The world’s fruit basket,
America’s finest city,
The golden state,
Surf city and sandy toes.

You sing me to sleep with your soothing waves
Rolling,
Crashing,
Humming,
Barreling,
Yelling,
You carry the tides to the highest point then
pull it back down.

In the heat you cool me down,
Splashing,
Soaking,
Screaming,
Pounding,
Rushing,
You push the sand and seaweed back and forth
back and forth with your currents.

The world’s fruit basket,
America’s finest city,
The golden state,
Surf city and sandy toes.

I am from messy room
From homework and dog toys
I am from the large kitchen,
filled with the clean sent of simple green
I am from the freshly mowed grass
The huge leafy branches of the climbing tree
making shadows on the front porch steps.

I’m from pizzelles and stuffed shells
From the ocean and sandy feet
rinsed in the outdoor shower
before entering the house.

I am from could be worse and nanny dogs
From sit like a nice young lady
and amazing grace
From shows and dress up clothes.

From the dusty photo albums
pulled out to remember the fun times.

I feel like running,
running down the beach,
running to the pier and straight on past it.

I feel like swimming,
swimming in the ocean,
swimming past the reef and looking at the fish.

I feel like dancing,
dancing in the sand,
dancing around the kelp and listening to my music.

I feel like playing,
playing with in the waves,
playing with my dogs and having a good time.

I feel like remembering,
remembering the fun times,
remembering the running and the dancing and the swimming and the playing.

I feeling like loving.

You are the wind in the sky,
carrying change with you wherever you go.

Your are the waves in the ocean,
shifting the mood in the air.

You are the fire in the room,
Burning up the sadness.

You aren’t the war in the countries,
killing and causing pain.

But you are the joy in my life,
making people happy.

You are around me.

Lucy had beautiful, red, wavy, shoulder length hair, and bright green eyes. She was wearing a turquoise tank top and black yoga pants, because she had come from working at San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club as a tennis coach. My dad had met her when trying to sign me up for lessons, even though I told him that I didn’t want to play, and she helped him figure to the paperwork.

We ate dinner, then went into the living room and watched American Idol for two hours. I went to bed after wishing them a good night.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!!!!!! My alarm screamed in my ear. Sluggishly, I rolled out of bed and got dressed. Walking down the hall to go to the bathroom and get ready, I almost tripped when I heard a knock on our front door. Running downstairs, I was expecting that my dad had locked himself out side when he went to get the newspaper, but instead I found myself face to face with Lucy.

“Is your dad ready?” She asked me.

“For what?” I replied.

“I’m taking him out to brunch before he goes to work.”

“Oh, okay. DAAADDD, ARE YOU READY FOR BRUNCH WITH LUCY?” I yelled upstairs.

Just as I finished yelling, he stepped out of his room in a suit and tie, and told me, “Yes honey, but there’s no need to yell in the house.”

“Sorry daddy.” I quietly answered. “You two have fun, I have to finish getting ready for school.”

“Have a good day.” They called back in unison, as they walked down the path. I prayed that my dad wouldn’t get his heart broken again.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Maya Angelou each have they’re own style. The tone of a writer shows the reader or listener how the author feels about the subject at hand. Imagery is used as a way for the writer to express what they’re seeing or have seen. King’s speech, “I Have A Dream” had a formal, consistent tone, while Maya Angelou’s book I Known Why The Caged Bird Sings had a casual, conversational, varying tone, yet both used quite a bit of imagery.

Both pieces of writing have a strong sense of tone, but they each show it in different ways. In the speech, “I Have A Dream”, M.L.K. Jr. was serious and formal when he spoke, such as when he says “… A great beacon light of hope…” This shows that he is formal because he could have said something much more casual such as “I have hope” which is much less motivational and hopeful. When he quotes the Declaration of Independence, it shows that he is serious about what he is doing. For example he says “inalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” On the other hand, in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird sings, she uses a different tone depending on what is happening, although the whole time, she keeps a conversational way of writing. For example, when she says “… And my image of her would have been shattered like the unmendable Humpty-Dumpty.” She compares her perspective of someone with a nursery rhyme, and therefore more people of different ages are able to relate.

In both writings, the authors used imagery to express their thoughts. By doing this, sometimes they used metaphors and similes. In “I Have A Dream” M.L.K. Jr. used imagery in both positive and negative connotations. He shows this when he says things such as “… to satisfy our thirsts for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” This shows that they can only get freedom if they go through pain. In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, Maya used a small bit of imagery, although not as much as M.L.K. Jr. An example of this is when she says “Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged,…” about her new friend Ms. Flowers.

