Response from Edith

My dear John,

You seem to be the same youngster I taught as you are now. You were always so determined, ignoring harsh criticism from everyone, especially me. And for some apparent reason, I feel a bit guilty. Perhaps I pushed you too hard, teachers occasionally do that you know. We are constantly hit with mottoes like "if you put your mind to it anything is possible" or "push yourself to the limits." And after some time we honestly believe that, not knowing when enough is enough or where the limit is. So, please accept this apology because I feel as if the criticism I provided has made you feel less confident about your works. And if I'm not mistaken, I detect a hint of coldness in your claims towards me because of this.

The formula, Mr. Steinbeck, was not like if A=2 & B=3 then A+B=5. The "formula," for writing exceptional literature, differs for everyone, something you have failed to grasp. And to be frank, imagination was something you never mastered. You focus too much on facts & proof, & I've tried to teach you to open your mind a little & explore. John, you have a recognizable talent that very few of my students have ever possessed, & you are lucky that you've been given the chance to share it with the rest of the world. But you bottle it in yourself, too obsessed with becoming exact & perfect. And that's why there is fear in not only your writing, but the actual act in writing it.

It is normal for some fear to be present in a writer; rejection is never an easy thing to accept. But your secret formula, John, is to be able to accept that rejection. Once you have overcome your fears, you will realize that that writer is not "happily unaware of the remote and tantalizing majesty of the medium" as you put it, but merely able to overlook that very thing that forces him to be perfect. That is what makes a writer worthy of being an authour.

P.S. And if you don't believe me, reread your Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Anyone who uses such concentrated vocabulary has got to be worthy of something. Don't you agree?

Yours Truly,
Mrs. Edith Mirrielees

Imitation- The Growth

A child is born, as if by an accident of fate, to two parents who swear they will care for it & love it & do the best thing for it. Its skin is silky, the colour of milk. & its little tiny eyes blink innocently at the troubles of the world. The mother strokes adoringly at the little twirl of hair on the back of the baby's head. & the father hopes one day they can play baseball together in the field down the street.


Sadly, the parents grow apart just as much as the baby grows. For some reason suddenly they can't seem to agree on anything. When the baby should go to bed, what to do when the baby cries, what kind of formula the baby should drink. They can't agree on anything. One day the little baby says its very first word, but the parents don't hear for their yells are too loud. A couple days later the baby stands up, & takes a step or two. But the parents are throwing plates at each other, so they don't see. & as time goes by, the parents realize the only thing they love is the child, so they leave each other. & the child goes from newborn to toddler to little child in the eyes of only parent at a time. Never having realized that it was once loved by two people.

As the child grows into a youngster, it knows what it missed out on, & slowly becomes angry. The kid ages into a teenager, the anger growing into fury. About to crack unless it goes out, drinking, picking fights. It now carries a switch blade, a gun. Something dangerous to help the kid feel noticed.

Sometimes the teen throws plates at it's mum. Sometimes yells at it's dad, both of them not realizing the phone is ringing. The answering machine clicks, & someone is talking in a slow somber voice. The father & child keep on yelling, & only stop when they hear the word:

HOSPITAL.

After the child's mum's funeral, the court forces it to live with the father now. But the teen is even more furious now. More so than before, & one night packs it's bags & leaves. It stuffs its gun in the back of its pants, & slides the blade in its sock. The rebel walks all night long, catching buses & trains. Hitch hiking, picking fights with drunks on the side of the roads. It pools some money together, most of it stolen, & meets up with dodgy looking blokes in dark alleys. The punkster meets people, which leads to living in a run down slum with leaky roofs & peeling wall paper. Everyone knows not to mess with this kid, so they respect & keep away. But the kid is putting on an act, & feels lonely & without purpose.

One night after a wicked fight & perhaps too much drinking, it walks alone in park. Its arms hang limply & its hair matted & oily. Dark circles bulge under the child's eyes, & sharp gaunt cheek bones make the face look eery & starved in the dim light. It takes out its switchblade & points it at a stray cat. They hiss at each other & the human throws the blade at the animal as it scampers away. BASTARD! it yells. BASTARD BASTARD YOU BASTARDS! It falls to it's knees, sobbing against the dew covered grass. You bastards... It mumbles, as a steady hand lifts the nozzle of the gun to its temple.

