Apartment in Salamanca

   Rúa Mayor 14-2’A                                                                         San Pablo 50- 2’B

Pros	Cons	Pros	Cons
It’s simple and very roomy.	It seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere.	It’s under budget!! And it’s big enough for just me.	The furniture seems very small.
It’s big enough for just me in it.	It doesn’t look close to the school.	It’s simple and has a nice workspace for after school to work on homework.	Some of the things in the apartment are too simple for me.
It’s under budget!!!		It’s near a cathedral and in town.
		It looks closer to the school.

I want the apartment San Pablo 50- 2’B, Salamanca to live in for the next year.

What's Your Point of View?

 Author's Note- In this essay, I will prove that a point of view in a story is a very important concept to have. There are many things that I describe in this essay on a point of view, especially in this story that I talk about. NOTE: I do give away two very important scenes from the book.

 In the novel Divergent by Veronica Roth, a young girl named Beatrice faces the toughest day of any person’s life. The day where she decides if she will live in a faction, or be factionless. In the decision that she makes, families will be tested, friendships will break and love will strengthen and heal. From the point of view of Beatrice, she sacrifices her life to protect her love, save her family and everyone else who’s lives are at stake from the greatest war ever in history. The war between Beatrice’s two factions: Dauntless and Abnegation. Will Beatrice be able to save everyone or will life end as she knows it? In the novel Divergent, it interprets how the story could be told differently, if told by the person she loves.

One way that would affect the point of view of Beatrice is when Beatrice was in the Erudite headquarters. When she was there, she found the person that she loves in a “trance” from an injection that makes him sound and act like the Terminator or Arnold Schwarzenegger. If the point of view was told from Beatrice’s love Tobias, then he would have felt nothing while being controlled by all the factions president, Jeanine. When Beatrice was describing what the expression in Tobias’s face was and what he looks like made me feel cold, heartbroken and it gave me the chills. There was one quote in the book that Beatrice always thought about. It said, “Faction before blood.” What this quote means is family and friends come before the blood of loved ones spill. Beatrice keeps this quote in her head to tell herself to protect the factions before the blood of the people pours out. It connects to the point of view because Beatrice witnesses the blood of many innocent people being spilled out in a brutal battle, including her parents. She watched them get shot and fall to the ground, and suddenly, not moving. Even though her parents died, if Beatrice didn’t save the life of Tobias, everyone would have been gone, wiped clean out of the world.

Not only is the point of view told by the main character Beatrice, but the author gives you an interpretation on the point of view of Tobias, Beatrice’s love. If the story was told by the point of view of Tobias, things would be totally different. It would be different because the book starts out with Beatrice in her original faction and then going through the initiation. Without that, then when Tobias and Beatrice meet, the reader would have no idea who this girl would be and all the extraordinary things that she does towards the end of the book. It would be very confusing to the reader and would lose interest in the book. Aside from that, Beatrice describes Tobias as this tall, handsome and brave young man. So, I would look at Tobias as a Lou Ferrigno, just without the issue of his speech. Tobias can be described as having a dark and mysterious side and then a soft side to him. On the contrary, the point of view from Beatrice is crucial because she explains everything in the beginning of her life to when she went to war. So, her part in the book is very important if the reader wants to understand everything about Beatrice, her family and her long  journey into the life of being in a faction.

As you know, Beatrice’s role in the book is very important because when Dauntless, Eurdite and Abnegation went to war, she explains what the battle looks like and how she feels when it happens. Now, without the point of view or interpretation of Beatrice in this event, the reader would not know what was happening and be confused. Her role in this scene is crucial because she describes in detail on the gunshot that killed both of her parents and how they looked at her with sorrow and despair before they stopped breathing. Since the description is so thorough, the reader would get the chills when they read both scenes from her mom and dad. I know that when I read it, it gave me the chills.

