How To: The Essay (Helpful Advice)

(Money actually does grow from trees.) The blank Word document sits in front of you. Staring you down waiting for your first move. After thinking and thinking you have an idea. You put it on the page and find yourself not able to write anything sophisticated. Now there's me here to the rescue with the best way to format your idea. I'll tell you how to help you improve your essay's intro, body paragraphs and conclusions

First thing, you want (wanna) to perfect is your introduction. (Don't worry about your spelling and grammatical errors usually teachers overlook them.) The best way to do that is to start with your hook statement, it has to get someone's attention. (The best part is it usually doesn't need to be related to your topic because once you have their attention they usually keep reading. After that all you have to do is say what your gonna write about.)  Start with something interesting or surprising then move into your topic. It's important your thesis is clear so people know what you're going to talk about. (Once you have your thesis literally make it clear by changing the text color to white and it should get you a good score.)Usually the quality of your introduction sets the stage for the rest of your essay.  

After you've got the introduction next you have to work on the body paragraphs. (These are just the "filler" paragraphs, so to "fill" these all you have to do is write down anything and literally anything you find on your topic.) But in these paragraphs you need to make sure you have a few specific things to improve you score. I'll explain these things based off our writing rubric at ASA Clark. For improving your idea development and content it says you need to make connections and show analysis. (To do this you're going to need one of those boards with string that they use in movies for the CIA. Take everything that is somewhat related to your topic and place it on the board and connect it randomly and you should be good. After you will have to "analyze" the board otherwise meaning look at it for a long time.) Next skill to emphasize is the voice aspect, make it sound original like you're talking in real life. (You want to make you voice independent or different, usually if you capitalize things randomly it gives it the feeling of yelling {Note: only use this on the important information!}). Finally to improve word choice and sentence fluency you need to use different sentence techniques and use vivid language to make the essay come to life. (Basically make your sentences short and long to add variety and use long words to act like you know what your talking about.) 

Your conclusion takes everything from the introduction and body paragraphs and sums it up in a few sentences. (Just copy and paste a few sentences from your other paragraphs and you should be fine) What you're going to do is restate your thesis go over the ideas of your essay and leave the audience with a thought. (Again copy and paste)   The point of your conclusion is to either go over what you've wrote in the body paragraphs, leave the reader thinking about your essay, or agreeing with your opinion. (To get someone to keep thinking about your essay all you do is give them something they like thinking about, usually food.) Your conclusion is also one of the deciding factors that makes or breaks your essay.

The blank document has now full, conquered by you along with your sidekick, me and my helpful tips. Your grades will be sky high if you just follow my tips. Now go write, go make me proud. (Mmmm Pizza sounds good right now)

Undead

Flashes... The scene fills my head replaying over and over . Mother was the first......and I the one to put the bullet through her forehead. Over and over I watch her fall to the floor her dead eyes looking deep into my soul ripping the tears out of my body. Then I see the walkers, the walkers ripping people apart killing anything that moves. I see my best friend on the ground walkers crowding him in a bloody mob until his screams are gone.

And now I stand here. The man who created this disease, who created this plague, Who killed so many sits in front of me. I put up my gun up fixing it right between his eye brows. My hands shake, then my arms then the shake moves to the rest of my body. I can't do I just cant the visions replay and replay. Then I turn the gun placing it on the side of my head. Then I pull the trigger so I can leave this nightmare.



"

    

Divergent

Better watch your back. One wrong move and could you be executed by the leaders of your faction and have no one care. The main conflict of the books of Divergent and Insurgent is caused by the divergent population of dystopian Chicago. This conflict starts when divergent Beatrice Prior turns 16 and this begins a story of simulations, war, and an almost unsolvable conflict.

Erudite the faction of knowledge. The hunger for information and the creation of new technology. Also the creator of injected simulations. These injections cause people to face their fears, decide which faction to become apart of, and even be controlled without realizing. Except for the Divergent. They can alter these simulations and fight them. Naturally the Erudite want to know why this happens and how to stop it. All their attempts to control them have failed and the only ones with information is the Abnegation. In an attempt to obtain this information the Erudite create a attack simulation for the Dauntless to kill countless Abnegation. Beatrice, who had just joined dauntless is caught up in one of the biggest conflicts shes ever known.

 After the simulations rip everyone apart, the factions split. Some stand with Erudite while others look to take down the faction that has caused all of these problems. War breaks out between the two sides. Beatrice becomes an influential part of the force against erudite. Even though she want to be free of simulations she tries to find a resolution so they don't lose the factions that every one relies on to live.

While there is a huge problem Beatrice struggles to find a solution. Even going the extremes of sacrificing herself to erudite and going behind her boyfriends back to search for peace among the factions with the father he greatly despises.  This problem evolves to become a stand still. No one knows the right way to solve it but the fight between Erudite simulated soldiers and the force against them becomes more and more heated each day.

This huge conflict in the city started over the divergent can be ended by them. There have been no decisive blows by either side and every leader is reeling for a solution. There is almost no way to solve it, peacefully that is.