Suddenly in the split second before the figure is dead, it turns into a baby. Its hair is soft & curls behind it's ears. It laughs as it takes a step into the arms of its mum. The father clapping proudly with tears in his eyes. The baby's eyes twinkle & stare bravely as it stutters a couple of words. The parents are both there at the breakfast table, talking about a possibly picnic later on. & they pick up the child & kiss its blushing cheeks. Laughing & debating what the word actually was as a plate silently falls onto the floor. Food spills across the tiles, shards scatter the ground. But it goes unnoticed, for at that exact moment, it isn't important.

"Travels with Charlie"

Charley, being a dog, probably viewed the bear as a threat. For some apparent reason, he felt like he needed to attack, possibly kill the animal. Why? Who knows. But people don't realize that animals do things for a reason. Charley didn't go all mental when he saw the bears just cause he WANTED to. There was probably a good reason as to why he exhausted himself by barking & panting about.

When John Steinback & Charley went to Yellowstone, Charley probably thought "What the hell John? You don't even like parks." Sometimes teenagers think the same thing about their parents. Like they're trying really hard to do something that will bring the family closer, even though it's pretty stupid. That's most likely how Charley felt; John was the parent, & Charley was the bored teenager who didn't understand what they were doing there.

"The Turtle"

Steinbeck was inspired by the great depression to write stories like "Grapes of Wrath." In the book is a chapter about a turtle crossing the road. He takes the turtle, & uses it as a metaphor for the migrant workers of Oklahoma. The turtle has to overcome obstacles like pits, thorns, hitch-hikers, hills, cars. Very much like the families of the dust bowl, only on a greater scale, such as starvation, disease, lack of jobs & homes.

"The Flood"

Steinbeck's Description/Tone/& Colloquialism:

When he describes something, he uses all of the senses to make the effect seem as real as possible. He describes small details that most people ignore or don't notice. But by mentioning these, such as he describes the flood making the willow branches bend into the current, the audience gets an idea of how the scenery looks. His word choice is also important in the way he writes because by choosing the willow tree, it symbolizes grief & sorrow.

The way the people talk also fits in with word choice. "The Flood" is about the migrant works of the south. When he describes the conditions, he writes it from one of the people's view; they's rules- you got to be here a year before you can git relief.

His tone, by describing & word choice, appears to be grey. The sky is grey, the water is grey, the people are grey. Everything seems to be defeated, as if they're lives are hopeless; the women are sick, the children are hungry, the men steal. Everyone changes from fearful to angry.

Photo Essay

The photo of the man & woman standing together:

Both of them look pretty shabby. His beard is uneven & scruffy, & her hair is frizzy. They both have wrinkles on their forehead's as if they're amused. In one of her hands she clenches a rag, & his hand protectively cups hers. Her other hand is tensed up & the fingers spread in a grotesque manner. They look exhausted & beaten down as they stand in front of a shack.


The photo of the two children:

A young boy & girl, probably brother & sister, squat in the dirt in front of their tent playing with the pebbles. Their clothes are ragged & their skin seems to be caked with dust. The boy however, is looking up, smiling at the camera. Behind them is a cloth tent with a woman's face peering through the opening. Rusty pots & metal tubs litter the surroundings, & twigs from a dead leafless tree bends in the background.


The photo of the seven men:

Their hands & arms bandaged, their coats splotched & hat rims tattered, while they stand nearly on top of one another. Sitting behind a desk is a well dressed man writing on paper, while the other wait earnestly, watching him closely. Their facial expressions are desperate, staring as if they don't ever blink. The only man smiling is one holding a paper.

