Premium Essay

Personal Narrative-West Middle School

Submitted By
Words 539
Pages 3
The smell of rosin drifted through my nose. I could hear the screeches of violins, violas, cellos, and basses. I looked around me at the huge school “Wow! This is gonna be scary.” I whispered.

Kids drifted in and out of passages and doorways without a care in the world. I cared. I cared. This was my first concert and I wanted to hide under a rock and scream. I had no clue where to go and what to do. I awkwardly stumbled through crowds of kids, while trying not to break my viola. West Middle School was so enormous! “How am I supposed to do this?” I thought.
The white tacky pull out table was visible from the doorway, girls and women from all different ages were collecting papers and giving (hopefully) useful information. The new white audi …show more content…
I saw Natalie, Sam, Ann, Alena, and many other friendly faces right away. I surprisingly found my way to the bathroom and changed into my bright orange shirt.

We practiced in the gym and cafeteria a little bit until the parents arrived. My anxiety was almost too much to handle. My hands sweating, my eyes swiveled from left to right.

We started playing and I had gone through the songs so many times it was easy. As loud cheers erupted a sense of pride washed over me. Like magic, the happy feelings inside me disappeared. We still had one more song left, and it was the hardest of them all. Cotton eyed Joe.

The middle school/high schoolers were amazing! I watched in awe as they flawlessly made their way through difficult songs. I searched their faces. “What! They look nervous too. Maybe i’m not so alone.” I thought.

Cotton eyed Joe was next. My fingers were throbbing from the previous songs. “I can do this!” I whispered determinedly. I CAN DO THIS!!! I almost dropped my viola my hands were so sweaty. My partner Mckinney was hard to find through all the teenagers. We got to our spots and my face changed from a scared little kid to a mature 6th grader. “I got

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

The Representation of Terrorism, Islam and Muslim Identities on Popular Us Series Homeland

...coverage on news media, TV entertainment, especially TV dramas also provide a powerful outlet for the popular prevailing discourses on Muslim and Islamic culture, which compare to news reports, leaves a more vivid and graphic impression on audience with its discourse and narratives. The proposed subject I am going to study is revolved around the representation of Islam and Muslim identity in the popular US TV drama Homeland. (Showtime, 2011) Homeland (Showtime, 2011) has been arguably the most successful TV series focusing on the theme of counter-terrorism and national security across the Atlantic since 2011, following its predecessor 24 (Fox, 2001) developed by the same producers. When asked what made the show distinctive compared to its predecessors, Damian Lewis, who played as Sgt Nicholas Brody, the male lead in Homeland replied, “We feel a bit differently about the War On Terror now. We’ve gone to war in the name of defending western democracy and our freedoms, but a lot of us don’t like the way in which those wars have been perpetrated, and we feel ambivalent about our governments as a result”. (Radio Times, 2012) The other main actor Mandy Patinkin, who plays the role of Saul Berenson, the CIA Middle-Eastern Division Chief, recalled his...

Words: 4172 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald Research Paper

...F. Scott Fitzgerald is in many ways one of the most notable writers of the twentieth century. His prodigious literary voice and style provides remarkable insight into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, as well as himself. Exploring themes such as disillusionment, coming of age, and the corruption of the American Dream, Fitzgerald based most of his subject matter on his own despicable, tragic life experiences. Although he was thought to be the trumpeter of the Jazz Age, he never directly identified himself with it and was adverse to many of its manifestations. The life of F. Scott Fitzgerald was deeply divided, in that his early successes in the 1910’s and 1920’s contrast noticeably with the years full of personal happenings and self doubt. It was divided, among all, between the pursuit of the artistic ideal and the continual lure of easy success. He became a victim of the myth of success and money instead of the perpetrator. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald’s incredible prose style and beautiful talent shined through his tragic, disillusioned life and he was able to successful create a beautiful world for his readers to escape to. In the early 1920’s, Fitzgerald was accepted as a symbol of youthful sophistication. He became intensely aware of the strangeness and mystery behind the rich at a young age, and tried so hard to echo their actions through sheen curiosity and characterization. It was then that he established a rich and enduring symbolic value throughout his...

