First 1000 words of Creative Writing

It was the day right after Spring Break, and I was excited to show off my new glasses to my classmates. But, that was the only thing that I was looking forward to, besides recess and the three o’clock bell. During the bus ride, I looked outside the window to enjoy the reviving colors of the world. The beauty was something that I had never noticed before, and my glasses made everything crystal clear. I could see the individual veins of newly born leaves as the morning sun sprayed its beams of life through them. On the stems of the plants, juicy, rich berries grew so large that I could see the individual, round segments of each one. As the bus drew closer to the school, I let out a deep sigh, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of my cubby.

            I walked into the classroom and sat in the very back. I wasn’t a very outgoing student. In fact, I was probably the quietest among my friends, and instead of talking, I listened and observed. You can learn so much more that way…. Anyways, about five minutes later, Mrs. Nichols walked into the classroom, but to my delight, she was also rolling the huge TV screen into the room with her; we were going to watch a video.

            “Boys and Girls!” Mrs. Nichols cried, “Welcome back! Because yesterday was Easter Sunday, I decided to show you a video about why we celebrate Easter. Now does anyone have any idea about where Easter came from?”

            All around me, hands shot up like rockets. I looked around at the faces of my classmates, and the eagerness to answer the question was immense. They would bite their lips hard, forcing themselves not to say the answer until they were called on, and moan like, “mmmhhm,” in efforts to attract the teacher’s attention. I just watched them as they shook their hands vigorously in the air, as if they were signaling a lifeguard to save them from drowning.

            Mrs. Nichols called on Margaret. “The Easter Bunny! Isn’t that what Easter’s all about?” said Margaret.

            The rest of the class exploded in an uproar. Many of the boys were laughing so hard that they clutched their tiny stomachs as they fell to the floor. The girls giggled and whispered in tiny voices to each other, while constantly glancing at Margaret.

            I could hear them saying, “Ughh, she’s so stupid,” or “She’s so weird.” Margaret stared at her desk in shame, but she didn’t cry like she used to. It happened so often that I think she got used to it. But still, whenever the other kids made fun of her, I always felt sick to my stomach and I wanted to help. But of course, I never did. The boys would laugh, but I could see that they weren’t laughing out of amusement, but to make Margaret feel bad. They would constantly glance at her, waiting eagerly to see her cry, and when she didn’t, they would laugh louder. They were so cruel, and whenever I saw their predatory eyes, I felt disgusted. But, what sickened me the most was myself. Whenever Margaret said something “stupid” I always wanted to make her feel better and stand up for her, but the concern for my own reputation always stopped me. I wondered, “How would the other boys think of me if I stood up for her? Would I become just like Margaret?” Those fears always prevented me from helping her, and unfortunately I laughed at her too. Just like the other boys.

            The bell rang, signaling the start of recess. We had finished the whole video, but honestly I couldn’t remember anything because I felt so bad about laughing at Margaret. The one event I did remember from the video however, was when Simon Peter cut off the ear of the priest, Malthus, who was trying to arrest Jesus. It was disturbing, but I felt so good about it. I wanted to cheer at the top of my lungs.

            As I stepped outside, again, I came face to face with the beautiful outside world, and I was surprised that I could see so far. Kids in other faraway buildings would run outside for recess, but I could recognize each and every one of their faces. I loved my glasses. Not only could I name every single kid on the field, but I could also see what they were doing.

            For a while, I just sat on a bench and looked at all the kids from afar, admiring my new glasses.  But then, something caught my eye; something disturbing, something that I had to stop. There were a group of three fifth grade boys sitting around in a half circle, smiling and laughing with the same cruel complexions as the boys who laughed at Margaret. I looked closer, and discovered that one of the boys brought this device, almost like a magnifying glass, that concentrated the sunlight into one specific point, and in that small spot of concentrated sunlight was an ant. Watching the ant suffer was traumatic. The ant twisted and turned, contorting its segmented body into unusual formations as it shied away from the sunlight. It stretched out its two front legs and turned its head to the side, begging the boys to stop. But of course, they didn’t stop. Just like the boys who laughed louder, patiently waiting for Margaret to shed some tears, these fifth graders stuck the magnifying glass closer and closer to the ant. The ant started to vibrate madly, bending its body and folding itself in half. It tuned its head to my direction and I swear it looked straight at me. I could almost hear it scream at me for help, and I couldn’t take it. Slowly, I began to approach the boys, but after a few steps I quickly stopped myself. They were fifth graders. They were fifth graders! What was I thinking? They were huge compared to me, and I knew that if I helped the ant, I would become their new ant.