Continuing on, the two scenes that Beatrice described in detail that captured my attention and that can truly tell you her point of view in this event was when her mom and dad died. In the first scene when her mom died, Beatrice described the scene as her mom telling her to run away while she creates a distraction. The part that made my jaw drop was when Beatrice described her mother’s death. She says, “I whip my head over my shoulder when I hear them fire back. My feet falter and stop. My mother stiffens, her back arching. Blood surges from a wound in her abdomen, dyeing her shirt crimson. A patch of blood spreads over her shoulder. I blink, and the violent red stains the inside of my eyelids. I blink again, and I see her smile as she sweeps my hair trimmings into a pile. She falls, first to her knees, her hands limp at her sides, and then to the pavement, slumped to the side like a rag doll. She is motionless and without breath.”- Veronica Roth, Beatrice Prior. The point of view from Beatrice is this scene and how she describes it makes my heart drop. That’s how you can tell the point of view from a character is from the description of the scene or event.

Adding on to the death of Beatrice’s mother, there was another scene that Beatrice described, but with the death of her father. She describes this scene as if she had taken her father's bullet in her chest herself. She says in this scene, “My father fires over his shoulder at the guards pursuing him, but he is not fast enough. One of them fires at his stomach, and he groans so loud I can almost feel it in my chest. He clutches his gut, his shoulders hitting the wall, and fires again. And again. Blood spills over his hand and the color drains from his face. His mouth opens like he’s about to say something, but then his chin drops to his chest and his body relaxes.”- Veronica Roth, Beatrice Prior. The more description in a point of view of a character, the more the reader will understand the scene or event that is occurring. That’s how important a point or points of views are in a story.

Interpretation is the key thing in this novel, especially from Beatrice because she explains the entire book. If the interpretation changed, then the point of view would also change. If the point of view would change, than the scenes, which would have been the whole book, would change dramatically because Beatrice describes every event that happens. The point of view of Beatrice cannot be changed or everyone that she meets and falls in love with will be gone. Remember, when you read a story, pretend or imagine that the person who is telling it to you is sitting right in front of you explaining the events he or she were in. Point of view is very important in a book such as Divergent. A book would not be a book without a perspective or point of view from a character or an author.


Bibliography-
Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2011. Print. 

Which Side Will You Choose?

I heard the thundering sounds of gun fire from every direction. The marching, drums and the commander giving the order of fire. I could see the blood from the men pouring out from the attack of the rifle. Then it is dead silent. The feel of silence burns me, not knowing what’s going on or what’s about to happen. Then, I hear the screeching of metal against metal and the noise of bayonets and swords piercing through the skin of men. I saw one person, a Patriot, waving the American Flag and slaying every redcoat in his path. After that, I looked out my window, at a site that no one wants to see. On April 19^th, 1775, this event was then called The Revolutionary War. I was reminded of the day called the Boston Massacre which occurred on March 5^th, 1770. From those days forward, war was not about fighting. It was about “We the People”. I, Rachel Marsh, witnessed the Boston Massacre and now going to fight alongside the Patriot, Benjamin Martin.

What would life be like if you lived in Boston, with the Adams family, working as a maid when chaos occurs that can depend on your life and career? Or what about fighting in constant battles, serving in the Continental Army with a family member dying every day from the command of Colonel William Tavington? Horrible. Treacherous. Brutal. In the movie The Patriot, a man named Benjamin Martin is a widowed father of seven children when his second oldest son, Thomas, is shot by Colonel Tavington who works for the British King, King George. Since then, Benjamin Martin joins the Continental Army, in hope that he will gain vengeance for his family until tragedy strikes. In the book that I read, The Fifth of March, Rachel Marsh lives a perfect life, as a maid for John Adams and his family. When the British arrive in Boston, love and hatred enters into the citizens of Boston. With the love of the British soldier, Matthew Kilroy, Rachel must fight to save her job and her love. Twists and turns occur that keep you guessing what will happen next.

