Graph #13

Reaction to sample cause Essay

                I’m actually quite annoyed right now, I have a pounding headache, and I’m sweating bullets. As I read the sample essay I think, ok, paragraph one will be easy, I’m good at hooking the reader (I think). Then I read on to the second paragraph, and it makes me have to think a little harder about where I’m going to take my essay and how. Then I read three and four, and that’s where I think I developed my headache. I’m not a very good sandwich maker; I could stuff a big piece of chicken between two slices of bread and be satisfied. But now you’re asking me to make a bigger one with condiments and vegetables! Jeez Louise!  This is making me want to have a smoke! This paper is going to take me days to write.

Essay #1

My passion began at the end of a long day of school, and constantly watching the clock. The chattering, superior, judgmental, annoying  air head school girls will at last be filtered out like shrimp on a lobster boat as a huge swarm of us girls rushed into the locker room.  Anxiously eager to take those uncomfortably tight jeans off and slip into a pair of silky gym shorts. Wrestling on that sports bra and tank top after tightly putting my hair back into a messy bun. Just barely getting on the last article, the whistle blows, and it’s time for business. This is the moment where all the "annoying, air heads" lose their spotlight. We quickly scurry out onto the freshly swept gym floor and plank our butts on the shiny, waxed wooded flooring.

After some of us get our ankles tightly wrapped and taped to spare them from getting twisted before the big game, we start our sets of sit-ups, push-ups, bicycles, then leg and arm stretches. Usually that got our blood pumping and competitive vibe going because we were always competing to see who could get just one more push-up in, or one more pedal of the abdominal wrenching bicycles.

Practicing one of my jump shots or perfecting my psych out, as i hear the constant dribbling in the background and that sound of 10-15 balls all hitting the rim at the same time. It didn’t matter, i was in the zone.  I was either, zipping past my imaginary defense after a psych out and landing a completely perfect lay-up. Or making them think i was going for the lay-up and sinking a 3 pointer in their face. I was good at my game; I knew it and so didn’t everyone else. I broke records on good and bad days; girls wanted me to help them improve their game. Sometimes, the boys coach would say he wished i was on his team.

 You could sign me up for any new challenge, a new play, one on one, and endlessly sinking them foul shots. You name it; I either conquered it or worked hard until i did. One of my specialties would be waiting for the point guard to dribble down the floor and just barely passing the half court line as I charge at her anticipating her very next move yelling "Ball, ball, ball!" swatting it just as soon as the ball left her fingertips as she’s still frantically trying to find an open team mate. I get a good four leaps away and everyone knew that once I had that ball, it was going all the way to the hoop. I hear the crowd screaming, hollering and whistling as I sink it and victory is ours!  Man o man didn't I love basketball. It was on my brain while i was eating, sleeping and breathing. It was my therapy, my escape from reality, a different dimension that became clear to me, always too late, that it would soon come to an end. 

Graph 12

Graph 12

                Im having a good time, beer in hand, good tunes blasting and a little bit of a buzz on. I’m a 18 year old tan blonde, trying to look good on my first date after a bad break up. I’m dancing with a guy I had met a few weeks prior through the local convenient store I worked in. He was the boss’s son, good looking, very out spoken and seemed very trust worthy. You see, he had this friend. He was at least 7 feet tall, football player build and his skin was mid night black. He was his best friend, and yet I couldn’t understand why he kept staring at me. I brushed it off a few times, hey I was drunk. I found the bathroom down the hall of this apartment to maybe get some of the alcohol out of my system, and to touch up my makeup a bit.

                I returned to the kitchen and there was no one. I went in the living room and still, no one. Probably everyone went outside and had a smoke or something. That thought quickly left my head when I see the huge man come towards me saying “We are finally alone”. I laughed and took it as a joke. I asked where everyone was, and he proceeded to tell me that he kicked them all out. I gulped, that made my buzz vanish and my heart began racing. I asked him why he would do that and he explained to me that I was going to be his for the night and that my so called boy owes him money and this is mainly what happens. He brings him women.

                Thoughts race through my head, oh my god he is going to rape me and then kill me. I thought about my kids and desperately wanted to cry. As I’m thinking all of this, I hear yelling on the street out front. My boss’s 3 daughters are taking a baseball bat to my car and a jack knife to my two front tires! Come to find out, the jerk that traded me in like i was a payment due, was also yelling at me. Calling out horrible names, and then taking a swing at my car. I was yelling back, I didn’t know what the heck was going on, I was so confused. I couldn’t go down there or I was sure to get pounded by the 3 infuriated drunk sisters. But as I weighed my options I was thinking, well I’d rather get my butt kicked by them then get raped by a huge black man. So I went for the door, unfortunately he was much quicker than I was. He grabbed me, pulled me back and pushed me onto the couch.

                The women in the downstairs apartment must have called the cops because suddenly I hear sirens, thank god, I’m saved. The big huge man couldn’t believe it, ran into his room, and none the less what do you think he came back out with. If you were thinking a gun then you’re absolutely right. He assured me that I was to shut up and lie down on the couch and not say a word or he was going to blow my brains out. He stripped down into his boxers and tucked the little black gun in the elastic of his boxers behind him. What do I do now? Nothing, I did nothing. That stupid cop didn’t even come in, said there was a complaint of loud noise, believed that jerk in a snap of a finger that it wasn’t his unit.  Then he left. He waited until he pulled away and shuffled through his jeans pockets, pulled out some pills and chased it down with hard liquor. Here I am, thinking of ways that I could escape and came up with the plan of just go with it. He came and sat down beside me and i pretended that everything was fine and that he was so brave for protecting me from those girls and so on. He fell for it. I poured him some drinks and pretended I was drinking along with him. Whatever he had taken for pills helped make the process of him passing out go a little faster, because his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. I assured him I would be right back and that I was just going to the bathroom real quick. I skipped past the bathroom and headed out to the balcony and climbed down that rickety latter as fast as I possibly could, ran through the bushes scrapping just about every part of my body but I didn’t feel it. I had my keys ready, jumped in and took off in that car faster than I had ever done before. I was breathing fast, my heart was racing, and my whole body was shaking. As soon as I knew I was far enough away, I started to hysterically scream and cry and thank god for my life. That was my hell, my life almost ended there, and I will never forget what happened in that place.

