Creative Writing #3

Here is my third creative writing piece and this time it's about conflict, specifically person (small group) verses person. This piece of writing is an extension my earlier composition, so it would make a little more sense if you read the previous write up.

    Katerina was lying on her light aqua coloured bed sheets, trying to fall asleep. She was still wondering whether or not to move to Hollywood or to stay with her mother and younger sister, Gabriella. Their father was a nice guy, most of the time, but whenever he was drunk it was chaos; he was like a loud, raging animal. Especially now, since he's been under a lot of stress at work. He usually doesn't drink much, but even just a bottle of beer can make go berserk.

                Katerina, Gabriella, and their mom usually went out to Katerina’s small apartment. Even though she lived at home she got her own place if anything bad ever happened, to stay the night with her mom and sister. Though sometimes her mom had to deal with the problem, every now and then their father would stop drinking for a few months and it was great, they were all a happy family. After time went by he would start drinking and even if their mom tried talking sense into him, it would not work. Sometimes their mom would get bruises that would last a few months. Not only did it scar their mother, but also hurt them emotionally. It was hard for them to live with that, but it was what it was. Every now and then Katerina, Gabriella and their mom had talks about what would happen if they reported him into the police. Every single day they thought about it, but what would that do, their father was a cop, he could just say that they were crazy and were lying. Once their mother said that she was going to leave him and he screamed “NO! This marriage is over when I say it’s over!” Their mother was crying for the next few weeks, and it really punctured a hole in Katerina’s, Gabriella’s and their mother’s heart.

                Katerina was just about to fall asleep when she heard her father come through the front door.

Creative Writing #2

Katerina had loved her job, working at Forever 21, but now wanted to move on with her life since it was only a few days before her high school graduation. Her parents wanted her to be a lawyer, even though Katerina enjoyed learning, she also loved designing clothes; wanting to be a costume designer for documentary films.

 “Well, why not” she thought to herself, as she was driving to work in her 2008 gleaming silver Volkswagen Jetty  Orderly with her bag in the passenger’s seat, and nothing scattered around in piles of dirt; everything in its proper place with a pleasant scent of strawberries. Her AP Exams just finished, so she had spare time to earn a few more bucks. Living in Toronto had its ups and downs; wide roads, but way too much traffic, as least there were great job opportunities, just not the ones that she wants. Katerina has the chance to move to Hollywood and start a career, but leaving her family and younger sister, Gabriella; it just doesn't seem right. Even though Gabriella has her older brother Alex, he barely visits. Leaving now, it just doesn't seem like the right time.

Slowly, as Katerina pulled into the large parking lot, her manager was waiting. Quickly, she got out of the car realizing she was late; “Katerina Demchuk, why are you late? I've been waiting five minutes!” her manager Bob asked fiercely. He was in his mid-thirties, short, partly bald and hated everyone, especially Katerina, and who knows for what reason. This was strange too, because Katerina was never late, she’s a perfectionist, but recently, I guess she’s had a lot on her mind: future career, family and life in general.

“I’m sorry sir, it won’t happen again” she apologized with some sorrow in her voice, as she slowly shuffled into the store. Even though she was kind of cheerless, she was still beautiful; gently tanned skin with golden blonde hair, slightly sparking in the light, as it’s whisked through the wind, fitting perfectly with her flawless face. She’s skinny, but curvy, so almost everything clothing item looks great on her, especially since she’s the average height for a woman, five feet and six inches. She is wearing dark blue skinny jeans with a cute floral patterned, fitted shirt, along with short cut, high heeled boots. It was the beginning of summer, and the weather was wonderful, but had been gloomy for the past week.

Katerina was just beginning her shift, but couldn't wait for her lunch break: a big piece of her favourite homemade lasagna; four layers of meaty, cheesy goodness. Since school was practically over, there were tons of people shopping for summer clothing. She loved helping people find that perfect summer outfit or that cute party dress, but she just wasn't in the mood to work today. Her bestfriend Annabelle supported her moving to Hollywood to pursue her career, but for Katerina there was something that was holding her back. Her favourite saying was “When one door closes, another one opens; but we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that that we do not see the one that has opened for us”  said by Alexander Graham Bell. Katerina always compares this to her life, but just can’t seem to move on from the closed door, even if she is pulled into the open one. What was holding her back?