Rachel Marsh, a young, teenage girl, lives in Boston with John Adams and his family, while she works everyday as a maid. She is known in Ann Rinaldi’s The Fifth of March. Rachel Marsh has lived her life with her Uncle Eb who is selfish, mean and greedy. After she’s gotten the job for John Adams, a day comes when the British redcoats march into Boston and take over. While the redcoats are there, Rachel finds a man named Matthew Kilroy who is a new trained soldier. Rachel soon discovers that her and Matthew are developing a chemistry between each other that grows but hits bumps along the way that affect her career, life and even Matthew’s life. A group of people then start a riot protesting against John Adams, shouting that he wasn’t helping the citizens of Boston in a time of need. Matthew’s life is becomes at stake when the British get involved in the fighting and kill 3 citizens, including a friend of Rachel’s named Chris Snider. The British officers, including Matthew were sentenced to their backs being burned. It was a brutal day. Rachel has always wanted to be an independent women and make her own decisions. Matthew, before leaving and going back to England, asks Rachel to marry him and go back to England. As much as Rachel wanted to, she refused and from then on, wrote to Matthew. Rachel later discovered herself as an independent person who could make her own decisions and live a life she has wanted to live without a man in her life. Speaking of the British, fighting and making decisions, that brings me to a man named Benjamin Martin in the movie, The Patriot.

The Patriot is about a man named Benjamin Martin who is a widowed father of 7 children. When Gabriel, Ben’s oldest son, is taken to be hung for being accused of being a spy. As this is happening, Thomas, Ben’s second oldest son runs to save Gabriel but Colonel William Tavington, pulled out his gun and shot him. Ever since then, Ben and his 2 younger sons, what I like to call, “hide and seek shooting” try desperately to save Gabriel. Eventually, Gabriel is free and gather people to join what they called themselves, “The Militia of the Continental Army.” Gabriel and Ben stand side by side, fighting the British. Throughout the movie, Gabriel and a women named Ann got married. Colonel Tavington marched into a small town and every citizen was in a church. He gave the order and burned the church to the ground, trapping everyone inside, being burned alive, including Ann. As most people would do, Gabriel seeks to find Tavington and kill him for burning his wife. As he is on the mission, Gabriel slays Tavington to the ground. He doesn’t move and just he is about to stab him, Tavington turns on his back and jabs his sword through Gabriel. Tavington escaped and found Gabriel lying on the ground, apologizing for what happened to Thomas. Then Gabriel closes his eyes and stops breathing. Ever since the death of Gabriel, Ben was not able to join the militia and fight. Later on, he finds an American Flag Gabriel had been sewing. While the Patriots are going to war, Ben gallops through the wind, waving the flag proudly in honor of his sons and the freedom they deserve. Benjamin fights until the death, planning to murder the man who assassinated his 2 sons. During this bloody, brutal and cruel time, Benjamin stays strong and leads his men into the fight of a lifetime. Then it becomes one on one. Benjamin vs. Tavington. As Tavington slays, slits and punches Benjamin, Benjamin takes a bayonet and forces it in Tavington’s throat, killing the murderer of his family. Benjamin lead the Americans into great victory. Benjamin Martin is a man of great strength, will, power and peace. He fights for freedom and vengeance for his family. Benjamin Martin and Rachel Marsh are very much similar to each other but also have some differences, which leads me to comparing and contrasting Benjamin Martin to Rachel Marsh.

