Family Tree

      I'm just going to summarize what I wrote in my daybook because it is very hard to read.  I pretty much said that this poem is telling us about the little significances of where he's from.  He describes how his family is unique, and that played a big role in who he is.  I also said how I liked the use of his last metaphor saying how a leaf was falling from the family tree when he was born. 
      I can really relate to him and his story.  Families are huge influences and mentors to young children and to even teenagers.  I myself still look up to my older brothers for important advice to ask if I should switch my major, to very stupid advice like fashion...kinda... but the point is, no matter who you are around, they will impact your life in some way.
      This author, George Ella Lyon, also writes about how he's from the "know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons, from the Perk up! and Pipe down!"  Every family has their own nicknames, or special relatives that has that one weirdness to them, but everyone loves.  We all have our own saying, and all of these different characteristics is what makes us all different and unique. And this brings me to my favorite part about him being his own leaf falling from the family tree.  Everyone is different, they bring their own personality and spark to the table, they're their own leaf, but all together we make a tree that no one else can resemble.

We had to do an assignment that made us think of what literacy artifacts really are.  I chose to focus on my wall posters.  I had a my Chi O poster because now that I think of it, it is starting to mean what my future can become.  I now have so many new friends and new experiences in my life. I also had a Pittsburgh poster, that I mostly just wanted to remind me of home.  My list goes on, and each poster made me really think of why I have each of them.  I thought about who got me them, when they got me them and why. Each one has its own significance because each poster has its own story behind it.  I love coming into my room and looking at what was my past (Pittsburgh), my present, and my future (Chi Omega).  I can not wait for the new experiences, and I will never forget the old.

Writing Timeline

 My first time being creative and writing outside the lines was when I was very little and wrote on my driveway with sidewalk chalk!

A small part of writing was in middle school and I loved passing notes and not getting caught!

One of the most important writing experiences for me was when I had to write many college essays.  It was the only time the college could really see the individual side of me, and I did not want to get the wrong impression.

12.5.10.

Something you love could disappear so quickly

A blink of an eye can lead to so much misery

A chilly winter night can bring so much fright

The ice was so hard and cold

The tires couldn’t seem to keep a hold

As you see, Blaze crushed that pole

Its like God came and took control

Every tear we shed and all the pain we bear

He’d want us to be happy and not living in despair

My best friend died in 2010 from a car accident, and I wrote this poem in his honor for my senior project.  It was a struggle to write and the hardest piece I ever had to do.

I was Vice President of my grade, so I was granted to speak at graduation in front of all the parents, school board, and students! It was the scariest yet most fun I had in a long time!

It was a little hard thinking of the different types of writing I did as a child all the way through life.  Thinking back now on different assignments I did, I feel as if I am getting better putting my actual emotions and personality on the page.  Before it was very hard for me to open up in my writing, but it is getting a lot easier now because I like to do it and it helps me get my feelings out without having to confide in someone.  Especially when my one friend passed, it was extremely hard to open up in any way, and when I finally got the nerve to write that poem about him, I finally realized that things will get better in my life.  It let me opened up to so many people, and I feel dumb for not doing so earlier.  Because talking it out with someone there really helps and can give better advice than just a pen and paper. 

 

First day in class Lacy gave us a poem and told us to pick apart a stanza and elaborate on it. The author was from Ralph Fletcher, and it was called Breathing In Breathing Out: Keeping a Writers Notebook. I chose "Strings to short to be saved" yet too important to throw away: the writerly instinct is to hang on to them. When I first read this piece I first thought of something more than just string.  I knew that the author wanted us to connect with something different and the first thing that popped in my head were people. There are certain people in our lives that we care deeply about and couldn't image ourselves living without them.  Whether it be your parents, siblings, boyfriend/girlfriend, or your best friends it doesn't matter because they are what surrounds us, what make us happy and we do not want to lose that in our lives. They would be the shorter strings that we would keep, that are too important in our lives to throw away. But the other strings that are "too short to be saved" are the people around us that give off negative energy. If they are no good in your life; pitch them, meaning get rid of them and their negativity.  In a writers perspective the negative thoughts are what holds them back from publishing a book or not going with a certain idea. Ultimately it is your decision if you think they are too short to be saved, or thrown away.