Creative Writing #1

My bedroom may seem like a disaster to some people, including my parents, and an organized wonder to everyone else. From outside the room you can see the cloudy white wall paint that makes you feel kind of warm and homey. Once you walk in, you can  feel the soft carpet between your wiggling  toes, but a fierce wave of cold air, making you immediately chilly. You can see a small single bed in the right corner of the room, since the top right frame, which is holding up the mattress, is broken; my bed is totally lob sided like a hill. So for now I don't have the most comfortable bed. For a bed cover, I have silky smooth lime green sheets with a light green floral patterned blanket. Across the left and front wall of my room I have this hazel L shaped desk with a smooth moss green coating on the top; it has three drawers to the right, all different sizes, and four shelves to the left with two my them going underneath the lovely desk. Near the middle I have my black Acer computer with a few random papers scattered around it. I also have a black computer chair that I love spin around in. Usually there is light sweet peachy aroma from this lovely peach candle I got at Bath and Body Works. Whenever I do my homework, it’s very soothing to have a peachy essence and quite music playing in the background at such I stressful time, especially during exams. After the end of my desk I have this grass green cabinet where I keep all my hair supplies, makeup, jewelry, and perfume. It’s very useful over in that spot because it is right in front of my small walk-in closet with a sliding mirror door. Having I walk-in closet is nice, even if it is small; it provides room for clothes, other junk, a place for me to change and an entrance into Narnia. I like my room even if the carpet is purple and the rest of my room is green, and it totally doesn't match, but that’s okay. Well that’s about everything in my room.

Literacy Blog #6

          I chose this book cover to be most effective for the play A Midsummer Night's Dream because as you can see a lot of action happening in the background which represents most of what  happens in the book. You can see that is placed in the woods because of all the green and brown colors used around the picture. In the front center you can see Titania and Oberon talking over the changeling, since the child is standing behind Titania. Following Titania is her trail of fairies.  To the right of Oberon, is Puck and you can see him "jumping" into some sort of scheme he has planned "That frights the maidens of the villagery" (II, i, 35). Puck is known for his mischievous behavior, so him jumping into something, perhaps a conflict, would be a great way to describe Puck. Between Oberon and Titania in the cover, there is a couple kissing and my guess is that it's Hermia and Lysander, since they have run away from Athens into the forest to be with each other. Under Oberon's pinkish cape seems to be Helena and Lysander together, with Hermia beside them wondering what's happening, since Lysander got the flower juice on his eyes and has fallen in love with Helena. Then there are the actors around all of this conflict practicing the play they are to perform at Theseus' and Hippolyta's wedding day, while being among  all the tension between the lovers. This book cover would be the most effective to represent the play A Midsummer Night's Dream because it tells the story within the book cover.

Literacy Blog #5

          For today's blog post, I'm going to be writing a comparison about Helena, from the play a Midsummer Night's Dream and Pierce, from the book Abandon. In some ways Helena and Pierce are similar, but in others they are totally different. Pierce is a shy and kind of awkward person, she seems to be  alone most of the time and isn't much of a sociable person. Since she moved to a new town and school, she is now trying to become more involved with making friends and being a part of something different. Pierce also becomes partially blinded by feelings for a guy, John, that doesn't necessarily love, or even like, her back. Even Pierce isn't positive about her emotions for John, and somehow he always there to help her from dangerous situations. Helena is more of a independent woman, she makes up her own complex schemes to win her love. She also has a strong and passionate persona for her love, Demetrius, but he does not love her back. That disgust towards her makes Helena do things that only push Demetrius further away. Pierce and Helena are similar because in one way or other, since they both have feelings for a guy that doesn't love, or even like them back, and that emotion makes them act like unintelligent people. In other ways they are quite different. Helena is more of a vigorous and scheming person, but Pierce, on the other hand, is more of a timid and klutzy kind of person. People can be similar and different, in ways that you might never know.

