Masque of the Red Death paper

Alena Stoots

Mrs. Zurkowski

English 9 Greens

10/27/10

Orange, a Lust for Life

In the story, “Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, the seven different rooms in the castle represent the many stages of life. The beginning of the rooms starts off from the beginning color of life, blue. The last room is all black with red windows. This room obviously represents death. In the story this is where the masked figure kills everyone in the castle. Another one of the rooms was orange and this color is very important in the life stages. The orange room represents when a person is going through a rush of situations, during the ages of 21 to 45.

            During this stage of life, most people are living on their own. Adults are becoming more responsible, and independent. Orange is a very vibrant and outgoing color. During the earlier stage of this life time, people tend to go to a lot of parties. This is where orange stands out because it is really the only time in life where adults party. However, the color orange contains a lot of emotions such as stubbornness, independency, courage, excitement, passion, etc. Also, orange is mostly associated with the season fall. Out of all four seasons, fall is the one right before winter. Winter, in some cases can represent a lot of things dying such as the leaves on trees, plants, animals and sometimes humans. The color orange in the story appears half way through all the seven colors and is almost to the point of dying in the seasons. So, if you are in the orange color stage, you are about halfway through your lifetime.

            The color orange relates to my life because both of my parents are in this current stage. My mom and dad are very intelligent, very mature people and they know how to live on their own. I think orange is one of the most important stages in life because it teaches everyone how to survive in the real world without any help. It also is the time where adults have to make a lot of important decisions in their life. Some of these are like picking job opportunities, getting married, having kids, choosing a place to live, etc. I think this stage of life seems very adventurous and exciting for most people. However, orange reminds me of when people are about to eat an orange the fruit and how they have to peel off the layers of skin before they eat it. This relates to life because an orange isn’t developed at first and then it gets more and more prepared until it is ready to eat. When people take off the layers it’s kind of like a person being peeled away in life until they die. I think orange is one the most important colors in the rooms of Edgar Allan Poe’s story, because it is the only time in your life where you are free to do as you please and not very far from it comes death.

Getting to know O'Henry

• Real name is William Sydney Porter
• Born in Greensboro, North Carolina
• When he was three his mother died

• Was a good reader, but when he was 15 he left school
• Worked in a drug store on a Texas ranch
• After moving to Austin, Texas in 1882, he married
• In 1898 he was convicted of stealing money, and entered a prison in Columbus, Ohio
• While in prison he started writing short stories to support his daughter Margaret
• He moved to New York City in 1902

Last Leaf Questions

The Last Leaf Questions

Probing for Theme

Read the three statements below. Which one best captures the theme of “The Last Leaf”?

1. It is better to die for a dream than to live without hope.

2.   Life can be sustained when a desire to live exists in the heart.

3.    Every artist must paint a masterpiece before dying.

In Search of Meaning

1.    What does the last leaf symbolize in this story? How does Johnsy compare herself to the leaf? In what ways are other characters like the leaf? The leaf symbolizes the last hope before death. The characters are like the leaf because Johnsy compares herself to the leaf, and two days before Mr. Behrman paints the last leaf as his masterpiece he dies.

2.    Why does the doctor want to know if Johnsy has a man on her mind? Why does he suggest a discussion about fashion? What aspects of Johnsy’s disease do you think the doctor understands best? Worst? Explain. He wants to know if she has a man on her mind because maybe that’s why she thinks she isn’t going to get well because she doesn’t think she has anything to live for. Also, he thinks she may have a will to live if she was involved in something like fashion to keep her going. I think he understands best that if she has something worth living for than she will get better.

3.    What is Behrman’s reaction when Sue tells him Johnsy’s thoughts about the leaf and her death? Why does he react in this manner? How do his feelings change and why do you think they change? His reaction is very over protected because he thinks of Johnsy as his own daughter and does not want her to feel like she is relying on a leaf to live. He thinks her relating to the leaf is ridiculous and wants her to have faith to live.

4.    Why does Johnsy decide that she wants to live? How do you respond to this change in attitude as a reader? She decides she wants to live after she saw that the last leaf stayed on the ivy vine after two harsh storms so she took it as a sign saying that she will live and to a more positive attitude. This story surprised me because the whole time I thought she was going to die for sure but she turned her whole attitude around and wanted to live.

