Creative Writing Pursuit- In 300 words,fictionalize an event that happened to one of your parents, siblings, or relatives

Joe was one child out of eight. He came from a very traditional Portuguese family. Joe moved to Canada when he was 9 years old, and learned the English language upon arrival. He grew up in Penticton, and had a pretty normal childhood until the age of 18 when everything went downhill. Drugs started to take over his life, and he began sending threats to his loved ones. On one occasion, Joe had threatened to kill his own mother with a knife. He was under the impression that his mother was “Satan” but in reality, she was a very Catholic woman. Incidentally, Joe was later on diagnosed as being Bi-Polar. He believed his illness was all a big conspiracy, and that everyone was out to get him. Suicide thoughts were constantly running through his mind and he eventually went crazy. He was unable to be admitted into a psychiatric ward because he never had a family doctor. His younger sister, Lucia, and his mother, Lunatina, had to convince the medical office to allow Joe to attend their facility. Months went by the police were unable to allow it without the permission of a doctor. In the meantime, Joe was reported for dangerous driving and nearly took the lives of innocent bystanders. Joe’s actions negatively affected his family, friends, and as wells as the animals he took care of. One day, he accidently forgot to close his bird cage and his bird defecated all over his furniture. This bird was his best friend and he took him everywhere he went. He was extremely furious and his Bi-Polar caused him to physically abuse his beloved friend. He held a lighter and burnt the bird’s feathers in order to prohibit his ability to defecate. After months of waiting he was finally admitted to a Psychiatric Ward. While he was there he eventually overcame his illness by taking his medication. He soon after realized his mother wasn’t “Satan”. He left the Psychiatric Ward a month later and has never felt better. He stopped taking drugs and got a job as a logger. His mother was no longer scared of him but proud of him for overcoming his illness. Joe started appreciating his mother and the life he has given himself.

Story

Jon was hitch-hiking on the highway when an attractive woman in a red truck picked him up. While they were driving, the woman grabbed a knife from her glove department and stabbed Jon to death. As she was trying to dispose of the body, she lost control of her truck, and crashed into a tree.

Novel Synthesis

Jodi Picoult's novel, “My Sister’s Keeper”, and Stevie Smith's poem, “Not Waving But Drowning”, both demonstrate a victim that is being ignored by society. Anna, the main character in “My Sister’s Keeper”, was born only to save the life of her sister, Kate, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age two. Anna was genetically engineered to match her sister’s DNA, and was the only one that could save her life. Anna’s parents automatically assumed that she would donate her blood, bone marrow, and kidney willingly. However, Anna wanted to be able to make her own decisions and have a life of her own. The only way for Anna to escape the life of her sister is to sue her parents for medical emancipation. It took a lot of courage for Anna to hire a lawyer, but she wanted her parents to hear what she had to say. Anna’s mother ignores her daughter’s decision because she believes Anna is only looking for attention. She had fought her whole life for her parents to understand why she didn’t want to donate her organs anymore and in the end it cost her life.

The man in “Not Waving but Drowing” is similar to Anna’s character because he is also being ignored and misinterpreted by others. The character was “not waving but drowning”, he was attempting to get the attention of others. He was misunderstood, and because of the ignorance of others "now he's dead". The bystanders didn’t realize how far the victim was in the water. They beleived he died because “it must have been to cold for him” and hey thought "his heart gave way". He spent his life trying to be heard, and have a voice but he "was much too far out all [his] life." He failed to win the attention of others, and wound up drowning while attempting to be noticed.

His whole life he was trying to be heard, and unfortunately, failed to achieve it.

Temper Tantrums

Are you embarrassed to take your child anywhere because of his horrific temper tantrums? Temper tantrums often occur when the child is bored, hungry, exhausted or frustrated. Most parents go through this stage and have no idea how to avoid it. Here are 5 ways to prevent your child from experiencing a temper tantrum. These ways will improve the life of you and your child.

1. Positive Reinforcements

When your child is behaving at the mall, grocery store, or waiting for a doctors appointment, be sure to praise them. Tell them they are being a good boy, because children enjoy feeling pleasant and well behaved. Praise makes them feel proud that they are making you happy. Using positive reinforcements will not only prevent temper tantrums, but in the future it will raise the child’s self confidence.

2. Carry Snacks

Children get hungry frequently, so always carry snacks in your car or purse. Be aware when your child has eaten last, so you can estimate when they will become hungry again. Cheerios, crackers, granola bars, fruit snacks, and juice boxes are great choices because they are healthy and last a long time. Make sure you ask the child if he is hungry before he starts to whine. You do not want to award your child from whining, because this teaches him that whining gets him what he wants.