A Clean, Well Lighted......Movie

In my opinion the movie adaptation was pretty good although it lacked a few main components to make it spot on. The director had some good ideas on ways to put some extra symbolism but there was too many thing off.

In the written story it is based in the 1900's time period. Thus making it impossible to have an flat screen TV there. Also they kept the soldier and girl scene which was mainly in there to set the time period. Any could tell that bar setting was not World War I times. The director also left out the key component that even though the cafe is well lighted, the old man was in the shadows. That being said I did like the scene when he pays for the drinks and it focuses on the glass of brandy that is almost gone.

Along with the setting the characters seemed kind of off. Something about how the actors we're talking just didn't seem how I would have pictured the story. I know they're Irish but they're accent isn't why. To me it sounded like when they spoke the words sounded really awkward like they had just read the script..

The movie was actually pretty close to the story even though there were some things I though were weird. I said a lot of things that I though were bad about the movie but there are a few really good things the director put in. The scene in the bar really showed the meaning of why the old man likes the cafe. It shows sad people dressed in black sitting in the bar. Another thing I liked was the way the old man walked off into the darkness to really show that the cafe was his light in the dark.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

"How do you know it was nothing?"
People tend to overlook many things and many times they think when your rich you have no problems or worries. In this instance they miss the fact that besides his niece he has nobody in his life.
"You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves."
The older waiter realizes that the man although sad with his life, wishes to be clean and at peace. He sits in the shadows of the leaves but the bright lights make him feel better. This seems like a symbol for his life even though it is dark he prefers not to be dirty.
"the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference."
This shows the man prefers peace and is most likely frustrated he can't hear what is going on around him. Once the night comes its just him by himself with his thoughts.

Loss of Innocence

What do you see when look at a song bird? A being of innocence. A bird that hears no evil, speaks no evil and sees no evil. All it does is sing for everyone to hear. When it’s killed, the innocence is lost just like in To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout, Jem, and Tom Robinson start in this way but as the trial begins the mockingbird is slaughtered by the real world.

The beginning of the book reveals the life of the people in Maycomb county. It shows the kids having fun and messing around. Just living a childhood of innocence. As the book goes on Scout and Jem catch glances of the real world around them. This is the start to the slow death of the innocent mockingbird.  At one point Atticus buys the kids BB guns and tells them, “Shoot all the blue jays you want if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (90). This shows that the kids are the mockingbirds surrounded by blue jays by which their sins kill the small songbirds.

Unlike the part one of the book, part two begins the execution of the mockingbird. The single trial of Tom Robinson begins the kids journey into the real world. An innocent black man accused of rape of a white woman kicks the town into a frenzy of racism, picking sides, and craziness. Tom Robinson is also a mockingbird  caught up in the cruel world. White people had the power and once Mayella spoke the first words against Tom he was done for. Atticus defends this black man with his full might but the town either supports him or doesn’t. He helps Tom make the first steps to become a free man again. Then the men of the town take tom out of jail to kill him causing “[the] murder of a an innocent songbird”(192). The men aren't even prosecuted for their crime. All these events give the kids a mountaintop view of reality. Not to mention the crazy Bob Ewell who tries to kill the kids and threatens anyone connected to the trial.

This story shows the loss of innocence though many characters. This is a mirror to our real life because we all start off innocent and free in childhood but we grow old in hope to hold onto this innocence that is slowly slipping away.  

Loss of Hope

Author's Note: This is a theme essay on loss of hope. I did it on the Hunger Games, the Bourne Identity, and Life of Pi.

Ever feel lost, sad or just feel like there is nothing you can do? You feel hopeless and yet somehow things turn around. Many characters in books feel this way but somehow they find a way to change it. I found this in these three books the Bourne Identity, The Hunger Games and Life of Pi.

In the Bourne Identity the main character Jason Bourne is completely hopeless. He has just ended up in a drunk doctors house being nursed back to health. He's been shot in multiple places and can't remember a thing of his past. Jason has no idea what's happening to him, what happened to him and what's going to happen. There is nothing but his past skills and a piece of film surgically implanted into his hip. The film reveals something though, a bank account in Zurich. From this he begins the have flashes of the past and pieces everything together to find his true identity.

Another character who is clueless is Katniss from the Hunger Games. She has a moment of great hopelessness when she volunteers for the hunger games. All she can think of is the fact that she is going to die. She is scared, confused and feels weak. She has no options but to fight to the death. Then she comes to her senses and realizes she can win and makes it her goal to come home and see Prim again.

Life of Pi is the same thing except that instead of fighting to the death Pi is fighting against death. He is stranded in the middle of the ocean with a huge Bengal tiger. Food running low he losses his fight and can't seem to think. All hope fails and he is left to fight for life in agony. Although he somehow finds food and begins to adapt himself to life at sea. He finds a way to barely stay alive throughout the entire voyage and somehow makes it the coast of mexico.

These books teach that even though it doesn't seem like there's hope you can find your way out of it. Even thought these characters feel hopeless they overcome it and make the story interesting. People can learn from this, even though there is a down time it has to get better at some point.