Literacy Blog #4 (2/2)

I think this picture represents most of my spring break, which was hanging out with friends. Clearly my friends don't actually look like that, or else that would be really weird. Anyhow, on Monday, Cara and got together and hung out even though we didn't do much, I think we still had fun. We ate delicious pizza, spicy chicken pizza, and I have to say it was pretty amazing. Cara and I also talked and tried to prank call some people, but it didn't work because they decided not to pick up. Later that evening I went to the Rihanna concert with my step-dad. The concert was really awesome, but it sucked Rihanna only came on stage at 10 o'clock, so we ended up coming home at around 1am in the morning. It was nice because I got to sleep in for once. Since I slept in that morning, the rest of the day was quite boring. This picture represents my spring break because later on Wednesday, Kira, Keyana and I had a sleep over. It was nice to hang out with them since we go to different schools and barely see each other. We talked about school, which was probably kind of strange since spring break is the time to escape from school, not talk about it. Anyway, after we watched the movie Pitch Perfect in the evening, it's a really good movie even though I slept through most of it and sang along through the rest. On Thursday we went shopping, we were planning on going to Kildonan Place, but instead went to Polo Park. Most people would refer to the term that we "shopped till we dropped," but we just ended up walking around the mall. It may not seem like it, but I did spend most of my break hanging out with friends and catching up. It was nice to see Keyana and Kira since we only see each other once every few months.

Literacy Blog #4 (1/2)

          Today, I will be talking about my plans for Spring Break. Most people are going on tropical vacations, but I'm staying in the cold city of Winterpeg. I am probably going to be sleeping in, watching 90210 and eating a bunch of food, a bunch of yummy food :). Most people are going to sleep in till 12 or 1 o'clock, but I have enough sleep until 10 o'clock, usually. Hopefully, I will finish watching the whole TV series of 90210, so I won't be distracted when I go back to school do homework. My most important activity during spring break will be eating a bunch of delicious food that includes mostly fruits and vegetables; my parents don't buy a lot candy or treats. On Monday, March 25, in the evening I will be going to Rihanna's Diamond Concert with my step-dad. I have to say, that even though I'm probably going to be sitting at the ceiling, I'm really excited. I went to her concert two years ago with my mom and best friend; it was amazing and I can't wait to go again. On Thursday, March 28, my friends and I from my old school are going to Kildonan Place mall to catch up and hang out and shop also, of course. Most of us go to different schools across the city, so it will be nice to see them again, even though it's only for one day. Apart from all that fun during spring break I might go with my mom to her workplace and help her with some her work, but only because I'm getting paid. Since Easter is on the last weekend of spring break, my parents and I will most likely be going to church that Sunday. Well there you go, most or probably all of my plans for Spring Break.

Literacy Blog #3

          Today I will be talking about what I like most about my novel "Abandon" by Meg Cabot. I have to say that in general my book is kind of strange and when you first start reading the book, it makes no sense. Though, my favourite part of the book was probably when Pierce started her first day back to school in a new city, Isla Huesos. Pierce transferred to a new school, Isla Huesos High School, and tried to make new friends while starting over. You are probably wondering why this is my favourite part in book. Well, like I said before, the novel is quite strange and different and this is one of the parts that I fully understand and can also somewhat relate to. It may seem pretty boring, but events in books can also be small and important at the same time. I personally do not like the author's writing style because Cabot begins the book by talking about previous events that you don't know about and don't fully understand until half way through the book. Thus, making you quite confused at the beginning. Even though her writing style may not be the best in my opinion, her diction was used very well.