Book Reviews

before i die- jenny downham

this book really depressed me. [the main character, tessa, was dying of leukemia] i actually didn't like her. she always used her disease as an excuse. the whole book was kind of like "the bucket list." [pretend that's underlined ms. lindsay] where she wrote things she wanted to do before she died on her wall, & then did them. i thought most of the things were pretty stupid- like one day she had to say yes to everything. [she ended up in a river with a homeless guy] another day she went shoplifting. shoplifting? honestly lady... of course she got caught- & of course she used her illness as an excuse. too bad for her the manager didn't really care.



heavy metal and you- christopher krovatin

this book was hysterically funny!!!! i couldn't stop laughing at what the characters said to each other. the story line was pretty much like any love story movie- guy likes girl. girl likes guy. friends don't like the match. i think this is probably one of my favourite books of all time. the main character- a teenage metal head who is into alcohol/cigs/pot/MUSIC, falls for this preppy girl who is completely straight edge. & like any couple, they become totally oblivious to the world around them & completely forget about their friends. it's a predictable plot line, but the way it's written makes it extraordinary.



crunch time- mariah fredericks

interesting book, appeals to high school students. kind of like "the breakfast club." [pretend that's underlined ms. lindsay] four kids, each from a different clique, get together to study for their SAT's. max, is daisy's best friend, & is hopelessly in love with her. daisy, a nonchalant kinda chick, falls for leo who's a macho jerk. leo, is hopelessly in love with leo, but fools around with daisy anyway. & jane? she's just there cause her mum's famous. then one day after they've taken their SAT's... DUN DUN DUUUUUN... the school finds out that someone cheated on their score. it's kinda obvious though. i was like "FRIGGING DUH IT'S ____."



love sick- jake coburn

a pretty stupid book to be honest. there's this girl who's anorexic, her father knows it, so hires this guy to spy on her. only the guy is an alcoholic... he falls in love with her [big surprise] & starts lying to the father. the girl finds out he's spying on her, so the guy-her-dad-hired gets upset & drinks until he's totally hammered. then he does this really radical thing that [im my opinion] is incredibly stupid. stupid book- don't read it.



vampire academy- richelle mead

this book is super passionate. it's about two girls, one of them is a vampire [who has secret powers no one knows about], & the other is her "guardian." the guardian girl is kinda of a... rebel? she doesn't listen to anyone, punches people she doesn't like, drinks until she pukes, & wears short dresses. early in the year the two girls ran away from their academy, but got caught by these vampire FBI blokes. so now they're under constant watch, & the guardian girl has to take guardian lessons from this super sexy & mysterious russian guy who she lusts for. but in the academy there's this evil force who's trying to steal the vampire's secret powers. it's a pretty intriguing book, & richelle mead does a good job at making the reader feel the same way about the russian guy as the guardian.


vampire diaries, the fury & the dark reunion- l. j. smith

it's a series of books about this girl -elena- & how she falls in love with this vampire named... STEFAN! [heh heh heh] i hate hate hate hate HATE elena. she's this popular girl at her school who thinks everyone loves & adores her. the first book was really good -the awakening & the struggle- but then elena died in the end of it. so in the second book, she's a vampire but lives in this spirit world of this dark force. it kinda sucks though, cause stefan has a brother, damion [what's up with the names?], who tries to steal elena away from him. so when she dies, & then is reborn, she's in love with damion- wrong guy sweetie. i didn't particularly like it. i mean the main character dies in the first book, so the second book is about how her friends are trying to revive her. it's bogus.


lucas- kevin brooks

kevin brooks is one of my favourite authours. he writes about things that every teenager has to deal with, but pumps it up to a higher extreme. lucas [pretend that's underlined ms. lindsay], is about a kid who roams around the country -named lucas-, making camps for a couple days in forests. he meets this girl & they become really good friends. then one day this girl named rose is nearly beaten to death, & the whole town blames lucas [besides his new found friend & her father].


kissing the rain- kevin brooks

i think all of kevin brooks's book are amazing. he's an amazing authour & can write in various styles, still making the story incredibly interesting. this book is about an overweight teenager who's an outcast. to make himself forget about school he has this special spot on this bridge that he just sits down & watches the cars go by. but one night while he was there he witnessed a murder. the whole book is about how he gets caught up in the trial & how he has to make a decision. unfortunately the people he's dealing with are viciously brutal, & nearly beat his only friend to death. the way the book is written is super cool- brooks capitalizes important words in each sentence.