Cassius- Weblog 17

In this section of the play, Cassius is talking with Brutus and uses many strategies to persuade Brutus into believing that Caesar isn’t worthy of being the king of Rome. From lines 90-131Cassius exposes Caesar’s physical weaknesses by referring to a time when he had to save him from drowning in the Tiber River, “I as Aeneas, our great ancestor, Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber did I the tired Caesar” (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 112 – 115). Similarly, Cassius also talks about a time in Spain when Caesar shivered cowardly from a fever. By portraying Caesar as a common man, rather than a godly figure that everyone considers him as, Cassius persuasively portrays his argument that Caesar shouldn’t be the emperor of Rome.   

Additionally, another effective strategy Cassius uses to persuade Brutus to having a common perspective on Caesar as himself, is his usage of Brutus’ arguments to defend his own. In lines 85-90, Brutus talks about how he can’t betray Caesar because he values honor more than his own life. However, Cassius uses this theme of honor, to rebuke Brutus’ argument. “ Well, honor is the subject of my story. I cannot tell what you and other men think of this life, but for my single self, I had as life not be as live to be in awe of such a think as I myself” (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 91-96). In this passage, Cassius explains that Julius Caesar is of the same rank and power as himself, and that it would be dishonorable to be subservient to Caesar.

Finally, the last technique that Cassius uses to persuade Brutus to support his views towards Caesar, are exemplified in lines 135-174. In this section of the play, Cassius compares Caesar to Brutus, and tries to show Brutus that he is just as worthy of being the emperor of Rome as Caesar. “Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that “Caesar”? Why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together, yours is as fair a name” (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 142-144). By showing Brutus that he is equally worthy of bring emperor, Cassius praises Brutus and implants confidence in him to join the conspiracy against Caesar.

Cassius exposed Caesar’s physical weaknesses, used Brutus’ arguments to support his own, and compared Brutus to Caesar to exemplify Caesar’s unworthiness of being the emperor of Rome. These three strategies seemed quite successful because Brutus says, "I will consider; what you have to say. I will with patience hear, and find high things" (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 168-170)

Holden is not a hypocrite!!

Throughout the whole novel, Holden constantly accuses the adult world for being phony, a term he uses to describe anyone who portrays themselves differently for underlying motives. However, interestingly enough, Holden is very phony. He constantly fakes his name and age in efforts to fit into the adult world. One can easily consider Holden as just a hypocrite or a misanthrope who hates all of society in general, but I think Salinger did this for a reason.

Holden is stuck in an awkward situation where his physical development and age is forcing him to conform into the phony adult world, but he hates phoniness so much that he can’t let go of his child-like character and he strongly desires to preserve his own innocence. This predicament causes a lot of problems for Holden. In efforts to fit into the adult world that he must transition into eventually, Holden practices phoniness. He tests it and experiments with it during his “vacation,” but unfortunately, he hates it. In fact, he is disgusted with himself whenever he does it, and this disgust is evident from the constant depressions that he feels after he practices phoniness. These depressions that he feels after attempting to fit into the adult world cause him to feel rejected by adulthood, and he becomes very reluctant to become an adult. Instead, he cherishes innocence, which is why he is so fond of children, and dreams of never growing up. By making Holden a hypocrite, Salinger shows readers the origins of his confusion and problems.