Graph 11

Graph 11

                I had just barely finished high school, taking extra classes to graduate a year early, and I find out I’m pregnant with my first baby girl. Her father decided to take off and join the military and I was left to fend my own. I stayed with my mother some and when I had enough of her nagging I dreadfully stayed with my father and his girlfriend that was just a tad older than i. When I had enough of her immaturity I hopped from grandparents, to aunts houses and even stayed with friends.

                My daughter was born and I finally said ok, that’s enough we need our own place. So we borrowed some money here and there and used all we had and found the first apartment that was available. We split the rent with a cousin, worked full time jobs and sent Natalie off to daycare. This place was nothing to brag about, you had to fight for a parking spot, and while carrying a carseat, a baby and a handful of groceries up the first set of stairs on the outside of the building in the middle of winter so the steps were always a little slick. Then you would reach the inside set of stairs that you had to pretty much climb like a latter and half your foot barely fit on them. It was always a pain in the butt getting into and out of that apartment. The kitchen was big enough for a small sink, a small stove and a refrigerator. All of the walls were slanted because it was pretty much the attic. If I lived there for much longer I’m sure I would have become hump backed and it sucked taking a shower because you had to stay hunched over in order to fit in the darn thing. Then on top of that there was never any heat or hot water. It was just awful!

                We finally moved, it didn’t get much better but at least I only had to walk 5 steps and I was into the trailer. We split the rent again with another couple we had gone to high school with. I had my second child, a boy, and became a stay at home mom because he was very ill. I was taken for granite most of the time and was probably thought of as the only house cleaner. Our friends that lived with us were pigs, I always cleaned up after everyone and I had enough of my living room being turned into an arcade. They played halo nonstop and he didn’t even work so he literally sat on the couch all day every day and stuffed his smelly socks in the couch cushions!! So that was the end of that one, I broke my lease and I was out of there.

                After living in three more crap holes we had enough. Especially the last one, living in a one bedroom apartment, that’s right, one bedroom, with two kids and a third on the way! We got good jobs after desperately searching for months and got as far away from that town as we could. We found a house, yes an actual house, with three bedrooms and really nice neighbors. I had my third baby and things started to get bad with the landlords. They wanted to jack up the price because I had another baby, then they wanted to kick us out because they wanted to move back in, ugh it was just an ongoing battle with them and they were very rude.

                We applied for first time home buyers loan and got approved!  It really isn’t that simple either we waited quite sometime after applying to at least 4 other company’s first. Our realtor showed quite a few places, but in our price range from $150,000-$170,000, what did we expect a mansion! Just when all hope was lost and thinking we were going to have to live in a hotel because the landlords were kicking us out we find the most perfect house on the market. The people who had owned it bought it through Repo and selling it for $180,000, and making some pretty good money on it. We have our own private drive and very far away from the road. I don’t ever worry about my kids being near the road when they play outside. We have no neighbors, 6 wooded acres, a brand spanking new 15,000 dollar 2 car garage with electric door openers and a wood stove! Following the brick pathway from the garage goes all the way up to our 28 by 60 square foot double wide with a nice front deck, a huge burgundy star above the front 3 windows, and a burgundy door that opens up into the most beautiful home. Hardwood floors everywhere, a stone fireplace, a huge office/toy room, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths a brand new deck on the back of the house that overlooks our wonderful back yard. My master bedroom has a master bathroom connected to it with a “his and hers” sink and a Jacuzzi tub with jets! My whole family loves it here. It’s absolutely everything we had ever wished for. The path was a struggle, but it just makes it even sweeter knowing where we had been and that we finally did it.

isearch worksheet

What do you want to write about? Re-decorating

What do you want to find out about your topic?

*The cheapest place to get supplies

*Look through different magazines for some ideas

What are your questions about the topic?

1. What color paint do i want?

2. How much paint do i need?

3. What type of flooring will i put in, what color and how much do i need

How does it connect to your life?

My daughter is going to be turning 7 years old and she shares a room with her 4 year old brother. I would really like to put her in my 1 year old sons room and put him in with his brother. Her birthday is soon and i want this to be her big surprise!

Give three reasons you like the topic

1. It’s fun, i love painting and decorating

2. It’s a surprise for my daughter, she’s going to be so excited to be able to have her friends over and hang out in her room so her brothers don’t interrupt their tea.

3. Plus it’s an improvement to the house, i like my new house to look good and show off the cool things i have done.

Give three ways your life might change if you answer your questions

1. Definitely, no more fighting with the kids about whose room is whose

2. I wouldn't have to worry about waking my son up every time i get her up for school and maybe i could get some extra shut eye after she gets on the bus.

3. The night time routine would be so much better because her brother is constantly crawling into bed with her and waking her, she doesn't get much sleep with that going on, so she will be well rested with her own room and not so cranky in the morning!