Thursday, May 31, 2012

Essay #13


Hello and Goodbye:
My Years at Pine Point and the Lessons I Have Learned
An Essay by Ashlyn Buffum
8th Grade English
Pine Point School
  May 16, 2012

Giving a speech
My brother stood in front of the whole school and gave his ninth grade speech with the theme of “hello and goodbye”. He talked about when he came to Pine Point and how he felt about leaving. I never knew that time could go so fast and now have me saying goodbye to Pine Point. Though as I look back on my years from when I said “hello” to now when I am saying “goodbye” I can say that I have grown as a person.
It seems like only yesterday when I said “hello” to Pine Point in preschool. I walked through those doors as a Dinosaur. I can still remember preschool, learning how to write and say the alphabet. I also still remember making my first friend, Lucy, who was an extremely kind girl, but one day I saw her crying next to a teacher. Not knowing what was going on, I asked her what was wrong and she replied, “No one will play with me.” This was my first real friendship inside of Pine Point and was one of my best. This helped me learn the reason for friendship and reaching out to other people ,and as a result the friendship grew. We spent almost every second together until third grade when Lucy left. I was sad, but I knew we would always be friends. Now I have many more friends and many more memories to share with my friends and family. The memories, experiences, and things that I have learned in lower school will be treasures for me to carry with me as I move on to high school at St.Georges.
Athena the Greek God of wisdom
After I said “goodbye” to lower school and soon after when I started middle school I learned many things about myself, and by doing so I grew as a person. For example, during 6th grade we did the greek play, and my character was Athena, the greek god of wisdom. Playing this part helped me realize responsibility and the idea of being a part of a team. Wanting to do a good job in the play, I tried to memorize lines for the part Athena. I also wanted to get them just right so I wouldn’t mess up and forget one of my lines and ruin the play for my classmates. After the play,  everyone congratulated me on my performance and commented about how I had known all my lines to the play. This play also helped me overcome my stage fright, a problem I had for many years. As a result, During the 7th grade drama of Nightmare at 20,000 feet I received a part of the  little girl named June. When I played this part it helped me express more of my emotions and also later in my theatre life in my community I received a good part because of my experience in acting. From the plays I have done through Pine Point and Weekapaug I have learned that it is always good to express what you think, there might be a time when you are right. The years for 6th and 7th grade were the the times where I as a person grew in many unexpected ways.
Now I am in 8th grade and the year is almost ended and with the curtain closing on the final chapter all I can think about is my friends and teachers. My friends have stayed with me through my years at Pine Point and they have shared with me their friendship, smiles, and laughter. From this I have learned that this is a wonderful life we live and that you always need friends. Learning this, I can go to St.George’s with plenty of memories of Pine Point, but also the ability to make new friends and make new wonderful memories. My teachers have also taught me many things. For example, My teachers have taught me to do better on my homework and also in sports, an activity that I enjoy very much. Also, both my friends and my teachers have taught me to be a better person and always try to help others when they are in need. They have helped grow from preschool to now 8th grade and I am who I am because they were with me. I will never forget the lessons they have taught me for the past 10 years and most importantly I will never forget their smiles.
Now my final “goodbye” draws near and I will bow out of Pine Point quietly at graduation.  I say goodbye to my school, second home, and second family, but I will always remember the lessons they taught me and I will also remember how they helped me grow as a person and athlete. In addition, I will also never forget the memories they gave me as I go on to my next adventure at St.George’s. At the end of my years at Pine Point all I can say as one final goodbye is “I am proud to have been a panther”.


Self Assessment
1.) I piece of my writing I continue to work on is my concluding paragraphs and making sure that they are not boring and not just repeating what I have already said.
2.) A strong point I think in my writing is my first body paragraph.
3.) one possible weak point I see is my last body paragraph because I feel it might be repeating what I have already said.

