Reflection

In this class, I wrote about a memory I had, and then I wrote about a nature trip and related it to Emerson and Thoreau. I was trying to remember my Mardi Gras trip and put it into words that would do it justice for my memoir. For my nature trip, I related the authors and the nature walk. I learned about brushstrokes while I was writing my memoir and I learned about Trancendentalism during the writing of the nature essay. I learned that brushstrokes make writing more interesting, quotes are a great way to back up opinions when you are comparing two things, and I learned that being verbs can make a piece of writing confusing if they are used incorrectly.

I revised for new ideas when I would read back over my pieces of writing and notice that when I read it to myself, the words and sentences didn't flow together. In my memoir, I revised and added in different brushstrokes to create more depth to my sentences. I also went back in my memoir to fix places where I repeated myself a lot. In the nature essay, I fixed my sentences by adding some of them together in order to get rid of short choppy sentences that didn't flow. I changed the tone a little bit and made it a bit more humorous than it had originally been for both pieces. In my memoir, I removed the word "stuff" because it's not a good word to use for writing because of the fact that it could mean so many different things. I also added some more description about the bus ride and my partner.

There were a lot of things that I liked in other people's writing, but there were a few that I liked more than the rest. Hunter, Dylan, and Claire all had at least one thing in their writing that I found interesting and better than the rest. I liked how Hunter started off the beginning of his Scarlet Letter essay. The beginning sentences were very attention-grabbing. Especially talking about the letters and their importance. Dylan also had a very nice Scarlet Letter essay. His comparison essay comparing Abigail to scissors was quite nice. The descriptions of Abigail were very entertaining and I liked them because they were detailed. They weren't one-worded, short descriptions. They had content, and fully described Abigail, her emotions, and her actions.

Nature Essay

Painful briars and relaxing noises seem quite contradictory don't they? Well, both were encountered in the "nature walk" that I attended with the rest of my class this week. We walked down to a small patch of woods and went into the dense foliage. A small path opened out into an open area, where a ropes course was located. We split off into small pairs or groups and went to explore the many paths. Empty bottles and trash littered the green ground that the paths cut through. It was a glimpse into the way that people had changed a small place of relaxation. The cars passing by on the highway were constantly battling with the peaceful sounds of the woods. Briars were everywhere. Many people were attacked by the pointy vines. Quite a few injuries were sustained by people getting stuck by the green trap. Other than that, it was somewhat relaxing. The break from the normal brick walls of school that I was used to was nice, and I was able to not think about my US History test later that day, which had been a source of worry. I think the nature walk actually did help me relax.
In many ways, I agree with Emerson and I agree with Thoreau. Emerson said, "Standing on the bare ground-my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space-all mean egotism vanishes." On the nature walk, I felt somewhat the same. When I was out in the woods, "I" was not important anymore and in a way "I" blended in with all of the world around me. I was there, and yet I wasn't. Life inside the school went on the same as if I had never been there at all, and yet I was in nature, affecting the ground where I walked when I left footprints in the dirt. My thoughts strayed not to myself, but to what I was seeing. Nature and the web of life that I had stepped into upon walking into the woods were my main thoughts. It was like being a "transparent eyeball".
I liked how Thoreau said "It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves." It is true. School is a very strict schedule that repeats itself daily with little or no variation as to where we go to attend class and when we go to each class. The trip to the nature walk was a change that was eagerly welcomed. As soon as I stepped outside, I felt the sun and noticed how the light was much more cheery when noticed from outside rather than through a thick window. The windows seem to somewhat mute the effect that the sun's light and heat has on people. It's as if the glass only lets a tiny sliver of the large amount of light pass through. I enjoyed the change of schedule from what I normally had for English. Walking somewhere new seemed to give new life into my legs. I walked with a renewed vigor down the slope towards the trees. Thoreau had a point when he wrote that quote.
The nature walk helped me understand how Emerson and Thoreau thought about nature in many ways. It was a way for me to realize how they thought it was so peaceful and how you can lose yourself in the moment. It was strange how when I look back upon the walk, I didn't notice the things before. Normally, I ignored the sun when I was outside during practice. It was nothing more than a way to make me even hotter than I already was. But at the nature walk, the sun made me feel a little bit happier and more energized. I forgot about myself and let my mind wander to how relaxing nature was and the fact that it was it's own little circle of life, separate from the one that I came into contact with in school. I finally understood what Emerson meant when he mentioned a "transparent eyeball". That is how I was able to learn from the nature walk and relate it to Emerson and Thoreau.