Words: 1489 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Outsiders, Compare Book and Movie

...Sixteen years after a sixteen-year-old wrote this book, Francis Ford Coppola turned this novel into a movie. The book is a coming-of-age novel, but the movie focuses on the characters' loss of innocence. The movie follows the story line very closely. The reader is only told that this story takes place in the southwest, but the movie places it in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the year 1966. It also changes the conflict from the East Side versus the West side to the northside versus the southside. This minor directional change was probably made due to the relative time proximity to the musical West Side Story, which won the best picture Academy Award in l961. However, as with all movies, character insight that is critical to understanding the story is lost when the format goes from the written word to the screen. Ponyboy is telling us the story, the same as in the book, but the 91-minute film only glosses over many character relationships. <a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/CNSite/;navArea=CLIFFSNOTES2_LITERATURE;type=Lit_Note;kword=SE_Hinton;kword=The_Outsiders;contentItemId=139;tile=3;sz=300x250;ord=123456789?" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/CNSite/;navArea=CLIFFSNOTES2_LITERATURE;type=Lit_Note;kword=SE_Hinton;kword=The_Outsiders;contentItemId=139;tile=3;sz=300x250;ord=123456789?" width="300" height="250" border="0" alt="" /></a> With the exception of Ponyboy, the viewer misses out on knowing most of the novel's characters. Darry and Soda...

Words: 2470 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

The Great Gatsby Research Paper

...Whenever I think of the events that have occurred in the past, I always seem to remember more tragic events than the blissful moments. Even in literature, the tragedies are more remembered than other stories. For example, the story of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most notorious plays, despite its appalling ending. Authors have made it a point to sell tragedy in order to make money. However, my perspective on that opinion has been changed. I read The Great Gatsby during my sophomore year in high school as a part of an American literature class. By the end of the book, I realized that no matter what happens in life, it will still keep going and I should only have to look at the optimistic part of it. For some reason, I felt sympathy for Gatsby,...

Words: 2292 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Olive Senior

...Personal Information Born Olive Marjorie Senior on December 23, 1941, in Jamaica; immigrated to Canada, 1991. Education: Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada), B.S., journalism, 1967. Career Daily Gleaner newspaper, Jamaica, reporter and sub-editor; Jamaica Information Service, information officer, 1967-69; Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, public relations officer, 1969-71; JCC Journal, editor, 1969-71; Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, publications editor, 1972-77; Social and Economic Studies, editor, 1972-77; freelance writer and researcher, part-time teacher in communications, publishing consultant, and speech writer, Jamaica, 1977-82; Institute of Jamaica Publications, managing editor, 1982-89; Jamaica Journal, editor, 1982-89; freelance teacher, writer, lecturer, 1989-; University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados, visiting lecturer/writer-in-residence, 1990; Caribbean Writers Summer Institute, University of Miami, Florida, director of fiction workshop, 1994, 1995; St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, Dana Visiting Professor of creative writing, 1994-95; University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, writer-in-residence, 1998-99. Life's Work Jamaican-born journalist, poet, and short story writer Olive Senior is one of Caribbean literature's leading feminist voices. Her works, though written in English, remain heavily influenced by the region's patois, and draw heavily upon its oral storytelling traditions. In both her verse...

Words: 2658 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Naomi

...Naomi Summary Summary (Literary Essentials: World Fiction) Naomi is an ironic account of a seemingly proper gentleman in his mid-twenties who meets a young girl named Naomi, who is working as a waitress in a cafe. The story is told by its protagonist, Joji Kawai. Fascinated by her Western-sounding name and her sensuous beauty, which reminds him of American silent film star Mary Pickford (highly popular in Japan in the 1920’s), Joji decides that he intends to marry Naomi; soon he falls into a Pygmalion-like relationship as he attempts to tame this selfish and willful creature. Joji gives Naomi money for English and voice lessons, only to learn that she is less talented than he had first supposed. She refuses to do any work in the house, buys extravagant clothes, and manipulates Joji into borrowing money under false pretenses from his doting mother, who lives in the country. Naomi next takes up Western dancing and forces Joji to accompany her to her lessons and to Tokyo dance halls. There he realizes that she has developed a whole coterie of younger male friends unknown to him. The young student Kumagai in particular speaks with Naomi in a fashion which suggests that they have been intimate. Joji’s illusions shatter; his work suffers, and he begins to lose control of himself. At Naomi’s suggestion, Joji decides to rent a cottage for the summer in the resort town of Kamakura, south of Tokyo. He commutes from there to his job in Tokyo. Naomi seems happy with this arrangement,...

Words: 3381 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Amitav Ghosh's Glass Palace: a Critical Study

...CHAPTER 3 COLONIAL HISTORY TRACKED Colonialism trumpeted the cultural superiority and rightness of the White. The European empire is said to have held sway over more than eighty-five percent of the rest of the globe by the time of the First World War, having consolidated power and control over several centuries. One of the ways by which colonialism maintained power was by writing its own histories. These histories were conceived within grand narratives of progress, expansion and enlightenment. Inevitably, they both systematically and accidentally recast, ignored and silenced other competing histories from the places and cultures with which they came into contact. Post - colonial studies has consequently set itself the task of examining and challenging those narratives, developing other ways of telling histories, and re – evaluating other ways of remembering. If post- colonial literature means the interrogation of the subaltern to the “center”, no other book is representative of the post-colonial theory and practice as Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace. The novel won the 2001 Frankfurt e – book Award of fifty thousand dollars Grand Prize for Fiction. Abreast of the contemporary academic debates about colonialism and culture, Ghosh is well-equipped in challenging the institutionalized perspectives...

