7.

1 DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY (Search For Conjuctions)

The Horse Farm
I am jarred out of a relaxing sleep by a voice yelling my name in a loud
whisper, and a light burning through my eyelids. Groggily, I open my eyes to
see my father standing in the doorway to my messy room. He tells me that I
need to get going, that it is 3:00 a.m., and I'm burning daylight. I find my
clothes and get dressed. The whole time I wonder why I get up this early to
visit the rugged outdoors. I want to go back to bed, but I know my dad will be
back in to make sure I am getting ready, in a little bit. Instead, I put my boots
and my wide-brimmed, black cowboy hat on, and walked out to catch the
horses. The horses are all excited because it is dark and they are not that
cooperative. My dad and I get them saddled and in the trailer, and go back
into the house to get our lunch, water, and a cup of coffee. Now, we can head
for the high country.
It is still dark when we get there, so our horses are still very alert; they
keep moving around and snorting with eyes wide and nostrils flared. I strap
my pistol to my hips and tie the tip of the holster to my leg so it doesn't flop.
We are ready to go, so I take a deep breath of the sharp, clean, mountain air
and step into the saddle. As we ride along in the dark, I begin to relax. Man, I
love the smell of cool mountain air; there is nothing in the world quite like it. It
is so refreshing for me.
As the sky begins to brighten to a gray, and the stars that were so
brilliant just seconds ago begin to grow dim, my imagination starts to picture
things moving that are really nothing but shadows in the trees. It is as if the
shadows are racing around trying to find their owners before the sun peeks its
gleaming face up over the horizon. A deer jumps from its bed, scaring the
horses and pumping a quart of adrenaline through my system, as my pistol
jumps to my hand. Once I realize it is just a deer, I put my pistol back in its
holster.
In the last seconds before the sun rises, the sky turns a soft blue. The
sun breaks the horizon and begins to shine its warmth down on me; I can see

more of the beauty that is all around me. I can see beams of light perfectly
outlining the ragged mountains, as I look across the valley. As the sun floats
higher in the pure blue sky, it reveals more and more of the beauty that the
land holds. In every direction my eyes take in the trees, cattle grazing on a
side hill, and elk moving through the aspen trees. Sometimes, when I am
here, I will see a coyote appear and then vanish like the wind.
Each time I visit this place I get the same relaxing feeling, yet in a way
it is new. When I look upon the beauty of nature, I know that these places
were created knowing there would be people like me on earth to enjoy them.

7.2 REVIEW ESSAY

A Book Review - Nania
This book was the first of the Narnia series to be published. Released in 1950,
it has World War Two as its historical backdrop.
The story is centred around four British wartime children, who are
evacuated to the country due to the conflict. They go to stay in a large house
in the country with an eccentric professor. The youngest child, Lucy, stumbles
across the land of Narnia accidentally whilst playing hide and seek. She there
encounters a fawn, who tells her about an evil White Witch that rules Narnia.
Upon her return home, her siblings don't believe her. However, they too enter
Narnia accidentally and are set the task of saving it from the Witch due to a
prophecy made about them. The youngest brother, Edmund, meets the Witch
before he learns that she is evil, and is tricked into thinking she is the true
queen. At the promise of power and chocolates, he is lured into betraying his
family, branding him as a traitor. The other three siblings must now try to save
Edmund AND Narnia from the Witch, with the help of the God-like lion Aslan.
Aslan is a magnificent lion who is the symbol of the goodness of
Narnia. When the children first hear his name, they immediately feel powerful
sensations that they cannot understand. Peter, Susan, and Lucy feel great
happiness. Edmund (having already betrayed his siblings to the White Witch)
is mysteriously horrified. Aslan is clearly the God' of Narnia, keeping with
Lewis's devout Christianity. Also, in the book, Aslan dies for Edmunds sins,
but is resurrected. Many of Lewis's other books encouraged people to convert
to Christianity (see specific titles earlier in project), so this book makes me
think he might have been trying to sell' the story of Jesus' resurrection to
children. Making the figure of Jesus is easier when using a Lion as opposed
to a man. If it was between a man and a lion I think it would be easier for a
child to accept the GodLike power of the King of Beasts, while still seeing a
playful side (depicted through Aslan rolling around like a "kitten"). Aslan being
portrayed as a lion could also be a patriotic sign, especially as this was written
shortly after World War Two, the lion being the traditional representation for
England.

