what one should know halfway through the sophomore year in high school. During the test, every student has two and a half hours to complete each test. That is more than enough time to finish a test. After OGT testing is over, everyone feels relieved that all the stress is finally over. All in all, just do not be stressed because everyone will do just fine, and the test is not as tough as it seems.

Desperate Times

It was a long 3rd down and 12. I was driving to tie the game. This is a desperate situation I faced while playing Madden. I thought that the game was over. I thought that it was impossible to win this game, let alone tie it. However, I still had hope. I believed that Aaron Rodgers could lead us to victory. However, before this play, I had to go do something, so I paused the game. I told my younger brother to watch the game for me. He did, but he told me that the game in paused itself! I was nervous, but I still had faith. When I came back it was a 3rd down and long 12 to go with the pressure mounting. I sent Jordy Nelson on a slant and picked up the first down. From then on I played mistake and nervous free. I tied the game, but was still a little worried that my opponent could score on me because he had been doing well on offense the entire game. When he threw one of his passes when trying to tie the game, Sam Shields sealed the deal with a pick! He then also had two more turnovers and I went on to win the game by a huge margin of victory. I really thought that there was no way to comeback, but I believed and succeeded.

Trust Me

A time where I convinced some one to convince me was while I was playing Madden. Me and my younger brother were playing as the Dolphins against my two other friends who were playing as the Seahawks. We were losing 24-10. During the entire game so far, me and my younger brother could not get along at all. All game we were arguing. However, this always happens when we play Madden on the same team or any video game in general. We were facing a crucial third down. I told him that he has to trust me at the quarterback position. Since we were arguing all game long, he was a little hesitant. However, we were struggling all game long, so we just gave it a shot anyways. I chose my favorite play in all of football, the one and only, Read Option. The Read Option is a play where the running back is right next to the quarterback. Then when the ball is snapped, depending on which side the running back is one, the quarter back looks at the defensive end and if the defensive end flies out, the quarterback keeps it and runs. However, If the defensive end just stands and does not blitz, the quarterback hands the ball off to the running back. This play is very well used and known by young football quarterbacks, like Robert Griffin III. When I did this play, we were able to pick up the first down. We ultimately lost the game, but this play helped me and my brother build trust between each other.

10th grade

I have faced struggles so far in my 10th gradfe year. I have struggled in things such as math and this was a factor that led to a low GPA and a bad report card. I have also had achievements. I have been more organized this year com[ared to previous years and I have been turning in all of my assignments in on time. These achievements have led to aspirations of straight A's and at least a 3.5 GPA. Throughout the 10th grade so far I have faced struggles, which have led to accomplishments, and have given me higher aspirations.

OGT

This March I am most worried about taking the mathematics OGT. I have never really liked math during school, and really do not like it at all this year. I am certainly not the best at it either. However, there is always room for improvement, no matter what subject may be. To become confident in taking the math OG in March, I will do one simple but useful technique, practice. Yea one might say," that's all?", and the answer is simply "yes". I can just take practice OGT math questions online from past OGTs. These tests provide you with the right answer after answering the question and give you an explanation as to why that answer is correct. They also do the same for the wrong answers. That is very useful and helpful.  That and my brother took the OGT last year and I will ask him for tips and advice while taking the test. I believe that all of this will help me gain the confidence I need to pass all the tests with flying colors.