Literacy Blog #2

          In this blog post I will be talking about some personal connections from the book Abandon, by Meg Cabot, to my own life. This book is about a girl who died trying to save a bird and met a guy in the Underworld, but then came back to life. From that short description, it doesn't seem like I have much in common with the story, but there are a few circumstances I can relate to. The main character, Pierce Oliviera, moved to a small town in Florida, Isla Huesos, after her incident to start over and have a new beginning. I can connect to this statement because I was born in a small town in Ukraine, Sokal. I love going there because it brings back old memories of my friends and family. Another connection associated with my life and the story of Pierce is when John gave her the blue-gray diamond necklace and she cherished it with her heart, as it kept away the dangers in the world around her. When I was younger, about 5 or 6, I got a big teddy bear for Christmas. I always loved it and still do, because it's special to me and reminds me of the good-ole-days. Even though to some people it may seem like it's just a toy it reminds me of my grandma and the times long ago. It may seem like I don't have much in common with the book, or at least any major events. It doesn't always have to be about the main scenarios, because sometimes the strands are the important ones.

Literacy Blog #1

1.                The book that I am currently reading is called "Abandon" by Meg Cabot. The novel is about this girl, Pierce who once met this "guy," John, when she was younger; he brought a bird back to life. Later, when Pierce died, drowning in a pool, trying to save a bird, the "guy" appeared. He was there, in the subterranean cavern along the shore of a windy lake, where all the deceased people go before they go to their final destination. Once she noticed him, Pierce came towards John and as he recognized her, Pierce agreed to go to a quieter and warm place with him. John takes her to his place and tells Pierce that she can't leave because she chose to come with him and this was her supposedly final destination. As they started talking he gave her this gray-blue diamond necklace and told her it would keep her safe from harm. From all this change she had to get away, so she ran down a flight of stairs and became alive again. Since she "died," Pierce has been in strange situations, which end up with John "coming to the rescue."  Throughout the book she keeps seeing him in her life, but doesn't understand why because in the current time it makes no sense.
2.                The protagonist in the novel Abandon is Pierce Oliviera. She is a fifteen year old girl, and now lives in Isla Huesos. She has long dark brown hair with fairly tanned skin and always wears the blue-gray diamond necklace given to her by John. Even though she only wears it under her clothes, people who happen see it always have bad luck turn their way. Meg Cabot describes her character, Pierce as a very kind and caring person, one who cares about others safety, health, feelings and being more than herself. In the novel she seems to be involved with John a lot, but tries to avoid him- that does not tend to work out. Every time that John gets close to her, most likely lecturing her about making better decisions, she always seems to think he is going to kiss her. In the reality of the book that doesn't happen, but the emotion that she has towards him is powerful, even though nothing has happened. In some parts of the book, Pierce shows that she has not made the smartest choices in making decisions; meeting up with a strange and creepy guy in a graveyard right before a huge storm is about to hit. I thought that Jennifer Lawrence would be a great actor to play the role of Pierce Oliviera because she has a similar image to the description of Pierce and is a fabulous actress.
3.                In my impression, this novel seems to most likely take place in the 21st century, based upon the imagery the author describes. Even though the setting supposedly takes place in the 21st century, there is a sense of mythology involved as John appears to be one of the people in charge of the Underworld.  The story began to take place with Pierce's first incident that happened in the backyard of her home in Connecticut. It was winter, as she was trying to save a bird, but unfortunately she tripped and fell on top of the cover of a pool and got stuck as she was pulled under the cover, and drowned. As she was sent to the hospital, once found by her mom, Pierce went through a traumatizing injury, but successfully saved. As she was being rescued by the doctors, Pierce was in the Underworld where she met John again for the second time. She was sent to his home where she realized she had to escape and go back into the real world, which happened to be down a flight of stairs. Once she was let out of the hospital, after her saved death, her parents got divorced and Pierce moved with her mom to a small town in Florida, Isla Huesos. While Pierce is living in Isla Huesos, the graveyard seems to be one of her more special places. Perhaps because that's where her grandfather was buried, or maybe because that is where she met John for the first time. As you start reading, this book it is very hard to understand, because Meg Cabot's diction describes the story as if you already know the background information, but in reality you don't. This story reminds me of The Twilight series because it has the same innocent girl falling for the "bad boy."