Show Don't Tell

The land was beautiful, but harsh. The town was safe from the elements, but outside could be dangerous if one did not take precautions.

The land behind our wall was supposed to be wild. We knew there was a forest but the creatures that lived within were supposed to be dangerous. ‘The wizard’ was born and bread there. When I was a child I had sneaked out from a hole underneath the wall and had gone into the forest, apparently I had almost been lost. The wall was our safety but some, like me, thought it was a cage that kept us in. Only a few had made it out and even fewer had come back in. One of the people who had made it back, was my father.

Show Don't Tell

The hero was strong and handsome. He was admired by the townspeople. He was brave and wished to help those in need.

I looked at our hero, with his curly dark chocolate hair and for the first time I was struck by his handsomeness. He had rippling biceps and was very tall. When he picked up heavy objects his muscles moved. Many of my family and friends admired him. He was always trying to do the best for us as he knew we were just poor townspeople, I guess you could say that he wished to help those in need. Many times he defeated huge drooling monsters set upon us by the evil dictator wizard. He was a very brave young man, sent to us by the gods. No one knows his name or where he came from. One night he just appeared at our town’s gate wearing torn and bloody clothing. In turn for food and shelter he promised to help defend the town, going as far as to trying and kill the evil wizard. From then on he has helped small and tall alike. From old ladies to young children.

“Need any help?” He asked in his deep voice. I was startled and choked out a reply

“ No thank-you”. I looked up and for the first time I realised his eyes were emerald. They glittered as if filled with water. I wondered why this was so. I waved as he walked away.

Lost - Book reflection

I have finished ‘A Rose for the ANZAC Boys’ and I have started reading the book Lost by Michael Robotham. This book is about Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz who is shot and found clinging to a buoy in the River Thames with no memory of the case he was working on or where he was that nice. The part I am up to is when he is hospital and the doctor is explaining why there is a gauze bandage wrapped around his calf and his finger. He lost he finger before the found him. It was the fourth finger on his right hand. I will keep reading to find out who shot him.

To Kill a Mocking Bird - letter 2

Dear Madison
I am happy to hear that the boycott isn’t affecting you as well. It is so silly I don’t see why blacks cannot sit at the front of the bus I see no problem. I am in year 10 at a little school near our neighborhood. I have 3 friends and their names are; Cathy, Margaret and Ella-Sue, we play in the park a lot and were all neighbors. We are also all in the same classes at school. Is this the same for you? At school we learn English and home economics. We also learn how to read and write. We have morning tea at 10:30 and lunch at 1, we also learned how to tell time. All of my teachers are nice except Mrs. Smith who is an old hag. Do you dislike any teachers? During morning tea, lunch and after-school we play in the park and we also like to dress up. What is your favorite activity? We don't really know much about the world around us as we are only 15 but I do know it is not social to talk to black people, I also know that the latest fashion is high-waisted skirts. We don't own a radio so we don't usually listen to music what we usually sing is hymn. How about you? How is your life?
Yours sincerely,
Courtney

To Kill a Mocking Bird - letter 1

Dear Madison

My name is Courtney and I am writing to you from April 12^th 1934. I see you asked me questions in your last letter and I will do my best to answer them. I have grown-up and I live in a ‘white neighbourhood’ (of course!) we have a white park behind us and our black maid Gracie always takes us. Our roads are smooth and everything is ‘white’. Every Sunday night we go to church and sing hymns. Our house is the average size with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, my older sister and I share a bedroom and our parents share the other bedroom. Two of the other rooms are studies and the last room is a laundry. Both of my parents are grocer owners and they try to make a living for us. In my neighbour hood there is also a market at the end of the street but they are only open every second day. Behind our neighbourhood is a ‘black’ street and Gracie’s family lives there, this is good as she can walk to work everyday and this silly bus boycott doesn’t effect us. So how are you going at the moment?

Yours sincerly,

Courtney

A Rose for the ANZAC Boys - warning spolier alert

I am still currently reading ‘A Rose for the ANZAC Boys’ and I am around the part where she has become and ambulance driver and she was a chauffeur for a general. She didn’t want to stay the night at a hotel with him when men were dying so she drove to a make-shift hospital made out of tents. She starts to help the wounded by cutting and stripping their clothes for the surgeon. She has the help of a man, whose name I do not know. While trying to sedate a soldier with chloroform he accidently kills him. I will continue reading to find out more.

A Rose of the ANZAC Boys

I have only just started to read this book; I am really enjoying it though. It is about a young girl whose twin brother (14) and older brother (18) goes to war. Even though her twin, Tim is under-age everyone still supports him going to the war. They all send letters to each other and in the first chapter (which is what I’m reading) she receives one from her twin Tim and one from her sister who is a nurse. They are describing how horrible the war is but most of what they say has been censored. I will continue reading to find out how she replies.