Aaliyah: A Short Story

I was to discover, however, that when I took my eyes off the circumstances that were overwhelming me, over which I had no control, and looked up, my Lord was there.

In the Killables, Gemma Malley addresses the issue that unethical control leads to helplessness in people. Readers take away this message because it is clearly presented through the characters and their development and the setting. Firstly, the main protagonist characters that play a role in conveying the main message are Evie and Raffy. Throughout the novel we journey through the main character Evie's point of view. The author effectively created the characterisation of an intelligent girl who seeks freedom and the truth. At first, she is self-doubting and even weak. The reader picks up on this because her thoughts are always explained to the reader, some of which include "How can

“When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you” (Washington and Harline, When You Wish Upon a Star). A melody close to the hearts of many, full of childhood nostalgia. This song led to many children wishing upon the night sky. The superstition that stars grant wishes gives countless people hope that their dreams will come true. The novel Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat, similarly suggests that people in desperate situations find hope through their superstitions.

Julia “Butterfly” Hill, an environmental activist and author once said, “What happens on the planet is the outward reflection of what’s happening inside of us.” (Sacred.) Hill’s involvement in civil disobedience was due to personal influences, she chose to participate in civil disobedience to protest against the clear cutting of redwood trees, and she achieved success using the controversial method of standing up for what she thoroughly believes to be right. Civil disobedience is when a person goes against the law to prove a point, and make a difference in an idea or act they disagree with. Usually the person knows the consequences and goes against laws without causing violence. (Starr.)

Everything can be viewed from two perspectives; A fist fight, a murder, bullying, just to name a few situations. This is still the case with Iran and it’s people. Iran and its neighboring countries are often portrayed negatively as terrorist, or failed nations. This is not always the truth, however, and one can learn that through Marjane’s coming of age story, Persepolis. The personal nature of the story is told through Marjane’s loss of innocence, her opinions on religion, and her observation of the prominent gender roles.

The theme of “The Bicycle” by Jillian Horton is that you shouldn’t let anybody dictate how you should live your life, and you should do what makes you happy instead. This theme is powerful and pronounced all throughout the story, especially after Hannah started to realize what she had been missing out on. The rebellious thoughts began on page 35, when Hannah reminisced about how it felt to feel the wind in her hair, after seeing her friends zip by her on their bikes. Later, she says, “I felt lonely and isolated, increasingly aware of the of the differences between myself and girls like Ilana and Leah.” Hannah yearned to participate in the activities that her friends partake in—like going to Israel club after school—but she refrained, in fear of upsetting Tante Rose. Had Hannah not traded her happiness for Tante Rose’s approval, she would not have to bottle up her continuous feelings of longing and solitude.

Inconclusive endings can allow the reader to expand their mind beyond the story, and imagine their own ending. The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, is a novel following a missionary family in the Congo, and each chapter is written from a different member of the family’s perspective. The ending provides the reader with multiple ways to interpret the ending. One ending is more satisfactory than the other because everything comes full circle.

Van walked into Alima’s home, hoping to talk to her about the events that took place between her and her counterpart. He wondered if home was the correct terminology to describe this place. The building was plain, a strange shade of grey. Van became familiar to the color grey, he never cared for gray until he came to Herland. Recently however, the color had presented him with a newfound depth, the varying shades told an ancient story overflowing with emotion, a rich history that had deeper roots, relating to the original miraculous childbirth.

And waited. And waited. When death had not come for her, she looked up. The hallway was perfectly normal, and the door was no longer shaking. For a brief moment, she even deliberated opening the door to see if anything had ever even happened. Deciding against it, she decided to walk towards the stairs, still panicked yet much too exhausted to run, even despite the circumstances.

Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board is a memoir written by Bethany Hamilton, with Sheryl Berk and Rick Bundschuh, about Bethany finding faith after loosing an arm from a shark attack. Bethany is a 13-year-old professional surfer who lives in Hawaii. She says when talking about her start of surfing, “By the time I was seven years old I was able to surf and catch waves without my parents’ help.” (pg. 40) This shows how she starts surfing at a young age. Bethany is close with her family and has a strong faith towards God which only increases after the attack. She believes that everything happens for a reason and takes an optimistic outlook on her situation. The story takes place in “Kauai, Hawaii”

It all started when Luna Winters; she just got her 1st book report of the year. Luna wasn’t the smartest in her class. She got a project from her teacher; she went to this place called a “library.”

Three dimensional and all. Chloe flipped out and ran towards her parents room screaming. The next morning the parents asked the landlord if anybody had died there. He investigated that, and came back to them a couple weeks later with a yes, a women had died in that house from a drug overdose in 1995. Shortly after having her child removed from her custody because of her addiction problems. Now since that was happening to Chloe, Jordan was also experiencing stuff.. Jordan will always race up to to the top of the stairs as fast as she can, like it was some sort of silly game. Somewhere along the way, a voice at the top of the stairs started to whisper to her.. It would make bets with her for example, “I bet you a penny you can't make it to the top of the stairs.” She just sat there having conversations with the voice, mostly about the bets. But Jordan thought this voice was her friend that she did not have before. It was a whisper of a man's voice not the voice in her head. Eventually, the voice instead of pennies would bet her life. It would say “I bet you your life you can't make it up the

The chill slowly leaked through the pores of my sweatshirt; the sun shined bright, but helped very little to warm my skin. A single breath left a puff of mist as white as snow. Despite that, there was none there were leaves, dying and living as far as the eye could see. A stout 6’1 I stood, feeling as if I owned the world as the little black device with 4 propellers soared through the air; an object I controlled. Slow then fast, high then low, it circled around me, I believed I was in complete control. There they were, standing gazing and admiring as it took flight as if nothing could have gone wrong. A young woman ripe in age, her face so young, but you could tell she was no younger than 20. Beside her stood

Power of love in Maria Housden 's Hannah 's Gift changed my perception on family 's experiences with a child 's death. Having grown up in a family funeral home business, I always saw death as a positive aspect of life, but I also learned everyone takes death in a different way. The Housden 's family celebrates Hannah 's life on earth and learns from her experience motivates me to count my blessings and learn from life. Throughout the book I was very touched by Hannah 's brother, Will 's interactions and interpretations of his sister 's short life. Being an only child, I 've never truly understood sibling relationships but after this reading I have gotten one step closer. My familiarity with Maria grew and as she explains her depression and

It’s the summer of 2016 in West Virginia, my parents told my brother and I that we were traveling to Spain for the summer. I was certainly excited when they told us that, since it is a pretty place to travel to. With the towering mountains and glimmering ocean, green trees and bushes, as well as the fresh air that has a little hint of the salt from the ocean, which depends as to where in Spain you are at. My mom had said for my brother and I to make a list of what we’re going to take with us on the trip, and if we were thinking of taking any electronics, they should be put to charge. “Okay guys, go make a list of what you’re going to take with you on our trip. Make sure to take a book as well,” is what my mom had said to the both of us. We made a tiny list of what we were going to take with us, which was really just our phones, 3DS, and a book that I can’t quite remember the title. It wasn’t long until the day came when we were scheduled to fly to Madrid, Spain.We grabbed our bags and packed them into the car, with a bit of arguing from my brother and I, and we were off. Our destination, the airport. While my dad was driving us to the airport, he decided to drop a bit of a surprise on us.