In contrast to Aslan, I feel the Witch is a representation of the Devil.

Like the Devil, the Witch has power to take the lives of sinners and traitors.
Also, she is clearly shown as being heartless and cruel in all ways throughout
the book (for example her lack of compassion or remorse when speaking of
the blood of her armies she needlessly spilt in Charn). Unlike many Villains in
children's novels, there is no real motive to her evil except the quest for
power- and no redemption at the end of the book. She is there as a symbol of
manipulation and temptation, like the snake in the Garden of Eden, or the
Devil himself. "She is a perfectly terrible person, she calls herself the Queen
of Narnia thought she has no right to be queen at all, and all the Fauns and
Dryads and Naiads and Dwarfs and Animals at least all the good ones simply
hate her. And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible
things. And she has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia" Lucy
regarding the Witch.
In keeping with the Seven Deadly Sins theory, this one (in my opinion)
is representing Gluttony. This is shown through Edmund's downfall after
accepting the Turkish Delight, tempted to him by the Witch. This seems to be
in connection with Eve's fall after eating the Apple, Edmund also consumed
something forbidden' and suffered because of it.
However, like most traitors, Edmund is the character most interesting
and best developed in the story. He goes from resentment, to gluttony and
betrayal, to terror and pain, to empathy (when the fox is turned into stone by
the Witch for calling Edmund a true king of Narnia), to repentance, to heroism,
the last of which is naturally greatly rewarded.
I think this book is the best of the series. It's well written and holds your
attention, but I could be considered biased because of my love for fantasy
novels. I would recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, especially
children.

7.3 DIALOG ESSAY

The Gold Card
" I always told you kids dont buy it unless ya got the money."
"Hey lets go grab a bite to eat."
"Yeah ! That sounds good. I heard there is a new restaurant down on Grand
thats suppose to be good."
"Okay", said my friend Shannon.
We arrived at the restaurant and sat down. The waiter brought our menus.
"Im gonna get the broiled salmon in creamy herb sauce"
"Im gonna have the vegi ravioli" Shannon said.
"Hmm, that sounds good." I replied.
The server brought our food and we enjoyed catching up with each other.
"Wow ! That was so delicious wasnt it?"
"Yeah ! Hey, this one is on me because I think you treated last time."
"Thanks" Shannon replied. Then I whipped out my shiny Gold Platinum card
at 3.9%. The waiter came by with that little black waiter case thing and a
couple of mints. We paid and then we left.
"Say do you mind if we go by the mall real quick I just want to check a new
store thats opened up?"
Shannon replied, "sure thats cool."
"I just gotta pull into the Super America for some gas." I said.
"Ill pump you pay?" Shannon said.
"Sure." I responded. I dashed in to the SA and headed to pay. I noticed an
article about alien babies that I had heard about.

"I read that one" a voice came from behind. I turned around and it was a short
bald guy with a bag of cheetos in his hand.
"Really, how was it? Worth $1.95?"
"Yeah" he said. So I grabbed it. Then I remembered that I needed some oil for
my car. I grabbed some Valvoline and got back in line.
"That will be $27.09 please."
"Shoot, I dont have enough cash." So I whipped out the gold again and zoom
we were off to the mall.
" Lets check out that new clothing store on the second floor. Its supposed to
be really cheep. Id also like to go to that CD shop."
"O.K., but I need to go to the cash machine first," Shannon said.
"Great," I said, "Ill meet you in the chocolate factory."
There I was in the chocolate shop waiting for Shannon, when I remembered
that my mothers birthday was coming up. So I thought Id buy her some nice
chocolates. The coffee beans looked tempting as well.
"Ill have a pound of the french roast chocolate coffee and these chocolates as
well."
"That will be $31.95," the lady said. I gave her my card and then I saw
Shannon coming towards the store.
"O.K., lets go," I said. We then shopped for the rest of the afternoon.
On the way home I said to Shannon, "I cant believe I bought $270.00 worth of
clothes1"
"Dont feel so bad, Im sure you needed those seven sweaters," Shannon
informed me. But I knew I didnt need them at all. What I did know, is that I
should have listened to my dad. I got home and felt so bad, I ate all the
chocolates.