sirena- donna jo napoli

i've always loved loved loved the idea of a siren. half mermaid half woman. or half bird half woman. it never really mattered how they looked- it's what they did. sirena is about a siren who -after killing a fleet of sailors- is devastated & runs [more like swims] away to an abandoned island in order to restrain herself. but after a couple of months on the island, she sees a ship come & place a body on the beach. as she gets closer, she realizes it's a man who's been bitten by hera's sea serpent. she takes care of the man, & once he wakes up, they fall in love [& she didn't even use her magical singing voice]. but then a decade later the ship comes back & is surprised to find him alive. he tells them that he's not going back to greece & would much rather stay on the island -but since sirena & him had sex, she became immortal while he still ages- so she tells him to go & he does. men...


fat kid rules the world- k. l. going

this book was super. it's about a fat kid [no duh] & a skinny homeless kid. the fat kid is an outcast [sound familiar?] & is about to commit suicide by jumping in front of a metro train but the skinny guy saves him. they become friends [in a really weird way- you'll have to read the book to find out how] & then the skinny kid invites the fat kid to become his drummer in his band. the fat kid is like "yeah okay whatever" but can't really play that well [he pukes when he walks out on stage in one of their gigs]. the skinny kid however, is a druggie & o.d.'s on cough medicine cause he had pneumonia & wouldn't stop taking pills. but while he's in the hospital stealing other people's medication & hiding it in a plant- chubby learns to be a rock n roll superstar.


schooled- gordan korman

about a hippie kid who lives with his hippie grandma, but when the grandma falls off a ladder while picking fruit off a tree, he has to go live with this very modern family while she recovers. he attends this public school where at first he's the biggest dork there, but then after a while he's mr. popular. his simple minded kindness rubs off on the other kids, & the school & people in it totally changes. it's a pretty easy book to read but enjoyable.


the hunted- elmore leonard

god awful book. completely boring, stupid, unbelievable, & downright annoying. it's about this guy who went to court testifying against this muslim group, but then they started following him trying to kill him, so he went incognito in israel. but they followed him there too. then he meets this ex marine guy who helps him out, & they run away from the muslim group all the while trying to collect this briefcase of 100,000 dollars. hm... seems to me my life should be more important than money... i forbid you to read this totally worthless novel.


you've been warned- james patterson

a must read book. totally thrilling, suspenseful, & creepy. it's about a lady who's a babysitter and photographs as a hobby, & is also having an affair with the father of the children. then one day she's walking to work & she sees all these people around a hotel. there are four body bags lying on the ground, so she starts taking pictures. then she goes to work, does the dad, goes home, develops the film, but notices that the images of the body bags are translucent. so she freaks out & is like "yikes my film has gone bad." but then she learns that the hotel murder never happened. and after that she starts getting weird visions of her dead father, a dead detective, & other dead things. one day she decides to take her camera to work with her, & snaps a couple of shots of the father she's having an affair with & his wife & children. but when she develops the film, she notices the strange effect again- but only on the husband & wife. it's an amazing amazing amazing book that i never wanted to stop reading.


hold me tight- lorie ann grover

pretty boring actually. it's about a young girl in grade school who has this pregnant mother when her father leaves. then a boy in her class is kidnapped. the book is mostly just about how she copes with her feelings. i didn't particularly like it -authour plays on your sympathy too much- except this one phrase that i can't seem to forget. so the girl is always complaining that no one loves her & how no one wants her as a daughter, & then that boy is kidnapped by his father's client & she says "he wanted a child so bad he stole someone else's." when i read that it was like *ssssslap* but otherwise than that... below average book.


egged- jerry spenelli

okay book. nothing special about it. it's about this [about ten years old] boy who's mother died & then he meets this [about thirteen years old] girl & they become like brother & sister. they both feel neglected & decide to run away to see this man that waves at the cars that pass by on the street. i still remember the last line of the book. primrose: "i know why he just stands there waving." boy: "why?" primrose: "because they wave back."


secret circle- l. j. smith

smith writes really cool books about vampires, witches, devils, etc. the secret circle is about this girl who has to move to maine with her mother because her grandma is ill. but she doesn't want to because she met this boy that she's now obsessed with. so then when she moves up north she learns that she lives in a neighborhood where all the kids are witches [including boys]. she's then bullied pretty bad by this girl at school [whenever it happens it makes me wanna cry. smith does a really good job at making you feel horrified] but then everyone realizes that she's a witch too. so she joins this secret circle [wow didn't see that one coming] & has to destroy this spirit that keeps killing people in their town. but then she meets the guy she was obsessed with only to find out his girlfriend is the leader of the secret circle.