Additionally, by making it very vulnerable for readers to fall into the trap of considering Holden as a hypocrite, Salinger exemplifies how easy it is to misunderstand Holden and the causes of his problems, like the vast majority of society. Only readers who recognize the reasons for Holden’s hypocritical behavior can have a deep understanding for Holden. 

Weblog 15 Question A

On page 140 of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is disgusted at a woman who cries while watching a movie, but refuses to take her son to the bathroom. She could not have done one more thing that would of made Holden madder. Let’s analyze the situation! First of all, Holden hates movies. He hates how society and human form is glamorized and portrayed in an unrealistic way to entertain people. However, the fact that some people, like the woman sitting next to him, fail to recognize the phoniness of the movie and are emotionally moved by the romanticized, happy-ending for everyone story, is pathetic to Holden. But, the woman’s actions after her crying make Holden even madder. A little while after Holden first recognizes the woman crying, he sees that the kid next to her, who appears to be her son, wants to go to the bathroom. However, the woman replies, “sit still and behave yourself.” (Holden 139) Not only is this woman pathetic because she is so moved by a story that solves itself, but she is so entertained by the movie, that she is neglecting her own son! Additionally, Holden despises the woman because she’s phonier than the movie. If you look closely, she says, “Behave yourself” to a child who has to go to the bathroom. Having to go to the bathroom is completely a natural cause that has exactly nothing to do with bad behavior, yet this woman lies to her son that he is behaving badly just to continue watching the movie. This is an excellent example of phoniness because this woman is conveying a false message, for greedy motives.

            There are many other people throughout the novel who are just like this. Towards the beginning of his “vacation,” Holden goes to a bar called, Ernie’s, and meets someone he roughly knows, named Lillian Simmons. During his conversation with her however, Lillian acts very nice and praises him for his good looks. However, Holden quickly realizes that Lillian is only being friendly to him so that she could strike up a good impression on Holden’s older brother, D.B. Like the woman who told her son to behave during the movie, Lillian is portraying a false image of herself for different motives.

            On the other hand, characters such as the kettle drummer Holden sees at Radio City, is the exact opposite of the two previous characters. Although he is very briefly mentioned and we don’t even get to know his name, Holden praises the kettle drummer for having a passion for what he does. Despite the fact that the kettle drums might seem like insignificant work, Holden loves the way the man on the kettle drums is enthusiastic about his job, and is eager to produce the best sound that he possibly can. Unlike the previous characters who were mentioned before, the kettle drummer does his work simply because he loves to do it, not because of other underlying motivations. 

Cover- Catcher in the Rye

     On the left side of my cover, I drew the "society" that Holden lives in. It's very city-like, which characterizes New York, but if you look closely, the faces of the people have two colors. I used two different colors for the faces of the people to represent phoniness. I interpreted the word, "phony" as a person who exposed themselves differently than who they actually were, or someone who did things, not out of good will, but for other, underlying motives. The two colors represent this because it conveys the message that people portray themselves in two (or more) different ways. Also, the fact that there are many people with two-colored faces exemplifies that phoniness is very widespread and common in our modern-day society.
     If you look at Holden, he is faced away from the phony people and society on the left. I purposely made Holden face the other direction because phoniness is society's biggest problem in Holden's eyes, and he is absolutely disgusted by phony people.
     On the right side of my cover page, I drew ducks, not only because Holden constantly wonders what happens to the ducks in the winter time, but because the ducks are very symbolic of him. Ducks migrate in the winter time to warmer climates. Similarly, Holden shares the same instinct as ducks because he flees from bad situations. Additionally, if you look carefully at Holden's face, hopefully you'll observe that Holden is looking at the ducks with awe. The reason is because the ducks also resemble freedom, something that Holden desires greatly. Holden wants to be in a phony-free society, he wants to live without the restrictions that his parents and teachers enforce, and he wants to be free from his confusion, caused by his inability to understand his own feelings and communicate his own feelings with other people.


     

My Cover - Catcher in the Rye

Why do you thin Holden cries before he leaves Pencey??

