Elar

Hatchet Mini Essay

Brian is the main character in the book Hatchet by Gary Paulson. In this book, Brian is stranded alone in the middle of the forest after a tragic plane crash. Unlike Brian, I am just an eleven year old girl who can’t do anything without her mom. I haven’t been in a plane crash, but Brian’s experiences remind me of myself.

Ever since Brian’s plane crashed, he has had many new things to add to his “to do list.” For example, Brian needs to find his own food, stay hydrated and clean, etc. I have so many new things to do as well, such as homework, new chores, etc. Brian and I are becoming more responsible and mature as the days pass.

“The rifle changed him, the minute he picked it up, and he wasn’t sure if he liked the change much.” This quote reminds me of what I’m going through right now. Four months ago, I walked the stage of my elementary school with a certificate in my hand. A month ago, I walked into Ed White Middle school. After a month of being in middle school, I’m still not sure if I like it that much. Whether it’s a rifle or a piece of paper in hand, It symbolizes change. 

Brian has had to learn how to be more patient. He never knows how long it will take to find food, or how long he will have to wait for someone to find him. I have a six year old sister, and she can really get on my nerves. She recently started first grade, so she is still really little and wants to play with me a lot. I have to be patient with her and explain that sometimes I just don't want to play, and trust me it is hard staying patient.

I noticed that Brian’s mindset reminds me of myself. As Brian says, “Feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t work.” I think he is right. I believe that you shouldn’t waste your time feeling sorry for yourself, when you could be trying to move forward. When you are feeling sorry for yourself, you distract yourself from the things you could be doing to fix your problem.

Despite all of the changes and challenges going on in both of our lives, we manage to stay determined. For example, Brian never gave up on trying to find help and I won’t give up on my future. We are both learning so many things at a fast pace.

Persuasive Essay

BARK! MEOW! HISS! Imagine trying to finish a really hard assignment, and that’s all you hear. Or maybe you have a really bad headache, but your friend brought their cat that won’t stop meowing. It is very obnoxious and annoying. Here’s the big question; Should people be able to bring their pets to school? I think they obviously shouldn’t.

As I stated before, it’s annoying. The only way to get a dog to stop barking is to de-bark it. This operation is CRUEL and extremely harmful to the animals. I mean, you could train it, but it’s expensive and hard. Some children have learning disabilities like ADHD or ADD. Animals will distract everyone, but these kids have a harder time staying focused which means it would have a bigger effect on them. A website called teachingchannel.com, which many instructors and teachers use, says, “It’s already hard enough to keep students’ attention where it should be; some teachers don’t want to compete with a pet, as well. In addition, there’s no controlling when an animal might make a noise and interrupt you or a student speaking.”

Besides, school is a place to learn. It isn’t a playground where you get to do anything you want. It’s a place where you have to complete multiple assignments a day, and I just don’t see that getting done if we have pets at school. If we had pets at school, I think there would be more late work and missing assignments because it would be harder to focus.

I don’t see many benefits of bringing pets to school other than it calms the children. This can be the case, but there are many other ways to keep children calm. To me, pets are an unnecessary accessory that could actually stress kids out more. For example, you can’t keep your pet in your backpack all day, so there will have to be an area for them to stay. If it were me, I would be worrying about my pet wondering if it's being taken care of. The NHS website for England explains that, “That feeling of loss of control is one of the main causes of stress and lack of wellbeing.”

My best friend is allergic to dogs. Imagine if she didn’t know about her allergy and was in the same class as someone who brought their dog. That would be a very bad situation which would end with her in the hospital, which brings me to my next claim. It isn’t safe. Almost half of the kids I know are allergic to some type of pet, and  many people are scared of animals which could cause them to freak out. If that happened, it would distract everyone and take away from learning time.

You can’t predict what an animal will do. A friend of mine got bit by a stray dog, and he now has a scar. Bringing pets to school is just a disaster waiting to happen. It isn’t safe nor is it practical. Where do they use the bathroom? Where do they go during class-time? How do they eat or drink? There are a lot of aspects that people aren’t looking deep enough into. The PETA association states that “Millions of kids suffer from allergies and asthma, which can both be triggered or exacerbated by the presence of certain animals and some types of animal bedding.” This is also a reason why pets at school are not safe.

Just leave your pets at home. You can survive without your kitten for six hours. While there should be exceptions for blind children or emotional support animals, it is too much for everyone to bring their beloved animals. The very easy solution for all of these problems is to not allow it.

The Donut (in progress)