Words: 3415 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

The God of Small Things

...of The God of Small Things takes place in a village called “Ayemenem,” set near a river called “Meenachal.” Roy’s fictionalized village and river strongly resemble the real-life Aymanam and Minachil, and her narrative contains numerous references to the actual landscape of south-central Kerala, its people and their common customs, their music and dance, their religions and social organization, and their economic and political activities. The narrative also mixes its fictional elements with factual elements on a larger scale. Some of the novel’s “imaginary” episodes occur in the real town of Kottayam (about 2 miles from Ayemenem/ Aymanam, across the river) and in the historic port-city of Cochin (now Kochi, about 50 miles away to the northwest). The novel’s political discussion frequently blends fictional characters and organizations with real politicians and political parties: Comrade Pillai, for example, is an invented figure, but E.M.S. Namboodripad, the Communist Party, and the Congress Party are historical entities. The mixture of fictional and factual elements in The God of Small Things has led many Indian readers to interpret it as a “semi-autobiographical” novel. But attempts to relate characters, places, events, and patterns in the book primarily to Roy’s personal life can seriously distort its...

Words: 6809 - Pages: 28

Premium Essay

Ewbufghefews

...his article is about the academic discipline. For a general history of human beings, see History of the world. For other uses, see History (disambiguation). Page semi-protected Historia by Nikolaos Gysis (1892) Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.[1] —George Santayana History (from Greek ἱστορία - historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation"[2]) is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it sometimes attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause and effect that determine events.[3][4] Historians debate the nature of history and its usefulness. This includes discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the present.[3][5][6][7] The stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources (such as the legends surrounding King Arthur) are usually classified as cultural heritage rather than the "disinterested investigation" needed by the discipline of history.[8][9] Events of the past prior to written record are considered prehistory. Amongst scholars, the 5th-century BC Greek historian Herodotus is considered to be the "father of history", and, along...

Words: 7792 - Pages: 32

Premium Essay

English Essay

...English - Final Exam Terms to Know The following link is very helpful: Examples Glossary from Your Dictionary Alliteration In alliteration, the first consonant sound is repeated in several words. A good example is “wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to waken”. Alliteration can be fun, as in tongue twisters like: “Kindly kittens knitting mittens keep kazooing in the king's kitchen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Alice’s aunt ate apples and acorns around August. Becky’s beagle barked and bayed, becoming bothersome for Billy. Carries cat clawed her couch, creating chaos. Dan’s dog dove deep in the dam, drinking dirty water as he dove. Eric’s eagle eats eggs, enjoying each episode of eating. Examples of Alliteration Allusion “I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.” This refers to the story of Pinocchio, where his nose grew whenever he told a lie. It is from The Adventures of Pinocchio, written by Carlo Collodi. “When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn’t necessary.” Scrooge was an extremely stingy character from Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol. “I thought the software would be useful, but it was a Trojan Horse.” This refers to the horse that the Greeks built that contained all the soldiers. It was given as a gift to the enemy during the Trojan War and, once inside the enemy's walls, the soldiers broke out. By using trickery, the Greeks won the war. “He was a real Romeo with the ladies.” Romeo was a character...

Words: 3244 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

North American Fiction

...Fiction we must understand what American Literature is in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know, their community was also governed by the concept of Predestination. This belief was based...

Words: 12691 - Pages: 51

Free Essay

Bussiness

...TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT LOCAL INFORMATION PHOTOS TAKEN OH -2 OH -3 OH -1P LOCAL REPORT NUMBER * 13014176 2 CRASH DATE * CRASH SEVERITY 1 - FATAL 2 - INJURY 3 HIT/SKIP 1 - SOLVED 2. UNSOLVED 3- PDO 0 OTHER PDO UNDER STATE REPORTABLE DOLLAR AMOUNT PRIVATE REPORTING AGENCY NCIC * REPORTING AGENCY NAME * PROPERTY 05718 CITY, VILLAGE, TOWNSHIP cITY * vILLAGE* Englewood TOWNSHIP * * Englewood Police NUMBER OF UNITS UNIT IN ERROR 1 98 - ANIMAL 99 - UNKNOWN DAY OF WEEK COUNTY * TIME OF CRASH Montgomery County DEGREES/MINUTES/SECONDS LATITUDE 04/10/2013 DECIMAL DEGREES 12:22 WED LONGITUDE :: RoADWAY DIVISION DIVIDED UNDIVIDED N - NORTHBOUND S - SOUTHBOUND :: DIVIDED LANE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL E - EASTBOUND W -WESTBOUND NUMBER OF THRU LANES O R LATITUDE LONGITUDE 39.867823 84.292132 WA - WAY 4 LoCATION ROAD NAME ROAD TYPES OR MILEPOST AL - ALLEY CR - CIRCLE AV - AVENUE CT - COURT BL - BOULEVARD DR - DRIVE HE - HEIGHTS HW - HIGHWAY LA - LANE LOCATION ROAD TYPE MP - MILEPOST PK - PARKWAY PI - PIKE PL - PLACE RD - ROAD SQ - SQUARE ST - STREET TE - TERRACE TL - TRAIL US LoCATION ROUTE NUMBER LOCATION ROUTE 00040 TYPE LoC PREFIX N,S, E,W ST ROUTE TYPES IR - INTERSTATE ROUTE (INC. TURNPIKE) US - US ROUTE SR - STATE ROUTE CR - NUMBERED COUNTY ROUTE TR - NUMBERED TOWNSHIP ROUTE REFERENCE ROAD TYPE DISTANCE FROM REFERENCE DIR FROM REF REFERENCE REFERENCE ROUTE...