thirsty- m. t. anderson

good book. once again it's about vampires... so the main character is this teenage guy who goes to this hanging of this "vampire." but as the vampire lady is being led past him she whispers that he's one of them too & he's all like "no way hose." but later as he is walking alone on the beach this man approaches him & says he needs his help defeating this other species of vampires & in return he won't turn into one. so this stupid kid is like "okay!" but after a couple of months realizes that he's helping the wrong team.


interview with a vampire- ann rice

yay another vampire book! but this one is actually sorta kinda more famous. sooo. the whole book is an interview. this young journalist goes to visit this vampire & the vampire tells the story of how he became what he is & yadda yadda. it's an interesting book, written back in new orleans when there were slaves. it's pretty gruesome, a lot of neck tearing [no way really?], but at the same time a lot of affection [nice mixture]. i found it to be too long, too many things happening in too many places. super hard to follow. it's like "wait are they back in new orleans or in france? hey when did they move to ireland?" the language is also pretty difficult to understand. this isn't exactly light reading before bed.


define normal- julie anne peters

hard to believe. it didn't seem real. it's about two girls, both going through a hard time, that are total opposites. one's a half shaven purple haired freak while the other is a nerdy way too skinny dork. they're both having problems with their parent's; purple hates her while skinny's dad is gone & mum is mental AND she has to take are of her younger brothers. so they're each told separately to council the other one [duo psychiatric help that they don't know about] & end up becoming good friends. the problem with this book though is that i found it hard to believe. they're supposed to be in grade eight but they act like college kids. it's especially unbelievable how julie anne peters makes purple & her friends into mohawk druggies. i mean seriously... how many eighth graders do you know that have orange mohawks & eyebrow piercings?



the gospel according to larry- janet tashjian

a story about a teenage philosopher named josh something other. THIS BOOK IS THE FREAKING BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. so this is how it goes: josh's mother dies & to keep himself occupied he creates this website under a fake name -larry- & posts these sermons about his ideas about the world [mostly about advertisements & how they brainwash our minds]. well over a year or so this larry guy starts to become bigger & bigger, till pretty much everyone knows about him. no one knows it's actually josh, & at schools all over america they develop larry fan clubs & create stickers & pins with his logos on it. then one day bono from U2 reads one of his sermons & thinks the kid is a genius, so they have this kind of "remake" of woodstock where a couple bands get together & hold weekend lasting concert about non commercial ideas. well on the sight is this person named "betagold" who swears to larry that they'll find him. well this betagold turns out to be a seventy something year old lady who DOES eventually discover josh's secret. then josh/larry starts getting bombarded with news reports, magazines, talk shows, product companies, etc. so he comes up with this idea of faking his own death. he sets it up so people think he jumped off this bridge, & then hides out in the woods a couple days. but one day he's reading a newspaper & it has all these fake claims from people about stuff josh/larry did [such as rape]. so unfortunately he couldn't go back into the real world or else they would arrest him & he would spend the rest of his life getting rid of all the charges. so he wrote a manuscript while he was incognito & gave it to this authour -janet tashjian- to publish.



things left unsaid- stephanie hemphill

i reeeally didn't like this book. it was fake fake fake fake faaaake. so what happens is this; high school girl. bored with her life. tired of being bossed around by her best friend. girl meets other girl. other girl is dark, dangerous, rebellious. girl becomes dark, dangerous, rebellious. then other girl tries killing herself. girl gets really depressed, but has an epiphany & changes her clothes back to colourful. girl then meets guy, they start going out, & then she gets lead role in this play at school. then when other girl gets let out of rehab, girl is like- "oh no way we're still friends." it's pretty stupid actually. the main character writes a letter to the suicidal girl & it's an invitation to move forward in life & be as happy as her. i actually secretly hate her, i mean SHE was the one clinging onto everyone desperate for a "style." & she just picked one, like how someone picks their favourite can of soup from the pantry, & decides that that's "her style now." it's ridiculous. this authour tries too hard to be heard through a teenager's voice, & it doesn't fit. because frumpy 50 year olds don't KNOW how it is to live like a modern teen.