If You Had To

Determination.  The thing that can keep you going on just a couple hours of sleep.  The thing that everyone has somewhere in them; the fire burning in your heart.  Many different authors use the theme of determination throughout their books.

In the book Sarah's Key, the theme of determination is used to create the one of the main problems; Sarah getting back home to her brother who she left locked in a cupboard.  He was dying in that cupboard and she thought it was her fault, but she didn't know any better.  She was trying to save his life when she locked him in there, but now she had to hurry home or she would feel the guilt of killing him.  "She had no choice.  She had to get back to Paris." She was determined not to let him die.

Suzanne Collins also used the theme of determination in her book The Hunger Games.  In this book, a girl named Katniss volenteers as a "tribute" in a fight to the death battle called "the hunger games."  Each year both a boy and a girl tribute are chosen from each of the districts to participate in this battle.  Katniss's younger sister, Prim, was chosen as a tribute, but Katniss could not put her younger sister in danger.  She swore to Prim that she would "really, really try," to win and come back home; but with 23 other tributes, the odds were against her.  Even though the odds were against her Katniss was still determined to win the hunger games and get back home to Prim.

The Secret Life of Bees is a book that also has the theme of determination.  In this book, a 14 year old girl, named Lily, supposedly killed her mother when she was younger and her father is abusive.  Her stand-in mother, Rosaleen, is one of her father's slaves.  After many years of living with her father, Rosaleen and Lily ran away from home to trace the one piece of information Lily had about her mother and to escape her father.  Lily "picked Tiburon 'cause her mother had a picture with that town written down on the back- that's it.'" Lily was determined to find out more about her mother.

Not all of these characters got a happy ending.  You can't always control the outcome of a situation no matter how much determination you have.  But, if it's not always a happy ending, then why should we be determined in the first place?  If it's not always going to be the way we want it, why should we try?  Hope.  It gives us hope.  It gives us a reason to live; a purpose for our lives.  

B4 the Crash

Her last words were "c u l8r."   Words that could have waited until "l8r" to be sent.  Words that impacted everyone she knew.  Words that ended her life.  She was young, at the age of 16, too young to die.  As the tears poured down her family's faces, they dreamed of what could have been, if she hadn't had to send her best friend the last words, "c u l8r."  The pain surged through the hearts of everyone.  What is the price of a text message; it is certainly not a life.Children have the privilege of being able to drive at the age of 16.  But is that really a good idea?  Do you really want to put such a young person in that kind of control?  They could easily end their own life, or someone else's.  Therefore, you should have to be at least 21 in order to drive.

If the driving age was raised to 21, it would give people more time to mature.  Driving is all about decision making.  To make good decisions, you have to be mature.  As you go through life, you become more and more mature.  For example, when you are younger you have to learn how to be polite, share your toys and other simple tasks.  As you get older these tasks become things you do naturally.  You gradually become more and more mature.  Also, everyone matures at different times.  So while someone could be mature enough to drive at age 12, someone else may not be mature enough until later in life, it all depends on the person.  There is no harm in waiting a few more years to get your license, and possibly saving a life.

Even though it might be a pain to wait a while longer to have the privilege of driving, it is worth it.  For some, one day they are a normal teenager, and the next their life story is being poured out on the news; all because of three words: "c u l8r."  These kinds of things happen so often, but what if they didn't?  What if it all went away?  What if the roads were safer?  What if you had to be 21 to drive a car?

Another Gift

Author's Note: This is a piece written to demonstrate my understanding of the skill prediction.  This is what I think is going to happen after the end of the short story "The Gift of the Magi."

It was Christmas time once again and this time Della had managed to save $10 to buy a gift for Jim.  She knew exactly what she was going to buy him.  Despite the fact that they had both given up their most prized possessions to buy a gift for each other last year, this year Della was determined to buy Jim something amazing.  By this time Della's hair had grown a little bit longer and both Della and Jim were happy.  Della set out to find what she knew Jim wanted the most; his old watch.  After many weeks of searching, Della finally found the watch.  She begged the man for the watch, offered him money for it, even offered him a new one, but the man wouldn't give up the watch.  Della began to wonder why this man wanted this watch so much.  "Sir, may I ask, what does this watch mean to you?  It is just like any other watch, except for the fact that it has been handed down for generations though my family.  My husband, that watch means the world to him, and he means the world to me.  Please sir, please."  Della held out the 10 dollar bill towards the man.  The man looked around frantically before giving in.  "This watch means a lot to me too ma'am. There is something you don't know about me..."  A look of confusion crossed Della's face.  "What are you trying to say?" Della asked slowly trying to put it all together.  The man continued, "I am trying to say that.....well...um...This watch is a part of my family too.  Jim is my older brother but I was born after he was out of the house and was adopted my aunt and uncle when my parents died 5 years later."  Della stood  right where she was and didn't move as she took in this information.  A few minutes later Della began to speak "So even Jim doesn't know you exist?" The man said "I don't think he knows, ma'am."  Della asked yet another question "What is your name?"  "Eddie, ma'am, my name is Eddie."  the man answered.  "Eddie." Della pondered.  "Yes ma'am." Eddie reassured her  "How would you like to join us for Christmas dinner, Eddie?"  " I would like that very much ma'am."  

I think that this is going to happen because when Jim sold the watch, it was very old.  Even though it was Jim and Della's prized possession, it was an old watch and the only way someone would buy it is if it had some meaning to them.  Also they didn't mention anything about their families during the story, so maybe his family is very disconnected as I showed through this story.  Another reason I think this might happen is because Della would want Jim to be able to use the gift she got him last year and she loves him enough to track down his watch.  Lastly, I thought this would happen because there needs to be a way for the story to bring itself together and connect to the first part.