How does O. Henry prepare you for the surprise at the end of the story? Would you have preferred a different ending? Explain. O. Henry kind of theories how Mr. Behrman got pneumonia and dies so that’s how he prepares you. I wouldn’t have preferred a different ending because it was really shocking and made sense if you really thought about it. Especially since Mr. Behrman told Johnsy that after he painted his masterpiece he was going to go away, he going away way meant his death. 

Edgar Allan Poe Web quest

1.       1. Provide the following biographical information birthdate; birthplace; death date.

Birthdate: January 19, 1809 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts. Death Date: October 7, 1849

2.       2.What tragic childhood events influenced his writing?

When he was sent away to college with barely anything, then returning to his fiancés home and saw that she was engaged to another man, all these things made him want to become a poet and to find adventure.

3.       3.There are 13 theories on what caused Poe’s death. List five of them.

Epilepsy, hypoglycemia, diabetes, delirium tremens, or toxic disorder.

4.       4.According to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, what state did Poe call home?

Virginia.

5.       6.What famous military academy expelled Poe in 1831?

The US Military Academy at West Point

    7. Who did Poe marry? How old was she?

Virginia Clemm. Nearly 14.

   10. When was "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" written?

In 1842

   11. When was "The Raven" published?

In 1845

   16. Listen to the audio version of the Raven. What did you think of it?

I think the voice helps you picture everything that is happening more clearly and easily.

   17. Who is the Poe Toaster?

He was a mysterious figure who went annually from 1949 until 2009 to Poe's grave and left three roses and a half-filled bottle of cognac then would run away.

Fresh Start

I have a couple new goals for second quarter. My goals are to continue working to get good grades in all of my classes, try out for winter cheerleading, and I hope to enjoy my classes and what we will be learning. I am excited to be reading stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Shakespeare, they are both very creative and enjoying to read.

social issue paper

Homeless Teens

            It is very rare that you see someone stop what they’re doing and lend a hand to help a homeless person sitting on a curb. There are over 2 million homeless teens all over the world. Teens, even younger than age 10, find themselves long away from home, with no food, shelter, water, or protection. Most homeless teens leave home before they’re 18^th birthday. How long they will last relying on nothing but themselves, is unpredictable. Teenagers have a long life ahead of them; living on the streets is guaranteed to cut it short. Even though most teenagers believe they have what it takes to live on their own during an earlier stage then some, they can never imagine how rough it is out there unprotected and unprepared. Homeless teens shouldn’t be expected to help each other all by themselves; they need help from shelters and the more fortunate. 

Homeless teens are always risking their personal safety. It is very hard to find a decent way to clean them; therefor they suffer from lack of hygiene. They have very little or no connection at all with friends or family. Being homeless is putting you in greater risks of disease, starvation, or in some cases, suicide. There is limited access to health care and education. Majority of teens who run away are forced to drop out school because they can no longer take care of themselves, or their school work. “Currently, education materials that specifically target homeless youth do not exist.” Most homeless people around the world are women, however, “In the United States, for example, the highest proportion of homeless people are middle aged men.” This is because so many people are losing their jobs, especially men. Most homeless women carry along their children with them, and try to put their safety first before their own. In some cases, the women aren’t capable of taking care of their children, so they either leave them to die, try to find someone else to take her kids in, or find an appropriate youth housing shelter.

Most teenagers leave home because their parents physically, mentally or sexually abused them. This can cause an individual teen to learn to stand up more for them and defend in certain situations, or it can cause a teen to mentally breakdown and use drugs as comfort. Many teens homeless or not always go through a point where find themselves in a situation involving drugs.  Teens with a good home life, good in school, and are living a in a happy and an all-around loving environment are more likely to say no to drugs. Homeless teens however are more likely to feel as if drugs are a way to relive stress and other emotions. Therefore many overdose and die, sometimes, not even knowing what the drug was or its side effects. Some teenagers have the courage to say no to drugs, homeless teens are more likely to give in and try the drug even more than once.

Thousands of teens all over the world are dealing with issues from their parents. Whether if it’s physical, mental or sexual abuse. Conflicts with parents are why most teens leave home. A lot of parents take out their stress on their children. This causes a flood of emotions towards the teen, and they feel as if they have no choice but to run away. Long after this, most teens no longer make any contact with their friends or family, and this causes them to feel very lonely and sad. Also, these emotions can sometimes lead to suicide.