3. Play Games

When you and your child are waiting for a doctor’s appointment, your child easily becomes bored and restless. They will want to run around and get into everything you don’t want them to. Play games with them such as “I Spy” or guessing games. Take something out of your purse and make the child guess what is missing. This is easy to do and will distract the child from becoming bored, which will help prevent a temper tantrum.

4. Observation

If you and your child see another child having a tantrum, stop and observe it. Point out to your child the redness of the other child's face and how embarrassed his parents look. Tell your child how bad the other boy is being, and how relieved you are that it isn’t him. Inform your child that you are thankful that he doesn’t kick and scream to get what he wants. Your child will not want to be in the other child’s situation, this will prevent him from having a temper tantrum in the future.

5. Sleeping Behavior

Children often have temper tantrums because they are exhausted. To prevent this, always do your errands after your child has been well rested. Have a constant routine for nap and bed time, so your child knows what to expect each day. If you notice that your child is sleepy, excuse yourself, and go home. If you can’t leave, try to handle your grumpy child patiently.

Stem cell Transplant/Bone Marrow Tansplant

Jodi Picoult's novel, “My Sister’s Keeper” is about, Anna, the younger sister who was born only to match her sister Kate’s bone marrow. Kate was only two years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. Minutes after Anna came out of the womb she had to donate cord blood to treat her sister’s disease. Her life only existed to keep that of her sister's. Unfortunately, the leukemia came back and Anna had to then donate her stem cells and bone marrow. The main purpose of a stem cell and bone marrow transplant is to replace unhealthy stem cells with healthy stem cells, this can treat or cure diseases such as leukemia or aplastic anemia. How does this procedure work? Stem cells (which are cells that divide and develop into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets) or the bone marrow is removed out of your body or another person’s body by a needle or a syringe. Then the stem cells, or bone marrow, is taken to the laboratory to be processed, frozen, and stored until needed. The patient is given a high dose of chemotherapy or radiation therapy to destroy the cancer cells. A few of weeks later, the bone marrow or stem cells are infused into the patient’s blood stream. The infusion process is done my thawing the bone marrow or placing the stem cells in warm water, and then it is penetrated into the vein. Once the stem cells find the bone marrow, new red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets begin to form. Side effects of this procedure include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, mouth sores, skin rash, and hair loss.





http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/treatments/3.03.php

Review

Andy Fickman's movie, She's the Man, is a fast paced, entertaining, and humour-filled movie suitable for all ages. It is based on the classic Shakespeare work, "Twelfth Night". She's the Man includes well known actors and actresses such as Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, and Laura Ramsey. Among the humour is a scene when Amanda Bynes' character, Viola, cross dresses as her twin brother, Sebastian, so she is able to play on the boy's soccer team. Hilarity ensues as Bynes gets herself into many awkward situations. At one point she is in a room with a tampon up her nose, covering up with a fake nosebleed. She becomes forgetful at times of her new "manly" ways, and at one point begins to discuss fashion with other girls. She also forgets that her ring tone is "I'm a Barbie Girl" by Aqua. Bynes' character has many faults as she portrays a guy but she does a good job of convincing the soccer team. Fickman's movie has lots of catchy music that makes you want to jump up and dance, such as "No Sleep Tonight" by The Faders. It contains numerous hilarious moments, and lots of relatable incidents. Overall, I would rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars, a great movie in total!

"The Lottery " and "The Perils of Indifference"

The short story "The Lottery" and the speech" The Perils of Indifference" both demonstrate terrible violence and inhumanity by the most “ordinary” citizens. In "The Lottery" once a year the villagers gather in the town square for a strange event. Every villager’s life is at stake including the children. By the unfortunate luck of the draw a villager dies by getting stoned to death from their own villagers. For example, Tessie Hutchenson is stoned to death by her neighbors, husband, and son. The villagers consider this normal and a part of life given that the event is a tradition, but why should something so cruel and horrific be continued? Obviously it goes against basic human rights and is wrong, but it appears the black box is rooted deeply in tradition, and had “been put into use, even before the oldest man in town was born." Traditions carry constant within society, and it can have a great effect on human behavior. In "The Perils of Indifference", the author describes how such acts are easily committed, and witnessed by ordinary citizens. "Two world wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations..." These wars were fought by people no different from you and I, their circumstances placed them in this situation. What would you do in their place? Could you supervise a death camp? Could you fight a senseless war? The answer would most likely be no, but you cannot make that decision until you are in that situation. Human nature goes against war and killing, destroying innocent lives. Society can unfortunately change that, and turn people against what is right, "blur the lines between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil." It is up to us to fight the "Perils of Indifference" and stand up for what is right.