9th Grade
Memories & Metaphor
Freshman year I started high school with a fresh face, I saw a lot of new people. I was very disappointed that I had no classes with my friends, I had seemed to be separated from them all. The only two friends that had stayed with me were Brianna Gonzalez and Akasha Evelyn. We met in middle school and were inseparable. We would go to every single football game and always promised that nothing would come between us. I also made a lot of new friends. The only class that I struggled with that year was honors English I constantly reminded myself that it was only my first year in high school and I had a long way to go. I had to wipe away my blemishes and continue to move forward. My ninth grade year wasn’t perfect but I had a lot of fun.
I read a lot of novels and stories my freshman year, which wasn’t my favorite thing to do. “The Scarlet Ibis” was one of my favorites even though it was sad. I didn’t like the way it ended, but I still saw the true beauty behind it. I struggled a lot with reading The Animal Farm because it had history in it and history is my least favorite subject. Romeo and Juliet was an amazing play but reading Shakespeare was another one of my flaws. Even if I didn’t like what I was reading at the time I always did my best to try to understand it.
I always got stuck when it came to writing essays. I wrote a sniper letter which helped me better understand the story that I was reading. Writing papers based off of what I was reading at the time always came easy to me. I wrote a character analysis on General Zaroff. It was my first time writing a character analysis and I was really proud of myself. My favorite piece of writing was my personal narrative about cutting my hair. My first draft wasn’t the best but I made sure to beautify it until it was right. I enjoyed writing my personal narrative the most because it was about me so I could actually relate to it.
Overall, I liked my ninth grade year. I didn’t have any problems with my teachers and it was a great experience. Ninth grade was putting on makeup for the first time. I thought I knew what the outcome would be but it turned out to be totally different.
Introduction
My assignment was to write a sniper letter based off of the story we were reading in class. I had to pretend to write to my parents explaining how I became a sniper and killed my brother. I chose this writing because it was my favorite from ninth grade.
The Sniper Letter
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Dear Mom:
As you probably already know after I left the army, I became a sniper. Aiden is also a sniper. There was a war going on between our different teams. I was not aware that Aiden was on the opposing team. He probably did not know that I was a Republican sniper. I was on a rooftop, waiting for my enemy to fire. I got shot in my forearm. When that happened all I knew was that I had to think of a plan. First, I cleaned my wound with iodine. Then, I quickly grabbed my gun and fired at my enemy. I hit him with the first shot. I sprinted across the street to see if my opponent was dead and he was. It was actually a big disappointment, because I realized who my enemy was. I was so devastated that I killed Aiden that I have decided not to be a sniper anymore. When I actually thought about it, I kill people for no reason. That just isn’t fair to other people. Just thinking about this situation makes me feel horrible. I am terribly sorry mom. I hope you forgive me. Sincerely, Ian O’brien ReflectionUnderstanding
My assignment was to write a letter pretending to be the sniper that I read about in the story. I had to use what I read to put myself in the perspective of the sniper so the letter would sound as real as possible. I was sure to use details from the story to make my letter as interesting as possible. Application This assignment helped me better understand what I read. I was sure to go over every detail from the story so I could make my letter descriptive. You can use an assignment like this for any type of reading you have done. You will have a whole new outlook on the story because it puts you in the shoes of the character. Analysis I planned the paragraphs out before writing them. I wanted to know what my main topics were going to be so that I could go over the story and get the details that I needed. The results of how I wrote my letter were amazing and I wouldn't change how I approached my work. Evaluation I learned the correct form of how to write a letter. This was my first time doing a writing piece like this and it turned out good. The main thing that I need to improve on is using more descriptive vocabulary. I did a good job using chronological order. Creation Now that I've had experience writing a letter the process will not be as difficult next time. When I need to use better word choices I can use a thesaurus. This skill will make a difference in my life. This was an assignment but writing a letter is an everyday thing. This was a learning experience I will have forever. |