Homeless Teens have a big choice whether or not once they are homeless if they are going to help themselves be put in a foster home, or if they are more of the rebellious type and want to see if they can make it on their own. If a teen has chosen to stay on the street then that puts them in greater risks of being harmed. “Homeless young people are commonly involved in one or more of the following activities that place them at risk for HIV infection--unprotected sexual intercourse, needle-sharing in the use of injectable drugs, sex with someone who injects drugs.”

No one should have to live on the streets, especially not children or teens. If there were more options for foster homes in our world, the rate of homeless teens would dramatically drop to a minimum, or maybe completely abolished. No matter how much trouble a teen may get into, they do not deserve to have their entire life taken away from them. Being a young homeless teen is a serious issue and should be paid more attention to. No one ever knows when another homeless teen will pass on due to all of the needs he or she could have received in a decent foster home.

Work Cited

“Homeless.” Gale Student Resource in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resource in Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.

Podschun, Gary D. "Teen Peer Outreach-Street Work Project: HIV Prevention Education..." Public Health Reports. March/April 1993: 150-155.SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 03 Oct 2010.

Gathering Information Notes Article 1

Alena Stoots

Mrs. Zurkowski

English 9 Greens

9/22/10

Gathering Information-Notes

Work Cited

“Homeless.” Gale Student Resource in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resource in Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.

·         Homeless people risk their own personal safety

·         They all have a lack of hygiene

·         Majority of homeless people are women

·         Most homeless women carry children along with them

·         In Europe and North America, there is limited access to health care and shelter

·         Homelessness and poverty estimates about more than 3 million people per year

·         Some people become homeless as a result of war, insurrection, or ethnic violence.

·         Many people became homeless after Katrina hit in 2005

·         There is little or no connection with friends and family

·         In some parts of the world, women have no poverty rights

·         Not everyone living below the poverty line is homeless

·         There is limited access to Education as well as health care

·         “Most have no place to secure their possessions and are under constant threat of theft and violence.”

·         “In the United States, for example, the highest proportion of homeless people are middle aged men.”

social issue

Alena Stoots

Mrs. Zurkowski

English 9 Greens

9/14/10

Homeless Teens

One of the key issues in the novel Can’t Get There From Here by Todd Strasser is homeless teens. There are over 1.3 million homeless teens all over the world. One out of every seven runaway young adults, (15%) leaves home before their 18^th birthday. 46% of homeless teens had been physically abused before leaving. 32% is the number of runaways who have been forced to participate in sexual activities against their will. Teens that run away from a conflict with a parent or guardian is 47% or most homeless teens. 17% is the number of runaways who have dropped out of school. The percentage of homeless teens who will try to kill themselves is 32%. More than 5,000 homeless teens die from assault, illness, or suicide. There are many shelters for young adults out there, but some like Maybe aren’t sure if it’s the right place for them. Homeless teens are a serious issue and needs to be addressed immediately.

http://www.tonic.com/file/76441/

  http://blog.adolescenttoolbox.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/homeless.jpg

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mcdon469/architecture/social%20issue/homeless.jpg

3 social issue questions

1) How bad does it have to been in a household to make a teen leave home?
2) How often do teens run away every year?
3) What causes teens to have the urge to leave home

summer reading questions

Alena Stoots
Can’t Get There From Here Todd Strasser
1. The main character of this book is a young teenage girl that goes by Maybe. Maybe is not her real name, it is her street name. Towards the end of the story she announces her given birth name is Jesse. Maybe stays very strong throughout the entire book and never gives up on her friends or herself. She was born with an unusual skin condition, and finds a helpful librarian who also shares the same uneven pigment. She cares a lot for her friends/ tribe of other homeless teenagers, and she follows her heart and decides that it’s best to finally get help with her life towards the end of the book.