Essay #11


A World of Patterns:
Patterns In My Life and In To Kill A Mockingbird
     An Essay By: Ashlyn Buffum
8th Grade English
Pine Point School
 April 3, 2012

Have you ever seen a pattern in your life?
Have you ever seen a pattern in your life? I have seen many patterns in not just my life, but also in books. For example, in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird there are many patterns. The world is made up of patterns; you only have to look.
There are two major patterns in To Kill A Mockingbird; one of the patterns is loneliness. In the book one of the characters named Boo is very lonely. He is lonely because he never really gets to see anybody during the day or night and he also stays in his house all day long. There are also rumors about him that are not true, but still people believe them. Another person who is lonely in the book is Mr. Dolphins Raymond. He is lonely because he never shows his true self and he must always hide who really is forever. He believes no one will understand him, and as a result no one truly knows him. The other major pattern in To Kill A Mockingbird is Courage. Atticus showed great courage in fighting in what he believed in during the case of Tom Robinson. He knew the repercussions of what he was doing, but he still went for it any way. Boo was also another that showed courage when he saved Jem and Scout from Mr.Ewell. There are still so many more patterns in To Kill A Mockingbird, but these were some that really stood out in the book.
There are also many patterns in my life and in my day to day life. For example, I go to Florida each year for thanksgiving. My family goes there to celebrate my birthday and also spend time with family for the holiday. Excited I run towards the cottages that are so familiar to me now that each time is like coming home. Another Pattern in my life is my birthday which  is always on November 24. Running the kids surrounded a huge cake that had giant amounts of sugar in it and that was all topped off with a cherry as bright as the sun. Also, another pattern in my life is my sports seasons. In the fall there’s field hockey, in the winter there’s basketball. Also in the spring I have lacrosse and also in the summer. The sports are always in their respective seasons. There are many patterns in the world from small to big they are everywhere.
there are patterns everywhere
There are patterns everywhere. They can be as simple as a birthday or inspiring as courage. Everything has a pattern! I have looked into my life and found patterns and I have also found patterns in a book called To Kill A Mockingbird. I wonder what new patterns will appear in my life in the times to come?
Self assessment
1.) I felt one of my strong points in my essay was organization. I feel I have organized both first and second body paragraphs very well.

2.) One weak point I see in my writing is that I feel like I have some run on sentences in some parts of the essay.

3.) I continue to work on my organization in all my paragraphs.

Essay #12


   The Power of Love:
        Two Quotes From the Song “Where’s the Love” Relating to My Life and the World
An Essay by: Ashlyn Buffum
    8th Grade English
    Pine Point School
       April 23, 2012
So many things happen in our lives and in the world which make us question many things about how we live. I have learned in books, in my life, and in the world that I grew up in that there is not always love in the world. The song “Where’s the Love” has two lines that I feel really made me question, “Where’s the love”.
"Where's the love"
My quote from the song Where’s the love is “But if you only love your own race, Then you only leave space to discriminate”. This quote is very much like the world around us because of racism,  which was a time when blacks and whites were separated and during this time the nation questioned, “Where is the love.” Crying, the young boy watches as his family is separated and he knows that they will never see each other again. Even now during my life you can still read many books and articles about what happens because of racism. For example, the novel To Kill A Mockingbird it talks about racism happening around Alabama and in the lives of young children. Scout, a young girl who believes in her country of America, sees many examples of racism in her own town. Scout learned that there wasn’t always love in the places that she grew up in.This quote is very powerful and reminds of a time that was very different.
The final quote that I chose was “People killin’, people dyin’ children hurt and you hear them cryin’ can you practice what you preach and would you turn the other cheek”. The first part of this quote is a big problem in the world and in lots of peoples lives. For example, many people say they will do something, but they will not do themselves. The little boy, the future to the country, cries because many people have lied to him and let him down in many ways. The other part of the quote, “Would you turn the other cheek.” is about not fighting back and turning the other cheek. This quote actually came from the famous book. Listening, I sit in the car with my mom as she tells me to forgive and forget as we ride home from school. There are many problems in the world and also in my life revolving around not forgiving someone and lying.
not involving love
How many things you know don’t involve love? I have learned about things in our history and I have also seen many things that have made me question where the love is in my world. There are also been times when hate is the only thing that we and hate will lead to violence. As a result, people question where the love is. What do you see in the world?