Lina's Journey -- Character Development Piece

Trapped in a world full of terror, starvation, and dictatorship. Controlled by young men who will do anything to make you miserable. Eating nothing but a few pieces of bread every day, after working for up to 12 hours straight. This was the sad life for many innocent Jews during the Holocaust. Many people died from illness and starvation, while others were thrown into gas chambers and tortured to death. Eventually, the only ones that were left were those that truly believed everything could go back to how it was before the Holocaust.

In Between Shades of Gray, Lina and her family were one of these families that was taken from their homes, from everything they ever knew, and forced to work in labor camps. They have a firsthand experience in the everyday horrors that occurred in the Holocaust. Living through this terrible time is something that I can only dream about.

In the beginning, Lina is living a seemingly perfect life. Money, food, and art supplies are plentiful and she has opportunities blossoming for her in the art world. But when the NKVD's practically knocked down her door and shipped her and her family away in cattle cars, she was left confused and terrified.

As if being packed into a tight space with very little air isn't enough, Lina is separated from her father. When she finds out he's in prison far, far away, it gives her even more motive to find a way to contact him. Since the NKVD's read all mailed items, she decides to communicate through art. In the story it says, "I had to speak. I'd write everything down, draw it all. I would help Papa find us." The idea of passing along letters to try and reach an endpoint of her father's jail is similar to the idea of the Underground Railroad in the civil war. Both include hiding items or people  and passing them along from "station to station," while hiding them from the enemies.

One of the most intimidating events in the story is when Ona gets shot. The poor woman's baby died, and she is grieving; perhaps a little too loud. The guard standing by gets annoyed, drags her out and shoots her in the head. Lina is absolutely shocked. It is at this  point when she starts realizing the severity of what's happening in this war. Visions of stacked corpses, and a repeating image of Ona's death begin disturbing her. However, instead of being the type of person to want to sacrifice her own life so she wouldn't have to live through this torture, she picked herself back up and became even stronger.

Towards the end of the book, even though she is skinnier, less healthy, and weaker, she has a stronger heart. Instead of saying positive things just so her brother Jonas wouldn't be scared, she began saying positive things that she actually believed. Also, influencing her brother  became a very important thing. He was just a young boy with so much responsibility.

At one point, she grabs him by the shoulders and says, "Jonas, listen to me. We are going to live. Do you hear me? We're going home. We're not going to die." She gained confidence and began to truly believe that they would make it through the war.

Lina is very similar to the character Francie from  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, because they both deal with great loss in their lives and are struggling to get by. Both eventually become personally responsible for supporting their family, as others in their family have limits greater than theirs. I believe this makes both characters stronger, more independent, and more responsible.

Although her journey was rough, Lina found the strength to make it and influenced others along the way. Living in this time was a struggle, but in the aftermath, a huge honor for Lina. To say that she lived through such a traumatic time and survived would be quite the story to tell to her children and grandchildren; once they were old enough, of course. But I question, what kept her alive rather than other strong-willed people in the labor camp? Was it the hope that one day, she would return to her beloved home, or was it the determination that she, no matter what it should take,  would find her way back to her love, Andrius?  

Prediction from Thank You, Ma'am

My friends and I ran down a back alley behind the bank. I was getting an uncomfortable sensation that seemed to be spreading from my brain, down, and then circulating through my body. I had never gotten this feeling when I was making trouble before, so why now? I stopped. My legs wanted to keep going, but my brain was commanding them to stop.

"Hey man, what are you doin'?" Blackjack asked. We call him Blackjack because his most famous crime was running into a casino, knocking out a blackjack dealer, then stealing the money out of his pocket.

"Yeah man, we are running on a tight schedule here, " said Wiz. Wiz was the brains behind our operations, and he was always concerned about details.

"I can't do it guys," I said.

"Yo, man up. Don't you want yo share of the 500 g's we's about to steal?"  Blackjack asked.

"No I mean… I… Well, I would but Mrs. Jones wouldn't be wantin' me to be startin' this up again." I said.

"Ohh, you scared of a little old lady that you tried to pickpocket?" Wiz said.

"Yeah, she could really get you fo' this one." Blackjack said, while him and Wiz started shoving each other and laughing hysterically.

"She cared about me more than you do," I said, "You just want me fo' my skills, I know neitha' of you is knowin' how to pick a lock, or break into that there bank vault." "Ha, you's guys wouldn't be what you are without me, but you couldn't care less about havin' me as a friend, no you don't. So I'm gonna be startin' my reputation up fresh, now, I quit."

"Alright, be that way. We know how to pick a stupid lock, don't we Wiz," said Blackjack.

"Yeah, sure man. We don't need you to help, it just leaves mo' money fo' us, 25 g's each," said Wiz.

"Yeah, see ya man." said Blackjack, as him and Wiz high fived.

And I did leave. I straightened myself up, found a good friend who let me use his shower, and never did nothin' bad again. I graduated high school, went to college, and then got a job as a lawyer. And boy, did I do a lot of cases against Blackjack and Wiz, cuz they always got caught. I know that either of them ever did find out how to pick a lock. Anyway, I got married, had kids, and lived a perfectly happy life.

Text Structure: Cause/Effect

Author's Note: This piece is a Cause/Effect piece about the book, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."

The book, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," starts off describing a poor family. They have to buy cheap food, rent an inexpensive flat and work almost all day to get by. However, it could be worse. They have shelter, they have at least enough food to not starve, and they are together. One of the only problems is that Johnny goes out and gets drunk on many occasions, he trys to drown his sorrows with drinking.