2. In the beginning of this story, Maybe and her friends find a dead man who went by Country Club. None of them completely understood why he died, but they all join together afterwards and start talking about how they ended up on the street, how old they are and where they came from. Towards the middle of the story is where Maybe meets the Liberian named Anthony when she and Rainbow tried to clean off in a handicapped stall of a public library restroom but get caught by two police men. They were forced to clean up after themselves while they were still naked and damp from washing their bodies in the sinks. Also, Maybe and a couple of her friends dress up and go to a club in New York City and she finds herself feeling sick and dizzy, she was offered to have a place to sleep at a random man’s house her friend Jewel requested, only if she cleaned up his house for him, but he eventually kicked her out. At the end of the story is when Maybe helps out her friend Tears, who is only twelve years old to get off the street and go back home to her grandparents since her stepfather abused her. Maybe realizes that there are a lot of ways to live, and a lot of different places to live too, and that she too can get off the streets and have a normal life like everyone else if she tries hard enough.

3. I think what the author is trying to say about life throughout the story is that if you or someone you know is going through a rough time and doesn’t have anywhere to go it doesn’t hurt to help one another and also if no one ever does help you it’s not too late to start helping yourself.

4. When Tears finally goes home to her grandparents, she, Anthony and Maybe are all affected by it. Tears is now off the streets and will be taken care of from now on. Anthony was the one who drove Maybe and Tears all the way to her grandparents, and she realizes it’s time for Maybe to get off the streets too. Maybe is affected by this because she now sees that if Tears can get cleaned up and go home to live safely then she can too, even if it means going back to the Youth Housing Project for now.

5. Two specific events that happened that made the book’s social issues seem real and important was when Rainbow was taken away from Maybe by officer Ryan when she was sick and later on she found out Rainbow had died, and the police found her body in a nearby river. Another event was when Maybe and Anthony feared that Tears was hit by a truck and died, because the officer’s description of the girl matched Tears, but turned out to be someone else. The author makes a big issue immediate by showing the reader that she is homeless from the very beginning. The author makes the issue personal because he describes the emotional challenges that the main character goes through.

alenas pen pal assignment

703 Churchville Road

Bel Air, MD 21014

September 3, 2010

Dear Maybe,

            My name is Alena Stoots and I very much enjoyed reading how you lived your life on the streets in Can’t Get There from Here by Todd Strasser. I am a freshman at The John Carroll School. My summer was fantastic! I went to the Ocean City, Maryland for 2 weeks in July, i went jet skiing for the first time while I was there and also visited the beach a couple times. I have two older sisters, one is in college and the other is a junior at John Carroll. I also have a little brother and 3 golden retrievers. I’m sure you eventually decided to listen to Anthony and find your way off the street and back home with your family or at least into the Youth Housing Unit.

            When I first started reading your novel it grabbed my attention right away because you were already homeless and had been for a while. Throughout the book you went from place to place and so did your fellow homeless teens. A certain part of the book that really kept me interested was when you and Rainbow were trying to wash off in the New York City Public Library restroom and two police officers walked in while you were naked and they made you clean up without putting your clothes back on. The reason this shocked me was because Bobby the leader of the two men was extremely cruel and didn’t give you any slack for being younger victims. However, you managed to get through it and so did Rainbow.

            I would call Todd Strasser’s method of writing realistic because there are many struggling teens in this world that are homeless and have nowhere else to go. The events that you go through during the story could happen to anyone and because of that I think some people could relate to you and your emotions more than if Can’t Get There from Here was more of a fiction novel. I thought his writing was good because he went into detail about how you were reacting to every situation and also how the people around you reacted.

            I would like to know why don’t feel its right to go back home to your family even after you take Tears back to hers. Even though you decided to listen to Anthony and go back to the Youth Housing Project I’m sure you would rather be home and off the streets. Did you ever consider it? Surely it couldn’t hurt to try.

            Reading this book made me think differently about the issue of Homeless teens and how they’re lives are so affected by it. While you were on the streets, you stayed strong for yourself and your friends as well. However, towards the end when Rainbow died you could see how she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself and it gave you twice as much work providing her with the care she needed to be okay. Even though they took her away from you when you both were in jail, you never gave up on her.  People without homes or shelter are a bigger issue then we realize and should be addressed with more consideration and attention. I believe if there was a better amount of money put it towards a foundation there would be enough room for everyone on the streets to come live in an adoption agency or a group home like the one you visited. If we did this then there would be less and less homeless teens out there every day.

            I hope you do find a way back home or at least to a good shelter where you can be protected and have your needs fulfilled.  Good luck in your future and stay strong wherever you end up!

Sincerely,

           

Alena Stoots