As you know, The Fifth of March is about the Boston Massacre and The Patriot is about The Revolutionary War. Even though they are very different, there are still some similarities. As you read further, you will notice similarities and differences between 2 characters from the book and movie. First, let’s start with the similarities between Benjamin Martin in The Patriot to Rachel Marsh in The Fifth of March. What stands out the most about these two characters is they both fight for family, love and their freedom. There is one word for Rachel and Benjamin that describes them both; patriotic. They stand up for themselves and their people to take back what is rightfully theirs. No matter if it’s fighting or speaking to the public, they stand up for what’s right, no matter the outcome. Even though they may be similar, they also have differences about each other. Benjamin lives with and has a family, but Rachel doesn’t. Rachel grew up with an Uncle who doesn’t even like her. Benjamin is a man who goes to war and fights while Rachel fights, but fights verbally. She doesn’t use guns and cannons and go to war like all the other men do. Rachel is a girl that when it comes to “war,” and it affects her, she fights for herself and herself only. She doesn’t worry about anyone else unless she truly cares or loves them. Benjamin on the other hand, has a family to protect. When it comes to war in that situation, he has to fight to protect his family and himself, otherwise, who would? What makes Benjamin excellent at fighting in wars is he is great with battle strategies. Rachel doesn’t know anything about war, which would make her vulnerable. There are 2 other characters in The Patriot and The Fifth of March. In The Fifth of March, Matthew Kilroy, the British Soldier, compared to Gabriel in The Patriot.

Let’s start with the differences between Gabriel in The Patriot and Matthew in The Fifth of March. Starting with Matthew, he is a man that fights in wars, but he fights as a loyalist. Gabriel, he serves as a Patriot and fights with his dad. During the book, Matthew was never killed by a man who murdered his younger brother. Matthew never had a family either, like Rachel. Gabriel on the other hand, was murdered by Colonel Tavington, the man who killed Thomas, Gabriel’s younger brother. Another difference is Gabriel married a women when Matthew was about to, but didn’t. Another difference is that Gabriel was never sent to trial for killing citizens. Matthew did because he killed one person, even though that that was his job as a British soldier. Another difference is they fight on the opposite sides. Now for the similarities between Matthew and Gabriel. One obvious similarity is they both fight in some sort of war. Another similarity is they both stand up for what they think is right and what they believe in. No matter what happened to them, they wanted to stand up for their people and their rights, no matter the cost.

In the movie The Patriot, I noticed that no matter who got in their way or tried to stop them, they never gave up in fighting for what they think is right. In The Fifth of March, Rachel never stopped helping the citizens of Boston, Matthew and John Adams. One big comparison in the film and the book is the patriotism. Even though terrible things in both the movie and the book occurred, that didn’t stop anybody which is a symbol of patriotism. In my book compared to the movie, many things were not similar. My book and the movie were different is some ways, even though there were some similarities. I chose the characters to compare and contrast because the theme between the book and the movie were completely different. In the movie and the book, war affected all families, jobs and everyone’s lives. Even though the movie and my book were different in many ways, they both hand one specific thing in common that everyone should have when it comes to war; patriotism. No matter who gets in your way of what is different or similar to what you think is right, never let someone stop you, no matter how different 2 events may be. It was hard to compare and contrast two different events but the patriotism in The Fifth of March and The Patriot compares and contrasts the two events most difficult outcome. 

By: Allison Andes

Essay Bibliography

·  Rinaldi, Ann. The fifth of March: a story of the Boston Massacre. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1993. Print.

·  The Patriot. Dir. Roland Emmerich. Perf. Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger. Columbia ;, 2000. Film.

Volleyball and It's Science Qualities

Volleyball. A great sport to play and also very scientific. Hi! My name is Volleyball and I will be playing a volleyball game while talking scientifically. If that makes any sense. Ok, to start off with, volleyball requires a lot of force to make a hard spike or get a hard serve over the net. Depending on what ball you use for what level you are playing, (Elite, Midwest, Select, etc.) I may have a heavier mass. But, let’s talk about my buddy old pals, the regular volleyballs. Right now they are running into to nets and landing out of bounds. They’re not that accurate at their aim. Anyways, Newton’s First Law, The Law of Inertia, states that An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. So, I could take a nap when someone has me resting in their hands, until they throw me up into the air, ready to give me a whopping red mark on my face. Then, when I am hit, I stay in motion or in the air until someone messes up and hits the net or swings way out of bounds and restart the whole process again. I get very sore after the day is done.

