God Bless America.

            Our country has overcome many things together. From fighting for our freedom to overcoming terrorist attacks our country has proven that we can accomplish many things. I am very proud in the things that our country has achieved and know that we will continue to strive for excellence.

            With the end of the Revolutionary war in 1783, our nation was declared a free country. Being the underdogs, many were surprised when we came back and won our freedom.  Thousands of lives were sacrificed to make America a free country.  With this being said, I am very proud of our nation for doing this.  The whole reason English men traveled the seas was to find freedom, and when they got here and still didn’t have it; they were strong enough to fight for it. This makes me proud to live in America.  The fact that our nation is free affects everything we do each day.  I am swollen with pride by the fact that we overcame the Britain’s to get freedom.

            September 11, 2001 is a day that Americans will remember forever. It is a day that our country was attacked and realized the impact of terrorism on our own soil. However, things that have happened since that day make America even stronger. In 2011, we killed Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind 9/11. To me, this is a very big accomplishment.  We were defeated in 2001, but this year we came back and showed the world that what the terrorists did was not okay. Our country will not accept thousands of innocent deaths.  I think that it is amazing that we killed Osama. We should all be very proud of our country for accomplishing this.

            When someone asks me if I am proud of America, I feel like it’s such an easy question to answer.  Step back and take a look at all the things our country has achieved.  We are free. Those three words are all it takes to make me be proud of my country. No fancy inventions or big technology, just freedom.  I am proud to say that I am an American citizen for all the things we have accomplished and overcome. 

Prison vs. The Community

Colorless, cold, lifeless; these all describe life in the community of The Giver. Never standing out, never standing up for yourself; because that’s what life is for you.  In the community the citizens don’t get to choose what they do, it’s chosen for them- much like life in prison.  Forced to stick on a schedule, being released at a certain time, and being the same as the person next to you. I believe that life in the community and in prison are similar in many ways.

            What would life be like if you knew what was going to happen? No ups and downs, no surprise, and no chance of living life to its full potential. Every day you would wake up and know your schedule.  You would have no free time, except what was included in your agenda for the day- but is that really free time? We all at one point just want to sit down and relax, and not worry about missing our next event.  In our lives, we’re all busy.  Sports, clubs, and different activities fill our calendars, but these are things we chose to do. For some of us, this is our free time; it’s how we like to express ourselves.  In the community or in a prison, you have to stick to a plan. A plan that decides your life for you.

            You do your time, and you’re released. Released from prison, released from the community, released from your life. When you become old, or just want to leave the community, in The Giver; you can be released.  Being released means leaving what you’re used to.  After living in a prison for possibly 50 years, the outside world is abnormal to you, as is elsewhere- where you go after living in the community.  Everything is so strange, you are able to choose things, and you are able to be an individual.  In the community it is chosen for you when you get to be released. If they feel like you are old enough to die in the near future, they release you.  In prison, when you have served your time, you can leave.  It is chosen by a jury on how long you will be forced to stay in four walls; and when your time is done, you can leave.

            Imagine a world where everything is the same. Everyone wears the same clothes, everyone eats the same food, and everyone acts the same way.  No one is their own person, they’re all alike. In the community, the citizens’ main rule deals with sameness.  Everyone gets the same amount of stuff, weather that is food, money, or even kids. They all dress alike and keep no secrets to themselves. Prison is the same way.  Everyone gets the same food, the same clothes, and the same attention. No one is different; in fact difference is not welcome. I think that the reason these two are so similar is because you are blindly following the rules of sameness.  You know you have to obey them, so you don’t think any further into them.  No one in prison questions being the same, because they know that they have done something wrong to deserve being there. In the end; being the same stinks whether it’s in the community or in prison.

          
             Living in the community would be a life full of enforced rules, and knowing when you’re released.  Knowing that everything must be the same; knowing what you’re supposed to. I think that if you have to live in the community you are being robbed from the chance of living your life the way you want to.  Not everything has to be chosen for you, because you know yourself the best.  No one else knows what you want to do in life except you.  Living in the community, or prison, makes you have a life full of the same things every day. A life full of boredom and misery; a life not worth living.  

Introduction

Short Story

7:30 AM
 I hate living in New York City.  The traffic every morning is so bad and since my mom doesn't want to  take the detour to drive me to school, I have to bike to school.   On normal days, when the traffic isn't  horrible, it takes me fifteen minutes to get there.  Except today I left a little late.  If I was tardy one more  time I would have a weeks worth of detention.  All I can hear is the beeping of car horns.  The traffic  light in front of me is on red, and has been for a while.  I decide to take a left and gun it to try to get  there on time.  As I am turning, I can see a Semi truck heading my way.  I peddle as fast as I can, but it's  not fast enough. 
 Essay
 Many teens around the country are dropping out of high school everyday; each one giving up their aspirations because school is to hard for them.  Every child should get a full education, not ending it in high school.  Kids that drop out of high school are being robbed from a successful job in the future, just because they couldn't pass  simple tests in many subjects.  Students who drop out of high school are holding themselves back from having the best life they can.

Color.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.  These are just a few of the colors we see everyday.   Most of the time we make no remark so seeing them, because it is normal for us to see color.  However, for the citizens in the community from "The Giver" seeing color is not normal.  In fact only two people can really see colors.  Imagine a world without color.  I think that It would be boring, and so plain.

                When you look around, all you see is things that are colored differently.  We like colors, because they're pretty.  When we look at them it just ads so much detail to the object.  If we didn't have color, everything would be boring.   Color is so important because it describes an object so precisely.  If we didn't have color, everything would just be there.  It would all be colorless, all blend in.  Nothing would stand out.  Color is important to me because It makes the world unique.

                There are over 1,000 different colors in the world, but objects aren't the only thing that are colored.  People have color.   Different orientations of the skin tone, eye color, and hair color, all make us different.  If you think about it, there are so many different colors of skin, making us each our own person.  Yes, having different colored skin has lead us to conflict before, but i think that people need to see beyond that fact.  They need to think about that if our world didn't have color, we'd be the came color as the objects. Colorless.

                Without color, our world would be simple.  We have color to idnetify us as people, and give depth to objects.  When you people look around, I'm sure they dont even think about the colors we see.  It's a daily occurance to see color.  But, think about what you would feel like if one day you woke up and there was no color in the world.