Memoir

The chilly February night was filled with excitement. The band parking lot was quickly filling up with vehicles of parents. Band members had to park in the school parking lot. Band members toted large suitcases and their instruments with them inside. I grabbed my luggage and took it inside to be checked. The fruit sales, parent meetings, and practices afterschool had led up to this day. I was excited as I went to sit with my friends in the band room.
After everyone arrived, we loaded on the buses according to grade level and bus number. Students told their parents goodbye and walked toward the looming charter buses. In their hands they tried to carry their suitcase, instrument, and uniform bag without dropping anything. It was like they were about to embark on a journey. Almost everyone was hyper from the excitement, jumping around and talking. As I put my luggage under the bus I told my mom goodbye and stepped onto the bus. It was kind of like stepping away from everything I was used to, even though I was coming back in a few days.
The interior was spacious for a bus and there were TVs above every few seats. My partner, Alex, and I chose our seats and I put my bag under my feet. The air was filled with excitement and the smell of guys who had put on too much cologne. Sitting quietly, we wondered what we would see once we had made it to New Orleans. We had heard some very interesting stories from other people that had been. Our minds raced with visions of beads and giant floats.
As soon as the buses were loaded and everyone had found a seat, we started moving away from Hanna and our parents. Excited yet nervous, we watched as our parents waved to us from the sidewalk. We looked out the windows as the shapes of many parents became smaller before dissappearing into the night. Smiling happily, I relaxed for a moment. You could hear the sound of people eating or talking if you sat and just listened. It was entertaining enough to just hear people talk. A few people were on the phone with their parents, filling them in on what had happened since the buses had pulled out.
On the TV screens, we watched Saturday Night Live for about an hour. Some people quickly fell asleep only a few minues into the ride. They leaned either on a pillow or on their partner. It was dark outside, and the shades on the bus were mostly pulled down. A few people left theirs up so they could watch as cities passed by. It was pretty to watch the lights on buildings pass by as we went through major cities. I spent the time listening to music and talking to my partner, who had eaten way too much candy before we left. After a while, we reached a rest stop and most people took advantage of the opportunity to stretch their legs. It might have been big for a bus, but it was still a bus. And that meant that your legs would still be sore. After reboarding, I soon fell asleep. When I awoke, I realized it was morning. All of the girls spent a good bit of time trying to fix their hair before we had to stop to eat. We stopped at a Sonny's for breakfast before continuing the drive. I wonder how the workers felt, seeing three large buses full of people pulling into the parking lot. No matter what they felt, it was hard to find a seat in the small resturaunt.
The bus was a bit stuffy after breakfast because of the smell of perfumes and colognes that people had deemed necessary to put more of on. After driving for a while, houses came into view. They were definitely uninhabited. Most were in shambles. An abandoned Six Flags passed by our left. Not much remained other than a few tall poles and parts of the bigger rides. You could still see the destruction of Katrina two years later. All of us knew how devastating it had been, but now we were able to see how bad it was in person.
As we got closer to New Orleans, we had to cross the very wide Mississippi river. The wide river, going on for miles on each side of us, was somewhat oceanlike in the fact that it was so big. Most of the people were awake now and were looking out the windows at the wide expanse of water on each side of us.
As soon as the city came into view, everyone's excitement increased. We were almost there!
Driving past the outskirts we saw the spray-painted markers where rescuers had searched the houses, weeks after the original floods had lowered. The neon paint showed when they had been searched, by whom, and what they found inside. Some of the houses had been fixed up and you could tell that people were living in them.
We drove by the French Quarter and saw balconies that would later be filled with people celebrating. Decorations were everywhere, and the predominate colors were gold, green, and purple. We were finally there. After driving more than ten hours, we had reached New Orleans, and with it, Mardi Gras.