Everything seems to be normal, Francie is in a good school where she can strive, and the Nolan's life is fine, until Johnny dies. At just 32 years old, this event is so shocking and is the climax of the story. The Nolans are left thinking, could we have stopped him from doing this to himself? If we just would've stopped him from drinking, he would've been fine.  After this, Francie is forced to quit school and get her working papers, and begins working and making 10$ a week. Then Katie gives birth to a third Nolan child, Laurie with not enough money to buy important supplies for the baby. Finally, a happy ending comes, a police officer, Officer McShane takes interest in Katie, and creates a happy ending for all of them.  With his high salary, Francie gets to go to college and there is plenty of money left over for the baby, Neeley, Katie, and Officer McShane.

Had Johnny not died, the Nolans may have stayed poor, their lives may have stayed miserable, the baby may have died. This is why I think that Johnny's death was actually a good thing.

Text Structure: Main Conflict/Resolution

Author's Note: This piece is a Main Conflict/ Resolution piece about the book "The Lost Hero."

The Lost Hero is a story full of action and many small conflicts. Throughout the book, Jason, Piper, and Leo fight many monsters but the main conflict is that Gaea, the earth itself, is waking. They have to defeat her and release Hera. Gaea is making it very difficult for them to complete their quest of releasing Hera; sending monsters and horrific dreams to these kids. It is a big struggle to even get to the Wolf House, where Hera is trapped. Even if they were to get there, there would be a huge battle to fight.

The conflict has to eventually get resolved, like in any story. After making their way across the country, receiving help from their Godly parents and other gods as well, they finally arrive at the Wolf House. There, the battle has already begun and the entire perimeter is surrounded by crazed wolves and the Hunters of Artemis. After much fighting, they eventually drive the beast, Encleadus into the ground and release Hera. Jason is blinded by her destruction though, and almost doesn't make it. But a miracle happens and he is kept on the Earth, ready for the next challenge. 

The Day the Waves Came

Author's Note: This piece is about my experience at my confirmation camp this summer. It is written as a memoir.

Floating in the middle of the lake. There was no better place to be at that moment. I was at my church's confirmation camp about two hours away from my house. It was recreation time, and me and my friend Sarah decided to swim out to the raft.

We jumped off, swam back to the ladder, and then jumped off again.  I felt like I could touch the bottom of the lake! Following one skillful pencil dive, I came up for a gasp of air and flashed Sarah a grin from ear to ear. Suddenly, I heard a shriek and turned around to see Sarah gripping the side of the raft, which was completely tilted to one side. My instincts kicked in and I began swimming desperately to the raft, where I wasn't threatened by massive waves trying to tumble over me. Each time I took a struggling push towards the ladder, I was thrown even farther away. Eventually, I just let the waves take me, giving a small paddle upwards each surge to keep my head above water.

Once the waves subdued, I attempted to climb up onto the raft, but the waves had jarred the ladder. One of the steps turned and my shin banged into the edge of the raft. "Owww, really?" I said, "What is this, the ocean?"

After finally getting myself onto the raft, I examined my leg. Where the impact had occurred, a faint purple mark was seeping out from under my skin. Hmm… fast,  I thought. However, there was nothing that could discourage me at that moment, being out there in the waves was like being on the world's biggest rollercoaster! Up the ladder I went, one more time, and I collapsed onto the wooden platform, having already exhausted myself. Although, I knew I would eventually recover, in the moment, I thought, "How am I going to make it back to shore?"

I never understood why my mom always said, "We aren't doing anything today, I just want to get out of the hustle and bustle." Now I completely understand. Being out on the raft was amazing, staring up at the puffy clouds, away from all the chaos on the water trampoline. We were on our own, we could do anything we want, we didn't have to worry about a care in the world.

Quite a while passed before another boat sped by. Eventually though; one did. Sarah and I took one glance at each other and simultaneously jumped off the raft with our life jackets. Once again, we floated in the water being tossed around by expansive waves. After a seemingly endless amount of time, the waves stopped and in great disappointment we swam slowly back to the raft. This time, I watched my step, but the waves had jarred the ladder again and I banged my shin in the same spot. "Oww, again?" I said.

After this, several more of our friends came out onto the raft after they saw how much fun we were having. This took away a little bit of the serenity we had before, but added more craziness. The daredevils that had been hidden inside of us for years came out as we attempted 360 twists, flips, and all sorts of cool tricks off the platform. None of this was as fun as the waves though.

Eventually we got bored of the same tricks. We sat down and told them about all the fun we had when the waves came, then spent the next twenty minutes trying to desperately call speedboats and jet skis over near us. After what seemed like an eternity, a speedboat lugging tubers behind it sped by. Racing into action, we jumped off the raft and we each got in our own spot to await the thrill.

For one last time, the waves came and entertained us for the time being.

Continuous motions of...

UP

DOWN

UP

DOWN

… began to make us somewhat seasick, but nothing could take the fun out of that moment.

All too soon, the waves stopped, leaving us stranded in the middle of the lake. As we started swimming back to the raft, the whistle blew. In great regret, we all swam back to shore, wanting nothing more than to go back out on that raft and do it all again.

Now that I look back upon that moment, I realize that I'm so thankful for that experience to be my lasting memory of camp. It was my last year at confirmation camp, and I wanted to remember it as something life-changing. This memory allows me to always think of that camp as a wonderful experience that I would do again in a heartbeat.