In both pieces of writing, the writers used both tone and imagery to express their feelings. Both Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr. used both writing techniques to make their stories or speeches better. In the end MLK Jr. and Maya Angelou got their wish, and civil rights was granted.

Inside my house, I run up the stairs and collapse on my bed. My first day at high school had been exhausting, and I had three hours of homework, ON MY FIRST DAY!!!!!!!!!!! I have seventy-five math problems, a whole book to read, as well as answer comprehension questions on it. On top of that, I have to practice my audition of theatre, and my spike for volley ball. But before I get into all this, I want to eat a small snack and tell my mom about my first day at PLHS. Yes I know, she is dead, but I still like to think that she wants to know and will listen to me. I tell her all about Victoria, and my audition and all the homework that had been assigned.

After I finished my salad and talk with mom, I start on my homework, first my audition I chose the song Defying Gravity from the Broadway play, Wicked. I had a hard time with the line about “no wizard that there is or was…” but by the end I had mastered it. Next I worked on my volleyball spike, going out to my personal volleyball court and practiced for an hour straight, then went back inside, got a glass of water, and brought my backpack out into my room.

An hour and a half later, when I was done with my homework, I walked downstairs and started making a salmon and salad dinner to eat with my father when he got home from work. After I put the fish in the oven, I set the table for two, then started making a caesar salad. After that, I sat down and read a book until my father arrived with a dark haired lady I had never seen before and introduced her as Lucy, his girlfriend.

It was 11:00 as we pulled into a parking spot infront of the Petco that’s right by Target. I opened the door and got out of our gold Lexus and looked at the sign for the rescue tent. My eyes shifted downward and a yellow-black German Shepherd puppy caught my eye. I raced towards the tent and looked back to see my mom right behind me. “May I please go in the fence and play with the puppies?” I asked the lady behind a make-shift desk, “I’m thinking about adopting one.” The lady nodded her head and motioned to the metal gate.

I let myself in and sat down on the warm blacktop. The German Shepherd came over and sniffed my hand, and I put a hand on his head, then I looked around at the other dogs. One was on a leash with some one holding her, she had tons of energy and wanted to play with everything. There were two small dogs wondering around, and as I was about to look back down at the dog I was petting, when something caught my eye. A tiny two month old black lab mix puppy was hiding behind a plastic chair with his tail tucked between his small thin legs. He crept out from behind the chair and as I smiled at him, he made his way into my lap. I petted him lovingly and looked at my mom, she nodded and the lady behind the desk told me that he wouldn’t come out to anyone before me. I decided to adopt him and as my mom and dad were figuring out the paperwork, I introduced him to Cleo, our other dog, and my sister, Camille. He liked them both and they accepted him too.

Next we went into the Petco that was right there to get new puppy things for him. He couldn’t walk on the slippery tile, so I picked him up and he fell asleep in my arms as I walked around, picking out a new crate, bed, and bowl for him. When we were satisfied with the new toys and needed things that we had picked out, we paid and walked back out to the car. I let my new puppy take a potty break before I settled him on my lap for the short car-ride home.

Once we arrived at our house, I took him around the side and gave him a bath in the outdoor shower. After that I let him roam around and get used to his new yard, and tried to think of a name for him. My dad, mom, and sister came out to help me think. A little while later, my dad thought of a perfect name, Max. The rest of the family liked it too, so we tried it out and the name stuck.

Now he is three years old and loving his home and family.

RINGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!! “Finally, time for lunch!” I thought.

After four classes, AP Math, AP English, AP History, and Science, I was exhausted and ready to eat my turkey sandwich and talk with my friends. I still had two more classes, volleyball, and theatre, my two favorites. As I walked over to my group of friends, I turned to see my worst enemy, Victoria, staring right at me, looking with a green eyed laser beam glare. I stared right back and continued walking towards my friends. When I reached them, Olivia asked, “What was that about?” “I don’t know.” I replied “Ya, what’s her problem.” Gwen questioned. “Good question.” said Taylor.

Later, when I was just about to serve the volleyball over the net, I heard, “Emily! Try to actually get it over the net this time!” I whipped around to find Victoria standing in the top bleachers and cupping her hands to her mouth just about to through another insult my way. “Why don’t you come down here and do it yourself Vic, and we’ll see what you should be saying.” I yelled back. “Fine!” She called and started making her way towards me.

“Seventeen!!” I shouted at Victoria as she missed her seventeenth serve. “Try stepping up to the ten foot line now.” I called. She took one step forward and she was there. “Now tell me how come you can’t make it over. Is it too hard? Here, let me try.” I grabbed the volleyball and serve it perfectly, flat, fast, and floating, over the net and listened for the satisfying thump as the volleyball landed about a foot from the end line.