Words: 3950 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Postmodernism Is Dead

...Postmodernism is dead A new exhibition signals the end of postmodernism. But what was it? And what comes next? by Edward Docx / July 20, 2011 / Leave a comment  Published in August 2011 issue of Prospect Magazine I have some good news—kick back, relax, enjoy the rest of the summer, stop worrying about where your life is and isn’t heading. What news? Well, on 24th September, we can officially and definitively declare that postmodernism is dead. Finished. History. A difficult period in human thought over and done with. How do I know this? Because that is the date when the Victoria and Albert Museum opens what it calls “the first comprehensive retrospective” in the world: “Postmodernism—Style and Subversion 1970-1990.” Wait, I hear you cry. How do they know? And what was it? Postmodernism—I didn’t understand it. I never understood it. How can it be over? You are not alone. If there’s one word that confuses, upsets, angers, beleaguers, exhausts and contaminates us all, then it is postmodernism. And yet, properly understood, postmodernism is playful, intelligent, funny and fascinating. From Grace Jones to Lady Gaga, from Andy Warhol to Gilbert and George, from Paul Auster to David Foster Wallace, its influence has been everywhere and continues. It has been the dominant idea of our age. So what was it? Well, the best way to begin to understand postmodernism is with reference to what went before: modernism. Unlike, say, the Enlightenment or Romanticism, postmodernism (even as...

Words: 3784 - Pages: 16

Free Essay

Fdsf

...AS Media Studies Assignment AS Media Studies Assignment Week 2, Task, page 15 (Genre) Description of Law and order In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses such as rape, torture, pedophilia and child-abuse are dealt with in New York City, by a special unit of detectives of the police department known as the Special Victims Unit. These crimes are then passed on to the courtroom for prosecution. Description of Law and order In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses such as rape, torture, pedophilia and child-abuse are dealt with in New York City, by a special unit of detectives of the police department known as the Special Victims Unit. These crimes are then passed on to the courtroom for prosecution. Law and order is a crime-based drama, with a mixture of ‘court-room’ and ‘detective’, TV series, mainly shown on channel five. By reading the description of the show, I immediately realised that this is a show that is based around the world of crime and how the crime is dealt with within the city of New York. It starts from finding who the criminal is and then we follow the story up to the prosecution in the court room. Words such as ‘courtroom, ‘rape’, ‘victim’, ‘detective’ immediately grabs the reader’s attention, giving us the impression of the type of genre this TV series is. The picture that accompanies the description also shows that the genre of this series is crime as the main detective is pulling out her police badge and is what the...

Words: 4750 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

Fully Discuss the Data Gathering Methods You Will Use

...Data Gathering Method Evidence-based Practices in Corrections Clarence S. Lasana MGMT 568: Organizational Development & Change Tarleton State University Summer 2012 Cover letter July 22, 2012 Dear Participants: Mr. Robert, Sala, Area Manager: The Hertz Corporation Austin Bergstrom International AP, Austin, Texas Respected Mr. Robert Sala, I am a student from Texas A&M University, Central Texas doing my MS in Management & Leadership, as per the Data Gathering project requirement I am conducting an Employee Satisfaction Survey on The Hertz Corporation at Austin, Texas. The purpose of the Employee Satisfaction Survey is to gather data on the Hertz Corporation at Austin Bergstrom International Airport with the intention of solving employee relation problems. This is a “Skip level” survey. This survey includes all employees and excludes all internal managers. The survey will consist of open ended and close ended questions. The answers are expected to be answered with integrity as I use these answers to analyze the overall data. Once the analysis has been completed, the data will be kept confidential. Sincerely, Mr. Lasana ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Survey Introduction During the spring of 2012, I Clarence Lasana noticed a lack of leadership...

Words: 1253 - Pages: 6