     After his fight with Stradlater, Holden decides to leave Pencey Prep and hang out in New York City for a few days before going home. However, as he leaves his dormitory, Holden shouts out, "Sleep tight! Ya' morons," at the top of his lungs and sheds some tears as well. Holden's crying is quite interesting because his negative thoughts and feelings towards the people at Pencey strongly suggests that he hates the school. After some thought I came to the conclusion that Holden cries while leaving Pencey for multiple reasons.
     The first reason Holden cries is because he didn't actually "hate" his school. Holden is a very critical thinker and pinpoints the negative aspects of everyone and everything, and because the vast majority of the book is composed of Holden's negative observations, readers form the bias that Holden hates his school. However, if you look at Holden's actions, rather than his monologue, it is evident that he actually likes some aspects of the people he says so many bad things about. For example, when Stradlater tells Holden to do his english homework for him, he does it without much complain, and although Holden goes on and on about how dirty Ackley is, he goes to the movies with him and goes to talk to him after his fight with Stradlater.
     The second reason that Holden cries as he leaves Pencey is simply because he was disappointed in himself as well as his community. Throughout the book, Holden exemplifies an interesting disability to communicate with other people. He doesn't know how to express his feelings and because his thoughts and emotions aren't presented externally, there are times when he does a lot of unexpected things, like when he punches Stradlater in the face, or when he horses around with his friends. Because of his lack of communication, Holden gets very angry at the people around him for not being able to understand him, which is why he is disappointed at his community. However, it's not only with other people that Holden can't communicate. I think Holden has a lot of trouble understanding his own emotions. One of the quotes that is constantly repeated throughout the book is, "I don't know." Even while he's shedding tears while leaving Pencey, Holden says he doesn't know why he's crying. Holden's lack of understanding of his own emotions causes a lot of confusion, which is why say that he's not only disappointed in others, but himself as well.
    Lastly, the final reason why I think Holden cries as he leaves Pencey is because his departure marks the beginning of his reluctant submission towards phoniness. Right before he leaves Pencey, Holden sells his typewriter, one of the few devices that helps him communicate his own feelings, that gave him a better understanding of himself. By abandoning his typewriter, Holden blocks his emotions and feelings and submits to the phoniness of society. This can also be seen through his actions after he leaves Pencey. Right after leaving his school, Holden begins to practice phoniness very actively. He says a lot of lies to capture the attention of a classmate's mother who he meets coincidentally on a bus, and presents himself as a 21 year old, Jim Steele, to the people he meets in New York.

Comin thro the rye- Robert Burns

“Comin Thro’ the Rye” by Robert Burns was a very sexual poem that I would like to talk about stanza by stanza. In the first stanza, Robert Burns introduces a character named Jenny, and reveals very little information about her. The only two things the reader gets to know about Jenny is that she is “wet” and “poor.” Our class arrived at a general consensus that “wet,” meant that Jenny engaged in a lot of sex. “Poor” will be explained in the latter part of this essay. The second stanza visually depicts Jenny, walking through a field of rye with just her undergarments on. Once again she is referred to as “poor.”

In stanzas two and three the reader gets to learn about Robert Burns’ main argument that the world shouldn’t interfere with the personal relationships of individuals. This opinion is revealed from the lines, “If a body kiss a body, need a body cry?” and, “If a body kiss a body, need the world now?” As you can see Burns strongly believes in privacy, especially in sexual relationships.

            In the last stanza, Burns repeats the first stanza, which refers to Jenny as “wet” and “poor” once again. The word “poor” caused a lot of trouble for me because it made me think of a lot of different scenarios about Jenny that could possibly correspond with the meaning of the poem. At first, I thought Jenny could’ve been a prostitute who had to have sex, regardless of her will. And, because of her degrading work, I though she had received a lot of oppression from society, causing Burns to describing her with the word, “poor.” However, I realized that this scenario couldn’t be supported by the poem. After interpreting Burns’ main argument that relationships shouldn’t be interfered with by the public, I came to the conclusion that Jenny is a “poor” body because she can’t openly share relationships with other men, without being looked down upon by the rest of society.