Continuing on, what’s nice about me is that I am very light. I don’t contain a lot of mass so it is very easy to hit me through the air. Since I am very light, the unbalanced forces that bump, pass and spike me, send me through the air to the other side of the net. Speaking of which, in Newton’s Second Law, it states that an object with more mass requires more force than an object with a lighter mass. Obviously I am very light, so when I am passed to the setter and the setter passes me, setting to the hitter for the kill, I accelerate on the spike because I am speeding up from the force of the hitter. Acceleration is big in volleyball, mostly because of the spike. Even though it hurts me, I manage through it but acceleration is speeding up, slowing down or changing direction. I change direction from everything, the serve, pass, set and hit. I accelerate at the serve and the hit because I am speeding up.

Are you interested yet? Fine, well it will get better, but I’m a volleyball and who doesn’t like volleyballs? Anyways, let’s move on. Which, by the way, brings me to Newton’s Third Law! See, you’re catching on fast! Anyway, Newton’s Third Law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, when someone spikes me, the reaction force is pushing or forcing me to the ground and the action force is to push me to the ground with the powerful force of the hitter’s hand. I also can have a lot of velocity depending on how hard I am hit. Velocity is the speed of something in a given direction. When I get a big red mark on my face, in other words, being spiked, I have a lot of velocity because the force from the hit makes me go faster and I go in a specific direction, wherever the hitter hits me to. It is very similar to speed because speed is basically the distance I go divided by the time or how long it took me to get to my destination. Well, I have to go because I am needed to play in the championship game. I got to go so I hope that you learned a lot about the game of volleyball and how much science is contained within the sport and even all around you. “Come on Volleyball! We need you now!” says the ref. “I’m coming! Chill” Ok I have to go because the ref is getting mad. Wish me luck!

By: Allison Andes

Tradegy and Love vs. Love and Battles

Compare and contrast on- Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys and The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi

Categories	Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys	Similarities	The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi
Location	Siberia and Alaska- The women were sent to Siberia to work and the men were sent to Alaska to work in a prison camp.	None	Boston and England- Boston was were the whole book took place and where the Boston Massacre was and England was where the soldiers came and left.
Events	In the events that occur, people from Russia are taken and families were separated. Other events were having many people die of starvation, thirst and giving birth. Another event was working in the cold weather were more people died and then finally having families reunited.	There is violence, suffering and fighting throughout both books to get back what is rightfully theirs.	In the event that occurs, 4-5 people were killed in the Boston Massacre and the British soldiers had a trial that took place for a week to determined their fate from what some of the soldiers did to the citizens of Boston.
What they are fighting for	In this book, the people of Russia are fighting for their families and trying to save their husbands and sons from the prison camp and having them die in the prison camp.	They are both fighting for independence, families, love and the protection of their city or country, trying not to have anybody die, get hurt or be sentenced to a terrible fate.	In this book, the people of Boston are trying to fight for each other from the British taking over Boston. They are also trying to gain back what is rightfully theirs and trying to send the British soldiers back to England to stop the madness in Boston.
Characters	Many people that Lina knows die from starvation, beating, thirst, etc. She loses some people that she doesn’t even know but still tries to save from dying.	Try to do much out of the ordinary like doing something crazy to save their country or city. They both never give up and do whatever is possible.	Rachel is only trying to save herself, a man named Matthew from persecution, Chris who she likes too, her friend Jane  and the Adams family. Throughout the book, only one person dies and its Chris but she wasn’t able to help him.
Main Idea	The main idea of this book is to get families back together and get home safely and to eliminate the soldiers that planned the event.	The two women, Rachel and Lina are both trying to fight for family, friends and love independence.	The main idea of this book is to save the city of Boston from the mob of people that created the Boston Massacre and to get things back to normal. Rachel is trying to set things straight and also save the man that she loves.